Mrs. G's Journey to Better Health

Three out of four FitBits are setup and charged. We all have different goals. It's a BIG deal and it feels a little scary... but I'm kicking fear in the face and not worrying about "what if I/we fail?" Instead I am embracing, "It'll be awesome when we succeed *together*." It's not too late. I'd love to team up with you too. On walks, FitBit, LoseIt, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter... other venues? Let me know. MrsG.Journey@gmail.com

It's getting close to calling it a day as I sit here reflecting on today's activities.  I want to share not with the intent to get a pity party, but with the intent to help others who might be having a stressful day.  In a few days my husband will be leaving out of town for work. He will not be gone too long but it is long enough for me to be a little stressed. I do consider myself an independent person, but having him around is what helps me be independent. Knowing I have an extra pair of hands, an extra pair of eyes, another parent to help, well, knowing he is there is sometimes all the help I really need. My stress comes from knowing that during the time he is on travel for work, I will not have him as my safety net. This is not the first time he is traveling for work and so it is not the first time I feel this type of stress. The first time he was out of town, I was worried because my kids were 4 and 7. Some things on our daily to-do list were not done. Some thi...

Choosing to be selfish for 30 days still seems like the best decision I have made in a long time. I was selfish in that I put my optimal health first. I was not perfect but the end result is amazing! What did I do? I went to bed at a regular time every night, ... well 90% of the time. I cut out soda and coffee, ... well, I only had 1 - 8oz cup of coffee. I did not eat out, ... well, I ate out twice. I had scheduled my meals and stuck to them, ... well, I stuck to them 90% of the time. I ate leafy greens everyday, I did this 100% of the time. I woke up everyday at the same time, ... well, I did about 95% of the time. I walked about 15-20 minutes non-stop at a very easy pace 3-4 times a week. I did this about 95% of the time. What did I stop doing? I stopped saying, "I can start over tomorrow," and started saying, "This day is NOT over." I stopped saying, "One bad choice can't hurt that much," and started saying, "One bad choice averted i...

  The excitement I'm feeling is so great I don't know where to begin! Taking a deep breath. On Friday, August 25th, I spoke to a Health Coach. She asked me questions, I answered honestly and shed a couple tears at the fact I hated where I was. The harder I tried to loose weight, the slower the progress went. Sometimes I even went backwards. Aliments galore and threats from many more aliments to come is not a way to live, it's merely a way to stay alive. *sigh* She gave me resources and I took advantage of them. I immediately started practicing habits of health. Perhaps not very accurately but I did the best I could.  I cleaned out my refrigerator and pantry. It was scary, I felt both anxious and nervous about seeing such a drastic change in my home. None the less, I was and am committed to reaching optimal health. My reality is I need help, more personalized help. Hard work does not scare me, it's working in the wrong direction that does scare me. Well, on tha...

ON TARGET! Today is Day 7 on my journey to optimal health. I feel great! This morning I got up and noticed my belt was not as tight as it normally is. I thought maybe I buckled it too loose? Nope, it was right where I always wear it. I was pleasantly surprised to say the least. I also noticed a slight gap between the belt buckle and the button on my pants. Tomorrow is my official weigh-in day, and I can not wait to see what the scale says. I have been sticking the program diligently. I have also managed to not drink any soda, tea, or coffee all week. Yes, I do miss them but my optimal goal is way more important to me than 7 days with no soda, tea or coffee. All week I stayed on target and today was a great day. I went out to try my hand at archery. Awesome! My arm is a tired from this new activity but I managed to also hit the target on the range. That was my arrow that hit the apple. I also managed to pop the balloon from 20 yards out. Not bad for a newbie. The introd...

Today marks Day 6 on my journey to optimal health. While I am focusing on me, my optimal health, and seeing steady progress, I want to digress a little today. In a roundabout way, I will loop it back to my optimal health journey. In the last few weeks, August 01, 2017 to today, September 08, 2017, we have been having crazy weather all over the U.S. In my neck of the woods, southern California, we experienced several days of high temperatures well over 100F. It was HOT . I do not do well in hot weather. I fell lazy, sluggish, and all I want to do is sleep in a shaded swimming pool filled with ice cubes. These last seven days have been great! Temperatures have dropped to high 80's and low 90's. It makes a big difference. Other things southern California has experience has been some wild fires. The La Tuna Fire started on September 1st. Today, September 8th, it is about 90% contained. The fire has been burning for 8 days and scorched over 7,000 acres. That fir...

On a recent trip to my local Costco, I saw a bathroom scale with big letters across the top saying "weightwatchers".  This got me me thinking about my bathroom scale and wondering if I needed to get a new scale. Maybe I need a better scale to help me along my weight loss journey. The problem is determining what IS a better scale for ME. In looking at the Weight Watchers bathroom scale, I did not see anything I personally felt was worthy of the "Weight Watchers" name. Having a large display is nice, but other scales offer this too. The box also lists as features having a high contrast, a blue back light, and tempered safety glass. This all seems like something I can find on other scales. The only thing I found at a quick glance that made this scale more appealing to a Weight Watchers member is the weight limit, 400 lbs. Most bathroom scales I have come across have had a weight limit around 250-300 lbs. So when choosing a scale, take in consideration how much you ...

Today for dinner I had Lemon Salmon and Lentil Soup 3.5 oz of Kirkland Signature Atlanticsalmon seasoned with lemon juice, (9 Smart Points, 340 calories) 5 oz of Tasty Bite Madras Lentils, (5 Smart Points, 150 calories) and about 2 cups of boiled broccoli. (0 Smart Points, 110 calories) Total was 14 Smart Points and 600 calories. At first look, I did not think it would be enough. I was pleasantly surprised to find it filling! The salmon I have had before. Instead of  using oil, butter, or anything else to keep the salmon from sticking to the pan, I use fresh squeezed lemon juice. Then I let the edges get a little crispy or a touch of burnt. This was the first time I prepared this lentil mix so I followed the instructions to the letter. The consistency was as expected for a lentil soup. It sort of reminded me of a light/thin, meatless chili. It did not taste salty, a plus for me. It might have been the cumin but I felt like it contained black pepper. I like black pepper, ...

The best way to describe the past 7 days is "controlled chaos." Today I steer my world back in to a more favorable direction. Seven Days Ago: The kids had Christmas parties at their school. I was surrounded by cupcakes, candy canes, hot chocolate, whip cream, chocolate covered nuts, gingerbread lattes ... a million different versions of sugar. Some parents are really good bakers and the treats they brought looked and smelled incredibly delicious. Double chocolate heavily brownies, peppermint bark,  sugar cookies, each one was more and more tempting. I did sneak in a guilty bite here and there but forced myself not to indulged in whole platefuls. It was controlled samplings. It was a busy day, I was exhausted and skipped my walking. Six Days Ago: Our garage is not connected to the house and so getting gifts from the garage into the house was difficult on account it was raining. Trying to wrap gifts while the kids were at school was challenging. I felt like I was play...

The busier my day gets, the more I sacrifice my diet and exercise. As usual I got busy with my kid's stuff. While these busy days did not sneak up on me, I couldn't seem to manage my time wisely and I could eat healthy meals. I ended up eating out more than we should. That always hurts my wallet and my waistline. *sigh* My first thought was, "Well, it'll get better next week." Normally, it would. This time I too many unexpected events took place and one week became two, which then slipped into three weeks. I did try to make good choices when eating out. For example, I chose El Pollo Loco over Carl Jr.'s Double Western Burger. Little things like this helped with the calorie intake but it was not enough. I also started sneaking in 10 minute walks any where and any where. If you follow my Facebook page, you probably saw a few of those posts. A couple of walks were not recorded by my FitBit because I forgot to charge it. Bummed they did not recorded, but feel...

Chaos running through my head. Emotions are wild and stress levels are higher than normal. As I try to calm down from my panic attack as a result of reading the blood test results from my doctor. There is time to change the future. I can change the future and the time to start is now . But first, deep breath, calm down and walk firmly in the right direction. Yes, I have encountered many wrenches and fallen off the wagon many times along my weight loss journey. I keep kidding myself that I can keep falling as long as I get back up. Reality has caught up to me. I had blood work done and this the letter stating my results.  Not horrific but, very bad and scary for me. I have three relatives with diabetic problems. One could have fixed it, denied it and is now insulin dependent. Another denied it and eventually a minor surgery took her life. I have seen their lives, I do not want to be like them. I will not be them. As I write this entry, I am still in panic mode. I do not w...

There are a lot of apps out there that can help keep track of calories I consume. My personal choice has been and still is Lose It. I'm not going to claim one app is better than another. But if I must, I will honestly say the best app for weight loss is the one you actually use. Yes, various apps have various features that appeal to one type of person or another, lend themselves for certain activities, lifestyles, visual preferences, etc. But it always comes down to one very important thing. NONE of them actually work if you don't actually use them. For me to actually lose weight I have found I need to actually use my Lose It app. I need to log, log it all, and log it everyday. By logging, I am forced to be honest with myself, I end up making better choices. It gives me time to think before I eat that package of cookies in one sitting. If I really want to eat all those cookies, how am I going to burn them off so as not to gain weight. What do I need to do to loose weigh...

Today was a CRAZY day. The intentions were good but things kept happening to discourage my focus. In the end, I am moving through my journey a little slower, but still moving in the right direction. The morning skies looked cool and offered the promise of a sprinkle or two Little did I know they would yield a large  amount of rain suddenly and in a relatively  short  period  of time. The rest of the day was on and off  sprinkles and rain. Then the fun began. I took my cat to a heart specialist to find out if his heart is strong enough to be put under to remove a mass/growth from his gumline. While at the specialist, I get a phone call from a number I did not recognize. I let it go to voicemail. There is a moment when I have some downtime waiting in the vet's lobby, so I check my voicemail. It was my bank? The Fraud Department? *sigh* Apparently someone has decided to use my account in Brazil, Massachusetts, and Virginia and rack up A LOT of expenses. No. No. No....