Suzanne’s Life

I got Morgan her first pet today. Well technically I adopted someone’s abandoned pet for her but it amounts to the same thing. She now is the proud mama of a guinea pig named Hamtaro.

I was kind of nervous about bringing him home but Michael was actually fine with it. Going to take him to the vet this week and check out his age and health. Morgan is so excited!

Weight
185 lbs.

Intake
Breakfast: Small bowl Special K red berries w/nonfat milk
Lunch: Nothing
Dinner: Whopper JR w/cheese, onion rings, diet coke

Exercise
30 minutes elliptical
30 minutes treadmill

Today’s video
Massive Attack - Dissolved Girl

Boring day, nothing to talk about other than it rained all day, my weight is still stuck on 185 lbs., and I made an awesome piece of fish for dinner.

Weight
185 lbs.

Intake
Breakfast: Small bowl Special K red berries w/nonfat milk
Lunch: Penne pasta w/chopped tomatoes & onions
Dinner: Maple-ginger oven-baked salmon fillet, white rice, spinach salad w/creamy poppyseed dressing
Snack: crackers

Exercise
Sunday nothing

Today’s video
Apocalyptica - Nothing Else Matters

Went to Hachinohe today after my typical Saturday morning (breakfast, piano class for Morgan, lunch, etc.). We visited a pretty nice furniture store and I think I’m finally getting my husband to see that buying new furniture is a necessity.

Anyway, we looked at replacements for our kitchen cabinets (in Japan - or at least the area I live in, you get the cabinets right around the sink (which is 4 above if you’re lucky…the bottom ones are unusable for dishes). Any others you have to supply yourself. Came home and I took measurements. Looks like we’ll be able to replace what’s falling apart in there for about $600. And it’s nice enough if we leave here anytime soon we’ll ship it to the US and use it in our house. In a different room than the kitchen of course.

I’m also looking for a replacement sofa/loveseat but I know unless I start working and pay for it myself I won’t be getting ‘new’ so am shopping all the PCS sales. That’s one good thing about living by a military base is people are moving all the time…which means people selling off stuff they can’t or don’t want to ship to where ever they are going.

Weight
185 lbs.

Intake
Breakfast: Small bowl Special K red berries w/nonfat milk
Lunch: Fiesta Chicken Taco Salad (taco bell)
Dinner: New York Strip, roasted potatoes, grilled onions and steamed broccoli florets, annin w/fresh fruit (annin is a japanese dessert - almond jelly)
Snack: Coke Zero & bowl of pretzels

Exercise
20 minutes stairs (up and down stairs at Morgan’s piano practice)

Today’s video
Katy Perry - Simple

Today my beloved 6 year old snapped her bendable memory titanium glasses in two…trying to see how far they would bend.

Then, we get home and she uses her spin art paint on a battery-operated game with a track that she has (had - it is garbage now).

She’s not usually this destructive.

Oh well, damn sight better having her be destructive once a year (that’s about her average) than the absolute BS surrounding any interaction I even attempt to have with the other three.

Kids drive you crazy. If you haven’t had any yet, do yourself a favor and don’t have any. Okay…I don’t mean that.  I do love my girls with all my heart and wouldn’t change having had them for anything, but don’t say I didn’t warn you that there are days that make you want to give yourself a home neuter. :p

Weight
185 lbs.

Intake
Breakfast: Small bowl of Special K Red Berries with nonfat milk, half a grapefruit
Lunch: 6″ subway sandwich and baked lays
Dinner: Penne pasta with sauteed diced tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, garlic and cilantro, homemade bread pudding

Just as a note about my diet…I haven’t been noting it but I’ve been drinking almost nothing except water, tea and coffee (mostly water and coffee).

Exercise
5 mile fast walk/jog around the base (alternated between walking and jogging)

Today’s video
“Weird Al” Yankovic - White & Nerdy

The more I eat, the more I want to eat. I had a huge lunch yesterday and wanted a snack at night.

I did realize my portion control was completely out of hand yesterday afternoon so I used the small japanese bowls last night to control my dinner.

I’ve got a cold. Sore throat, sniffles, sneezing, coughing, etc. And…it’s ToM. Which means I’m irritable, bloated and generally don’t feel well. The two combined make Suzanne an unhappy woman.

On another note…I changed my hair again yesterday. Going back to the way it was last year (see pic below - ignore the root growth) and trying to let it grow back out. It’s four colors. An all over honey brown with dark brown underneath in the back, a few small red highlights throughout and blonde and red chunky highlights on top/framing the face.

The last hair cut/color was like this:

By the way, my hair is naturally curly not straight….let me see if I can find a picture.

Here, this one was taken while my hair was dyed four colors last year and it was curly…it’s just a horrible picture out of one of those snapshot machines though. Click the thumbnail for a full size.

Weight
186 lbs.

Intake
Breakfast: Small bowl Special K Red Berries w/non-fat milk
Lunch: Turkey bologna & mustard sandwich on light whole wheat bread, small salad
Snack: Half a grapefruit
Dinner: Albacore steak, side salad

Exercise
I used the Wii today for an hour (hula, yoga, situps, pushups, etc.)

Today’s video
Cooking Coarse by Chef Todd Mohr
If you don’t know who Chef Todd Mohr is yet, and you like to cook, WATCH!

Do you have dreams? Things you would like to do with your life? Get out there and do them before life passes you by!

Okay so I was bad. Got back from dinner and started sneezing, coughing, etc. with a cold and never got around to finishing my thoughts for the day. At least I got my food and exercise tracking done.

Weight
185 lbs.

Intake
Breakfast: Mixed fruit/non-fat plain yogurt protein shake
Lunch: 2 slices chicken quesadillas, 1 beef fajita burrito, side salad & bowl of fruit
Snack: small bag of popcorn
Dinner: 1 serving white rice, 1 hard boiled egg, 1 serving chilled edamame (steamed soybeans in the pod), 1 serving fresh cherries

Exercise
1 & 1/2 hours walk around the base (outside!)

Today’s video
Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody

Step One: Identify what you are doing (or not doing!)  that is sabotaging your health. Come to terms with it and get over it.
Step Two: Put into writing exactly what you are going to do to remedy the situation.
Step Three: Do it! Keep yourself accountable by keeping a written journal, hire a personal trainer, find an exercise partner (or two) - anything and everything it takes to help yourself stay on track and motivated.

Not that it is an excuse for 6 months of laziness but I believe I lost my balance because I had stopped doing anything for accountability. My exercise partner had gotten a job working the hours we had been working out and I didn’t bother to find another. I had stopped blogging and I never had a trainer. All of this doesn’t explain why I got into the depressing cycle of no exercise and bad eating habits again, but it is definitely a contributing factor.

Today I worked out with my old exercise partner. Last week was her last week at her job (she quit for her own reasons - her story isn’t mine to tell), so we have plans to work out together again every morning. Outside if it is nice and gym if it is nasty like it has been the past 2 days.

The last time I took Morgan to the aquarium I got this incredible shot of her inside the aquarium tunnel. Yesterday I cropped, cleaned and printed pictures of Morgan for everyone! I’ll be dropping them in the mail tomorrow along with the school pictures that just came. Hope you all enjoy!

Weight
186 lbs.

Intake
Breakfast: Non-fat yogurt, mixed fruit and protein smoothie
Lunch: Chicken taco salad
Dinner: Small shrimp salad, Japanese ‘hamburg’ steak w/mushrooms, steamed spinach and saffron rice

Exercise
30 minutes elliptical
15 minutes treadmill

Today’s video
Pink - Don’t Let Me Get Me

It’s been a really long time since I’ve posted anything. Part of that has been laziness and part has been frustration…

My last post was while I was still on my trip to Australia. When I got home I weighed in and…I’d gained 15 lbs. on my trip! I was so overwhelmed, annoyed, disheartened, etc. In a way I allowed it to spiral me into a depressive circle of:

gained weight - got depressed - gained more weight - got more depressed - ad nauseum

So here I am, 6 months later, and I haven’t hit the gym more than a handful of times since I got home from Australia. I’ve also eaten all kinds of crap (including those horrible-for-me potato chips!).

I’ve managed to backslide most of the way back to where I started at last year! I can’t fit in my size 12 jeans! Ugh….

From 200 lbs. to 151 lbs. and now I’m back at 189 lbs.!

In addition to my own depressive cycle my husband took up cooking when he quit smoking (which is fine!) but he tends to cook later in the day…which means I’m eating late and storing what I eat. I even try to be good and eat a salad for dinner at 6, then he comes home and cooks and I smell it cooking (heavenly but fattening) so I wind up eating twice! And yes, he’s doing real gourmet stuff. Pork kiev, grand marnier souffle and chicken cacciatore are just a few of the things he’s made.

So after I realized (this past Friday) that I couldn’t even fit in my ‘fat’ jeans anymore I made a deal with him. He confines his cooking to the weekends when he can start earlier and have it prepared by 6, and I’ll eat what he cooks. I requested that he not cook when he gets home during the week. I’ll cook so it’s ready to eat when he gets here.

In addition, I’m kickstarting my exercise routine back up starting today. I’ll begin with a 30 minute workout but work my way back up to 2 hours a day. I’m also, for the next 2 weeks, limiting my computer time to this blog and e-mail. No IMs, no gaming, no surfing.

See, gaming is part of my problem. When I’m immersed in a game, I get really immersed in a game and then all my plans for improving this or that go right out the window. Some people get addicted to drugs or alcohol, mine is online gaming.

Weight
189 lbs.

Intake
Breakfast: Berry-Banana Protein Shake made with non-fat yogurt
Lunch: Lettuce and tomato salad (no dressing) w/albacore tuna steak
Dinner: Chef salad (no dressing)

Gym
15 minutes elliptical
15 minutes treadmill fast walk

Today’s video
Fall Out Boy - America’s Suitehart’s

December 12th came and went, and I hit the big 4-0. Oddly I don’t feel any different than 39. I didn’t hit my goal weight by my birthday but cam within 15 lbs. Going to keep working on it and should be down to my goal weight before the ground thaws next spring.

Husband purchased me a Wii & a Wii Fit which I received about 2 weeks before my actual birthday. We had a lot of fun playing with it before we left on our trip to Australia*.

I did get rather drunk on my birthday due to my desire to drink combined with a hotel bartender deciding since it was my 40th birthday I should have lots of free drinks. :p

*Expect LOTS more on the Australia vacation in an upcoming post.

Also note that I think (I say think because I’m going by how my pants fit not by a scale) I gained approximately a pound a day during my trip - most of it in my waist. I walked a LOT….but I also ate a LOT and didn’t get any exercise beyond walking. I’m not even going to discuss the weight in my Australia post so am discussing it here. So I’m looking at probably having to lose 30 pounds before spring. That’s okay though, I know I can do this. Just have to get back home (3 more days) to start back up again.