May 26

Exercise:  10-15 minute run (1.3 miles), ~30 minutes of STRETCHES

Breakfast:  bowl of cereal (GrapeNuts/HoneyNut Cheerios combo)

Snack:  an apple wedge with peanut butter I stole from my son's plate, 2 chocolate chips

Lunch:  toasted cheese sandwich, two bites of a corn dog, half of an apple

Snack:  a few chocolate chips and an otter pop

Dinner:  Scrambled eggs and roasted potatoes

Snack:  5 chocolate chips

May 25

I need to come up with more interesting titles for my reports.  Oh well.

Breakfast:  bowl of Cookie Crisp

Snack:  Reese's Crunchy something or other, some of which I shared with one of my offspring (we were running a million errands and were each starving, but Osh doesn't have healthy food by the cash register.  If I justify it it makes it right...)  String cheese when we got home.

Lunch:  a couple of Wheat Thins, peanut butter and honey sandwich, a bite of Brent's corn dog, chocolate chips

Snack:  chocolate chips

Dinner:  tex-mex chicken strips, bread

After dinner:  chocolate chips, otter pop

Hmm.  If I could cut out the chocolate chips I might be doing better...

May 24

Ok, 'twas a crazy weekend so I'm not even going to try to remember what went on.  Let's start fresh this week.  It is Monday again, after all.

Breakfast:  bowl of Lucky Charms with skim milk

Mid-morning snack:  apples with peanut butter, string cheese, eight chocolate chips

Lunch:  crunchy peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwich on white bread.

Exercise:  ~ 15 minute run (1.3-mile run, .15 mile walk)

Afternoon snack:  string cheese, chocolate chips, tortilla with two slices melted cheese

Dinner:  1 1/2 corn tortilla chicken enchilada

Snack:  microwave popcorn, chocolate chips

May 21 record

Breakfast:  bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios/ Honey Nut Shredded Wheat combo

Snack:  Yikes -->  a few chocolate chips, several (several...) marshmallows, toasted oat marshmallow treats (2... or 3... or maybe 4...)

Lunch:  tuna and cheese sandwich, celery with cream cheese, another marshmallow treat

Dinner:  2 corndogs

Exercise:  1 hour of gardening this morning

So obviously today definitely underscored my doctor's words that it's all about diet.  I blew it today. 

May 20 record

Breakfast:  a bowl of cereal (Shredded Wheat/Lucky Charms combo) with skim milk.

Late-morning snack:  apple, string cheese, about 8 chocolate chips, three generic Triscuits

Lunch: ham and cheese quesadilla, celery with peanut butter, yogurt, 4 York pieces (like Reese's pieces)

Snack:  yogurt, chocolate chips

Dinner:  2 grilled tuna and cheese sandwiches with celery chopped up inside (yes, two.  I was hungry), celery with peanut butter

Dessert:  bowl of Lucky Charms

Exercise:  gardening for 30 minutes or so.  Should've run but gardening did me in.

PS.

By the way, yesterday on my way to the endocrinologist's office, I was listening to the John Tesh radio show. He quoted some of Dr. Oz's weight-loss tips, one of which was to avoid grazing. HOWEVER, I'd also just read an article that stressed that grazing IS beneficial to weight-loss, because if you eat small amounts throughout the day, you don't overeat at mealtimes, and your body's metabolism stays steady. Or something like that. So what's the deal? I know that I have to eat throughout the day due to my medical conditions; on days when I have thought, "Only eat three meals a day.  That's it!" I have felt so sick and have totally eaten too much when mealtimes finally came around.  I'm getting so many mixed answers...  No wonder I'm so frustrated!

"Exercise has nothing to do with weight loss or management. It's all about diet."

That's what my endocrinologist told me this morning.  I was confused, to say the least.  I know he's qualified and all that, but I still believe that exercise has to be a key factor in successful weight management.  The whole circle of life is disrupted otherwise.  However, I do know that I haven't been the best about my diet either.  I'm not eating donuts for every meal or drinking shakes as if they were water (alas.  That sounds yummy), but I do have a weakness for Guittard milk chocolate chips, so when I'm feeling hungry, I grab a handful and tell myself that since it was 1) a snack and 2) only a handful and not baked in something else, the calories are minimal.  Yea, if only.  So, I think it's high time I start being accountable.  Besides, this ol' blog is gathering dust in the annals of Blogdom, so why not attempt to resurrect it in hopes that it'll help me shed some pounds? 

At this point, I would love to lose 15-20 lbs.  That would get me back to my pre-most-recent-pregnancy weight, which was where I was my happiest.  Then, any pounds shed would be bonus.  My doctor told me this morning that that's where I should be, so that's what I'm going to aim for.  I felt fit then.  I felt attractive.  I felt like me. 

Brent and I have taken up running.  We ran a 10K this last weekend, coming in at 67 1/2 minutes, roughly.  We try to run 3 times during the week; I try to get in at least a half hour, or about 2 miles, depending on how much time I have free.  I would like to build up to 3-4 miles during the week in an hour or less.  On the weekends we run longer distances; we have done up to 10 miles together before.  However, that was a doozy for me so I can tell I still definitely need to work up to that.  What's weird is that I have been able to do 6 miles no problem, and when we ran 8 miles, I felt good. I don't know why the extra two miles did me in so bad.  We have signed up to run a half-marathon in August (!!!) so I've got to conquer that ten mile demon.  I feel my heart getting stronger though, which is a plus.  It's exciting seeing how far I have come in so short a time (since January).

The only problem is my back.  I've had back problems for the last 6 1/2 years, and running does a number on it, and I can never find time during the day when I won't be interrupted to stretch.  I haven't been to a chiropractor since October or November, and even when I went regularly, I wasn't seeing a lot of improvement.  I wish I could see the chiropractor I was seeing regularly 5 years ago; I think he was magic, 'cause he worked wonders for me.  However, his office is too far away now for me to make it a regular thing, so I must do the best I can on my own.  Hopefully this new accountability (I am hoping I now have anyway!) will help me remember to just do it, get my stretches in, even if it's midnight before I have free time.

I guess that's it for now.  My eating is shot for today (bowl of cereal this morning, candy bar after my doctor appointment -- I was starving and that's all I could find at the home improvement store), salad, probably 3 or 4 handfuls of chocolate chips, a string cheese, a couple slices of cheese, a couple pieces of bread, celery with peanut butter) so I will start documenting thoroughly tomorrow.

Carpe diem!