Checking In

All right, it's almost 11:00 p.m. but I want to check in before heading to bed! I really want to stay accountable and I LOVE the support I get from reading others blog so it's keeping me motivated to maintain one for myself.

It's been a crazy day. Even though the fever seems to be gone at our home it's left my kids CRANKY! My one-year-old wanted to constantly be held. My routine ended up being cleaning for 7-10 minutes (if I was lucky) and then sit and cuddle for awhile. I DO love a cuddle from my little ones (hey, even my big kids!!!, and I mean BIG. My 15 year old is 6 foot 6. Love it when they come cozzy up with me on the couch.)

I just have so much on my plate a lot of times I don't stop to enjoy things. Today my mom and her husband came to town. I wanted to get my home cleaned up before they arrived but it didn't happen. I think they'll love me anyway. My mom lives two hours away and in January will be leaving to live in Johannesburg, South Africa to do missionary work for our church. She's trying to catch up on all the grandkid stuff she can before she leaves. Today was a football game (we won) and my oldest's orchestra concert (she plays the viola). Tomorrow is another football game, free day on Friday, Pumpkin patch on Saturday, a niece's baptism on Sunday and then my daughter's last cross country meet on Monday. My mom has 15 grandkids in town so she'll be spread thin trying to get in all the activities but we're glad they made the time to come!!!

Okay, so I'm trying to get really committed to this. I've gone back and forth not really knowing which way I want to go about losing the weight. In 2005 I lost 70 lbs in 3.5 months on a high protein low carb diet. It came off and it came off fast but it obviously didn't stay off. I want a little bit more freedom to eat whatever I want but at the same time don't want too much freedom. There are some things that one little taste will throw me off the deep end. Chocolate is one!!! I'm going to count calories fluctuating between 1500 and 1750, to keep my body guessing. As the weight comes off I'll lower the numbers a bit.

The big key for me is keeping a journal of everything I eat. I went and bought a cute one today but I might start another blog that keeps track of my eating. I made a yummy recipe, first time to try it. I even took the time to sit down and figure out the calorie content for the whole meal and then divided it by 12 servings. Each serving came out to be 350 calories. Not bad with a huge side of green salad. As the nights get colder one of my weaknesses is to enjoy a cup of HOT chocolate once my kiddos go to bed and I have a chance to unwind. I usually have a large mug but tonight I made do with a regular one serving size and it was just fine. I might change my cocoa to the diet kind to give me more wiggle room in the calorie counting.

I sat down to tally my calories for the day and I came up with 1560! Not bad!!! I was worried about making a normal casserole for my family and me eating some and having the hot cocoa but it all worked out. It's a good thing I didn't cave and have seconds on the yummy dinner!! I almost did but...NO SECONDS.

I did have a failure today, no exercise. I really have to make the time to do it first thing in the morning. My day, afternoon, and evenings get so CRAZY that if I don't get it done first thing it's not going to get done. This is a huge deal because I know the weight will NOT come off unless I get this body moving.

So some of my goals:
Exercise a minimum of 30min six days a week (I'll add strength training soon)
Drink 8 glasses of water. I usually do five.
Log every bite taken and stick to between 1500 and 1750 calories a day.

I'm heading off to bed. 5:30 comes way too early. Good night!