No, I didn't quit, I am just a huge slacker. I don't have any kind of a good excuse for not exercising, and eating healthy, so I am saving all of them for why I don't post very often! (insert whiny voice here) It's hard, I can't think of anything to write, Nothing new has happened, I don't have time, WAA WAA WAA. Man I sure have spent alot of time trying to get out of exercising, if I had just started sooner I wouldn't have gotten this out of control. I did finally resort to a belt today, I HATE belts. I have one I bought about 6 years ago when I had a very active job and couldn't keep my pants up. I didn't use it very long, I just grew into my pants, then out of them. I still hate belts, but this one felt good cause I need new holes! Not just one mind you but I think I could use two! It's just a dumb cheap one from Kmart (thanks Ali, I can admit that now that you did!) but I guess it is doing its job. I tryed on a pair of my daughters old pants from when she was heavier and I could get them on but they just felt wrong, the zipper was only about 2 inches long and I was sure I would need duct tape to keep them where they belong. Nice to see they fit, but I will never be wearing them out of the house!
One of the guys at my work brought in 2 boxes of the most delicious smelling doughnuts yesterday, I had a great time eating my grapes and giving everyone that came in the office a doughnut. The best part came when I got on the scale at the gym and was down 2 pounds! That was way better than any doughnut could ever taste, and believe me I have tried alot of doughnuts! Keep up the good work everyone, and thanks to Kathy and Lisa for talking me through the bike yesterday, even when you aren't sure if you can do it, there is always someone there to help you along, thanks guys.

I was just reading Brittany's post about trainers, I couldn't have done this without one either. Its amazing how much harder I can push myself with someone there watching. We worked out today for an hour and even though I wasn't on as high a level as when Catherine is there I still felt like I was going to DIE, and I know I am capable of more.
We didn't make the class today because I went to the heart specialist with my Dad. He has had heart palpatations for quite some time, has a stent, had a PFO closure (hole in the heart) ((which by the way I have too and will some day need to have fixed)) and had an ablation done, his heart still isn't running right. I never really worried about mine before when he had problems but now I see how heredity plays a factor in this and I am so glad I am finally doing something to take better care of my heart. Being overweight wasn't a huge motivation (although it isn't fun), but knowing the trials one can go through with their heart it takes on a different light. I know this is hard and I am not trying to diminish anyones hard work, but this really isn't as hard as I made up my mind it would be (Impossible is the word I would have used). It does take a little more brain power when it comes to meal planning but I feel like I have a better handle on what I need to be doing. I keep my binder of information from Mindie's classes on my bar where I can refer to it at any time, and it has been a huge help. I hope I can keep up with all of these changes at the end of the 100 days, and now that I know, I CAN do it!

Big change for me!

Huge milestone this week, I ran out of Blood pressure meds on monday and couldn't get in to see Dr. til Wednesday. The nurse took my BP and then asked how long I had been without, I said two days and she smiled and said when people run out and go a few days without it is usually sky high but yours is 114 over 83! Dr. said it looks like you are now keeping it down with diet and exercise so keep up the good work and we WON'T refill the prescription! I still will need to keep an eye on it but after about 10 years I am so excited to be off. I had expected to be on this for the rest of my life. I had been feeling dizzy quite often and had cut them in half for about a week, but NO meds is sooooo much better! Every little victory counts, this should keep me going for at least a week!

I haven't blogged in a long while because I tend to spend too much time sitting at the computer so I have tried to stay away. It has been fun catching up on everyones posts. I kind of hit a wall this last few weeks. I had a rough weekend of eating too much bad stuff and my weight went up and it seems like it has been harder to get the momentum back and get the scale heading in the right direction. Our workouts have been a little more intense so I thought that would help make up the difference, maybe it is just the building of muscle. We have been practicing walking up hills on the treadmill and holy cow, that really gets the muscles hurting! I slept on the couch last night because I fell asleep watching a movie with my Granddaughter and couldn't get up to get to my bed. Tonight I will watch a movie in my room. Hopefully it will be nice today and we can get some gardening done. Lots of weeds popping up, time to grow something we can eat!

I have lots of thoughts circling my brain, but none of them want to show up on my screen. I have been trying to find ways to feed my family a healthier diet without breaking the bank. Like many of you I have a basement full of food storage and a side of beef in the freezer. I think my challenge is to use what I have and work more fruits, veggies, beans and whole grains etc. into the menu rotation. I have found that a lot of the "trendy" aka lowfat, heart healthy, multigrain, fat free and the like are also very pricey. Dennis and I have been shopping the perimeter of the store and that seems to help as well as reading labels. I still don't fully understand all the nutrition info, but it is easy to spot the variations in the labels, and make the better choice. I try to cook most of my meals from scratch to avoid the preservatives and because I am usually feeding an army (4-9 on the average)but I have found a few short cuts that I am willing to pay for such as matchstick carrots. these are already cut up small, julienned, and they are easy to add to salads, stir fry or soups and they cook fast too. Spray butter. I just can't say enough about this. A couple of sprays and you get the flavor but not the fat or calories. I am still amazed a how full I can feel on a smaller amount of good food than I ever did on tons of junk food.

Class was very informative this week. Sounds like we are all struggling with ideas for good healthy food. On facebook there is a challenge for Utah's heart healthiest recipes. Not too many submissions yet but they pick a winner once a week and they get a free Papa Murphy 's thin delite pizza, at the end there are other prizes. Find them at heart-healthiest 2010 then click on the discussions tab to see recipes. I saw this in the Spanish Fork Press and it is also sponsored by abc4.
I tried the sandwich thins and really liked them. I have tried the whole wheat tortillas, and the flatbread (flatout) and found them kind of icky, but these had a really good flavor and didn't leave me feeling like I missed out on something by substituting.
Still no substitute for Magleby's chocolate cake, but I am finding that the longer I stay away the longer I want to stay away! You know "if I went this long I can surely go longer!" I think this is going to be my new mantra, along with "I KNOW I can."

She's Killin' me!... but in a good way

I thought I was going to die right there on the bike! One more hill she says, just one more hill. Okay, I did do it but just barely. This week the bike is my enemy, but I'll get over it. I have really been enjoying my afternoon walks with my husband, There are two parks with walking tracks within about two miles of our house and even though it sounds silly to drive down to take a walk, we have been doing just that. The big dogs are penned up and there are three little yappy dogs that sound tough but they run when you get close. We also don't have to worry about getting run over by a tractor or a screamin' fourwheeler. It really is peaceful to get out and walk, and after I have said everything I can think of, we just walk in silence. It gives me a lot of time to ponder on things, and enjoy the peace.