Heather's Healthy Beginnings

wow, look at you busy bee! your kicking butt and taking names!! I'm not familiar with the different levels of nursing...whats level 3??
 
Korrie - In the University of Pennsylvania Health System there are 4 levels of nursing. The first is new grads, the second you automatically go into after a year of nursing. The third is kinda like. . . .you're part of committees, you precept new nurses, you're an active part of the organization that you're with. The fourth level is basically the nurses that have been doing the same thing for 20+ years and are absolute experts in the field. It brings with it a small raise and a nice resume booster. I'm excited to apply for it, really because my manager really thought I was ready for it. So that's exciting!

So ok, missed yesterday because it was a lonnnnnng day. Went to my certification review course from 8am till 3:30pm then went shopping with my best friend so she could find a dress for a wedding she's going to. I got a new IPod dock for my car which is suhweeeeet. Also got a new book. Not too exciting, but fun. We walked around the mall for about 3 hours, so I'm sure that burned off some calories which is a good thing. Ate Chick Fil-a for dinner which wasn't fabulous but my nutrition still wasn't too terrible. Today I'm finding myself in the throes of PMS as well as I haven't worn the patch thus far so I'm EXTREMELY cranky. So I had 2 cups of egg noodles with olive oil, salt and pepper for lunch. Not superbly nutritious, but I'll allow myself some minor food faux pas in the first month of quitting. Tonight we're going out to dinner and I've already figured out what I'm having so that I don't blow the whole day.

OK! Values for yesterday!

Calories:1630
Carbs: 201
Fat: 59
Protein: 76

Tomorrow is a day off!! Wheeee!
 
Soooo yesterday wasn't great nutritionally. I keep reminding myself to not let the calories run my life, but I do feel frustrated that I have had 2 days of over 2000 in the past week. Ah well. Continuing to focus on the quitting and exercise!!! Gotta find out what day I weighed myself - I think the day I weighed myself or the day that I kinda started back up in here is going to be the day when I add calories as a serious thing I'm watching. I gotta say that weighing once a month is really really nice. I'm no longer focusing on the scale numbers, but on doing what I need to get done to be healthy. That's a NICE feeling.

Today's plan is eat breakfast, goof around, grocery shop and jog. It's week 2 of C25K! Gotta get some good recipes from Sparkpeople, too. I'd like to make something interesting for dinner this week.

Ok, values from yesterday (ugh)

Calories: 2062
Carbs: 134
Fat: 89
Protein: 92

So basically my fat was way high and that's why my calories were so high when you break down what it was that I got out of my food. Ah well. . . .today is a new day :)
 
hey that's really not so bad. Besides, you are making an OVERALL lifestyle change right now... the important thing is the big picture :)
 
Anke - Thanks for the encouragement :) I meandered through your diary today for the first time but didn't have time to post! I'm gonna try to get there tonite. Yea I'm just trying to keep reminding myself that my focus right now is my exercise and quitting smoking. Those two are my primary priorities. Next month we can start talking about calories and all that rot again. This month I'm trying to be cognizant of them, but not obsessing.

Ok! Today was alright. Didn't get to the exercise part because I'm basically lazy. Awesome. But, I'm aiming for 3-5 days a week so I don't have to obsess over it. Nutrition isn't too bad even though I had a cheese fest this afternoon and ate wayyyyy too much stuff. Surprisingly, though, everything turned out OK. Had some salad for dinner because I had a stomach ache and my calories aren't too bad for the day.

Calories: 1500
Carbs: 53
Fat: 76
Protein: 96
 
Had to get this off my chest before I head off to work.

Between the quitting smoking, the PMS and the excessive bloat I have going on this morning, all I want to do is HIDE IN MY BED. None of this "work" B.S. I want to hide under the covers and NEVER COME BACK OUT.

Arrrrrrgh.

Wish me luck today. . . . .bah.
 
Awww, I felt JUST like that yesterday morning... (quitting smoking, PMS-ing, stressing about moving) and was lucky enough to be able to take the day off from work.

I started feeling a bit better and was even gonna go gym... til my bro broke down and bike issues were had (in the TRAFFIC!) for the rest of the day! :ack2:

So, to conclude, we all have these days, so I am wishing you strength for today. Yes, it is possible to make it through okay! :seeya:
 
So work has been absolutely INSANE recently and I haven't had time to post entries, but you will all be glad to know I'm still sticking with it. No cigarettes in 15 days - here's my stats thus far:

Time Smoke-Free: 14 days, 22 hours, 32 minutes and 11 seconds
Cigarettes NOT smoked: 149
Lifetime Saved: 1 day, 3 hours
Money Saved: $33.75

My god. . . .It's hard to believe how many cigarettes I HAVEN'T smoked in that period of time. Traditionally when I have quit smoking in the past, I have had horrible upper respiratory infections within the first few weeks. I have no idea why, but it's happened. I thought it was happening again today - had a low-grade fever and some coughing. Right now I feel OK, and haven't had a fever since this morning. I didn't eat much today but what I did eat made me feel like absolute crap and landed my calorie total. . .well, OK, but not what I'd like it to be.

I did 2 days of the week 2 C25K this week - probably going to do the third tomorrow but decided to give myself a break today.

So no smoking and doing well with the running program thus far. My 2 things to concentrate on haven't been all that bad. And I'm tracking calories even though I'm not eating quite the way I want. I feel like I have probably lost some of the weight that I gained back - clothing that was tight on me last week is a little bit better this week. I'm not weighing until mid-September, though. That is when I'll start to focus in on my calories as well.

OK, values for today and yesterday:
(Today)
Calories: 1785
Carbs: 209
Fat: 74
Protein: 68

(Yesterday)
Calories: 1925
Carbs: 191
Fat: 84
Protein: 110

Hope everyone has a great weekend - I'll be working! Bah.
 
:cheers2:
heathercb04 said:
So work has been absolutely INSANE recently and I haven't had time to post entries, but you will all be glad to know I'm still sticking with it. No cigarettes in 15 days - here's my stats thus far:

Time Smoke-Free: 14 days, 22 hours, 32 minutes and 11 seconds
Cigarettes NOT smoked: 149
Lifetime Saved: 1 day, 3 hours
Money Saved: $33.75

My god. . . .It's hard to believe how many cigarettes I HAVEN'T smoked in that period of time. Traditionally when I have quit smoking in the past, I have had horrible upper respiratory infections within the first few weeks. I have no idea why, but it's happened. I thought it was happening again today - had a low-grade fever and some coughing. Right now I feel OK, and haven't had a fever since this morning. I didn't eat much today but what I did eat made me feel like absolute crap and landed my calorie total. . .well, OK, but not what I'd like it to be.

I did 2 days of the week 2 C25K this week - probably going to do the third tomorrow but decided to give myself a break today.

So no smoking and doing well with the running program thus far. My 2 things to concentrate on haven't been all that bad. And I'm tracking calories even though I'm not eating quite the way I want. I feel like I have probably lost some of the weight that I gained back - clothing that was tight on me last week is a little bit better this week. I'm not weighing until mid-September, though. That is when I'll start to focus in on my calories as well.

OK, values for today and yesterday:
(Today)
Calories: 1785
Carbs: 209
Fat: 74
Protein: 68

(Yesterday)
Calories: 1925
Carbs: 191
Fat: 84
Protein: 110

Hope everyone has a great weekend - I'll be working! Bah.
Click to expand...

Hey Heather!! I am back and back for good. No more jumping off the wagon for now and for a while. I want to lose another twenty pounds, wowser!1
But man Look at you! Congrats on quiting smoking!! Imagine the money and life time you will be saving by quitting...
Your doing wicked awesome.

The boy toy and I have some issues, but we are slowly working out the problems.
I hope yours is doing well....
Great for the jogging, I am going to start jogging again tomorrow morning. I walked a good pace, almost jogging for fifteen minutes today. I havent done that for two months. You are an incredible inspiration to me right now!!

all of you are on the weight loss forum...
and btw My mom first got sick when she came off ciggys... she coughed up putrid stuff two months after she quit. So dont quit, it will pass and you will be smoke free with flying colors.

love yas girly
always
your friend
natalie jo
 
Oh dear LORD I've been so busy lately! Just wanted to let you all know that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I haven't stopped my healthy trend either - although running hasn't been great this week, I'm hoping to do some more of C25K tomorrow probably redoing week 2 because last week I did two days of it but never finished. Then I'll start Monday with week three! This week has been absolutely insane with work. I literally haven't been finished with work before 7pm any night this week. Luckily I have OFF TOMORROW!!!! Thank God. I need a day off.

Natalie - I am SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU BACK!!!! I'm glad that things are going well for you and you're getting back in the groove :)

Brandy - I know it's hard to believe! I'm due to put some money into the wedding account probably with this upcoming paycheck. I'll probably have $60 saved by then and probably over 200 cigarettes not smoked. In fact, let's post some stats. . . .

Time Smoke-Free: 21 days, 32 minutes and 19 seconds
Cigarettes NOT smoked: 210
Lifetime Saved: 1 day, 14 hours
Money Saved: $47.25

Jesus, hard to believe that I HAVEN'T smoked over 200 cigarettes. That's god awful.

So basically. . . .I'm still not smoking. I'm semi-exercising, but I'm TOTALLY not paying attention to my nutrition. That's gonna be my next focus starting next week I think. I'm on the last step of the nicotine patch and I'm feeling really good, actually. I'm starting to wonder why I ever smoked. I walk by people who are smoking and the smell actually grosses me out. I don't want to cough every 5 minutes and don't wake up with a stuffy nose or crap in my throat from smoking too much the day before. I feel GOOD. So that's awesome. It's been really hard to focus on anything this week with work being my biggest focus. But I'm still trying!

Planning to stop by to see everyone sometime soon, I promise. And you'll be getting updates from me MUCH more regularly!
 
Hey, glad to hear you're doing SO WELL!!!

I'm also still not smoking... over a month now, it's awesome. Seriously, congratulations!
 
*deep breath* I'm still here!

Just finished up the week from hell at work. I've seriously been working 14-16 hour days when you factor in all the paperwork I have been doing. Tuesday night i was doing paperwork until 11:15pm!!! Arrrrgh.

So let's just suffice to say that I'm lucky to still even BE eating with the lack of time I've had lately. I haven't been exercising. I haven't been counting my calories and my food has been questionable at best.

OH WELL! I'm still not smoking which is personally amazing to be because I've been so incredibly stressed recently. But I've kept away from the smokes and actually haven't even been wearing the patch for the last two days. I'm at 28 days smoke free and have saved myself over 2 days of my life and $65. Awesome.

So this week looks a little less treacherous. I'm hopeful. What I really want is to just do C25K and focus on exercise and have TIME to input my calories. From there I can start really focusing in on nutrition.

One thing at a time!

Plus I have a three day weekend self-created! Have to get the dumb car fixed though so that's taking up most of my day today, then I'm going to try and go have lunch with my mom provided all goes well with the car. We'll see!

Time for some retail therapy, then I guess I'll walk back to the repair place and see what the progress is. I dropped the dumb thing off 3 hours ago!!! :cuss: Can't complain too much though, the guys are really nice and don't try to screw you just because you're a woman. They've helped me through a few things so I'll stick with 'em.

Have a happy Friday!
 
Thanks for stopping in, Brandy! Things with the car were insanely expensive, but all is fixed now. And I'm SO HAPPY that I quit smoking. I don't even feel compelled to sneak one every now and again with my friends who do smoke. I'm finished with that part of my life and I'm glad it's gone.

So first some sad news, then some happy news unrelated to weight loss (but related to body image!). I gained 3lbs since quitting smoking. I'm not surprised, and I'm actually glad it wasn't more than that. Plus, I weighed the day after eating at Ruby Tuesday's for lunch then my favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner. Needless to say it was a HORRIFYING day for nutrition. But, I stuck with my plan. I waited until 30 days after quitting smoking to weigh again, and I'll do the same thing every 30 days. Now that my focus of quitting has been completed, I really don't think about smoking anymore. I'm ready to conquer another aspect of my health for a month. I'd like to say I can conquer exercise and nutrition at once, but I think I'm really going to work on nutrition as first and foremost. I'm going to try to do my C25K (kinda gotta start from scratch on that one) and stick with 3 days a week. Maybe that will allow me to not stress so much over it. I put in my nutrition for today thus far in SparkPeople and I'm at 742 calories thus far. So if I keep careful, I should be fine for dinner and even a small afternoon snack.

So here's the exciting news. . . .I bought my wedding dress yesterday :hurray::willy_nilly::D:eek:
It was the first time I have ever tried something on and not thought "Good Lord I look huge" or "I have to lose weight to look good in this". I looked at myself in the mirror and actually thought to myself "Wow, I look beautiful". And it was a great boost for body image because it fit me absolutely perfectly. So even if I stay the exact same size by the time I'm married, I can still look beautiful. I'd love to be able to have alterations done because I lost weight, but I'm OK with the dress as is. So that was exciting :)

Just finished grocery shopping, doing dishes, cleaning the kitchen and vacuuming. I'm gonna relax for the rest of the day, I think.
 
Oh, how wonderful about the dress!

I like the way you're tackiling and focusing on the things one at a time... I think I may try the same thing...

Well, I am smoke free and have been for 2 months... also gained just over 2 pounds in the last week, due to stress that I would have smoked away previously... I now ate it away :(

Anyway, on we go!
 
Anke - Thanks for keeping an eye on me doll! I have to say I'm superbly impressed with what you've done so far - I can't wait to say that I'm in the 170s again!! And I hear you on the eating in place of smoking too. I've definitely been doing that! I'm trying to replace eating with gum chewing, but for the first 2 weeks I chewed the sugary gum and it made my gums sore! So no more of that. Bought some sugar-free gum and that's what I'm going to chew from now on.

So I haven't been perfect in nutrition or even close to it for the past two days but I've been tracking my calories again so that I can reintroduce myself to what 1500 calories looks like. I definitely haven't been eating like that recently. Oi. Today wasn't bad until we had some beer while watching the Eagles/Cowboys game. I would have been just fine if I hadn't had that. So I'm encouraged by that - that means that my eating was really good, but the alcohol did me in. No exercise yet but today's efforts were thwarted by a mini impromptu football gathering and emergency visit to the dentist's office for swollen gums. (All is OK! Just random moderate localized gingitvitis caused by some sort of food getting caught under the gums somewhere. Bad enough that my lymph nodes started getting swollen on the same side as the swollen gums but apparently it isn't anything to woryr about) Made some fajitas for dinner which were tasty, filling and healthy and now am watching the game with the boytoy and future father in-law. All in all a good night. Not fabulous calories but mostly to blame on beer. Haven't had beer in a long time so I kinda indulged.

Info for today!

Calories: 2078
Carbs: 228
Fat: 45
Protein: 93
 
So aside from recent EXTREME job stress which I thought was easing out but came to another forefront this week. . . .I've been doing alright nutritionally. Haven't had time for C25K this week yet but I swear to GOD tomorrow I'm getting back into it. Tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday. I'm too stressed out to not have an outlet.

Don't feel like writing too much because I'm just overwhelmed right now. I think I'm going to play some online crap and just vegitate for a little while. Luckily even though work stuff was really stressful today, I didn't respond by overeating. One of our medical directors took me out for a cheesesteak at a local place. I ate half of mine which actually ended up not being all that terribly bad for me. I couldn't decide whether I felt like puking or eating the whole thing. (Not self-induced puke, just out of emotional turmoil)

I need to reread a book called 'codependent no more'. Just need to refocus myself again.

Ok anyway - values for today and yesterday.

Yesterday

Calories - 1520
Carbs - 182
Protein - 94
Fat - 49

Today

Calories - 1611
Carbs - 163
Protein - 77
Fat - 52
 
I'm happy that smoking is out of your life for good! So proud. And you should post pictures of you in that wonderful wedding dress! I bet you look gorgeous in it! How was the c25k run? Hope you are having a great Friday!
 
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