Jean - Day 4

Thursday....Mary, where are you? You usually beat me to the blog! Well a few revelations today...I am really feeling good and I noticed that my rings keep twisting around my fingers...that means that my fingers are not swelling. I don't know why, but I like. In the past I would feel like the Michelin Man, being bloated and my clothes feeling tight. Today my pants actually felt loose later in the day. I feel better overall.

Although it is only day 4 and I have another 24 days to go, I am confident that I can stick with this and succeed.

Today I dined on....

Breakfast - You'll never guess....Fiber One Cereal with banana, strawberries and blueberries with Almond Milk. My husband has dubbed it the red, white and blue breakfast!
Morning Snack - Red Grapes
Lunch - Ministrone soup and garden salad (Olive Garden Variety)
Afternoon Snack - Apple
Dinner - Roasted chicken breast, spinach, turnip greens, long grain and wild rice, cucumbers and tomatoes.

Need to look at some recipes this weekend and prepare for next week, eliminating meat and dairy. I'll let you know what magic I can work with beans :)

Today is the first day of the rest of my healthy life!

Jean - Day 3

Now, this is where it starts getting a little (and I mean just a little) difficult. The middle of the week and there is way too much going on. My husband and I own our own business and I think that some times the stress of the business is one of my downfalls. I know that I am a stress eater, but I am working on that. Planning ahead and being focused about what I am going to choose to put in my mouth makes a big difference. Although hectic, I love the work that I do and the people I work with (4 of my team mates are family). We work very hard and have been very blessed. How does that saying go....the harder I work, the luckier I am, that's me.

Today I ate:

Breakfast: Oatmeal, strawberries, blueberries, 1/2 banana

Morning Snack - Clementine

Lunch - Homemade vegetable soup, tomatoes and cucumber, slice of leftover pork roast

Afternoon Snack - Banana

Dinner - Met some friends and tried a new Turkish restaurant in Dr. Phillips. The food and the service were excellent. I ordered the shrimp shish kabob, with bulgar and a green salad. Also had a piece of the flat bread.

Haven't been lishing my drinks, but since Mary does, thought that maybe I should...

2 cups of coffee each morning, water, unsweet tea for lunch and dinner and usually a diet coke in the afternoon.

Just a short walk this evening. Too tired to get up this morning.
Today is the first day of the rest of my healthy life....

Day 3 - Mary

Hello All,

Late night for me tonight. Had a kickball game after school today. We lost, but had fun and no one got hurt. We played another school who has been playing for a few years. They had 10 experienced player. We practiced once and had 20 random players. We let everyone play... so it wasn't too competitive. Anyway... it was all for fun.

Food was good today. Had egg with veggies and an Activia for breakfast. Had a salad and a peach for lunch. My snacks today were a banana and some almonds. Since we had the ballgame, we all went out afterward. I had a tuna pita and 3 beers..... Actually, that is pretty good for me 'cause I usually have a cheeseburger, chips and 3 buckets of beer:) Looking forward to my meeting at Curves tomorrow... Hope we can make it work. Until next time.... this is Mary signing out:)

Day 2 - Jean

Can't believe that it is 11:27 pm and I am still awake and writing on this blog. I am usually ready for bed by 9:30 and asleep by 10:00. Went to a movie with my mother in law tonight and because of time constraints, had dinner at McDonalds drive thru. Notice that I have more energy. Don't know if it is the healthy eating or the exercise. Walked for 30 minutes this morning.

Tried to be somewhat healthy. Just like yesterday, I have felt full all day long. Almost a chore to eat an afternoon snack.

Breakfast: Fiber One cereal with blueberries, banana and almond milk. Also had 3 prunes.

No morning snack

Lunch: Tuna on a bed of lettuce with apple, sunflower seeds and raisins. Unsweet iced tea

Afternoon snack: Red Grapes

Dinner: Grilled chicken snack wraps (2) - 1/2 of a 1/2 small popcorn

One of the reasons I am excited to get healthy is the fear of the govenment taking control of our health care. Recently did a job for a government agency, still trying to get paid after 60 days, and the excuse I am getting is that "they are the government and they are just slow". So I don't want to have to ever put my health at the mercy of the same institution that can't process an invoice in less than 30 days. So, today is the first day of the rest of my healthy life......

Day 2 - Mary

Before I begin today's entry, I wanted to comment on last night's dinner. We had whole wheat spaghetti with ground turkey meat sauce. I really couldn't tell a big difference from the regular spaghetti we usually eat. Today I had 2 eggs with turkey, low fat cheese and a peach for breakfast. Lunch consisted of left over spaghetti and an Activia. Dinner was a piece of chicken breast on the grill, corn and steamed broccoli. My snack was a banana and a hand full of organic nuts, seed and dried food from the Publix produce dept. I didn't drink as much water as I should have today, but still had about 2 bottles and a large glass. I'm going to Curves on Thursday for an appointment about membership. Looks interesting but not too sure if their hours of operation will work with my busy schedule as an Assistant Principal at an elementary school. Today was not as hard as I would have thought. I really didn't have the great cravings that I usually have throughout the day. Cafeteria personnel send food up on a daily basis and there is always food there to tempt one. Passed on the cheese grits sent up today... dang that was hard 'cause they are good. We are playing kickball tomorrow against another school. We practiced last week and even though athletic all my life, I struggled... not just because I'm carrying a lot of extra weight (216) but also because of my age (52). I had to get another sport's bra because of the movement when running..... a little top heavy. So far, though, I think this diet has helped with moving the digestive system, if you get my gist. Hopefully, the rest of the week will continue to run smoothly. I did Dr. Oz' Real Life program last night. I actually had some good portions on it. My chronological age is 52; my Real Age is 62. We'll see how the rest of the week goes...but until next time.... this is Mary, signing off.

Day 1 - Mary

Mary: Since today was going to be the first day of this new challenge I decided last night to have a "Last Supper." Went to Outback and had a fillet. I tried to be good and got broccoli and a salad... and had Crown & Diet instead of beer..... anyway, today has been pretty good. I'm not really hungry and this is one of my times I usually have an urge to snack. Still at work at 4:30 pm. .... I'm not at my biggest weight, but close to it. I need to do something or I'll eventually keel over from a heart attack. Going to try to stop by Curves on the way home to inquire about starting there. Hopefully will walk too... but the weather is not too great. Today I ate eggs with peppers, onions, tomatoes. Decaf coffee with skim milk. Nuts & raisins. A banana. A salad for lunch (which had some berries on it) and an Activia. I still have an orange on my desk for a snack but not really hungry. I guess I'll see how the rest of the day will go.... until next time, Mary, signing off!!

Day 1 - Jean

Well, I am about to have dinner on the first day of my 28 Day Challenge. Today was no problem, but I am sure that it is because I am pumped up and ready to go and because of the fact that I prepared and planned my meals. Don't think I will have any problem staying focused, may be challenged in my planning. So, since I know that my life gets hectic during the week, I will be sure to do shopping and planning on the weekends.

Menu today:

Fiber One Cereal with strawberries, blueberries, 1/2 banana and almond milk
Apple - snack
Lunch - Homemade vegetable soup
Red Grapes - snack
Dinner - Fish, long-grain and wild rice, turnip greens

Drank water, diet coke and unsweet tea

Exercise:

My daughter, who is an avid runner, gave me a 2 week plan to start running. Since I hate to run, I have kept putting it off. This morning was the day to start. It was terribly hard and I now remember why I hate running :) The plan starts with running one minute and walking for two minutes and then repeating 9 more times. Started off strong and lasted a whole 10 minutes. I'll do better next time as I build my endurance.

Went though my weight lifting routine that I have been doing on and off since July. I have been using "The New Rules of Lifting for Women" by Lou Schuler. Really like the book and the routines. Every other workout is suppose to be followed by Interval training. I have not been good at doing that (see :) above).

Well, dinner is ready, my husband is cooking, need to finish in 20 minutes so that I am not eating after 7:00.

Today is the first day of the rest of my health life.