Weigh in Wednesday and Reaffirmation

My vacation is definitely over and I don't like where the scale is! I admit I haven't been eating that great lately because I've been away from home and away from my good habits. There's no excuse so I'm not going to make any! Starting weight today is 275.4, which is not good! I am doing this dance with the 270s and it's time to say GOODBYE! This week I have some goals that I need to accomplish in order to get myself ready. The holidays aren't going to sabotage my motivation!! I can do this!

Goals for the Week:
- Drink 10 glasses water per day
- Exercise at least 30minutes per day
- Stick within my goals EVERY DAY - Using my Jenny Craig meals and meals on my own, tracking on Sparkpeople
- Do not beat myself up for weight gain and just move forward (harder than it sounds for me!)
- No diet soda!! I got into the habit of drinking it on vacation and it needs to stop!
- Take 10 minutes daily for "me", to give thanks for everything I'm grateful for.

I hope that everyone is having a great day and I hope you can pop by and give me some words of motivation! I really could use it! I'm feeling down today, wondering if I should just give up because the scale is creeping back up...but I need to stop that!

In other news, I LOVE DASHING DISH!! Katie is like my freaking idol and all her food looks amazing. I have toyed with making a few of them myself and today I decided I would I am making her Easy Cheesy Broccoli Soup. I had the ingredients in the house except for the broccoli and cheese sauce which I picked up...only thing is I just got one small package, so my recipe is going to be a litttl different, oops! But it's cooking away in my crock pot and I'm making grilled cheese with fat free singles and light rye bread (80 cals for 2 slices!) tonight! What a way to kick off a healthy new weighing week! But seriously, if you don't know about Dashing Dish already...you're in for a BUNCH of treats!

Have a great day all!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello everyone!

I wanted to say a very happy, blessed Thanksgiving to all of those who are celebrating! I wanted to do a list of things I'm grateful for. The first of which is I am thankful to have all of you in my life! You keep me strong and help keep me motivated in my weight loss, you listen to me bitch and moan and share in my success!!

I am also very thankful that I have my health and that I am continuing to work toward a healthier me. As a nurse, I always see people who are in poor health and are suffering this time of year. I am so grateful that I am not ill or in pain or suffering! And I pray that those who are find peace this holiday season!

I am so thankful to be employed in a time where so many are unemployed or underemployed. I'm thankful that I have patients who I adore and who brighten my day up! Even though it may be tough some days, I am always grateful that I have what I do!

I'm thankful to have a roof over my head and food on my table. I'm thankful that I have clothes to wear and shoes on my feet!

But most of all I'm thankful for my family. I'm here in Illinois with my family who I love and wish that I got to see more often. I'm thankful that my paternal grandparents are still living and are in good health, I'm so thankful that I have aunts and uncles, cousins, my brother and sister, and my parents!!

I'm heading off to my Uncle's house for Thanksgiving. He's fighting head and neck cancer and I'm so happy to be here with him this year and to enjoy each and every minute with those I love!

Happy Thanksgiving to all! Have a wonderful day, enjoy yourself and life!

Weigh In...Monday

It feels strange to me to be weighing in on Monday, I like my Wednesday weigh in days! Especially since if I splurged a little on the weekend, I can get back on track! But Illinois is calling!!! YAY! I'm so happy to be spending time with my family who I haven't seen in a few years. And to enjoy joy and good company!

I had an excellent loss of 6.4 pounds this week! I knew that when I weighed in last week I was retaining a lot of water because of the flight and because I had just gotten my period that morning, ugh. But I knew there was some weight there too from not eating so well. So now I'm back to 271, YAY! Even though I'm going away for the week I'm going to do my best to eat well and exercise, my goal is a 0.5 pound weight loss for next week. I CAN DO IT! I better bust my buns!

These past few days I've felt really good about myself! I'm in smaller sizes and I have more energy, which is an awesome feeling.

Hope you all have a GREAT week and a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I am going to try and update this week but if I don't, for my American friends have a good Thanksgiving and a wonderful kickoff to the holiday season. And to my Canadian/EU/Other friends, have an excellent rest of your week! <3

Weekend Update

What a beautiful fall morning!

It's been really nice the last couple of days. Chilly but very autumnal, which is my favorite! Connecticut is still digging out of the wreck from Winter Storm Alfred! There are still a ton of CL&P and tree cutting crews out trying to clear branches and trees. And my insurance company is coming out this morning to look at the damage to my poor garage door! My condo association has been givnig me the run around with this and I'm not very happy. I own my condo but I do not own any land surrounding it; I pay condo fees for them to take care of the trees, the lawn, etc. And their tree damaged MY garage, ergo they need to fix my garage! However the condo president told me that 'oh, we'll see' and that she'll 'get back to me'. Yeah you will... because I called my insurance company and they're going to fight you if you don't fix it!

In other news, I gained last week but I feel like most, if not all, that weight has come off since I got home. I had a good eating week(except for Saturday night which I'll tell you about) and I've been exercising. I'm fitting into much smaller sizes, I almost can't believe it. Instead of struggling to get on my 3XL shirts and pants, I'm fitting into 18/20 pants AND I went to Old Navy and I fit into LARGE tops! NOT XL, not XXL...LARGE! HOLY MOLEY! I do have some tops that are still a bit bigger that fit well but really it's the bustline that I have problems with, not the waist or the hips. I have a whole bunch of cute clothes that are going to carry with me until I'm too small for them!!

So I had a good eating week, good exercise week. But Saturday I went out to lunch with my mom, but I counted all my calories, I had already allotted them into my plan. But then Saturday night I was at a party with some friends from college and I overindulged just a little! I had some chip and dip stuff, nothing crazy, I had 2 pieces of pizza (one was very small though, it was from a small pizza) and then I had 2 cookies. I also had an Irish beer, Murphy's which is a very dark lager that I LOVED to drink in Ireland. So all in all, definitely NOT the best calorie day. I did some extra exercise to make up for it and I'm back on track today, not too worried even though weigh in day is tomorrow! Let's pray for a good loss!!!

Hope everyone has a great day!

Weighing in on Wednesday

Not literally!! I'll be weighing in at Jenny Craig next Monday!

I started back doing really well on my healthy routine (I refuse to use the word diet!) on Monday and I feel really good. I was thinking back to the last two weeks and eating "whatever I wanted". Honestly, I didn't find it that satisfying. For some reason, I was ALWAYS hungry. I would eat a big meal and then like an hour later I'd feel like I was hungry again--just like  before I started my weight loss journey. Maybe it was the alcohol; It's Ireland so you know there was much booze to be found! It couldn't be the walking because honestly it was about the same that I do here at home. We took some walks but even the 4 mile scenic walk we took in Kinsale wasn't anything I wasn't used to! However 40 pounds ago, I'd have probably required a defibrillator and an oxygen mask!!!!

Another thing I wanted to share was that I didn't need a seatbelt extender on the plane! I had nightmares about needing one, about having to ask...but I buckled that sucker up AND I pulled it and it had a little tail! YIPEE! I didn't have any problems fitting into the seat at all which I was worried about.

Also since the first time--maybe ever--I felt cute and sexy. I bought new pants at Old Navy before I left and they are 3-4 sizes smaller than when I started. I was barely fitting into a 26 (in some pants, you know how random some of the sizing of pants can be) and now I am slipping into a 20 that fit perfectly!! I probably shouldn't be so excited about being in a size 20 but...hey, it's just a stepping stone on my way to my healthy body.

Thanksgiving is coming up next week and if I haven't told you already, I will be driving (YES, DRIVING) out to Illinois with my parents to see my mother's family. It's a 16 hour car ride, ew. So what that means is that I'm not bringing any of my Jenny Craig food. Out in the Midwest I know there is going to be a lot of junk and good food, alcohol, and especially on Thanksgiving! However I have been using Sparkpeople.Com which they talkabout the 80/20 rule. If you eat well 80% of the time and splurge only 20% of the time, you can still lose weight. I figure that I can enjoy myself in moderation, not go overboard, and be fine! Yes I know that I will probably gain a bit but I'm not worried. I know that I'm living my life, I'm aware of what needs to be done AND I'm doing it!

I'll keep you updated as to how I'm doing as we go along! I'll be bringing my computer up to Illinois with me!

Hope you all have a stunning day!

I MISSED YOU!

Yes, you!

I missed all of my blogging buddies very much over the last two weeks I've been away. First of all, I want to say that I am back in my home and the power/cable/internet has been restored. Winter Storm Alfred was absolutely out of control. For a whole 8+ days I was without power. I was staying with a friend who had a generator, we only ran it twice a day--enough to take a shower, cook a meal and charge a phone. At my house, I lost everything in my fridge and freezer including 15 Key Lime Pie and 10 Cinnamon Rolls that I had stockpiled for later. I also lost all of my Jenny Craig food and what was in my fridge, frozen veg...totalling over 500 dollars. :(

Over that week I had absolutely no control over what I ate. There was no place for me to get Jenny food or to store it. I was eating whatever I could get. Not even fast food places were open. I would literally sometimes just eat Halloween Candy for a day or when I was at my friend's house, whatever her mom cooked I ate wether it was healthy or not. I was surrounded by junk because that's what doesn't spoil! I feel like this week in particular screwed up my weight loss and I was honestly just eating whatever I could get my hands on. I don't feel guilty about it, I'm not deluding myself when I say I literally had no other choice but to eat what I could.

At around 1am Sunday (before I left) my parents got power back and so I stayed with them. Leaving for my trip to Ireland I was all in a funk. I hadn't been eating well, I felt off kilter. Work was a damn nightmare. I was out seeing patients in decimated, wrecked areas, driving through power lines with a police escort at times just so I could see patients. It was a huge disaster. And not one I'm likely to forget. I am so grateful to have a warm house, power, laundry, EVERYTHING!!!!

So enough of my whining about the storm. Ireland was FANTASTIC! Down below I have a slideshow of all my pictures for you. Honestly, I would have loved to spend weeks more in Ireland. I had a blast. I took pictures of everything I saw, ate, and did! Hahaha! I know that I overindulged but I called Jenny Craig this morning and made an appointment. No shock here but after a week of eating whatever was available and a week of Ireland, I had a gain. Of 7.2 pounds. OUCH.

However I think some of that is the fact that I got my period this morning. I also need to lose some water weight from retaining fluid after flying. I am back on track today, not dwelling that I had a gain! Coming up for me is tough because next week I am going to Illinois to visit my family for Thanksgiving. I know there's going to be a lot of drinking, eating, and having a good time! I will just strive to do my best!!!

I hope you all are safe and happy today. Cheers! Enjoy the pictures!

Smashed by Winter Storm Alfred

Hi all,

I am not neglecting you. I live in CT as many of you know and I have been hit very hard by Winter Storm Alfred. A big tree hit my house, thankfully there is only surface damage but I barely made it out with my car. I will post pictures when I am able to. Power is out all over the state including at my condo. I am displaced, staying with friends who have a generator who I cannot thank enough. Without them I would be totally lost. They have kept me fed and showered and able to go out and see my patients.

I am still going to Ireland at the end of the week and it'll be a welcome relief to have power and food and life at my fingertips again. I haven't been following my diet. All Jenny Craig food spoiled. I am eating what's available and trying to do portion control. It's been a real struggle.

I love you all. Thanks so much to Taryn for her lovely care package. I went through its contents when I stopped into my condo to pack, it was 38 degrees and I was frozen stiff!! So I will go through it more thoroughly when I get power back! And I'll take pictures :D

Thanks,
Katelyn