Diets and Dog Poo - It's been a while....

I haven't updated in a while!  I hate to admit that my progress to this point is not where I thought it would be.  However, I am NOT beating myself up over it!  I changed courses a little bit.  I decided on using baby steps!!  I have determined that I will change things about my life (Because, after all, it is my life habits that got me where I am at...) one step at a time.  The first thing was to incorporate push ups in   to my daily routine.  May sound strange, but push ups are one of the most effective strength training exercises you can do.  They help your arms, core, chest, shoulders, and back.  So, I started out with two sets of 10 (girlie style!) every morning.  Then, I eventually moved up to 12, and on until I am now at 2 sets of 15.  Every morning.  Well, almost!  ;)  I think pretty soon I will add another set.  Eventually I will start doing military style!
The next step is cardio!  I am working on adding some cardio in to my day every day.  If I don't make it EVERY day, I don't get upset with myself.  I like to do it in the morning because it really increases my energy level all day, but again, if I don't get up, I don't beat myself up.  I just say, "No big deal.  I'll do it this evening."  I think Monday I am going to try, once again, to do the "Couch to 5k" running program. But, if like last year, I start hurting too bad from running, I'll just go back to walking and NOT BEAT MYSELF UP!  I think not being so hard on myself is going to be a key factor in sticking it out for the long haul!  Too many times in my past, I would get discouraged and quit the minute I messed up.  So, now, I am putting forth an effort to make changes I can actually stick to (instead of outrageous things like HCG and NO CARBS) and trying to make them part of my life one step at a time!

Diets and Dog Poo - Flu and the frozen puppy

I have had the flu.  I haven't felt very well for the past two weeks.  So, I've just eaten whatever and I sure haven't worked out. Not to mention that the tons of snow we've gotten has just been a little depressing!  Something about being snowed in the house just makes me want to wear pajamas all day, sit on the couch with a blanket, and eat everything in sight!  Am I the only one??
My routine is all off.  The kids have been out of school for a week and a half.  I haven't really had any of my daycare kids for that long as well.  Also, I spent a few days in a cold medicine stupor.  I am such a creature of habit.  If my routine gets off kilter, everything else does, too.  So, no healthy eating and exercise lately!  :-(  Hopefully it didn't put me too far behind my goal.  I will start back Monday with gusto!
And, then there is poor Ruth.  The temperatures have been well below 0 F the past couple of nights.  The silly dog refuses to go bed down in the barn on the open part of my brother-in-law's shop.  Oh, I forgot to mention that she has also figured out how to break out of her outdoor kennel that has a closed in area to protect from wind and cold.  I covered a laundry basket in a trash bag and put it up against the grill with a cardboard box around it and a blanket draped over to try to give her a place to lay that would be protected from the cold, but I worried about her so much!  This morning she seemed fine.  She was laying sprawled out on a patch of dry concrete, sunbathing.  I've been considering trying her indoors again.  Am I crazy???  I need a big, giant dog crate....

Diets and Dog Poo -I just put some chips up!

So, as you know, the HcG diet was a bust.  I think I'm done dieting.  My new goal is to conquer the basic math of body weight:  More output than input.  I'm basically just trying to eat less and work off more calories.  I'm not going to restrict myself of anything, but I'm going to try to make better choices.  Today for lunch I had a ham and mozzarella sandwich on a whole wheat roll with hot mustard and sauerkraut.  I also ate a few kettle chips.  Seriously, it was maybe 5.  And I had unsweetened tea to drink.  And, just now as I went through the kitchen, cleaning up, I just shut the bag.  I thought about grabbing a handful because that's what I would normally do, but I thought, "Nah.  I don't need 'em." And, I put them away!  Yay for me!!!!

Diets and Dog Poo - Mostly just poo

So... I lasted four days on the diet and I caved.  I caved big!  I had lost almost 6 lbs, but I guess that wasn't motivation enough for the starvation to continue.  This diet is not for the weak.  And I am oh, so weak.  So.  Now what?  Now I am going to continue the drops because they really are a good appetite suppressant.  However, I am not going to limit myself to 500 calories a day worth of lettuce, grilled chicken and apples.  It's just not doable for me!  I am going to cut carbs (the bad ones) and eat less.  It will be slower going than the illustrious 25 pounds I had hoped to lose in one month, but it will happen... eventually.


And, possible part of why I couldn't exist on the 500 calories is due, in part, to the poo.  I've dealt with a lot lately.  At the same time I was giving up on the diet, I was about to give up on this stinkin' dog!!  First off, what kind of dog digs out of it's own fence and then digs in to another fence?  That's ridiculous.  So, we bring her inside with the back hallway as her room, and a baby gate to contain her.  Bad idea. 


I had realized she couldn't be let go in the house because the one time I took my eyes off her for 5 minutes my husband and I started to smell something.  So, we searched.  We searched then den where we were at, we searched the daycare room.  We searched everywhere.  Finally, I went to my son's room (which is clear across the house from where we first smelled the smell.) and there in the floor was an enormous steaming pile of dog *BLEEP*  Poo doesn't cover it.  This was no lap dog accident.  This was a big dog "goodie."  And beside it was a puddle.  I was furious!  And disgusted beyond belief.  And, of course, since it was my idea to bring the horse dog in to our home, it was my job to clean up after it, I supposed.  Thank God for the dust pan with the long handle is all I got to say!


New Years' Eve Ruth woke me up.  She had escaped.  Luckily, she didn't go to my son's room or any other carpeted area, she came right to me and I let her out.  And, of course, she went to the neighbor's yard, found her hole, and let herself right in their yard with their dogs.  How embarrassing!!  We added another baby gate on top of the first one to make a wall that could not be scaled by the lab.

That night we went to my parent's house.  When we returned, Ruth met us at the door.  And, immediately, I smelled it.  She had knocked down the bottom gate and had free rain of the house.  The trash can was knocked over, there were two dirty diapers from the trash torn apart in one bedroom.  And, again, in my son's room she had found some nice "grass" to use as her restroom.  This time it was 3 piles.  PILES, I said.  And one puddle.  And, let me tell you, I was ready to be done with this whole thing.  I was ready to give her away!! 


On top of that, I am potty training my two year old.  She has mastered going number one in the potty, but not so much number two....  I've had it with poo!!!

Diets and Dog Poo - Foodaholics Anonymous?

So... a recovering alcoholic would never be expected to serve cocktails to their family, right?  As I melted the beautiful Velveeta and Rotel for nachos for my family it really sunk in that I am addicted to food - BIG TIME!  Food is my drug.  I stirred the thick, creamy, cheesy, glorious mess  and I looked at the big bag of crunchy, salty tortilla chips (one of my most favorites, by-the-way!!!) and then I looked at my small piece of grilled fish and I just wanted to quit!!!  And, usually I would have.  I would have said to myself, "Oh, well.  Just eat nachos tonight.  You can start over tomorrow!"  And in full binge mode (because, after all, if you are going to mess up, you might as well do it up BIG!) I would have gorged myself with nachos, had some sweet tea, and followed up with some of those evil cake balls that are still in the fridge!  (Could someone finish those off already???)
I knew that I loved food.  But, doing this diet is showing me just how unhealthy my relationship with food really is!  I have yet to be truly, physically hungry!  But, mentally is a different story.  I want to eat just for the sheer joy of eating.  It's ridiculous the number of times a day I think about eating!  And, finally it is sinking in - even though I've known it all along on some level - I can't eat like this anymore!  I'm on a diet, but I can't have the mentality that "after this" I can eat again!  I can't eat popcorn every night.  I can't give in to temptation every single time it jumps in front of me.  I can't have a cake ball anytime I want to and drink pop several times a week.  Some people can.  But, obviously my body doesn't work that way!  I think I should be able to indulge every so often, sure!  But, I'm going to have to be careful for the rest of my life!  Just like an alcoholic has to be careful!  I am truly addicted to eating.  So, maybe eventually, after I detox my body from the sugar and processed foods and empty carbs, I will be able to have a delicious treat now and then and not totally fall back in to my old patterns.  I've got to realize that food is fuel and my body is a temple.
I stirred that creamy yellow deliciousness and I did have a little tiny taste of it.  But, I did not grab the tortilla chips and dig in!  I ate my fish and my salad.  And I actually splurged on some broccoli with a tiny bit of that cheese on it.  (You know you are on a crazy, strict diet when broccoli is cheating!!!)  And, it was so hard to resist.  But, I did it!!!  And, God help me (literally, God is going to have to help me!!), I will beat this and I will lose this weight and feel good about myself again!
Motivation for today:  I got on the scales this morning and and there was a 5 pound loss from yesterday morning!  I'm sure a lot of that was water weight, but still... WOW!

Diets and Dog Poo - I Kinda Want a Cake Ball

So, I am doing the Homeopathic HcG diet via Kessinger Diagnostic Centre out of Rolla, MO.  A friend of mine had really great results and told me about it.  The first three days of this diet are great!  You take the drops four times a day and PIG OUT for 3 days straight.  It worked perfectly with Christmas!  I started on Christmas Eve.  The only thing was:  the drops really do suppress your appetite!  I actually found it hard to overeat!
Now, though, the fun is over.  It is day one of the drastic diet that includes only 500 calories a day!  Yes, that sounds insane, but the research kind of makes sense.  (http://hcgdietinfo.com/HCG_Diet_Dr_Simeons_Manuscript.htm)  Anyway, this morning was okay.  I didn't eat breakfast, which is fine with me because I'm not a big breakfast eater.  I had my two cups of coffee sweetened with Stevia, which I found to be pretty good!  Mid-morning I had an apple and it was actually hard for me to finish the whole thing!  Crazy! Because I am a notorious binger!!  I tried to get through the whole thing and finally quit about 3/4 of the way through.  However, as lunch approached I did get hungry.  And, while I was cooking my tiny chicken breast, I opened the fridge to get the lettuce out and there they were....
German Chocolate cake balls!  Mmmmm.  Nice and cold, too.  Do you know what a cake ball is?  You bake a cake, crumble it up, mix icing with it, roll it in to balls, and dip the balls of cake/icing in to confectioners chocolate and let them harden.  Oh. My. Goodness!  They are good.  And, I really, really wanted one!
However, I got out my lettuce instead.  I had my lunch of dry (cooked it too long!) sparsely seasoned chicken breast and salad (Not with ranch and cheese and croutons.  No.  Not that kind of salad.)  I'm not going to tell you it was awesome and I'm totally satisfied.  But, I think I can face the cake balls now.  After all, I am bigger than they are... MUCH, MUCH, MUCH bigger!  Which is kind of the whole point of this!  HA!!

Diets and Dog Poo - Introduction

This is my latest blog sequence about two seemingly unrelated issues in my life... My new diet and bringing our 10 month old lab to live inside...  It should be interesting.


Ruth.  Ruth is our Labrador Retriever.  (My dad has her sister, "Babe.")  I felt like a lab was a good choice.  They are super smart and great with kids - very social animals.  What I didn't know is that they are virtually unfenceable!  (I made that word up.)  She could not be contained with an electric fence.  When in my small fenced in daycare play area, she dug out from underneath finally and then dug in to the neighbor's yard to play with their dogs.  So, for weeks she's been in a little kennel built for hunting hounds.  I hate the idea of her being out there all alone, so the obvious solution is to bring her inside, right?  This should be interesting....


Dieting... again.  So... since High School I have gained about 70 lbs.  It's so hard to say that out loud.  I have a really bad relationship with food and have put myself on the back burner for years.  And, over and over again I have set out to lose the weight only to quit a few days in, vowing to start over Monday... and then Tuesday always comes around and... you get the picture.  This time I'm trying the HcG diet.  (The homeopathic drops)  I thought this diet was CRAZY!  I was like, "Sure you lose weight if you're eating around 500 calories a day.  That's ridiculous!"  But, the more I've researched the way it's supposed to work the more it makes sense to me.  So, I'm trying it.  And, to those of you nay sayers who say that it is unhealthy.  You could be right.  However, it can't possibly be more unhealthy than my current lifestyle.  And, this isn't just about a diet.  It's about breaking bad habits and starting a brand new way of life for me!


And that's how the two very unrelated subjects tie in together.  I am making some changes in my life.  Starting some new "good for me" things.  I'm taking a little more time for me.  And, apparently a little more time for Ruth, too.  Hopefully this goes well for both of us!  All I have to say, though, is that big ol' Labs leave much bigger presents than little lap dogs.  Whew.  That's a story for the next installment of.... dun, dun, duuuh.... DIETS AND DOG POO!