These are a few of my favorite things....

 As we inch closer to the end of the year and I wallow in the fact that we are not able to visit with close friends or family this season, I felt the need to reflect on the good. The stuff that keeps me going.  So I figured I would jot down a few of my favorite things, just to remind myself that things are ok, even when they seem that they are not... 

Here are a few.... 

1. That time in the morning on the weekend, when it's just me and the pooch. I can enjoy my cup of coffee and snuggle on the couch with a blanket and watch mindless tv or just scroll through social media.  I love to sleep in, but I enjoy this time more, so getting up early on a saturday or sunday is worth it to me. 

2. When my family eats every last bit of the dinner I cooked. It tells me that they enjoyed the feast, that the time that I put into cooking something filled their bellies and made them feel content. 

3. Walks on a dry crisp fall day.  I love to walk and feel/hear the crunching of leaves under my feet. If it's sunny enough to wear sunglasses, bonus! 

4. Hearing my favorite song on the radio so I can belt along with it. I will likely only get 5% of the words right though :) 

5. Family time. Just sitting together and chilling; whether it be playing a board game, or watching a hockey or football game. Love the living room being so full that someone has to sit on the floor. 

6. Receiving a text from a friend that I haven't spoken to in a long time. Reminds me that we need to reach out and say hi every once and awhile. 

7. A glass of red wine on a Friday night after a long week of work.

8. Hearing children playing. With mine all grown up now, I don't hear it often. I love the noise of children playing. 

9. Meeting a new puppy. Nothing beats a puppy. 

10. Hearing that a family member or a close friends has received good news from medical tests results. 

I will miss not seeing my family this year for Christmas. It's the first time in my life that we are not all together.  But we will be together virtually... not the same, but as of now everyone is healthy and safe and really that is the most important thing

Short Update

 Back in the 170s... again barely but back in there. 

179.4

22 days left of this year! 

How are you all doing with only 22 days left of this month/year!? 

Oh and Happy Wednesday 

Ending 2020

I had hoped that I would be floating into December in the 170s and would be able to "relax" a bit over the holidays. Well november turned out to be a bust. 

All in all I lost about 1.4 lbs in November.  I lost, I gained I lost and then I gained again. 

What a waste of a month.  What a waste of a year!

I was so upset when I stood on the scale this morning and it said I was 181.2. Back in the 180s, where I truly hoped I would not see again. Once I hit the 170s a few weeks ago, I was so sure that I would stay there for awhile, hoping to maybe see the 160s in january. Now I'm just far behind again. 

I was upset because I was sure I was doing things right. I kept my carbs low. I have not been eating out of the chocolate bowl that has been taunting me for the last few weeks. I have been good. 

But I have not been tracking - because in my mind, I did not need to anymore. I know what I'm doing. I've been eating this way for years. I don't need to track, it's a waste of time and not needed. 

I told myself that if my weight was up this morning - and I expected it would be because when I looked last night it was up. BTW- My weight is always about 2 lbs heavier when I go to bed from when I wake up. And last night I weighed 183.6 when I went to bed.  So anyways, I told myself that if my weight was above 180, I would have to start tracking again. 

So it was higher and therefore I have started tracking again. 

I entered my food in from yesterday and guess what?  I had about 1800 calories and about 75 net carbs. To lose weight I have to be in the 1200-1300 range of calories and under 50 net carbs. So apparently I do need to track. 

I REALLY REALLY want to lose this weight as it feels like I'm in a hamster wheel going round and round with the losing and gaining of the same 5 lbs. 

Tracking starts today! For reals...... Hoping to end 2020 with some success! 

Tomorrow will still be official WI. 

Weight Loss Q & A

 So a fellow blogger posted some weight loss questions and answers and tagged any followers of hers to play along so here goes.... 

1. What is the reason for your weight loss? 

That has changed over the years and there have been many different times I've dieted and tried to lose weight. It's been for holidays or celebrations (son's graduation), but this most recent reason was for me. I had visited the doctor and he put me on BP meds, I had a scare at the hospital one evening a few Christmases ago where I thought I was having a heart attack and I said enough is enough. BTW - I wasn't having a heart attack, my potassium was super low though and the results look the same. But anyways... this time it was for me. I wanted to be healthy and to live long enough to see my grand babies. 

2. What pitfalls have you come across that have made your weight loss unsuccessful? 

Laziness. If I stop trying, the weight just comes back on. I started my journey may 2018 and lost all the weight in the first 7 months. Since then, I had been maintaining although I would love to lose more but over the last year, the weight has slowly started to creep back on. It's laziness. I stop paying attention to what I'm eating. I get complacent, figure a bite here and there won't matter, but it does. IT all creeps in. 

3. What are your favorite meal ideas for weight loss? 

I follow a fairly low carb, higher fat diet so I rarely feel deprived when I eat. My favorite meal is a nice rich protein like a steak or salmon and then have it with a veggie casserole made with lots of yummy veggies and ooey gooey cheese.  

4. What are your favorite exercises? 

I am not currently exercising but I did join a gym in spring of 2019 and was going religiously until March 2020 (pandemic closure). I have not returned since it reopened.  I love lifting weights. I go between loving leg days and then loving back days. I hate cardio! Hate it..... 

5. How do you stay motivated? 

Honestly, it's the number on the scale still for me. I wish it was not, but I need that scale to move in a downward way for me to be motivated. When it goes up... I can lose motivation and feel a woe is me type of attitude. And if I skip the scale all together for a few days or weeks at a time, I lose all motivation. So the dreaded scale is the big one. But if an event or something else is coming up, I do feel motivation to kick myself into gear so that I look how I want to look for the occasion. 

6. How do you celebrate your success? 

Shop! I love to shop! And I love to shop when the size of my clothes changes... but I'll buy shoes too. 

7. Have you got an overall goal? 

I'd like to be in the 160s for awhile and see how that feels.  My overall goal is to be off my meds, so whatever weight goal that is, is my ultimate goal. 

8. Do you follow any weight loss accounts on social media, if so which ones? 

Too many to list :) 

9. Where do you buy your workout clothes? 

Old navy, lululemon, amazon, Under Armor. 

10. What advice would you give to any weight loss newbies? 

Your journey is your own. Don't compare your loss or your weight to anyone else's, but take their success as your motivation. You will have blips in the road, but don't give up. 

Point Two

 A .2 lb loss. What's the point? 

LOL... 

I used to have a scale that only recorded weight in .5 lb increments. So for anything to register your weight had to change by 1/2 a lb. That 1/2 a lb sometimes took awhile to come and it meant something when I saw the scale change. 

This .2 lb stuff is dumb. LOL.... I mean, my socks weight .2 lbs. 

Anyways... a loss is a loss is a loss. But really, is it? 

It's TOM week... I feel it coming on too. The nausea, the need to eat all the food (hence the .2 lb measly loss), the skin irritations etc. 

I really need to start moving my body more. The weather has been horrible so I haven't even been going for my 2 times a day walks with the mutt. 

Covid cases are exploding here so any thoughts of me returning to the gym are not happening. Need to start scouring the internet for some good deals on some exercise equipment. I'd love to get a stationary bike and a weight lifting bench. Otherwise, we have all the dumbells etc we need. I don't really want to buy new cause I do want to eventually get back to the gym and new equipment is so expensive.  

So many excuses. :) 

Quickie Check-In

Nothing overly exciting to see here. Had yesterday off for Remembrance Day (Canadian Version of Veteran's Day). 

But yesterday was also WI day. I hummed and hawed about changing my WI day from Wed to Monday but then decided against it. I have to stay accountable regardless of the day. With Tuesday acting like a Friday for me, I COULD have had a glass of wine or two, but decided against it. I had a big old tumbler of water and went to bed early. 

I lost 1 lb! I'm thrilled about it because my weight was up during the early part of the week which I'm pretty sure if ovulation gain as I was on track but you never know when the body wants to hold only extra weight so I was happy with the 1 lb.  

179.6

Barely in the 170s but I'm there and I do plan to stay there for a bit.... moving down, not up. 

My son's girlfriend just started a job at Starbucks and has some nice employee discounts so she got me this water tumbler. 

It's only 24 OZ so I have to fill it 4 times to get my daily water in, but I lurves it. Keeps my water cold and she's pretty too! 

So that's it... nothing too exciting. Hubby is off work for a few days so we will get an early costco shop in after I finish up work today and then just more of the same here in old Covid Lockdown Vancouver! 

God I hope they haven't bought up all the toilet paper again! :( 

WI Rollercoaster

WI day was today - my WI Wednesday and it was decent. I lost 1.8 from last week which I know was up a bit but I'm now at 180.6. 

The lowest I have been since February is about 180, so I'm about to break a barrier. Let's hope anyways. 

I was actually shocked that my weight was in the 180-181 range but I was pleased.  I had a bad weekend (3 day weekend) and indulged in things I shouldn't have so Monday I was up. Very  much up. 

But I got back to drinking my water for Monday and Tuesday and low and behold the weight dropped off this morning plus a bit extra! 

DRINK YOUR WATER PEEPS! 

I've been going back and forth in my brain on whether I should switch my WI day from Wed to Monday. I know I slack a bit on the weekend and my brain tells me that it's ok cause I have 2 recovery days before my official WI. Stupid. But I need to be accountable for myself and for all my days, regardless of whether they are on the weekend or not. 

So for now,  I'm sticking with Wednesday. I'll see how it plays out the next few weeks. 

Here's the really weird thing though. I went back through my weight diary (cause I do weigh in every day), and for the last few months I've noticed a pattern where I'm lower on Thursday than I am on Wednesday. Every. Single. Time. 

Maybe I should move my WI to Thursday LOL... but that would only move the needle one day forward. 

Such mind games. 

I do know that I need to continue to weigh in daily though because it does keep me accountable and on track as best as I can. 

So we plug on and try to stay the course as best as I can, and did I mention to drink your water!!