It’s unusual for me to wake up with a headache (at least for the last several years anyway!).  I tried to ignore it first, but it persisted.  It even got to the point it was annoying.

I tried to continue with my day for a little bit, but I finally decided to give up.  I took two Aleve and went back to bed!

I slept like a baby until about 8:30am.  That’s right through my entire morning routine and my commute to work.

Needless to say, I was already way off track for the day.  So, I had to focus on getting myself to work.  No exercise.  No time to cook something healthy.

When I got to work, it was non-stop, as usual, until I left at 6pm.  I went home and watched television.

Although I didn’t exercise, I did manage to stay within my daily goal of 2100 calories on MyFitnessPal, so that is a win.

Tomorrow will be a better day.  I won’t wake up with a headache, and I’ll continue on my slow and steady plan to weight loss success.

How was your day?

Part of it was stress.  Part of it was wanting to do whatever I want.  It was just a terrible downward spiral.

I can only take one step at a time to get back on track, and I’m starting today.  Here’s what I’m doing.

• Cooking – I’m cooking my own food.  I’m trying to stick to meals with 50% veggies, 25% low-glycemic carbohydrates, and 25% protein.  I minimize fats and oils by using herbs for more flavor.
• Tracking – I started using MyFitnessPal to track my food and exercise, so I can see where I stand at the end of each day.
• Exercising – Today it was ten minutes on the bike, plus a few push-ups and sit-ups.  Each day will be a little bit more.
• Blogging – I’m blogging to rekindle relationships and build new ones.  I’ve enjoyed meeting new people, especially those with similar goals!

I will probably start doing videos again, and I expect I will share some recipes, once I think I have them right.  I just want to share my journey, because it helps me reach my goal.  I hope you’ll join me.

So, after ignoring the scale for several months, I stepped on it today to see the following number:  343.5.  Yuck!  I thought I exceeded my previous high, but this still is not good.  Time for some success!

Feel free to say hi and let me know what you’ve been doing!

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I don’t know about you, but I just came off a holiday weekend filled with unhealthy eating.  A party Saturday night with chips, dips and tacos.  A barbecue Monday with grilled veggies, ribs, corn, ice cream, dirt pie and more!  So many calories and so little exercise.

Unfortunately, it’s not just one weekend.  Recently, I have been a little off course.  I haven’t followed my plan.  I might even be a little lost.

For so long, I had kept things together fairly well, and then little things began to slip here and there.  I missed one day of exercise.  It turned into two, then three and more.

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I was going to the gym every week to build muscle, but I have only been once in the last couple months.  I can feel the difference.  I was building muscle, and now I’m not.

I have been a little less careful about eating.  I was being very strict about my eating, but now I make some allowances where I have not before.

That’s the bad news.  The trick now is to get back on track and return to the level of healthy eating and exercising I attained previously.

The best way I am going to be able to accomplish this is by taking one day at a time.  I’ll start each day focused on my ultimate weight loss goal.  I’ll think about the success I have already achieved.

The silly part is that this should be easy.  When I get on the bike and exercise, I feel better.  I enjoy seeing the muscle I built.  I like seeing my body weight going down on the scale. 

I’m going to force myself to get back on track, and I’ll take time later to figure out how I got off track.  I have a goal.  I need to attain it.

What words of encouragement can you offer someone who has gotten off track with his or her healthy eating and exercise plan?  What works for you?

Breakfast:  Apple Strudel Bar; Egg; Banana; Crackers, wholegrain; Morning Coffee

Morning Snack:  Ham, low-fat; Banana

Lunch:  Pasta with Beef; Fennel Bulb

Afternoon Snack:  Honey Mustard Pretzel Sticks

Dinner:  Turkey Tetrazzini; Asparagus, cooked; Mandarin Oranges; Salad Dressing, light or reduced fat; Sweet Potato

Dessert:  Chocolate Pound Cake

Drinks:  Crystal Light

Exercise:  none

Pedometer:  none

Lately, I may have been going insane.  Every weekday morning I’d wake up at 4:45am and expect to get on the exercise bike at 5am.  However, I’d check in with work, find something going awry, and end up not exercising.

Despite my track record, I continued to plan to wake up and exercise.  Each day I was unable to exercise due to my work obligations, I would be a little bummed.  Yet, I did not make a change to my routine.

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My first approach to this problem was “hoping” that the problems at work would just go away.  After all, things had not been this bad before.  It’s just a recent thing where my morning is completely sidetracked.  I’ve gotten over that, especially since I realized that I think there will actually be some relief with my work problems by the end of next month.

So, I have finally made the decision to move my exercise back to the afternoon, as soon as I get home from work.  It worked before, and it will work again.  I do see a couple scheduling conflicts, but I think they will be much more manageable than my morning challenges.

I actually prefer to exercise in the morning.  I like waking up and finishing my exercise for the day.  Plus, I also have more time in the evening to do other things.

I finally resolved to make the change, because I need to exercise, and I do not want it to slip.  Also, I am optimistic that the work issues will actually be resolved, and I can return to morning exercise in June.

What challenges have you faced with your exercise schedule, and what have you done to resolve them?

Breakfast: NutriCinnamon Squares Cereal; Cottage Cheese, 1% Fat; Applesauce, unsweetened; Bread, oatmeal; Morning Coffee

Morning Snack: Yogurt, nonfat; Cherries

Lunch: Beans & Ham Soup; Beets, cooked

Afternoon Snack: Honey Mustard Pretzel Sticks

Dinner: Ravioli Formaggio; Zucchini, cooked; Mandarin Oranges; Oil, canola, olive, peanut, safflower; Barley, cooked

Dessert: Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar

Drinks: Crystal Light

Exercise: none today.

Pedometer: ?

Other times, there can be major roadblocks between you and your goal.  To get around those obstacles, you may have to adjust your path or your strategy.  The same is true with attaining your health goals.

Eating the right food is important.  Exercising helps even more.  If you create a calorie-deficit, you may begin to lose weight. 

EatingIntuitively.com is a paid affiliate of Nutrisystem, Inc.

Depending how much weight you have to lose, consistently burning more calories than you consume is necessary to reach your goal weight.  It could be weeks or months before you reach your goal weight. 

When the road gets rocky, it is very important to find a smoother path to your destination.  It could be a small adjustment to your diet.  It may be a change in the exercise you do or when you exercise.

I am on a rocky road now.  I missed my exercise this morning.  I ate a couple things not on my healthy eating plan.  I am working to get myself on a smooth path again.

I have already implemented some changes to my food.  I have replaced salad vegetables with cooked vegetables at lunch.  I’m also trying to determine if I am adding extra calories inadvertently.

Although I like finishing my exercise in the morning, it has been too easy for my obligations to my job to sidetrack my exercise.  I cannot let this happen any longer.  I really want to start the day successfully finishing my exercise.  It could mean I wake up earlier.  I don’t know yet.

I’m open to ideas.  I just want to get things running smoothly again real soon.  What ideas do you have?

Breakfast:  Cinnamon Bun Bar; Egg; Banana; Bread, whole-wheat; Morning Coffee

Morning Snack:  Ham, low-fat; Banana

Lunch:  Beans & Ham Soup; Zucchini, cooked

Afternoon Snack:  Zesty Herb Snack Mix

Dinner:  Rotini with Meatballs and Tomato Sauce; Zucchini, cooked; Mandarin Oranges; Oil, canola, olive, peanut, safflower; Barley, cooked

Dessert:  Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar

Drinks:  Crystal Light

Exercise:  none today.

Pedometer:  ?

On Saturday, there was a table of food ranging from vegetables to chips to salads and more.  The healthy choices were not as exciting as the not-so-healthy choices. 

I opted to enjoy some of the not-so-healthy food.  I liked the shrimp with cocktail sauce.  Chips and crackers with Mexican dip were a favorite of mine, too.  I had a variety of salads as well as a small piece of a sandwich ring.

I certainly exceeded my calories for the day before I got to the cake, but I still enjoyed a nice slice of cake.

I went on a 6.8-mile hike this morning to help offset the effects of the extra eating.  It was a great hike.  The weather was perfect.  The scenery was beautiful.  It felt good to do the hike.

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For the second birthday party today, I ate at a restaurant.  I think I made a pretty good decision for my dinner.  I had not had tuna in a long time, so I ordered it.  It was a reasonable portion.  I selected rice and grilled zucchini for my sides.  I didn’t detect much butter, so it was probably very healthy.

The rest of the meal was not.  I made an ice cream cake packed with goodies.  Vanilla ice cream and some sort of candy was in every bite.  Chocolate crunchies from Carvel were in one layer of the cake.  Toffee pieces were in the another layer.  A third layer was mixed with some sort of Reese’s ice cream topping.  The last layer just included everything left over.  Add some cool whip with peanut butter syrup, and you have tons of calories.

I don’t know what this means for the visit with the scale tomorrow.  In addition to today’s hike, I also spent about thirty minutes at the gym on Saturday.  Will it mean the scale does not move?  Hopefully, I will not see an increase in my body weight.

I’d like to be pleasantly surprised with a three-pound weight loss or more.  However, when I looked at my hands this morning, it was obvious that I had so much salt yesterday that I was retaining water.  My hands looked really swollen.  I look at them now, and they’re not that bad, but I don’t know if it means I’m still retaining water. 

It’s still early in the year, and many people are probably working on their New Year’s resolutions to lose weight.  How do you deal with January birthday parties?  When food and cake are readily available, your resolution can really be put to the test.  Please find the Comments section below and share your experience.

For some reason, I went to the refigerator, and, of all things, the quick barley caught my eye.  Yes, quick barley.  I put some in the microwave for about thirty seconds.  I then added a little bit of butter spread, salt and pepper.  I absolutely loved it.  Well, I loved it except for the little bit of guilt.

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When I think of other times that I have strayed a little bit, carbs were involved.  I have another example.  There were some whole-grain crackers sitting in the pantry, and they kept calling my name.  I eventually broke down and had crackers, again with butter spread.  Just in case you are wondering, butter spread does seems to always be involved. 

Granted, I have also had an extra boiled egg here and there.  Sometimes vegetables catch my attention.  More often than not, if I have a weakness for anything, it will be carbs.  Who would have thought that plain, simple quick barley would be an indulgence?  It’s possible that my limited selections in my refrigerator and pantry have forced me to consider carbs, but I am not sure about that.  Am I addicted to carbs?

Breakfast:  Lemon Poppyseed Muffin; Egg; Applesauce, unsweetened; Bread, multigrain; Morning Coffee

Morning Snack:  Yogurt, nonfat; Cherries

Lunch:  Beans & Ham Soup; Cabbage, raw; FF Dressing

Afternoon Snack:  Zesty Herb Snack Mix

Dinner:  Tender Beef with Vegetables; Green Beans, cooked; Mandarin Oranges; Oil, canola, olive, peanut, safflower; Barley, cooked

Dessert:  Chocolatey Nougat Bar with Peanuts and Caramel

Drinks:  Crystal Light; water

Exercise:  30 minutes on recumbent bike at 138 bpm.  50% of weekly exercise goal is complete.

Pedometer:  ?

Unfortunately, it was incredibly easy to transition from a good day to a not-so-good day of eating.  When I ate the green beans, I felt I did okay.  I mean, green beans don’t have many calories, and the amount of spread I used added only some calories.  However, I started eating the crackers, and I really, really enjoyed the taste of the cold spread with the tasty crackers.  At that point, I wasn’t eating to satisfy hunger; I was just eating for pleasure.

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For me, the key to avoiding this in the future is self-discipline.  I’ve been pretty good up to this point, because I have been so focused on losing weight.  I think my weak moment came partially from knowing how long I have to go to reach my goal.  I know, it makes no sense.

Anyway, I will start to think about other tactics to avoid unscheduled eating.  I’ve heard that drinking water helps satisfy hunger.  I can also lean towards salad vegetables (like cucumbers or mushrooms) for filling my hunger gaps.  I will not let a little unscheduled eating ruin my success.

Breakfast:  Cranberry Orange Pastry; Yogurt, nonfat; Banana; Bread, oatmeal; Morning Coffee

Morning Snack:  Crabmeat; Banana

Lunch:  Chicken and Pasta in Cacciatore Sauce; Cucumber; FF Dressing

Afternoon Snack:  Honey Mustard Pretzel Sticks

Dinner:  Zesty Cajun Style Chicken and Sausage with Brown Rice; Carrots, cooked; Strawberries; Oil, canola, olive, peanut, safflower; Couscous, cooked

Dessert:  Chocolate Caramel Bar

Exercise:  30 minutes on the recumbent bike at 138 bpm; I’ve completed 50% of my exercise for the week.  At least, I did my exercise, but I did not add any extra activity.

I’m not starting low-carb tomorrow.  I’m just not ready for it.  I will need to know what I am going to each of the fourteen days before I commit to it.

Breakfast:  two cheesy bacon wrappers from Burger King; coffee with the usual

Mid-morning Drink:  iced coffee with extra cream and extra sugar and cinnamon flavor

Lunch:  no lunch

Dinner 1 at 4:30pm:  cold chicken, potatoes and mushrooms

Dinner 2 at 9:00pm:  three fish tacos from Baja Fresh; banana dream cake from Too Jay’s; milk

Drinks:  diet soda, milk, water

Exercise:  well, I strolled around the dog park

Pedometer:  I didn’t wear it.

I am open to other ideas.  I need to get into a routine, a habit, that produces some level of success.  Obviously, I want major success to the tune of shedding 160+ pounds, but I would be happy with a solid ten pounds right now.  I will then try to turn it into twenty pounds, then thirty, etc. 

So, what has worked for you?  Is low-carb working now?  What about low-fat?  Where are the intuitive eating success stories?  Who watched “I Can Make You Thin” and has made it work?  I truly wish I could go on Biggest Loser, and just focus on getting healthier.  That is a once in a lifetime opportunity.  Has anyone tried a “fat camp” or spa?

Breakfast:  two cheesy bacon BK Wrappers; coffee with Splenda, Sweet ‘N Low, and half & half; diet coke

Lunch:  leftover pork tenderloin with stuffing

Dinner:  Dunkin’ Donuts Coolata; chicken, bowtie pasta; salad

Drinks:  diet pepsi, milk

Desserts:  designer muffins

Exercise:  none

Pedometer:  didn’t wear it