I'm Back....kind of....sort of

 I'm slowly getting back into routine....

Our Easter didn't go well.  I was due at my sister's house for the holiday.  As hubby is taking the ham out of the oven (we always provide the ham); my sister calls and says they just called an ambulance for my Dad.  Long story short...I still went to her house because other family was coming...she missed Easter; hospital kept Dad overnight but sent him home the next day and we have no idea what was wrong with him.  This is just  how our year has been going.

I've started using the Healthi app this week and have been tracking...I haven't stayed within my points, but I still have weeklies which is a plus, lol!!  The weather earlier in the week was beautiful...so I've got some steps in on walks.  I'm not really following a program but just being more aware of what I'm eating, how much I'm eating and making better choices.

I started following a young lady on FaceBook, Abby Loses 144, and I really enjoy her.  Abby isn't an influencer that has already lost all her weight and looking to hand out advice.  She's losing right along with everyone and having all the same ups and downs that we do!!  It's a refreshing change!  She just got her own Deer Run Walking Pad so we're all working on those steps or any activity you want.

I use to follow 2 gentleman from Canada that were known as the WW Gays.  They lost a lot of weight on Weight Watchers, were in WW commercials and would visit WW meetings.  They were WW celebrities until WW asked them not to visits meetings anymore.  It was kind of a downer.  Anyhow, they eventually moved on from WW and started their own program.  I signed up for it; but it just didn't suit me so I didn't continue with it.  Now they've closed up shop and are starting a new adventure which they offer for free!!  You read that right!  They don't care which plan you're following, everyone is welcome!  So go visit Jean-Luc & Nick and also visit at their FB page Jean-Luc & Nick on FB.  From their website you'll find their other social media.  The guys offer virtual step classes (no step needed if you don't have one), recipes and advice.  They are a lot of fun!

I was reading through a FB group (or it may have been Reddit) and someone was asking for people to follow on Instagram for weight loss.  A person was mentioned and immediately, someone was saying how not to follow that person because she's constantly starting and restarting and can't accept that maybe WW isn't for her.  I went to this instagram and what I saw was a person who obviously has lost weight on WW but has hit some bumps in the road, ventured out and returned to what worked.  Haven't we all done that? Haven't I done that?  Just read through this blog and you see me starting over all the time.  I can tell you one thing....when I put my mind to it - the program does work for me!  Let's encourage each other rather than bad mouth please.

In case you are wondering, I am following Better Balance (Freestyle/Blue) on the Healthi app; but again my main focus is more on the what and how much I'm eating and getting activity in.  I weigh myself each morning and see the scale moving in the right direction but until I have at least 10 lbs off, I won't be happy.

Oh, I've also started the Atomic Habits again.  Hopefully this time, I'll finish it!  I also started I Deserve A Donut, which isn't very big and a much easier read - it's Christian based.

HAPPY EASTER!

 

2024 Hasn't Been A Good Year So Far

 2024 - what can I say? We're only 3 months in and things just haven't been good.  

The first week of the year my mom needed moved from the rehab center to a nursing home.  None of us were able to give her the 24 hour care that she needed.  However, during that time, the nursing home was saying she didn't qualify for a nursing home; nor did she qualify for assisted living.  You're reading that right, too bad for one - not bad enough for the other.  During that same week, my brother-in-law, unexpectedly, needed to have quadruple bypass.

Also in January, my one Aunt passed as well as my cousin's husband.

My parents live with my sister J and this was her husband needing the bypass.  No surprise she was very stressed.  She has my Dad, her husband needs serious surgery and Mom's in limbo. Naturally the rest of us-myself and sisters E & S, jumped in to help with Dad.  Brother-in-law came through surgery perfectly and has healed nicely fortunately.  

I got the flu in January....which led into my 60th birthday....which meant really no celebration.  Though my sisters did take me to dinner.  They went out afterwards, I went home to bed.  For my 60th year I decided to invest in me by rejoining Weight Watcher meetings and buying a walking pad...neither has gotten much use 😞.

Because my sister hired an Elder Law Attorney (if you have the money, so worth it) we did get Mom into a nursing home.  Mom had her good and bad days.  I never seemed to catch her on her good days and several times she didn't know who I was; sometimes I couldn't get her to wake up.  It was sad and the mother I once knew, was slipping away.  I hit a point that I didn't want to visit her anymore; I knew I had to, but I didn't want to (E felt the same).  I started going over during my lunch hour; it limited the time I could stay.

Unexpectedly in February, my dog Dexter needed put down.  We knew this was coming due to a tumor by his liver; but it just was another thing to happen in an all ready stressful year.  I miss my Dexter Doodle Noodle. 

The end of February my Dad turned 90!  A celebration finally! Not a big one, but we took him to his favorite diner and that made him happy!  (by the way, he and mom celebrated 70 years in 2023).

Then March started.  At 1:30 a.m. on March 7th, I was awakened by a phone call from J letting me know that Mom had passed away.  We knew this was coming; but you're never truly prepared for it.  And also, once again, I was 7 days in with a flu! (no meds as the doctor says it was viral).  My work is very good with bereavement leave, so I didn't have to worry there; but we had all the preparations, contacting family and such and it just seemed so whirlwind.  We went through a lot of photos, reliving the memories.  My Dad kept insisting the photos of him in the younger days weren't him.  We told him that that must be our real dad - the mailman (inside joke, my Dad was a mailman 😀).  

We get through that.  And then, Dad is in the ER with an UTI....he was very ill, but doing much better.

The day after the funeral I went to Urgent Care and finally an antibiotic for my flu!!  It's gone, but I've been left with a dry cough that doesn't seem to want to go away.  And of course, we're starting allergy season.....

On Sunday we will spend our first year without Mom on Easter.  There will be a lot of firsts in the next year.  I think maybe Mother's Day will be the hardest.

So 2024 hasn't been a good year.

Hello!

 I'm still here.

Had a bad week but am still pushing forward.  Still off track most days, but not all.

Let's talk eating out shall we?

I think it's important to know what to order eating out,  because you can't avoid eating out (though if prices keep increasing, I won't be eating out much).

Like for instant....I had lunch from Chick Fil A :  

12 grilled nuggets (0 pt)  with a side of fruit (1 pt) and diet lemonade (0 pt).  I had ordered the Zesty Buffalo Sauce (1 pt) for the nuggets but they accidentally gave me BBQ sauce (3 pts); but the lunch was still only 4 pts total.  Back when Chick Fil A first started offering grilled nuggets, it was just that - grilled nuggets.  Now they marinate them and I really hate the taste, however, adding sauce over them really makes them taste better.  Chick Fil A is very expensive and I'm thinking to keep things cheaper, I need to keep fruit at work and only purchase the nuggets.

Some more eat out meals:

KFC:  Original chicken breast with skin removed (2 pts) and mashed potatoes with gravy (4 pts)

Applebee's:  Blackened Cajun Salmon (1 pt); 6 oz. Top Sirloin (4 pts); 8 oz. Top Sirloin (5 pts); Grilled Chicken Breast (0 pt); Garlicky Green Beans (3 pts); Steamed Broccoli (3 pts)

Chipotle:  This is how I build my bowl:  Brown Rice (6 pts); Steak (3 pts); Chili-Corn Salsa (0 pt); Tomato Salsa (0 pt); Lettuce (0 pt).   I keep fat free sour cream (up to 5 tbsp for 1 pt) and reduced fat cheese (1/4 cup for 3 pts) at work to top it off...but if I'm not at work; I get both of those items on the side to control it a little.  I also like to keep baked tortilla chips on hand so I don't buy theirs.  This is a more pointy meal; but if you have the points worth it.

I like to mess around with the WW app in the restaurant section and look for point worthy food.  It helps to prepare.  About every 4 to 6 weeks I have a night out with the girls; on that day I do mostly zero foods and not in large amounts.  I want those points for the evening.

Another option is to go to the websites of the chain restaurants and figure out points; remember their nutritional information doesn't take into count the zero foods list.

If you end up somewhere that isn't a chain, you have to play the guessing game when it comes to points.  I always try to find something similar in the app.

I know this post is all over the place....  I've been dealing with a lot.  My mother isn't well and isn't going to get better and I just lost one of my dogs due to illness.  So yeah, I'm stressed!

Let's Review Those Tries

I'm going to try to walk a mile each day.  (I have my walking pad to help)

I'm going to try to drink 48 oz of plain water a day. (This is what WW use to recommend)

I'm going to try to stick to the WW program. (Just rejoined in-person meetings)

I'm going to try to read one chapter of a book per day. (starting today)

Other than the last one....LOL!!  Actually this is the start of my week.  I almost have all the water in already!  I drink 8 oz. first thing in the morning; 8 oz. while I'm making my coffee; 8 oz. before I leave for work and 8 oz. on my way to work.  Yep, I have to pee when I get to work!  I'll have the other 2 in by noon.  Then I drink whatever I want or add a flavor pack to my water.

I'll start my walking today and I am tracking!  Gotta get to a book though.

Anyway, I weighed in at a meeting last night for the first time in FOREVER and at the highest weight I ever weighed in at.  Not good; but I'm there and on track and hopefully I can get some of this weight off.  We always aim for that first 5 pounds....but I'm aiming for the first 15 pounds.  I really need to get the much off and yes, I know, it's not going to happen in a week.

The Big 6 - 0

 So I turned 60 yesterday and it was pretty uneventful.  My one co-worker took me to lunch and then CC took me to dinner and movie with popcorn!  We always do that for each other on our birthdays - dinner and a movie.

CC and I had been talking about doing small trips on occasion; and since this was a big birthday for me...she gifted me a weekend trip!  We're going to Evans City, PA!!  LOL!  That may not mean anything to many of you; but it's where the movie Night of the Living Dead was filmed and we've always talked about driving up to see the cemetery, museum and the mall where Dawn of the Dead was filmed.  We'll also be close to Pittsburgh plus roadside attractions along the way.  No date planned yet, we will go when it's warmer.

On the Weight Watchers front....  as I mentioned, I rejoined and will be heading to my first meeting tomorrow night.  Hubby told me just to skip coming home from work and just go straight there.  He'll handle all the pets at home.  It'll put me there early, but there's plenty of shopping all around!

I actually got my six servings of water in today!  I tracked also.

Another thing....I bought this:

It's a walking pad; basically a treadmill without the holding bars.  Now I have no weather excuse for walking!  In case you're interested:  Deer Run Treadmill.

So I'm off to a pretty good start!

A Quick Update

 I haven't done well this week.  Eating wise was okay, and I managed to maintain; but everything else went wrong.

As I've mentioned, this hasn't been a good month (or year) so far for my family.  First we had issues getting my Mom placed in a nursing facility (one side was saying she was too bad for assisted living and the other side was saying she wasn't bad enough for a nursing home).  That got worked out but in the middle of that, my brother-in-law suddenly needed open heart surgery.  We had snow....and then my one cousin's husband passed away and now my one aunt just passed.  Not a good start to the year.  On the 30th I'll be 60.  I was expecting to start some celebrating, but I was hit with a head cold this morning...just hoping to feel better in the morning or the birthday is a bust.

On another note, I've decided to go back to Weight Watchers meetings; I'll just have to leave work a little earlier to make it.  Though I was stuck in a contract for the app; because I was upgrading they were really nice about it, they cancelled that one (and refunded some money) and then I was able to sign up under one of the deals for the meeting.  So we'll see how that goes.