Tighter and Hungry!!

I am definitely tighter today than yesterday. I know my limits and my limits are at the short end of 1/2 cup with no extra spoonfuls allowed. I tried to eat a small lemon yogurt as an afternoon snack and had to rest 1/2 way through before I could finish it. whooopeeee I am happy about that. Not tooo loose, not tooo tight but justt right :) so the food for today is: 7:45 cup of tea with milk, 9:30 1/2 cup of leftover cottage pie heated in the microwave, noon 1 small lemon yogurt, 3:30-I small Ice cream cone. 6:30-1/4 cup finely chopped spaghetti noodles with lots of turkey burger and mushroom sauce in total 1/2 of stuff. It is now 7:45 and Im feeling snacky. I have made myself a vodka and orange juice to drink and am going to hold off on going in for food as long as possible. I have been snacky feeling all day but am trying to resist. In the past this hunger has been the result of a drastic reduction in my food intake followed by weightloss..Fingers crossed that will happen again.


Progress:

Health-well you heard about my fill and food. I prepped the spaghetti sauce last night while I made the cottage pie so it just had to go on the stove and pasta boiled. David did both while i was at horseback riding with grace (she had 1 hour on the horse). We had dinner at the table (historically it was either at a restaurant or on the couch in front of the TV). Grace did a little of time on the Wii after dinner but had a melt down of frustration so she was banned :) I plan on getting in 30 minutes tonight and David will do his 1 hour of time at some point this evening.

Work-My body and my mind tried to pull me to the dark side of TV viewing and wasting time while I sat on the couch with a pile of things to accomplish. I did succumb to a short couch nap but awoke refreshed and got my job application assembled and sent off, finished a conference presentation for final edits, emailed several teachers I need to pick up paperwork from and observe on Friday and grades some of the online course that still needs finishing. Yet undone is the grading, upload the proposal, and finish meeting notes for the boss.

Craft-I did not knit today!! :( but I did cancel the knit-in for tomorrow out of lack of interest and made plans to go to a nearby shop with a friend to find and sign up for a knitting class.

Budget-The budget is working well. We have had a budget emergency averted :) we have three cars 1 big truck(Davids), One small minivan (mine) and one small truck (was the older girls as they went to high school). The truck is now in the possession of Cinda to drive to and from her university located in a small rural town without public transit. Over Christmas 'Cinda's' truck quit starting. The key turned int he ignition freely and would not engage the engine. We took it into our mechanic who had to think on how to fix it for two days. It is an old car and if it needed more than 500 dollars worth of work would have had to go to the scrap heap. Thankfully the mechanics figured out what to do and we only had to shell out 350 to get it fixed..phew I so did not want to have to look for or pay for a new kid car.

Overall goal rating-an OK day but not stellar. Work is a monkey on my back and I am slipping into old habits again. Procrastinate while i should be working and then work while I should be leisuring. Family health is still good. I might be able to get in a couple of rows of knitting tonight but I also need to do my wii fit work. One will probably have to give.

I Am Better Than Average

I went in for a fill appointment today. The doctor was all complementary and happy with my weight loss. I lost 8 pounds since the end of November. I felt like I lost maybe 3 pounds (why does real life feel slower??). He gave me a fill of .5 I am getting close to about 9cc's of fluid. I did the fill standing up and like last time it worked great!! easy in and easy out. Always laying down he killed me and had to aim several times. About half-way into the conversation he said to make sure and stay on top of the research study I am participating in (He wants to make sure his succeeding patients get counted). He then said...You are doing great...ummm you are doing better than average :) he is such a nerd!!!! but I love that in a man especially my surgeon.

So now I have .5cc's more fluid and I am scared (I always am after a fill). I had a nice cuppa tea when I got home. I nibbled on 1/2 a peanut butter and banana sandwich I had saved from breakfast. It went down smoothly. For dinner I made a turkey burger cottage pie and it went down nicely but I got full with my 1/2c and am feeling good. woohoooooo. Here is to the 3 pounds left until 100pounds lost and 7 pounds to onderland.

PROGRESS:

health: homecooked dinner, planned meals for week and went grocery shopping for goods. Planned in hidden vegetables for the family. No wii today but I did have my grandson and due to a lost stroller herded him and his car seat up to the surgeons office with me and back down again. My shoulders and back are killing me from it.

Budget: groceries were 80.00. We are trying for 100.00 per week but with a 40.00 dollar trip a few days ago we are already tipping the edge. I think some of the meals I purchased will carry over to next week.

Family: ate dinner at the table. Had Grace help with the grocery shopping by carrying the list and getting vegetables and things off the shelves. She got so excited by the responsibility that she wanted Grant (grandson) to also be allowed to pick up vegetables and add them to the bags. I can't believe I never thought of doing this before!! After we got home and while I cooked dinner Grace got in some Wii fit time and now David is doing his. I am pooped and am going to give it a miss tonight.

Craft: Knitted on itty bitty bag while Grant napped in the car and I waited for school to get out. worked for 1/2 an hour. My squares are much bigger than the sample and instructions. I need to measure to see how soon I will be done.

Work: Not much. I read some emails and read some of the introduction postings for the newest class I am co-teaching. I need to reply to them and start this weeks grading rubric. I Get my application off for a potential job next year and register for a conference this Spring.---I would strike through the register thingy as I have just completed that job but I cannot figure out how those of you who use the strike through using blogger do it!!! helpppppppppp!!!

One Tiny Pound Closer and Daily Progress

1 Pound!

I got on my scale this morning and it read 207.0. We woke up late as the alarm did not go off and had to get us all out of the house to school and me to work so I looked at the scale and with a sad sigh said to myself.."nope nothing today"..Then after lunches and book bag gathering as I was driving Grace to school it hit me...My lowest weight is 208 not 207....I lost another pound. How sad is that?? I have been on this weight so long I don't even recognize when I finally start making a bit of progress again. So now...3 measly little pounds to go until I hit the 100 pounds lost mark.

I am scheduled for a doctors appointment tomorrow and will be getting at least a little fill. It is time to get things moving again.

Progress:

1. Budget-I carried my lunch to work today and ate it even though I sat in the cafeteria with my office-mate who bought his! I skipped the coffee even though I wanted one really bad.
2. Family-ate dinner at the table. There was not much time after that before bed but Grace played on the Wii while David and I watched and cheered her on. See family meeting below as well!
3. Health-We bought a used bike trainer from a guy (craigs list) for $50 bucks so we can get into this Wii thing more. WE think we can play some of the games (running for one) while actually on a stationary bike. I Walked 60 minutes on a real sidewalk to and from my offic eand around campus at mid-day. As a family the three of us had a health meeting where we looked at our Wii progress charts and talked about our health goals (this Wii thing is just CRAZY good!! and they aren't even paying me to say that!)
4. Craft-I am saving a little knitting for after Grace goes to bed.
5. Career-copied to articles I had published to add to my work webpage and discussed letters of reference with my two bosses. had a positive response from a third colleague. Worked at my office until 4:30 During this time I wrote a to do list.


The bag is not felted yet and very much in progress. Honest it looks better in real life :)

Whooppeeee I Figured Out My Word!

My word for this year is Daily Progress. Alcoholics stay sober one day at a time and like them I am going to make one step of progress in each of my improvement areas everyday. I vow to copy this list at the bottom of my daily blog and monitor my daily progress. Now I am not an alcoholic but sometimes I think I am a put off aholic :) I suffer from grand ideas and little follow through. My improvement lists are going to be my test at follow through. Keep me honest blog friends!!

1. Budget
2. Family
3. Health
4. Craft
5. Career

1. No money spent today because we stayed home. Hubby and I discussed our cell phone bill.
2. Sit down to dinner together. Play the U.S. states game after dinner
3. Dinner planned for three days. All from freezer. Another day of Wii fun.
4. Knitted about 2 inches up the sides of the bag and posted blog below.
5. Developed website for work with links to my publications (I have been wanting to do this for 3 years!!!).

Knitting

The first craft project for 2010 is knitting. If you recall from one of my summer posts I often sit poolside with girls from the neighborhood with knitting projects. At a social gathering a few weeks ago one of the women discussed wishing we could sit poolside in the Winter like we used to. I decided we needed a knitting night right then and there. I have scheduled it this Thursday night at my house. I started a small felted purse project from my leftover scraps yesterday. The picture below is from kaboodle.com. Mine is a gray and black tweed on the bottom and black with gray squares for the top. Who knows if it will turn out as I am not a very good instruction follower. So far it does not look exactly the same but it looks good.



The little bitty bag pattern is from Knitty.com and is free.

Progress? With Pics.

I made a bit of progress on the planning and execution of self/family improvement.

We took action on the finances front by looking at the cell phone bill and getting cash from the bank (a two week allowance for each of us). We have vowed that we are only allowed to use our debit cards when getting gas in the cars. The goal here is to only get one page of transactions in the checking account instead of pages of small ones.

The Wii fit came out this morning and All three of us played on it. David is now trying to beat my spectacular one mistake on the step aerobics. Grace knows how to navigate all of the controls and helped me figure out how to sign in...arghghg today's youth ;).

I had a look for a new knitting pattern to start and looked through one of my technique books for ideas. I want to try a cable or something and maybe a simple cardigan for grace. This afternoon I am gong to do some work as Grace has a friend coming over for a sleep over.

I have split pea soup ready to go on for dinner and David is making a loaf of his bread. Lunch was leftovers of which there is enough for tomorrow as well.

I had quite a bit of trouble with dinner last night. We broiled some steaks and I made a scalloped potato thing. The steak was a little tough and although I thought it went down OK it definitely did not. I am back down to my all time low of 208 but the 4 pound still remain between me and my 100 pound mark. I was all ready to go in for a fill but after last night I am a little needle shy again. I go in next week so I guess will decide then as to whether I need more juice.

Finally-I am adding a few pictures one from last year and two from this..What a difference a year makes!!

Christmas 2008 with my daughter Cinda


David and I in front of the Christmas tree 2009


My Grandson Grant and I in December, 2009.

Planning How to Fill My Blank Sheet of Paper

Happy New Year and New Decade. After reading Simone's (The Bottom of the Ironing Basket) post this morning I am inspired to plan how I am gong to fill my brand new yearly inspired blank sheet of paper.

Food and exercise not weight loss: This last year went very well in the dieting department. I would like to continue the weight loss but now start feeding my whole family in a much healthier way. In the last few months we have begun to eat at home more. This has had a tremendous effect on our budget but now I need to view it in terms of health. I also want to get all of use doing more exercise related activities together. I have started getting on my bike (although not often enough). It is time we all started exercising. We did a little geocaching a few months ago and enjoyed it and there is no reason we could not do more.

Budget: We have been crap with our money. We have separate bank accounts and I have paid attention to mine but never the bank account that gets the day to day expenses. Yesterday I went though it and found that we make stupid amounts of transactions the fill up pages with 2.00 here and there. We also have some expenses that need attending to (verizon was one big one!!). David and I think we can cut some expenses on our cell phones and eating out. I think I can tighten up grocery expenses. We have a less expensive store near our house that annoys us so we have not gone opting for the more expensive but less crowded store. We are gong to bite the bullet and put up with people standing in aisles to save the money. We are also going on a budget with a weekly allowance each in cash. Hopefully this will cut down on the starbucks with a card runs. David and I want to visit the UK in the summer and I want a new couch. Hopefully stopping the frittering away of money will make those two goals more easily attainable.

Work: I have to decide what I want. Do I want a tenure track job? Do I want to take on several part time jobs allowing more flexibility at home? Do I want to retire (and am I willing to make the sacrifices necessary for that?). Can I even decide what I want given the children I have who need me to pay for their college tuition?

Time: I need to learn how to plan and execute my time in a more organized way. When I am working I need to work. When I am home on weekends I need to stop work from bleeding over into family time. When I am spending my leisure time I need to spend it mindfully and give my daughters and sometimes husband :)...my focused attention not a quick glance and comment from behind a computer or away from the TV or from the kitchen or or or.

Arts and Crafts: Sewing the pajama bottoms made me realize that I miss my arts and crafts time. Since 1999 I shifted my focus from leisure to starting and finishing a Ph.D. I have finished that and I need to refocus at least some of my time on things I like to do. Grace would love to sew and craft with me and I need to make the time to sew, quilt, knit, and bead. The good news is that I have a decked out sewing room in which to do this. All I have to do is go in there and get started.

So although I am not going to call these New Years resolutions in a sense they are. I have always had a simple resolution in the past. It was lose weight. I never really planned how I would accomplish the weight loss goal and until I got the lapband I had very little success at it from year to year. Something else I have noticed this year is that with the weight loss goal getting accomplished I have other personal failings rising to the surface that I am now paying attention to. A lot of those listed above contributed to the vicious circle of weight gain and failed weight loss. I am hoping this blog post and additional off post planning will help me succeed and truly making changes in my life.

On a final note: I had a horrible dream last night that I lost my restriction and discovered that I had really not changed any of my habits at all and bounced right back to my original weight in rapid speed. I am really afraid that this is correct. I am planning on making broad changes to how I live my life in 2010 to insure that even if I have glitches with the band my lifestyle changes will at least temper the damage that could be caused by band blips.