Geek Goals

This year is about getting my sanity back. Getting my health my house and my family into a better place by deliberate incremental changes in all areas of my life.

Thursday, February 08, 2018

Dusting off the cobwebs.

Dusting off the cobwebs.

So far been all talk and no action on doing anything at all about weight, health, nutrition and fitness.

Only positive in 2018 is that I really did start to use my Instant Pot electric pressure cooker. Whole chickens, 15 bean soup, black bean soup. Some really flavorful and better for me meals than the usual.

Other goals..
Get Moving.
Add Veggies!@

Monday, October 01, 2012

2012 October 1st

October is here, my favorite month! Halloween, cooler weather, fall colors, hot apple cider, hot cereal in the mornings...

My journey this year has continued. Rather than thinking of it as a diet or weight loss plan, its just some small incremental changes I needed to make in my life.

Thanks to my friend Kat I finally have started down the road of adding regular exercise to my life again! THANK YOU THANK YOU! 2x a week is my goal. Saturday morning was my first real exercise in forever and while I didn't work too hard (wanted to avoid burnout) I did have some sore Ab muscles along the place where my C-Section scar is. I felt good after working out, and that is part of what I miss about the times in my life when I was exercising.

My weight this morning is 192, my size 18 jeans (which i have been wearing so long and stressing the seams by being overweight they are actually getting holes in them) are looser on me. I want to dig out their size 16 exact copies out of storage to avoid having to buy new jeans. My dressy pants which were just bearable to wear last winter are now comfortable. I have been checking my weight only at the beginning of each month and it has seen a slow and steady decline, just a lb or 2 a month.

I continue to avoid milk, sour cream, cream cheese, most cheese (all soft cheese), dishes made with cream, milk chocolate and items which were made with small amounts of milk or butter. I didn't see a complete eradication of lactose intolerance symptoms so I have started to be more lax on the "items that are made with milk and butter" part. I continue to rotate in places for lunch I didn't go to before with healthy options like Subway, Pho Tai, Chipotle, and Panera.

I still eat fast food entirely too often, and have from January till now not done but maybe one or two workouts. We also have not really increased our nights where we eat dinner at home together, I know if we did that it would even greater help my healthy food choices.

Nutrition: The severity of my attacks has gone down dramatically however the frequency doesn't really seem to have. Goal going forward is to take better track. Found out in Sept that I'm not allergic to any spices (a sometimes cause of intermittent attacks). 
Home: Started cleaning out excess stuff, got rid of 270 items from my house this year, and started packing up and moving out things that were always in the way but that we don't want to sell or give away like clothes and toys from Lydia that we want to keep for the next kid, clothes too small for me that I want to shrink back into etc. Preserved a lot of the tomatoes from the garden, and even got some peppers frozen just last night. Still some green and under ripe tomatoes camped out in the kitchen. If they turn then there will be more processing to do! 
Finance:  Refinanced our home with a loan modification(summer), got a bad charge removed from my credit report (summer), started a more permanent solution to an emergency back up fund with a CD Ladder(fall).
Family: SHad a great fall vacation with my husband and kid. Short but a great introduction to family centric vacations with young kids. Only had one public meltdown (the 3year old not the parents). Continued chore chart with my daughter and contemplated starting one of my own for keeping track of eating well, working out and other habits I want to reward!
Weight: 192

Tuesday, May 01, 2012

May 2012

April was a whirlwind. Continued incremental changes in diet, didn't get up to speed exercise wise. Made slow progress on home projects.

APRIL 
Nutrition: Managed to continue to cut out sources of lactose and have been having less attacks. Started going to Chipotle again more regularly, getting rice, black beans, meat, lettuce, this is much healthier option than our usual fast food.
Home: Started garden planning, continued to clean out Office so most of the clutter is now empty boxes!
Finance:  Started process of preparing for home refinance.
Family: Started craft time with Lydia with a fun mothers day project, learning to cut with kid scissors under supervision, and some of the usual play dogh and coloring time. Also started doing "homework" in a prepare for preschool book, Specifically wanted one geared to preparing for math concepts. Lydia gets a sticker after each page which she loves. Resumed using the chore chart with Lydia and hope to swap out some old tasks she is good at now (like potty) and add new ones, specifically ones that help with our house cleanliness.
Weight: I didn't write down what my weight was in early April, but I remember having maintained around 202 to 205.

MAY (plan)
Nutrition: Snacks more at work, less at home in the late evenings. Keep working in Subway, Pho Tai, and now Chipotle in as "healthier" options for lunch.
Mental: Sleep more! Wind down the end of each day with planning out the next day.
Home: Lots of projects we want to get done before appraisal for the home refinance.  Finish clutter busting in office and extend clutter busting to Kitchen, basement etc.
Finance: Clean up credit report. Pay down mortgage to be ready for refinance end of June.
Weight: May 1st was 202.5. Plan for May is Exercise! Choose some form of exercise every other day. Walk at work, walk with Lydia at night, cleaning for 1 hour, gardening for 1 hour, Exercise class at RAC.

Tuesday, March 06, 2012

March 2012

As of first of March weight is 202.5 lbs
Jeans size 18/20

Still not willing to move to a specific restrictive diet, i.e. anything that says don't eat XYZ. Been adding lots of black bean dishes the last week, and got a big batch of pre-cut fruit which worked great for meal accompaniments and for just a snack.

I found one 8:30 am class at my health club I want to try out, and one 5:30 PM class. Next week I hope to get there.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Mid February Update

Well friends, 3 changes made.
  1. Started walking at work after lunch (30 min)
  2. Eating about once a week at Subway instead of always fried fast food 
  3. Alternating my daily coke with Diet Cherry Coke. 
What changes have you made? Next up for me is actually getting to the Gym I pay so dearly for. One morning a week and one evening a week is my goal.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Start 2012 with a whimper...

Is it possible to sustain interest and energy in changing our lives beyond Feb 1st or March 1st, I sure hope so because I intentionally started 2012 out with a whimper instead of a bang! In 2012 I'm looking to make incremental small improvements in EVERYTHING! Also a strong focus on keeping going, checking in monthly and recruiting others with similar goals to keep up motivation. January was focused on house improvements. Painting, organizing, getting the main living areas of our house to a more "visitor ready" state. These projects will continue long past January but my husband and I went from talking about changes to making them in January. Changes are focused on things that keep our existing supplies organized, and areas of the house that tend to be the dumping ground, like papers on the counter, craft boxes in the office and books on the stairs. I participated in a 2 week "boot camp" to organize my home, treating it like a self paced correspondence course rather than a day by day task. About at day 5 right now :) I also started reading Health at Every Size by Linda Bacon. February is working on my nutrition and exercise, starting with finding allies, both local and friends and family members from far away, hence starting up this blog again. I can't think of a better way to solicit and continue support across the miles, and at the convenience of the contributes time. The Mayo Clinic Diet was recommended to me by a friend who is currently reading it and trying to put its advice into practice, so I will read that next. What will the focus in March be? Career, Entrepreneurship, Travel, Spouse relationship?? Give me some suggestions!?!?

Friday, December 02, 2011

Hot and Healthy Out the Window

Fitness and nutrition have gone completely out the window the last year. Job uncertainty, lifestyle changes from starting a family and general "getting oldness" has been the norm for me the last 2 years. I need a mind shift from planning exercise into my life to planning my life around exercise and nutrition.