Closing out the Old Year

 Here it is, the end of the 2022 already!  This year has been a crazy one.  We searched for and bought a house.  My mom had a stroke.  Jason had an unfortunate meeting with an axe.  Worry about my job.  Jason being off work indefinitely.  Yeah, it's been a nuts-o year!

In December, I have started to work on healthy habits.  I've managed to get back into the habit of tracking my food.  I've also managed to get back into the habit of drinking at least 64 ounces of water!  

I also ate cookies.

And apple dumplings. 

We had a nice Christmas and enjoyed the snow storm that came a few days before Christmas.  It was neat to see our house covered in snow for the first time!

Oh yeah, and I gained weight this year.  Not a whole lot....about 5-10 pounds.  Ok, who am I kidding...that's bad enough!

As the year closes, I don't plan on making promises that the year 2023 will be fantastic.   Many of the same stressors that I have going on right now will still be around.  The hectic aspects of my life will still be around.  BUT, I am making a promise that I will work toward being healthier in this upcoming year.  SUre, I would like to say that I'll lose 50 pounds...or 75 pounds....or however many pounds.  But I"m only vowing to be healthier!  I have a few things up my sleeve...which we will discuss soon!  

In the meantime, I'm just settling in for the last few days of this ride called 2022!

Merry Christmas

 

New Habit Progress

This month of December is full of building (rebuilding) healthy habits!  I started with tracking my food ad drinking water at first.  But then last week I added a new one!  The questions is how did I do?

I continued tracking my food.  I'm back in the grove and it has truly become a habit for me to track every bite I eat. I feel happy with my assessment that it was time to add a new habit!  

 My new habit was to keep my calories/points at a good level in order to lose weight.  first day of tracking was ROUGH.  I was honestly trying to eat right and keep my points low..but that first day I was 6 points over!  Eii Yii Yii!  Luckily we have those weekly points to allow us to 'live a bit!"    But the other days, I was able to eat pretty decently and had no issues staying within my points.   Ok, lets be honest, I WANTED desserts.  I WANTED more food!  I WANTED to eat junk food.  But I didn't!  I've kept my eating right where it needs to be!

My other original healthy habit......drinking 64 ounces of water.  What in the world?  This one is SOOO difficult!  I struggled.  Oh, I freely admit that I struggled!  BUT, slowly...surely I managed to start to bring it back around.  By the end of last week, I was getting my 64 ounces of water.  I was chugging the last 8 ounces at hte end of the day sometimes, but I was doing it!  I had to default to putting some flavor packs in my water (which I try to limit) but I got it!  This habit is far from set in stone.  But I finally feel as if I have taken a step in the right direction!

So how is my weight doing?  

I honestly have no clue!  I weighed myself on Monday, the first day I started to try to eat the proper amount of points/calories.  I have not weighed myself since then.  Part of that is due to convenience.  I've been showering in the hall bathroom....my scales are in the master bath.  But a bigger part is that I haven't felt the need.  I know that my eating over my birthday weekend was horrible...so I know that on Tuesday and Wednesday and maybe even Thursday my weight was still trying to regulate after that.  I didn't want to see a higher number.  I didn't want to be demoralized!  So I have stayed away from the scales.  Maybe next week!  :-)

Christmas is around the corner.  I'm as ready as I'm going to be.  Dinner on Christmas Day should be low key and not too big, which should help with my eating!  And if it does go a little crazy, well that's ok also.  It's only one day....one meal.  Meanwhile we had an ice storm....but no snow.  Will we have a white christmas?  It remains to be seen!

Adding a New Habit

 The other week I decided to start afresh and make this weight loss thing happen.  I am tired of being overweight.  I am tired of hurting.  I am just sick and tired of it!   So I started.  Now I didn't start full steam ahead and vow to do everything right.  I made a vow to work on two habits at a time.  I vowed to work on tracking my food and drinking at least 64 ounces of water. 

The tracking has gone splendidly.  Even through my birthday weekend it was a win!  I have tracked religiously for the last two weeks!    I have gotten back into the habit and routine of keeping a record of what I am eating.  I feel as if I have done a good job with my tracking.  I tracked everything.  Honestly, I am too ashamed to even share my points /calories that I ate some days.  It was ugly!  But ugly or pretty the goal was to track regardless.  I nailed this habit setting venture.  I will be continuing to track my food!

I wish I could declare the same victory for my water drinking habit that I was/am working on.  This one has proven to be very elusive to capture.  Some days I come really close to drinking my 64 ounces.  Some days I'm rather far away.  I think that I only managed this once or twice.  This habit definitely is NOT cemented yet.  I've still got some work to do on this habit building venture to drink my water!

So I am continuing to work on creating the water habit but since I have the tracking down, it is time to add a new habit to the mix to work on.   So what is the new habit going to be?   Well it is going to be working to keep my calories/points in line each day.  I'm not aiming for perfection.  Aiming for perfection is a good way to get discouraged because life is not perfect. I am aiming for 5-6 days a week of perfection.  I am aiming to be within my points for the week (using the weekly points for WW).    So water and keeping my food intake at a correct level for weight loss success is my habits that I will be focusing on.   Now just because I am focusing on these two habits doesn't mean that I will be ignoring the tracking...that is in theory now a habit and will be continuing!

I had a nice birthday weekend.  On Thursday we ran all of our errands and went to see my mom.  On Friday we headed north and visited the abandoned coal mine town of Centralia.  This is the town that was abandoned when the coal seams/coal mines caught on fire under the town....and continue to burn out of cotntor.   (you can watch my youtube video here for some more info) Sadly for us, all the buildings are gone and it is simply roads and sidewalks that are being reclaimed by nature.  But we visited the cemeteries and soaked in the abandoned nature of this town. 

On my actual birthday we headed up the road again, but a lot closer this time.  We went to Carlisle PA and visted the Army Heritage Museum.   I have driven up the interstate so many times and noticed the army equipment situated along the walking trail but I never realized that there is a very nice museum there also.   We had a few enjoyable hours exploring the museum and walking trail. 

It was a nice birthday weekend.  Now that I am half a hundred, it's time (past time) to get my health in line!   

Habit Building

​It’s my birthday month!  Woohoo!!  It’s time to celebrate!

Ok, maybe there won’t be huge celebrations, but I’m going to claim the month as my own!

On December first I took the ‘this is a new year approach.    I didn’t wait for December first, it just so happened that my mind clicked on December first.  It wasn’t until about the third that I realized that I started over on a new month.

So what does my start over entail?  My start over at this exact moment is not hardcore.  It is tracking everything I eat. Good bad and ugly tracking.  I had not tracked through October or November.   This starting over is me working to get my water consumption back to a proper level.  My water consumption has been woefully lacking! And for right now that it is.  

Of course I know that living a healthy lifestyle involves a bit more than those two things.  It involves choosing healthier options in terms of my food consumption.  It involves adding more steps/activity/exercise into my life. And yes, those two things are probably more important than the tracking.  But I am building healthy habits right now. 

Tracking is one of the most important habits to build, for me at least.  This is for two reasons.  The first reason is that when  I’m not tracking I tend to eat more….and more….and more.  I eat and THINK I am eating decently.  But it’s crazy how many points/calories I am really eating!  I am still planning on following weight watchers.  I have had incredible success with their program in the past….and even in September when I was doing it I was seeing signs of success.   On the first of December I started tracking my food in the WW app.  I wasn’t aiming to be perfect in my food consumption…my goal was to track..to get in the habit of tracking.  I didn’t think it would be all that bad.  I wasn’t eating horrible!  I get 31 points a day…and I was hitting 55-60 points each day!  Yikes!     That brings me to the second reason why tracking is important for me.  Tracking is important because it makes me make healthier choices…it makes me more cognizant of my choices.   Slowly and without any real effort I have been seeing my daily points that I’ve consumed start to drop.  Yesterday I was only 6 points over.    Perfect?  Not at all, but much better than being 28 points over my daily budget.

We had a good weekend.  I worked on Friday after work and Saturday morning to get stuff done (groceries, laundry, errands, etc). On Saturday afternoon Jason and I drove up to check out the REI closest to where we live now.  And a nice little extra, there was a dollhouse store only a 2-3 miles from that REI!  I found a pair of bike shorts that were an incredible sale!  (70% off original price). They are a normal short but have a bike short insert.  At the dollhouse store I was able to control my impulses!  I wanted SO many things!  But, I only got three items and those three items were things I needed for a dollhouse scene that I am working on.  When we headed home we decided to stay off the interstate and we ended up stopping at Pine Grove State Park.   We couldn’t hike or do too much as Jason is still wearing a surgical boot…and can’t walk much without pain.  But we walked for a wee bit and we have vowed to go back.  (The Appalachian Trail goes through the park…so definitely good hiking!). 

On Sunday I spent time in the morning with my mom.  It is so difficult to see your parents age and to watch their health decline.  Mom is still struggling with the after affects of the stroke. (Physical mobility) and another condition that affects cognitive abilities. (Which the stroke also affects ). As hard as it is to see your mom barely able to walk even with assistance, It is so much harder to sit there and hear your mom struggle for something as simple as remembering what day of the month her daughter was born.  (FYI she got it wrong). 

After time with mom I drove south and spent a few hours geocaching with a long time friend. (Since we were about 12 years old).  It was a good thing.    

Monday…and back to work and the normal grind.  Still tracking…still working on my water consumption.  And gearing up for my birthday weekend!  I know that there will be cookies. It is my birthday cookie that my mom makes once a year…on my birthday.   I have the recipe and I will be attempting them this year.   

So this week has cookie making, a trip to the podiatrist for Jason’s foot, and of course my 50th birthday.

My weight?  I’m sticking to the water and tracking goal.  I don’t have a timeframe for actually adding in the next healthy habit/routine.  It will most likely be next week.  i want to have at least one of my habits a routine before adding a new habit.  I will be almost two weeks into tracking at that point…so I think I should be ready.  Water…well I’m still struggling with that!  But hey, I’m getting better, just a long way from being in a routine /habit with it!