A Little Bummed...

Wow, this past Thursday, I had done so well. I actually reached 165 - a total loss of 8 pounds in almost 2 weeks! I couldn't believe it. Mostly due to cutting back on sugar and saying NO to the doughnuts a co-worker brought for breakfast, plus counting the daily calories of everything I put into my mouth, trying to keep it down to around 1200.

THEN, Aunt Flo from Red China decides to pay me an unexpected visit, causing me to put on several pounds of that glorious water weight we females just love. Thanks, Aunt Flo! 'preciate it! So, now I'm back up to a hefty 171. Ain't that a *B*? I tried a diuretic to download some of it, but just didn't do the trick. I did not even give any thought to how 'Aunt Flo' might possibly put a kink in my plans.

That's life, as they say. Could be worse, I suppose. It can always be worse, huh? I could be miserably depressed, just throw my hands up in the air and give up, but that would be a weak, very unfollowthru thing to do, now wouldn't it? And I am trying to learn how to be a stronger-minded, more follow-thru kind of person. A thinner, healthier me. A clutter-free, flat-bellied me. So, not giving up today. I'll just deal with Aunt Flo and go about eating my 1200 cals a day, even though I'd kill for a Hershey bar or that bag of kisses in the pantry.

Why is it we crave chocolate more during these times? I actually read that it's caused by a lack of magnesium in our blood, creating the crave for chocolate, which is chock full of magnesium, but the flavor and euphoria it gives us ain't bad, either.

I've noticed since cutting down on the sugar, my face is much clearer. Yes, I'm 41 and I continue to struggle with acne. You'd think once the teen years pass, you wouldn't have to deal with that anymore. WRONG! At least cutting back on sugar is helping, plus drinking more water. And I'm sure eating healthier is helping a bit, too.

The plan for the week is to work my buns on the treadmill and to several aerobix tapes and perhaps I'll throw in my yoga tape for a day. I'll be setting up my weight bench and doing some flies, curls, side lifts, etc., to strengthen my arms, so - when I stop waving, my arms stop flapping in the breeze. I tell ya, a strong wind is gonna swing through and I will take flight with the wings of my arms! Might sound kind o' cool, but it AIN'T. I'm too young to have granny-arms and it's time to rid myself of those suckers.

Must admit, have not done my exercising for this week. My bad, I know. As of now, I suppose I'm back at just losing a total of 2 lbs. (173 to 171). I'll be back on track after Aunt Flo LEAVES!

A little tip for those of you that would like to cut the calories but still have yummy snacks. We LOVE Oscar Mayer turkey bacon! Do you know that it's only like 35 calories per slice? Plus, the Special K chocolatey pretzel bars, I could OD on, and they're only 90 per bar. The Fire Roasted Tomato Triscuits are so FINE and they are about 120 calories for 6 crackers. I've gotten several people at work addicted to these. I love snacking on Honey Wheat pretzel rods and you can have 10 of them for around 110 calories. And, of course, the Activia yogurt is 120 calories per cup.

I thought it would be challenging to keep my calorie quota down to 1200 per day, but it's a lot like budgeting money. When you are trying to track your monthly expenses to enlighten you on where all your money is going, you write down every cent when you spend it. The date, the amount of money spent and what you are purchasing. I did this one month a few years ago when I couldn't figure out where all my money was going. Come to find out, I was spending over $300 a month at one particular coffee house. Yes, I'm a coffee junkie and no, I'm not giving it up but I've cut back considerably. I wasn't just buying breve lattes and cappuccino. I was buying fruit & yogurt parfaits with homemade granola for breakfast and veggie burger wraps at lunch. This was a valuable lesson in spending and I cut out the breakfast and lunch buying (brought lunch from home instead) and limited myself on the coffee consumption (from a pot a day to about 3-6 cups at home or work = free). I do still have my occasional breve', but only once or twice a week.

As for the clutter, my office is still not finished. Must admit, I have not been working on this daily. No good excuse. I could say I haven't had the time, with working full-time, coming home to cooking supper, cleaning the kitchen, helping with homework, etc., quality time with my daughter, but that would not be truthful. The fact is, I have not MADE time. I usually try to get up around 3am. Yes, I said 3am. I'm usually so worn out with my STRESSFUL job (more like stressful people!), that we go to bed around 8 or 830pm (depending on homework load and amount of studying needed), which allows me enough sleep to get up earlier, but haven't done that enough this past week to get much accomplished. I have invested a little bit of time, so at least my kitchen is organized, my bedroom is more organized and my office is coming along. Still need to go thru the cabinets in the bathroom and throw some stuff out, put up some things in the living room, work in the laundry room/storage room and my daughter's room is more organized. She did a good job! Donated several items to Goodwill. Office still needs some quality time.

Counting down, today makes the 15th day since starting this project, so I have 35 days left to be clutter free (started with 49) and 98 days left to get fit and weigh 135 lbs (started with 112 days and 173 lbs). Can she do it? I ask myself that every day...

Ok. Yes, I can and Yes, I will. Pressing on...