Weeks 10-15 at Home & Visit from Laila

October 3-November 13, 2011: Well, to be perfectly honest, can't say I have had a whole lot to talk about with the progress.  I have actually gone up and down since week 10 at home.  I think I just got sick of everything (food, exercise, you name it) and took a little emotional hiatus from it all!  :)  But I am back on track now, back in an exercise routine and back on track with food.  Found a great quote in a magazine I read:  "A set back is only a set up for a comeback."  Speaks for itself really...  And despite my set back of sorts, I am happier right now than I have ever been and feel ready to push forward with my goals!

Laila from the fitness camp came in from New York for a visit this past weekend.  She arrived on Saturday night around 7:30 p.m. in Lynchburg.  She took the train for a new experience!  We picked her up and took her to the Depot Grill for dinner.  It is a coverted train station and has wonderful food.  Even some healthy choices!  :)  Saturday we went sightseeing and to Cracker Barrell for lunch.  Took her to see several places, like the leaves on the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Mill Mountain Star, Downtown Roanoke and my office.  Nothing like what she sees everyday walking around in New York, but never-the-less nice for her to see!  Ha!  Check out our pics below.  You really do forget how beautiful our city is until you show it to someone else and really take it in.  Later Saturday night we made the stuffed peppers from our camp recipe book and I tried edamame for the first time.  Not in love with it, but I could learn to like it.  It is full of protein.  They look like tiny lima beans.  One tip though: don't buy the ones that are not pre-shelled.  The pods are inedible and it takes quite a bit of time to shell them: as Laila found out!  Ha!  After dinner, Dad started up the fire pit out on the deck and we roasted these gigantic marshmallows!  Yum!  Took Laila to the train station in Lynchburg this morning and headed to work.  We had a great time!

Weeks 8 & 9 at Home

September 19th-25th, 2011: This week was a little of a struggle for me with food.  I think I was getting sick of some things and just needed to play around a little to get back on track!  That's what I'm goin with anyway!  Ha!  Had my hard boiled egg and whole grain blueberry muffin for breakfast each day.  Then I had my turkey chili with crackers and fruit for lunches.  And various "clean out the freezer" items for dinner like tenderloin, etc. with veggies.  Snacks were applesauce and cheese, fruit and yogurt and triscuits with hummus.  I did a lot of walking this week, and not so much in the gym.  Needed a break from that.  Didn't do weigh in this week...

September 26th-October 2nd, 2011: This week was much better as far as the food went.  Tried some new things, etc.  Had turkey bacon with fried egg in Pam and a whole grain blueberry muffin for breakfasts.  Then had salad with chicken chunks, whole wheat crackers and fruit for lunches.  Dinner was turkey chili with sourdough bread and fruit.  Snacks were cheese stick and fruit, almonds and fruit and pop chips.  Did more gym this week, along with some walking and house cleaning.  Lost 2 more pounds!  Woo-Hoo!

Weeks 6 & 7 at Home

September 5th-September 18th, 2011:  Ok, so the last 2 weeks haven't been the smoothest in my life, but coming out of them both, I guess I have survived without too much of a pounding to my health!  My breakasts week 6 consisted of eggs with peppers and onions in a whole wheat tortilla and some baby tomatoes.  Lunches were my favorite: peanut butter & jelly tortilla wraps with some raw veggies and Dinners were mainly turkey chili wtih multi-grain croutons I made from some hard bread (easy: just cut them into small pieces, mixed them with a little olive oil and parmesean cheese and baked on 350 degrees till brown).  Snacks were my old stand-bys of fruit and cheese, 1/2 protein bar and fruit, and triscuits with a cheese wedge. 

Week 7, I tried to do something new for breakfast, so I tried Kellogg's Special K MultiGrain Oats & Honey cereal with skim milk, a hard boiled egg and fruit.  That was a nice change.  Lunch was mainly tuna with whole wheat crackers and raw veggies.  And dinners consisted of Turkey Chili (that last batch I doubled made a LOT if you couldn't tell) with a multi-grain roll.  Tried some new things for snacks too: did applesauce with a cheesestick, fruit and yogurt, and triscuits with hummus (finally able to eat it again after all those days of it in Utah)! 

I got in a few alternative types of exercise this last week besides just the days at the gym:  helped my dad and brother carry yard sale leftovers to the basement at his house which was 3 sets of steps each load!  Also walked the roanoke city greenway with my aunt for an hour and a half on Sunday!  Nice to do something besides the gym for a change.  I also did 2 at home "outdoor workouts" that I brought back from the camp.  Mixing it up is key for me to keep from getting bored or burnt out!

Good News/Bad News: Started keeping track of my inches again.  So in the last week I lost a little over 2 more inches total with all the different location measurements I do, but gained 1 pound!  What an unfair trade off!  But I have to remember that they told us at the camp this might happen from time to time due to lean muscle being built, etc.  Blah, blah, blah though when you actually experience it!  Ha!  Wish me luck! 

Week 5 at Home

August 29-September 4, 2011:  I was determined to lose more than a 1/2 pound this week!  Breakfasts consisted of 2 slices of Turkey Bacon, 1 Egg fried in Pam spray and mustard on a Thin Bagle with some baby tomatoes on the side.  For Lunches I had peanut butter and jelly multi-grain tortilla roll-ups with veggies on the side.  Then for Dinners I had freezer clean out foods!  One night was a piece of Filet Mignon with veggies and multi-grain bread.  The others were chicken, weight watcher's soup and multi-grain bread.  Snacks were cheese and fruit, 1/2 protein bar and fruit & those Kellogg's Cracker Chips with my Laughing Cow cheese wedges.  Thought I'd see how the Kellogg's version tasted against my Pop Chips.  They have less sodium and you get more of them for the calorie count, but don't like them as much.  Pop Chips still win out!  I hit the gym Wednesday and Thursday mornings this week doing alternating arms and legs.  Then on Friday morning I tried the Outdoor Workout our trainer Elena had given us.  Just went outside here at the house & did it.  That was a nice change.  Then cleaned Mom's house on Saturday for a good workout!  Time for the weigh in on Monday: lost another 2 pounds this week!  Yippee! 

Week 4 at Home

August 22-28, 2011:  I was able to get my notebook from the fitness camp all scanned and saved into PDF versions for anyone who wants them.  Went to the gym 3 times this week in the morning before work and did water aerobics one afternoon in Mom's pool.  Then cleaned a huge house on Saturday for 2 1/2 hours, so that was a real workout!  Great exercise!  Tried one of our camp recipes from my notebook for Dave's birthday lunch at work.  It was a crock pot meal with chicken breasts, tons of veggies like peppers, onions, carrots, zucchini, squash, couscous, low-sodium chicken stock, salt (actually I used "No Salt Substitute") & pepper.  Yum!  Then we had whole grain rolls with it and a Weight Watcher's version of Plain Yellow Cake.  The cake is so easy: just open a box of cake mix and pour in 12 ounces of diet drink, mix and bake!  Super moist and super easy.  The calories will vary based on the brand, but the Kroger brand I used was 12 slices at 120 calories each.  I do chocolate ones sometimes with a dark colored diet drink too.  My meals this week were pretty simple.  For each breakfast I had 2 slices of turkey bacon (key is to get a good one like Butterball brand and to cook it till crispy), a fried egg in Pam on a slice of Wheat Sourdough Toast from Cracker Barrel with tomatoe.  For lunches I had my old standby of peanut butter & banana whole wheat tortillas with cucumber slices on the side.  For dinners I had Chicken Tacos (from my recipes at camp) on a whole wheat tortilla with 2% shredded mozzarella cheese & a little taco sauce with a side of veggies I just cut up and through in a tiny bit of olive oil with Mrs. Dash seasoning.  My snacks were cheese & fruit, almonds & fruit & of course pop chips dipped in a Laughing Cow french onion cheese wedge.  Tastes just like chips & dip!  Yum!  Time for the weigh in for the past 2 weeks: Lost 1/2 pound!  Boo-Hiss!  But to look at it in a positive light, at least I LOST!   

Week 3 at Home

August 15-21, 2011:  Well, this past week has been a little less stressful, but still crazy busy!  With all the nice humid free morning weather, I decided to walk this week for my exercise.  I did that before work each morning all but Friday, when I walked in the mall after work.  Then on Sunday hit the pool at mom's for water aerobics.  Tried some new things in restaurants that I like.  Had the Southwest Grilled Chicken Salad at McDonalds that I love, but took off the fritoe like things on it and only ate 1/2 the dressing.  Yum!  Then I had grilled chicken strips at Cracker Barrel, with a baked potatoe and a tiny bit of butter and a side salad, no croutons and dipped in ranch dressing.  Yum again!  Also tried Harbor Inn scallops and steamed shrimp with a sweet ptotate with cinnamon only and the side salad dipped in ranch.  Also yum! 

Weekly food plan consisted of breakfast each day with a fried egg in spray Pam on a whole wheat thin bun with a tomatoe and some fruit.  Then for lunch each day I had weight watcher's soup (basically low sodium chicken broth, low-sodium tomatoes and tomatoe paste, then about every veggie under the sun  that I like (cabbage, onions, carrots, limas, corn, green beans) and black beans.  Love it!  And it freezes really well.  I had that with 5 whole wheat saltine crackers and fruit.  For dinner most nights I had a Morning Star Spicy Black Bean Veggie Burger on a thin bun with mustard and veggies, and some fruit or pop chips.  My snacks were cheese & fruit in the morning, almonds & fruit in the afternoon and of course, pop chips before bed!

Feeling "fluffy" this week, so I am going to wait to weigh in next Sunday night!  Wish me luck!

Day 28 & The First 2 Weeks Home

Day 28: HOME SWEET HOME!  I was so glad to be home.  I have no regrets from my trip, but I sure did miss everyone!  I left for the airport on the shuttle with Laila at 5:00 a.m. and flew out at 7:05 a.m.  Laila and I had taken our breakfast to the airport from all our buffet provisions.  Then I made sure to pack good snacks and a lunch too, so I wasn't tempted at the airport.  My flight home from Atlanta arrived right on tme at 4:41 p.m. and my family was there waiting.  It was so nice to hug everyone!  Then we left for Red Lobster, my first solo meal out!  I had one of the specials with seafood, corn and redskin potatoes.  And I even resisted the cheddar biscuits!  Wow, didn't even kill me to pass!  And for the first time ever after a nice meal, I didn't crave a dessert!  This feels awesome...

August 1-7, 2011: My first day home had me leaving for Richmond at 5:50 a.m., so thankfully Mom and Dad had gone to the grocery store for me with a list I sent them of all kinds of healthy fare for the week.  I do have a good mommy and daddy!  Anyway, I got up early enough to put the turkey chili recipe in the crock pot.  Packed my lunch and snacks and hit the road.  The hotel had a good lunch for us with chicken breast, white rice and veggies.  So I snuck my whole wheat tortilla out and swapped that out for the white rice.  Perfect!  And of course passed on the apple pie.  After getting home 12 hours later, I hit the bed to get ready for 3 more days of 10 hour work schedules!  I decided that since eating the same thing multiple times in a week doesn't bother me, I would try to stick with simplicity for the first month or so.  So each day that first week, I had oatmeal with almond milk instead of water, blueberries and a hard boiled egg for breakfast.  For lunch I had peanut butter and bananas on whole wheat tortillas with carrots each day.  And for dinner, the turkey chili withg a slice of whole wheat bread.  Snacks consisted of Laughing Cow cheese wedge with fruit for morning one and 1/2 a protein bar with fruit for the afternoon one.  And of course, big surprise, Pop Chips for the evening snack.  Friday was wonderful.  I slept till 8:40 and it felt great!  Then went to Cracker Barrel for lunch with family.  I had the grilled chicken salad and dipped in the ranch dressing on the side.  Perfect!  Slept in Saturday and Sunday too.  Heaven...  I tried some other places like Smoky Bones (had the BBQ chicken with sweet potato fries and broccoli.  Also tried Logans and had the salad with grilled chicken.  Very good too.  As for exercise, I needed a break from the gym, so I did water aerobics in mom's pool 3 times that week in the evenings.  Then on Saturday, I went to join Planet Fitness at Tower's Mall.  It's only $10 a month!  It has everything I need and is cheap.  Love it. 

August 8-14, 2011: During the 2nd week I switched up my lunch and dinner, but kept breakfast the same.  Lunch switched to whole wheat tortillas with chicken and swiss cheese from the deli at Kroger and cucumbers.  Dinner was stuffed peppers with turkey and veggies.  Had a few different things at Mom's house 1 night: flank steak with veggies and my whole wheat tortilla.  Olive Garden 1 night with the whole wheat pasta and marinara (Cappelini Pomodora), salad and NO breadstick!  Famous Anthony's 1 night for the low-carb chicken with a baked potato and veggies.  Had Harbor Inn 1 night with scallops and a salad with 1 of my whole wheat tortillas.  Seems to be an eating out theme going on here...  :)  I know it's just b/c I am seeing everyone after my time away and naturally it's over dinner.  Just need to keep on track and eating out won't throw me off.  That is something I have learned over this past month too.  You can eat anywhere you want, as long as you make healthy choices...  Even went to friend's house 1 night and made turkey burgers on whole grain thin buns and veggies for everyone.  I'm getting there!  Kept snacks the same as last week.  We had filet mignon, veggies and whole wheat bread for Dad's birthday Sunday.  Yum!

So I weighed for the first time since I've been home Monday morning and I have lost another 6 1/2 pounds!  Woo-Hoo!  Didn't have my tape measure handy to check my inches, but I'm quite happy with this.  Wish me luck! 

Here are some other random pics that I took on the trip...

Saying Goodbye to Serena...



Hangin Out at Target with Rae, Laila & Barbara Waiting on the Shuttle...

One of Our Many Drives Back  from the Gym...

After My Last Hike with Rae...



Shot Just Before I Left...



Shot Just After I Arrived Home...