Hi everyone,
It has been a while since I wrote anything on here. I have been busy exercising, eating right and just overall staying busy. I have a 10lb weight loss to show for all the hard work. However this past week was particularly challenging from many angles but now it is time to get back on track.
The week started on Sunday with time just getting away from me so that I was working on a cabinet design until 9pm instead of resting up for the work week. Then Monday morning my baby girl, Dixie (my 13yr, 8mth old black lab) threw up that nasty yellow bile mess and snubbed her food. So I stayed home for a couple hours to make sure she was okay. All was well until I got home from work and we went for our pre-supper stroll. Then the upset stomach issues came from the other end in liquid form. So began a regimen of Science Diet ID canned food along with non-fat, plain yogurt mixed with a little Pepto. This formula worked so that by Thursday all appeared normal. Then Friday morning I gave her a little dry food, a little less canned food, and a little less yogurt and Pepto. Unfortunately this transition was too early and when my sister came to let her out for her mid-day stroll she found the liquid version had returned on my carpet in two places. That led to a trip to the vet which we left with affirmation that all of her vital signs were great and that she just had a bad belly ache. So anti-nausea & anti-diahrea pills it is for a few days. Apparently when dogs intestines get inflamed like that it is very hard for them to get back to normal without assistance. I cannot thank my mom and sister enough for their efforts in cleaning up my carpet.
My emotions were already on high alert all week with the week starting out so busy and then when all this happened to Dixie I feared the worst. Normally I am one to take things in stride but at her age and afraid of her getting dehydrated and such I was a wreck. I was constantly looking up her condition online for assurance that my formula was okay and that nothing serious was wrong but after such an exhausting week I was tired and weak and let the negative thoughts take over. Now she is resting nicely and all is well.
On top of the Dixie stress came a couple of nights of my part-time work, very busy days at the end of the week of my full time job with a big deadline looming this coming week, and more part-time work on Friday afternoon, which is usually my crash and rest time from the busy week.
Needless to say, all of this led to a spiraling downfall of my 2012 Health Plan (what a great test huh?) but today is a new day and I am getting back on track and looking back I didn't do as bad as I could have. My motto has been to exercise regularly (at least once daily) and to eat healthy at least 85-90% of the week. Out of the 15 meals and 10 snacks Monday through Friday, I made bad choices at 4 meals and maybe 2 snacks. Normally that would be 1 meal maximum and all snacks stay on track. Still, I could have totally turned back to my old way of eating, but I didn't. The main thing was that I did not exercise near as much after Tuesday lunch as I normally would. I haven't climbed & descended the stairs at work since Wednesday at lunch.
The worst day was Thursday. I woke up tired, awnry and ready to jack anyone who got in my path. I probably should have stayed home from work but I knew we had work to get done. Luckily I put my ear plugs in, since we're not allowed to wear headphones and listen to music anymore, and worked on drawings for several hours straight. I was craving Chick-Fil-A since it's one of my favorites splurges. When I told my co-worker that I was going out to eat and not walking she decided to go with me. Since I was in such a mood I decided we should go to a real restaurant, not fast food. Carolina Ale House has THE best fried pickle chips around - so there was my appetizer then I proceeded to enjoying boneless wings with honey bbq sauce. But hey, I did drink Diet Coke! ha ha Yeah right, that made up for all of it! NOT! Then Thursday night I went with family to eat at a bar & grill and chose pizza. I chose a small, individual sized "hawaiian" pizza with ham and pineapple. Much better choice than my former choice of meat lovers or pepperoni & cheese with extra cheese and I drank water. And let me say that after not eating bread very often, the crust was FABULOUS! Friday I was on the run from one job to the other so I finally grabbed that Chick-Fil-A I was craving. I ended up only eating a couple fries (they are not near as good as the sweet potato fries I have been enjoying at home) and throwing the rest away from my regular sized combo. Therefore I ended up only eating the sandwich with a diet Coke, which is also better than my previous choice of the large combo with a brownie & regular Coke. Finally for supper, because all of my stress of the week had finally come to an end, I went out with family again to Outback. I ordered well for my main course: filet mignon (the smaller size) and my 2 sides were grilled veggies and asparagus. Not bad at all! If I had stopped there all would have been well BUT the margarita called my name (which I know is FULL of sugar - so totally against my low-carb diet) so I had one of those first then at the end the brownie dessert called my name. Luckily my sis wanted the ice cream part so we had the waitress split the dessert into two dishes, both covered with hot fudge sauce. I ate the entire brownie and oh it was soooo yummy!
I tell you all this because I have learned this week that there are times when life spins out of control and you try to make good choices but sometimes you fail. But you cannot let the poor choices take control of your life again. Now it is Saturday and I had proclaimed it to be a "PJ & Ponytail" day (my official do nothing day) but the weather is nice this morning so I believe I shall get dressed and head out to Umstead Park for a nice long hike. That should help get me back into my new 2012 Way of Thinking. Time to get back on track because THAT is the key to an overall healthy lifestyle! Although I am afraid to touch the scale right now so I think I will wait until next weekend to get on it again!
So GET OUT THERE AND WALK, RIDE A BIKE, or just move anyway you can! It's all calories burned and good for your heart:)
