Shelley: Day 11 Long Time No Chat!

First, I'm still going strong.  Second, I am going to do better blogging since it keeps me honest.  It's been a busy few days.  But since my house looks like a tornado hit I'm going to keep this short and get to cleaning.

I'll be the first to admit that when I'm dieting I can't give an inch or else I really struggle and having my birthday just a week in was a real test.  However, today I did fabulously.  The only time I was really tempted was dinner.  We decided to hit Panera since all of the kids were already in the car and Jason's train was arriving just as we got home from a super fun day playing with friends.  Anyway, they have a broccoli cheddar soup that is YUMO.  Heavy in veggies, not too cream or fat heavy but still more calories than the veggie soup I decided to order. 

Another little note, I updated my ticker but it's for what I weighed last Friday since I haven't had a chance to get to my scale since then. 

Here's the breakdown:

240 Cal Kellogg's breakfast Sami (I was in a hurry and this was just easy.)
40 Cal Caramel
290 Cal PJ Skinny Organic Burrito (They had these at Costco.)
30 Cal Fire Roasted Salsa (Also from Costco and it was AWESOME.)
149 Cal Chicken Little (This was a terrible idea but I was really hungry and it was low in cal.)
260 Cal Turkey Avacado BLT from Panera
150 Cal Bowl of Garden Veggie Soup From Panera
45 Cal Pinkberry (A few bites of Pinkberry stolen from my adorable Will.  Thank goodness he's great at sharing!)
60 Cal a Dove Mini Ice Cream Bar

Total 1,264

BMR CALC: 1786.25-(1,264+100) Cal for random snitching = 422.25. Deficit  (Feeling good!  This is the path I need to be on! 

It's Friday!!

Ok ok so I know it's been a few days but I have been being good I'm just way tired by the end of the day and so at night I just want to go to sleep. But just to update everyone I have been behaving and eating within my calorie restrictions except perhaps for today :) Dan was home today and so we did a lot of cleaning this morning. Our little man helped out a ton and was being so sweet and cute and good that we decided to reward him and let him pick what we would have for lunch. I figured he would say noodles which stands for Mongolian BBQ. And that was fine by me cause I knew I could be good there and also get nice and full. But to my surprise he said PIZZA! So we went to Premier pizza and I had a salad and one slice of pizza. But their one slice is ginormous!  It tasted WAAAY good though :). One thing about me is that if I begin to blow it for the day and eat naughty just once I continue to blow the day. So I didn't count calories today. Although for dinner we had BBQ chicken and grilled veggies!  Oh well tomorrow is a new day and I will be better! 
Before say goodnight I need to give a shout out to Shelley. You are a rock star and have been so good this week! Keep it up! And I'm super impressed that you took all three kiddos to HH by yourself! You totally deserved Icing on the Cake! :) I hope you had a great birthday!
Until tomorrow ...happy dieting!

Shelley: Day 6 - It's a Birth. . .Day!

Today was crazy, crazy, crazy.  It's my birthday so I decided to kind of take the day off.  I didn't go crazy, and no cake but I did eat some French Macarons because I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them!  I only had three which sounds like a lot but they are pretty small. 

I took all three kids solo to Happy Hollow and we did a lot.  We didn't just walk around we did the rides (Yep, all three kids!)  It was HOT so I may have burned enough calories to compensate for where I was a bit naughty.  However, as a gift to myself I'm not going to count today though if I did I don't think I would have done so bad as to wipe out all of my progress for the week.  I'll be weighing in tomorrow and updating my ticker so stay tuned!

Until tomorrow. . .

Shelley Day 5...Ahhh, Self Control

Today was something of a challenge.  I do best when I make a plan, act on it, and repeat, repeat, repeat!  If you read the blog often (not that many do:)) but if you do you'll notice I end up eating a lot of the same things.  This is for a few reasons:

 1.  I don't need to look up calories for everything I eat since even with baby brain x3 I can still remember yesterday...mostly anyway...
2.  I shop at Costco because I have three kids and they have carts that work for me and they have a ton of organic produce that is very affordable
3.  I have OCD and can't help myself.  I'm a pattern girl.

Anyway, I ran out of hummus last night which threw me off my game and Cannon had an appointment today (Turns out the reason his eyes seem to be getting worse is that his RX is still off but we should have it now.)  So, no excuses, but I just didn't feel as on top of it today.  We'll see how bad it was when I do the math in a second.

140 Cal Chobani Greek Yogurt
21 Cal Hershey Kiss
39 Cal Popcorn
25 Cal Cheese
45 Cal Cuke and Hot Sauce
40 Cal See's Dark Choc Ball (I had a serious need for choc today!)
340 Cal Petite California Sami from Le Boulanger
60 Cal Cup of Le Bou Roasted Red Pepper Soup (This was spicy but really good)
100 Cal Fries (I know I can't believe I did this again. . .best not to make this a habit, but we happened to be at Costco)
100 Cal Costco Samples
360 Cal Chicken Meatballs and 1/2 Cup of Marinara Sauce
25 Cal Caramel
60 Cal Hummus
45 Cal Cuke

1,400 Total

BMR CALC: 1786.25-(1,400+100) Cal for random snitching = 286.25. Deficit (This is definitely a number that needs help from exercise and I did not get around enough today. . .maybe Happy Hollow tomorrow solo with three kids would burn some calories. . .;)).

See you tomorrow!  

Shelley Day 3 - Replacing This With That

Busy day today.  We had repair guys, (yes, the AC is an issue again), went to Costco, the park, and all kinds of things.  Everyone was exahusted and Jason worked late so dinner was Subway. 

I've decided to start a new thing tonight:  Tempted by. . .but actually ate...

For Example:  Today I was tempted to get a Starbucks Double Chocolaty Chip Frappachino (non-fat milk, but still kind of naughty) but I actually drank a diet coke from McDonalds.  I was craving something cold since it was so hot and a calorie free option was much wiser.

The only downside to this plan was that when we got to McDonalds, Will asked for fries.  I obliged since I knew he was starving and the twins had a couple as well.  I made sure to order a small.  The whole order of fries was 230 cal and I ate about 100 cal worth which was fine given I'd been really good all day.

I was a little naughty at dinner and without thinking ordered cheese on my Sami.  I should have omitted it but alas, there we are.  I am definitely out of practice.

Today's Intake:

200 Cal Oatmeal
120 Cal Hummus
45 Cal Cuke
40 Cal 1 Cup Skinny Pop Popcorn
100 Cal Cheese
100 Cal Fries
640 Cal  12" Turkey Ham sami from Subway
50 Cal Caramel
21 Cal Hershey Kiss
60 Cal Hummus
45 Cal Cuke

1,421 Total

BMR CALC: 1786.25-(1,421+50) Cal for random snitching of fruit, mostly grapes = 315.25. Deficit

I was going to be good and wait to weigh myself at the end of the week but I cheated and weighed myself tonight and things are looking good.  I love seeing daily progress.  I'll update my ticker at the end of the week.  

Katie, it was good to chat with you today to remind myself of good ideas.  You guys are the best!  I wish we had a grill.  Silly city rules! Keep up the good work Katie!  You are inspiring me!

Shelley Day Two: Cucumbers Rule!!

Another great day!  I managed to get a lot of errands done and I ate just right!  I really love cucumbers!  So much volume for so little calories and I love the flavor and nutrition.  I really like eating them with hummus and Frank's Red Hot Sauce.  It's late and I still have a lot of cleaning to do so here's the skinny:

Today's Intake:

200 Cal Oatmeal
70 Cal OJ
45 Cal Cuke
120 Cal Hummus
100 Cal Grapes
430 The Daily Sami from Erik's Deli
160 Cal Tomato Soup from Erik's Deli
21 Cal Herskey Kiss
45 Cal Cuke
60 Cal Hummus

Total 1,251

BMR CALC: 1786.25-1251+200 Cal for random snitching (Hey, no judging, it happens when you have little kids)= 335.25 Deficit

It feels fablous to be back on the wagon!  Here's to feeling good and eating well!!

Day 1 and 2
I was going to post yesterday but I was way tired by the time I had a chance to sit down and blog, so I opted for sleep :)  Its nice to be back on the diet wagon, however this time things are a bit different for me as I have a new born that I am nursing.  I don't want my milk to dry up so I get to eat more calories than I did last time!!  Last time I was dieting I was very strict and only ate 1200 calories each day.  However as I said previously I am just beginning to nurse and I need more calories in order to ensure I have enough milk for a baby girl.  So I am going to start out with consuming 1900 calories, if I can cut back and keep my milk I will.
Here is a quick run down of what I ate yesterday and today.  I am pretty tired and so I am just going to confess to how many calories I consumed yesterday and today.
Yesterday was a good day for me and I ate 1900!  I was actually pretty surprised at how much I could eat cause 1900 calories is alot more than 1200 and it was easy to not go over that amount!
Today however has been a different story.  I did really good for breakfast and lunch, but this afternoon was a difficult afternoon and when I am upset I eat my feelings.  So for dinner we went out and had Chinese food in all its yummy fried glory!  Therefore I don't know how many calories I consumed today.  And to top it all off I had frozen yogurt for dessert.  SO I am pretty sure I am over my calories for the day.  Oh well tomorrow is a new day and I will do better!
Well I am off to bed!  Until tomorrow . . . Happy Dieting!!

It's On!!!

Katie, AKA Superwoman, called me up the other day and asked if I was ready to get back on the wagon.  The answer, YES!!  I was all set as of my last post to do better and then everything went crazy.  Some health things with the kids and seeming perpetual illness with the kids made for a long few months.  We are all on the mend and now that we've eliminated the twins' second nap and Will's nap altogether the day has really opened up.

I've had tendinitis in my hip which has kept me from being super active and now that it's gotten much better I'm so so so ready to get out and doing stuff again.  I'm going to be using the same plan as last time.  I'll be using my BMR calculation to keep myself in check.

So for those who weren't with us the first go around here's the plan:

Strategy:

I'm a thinker, I just can't help myself. I think I've read just about every diet book and then tried and failed at all of them. The truth of the matter is this, eat less move more.

In order to know just how much less I need to eat I calculated my BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) which is 1786.25. Essentially, as long as I eat less than 1786.25 calories each day I will lose weight. There are roughly 3,500 calories in a pound so each time the number of calories I don't eat add up to 3,500 I should be down a pound.

Below is the BMR formula but you can also just Google a BMR calculator:

Women(the calculation is different for men): BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )

In an effort to not just drop pounds but change my lifestyle I am going to work on the following:

1. Reduce the volume of diet soda I drink (this is going to be the real challenge) and exchange it for water.

2. Always park at the back of parking lots and always take the stairs.

3. Try not to be grumpy with my husband even when I'm super hungry;)

I know this post is getting a little too long but I just want to say thank you to Katie for doing this with me. I'm the kind of person who needs outside help for weight-loss motivation. A competition is just what the doctor ordered and I can't wait to be "The Biggest Loser" so bring your A game lady, it's ON!

Today's Intake:

200 cal Steal Cut Oatmeal

70 cal OJ

45 Cal Seedless Cuke

60 Cal Hummus

100 Cal Gouda Cheese
300 Cal Whole Wheat Rotini
35 Cal Watermelon
73 Cal Chocolate Hazelbut Lindt Ball
110 Cal Skinny Cow Peanut Butter Crisp
155 Skinny Pop Popcorn (I am praying Costco doesn't stop carrying this, it's perfection!!!)
45 Cal Seedless Cuke
60 Cal Hummus

1568 Calories

BMR CALC: 1786.25-1568= 218.25 Deficit (I might need to get more aggressive  we'll see how this pace suits me.)

Katie, if you made it to the bottom of this, I'm waiting for your post!!!  See you tomorrow!!!