Back to Basics Challenge: Improving Spaces

This week in the Back to Basics Challenge, we were supposed to "clean up" two or three spaces to help us on our weight loss journey. You can read more about it here. I decided to clean up my little kitchen space in my office at work and my kitchen at home. I do have plans for a workout area in my basement, but I might run out of time to set that up this weekend.
 
I am a teacher, so I spend a lot of time in my classroom and am lucky enough to have my own office. All I need is a bathroom and I would never have to leave! (Although seeing and interacting with other adults once in a while is nice.) Anyway, I have a microwave and a mini fridge along with some cupboard space above the fridge. I looked at expiration dates and threw out expired items. I also organized things so it was easy to get to what I use the most. I decided to bring my own real plates and silverware from home instead of reheating items in plastic containers (not good for you) or paper plates (wasteful).

Inside the mini fridge. Lunch is in the bag, flavored water in the stainless steel water bottle, and snacks in the door.

 

This is the cabinet above the fridge. The things I use the most or are for me are on the bottom shelf. The top shelf has some leftover plates, cups, baggies, and treats for the students.

I have a set of jars with glass beads at home to visually track my weight loss and decided to make a set for work too. I have a problem with emotional eating, so I often eat when stressed. Although I love my job, we all experience stress at work. Combine that with the ability to sit in front of your computer on plan period and eat with no on seeing you is not so good.

 

 

The second place I tackled was my kitchen at home. I already got rid of all the unhealthy stuff except for what is my husband's. He doesn't keep much in the house since he eats out a lot, but does have some unhealthy snacks such as cookies and candy. I have learned to just ignore his stuff and not even touch it. The big problem in my kitchen is the lack of storage space and how everything somehow became a big, jumbled up mess. I organized dishes, spices, appliances, and food. Here are the end results:

 

Everyday dishes are organized.

Moved the pots above the stove along with olive oil and cooking spray.

Spices and less used items on the top shelf.

What I call my husband's pantry space. You can see how little he keeps around and the Goldfish crackers and candy is sitting out.

My cabinet with my snacks, drinks, etc.

Two shelves have dog stuff and one shelf has my vitamins and oatmeal.

Big pans and appliances. It is really sad that my fancy, expensive food steamer is still in packaging. Got to use it one of these days. Also, don't judge me by my crock pot. I got it at a garage sale for $4 and plan on spray painting it a cute color.

I moved the pans to a drawer hoping it would make things easier.

All my measuring cups in a drawer with other odds and ends.

The fridge was clean already.

 

 



August + Back to Basics Challenge

I know it has been a long while since the last post. The two grad classes I took as summer sessions took over my whole July. I learned a lot, enjoyed them, and also got A's, but man were they draining. I had three weeks left after my last class until work and grad school started again, so I felt like I had no summer. I spent the last week before work school running around trying to get some things in order in my classroom. I still have things I want to work on, but the classroom is looking pretty good. So that was the end of my summer break in a nutshell.

Work school and grad school have been in session for about two weeks now. I'm starting to have a routine going, so I feel it is a great time to start getting back on track with healthy eating, working out, and blogging. I have been either not following my plan or very wishy-washy since the end of April. That is when I had a group project for one of my grad school classes that was extremely stressful along with my spring music program at work. And I also ended up in a boot due to my Achilles tendon injury acting up again. It sucks that all that happened at once, but I should not have used it as an excuse to eat whatever I want and not exercise. This summer I was bound to get on track and let the stress of summer classes take over. The most I lost all summer was 3 pounds. When I weighed in at the beginning of the school year, I lost only 1 pound over summer break. I have lost another pound since school began. Things come up all the time, and I have to be more determined to not get off track and find better strategies for dealing with stress.

I found a challenge through a blog that I read that is called "Back to Basics." That is exactly what I need right now. You can find out about this challenge here. I tried using the "Lose It!" website this summer when I was tracking my food. It is a great website, but I am no longer going to use it. I want to get "back to the basics" of what was working for me when I lost that 35 pounds. And tracking calories was not what I was doing. I instead took pictures of what I ate and posted them on here. I would like to start doing that again along with some kind of weekly progress (weigh in, measurements, pics, non-scale victories...) I would also like to get in some kind of extra movement or exercise at least 3 days a week, if not more. This is how I started my successful weigh loss of 35 pounds and I am going to try it that way again.

I am also challenging myself when it comes to spending and money. There were a lot of expenses in August, so I would like to keep myself more accountable and stick to things that are truly necessary in September. The first part of this strategy is planning out my meals for the month. Second I made a huge list of groceries, toiletries, household items, etc. that we should need throughout the month. I am making one big shopping trip to get this items. This means I should only have to go out once a week on a small trip to buy fresh ingredients and my husband's staples of milk and break and bake cookies (the joys of being skinny and eating what you want...). This should give me more time on the weekends to read and study for my one class I  am taking this semester. I'm taking only one class because of all the changes at work, but it is a way to spend less money a month and make more time for healthy living.

Now that you are caught up with my August, you should be seeing many more posts this month!

Finding Christmas Spirit

I have to admit it has been hard to feel very "Christmas-y" this year. I don't know if it is because of the weather or all the changes going on (all good changes, but changes nonetheless). I have had the decorations up since the day after Thanksgiving, but all the boxes and unused décor is sitting around the great room and making it a hot mess. I usually buy things on sale throughout the year for presents, so I didn't have to buy very much and have had the gifts wrapped for two weeks or so. I guess I'm prepared but not feeling it.

I spent the last week (or even longer for some grade levels) at work singing Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, and los Posadas songs. Some classes got to watch movies that went with their songs such as Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer and A Chipmunk Christmas. I even wore Christmas shirts and socks every day this week (and for some reason I don't have pictures of Friday's outfit).

Maybe I'll be feeling it more when I'm officially on Winter break.

I know that this is supposed to be a weight loss blog and there has been a lack of writing about that recently. I haven't been losing weight, but I do have my healthy moments of eating (which is usually my meals) and my not so healthy (which is usually my snacks). I've been thinking about what I need to work on and will try to get back on track after Christmas. I don't plan on going crazy because it is a holiday, but I will enjoy what food there is within reason.

A Week and a Half Set-Back

Here is part two from what happened last week, you know, the weight loss (or lack thereof) stuff I'm supposed to be writing about. I'm warning you right now that this post does get a little "Debbie Downer" which is not how I like to be. I guess it happens to us all sometimes though.

The first two weeks of the October Challenge (in case you forgot what that was by now- Tighter Belts and Even Tighter Wallets) went pretty well. I didn't meet all my goals each week, but I met a lot of them with eating better being the most important one. I didn't lose weight, but I was getting back into good habits at least. Then came my fall program and me falling off the wagon...

The week of the 15th started out okay, but I started slipping into bad habits again. The week of the 22nd I completely fell into my old habits again such as eating too much fast food, sugary snacks, not working out. It really had to do with being stressed out about things at work and using food as a comfort or coping mechanism. This seems to be one of my biggest struggles.

This is my sixth year doing music programs and getting evaluated (and my fifth year at the same school with the same boss), but it still seems to stress me out and get to me. I worry about things I probably shouldn't even worry about. I know that is part of having a job and any job I have I will have stressful times. I really need to start coming up with ways of dealing with these times better. One component of that is actually taking time out for myself and my family. I get so involved with work and start staying after work longer, coming in on the weekends for a few hours, and taking home whatever I can do at home.

The day after my program I really took a look at myself in the mirror and was really unhappy with what I saw. I finally faced the scale and I gained two pounds. Later that day I broke down and started crying and looking at the Weight Watchers (WW) website. I came to realize I don't really need WW. I did the online program before, but never went to a meeting. The whole idea behind meetings, weighing in, and getting support and useful advice appeals to me. I feel very alone at this weight loss thing sometimes. I know that there are people I work with and family members that have and are trying to lose weight and get in shape. I just feel that it would help if I had a workout buddy or someone (or a group) whom I met with regularly to talk about this kind of stuff.

I have a great husband, but he really doesn't get this whole process and the difficulties with it. He has the opposite problem of me. He has actually had the doctor tell him to gain weight! I try talking with him about this stuff and sometimes it helps and sometimes it doesn't. I know this blog is a way of communicating as well and maybe if I start doing that more regularly I will start feeling better.

It has been so long since I've lost any weight that I don't even remember what it feels like anymore. I know I felt wonderful and that feeling was better than any material reward that I gave myself for reaching a goal. I briefly looked at the clothes in my "motivation closet" and it made me want to fit into those clothes again. I thought by this time I would be pretty close to my goal weight or at least smaller enough that I would need a new winter coat. Not that I would be struggling to fit into the same clothes that fit at the end of last winter.

I finally broke down and bought some new undergarments and shape wear since the ones that I'm using now are starting to fall apart. I could really use new pants, but am somehow still wearing my 14's. I feel like I'm going to blow a button or a seam, but I already gave my 16's away. I really don't want to buy new "big" pants again. I've already started thinking about a new goal to set for Monday and am starting to feel some motivation return. I would like to spend tomorrow and Monday really working on getting things in place for me to succeed at this goal. It is time for me to get back on track and spent more time on me and less on other people and work.

My Life from October 22-25

Since it has been a while, I'll probably split up my thoughts up into two posts. This one will be about what has been going on in my life. The next one will be about weight loss (or the lack thereof).

Last Saturday I went out to lunch with my friend Jenny. I went to her wedding back in the beginning of October. Even though we live a few hours away from each other, an opportunity came up where she was going to be in my neck of the woods. We went to Red Lobster since we both haven't been there for a while and thought it sounded good. We had a good time catching up and stopped by Kohl's for a few minutes afterwards to walk around. I got my usual lunch portion of grilled tilapia with rice, broccoli, and a salad.

Here's some pictures of the outfit and accessories I wore that day. I love the peace sign earrings with the black and grey striped shirt.

The rest of the weekend and beginning of this week was spent preparing for my fall music program at work. The second and third grades performed songs from the musical revue "We're Making Music" by Teresa and Paul Jennings (Music K-8 magazine has it if there are any music teachers out there reading this). The pictures below are from the backdrop I made and from left to right of the backdrop since it was too big to fit into one picture.

The program was on Tuesday after school and it went well. My CD player decided to stop working before the third grade program, but one of my fellow teachers had the magic touch to get it to work again. This is the second time that thing has not worked for me. I think it might be out to get me... On a positive note, I got some lovely flowers again after the program as a thank you.

From the third grade teachers.

From the PTO.

Another random work thing... This past week was spirit week for Red Ribbon Week, so I got to wear pajamas to work on Monday which was kinda fun and comfortable.

I stayed at home on Wednesday of this week, because I was still feeling sick. The antibiotics helped right away with the sore throat, but I've still been really low on energy. I've been coughing, sneezing, and having an on and off again runny nose. I think those symptoms are probably just my fall allergies acting up, but it is not fun in combination with whatever other illness I had. I slept for about 12 hours (minus taking the dogs out and feeding them). I sure hope that I get my energy back soon without the help of caffeine and 12 hours of sleep.

Thursday was the last day of the workweek for me. We have fall break this Friday and Monday. I'm looking forward to using this time to see some friends, relax, clean the house, and most importantly get back on track with the weight loss. My thoughts on that will be in the next post.

Wedding Weekend

This weekend has been a busy one, so here is the weekend recap...

Friday was a crazy day at work. There were lots of interruptions in the morning and a smelly situation. I'll just leave it at that. I was kind of in a goofy kind of mood too which probably helped me get through the day. Nothing like a joke and a laugh to get through anything. I came home and vegetated in front of the TV watching multiple episodes of  "Yes to the Dress." I don't care that I've been married for five years, it is still fun to look at wedding dresses! A friend of ours (the hubs and I) from out of town stopped by and chatted with us for a couple of hours which was a good way to end the workweek.

On Saturday I went to the wedding of a friend of mine from high school. We had fallen out of touch and recently been talking on Facebook. She sent me an invite, so I went. I'm really glad that I went and we have reconnected. The wedding took place in a town called Bunker Hill which was a 2 hour and 30 minute drive from my house. I went alone which made the drive pretty boring, but I did snap a few pictures on the way there (on the way back it was dark so I didn't take any).

All dressed up and ready to go.

Some fall scenery.

I drove through a lot of country and got quite a few photos. They kind of remind me of the small town in which I grew up.

This is supposed to be a lake that the small country highway I was on goes through, but it must have been hit hard by the drought this summer.

I was behind a horse trailer for quite a way too.

This must be the most empty split four lane highway I have ever seen.

More farm scenes- this time a combine harvesting.

Some more fall leaves.

I got lost but got there in the nick of time before the ceremony started. It was a nice day for a wedding minus the wind and colder temperature (it was outdoors). I don't know how the bridesmaids and bride made it through with no sleeves or shawls, but they did. The reception was also outside, but in a tent with heaters spread throughout. I was supposed to sit by a friend from high school, but she was unable to make it. The only other people at my table that showed up were a couple that were friends of the bride's from college. I didn't know them, but we were able to make some small talk. I got to talk to my friend's mom, dad, and aunts. In high school we were really close friends and we both did a lot of stuff with each other's families, so it was nice to see and talk to them again.

I'm very proud to say that I didn't overindulge myself in food. The dinner was served buffet style, but I only went once and got very reasonable sized amounts of food. I had a dinner roll, mixed veggies, mashed potatoes, and chicken noodles. I was going to have a piece of cake, but didn't because the favor was a Clark bar (their last name is Clark). I decided to eat the Clark bar on the way home for a sugar rush. I also had a diet Coke and stopped in Rensselaer for gas and a Clif bar.

The cake that I passed up. It was pumpkin and I love pumpkin!

The favor I ate on the way home.

Sunday was spent shopping (nothing frivolous) and at work. I started my day off by getting a birthday present for my niece's 3rd birthday party which is next weekend. I got her some boots as the main part of her present. I also got her some princess dress up toys and pink hangers for her closet.

I can't believe how stylish shoes are for toddlers now!

Fun, pink, and girly!

I also went shopping to find a Halloween present for the hubs. Halloween is his favorite holiday and I usually get him a piece from a Halloween village collection. Menard's had a sale on the one he wanted, so I got him the Wicked Windmill from Spooky Town. He was very excited for his present!

The new one.

All of his Halloween toys. They are pretty neat when it is dark and they are all lit up.

After shopping I went into work to try to finish my bulletin boards, backdrop for the program, and my lesson plans for this week.

My new hallway bulletin board for fall.

More fall decor.

The left side of my backdrop for the program.

The middle of my backdrop for the program. I'm going to add words that say "We're Making Music" since that is the name of the revue where I got the songs from.

The right side of my backdrop for the program.

I know I didn't talk much about food or exercise, but I think I did pretty good for a weekend. I did eat out a few times such as an Egg McMuffin meal once for breakfast and a bean burrito from Taco Bell for lunch on Sunday. I also didn't get much exercise in, but walked a lot on Sunday. Saturday I failed to reach 8,000 steps. I was in a car for about five hours of the day and I lost my pedometer (and later found it) at the wedding. I guess I won't have a chance to win a prize this time around. Oh well...