Pride and Temptation

  This has been a very busy week, sorry I haven't posted for a couple of days. Yesterday I barely had time to get my walking in, but I managed to get 17,474 steps! Today, Jeff and I did over 20,000! That's right, double our goal. And I am paying for it! I hurt all over. Tomorrow is not gonna be fun. I have a full schedule and I am so sore. I'm tough, though. I'll make it. 
  As I said, I've been super-busy, but I have gotten in over 10,000 steps every day. However, earlier in the week my average had slipped a little. Down to around maybe 12,000 steps per day. So I got a "stop-being-such-a-wimp" message from my Jawbone UP band. Usually, the J.U. has been so supportive and uplifting, cheering on my accomplishments. But yesterday, it sent me a nasty-gram. Something to the effect of, "Hey slacker, you're falling of the pace. You need to pick it up again. Like, now. Before we buy you a one-way ticket to Fatty-Town." 

This is how my Jawbone UP makes me feel these days. 

Adventures in the Grocery Aisles

   Shopping for my family has become a completely different experience since we've started on the low-carb diet. See, I'm a couponer and a bargain hunter. I have discovered a ton of ways to save money at the grocery store over the years. I clip coupons out of the newspaper (Mom gives me hers, so they're totally free to me), I load coupons and deals onto my rewards cards online, I read those ads you get every week in the mail (no, for real!). I hunt down clearance bins and spend far too much time comparing pricing labels to get the "biggest bang for my buck". 
  Here's the thing-healthy foods are rarely on sale and don't often have coupons. You can find coupons for candy, chips, soda, pre-packaged pasta and refrigerated cinnamon rolls all the time. But it's rare to find coupons for veggies or meat. Seriously-I'm too poor to eat healthy! Yes, we've been eating steak. But it's discount steak. Whatever is on sale, marked down, 2-for-1. THAT'S what's for dinner. 

Doesn't that just make your mouth water?

Week 4 Weigh In

  The end of week 4 brings us some happy results! Breaking it down for ya'll (yep, I said "ya'll"):
  Katie has lost another 5 pounds this week! Wow! Her total weight loss in four weeks has been 37 pounds! Have I mentioned that she cheats sometimes? Amazing! For the most part, she sticks with the eating plan. She eats healthy about 85% of the time (I'm totally guessing here). Just cutting most of the processed foods and sodas out of her daily diet has made such a difference. She gets a lot of walking in at school and play rehearsals. Katie is an awesome kid and such an inspiration. Thank goodness for her incredible results-she's carrying our team!

You can really see the difference in Katie's face! She's so awesome!

Entertaining On A (carbohydrate) Budget

  We have been very busy the last few days entertaining guests while we try to get our walks in and track our progress. I was really nervous about having folks over and feeding people while we're still in low-carb mode. Food is love, and I want my friends and family to know how much I love them. Parties and get-togethers have always meant big starchy, sugary buffets of love. Feeding a group of kids meant ordering pizza (cheap, easy, no work for Mom, easy clean-up).

Easy, cheesy, pepperoni-pizz-y!

App-solute Power!

  Jeff and I are keeping up with our walking routine despite the sheer agony he is in. The blister on the bottom of his foot (I promise, no photos today) is causing poor Jeff a lot of pain and discomfort. Thanks to advice from a very helpful pharmacist at CVS in Poulsbo, I have acquired antibiotic ointment, bandages and mole-skin that seem to be giving Jeff some comfort and relief. He is at least able to walk with me and we completed our 10,000 steps this morning without having to amputate. So we're feeling good! 

The bottom of Jeff's left foot.

Winded and Wounded But We Keep Walking

  So Lent has begun and we are off to a great start. Jeff and I got in 18,854 and 16,907 steps respectively yesterday. Katie got in 10,433 steps yesterday-her first day with her Jawbone UP. Most of them from just being at school and play rehearsals. She finished off the last couple of thousand roller-skating last night. She used to be in roller derby a couple of years ago (her derby name is Hurricane Katrina) but took a break from it to pursue other activities. Maybe she'll get back to it one day.
  I haven't had a cigarette since Tuesday afternoon. Feeling pretty good so far. I don't use gum, patches, mints or meds. Just straight-up cold turkey. I never really smoked a lot-3 or 4 cigs a day. It's hardest to break the routines, like my morning cigarette and coffee. When I was craving a cigarette this afternoon, I headed to the trails and went for a walk. We live next to a golf course and a disc-golf course so lots of places to walk with equal opportunity for a head injury. I love the danger! 
  I decided to venture off through the disc-golf course and N.A.D. park. Nice walk-a little damp today, but not too cold. And, since Jeff wasn't with me, I was able to stop and take some pictures:

I REALLY wanted to walk across these, but thought better of it, since I was alone.

Lent it Go

 Today is Ash Wednesday which marks the first day of Lent. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the religious observance, let me break it down for you. 

  Lent is the period of time between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. Some (or maybe all of you) are familiar with the 40 days of Lent. The math doesn't work out to exactly 40 days. It's actually 46 days. The reason for the "40 days of Lent" is that in most of the Christian churches, Sundays are not included as they are used to commemorate Christ's resurrection. Yeah, I know-that's what Easter is all about. But it's a pretty big deal for us, so we celebrate it often.

Lenten calendar

  What is Lent really all about? The traditional purpose is to prepare our minds, bodies and spirits through fasting, service and prayer. Of course, traditions do change with the ever-updating world we live in. Many of us will choose to give up a vice or bad habit. I think it's very rare to find anyone fasting for 40 days, but many people will give up meat or sweets or soda. My church (First Christian Church-Disciples of Christ at 811 Veneta Ave. in Bremerton. Worship on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. www.bremertondisciples.org/ ) encourages our congregation to add something to our lives to make it more positive like helping others and spending time outdoors or give up something that hurts us spiritually, like being judgmental of others or reality TV. 

  Now, I'm not trying to push my beliefs on anyone. Religion is a deeply personal thing and I respect everyone's ideals. Truly. Whatever you believe in works for you and maybe we can share thoughts and ideas about it someday. This is what works for me. And for the record, I am not anti-gay, pro-life or a believer in all the hell-fire and brimstone anger directed at anyone who isn't "one of us". I believe in a loving God and loving my neighbors. 

Cheaters Never Win

  At the end of Week 3 I am feeling very discouraged. As you know, Jeff and I allowed ourselves to cheat in celebration of Valentine's Day with a decadent dinner at the Melting Pot. One sumptuous meal that ended with a sinful dessert course of treats dipped in molten chocolate. It was heavenly. And cost us dearly in our progress.

Why??????????????????

Food Is Love-or Is It?

  Happy Valentine's Day to all! I hope your day is as full of love and romance as mine has been! I am truly blessed with the sweetest guy. He has spoiled me rotten all week and I am so very grateful that I have someone as amazing as Jeff in my life. He is my partner in all things and I couldn't be happier. 

  We celebrated my third favorite holiday (right after Christmas and Halloween) a day early. Jeff took me to the Melting Pot for the most decadent dinner. For those of you who are not familiar with the Melting Pot, it is a fondue restaurant chain and so good you'll want to curl up in the melted cheese or chocolate and just smother yourself in the ooey-gooey goodness of it all. 

Seriously sinful!

Digital Health

  I may have mentioned Jeff's obsession with all things tech-y. Jeff has lots of toys (no, not THAT kind! SHEESH!). He loves complicated electronic equipment and stuff with bright touch screens-buttons are apparently not cool anymore. It took me a couple of months after moving in with Jeff to learn how to use the TV. I am still somewhat baffled by the XBox One, and I was very nervous using his computer to type up my resume. Seriously-his office is quite a monument to all things digital. Very space-agey.

Epiphanies and Fruit Pizza

  It's amazing, the things that happen when you embark on a lifestyle change. Katie, who started us off on this whole plan, has had a few epiphanies. The first eye-opener is that there IS life without Nutella, and it's not so bad. WHEW! Although that and her incredibly successful induction to the program have been positive, she has made other discoveries that are not so easy. 
  Katie is all about music. She loves to sing and perform. Her dream, since she was about 6 or 7, has been to play Tracy Turnblad in the musical Hairspray.

Rationing out those carbs!

  Entering Week 3, we are now in the exciting new "On-Going Weight Loss Phase". This phase will last until each of us is within 5-10 pounds of our goal weight. So some of us will move into the third phase sooner than others, and that may get confusing. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it!
  For now, we have the exciting process of, "the minor liberalization of your intake of carbohydrate". Sounds sexy, doesn't it? During the first two weeks we have been restricted to 20 grams or less of carbs per day. This week we get to add 5 grams of carbs to that, or 25 grams per day. Each week we add 5 grams of carbohydrates per day until we stop losing weight, then we back off to the previous week's carb limit and stay at that limit through the "On-Going Weight Loss Phase". Sounds easy enough, right?

juicy, sweet carbohydrate-filled fruits and veggies. YUM!

Week 2 Wrap-Up

  Sorry I've been MIA for a couple of days. It's been busy around here! We haven't been getting any walks in, except for Jeff who walked 6 miles to help out a friend yesterday. His blisters have finally healed up to where he can walk comfortably again. I have been trying to work some of the kinks out of this blog and discover my own "Googliness". Thank heaven I have my own personal "Geek Squad" right here under my own roof. I think I have the bugs worked out and I will be trying to get you all back in touch with my page. Thanks for being patient with my lack of tech-nerdery. I'm more of a literary nerd, not so great with the fancy buttons and stuff.  
  So here's how our countdown is going:

Taking Shape

  I had an interesting conversation with Katie the other day (well, I thought it was interesting. You might not, but that's what we're talking about today) about body shape. You gotta have realistic expectations and you have to learn to love the shape you have. That was a hard one for me at her age.

So, What are you guys EATING, anyway?

  At Katie's suggestion, we decided to try a low-carb eating plan. Jeff had tried the Atkins plan years back with great success, so we agreed to start with that. So far, it seems to be kicking this thing off right. I'm sure a lot of you are familiar with the plan, some of you may have tried it, others know someone who has tried it and still others think you know what it's all about. Let me break it down for you:

The Agony of "De Feet"

  We realize the importance of exercise in our plan to get healthy and TAKE OVER THE WORLD, or at least lose some weight and look better. Our first week found some of us (Jeff) being "All In" to smashing the walking goal of 10,000 steps a day. I am beyond amazed at what he is able to accomplish when he puts his mind to anything. He walked 4 out of 7 days, covering over 20 miles. But there is a high price to pay for all that enthusiasm. The angry blisters on the bottom of both of Jeff's feet, not to mention the pain in his legs, will probably keep him off the streets for a few days.
 

Week 1 Complete

  Some of you may be wondering why most of the focus has been on Jeff and I. Where's Katie? What's she doing? HOW is she doing? First let me say how very proud I am of her initiating this whole "get healthy" program for the three of us. She is an amazing girl-smart, cute, funny and talented. Being a teenager and trying to get healthy is no easy feat. Junk food is everywhere. At her play rehearsals, at Rainbow functions (Rainbow is the youth group she's involved in. We'll talk more about that later, I'm sure), at school, at friend's houses. It's hard to say no and stick to your healthy eating plan. Also, Katie goes to her dad's house every other weekend from Thursday evening to Monday morning. They are supportive of her plan, but it's a challenge to shift from one home to the other and stay consistent.
 

Blonde Ambition

  In addition to the low-carb diet, we are trying to add some physical activity to our daily (well, not EVERY day) routine. Jeff has a nifty little gadget- the Jawbone UP-that tracks all manner of health related stuff like his sleep patterns and how many steps he takes each day. This was a gift from his boss, who got one for everyone in the office so they can track and encourage each other at Saeblehaus West (www.saeblehauswest.com). The goal is 10,000 steps each day. Jeff and his brother are notoriously the group's underachievers in this ranking and do take some verbal abuse (support?) because of it.