Worst New Blogger Ever

So you may have noticed I haven't been the best at blogging this week.  Yea, pretty much I suck.  I have had a few eating issues - but I have doubled my resolve.  I know that I need to step it up with my willpower.  As usual, I got really off my game when I noticed that I hadn't lost anything in a week.  I guess it was just so frustrating that I just allowed myself to slip a few times.  That is what happened last year - I noticed the scale wasn't moving so I just figured I should give up.  However, I am glad I saw that pattern starting to emerge and now I am back on the grind making sure that I don't keep up with my bad habits.  Also, I can start my walking again since some health stuff that was preventing it has pretty much cleared up.  Pretty exciting.  I know what I ate didn't do any damage to my weight loss up to now, however, I don't want to keep down the path.  I'm getting up, dusting myself off and getting back on the pony.  I'm going to do my usual routine of looking at inspirational quotes, checking out some weight loss message boards and check out pinterest for recipes that are  healthy and low in calories.

Now Playing: Averi - Empty Pages

Dinner:  Spaghetti

Trying to find balance with working/eating

So there have been a few days recently where I have had a hard time finding a balance where eating is concerned.  When I had a full day of travel (left at 7:30am returned at 11:00pm) I had to eat all meals out of the house.  Boy, I often make wrong decisions.  That is an old habit and one I intend to change.  I am going to work hard to eat healthier "on the go" and learn to pack healthy snacks in my bag so I don't get tempted by the first food that I see.

Bad Day

So I had my first bad day.  I got on the scale today to no movement.  I have been consistently under my calorie goal everyday - some days significantly.  I know that it is impossible for that to have happened.  However, I do see some changes in my clothes -- a looser fit, they look better.  It is frustrating to work hard on eating properly and then see nothing.  So today I fell off the wagon a bit.  I had fast food... twice.  It wasn't my best day; however, I knew I needed a break.  So I am at least being up front and honest - both by logging my food (for the people on my tracking site to see) and telling the three people who check my blog here.  Well, I'm back on the wagon tomorrow and its not like I had a billion extra calories.

Now Playing - watching Homeland on Showtime
Dinner - it was London Broil and a baked potato

Shad Planking - And its NOT a Recipe!

Ok.  So today is one of my favorite days of the year - Shad Planking.  See, professionally, I work in politics.  Here in Virginia, every spring the Wakefield Ruritan Club hosts a "Shad Planking".  Basically, they cook Shad on wooden planks for everyone to eat and socialize.  However, that description does not even begin to describe the event.  For the most part, it is an out and out competition to see who has the best representation for their political campaign that year.  This year, her in the Commonwealth of Virginia we have a US Senate race between two former governors - George Allen (R) and Tim Kaine (D).  Also, we are like electing a President (#teamRomney) and Congresspeople and whatnot.  So basically, the thought is to go and put up large signs and little yard signs on the road leading down to the actual event.  In prior years, we have gone days ahead and gotten locations and permission to put signs up and it is a two-day event for those of us working.  You don't sleep because you have to defend your signs and you spend hours putting up literally THOUSANDS of signs.  It's crazy.  Luckily, that won't happen for me again until next year when my boss will be running for Governor.  This year we are going to have our usual presence - including our famous Hot Dogs. The idea is that different candidates and organizations bring different things to serve -- both food and adult beverages.  You get piled with stickers and get to have a great time and talk politics with people.  So much fun.  Check out this site to see coverage on Sean Hannity's show in 2009.  Oh and my guy won that year :)

Now Playing - People speaking at the Shad Planking (totally a scheduled post)
Dinner  - Not sure - hopefully healthy!

Long days, good decisions

Tonight was rough.  I had a the biggest meeting that I was responsible for working on tonight and I have been doing bunches of stuff for it for a couple of weeks.  It wasn't going to be the best outcome, but we knew that and just wanted to mitigate our losses.  It turned out better than I had hoped (at least so far).  However, it meant another late night and me coming home starving.  I knew what I was going to have (mostly).  It was there and I just for some reason wanted fast food.  I know most of you don't know me, but that is my weakness.  I love a cheeseburger and fries or a chicken sandwich or whatever else you can get by talking to that board.  It was the first time I really considered just eating whatever I wanted in the house and just dealing with it later.  I think I am beginning to be a little put off since some of my medical issues are becoming a bit of a problem and keeping me from my walks, but I just decided today I am just going to still walk but slower and less time.  I miss it.  So at least at the end of the day, I ate my healthy dinner and called it a day.  I didn't have any unhealthy snack and I didn't hightail it to McDonalds or Wendy's.  Little victories like that keep me going - although it may seem like nothing to the normal person, to me its a big deal.

Now Playing:  Taylor Swift - Breathe
Dinner:  Grilled, bone-in pork chop, ear of corn and rice (yum!)

Importance of Logging

So, I guess it can be annoying to some - but I log everything I eat.  By log, I mean I enter it in and track my calories.  It is what keeps me on track.  I am competitive by nature, so I try to make sure I stay below my daily calorie goal of 1500 calories a day.  Surprisingly, it is pretty easy to eat that much and stay full.  Also, you realize that before logging the food you would eat is crazy.  I think back to getting a large Dr. Pepper with a meal.  That would equal a whooping 1,000 calories.  There are days (not many) when I don't eat that many calories a day, much less have a drink containing that many.  Or the fact that my favorite burrito at Taco Bell is about 846 calories.  Pair that with the taco that would come along at 142 calories.  So in one meal I would be eating over 2,000 calories.  Today, that just blows my mind.  I'm sure there will be days where I blow my calorie goal - but it seems crazy to eat like that.  It isn't really even that yummy.  I think my meals are much better tasting and allow me to eat more throughout the day and pretty much always be content.

Now Playing:  nothing - just the sound of my fan :)
Dinner:  I had a salad and chicken breast w/ Carribean Jerk marinade

What exactly are my goals?

Why am I getting healthy?  Is there a reason?  What are my goals?

These are questions that I often find me asking myself.  The first two are super easy.  Why am I getting healthy?  Well, after having some medical problems, I realized that I needed to make some big changes.  Did anyone tell me to make these changes?  Nope, not at all.  Maybe they should have - but people can be so PC these days. I figure getting some weight off will help me that's for sure.  Really, more than that I want to feel good about myself.  I am pretty outgoing and I never have a problem making friends or meeting people.  My biggest problem is myself.  I am pretty hard on myself and feel that changing and starting a healthy lifestyle will be something to help me appreciate myself.  It's really amazing how a lot of people can think so highly of you or you can have a bunch of friends, but when it comes down to liking yourself you can fall short.  In fact, I have noticed how it has effected my life.  It also has begun to make some anxiety issues that I have come to the surface more often.  For instance, I don't like crowds or big groups of people.  I know this seems crazy with my job - but its different.  It hasn't really had any effect on that.  However, I can't go to places that have a lot of people.  For instance, we have a Walmart near our house, but this afternoon I wouldn't dream of going there.  Way too many people.  I don't like going to crowded places and will avoid them in fact.  I am hoping that just improving my overall health will start changing this.

The harder question to answer is about my goals.  I don't have a "number" goal or anything like that.  I just want to be more healthy.  It's important to me to reduce my weight - but I try not to set up too big of a goal because I know that will just frustrate me because of my nature to be an overachiever.  However, I have a lot of little goals.  Right now, I want to be able to walk further than I did this week (and will be adding an additional lap to my daily walks), I want to go down a size in my pants (although I am fitting in to a size smaller than I was before already), I want to continue to make healthy food choices (despite having Chipotle for lunch today).  Furthermore, I don't think I ever want to reach a "goal".  I want to make a lifestyle change.  I love the way I feel after a nice, brisk 2 mile walk.  I am so proud that I can make myself do that - I don't need someone to do it with me or make me do it.  My highlight of this week was that I knew I had to be out one night that I needed to make sure I walked so I got up early and did that.  Seriously, I wouldn't normally have done that.  Just getting out there and doing that on my own made me so proud.  I love how it feels to make a healthy food choice instead of falling back on unhealthy food choices.  I know that I will have days where I don't eat right or I over indulge.  It's life.  But what I have learned is that one bad meal doesn't mean the end of trying.  I just log it (like I do everyday) and keep going.  Luckily, I don't usually go over my calorie limit (even if I mess up) so I don't sweat it too much.

So what are your goals?  What spurred your decision to get healthy?

Now Playing - Hey Stephen - Taylor Swift (I'm in a kick!)
Dinner - Probably a salad again.  Or a 1/2 turkey, 1/2 ground beef burger.

Part of the journey: Having a Plan

I have realized that I need to have a plan.  If I have a plan - I stick to it.  If I don't make a point to plan something I am more likely to fall off track.  For example, when I look ahead to what I'm going to eat - I make good decisions.  When I don't, I don't make the best decisions.  That was yesterday.  I knew I had to go on a long trip for a meeting and that I would be late for dinner but I didn't think ahead with a plan.  I stuck to my 3pm snack per the usual, but by the time 8pm rolled around I was starving.  When you are on the road and its late - I found myself having a hamburger.  Eeeks.  The only upside is that it fell within my calorie allowance.  In fact, I was about 100cals under.  Go me.  So that just means I am going to step it up with my walk tonight -- go 3 miles instead of just two and add in more jogging.  Also, makes it so I am going to really watch my eating. I am forgoing the 1/2 Turkey 1/2 beef burgers that everyone is having and having a salad with turkey.  Luckily, I love how the salad tastes and how filling it is for so few cals!

I have an early meeting in Chesapeake tomorrow - so I have to think ahead about that.  Old Brandy would just say, eh I'll have a fast food breakfast on the way there.  This Brandy thinks she might have a turkey bacon and egg on a whole grain english muffin and pack a snack!  Making the right decisions feels so much better than eating a McDonald's cheeseburger tastes.

Now Playing:  Breathe - Taylor Swift
Dinner:  Salad with Avacado and Sliced Turkey!

5 lbs in a week!

Well, this has never happened to me before.  I lost five pounds in one week.  Last Wednesday I went to the doctor for a normal check up and first thing this AM I got on the scale and there was a number 5 lbs lower than last week.  I have to say, this has been the biggest encouragement possible.  I know that I won't lose weight over night, but wow.  This loss is with one trip to McDonalds, a Saturday night at Plaza (that was not as bad as it previously would have been) and two nights eating out (but controlled).  I have been working really hard to stay on both my diet track and my walking/exercise track and have done pretty good.  I need to fit in something today and I am thinking 30 mins this afternoon before I get ready to leave for a meeting on the Eastern Shore.  I need to get my heart rate up and I'd like to burn at least a couple hundred calories.

Things I have learned in this first week have been pretty valuable.  First of all, I don't need the quantity of food I thought I did.  For example, today for lunch I had one of my favorites - an English Muffin Pizza.  Basically, I take a whole grain 100 cal EM, put a Tablespoon of normal bottled spaghetti sauce and a serving of the low fat 2% skim mozz and slap it in the oven.  It gives me some veg (ha!), protein and whole grains.  Believe it or not, it is incredibly filling.  It also clocks in at under 200 cals.  Yes.  I can be full on less than 200 cals.  Its not some huge salad or anything - but it makes me content.  I guess what also helps is that I know at 3pm I'll be having a snack.  I'm not eating something to hold me over to a 6pm dinner - if I were to do that, I'd definitely over eat.  Today, I'm not sure about my dinner - I'm travelling for work until late and my buddy is driving me across the Bay Bridge Tunnel.  Also, our meeting is at an Italian place, so if people eat I might find something that fits in my calorie allowances.  Otherwise, I might just have a big salad.  Those have been SO good.

Now Playing:  Hey Stephen - Taylor Swift
Dinner:  TBD

Time for Test #1

So I have done pretty well since starting this new change.  Hit a bit of a curve on Saturday - but logged my eating and kept up going.  I understand that people are going to have a bad day and the important thing is to not let it knock you off of your mission.  All this being said - tonight I'm going to a restaurant.  I'm not going to lie; I'm nervous.  I'm the type of person who likes to really eat when I'm out.  I'll have the pasta and bread or something fried.   However, I recognize doing that so much got me here.  And here is not somewhere I enjoy being.  So I'm trying to plan out what to have in advance; I've been there before but I know my favorite things there don't fit in to what I now find appropriate food choices.  Right now I've narrowed it down to a half salad and half of a more healthy sandwich.  Also - lots of water.  This will allow me to feel filled and its not going to make me feel guilty.  Most importantly, I'm going to log it and stay in my calorie goals.  I got a little busy first thing this morning and missed breakfast, had a pretty healthy lunch of leftover Veg and Beef soup and a wholegrain 100 calorie english muffin.  That leaves me roughly 1000 calories left for the day.  But I must admit, I'm more excited about the company than the food.  I would be happy just catching up with my friend just over a glass of water - so what I need to do is make a healthy choice and not worry about the food.

Now Playing:  I'll Be by Edwin McCain (Pandora <3)
Dinner:  Something at Baker's Crust in Williamsburg

Motivation... Things that motivate me.

Ok - when it gets down to it, I have already told ya'll I hate to exercise.  It just isn't fun for me; I hate getting all red and sweaty.  But like I mentioned, it does wonderful things for my body (like helping me fit in to jeans that I was unable to before).  So here are some things I use to motivate me:

• I read this online:  "You will never regret a workout, but you will regret not working out."  SO TRUE.
• The more you work out the sooner you will reach your goal.
• The fact that everyday I do better than I did the day before.
• Each day I walk I am a day closer to running and then a day closer to completing my first half marathon in November.
• Action brings results.
• Also - I look at people's successes and get inspired.  It helps me know that I will be that one day.

What is your inspiration?

Now Playing:  Dave Matthews Band - Tripping Billies

For Dinner:  Beef and Veg Stew.  Homemade.  Yum.

Happy Easter and Happy Passover!

Well today is Easter.  For a lot of my life this meant CANDY.  This year it totally doesn't.  I have gotten to the age where I don't get an Easter Basket and I'm really okay with that.  It's usually filled with incredibly unhealthy snacks.  But, let's be honest - I'm not big on sweets.  I can take or leave them.  And I usually leave them for chips.  But also, it means a big, calorie filled dinner.

Not this year - I'm going to celebrate by making a big Mexican flavored salad for dinner.  Something that I can eat a lot of and not be upset for falling off the boat (like I did yesterday).  So instead of the big dinner - I'm going to do something a little different and maybe start a new tradition for myself.

Now Playing - Promiscuous Girl by Timbaland and Nelly Furtado
Dinner - Mexican Salad w/ Chicken!

Exercising - Love/Hate Relationship

I'll be the first to admit it - I'm not the biggest fan of exercise.  I would rather not do it most of the time - in fact, I'd rather eat less than exercise more some days.  However, I am a HUGE fan of how it makes me feel after I get off my rear and do it.  Right now I have decided that I am going to work out 3-5 days a week of walking for an hour.  It's what is right for me.  I usually get a few miles logged and I try to keep a pace that keeps my heart rate up and I think this is what I'm going to work on for the month.  My short term goals are just to keep up the pace and pushing myself.  Some days that push might be to actually get a walk in and some days it might be to try to run some of the time (found a app that might be helpful).  Either way, I look forward to being able to walk, run or skip further and faster as the days progress.

Now Playing:  Run This Town - Jay Z, Rihanna and Kanye West
For Dinner:  Spaghetti (using ground turkey and whole wheat penne pasta)

*Side note - dinner last night was awesome.  Ranch Turkey Burger - I found the recipe on Pintrest.  I think Pintrest is the best site on the internet right now.  So many yummy recipes!

I admit, I'm a picky eater!

I don't know if you are a picky eater - but I am.  At the drop of a hat I can start naming off what I don't like.  However, if you ask me what I do like I ramble off the most unhealthy food possible.  With the changes I am trying to implement, you have to be the opposite of picky.  Sometimes you have to eat what you aren't familiar with or find a way to make what you don't like yummy.

One of my biggest struggles is with figuring out what I want for lunch.  Since I work at home I have the great luxury of being able to cook anything out of the kitchen.  The problem is I never know what to do.  So the answer is get inventive.  Yesterday, I approached the refrigerator and had the same dilemma.  However, this was one fight I was going to win.  After looking through what I had going on, I settled on re-purposing some leftovers from a couple nights before.  My dad had made yummy, cheesey, saucey enchiladas.  However, I decided to measure out some meat, cheese and was pretty generous with some chopped up veggies and made myself a filling and delicious meal of tacos!  All of the below picture was under 400 calories!

So now instead of tackling making lunch as something I don't want to do - I see it as an opportunity to do something different, push myself to make something yummy and healthy.  I know that when I take a look at the refrigerator today at lunch time I won't see an obstacle, but a chance for some healthy food fun.

Now Playing:  A Woman Like You - Lee Brice
Dinner:  Hmmm... not sure.  Need to browse Pinterest!

Getting Back on Track

Starting a blog about a personal journey is a little scary, but I feel like it will give me some accountability and will be a place that I can look back on when I'm needing some extra encouragement and new ideas.

Let me start with what really got me on board with reinventing myself.  First of all, I have a younger sister, Courtney, and over the last year she has lost about 70 lbs and is incredibly fit.  I have watched her change and adapt to a different lifestyle and she has been very inspiring and encouraging.  Also, over the last few months I have had some health issues that were not preventable, but I realized that I needed to make some changes.

So, I'm starting off pretty easily - I'm going to maintain a 1500 calorie/day goal and going to walk for an hour 3-5 times per week.  Also, I'm going to TRY to blog about what I have done everyday.  Since we moved to the country, the hour walk is really pretty and if I want to walk laps, then I have a good set up to do that in our neighborhood as well.  Also, something that worked for me before was logging my food.  This made a HUGE difference.  You don't realize how much things add up when you don't keep track -- a soda here and a piece of candy there really make a big difference.  I use the website MyFitnessPal to help keep me on track with what I'm eating and logging my exercise as well.  They have a lot of caloric values for pre-entered food so you can pretty much search the website and find what you are eating.  Also, they have an app on the Droid and Apple Store that will allow you to scan the barcode of something and automatically enter it for you.  So cool! 

Also, I'm going to make the effort to eat as cleanly as possible.  As someone who's lifestyle at some points requires eating on the go, I'm going to have to really think ahead.  Instead of getting some fries at McDonalds, I need to pack some baby carrots or grapes or something like that.  If I do eat out, I got the Eat This, Not That fast food book so I can make healthy decisions.  

Additionally, I'm doing this with my family.  I find that this change is easiest when you have people on the journey with you.  As I mentioned, my sister is already well on her way and my mom has decided to join in the fun.  We can plan meals together, walk together, get encouragement from each other and just have someone to talk to about it.

Every post is going to end with the song I am listening to as I blog and what I am having for dinner.  Also, from time to time I may add in things about politics and beauty -- my two real loves.  Please feel free to send me healthy recipes and ideas on how to keep it going.  Or share your journey - I like getting ideas from others!

Current Song:  Over You - Miranda Lambert

Dinner: Something with grilled chicken (subject to change)