Experiment Results

 Well, the experiment results were non existent. In other words, changing "when" I ate didn't really have any affect on my weight or Blood glucose results. If anything, I likely ate a bit less and I ended up sneaking in some candy at night. I might have done the candy sneak even if I had regular eating window but trying to eat a dinner type meal at lunchtime is just a big fail. 

I don't have the time to make a big dinner so it usually ended up being soup/sandwich or eggs, or something leftover. I think I finished most days around 1300 calories.  But then I added candy on top of that. So..... nothing really to report. 

When I started the experiment on September 19th I was 177.4 on the scale. Today I was 175.9. So really no change. My weight got down to 173 but then jumped back up again on the weekend. 

My issue? It's not when I eat... it's the damn weekends!!! I need to somehow figure out how to stay on track during the weekends. 

But that's been something I have struggled with the last 3 years and really my whole life minus the 2 years where I was very focused 

It's so frustrating. My sleep is good, my blood pressure is good. I just would love to see a new number on the scale. I'm in my 50s now so I know it's going to be harder to shake the excess weight but I know it's doable. It is just going to take more willpower than what I'm giving it right now. 

Changing things up a bit....

 Well, fall routine is back. Get up early with the family, work, take dogs for walk, make dinner, watch some TV, take dogs for walk, night time bathroom routines, read book, bed....

At least that is my Mon to thursday routine. On the weekends, I change it up a bit. :) 

I thought I would change up my routine slightly as it's been pretty much the same for years and my eating pattern has been pretty much the same all summer. 

Get up 6:30, black coffee at 7, electrolytes at 11, protein smoothie at 1, lunch/snack at 2:30, dinner around 5. 

Although I'm not really a breakfast person, I think that is likely due to the fact that I've just been in such a regular pattern that I just haven't missed it.  So for the next few weeks I'm going to change only WHEN I eat. I'm going to eat pretty much the same foods, but just change when I eat them. 

On Mon to thursday I'm going to get up 6:30, black coffee at 7, protein smoothie at 9, electrolytes/snack at 11:30, lunch/dinner 2:45 - finishing up eating by 3.  

So essentially I'm changing my eating window from 11-6 to 9-3. I am eating the same pretty much the same amount of food, but I've been doing some research that changing the time you eat can trick your body in how it uses the fuel. I also start winding down my day at 8:30, so if I'm finishing up at 6pm, that's really not a lot of time between my last meal and when I go to bed.  It's really only a few hours different so might not make any difference at all, but worth the experiment. 

The caveat is that on Friday/sat/sun I'm going back to my old routine. I just enjoy going out for dinner on Fridays and cooking dinners on Sat too much. Sundays are family dinners so it's easier if I just eat with the family. 

It's only been a few days so I haven't noticed any really big changes. I do feel slightly more tired at the end of the work day (between 3-5) but then my bed time routine and falling asleep has been about the same. 

At the end of next week I'll check in with weigh in as well as how my blood glucose looks. I've been peeking at the scale and so far I'm happy.  But we will see how it goes over the weekend and into next week. 

At least it keeps things interesting for the next little bit! :) 

Adios Summer

Summer.... I love ya to pieces but it's time for you to move on. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE summer. I love long days,  the heat, picking up in the evening and going for a ride or a walk or out to socialize with friends.  Summer is one long party. 

As much as I love the 3 month long party,  I don't like the havoc that it puts on my body. I drink too much, eat too much, don't sleep as well and my skin takes a beating with the sun even though I do try to wear sunscreen all the time. 

I miss routine. I miss starting my evening routine a few hours after dinner and shhhh don't tell anyone, but I miss the early nights.  I don't mind when it gets dark out at 8 cause I'm one of those people that goes to bed at 8:30! It just makes more sense to me to go to bed when it's dark! 

I need badly to get back into a routine. Good sleeps, less food and drink and taking better care of my body. 

I gained 8 lbs this summer. On monday I was back up to 178.6.  I never got into the 160s like I had vowed to try and do each and every calendar flip.  I'm not even going to say it now cause I feel that making goals, just makes me feel like a failure when I don't achieve them.  So all I am going to say, is that I'm vowing to take better care of myself.  If the weight falls off (which I hope it does), great. As long as I'm eating better, sleeping better and moving more, that is all I need. 

So adios Summer.... it's been fun as always. See ya next year! 

Aug???

 I can't believe after such a slow start to our summer, that we are already over a week into August. Summer to me is July. 

Once August arrives, it feels like it's just all down hill.  Grass is dewy in the mornings, nights have a chill to them and of course, days get shorter. 

We rarely plan any family vacations in August, just cause it's not hot enough and back when the boys were playing hockey, august was all about training camps and getting ready for the upcoming season. 

Now that the boys are older and not playing hockey anymore, we have decided to reintroduce august vacations.  Well, at least for myself and hubby. We will take a few weeks off at the end august/early september and officially finish off summer. 

No plans currently made but we were unable to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary a few years ago due to covid, so I'm hoping we can go somewhere just the two of us, if even just for a few days. 

As far as July went, it felt like we were on one long vacation. We had our family vacation at the start of July and then we had a few celebrations at home with friends and then our trip to Portland at the end of month. 

All in all, great vacations and celebrations and uhm.. food. Lots of food. 

My weight was up and down all of July. Before our family vacation I managed to get my weight down to 171 and then when we returned it was back up to 174.4.  Then spent a few weeks getting it back down again to 170 and then went away to portland and it bumped back up again to 174.4... I guess that is my happy vacation weight right now!! 

So, I'm still working on getting it back down. 

I know I've said it before but I'd love to finish off the month in the 160s... maybe this time I'll be lucky?! 

One thing that might help me is that hubby is currently "dieting" too... not really following any specific plan but he's cutting back carbs and sugars.. he's seeing results already which will be motivation for me to join in too! 

So here is to august!!...

1 vacay down....

We got back from our vacation on Saturday. Had an amazing time. There were 32 of us in total that went away staying in 5 different homes. The weather was not as warm as it typically is when we go to Veranda Beach, but it was still nice. Saw some friends, relaxed and ATE and DRANK way too much. 

I knew it would happen. I just didn't think I would be sucked into all the sugary, floury treats. UGH.. 

And I'm paying for it now. My skin is on fire. It does not like processed carbs at all and I am basically one big eczema/psoriasis rash right now.   And I'm up about 3-4 lbs. 

Left about 171ish and came back at 174.4. So not terrible as I know much of that extra weight is bloat and if I get back on track it should disappear soon. 

I do worry because we are heading away again next Wednesday (20th) for our trip to Portland with friends. We are all taking our bikes as we plan to do a lot of bike riding but the food and drink is so amazing in Portland... and we all like to think ourselves as foodies so it will be a challenge. 

But after that, we are done.  Well at least done with group vacations.  The hubby and I have booked off 2 weeks at the end of the summer but that will just be us and so I can control the food and drink!

Going to spend the week getting back to IF as I seemed to eat from the minute I woke up until the minute I fell asleep when we were away.  Yesterday was the start and it went well. Did a 20:4 day with lots of water and electrolytes to rebalance! 

Now back to my laundry as there are heaps of it in my laundry room! 

1/2 way to vacay!!

At the start of the month I had some recovery to do from the crazy month that was may. Although I didn't show a gain at the end of the month, my weight did some crazy fluctuations during May and I know my body needed to do some healing of that. 

So how did June start? I started the month at 174.2, right about where I have been for the last 4 or so months. I had one final birthday celebration and although it included exercise (biking), it also included many stops at breweries, cideries and with a final end with a BBQ at home with the crew!  We had a blast and it was worth it. I knew that after this celebration, I was going to have to get serious and buckle down if I wanted to get things under control before vacation. 

oh - take a look at this adorable cake my girlfriends got me!! 

So right after my "final" birthday celebration, I decided I needed to buckle down. And then my period started. I had had a surprise period in May, so I figured I wasn't due until the end of June but nope.... it had made another appearance!... 

With that came the bloating and the cravings etc etc. 

I'm happy to say I stayed on track. Doing my IF 20:4 and even got a 22:2 in a few times and the scale finally started to budge. This week I was down to 171.5. I'm so happy about that. 

I've pretty much eliminated dairy, nuts (with the exception of peanut butter) and any snacks. 

I often break my fast with a protein shake with peanut butter and then I don't have anything until dinner which is usually a large serving of protein (beef, pork, fish or chicken) and veggies/salad. 

Feels so good that the scale is finally moving and my clothes are fitting better. I have some nights where I'm not sleeping as well as I'd like, but that could also be my allergies and allergy meds that I'm taking. 

Been sporadically measuring my blood glucose and it's been perfect.. Between 80-100 before and after meals! 

Hopefully I can continue this comfortable rhythm into vacation as I know that's going to be another hurdle. 

Father's day weekend this weekend and another family dinner out, but I'm not too worried about it. 

Oh... and the warmth has finally started to arrive!

Uhm, it's June!

Where did the month of may go to!? 

It's been a whirlwind.  Lots of celebrations this month, a few vacation days sprinkled in and not much to report in the weight loss department. 

I started off May in the mid 170s and with the known celebration dates in the month, I fully expected to end the month in a similar position or possibly worse! 

I also had a surprise visit from Aunt Flo mid cycle... so that caused some serious unwanted/unplanned bloat! 

On Tuesday 24th of May, I weighed in at 179.4!!! Uh...no thanks. Way too close to get back to the 180s.  It scared me because I had vacation planned that week, my birthday and a 25th anniversary party. All in one week. 

I still had the bulk of celebrations in the last week and I was determined to not enter the 180s for June! 

My plan? Intermittent fasting 20:4 and making sure I was eating enough during my eating window. Lot's of protein and fat! 

My birthday weekend involved a few slices of cake, a few drinks and a bunch of dinners out but I managed to keep within my plan. 

Today, June 1st - I weighed 174.2. 

Not bad. I will take it. 

Going to continue with the same plan for the next month as we have our main summer vacation planned July 2-9th. We are going somewhere warm so there will be shorts and bathing suits.... and likely bad choices with food and drinks! 

Would love to lose a few more lbs in the next month but I will be happy if my weight stayed the same and did not get higher. 

One month!! 

Nearing the big 5-0!

It will be my birthday at the end of the month and I'll turn the big 5-0! 

I'm ok with it. Although, I would rather stay in my 40s forever, I feel like I'm in a good place with my health to enter the 50s. 

I'm not perfect. Not even close. But I actually think I'm entering my 50's in a better state of health than I entered my 40s. Who would have ever believed it! 

My eating seems to be in control again. At least for now. I know there will be various celebrations this month that will tempt me and I'm sure I will fall off course, but as long as I veer back on, I'm not overly worried.  We have Mother's day, R's birthday and of course, my birthday!! :) And I will have cake! 

I know I'm not going to enter the 160s this month but I'm ok with that. I'm currently at 175, so not as low as I was at the start of April, but in a better place than I was at the end of April! 

So, as I live/enjoy the last 25 days of my 40s, I will continue to work hard at being my best self and entering the new decade of my life :) 

Now if the nice warm weather could just arrive, that would be great, cause I want to start wearing cute dresses and get my fake tan on! 

50s are the new 30s right? 

Willpower

 

It's been a day. I'm fighting it... but it's been tough. 

Don't need the cookie, don't need the cake, don't need anything! I will survive the snack monster! 

Spiral

I've been avoiding posting anything because I've been on a downhill spiral.  I didn't believe I was going crazy with eating but I am. And I'm still eating what I should not be eating.  Last week was my TOM so I ate even more than I usually eat. 

My excuse for eating so much?? My brain somehow thinks that I can eat this much... I've done it before and not gained weight, so why should it be any different this time?? 

Well, guess what?! I'm gaining. So quickly. I was thinking last week that it was maybe hormonal or something wrong with my thyroid or or or.... but I think it's just that I'm eating! And eating way too much 

I avoided the scale all weekend cause I knew it would be horrible. I typically weight every night and then again every morning. I tend to drop 2 ish pounds during the night and that's pretty consistent. 

Well sunday night I stepped on the scale just before my shower and it said 181.4. WTF!!!!!! 

I was in shock. How had this happened. Almost 10 lbs in a month. HOW? HOW? 

I vowed at that point that I would get my shit together. 

I'm utterly disgusted with myself. I know what it is... it's the cheese/cracker snack that I have after lunch with the dogs. Or the handful of nuts (yes I said I stopped them, but they have crept back in),  hubbies birthday cake, the delicious pretzels from the local brewery.. oh and beer! Seriously.... all crap. 

So... here I am, yet again. Inching ever so closely to my birthday where I wanted to be in solidly in the 160s and I'm now even further away. 

I'm going to try my best to end this month in a better place than I am right now. If I can get a full week of steady good eating, I believe I can get back on track. I might even have to start tracking again... oh gawd, I hate tracking!! 

Where oh where did you go Willpower! I need you back... and quickly. 

Eggs and my gut

Ok, there is still something going on in my body. I just can't shed ANY weight no matter what I eat or don't eat. I'm still intermittent fasting and I have cut out all processed carbs. 

Scale keeps creeping up. It makes no sense. I would expect if anything it would stay the same or waver down and then back up again, but it literally is just creeping up up up. 

And here is a new thing - I can't eat eggs anymore. I used to be able to eat eggs no problem and granted I haven't had them in some time, but I know that they are a great meal for me when I'm trying to get back on track. I could eat them everyday, multiple times a day and never have a problem. 

Well, I've tried eating them 3 times in the last week, including today, and each time I get awful stomach issues and let me say, I'm very thankful I work from home! 

Something is up.  My body /gut is just not happy right now. My psoriasis is on full flare up  (has been for a few weeks) and now with the digestive issues. 

Oh it's not just eggs. As soon as I eat any vegetables, I sound like the horn section of the orchestra!  And I eat a lot of vegetables. 

Something is def up. 

I'm doing some research and seeing if I can cut things back and really simplify what I am eating to try and figure out what's going on. I have almost 0 dairy, so it's not dairy. 

If worse comes to worse, I might just do a long fast (36-48 hours) and try to do a reset in my system. There is something in there that is not happy right now AT all. 

In the meantime, I'm pulling out a detox tea that I have in my cupboard and see if that helps release some of these toxins. cant' hurt and I'm home anyways so no worries about needing to find a bathroom quickly!! 

My research continues. 

Body or Mind?

There is definitely something wrong with my body. 

Last week I was on mental high because my weight was finally creeping down. Making a few small changes seemed to release whatever inflammatory crap I was holding onto. 

Then my period hit and bam.... weight crept back on. I was actually fully expecting it to. But guess what? It hasn't dropped again. 

I'm at 173.9 this morning. 

Unfortunately, when my period hits, I do tend to get the munchies. I haven't been eating the nuts or cheese or coffee cream, but instead I have substituted with banana bread and crackers and even a bit of candy!  I know that I did not eat an extra 10,000+ calories this week to justify the 3 lbs of weight gain but I also know that what I have been eating is inflammatory to me. 

So yea, I really should not be surprised with that number up there.  Surprised?, no, mad?... oh hells yeah! 

I know I can't eat that crap, so why did I do it?  I'm going to go back to my first sentence in this post.... it's not that there is something wrong with my body, it's my mind! 

As soon as I get the taste of sugar or carbs, my body wants more. I know that I just can't have just one bite.  Oh maybe I will just have one right now, but later I will have another, or tomorrow I will have two! 

It's an addiction. I know it is. If I were addicted to alcohol or cigarettes I would not expect myself to be able to have one sip or one puff and stop.  

I seem to give myself the excuse that it's food... I need this to survive! Uh... no. I don't. I need to get that through my head. I don't need to share a piece of cake with a friend when I go to dinner. I can just have my after dinner coffee and be fine. I need to just NOT have it. It will be hard to resist, but I've done it before and I know I can do it again. 

So after a week of disappointment of munching on things that I really shouldn't allow my self to munch on, I did this. I looked back to my post from March 31, 2021 and guess what... my weight was 170.2. So I have literally not lost anything this year. 

Personal vows and goals just don't seem to work for me. I am good for a day or two or maybe just a few hours. I just need to find the willpower again to stop to say no when the temptation is upon me. 

Small Changes or Just Hormones

 Last week I was seeing my weight bob around on a roller coaster but never really going down. It went up, it went up some more and then it went down a bit and then up some more... you get the idea. 

So I vowed to change up a few things.  My eating has been pretty good so I knew I didn't have to make any drastic changes, but I wanted to experiment and see if just a few things were causing me to stall and have bloat. 

So I cut out nuts and cream in my coffee and really cut down on my cheese.  And low and behold after a few days of skipping my handful of nuts after work and cutting out the cream in my two cups of coffee in the morning, I saw a drop. 

My weight on Thursday was 173.3 and by Sunday it was at 170.9.  OVER A WEEKEND!! Ok... that never happens. 

We went out for dinner last Thursday for St. Paddy's day. I had salad and a couple glasses of wine. We entertained friends on Friday and had a plethora of sushi and a couple wine coolers.  Saturday was a busy day but we figured we would just have munchies for dinner on Saturday (hot wings, a few nachos) and still ended up with a loss on Sunday morning! 

Say what??  But maybe it wasn't the foods I had eliminated. Maybe it was just my body ready to shed the extra water weight that I had put on last week. 

However, the weight continued to drop over the next few days (170.2) and then on Tuesday I ate cheese. And Wednesday I ate nuts. And my weight started popping up again. 

My weight was 171.5 this morning. So really not bad and just a bit over the weight on the weekend but after eating the cheese and nuts I know that it causes me to bloat and retain water. Not to mention they are extra calories that I really do not need.  Maybe the slight gain is just my body getting ready for my TOM which is literally just around the corner. But maybe it's the food? 

This weekend/week I will continue to experiment with different foods and see how they affect me. But for now, no coffee cream, no nuts and sadly, no more cheese.. at least for the immediate future. 

Like being in an ocean

 My weight is doing some weird bobbing around. When I last posted on thursday of last week, my weight was at 171.7.  A good solid weight and down from the previous week. 

Since then, it has bobbed up, and dipped down. Much like floating out in the ocean.  I have not been super strict which I know is the reason why it's bobbing and dipping. 

Weekends are still such a struggle. 

Here's hoping that I can keep things in order this weekend. That is my goal for this week. 

No snacking between meals and no processed carbs... the darn crackers and pretzels are such a temptation for me. Oh and no nuts. I tend to snack on nuts cause they are a healthy fat but I know whenever I eat nuts I tend to stall, or gain. So no nuts... as much as I love them! 

weight this morning... back up to 173.3. 

So frustrating. 

Moving Forward

The past week was successful. 

We moved MIL into a seniors home which involved a lot of packing, moving, unpacking and sorting.  We hired movers but my husband and I did all the rest. We managed to get her into the home and it's lovely. Hopefully she will be happy there. 

With all the moving activities, we were not great at cooking and ended up doing take out most days.  I was pretty good with the takeout with the exception of sushi night. But I'm not giving up my sushi.. no way, no how! 

My blood glucose is looking really good. I am currently only measuring once every 2 weeks or so, but the fasting blood glucose has been dropping and is in the normal range. 

Intermittent fasting is going really well and I have dropped the snacking in between my 2 meals. I eat at 1ish and then again at dinner (between 5-6:30).  I stop eating for the day at around 7. 

I have coffee in the am and then a cup of tea with ACV at about 11. It seems to be working for me in terms of curbing my cravings. 

My weight this morning was 171.7 so about a lb down from last week. Nothing earth shattering but feels good to see it go down. 

I have also started doing some mild exercises in the am (mostly for my blood pressure) which has been on the rise a bit lately. 

Slowly pecking away at the spring cleaning, which feels amazing to clean out cupboards etc and also to declutter.  Pantry is on my list next... that one is always fun! 

So all in all a good week. 50th birthday party for friend this weekend but should be manageable. 

Get me off this ride!

March 1 - 172.6 

There it is.  So basically the same weight as the start of last month and well last 6 months and let's be honest, the last 12 months! 

Will this time be different? 

God I hope so -  I'm getting tired of spinning around this Hamster wheel! 

I don't want to set any specific goals for the month in terms of lbs lost etc as numerical goals tend to push me in the opposite direction when I don't see immediate results. So, instead I'm going to set myself health and wellness goals. 

1. Intermittent fasting 18:6 or 16:8 7 days a week 

2. No chocolate 

3. Drinks only on weekend and ideally, only 1 day 

4. Declutter 2 main rooms in the house per week. Give away items that are still in good condition that I won't use or just throw away.  A decluttered house is good for the soul! 

5. Tackle spring cleaning tasks in the house like cleaning out drawers and cupboards and cleaning blinds and windows!

Excited to Turn the Calendar Page

 I'm just done with February. 

Too many emotions this month. 

The dog got sick, dealing with MIL and trying to get her into a home and a mismash of crappy weather. 

And on top of that, my weight has been steady. Pretty much weigh the same at the end of February that I weighed at the beginning. 

So Hello March!  I look forward to seeing you. 

not saying that things are going to drastically change this month as we still need to get MIL in the home this coming weekend and I'm sure there will be stresses that come along with that but other things will hopefully improve. 

We should start seeing warmer weather and can start planning yard work and what our garden will look like this year. 

Maybe I'll also get the weight down a bit as I inch closer to my 50th birthday at the end of May. 

I did not check my weight this morning but I will do so tomorrow and record it officially as my starting weight for March. 

Things I do want to continue is my intermittent fasting as I have been feeling better with that. 

I do want to cut out the sweets. Way too many bites here and there of chocolates, candy etc. Need to just cut them out completely. 

Walking 2 dogs seems more challenging and we don't move as fast as I would like. The distance that I used to cover in 20 minutes at lunch is probably 1/2 of what it used to be and at a much slower speed so I either need to move faster or move more often. It might mean taking the dogs for 2 separate walks again which will eat up more of my lunch hour but will get me moving more which I desperately need. 

So onto March.... Let's do this! 

Scale Obsession

I'm a daily weigher and if the number is either too high or surprisingly low in my mind, I become an obsessive weigher. In that I weigh myself every time I go to the bathroom which can be about 6 times during my working day. 

 Over the last few months I have been so proud of myself for not being scale obsessed. I even went a few days without weighing at all! Something I rarely do. 

My weight was always somewhere in the 172-175 lb mark. So higher than it has been and higher than I truly like it but nothing to make me obsess. 

Well a few weeks ago I started to see that weight drop. I believe it was a result of what I was doing in terms of intermittent fasting and cutting out excess carbs. I even hovered back to the 170 mark and guess what? 

I became scale obsessed again. I want to get over that darn 170 wall so bad and see the 160s on a regular basis. It has now been over 2 weeks and I'm back in the 173 range. 

 

I know I'm making better choices for my body and what I'm eating but I just want to see the scale go down and I don't want to be scale obsessed anymore either! 

I do like the scale keeps me accountable and on track, but I don't like the hold is has on me. 

Oh well, I've been like this since I was a teenager so I guess some things just don't change and I need to work with them, rather than fight them. 

What weekend?

This weekend was a blur. 

We were supposed to see friends on friday for dinner but at lunchtime I just wasn't feeling the vibe of getting dolled up to go out to dinner so I cancelled. Felt bad, but in the end, the other couple had similar feelings. 

I thought I would take the big boy for a walk - just him and I as the puppy can be annoying to him on a walk and he doesn't really get his true exercise, not being able to walk at his own pace. We headed out after I finished for the day, going for a decent walk with a final stop at the park for a run around. I let him off the leash once we got to the park so he could have a sniff around on his own. We stayed for a few minutes and then headed home. 

Later that evening, when my son got home from his dinner, around 10:30, he went in to see the big boy and say goodnight and something was wrong. He was unable to stand and his head was bobbing around. His pupils were dilated and his heart was beating really slowly. We rushed him to the emergency hospital in town (about 30 minutes away). They did some tests on him as they expected that he had ingested marijuana. His urine test came back negative but they said, it could be a false negative as he was still presenting with the signs of THC toxicity. My baby.  He must have found weed in the park. The vet recommended that he stay with them for the night, get IV fluids and they could run a few additional tests.  

I didn't sleep a wink on friday night. Saturday we sat around and just worried about big boy.  The puppy walked aimlessly around the house looking for his buddy.  The hospital checked in with us a few times on saturday and said that although he was improving with the IV he was still showing some neurological deficiencies. :(  My baby.  The vet said that it still looked like THC toxicity, even though the test was negative. They suspected it was likely an edible. 

Sunday morning at 6am I called them and they said, he looked much much better and if we wanted to take him home, he was well enough to come home. 

I was absolutely relieved. Thank GOD!!! 

That dog is my world.  I got him when I started working from home over 7 years ago so we are together all day, every day. We have our routine, our ways, our life.  I know I don't have him forever but it was way too early to even think of saying goodbye. 

One thing I know is that he is overweight. He's a lab!!! he loves food (like his momma) and as dog parents, we reward and show love with food!  Well, that has to change. 

He needs to slim down a bit so we can keep him as healthy as possible. 

So he will be joining me in creating a healthy lifestyle and healthy eating habits. It's going to be hard with having the puppy here as well, as the puppy gets so many treats with training etc. But it has to be done. 

For me, my eating has been on track. There was stress over the weekend but I still managed to eat under control. The IF is going awesome. On saturday I broke my fast at 3pm and then shut the window at 7, so 20:4 for that day!  I'm trying to do an 18:6 fast day and so far it's going well. I find myself less hungry and eating within that window is good. I'm trying to make sure I'm getting a good amount of protein and fat during my eating period to keep me full for the remainder of the day.  I'm going to check my blood glucose later this week and see if there are improvements.  

My weight was 170.4 this morning. Down 3.1 from last week. There could be some stress loss or PMS loss in there somewhere as well, but as of now I'm excited about that. 

Close to getting over that wall, once again! 

Progress

 Yes, my weight did drop this week although that is not what I'm counting as progress. 

My weight this morning was 173.5 so down 1.8 from last week. I'm happy about that but more happy that I have managed to curb some cravings this past week, keep at my IF and I'm feeling better. 

I have been IF mostly from 7pm to 11 am. Although on Saturday I managed to make it until 2pm. 

I have cut out most sugary carbs although I did sneak in a 1/2 donut on the weekend. 

I am already feeling better both inside and out. My skin has started to improve (psoriasis) and I am waking up much more refreshed in the morning. 

The weight loss is a bonus at this point! :) 

It's supposed to be a relatively dry week so will be nice to get out for some longer walks with the pups. 

Here is what they look like now... henry is getting big!! BTW - this picture was taken last week when I was having lunch.... they just stare at me while I eat! :) 

What is going on?

 What is going on here?? Well, nothing. Hence the lack of posts. 

Life is just trucking along. Weight is backup in the mid 170s... poop. I stopped weighing regularly and starting eating more. 

Time to get back serious. I really really want to be close to the 150s by my birthday in May. It's doable. I just need to buckle down and be serious. 

I quit the gym. LOL. ... so not a great start to the plan above, but I have not being using the membership since the start of covid and now I don't have a car so I would have to wait for hubby to come home and then go which just feels too late in the day. I used to like to go around 3pm when the gym was not busy and I could get my workout done and be home by 4:30 and get dinner ready etc.  So no real exercise is happening here other than walking the puppies. 

My eating has been bad. Lots of bread and carbs and stuff that I normally just don't eat. I need to strip that out of my diet again. 

I've tried to start intermittent fasting again. I stop eating around 7 and then don't eat again until 11 am. I've even switched my creamy coffee to black coffee in the am. The issue is now between 11 am and 7 pm. I need to rein in the eating for sure. 

Would like to get to a point where my fasting window is longer but I need to work on cutting out more food first. 

So that's me in a nutshell. 

Keeping at it. 

current weight is 175.3. 

Not the start to 2022 that I figured....

Well, we got Covid. 

Hubby tested positive on Thursday and so we have been isolating since then. My symptoms are much milder than his but his symptoms are still fairly mild. Basically a bad cold for him. We had one day of being super duper tired but other than that, we've been ok. No problem with appetite. DARN! :) 

The biggest pain has been the isolation. I've had to do online shopping orders and limit our exposure outside. I don't mind online ordering but I do like to go into the stores to look at foods and pick and choose what we are going to be eating for the week. I tend to plan my meals as I shop and see what is fresh and/or on sale. 

It's monday today and I basically am completely fine. Hubby is still a bit sick. I had my two vaccines and booster, but hubby only has 2 vaccines. Perhaps the booster kept my symptoms on the milder side?? 

I'm very thankful that we had mild cases of Covid and hoping that is it for awhile.  I know many that have had a much harder struggle with the virus so I do count my blessings that we got through it ok and quickly. 

Stepped on the scale today. 170.9. Inching in the right direction. 

Hoping the rest of January is uneventful. 

Happy New Year!!

 My life continues being a mom to a very demanding puppy! Yes, I do believe I have created the monster but he's so darn cute! 

Not much has been happening the last few weeks. We celebrated Christmas and NYE. More covid restrictions here so they were both somewhat quiet. Well NYE we had our best friends over for dinner and I got very very very drunk. I didn't drink very much but it hit me hard and fast. Right in the middle of a board game it hit me.  I actually think I had alcohol poisoning. If I hadn't recovered by the following day I would have thought I had some other kind of illness. It was bad, very bad and even though I made it to midnight I also spent the following 15 hours in my bed, moaning and groaning and dying so to speak. Will be awhile before I drink again. 

Other than the eventful NYE, everything else was really quiet. I ate way too much over the holidays and all the wrong foods. 

My psoriasis flared up again and so I know it's related to carbohydrates and sugar. So back on the low carb bus for me. 

My weight is up, but not drastically. I think I was 173 this morning which is what is has been for the past 2 weeks so up about 2 lbs or so. Still unable to crack that 170. 

That's my goal this year... to get into the 160s..and stay there! 

2021 was the 170s,  2022 is going to be the 160s! If I can get there, I think my body will be happy. Maybe I'll get into the 150s but I doubt it. We will see though. 

So no big new years resolutions over here other than to get back to eating better. More greens, less carbs, less sugar and more water. 

We got this. 

And as requested.... pics of Henry and Murphy. Hen is 30lbs now!!! 

out for a walk on Christmas day! BTW we never have snow on Christmas Day!

Henry absolutely loves his big brother - big brother is still not completely sold on the idea of a little brother