A brand new start

Yesterday was wonderful! We drove up to Saint Augustine and spent the day having fun with the kids! It was fun and sweet all at the same time.
We had honeymooned in St. Augustine 11 years ago. (Half our honeymoon was in St. Augustine, the other half was in Niagra Falls.) We saw some of the same places and went to some new ones. It was very different taking the kids there.
St. Augustine is not really what I would term a "family friendly" city. The main historic places are not "stroller friendly" and the district is full of what some call, "shit shops." (You know, stores that sell all sorts of stuff, most of it non-touchable by the preschool set.) Walking is the constant mode of transportation and few of the restaraunts offered children's menus.
Now, having said that, the historic places are so rich in history that is very family freindly. There is so much to do, most of it affordable. (I didn't say "cheap," I said, "affordable.") I saw lots of families there. (I did actually go there when I was in elementary school for a family vacation and yesterday I did see a school field trip group.)
We got there around 9:30. (It was almost a two hour drive.) We walked around the fort, took our pictures at the city wall and walked around the shit shops before lunch. We ate an early lunch at a very casual seafood and sandwich place. Then, as the lunch crowd began to really get eager about finding a lunch spot we headed out to buy candy from a little candy store and to visit the Old Drugstore. (Aaron selected this absolutely enormous gummy snake... never seen a candy that long! He's still eating it!) Then we went to this really nice playground. The toddler section was almost as big as the bigger kid section. (And it was a great stop since Sam (20 months) had spent most of the time in the car seat or the stroller. He really needed a chance to loosen his legs!)
After that we walked and walked just looking at stuff. We were walking to the oldest house, but stopped at lots of things on the way, like the toy shoppe. We saw the oldest house (didn't go in since it was getting later and we wanted to get over to the lighthouse) and more stuff on our way back to the car.
Right before we got to the car we took our picture in front of the oldest wooden schoolhouse in America (didn't go in- with a stroller?!). At the same moment Chris and I looked down this alley and saw the Christmas store. 11 years ago we bought ourselves a souviner ornament there. It was a sandollar with a picture of the city of St. Augustine on it. When we got home from our honeymoon we unwrapped the ornament to find it broken into bits. We always promised ourselves that we would someday come back and get another one.
Well, I went into the store with David, while Chris and Aaron and Sam waited outside (LOTS of breakables...). I asked the lady if she still sold the sandollar ornaments and she told me that they hadn't carried those in years. So, instead I bought a small replica of the lighthouse. We hadn't been to the lighthouse yet (we didn't visit it on our honeymoon either), but I knew Chris would like it. Neat, too, because when we got home we both said the lighthouse was the "hightlight" of the trip.
So, we left the historic area and drove over to the beach where the lighthouse was. Sam threw a major tantrum while Chris was finding out about admission prices and I was about ready to say, "forget it," but he came out all excited about it. ("It is even 'buy one, get one free' for admission today, Hon.") Somehow, I changed Sammy's diaper and gave him a snack and then he was good to go. David and Sam were to small to go up so we took turns. Chris and Aaron climbed all the way to the top (219 steps) and then Aaron and I climbed all the way to the top. The view was unbelievable!!! So worth the the workout of walking all that way. (I'm still not sure how Aaron, my almost-five year old, did it TWICE!)
Then we walked around the light keepers house (now a history musuem). Neat stuff... we are just suckers for this type of musuem.
The place was closing so we were on our way home. We crossed back over and were driving through the historic stuff when I said, "Hey, isn't that the Love Tree?" (If you kiss under the tree it is supposed to be good luck.) Sure it is. We doubled parked the car ran over to the tree, smooched and ran back to the car. I grabbed my camera and went over to take a few pictures and there was a small group there. They were in my way and they tried to move, but they only wound up getting more in my way. I said, "I'm sorry. I'm just trying to get a picture of the Love Tree." On my side of the street, from the patio of a local eatery a guy said, "That's not the Love Tree. The Love Tree is that one." He was pointing to a tree a little bit further down the road. HOW EMBARRASSING! I ran over to take pictures of the tree he pointed to. Then I "got it." It was actually two trees. A palm tree and some other type of tree that looked like they were hugging and growing together. I got in the car and as we drove under the tree hubby gave me a sweet kiss! *SIGH*
We drove home after a dinner at Pizza Hut.
UGH! I've got to go! I thougt I'd have time to type everything, but I'm going to have to come back and do my food and exercise for yesterday later!
Got to go!
Totallyscrappy
 
Aww scrappy that sounds so romantic (even with the kids). It sounds like you had the most wonderful day. You must be on cloud 9.
 
Okay. Here I am. I'm having a bit of a discouraging diet week. Nothing huge, but I'm really stuck in this plateau. On Monday (and today) the scale read 179. That is a weight loss of 1 pound and a total weight loss of 26 pounds. Nothing to sneeze at, but in four weeks I have lost only a pound. This has really zapped my determination and my habits. I'm exercising and I'm eating healthy, but I seem to have a traffic problem again. (You know, the traffic of food going into my mouth... grazing.)
I bought new clothes yesterday (2 pair of shorts, 1 denim skort and 1 white t shirt) thinking that I would be inspired, but not really.
I think part of the problem is that I've been super busy and I am sleep deprived. I know there is a link between proper amounts of sleep and weight loss.
I think I need to cut my portions smaller or exercise more and I'm being stubborn. I don't want to do either measure. I really want to lose the weight, but I don't really want to sacrifice more.
Any comments or suggestions?
Totallyscrappy
 
I think that I would really try to add lots of fruits and veggies to your diet... keep apples and carrots and celery on hand.. and snack on them instead of something else - pretzels are also really great for this... it will help you from being hungry all of the time, and yet they are much better than reaching for something else...

also - DRINK LOTS OF WATER =) I don't know if you have been or what, but it has really really helped me. I also went for a period of about a month where i lost only one or two pounds... and what got me going again was all of the water and getting myself back into a routine I was comfortable with.

something else you might want to think about is adding a daily vitamin possibly with a weightloss supplement. I'm taking the One-a-Day Weight Smart, and it has helped alot. The vitamins give me those extra nutrients I need, and also the boost wit hthe weightloss.

I hope that you can find the time to rest. sleep is SOOOOO important. your body needs to catch up with itself =)
 
hey you have really been doing so well dont give up your body naturally slows down when you diet as im sure you know its natural so dont get to disheartened,make sure you have lots of fruits around so if you are going to pick you pick on something healthy or go to your health food store and get some nuts give yourself a handfull a day this has worked for me in the past as i eat out of boredom alot of the time so by chewing alot it tricks your brain into thinking you are actually eating alot try walnuts or pecan.if you are doing cardio definately up the speed in which you do it even if its in short burst
also drink more water hungar can be a sign of dehydration.
if all fails sign up to a gym where they do those free day passes i done this and went and told the personal trainer about all my excercising problems he told me what to do and how to get started and it didnt cost me a penny!! i didnt sign up with the gym so it was free advice from someone who knows :)
 
Hey Hey, like you said, 26 pounds is nothing to sneeze at. You're doing great! Amomono is right about the fruits and veggies-nothing like using Mother Earth to our advantage. I give you three cheers to get you back into the game!

Yeah!
Yeah!
Yeah!

You're awesome!
 
Amomono, You are right about the water. I could kick it up a notch! (Or bottle at least!) I bought some new bottled water and am drinking one right now. I was actually thinking about taking a supplement. A few days ago I found a huge pile of prenatal vitamins from when I was pregnant. Maybe I will look into taking the one you suggested. Thank you.

Philomena, Thanks for the tip about the free pass at a gym. I'd never thought about that. I have stocked the house with lots more fruits and veggies (and some nuts), so here's to healthy munching! Thank you.

Fuunky, Thanks for the three cheers! I'm going to try to boost my intake of fruits and veggies.

I'm also trying to increase my workout by about 15 minutes. (It's kinda hard when the workout tape I like is 15 minutes, but...) Yesterday I took the baby for a walk. We were out for almost an hour. Maybe I'll just have to do that more often. Or maybe I can do a one mile walk with my dvd and then later on do a two mile walk. Any comments?

Thanks, guys for all the support! You are why this forum is working so well for me!
Totallyscrappy
 
walking with your baby is a great idea! not only are you getting out there and enjoying the day and doing something good for yourself - but, you are also spending time with you family =)

Good work!
 
i also found this site about weight loss plateau it talks about when you hit that plateau that lasts for more than 4 days cut your calorie intake by 200 calories
 
Thanks, Amomono! You are right, being outside with family is much better than inside with a video.

Philomena, the article was helpful. I know that I have to reduce my calories, but I wasn't sure by how much. I've really been dragging my butt about reducing my calories, but know that I know 200 might do the trick, I think I can sacrifice 200 calories. Of course, I haven't really been counting calories, so I think I'll start with smaller portions.

Yesterday's food
2 whole wheat waffles with 5 strawberries, small amount of country crock and lite syrup
water
peanuts, dried cranberries, mixed nuts and chocolate chips
water
romaine lettuce, cheddar cheese, grilled steak, ranch dressing
ear of corn with a few sprays of fake butter
diet cherry coke
raw carrots
water
1 cup macaroni and cheese
orange
water

Exercise
walked around local street fair for about 3-4 hours. Sunburnt scalp to prove it!
 
You are still doing wonderful, it is hard when you are doing everything right and you still aren’t losing like you want to. It sounds like you had a nice day out except for the sunburn.
 
Hi there...Missed you!!!!!!! I was just reading your diary. You still are doing so wonderfully. Yep those plateaus are difficult to deal with, especially when you are paying such good attention to what you are eating. However thsy say its good the body does this as it learns to regulate its new weight.

At the gym they informed me its good to change the workout around or do something new, as the body gets used to the routine and by changing it gets surprised by the new actively and helps gets you off that plateau. I see that you have been going out for walks and increasing the time so just hold tight,...it will all start to get going again!!!!
 
Thanks, Rosered! You really do so much for boosting my confidence! Thank you!
Jennifer, Missed you, too! Glad you are back!

Well, this plateau has been really depressing! Many times I thought about tossing in the towel; my head was busy with so many discouraging thoughts, "Why work so hard for nothing!" "If I'm not going to lose weight while eating carrots and fruit, then I'm going to eat ice cream and cheesecake!" "Exercise? You're kidding, right? It isn't working, anyway!"
(I found the weight loss stall bad enough, but the negative thoughts were very hard. I'm usually a positive person. I'm usually not easily discouraged.)
But, Forum, you are the reason I'm still working at it! How can I let down my support group? Especially when they want what I so badly want for myself!
...of course, it helps that I did lose a pound. :)
I have to add that I read something in someone else's diary that went something like, A year from now do you want to be celebrating reaching your goal weight or do you want to be looking back on the day you tossed in the towel? (I think Fuunkymonk said it, but I'm not sure where.)

cheddar jack crackers
water
pepper steak
rice
orange
diet cherry coke
slice of chocolate birthday cake
water
trail mix (dried cranberries, nuts, and chocolate chips)
breakfast bar
water
1/2 bun with shredded bbq beef
carrots and three cheese ranch dressing
10 fritos (160 cal for 10! Shocking!)
water

Exercise
2 mile walk dvd

Off to bed! Thanks for being my cheering section! I am so blessed to have all of you cheering me on. I really do appreciate it!
Totallyscrappy
 
I'm so glad you're not throwing in the towel, you're doing so wonderful!! Just always remember when you're down and out we are here to lift your spirits. Congrats on your weight loss!!!
 
Oh scrappy you've done sooo well. This is the part that makes dieting hard, just keep at it scrappy and it will pay off!
 
Scrappy! You're doing so awesome! Just hang in there. I definitely know what you're feeling like. It will get better and you'll be feeling great. :) Keep it up!
 
Ladies, You are the best cheering section a girl could ever ask for!!! You are so right! This is worth it! I am worth it and I am doing the hard work!

Today's food
2 whole wheat waffles (country crock and a squirt of lite syrup)
water
1/2 bun with bbq beef
carrots
20 cheetos (same calorie count as 10 Fritos -- just in case you were wondering)
1/2 an apple
1 milk chocolate miniature
diet cherry coke
slice of provolone cheese
water
lettuce and tomato salad with Italian dressing
meatloaf
mashed potatoes (man, they were good -- probably really bad too!)
corn
bite of brownie
water
1 Reese peanut butter egg (been saving it since Easter! It was soooo yummy. I truly enjoyed savored it!)

Exercise
1/2 hour of "moving" while watching Oprah

Totallyscrappy
 
I'm glad you enjoyed your Easter egg. Those things are really good. Those plateaus are hard, I know. But I think you're doing good and your dedication is admirable. Keep it up buddy!!!
 
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