A bright and hopefully shiny 2012 is here. The new year didn’t start off bright and shiny, though.
That was bizarre to see. Fog in January and no snow. You would think we were in the PNW.
I ended up pretty much not working on Monday. There was about 20 minutes of work and that was it. Bonus day off!
I did that before breakfast, which was pumpkin oats:
Tasty and a good way to start out the day eating wise. That’s creamed honey on top.
I was thinking about doing yearly goals and just couldn’t really come up with anything concrete other than things I want/need to get done (new flooring downstairs, resurfacing the driveway, health insurance, possibly a new car). Instead, I will just focus on the monthly goals that I have been doing.
For January, I do need to concentrate on weight loss again. That is my only goal. It is really hard to not say “getitoff-getitoff-getitoff” Now, now, now!!! I could do all kinds of crazy things to make it come off fast, but then I take a deep breath and think of the things I did to lose weight that weren’t crazy.
Simple stuff:
– Knock off the extra snacking and eat within my calorie range.
– Stick to a 90/10 eating style. Taking into account 3 meals and 2 snacks a day, that makes 35 meals a week. 3.5 of them can be more indulgent in a week. How does one make a half meal, anyway?
– Do my exercise routine as usual. No need to go extreme crazy and burn out.
– Get enough protein and fat with my meals. That keeps me fuller longer.
If I follow the steps that lead to a healthy weight, then the weight loss should follow, right? We will see what happens before we leave for Disney at the end of the month.
Lunch time brought a new soup. Yeah, I can make my own soup, but sometimes it is just easier to buy – you know?
This is really, really bland. It needs a lot of dressing up, but it is filling. Today, I mixed in a serving of ricotta cheese to bump up the protein.
John and I then went out shopping. He had a gift card and I was just bargain hunting. Score! At Dress Barn, I found a pair of boot cut jeans and a pair of denim shorts (for Florida) in petite size on the sale rack. That almost never happens as clothes on sales racks are usually for taller people. Yay for no rolling up pant legs!
$22 total for both pairs! Funny thing. I got 3 pairs of my regular size and 1 pair a size bigger to try on (thinking of weight gain). Three different brands. The larger size did not fit – too tight. My regular size fit on the other 3 pairs. It’s like reverse-a-size or something. How stupid! I am so glad I did not try the larger size on first or I would have completely panicked.
We went for coffee afterwards to the new shop that opened up. Coffee Planet.
Very, very good! (Mom, we need to do mother/daughter night there).
I kept from extra snacking today. Some days are just easier than others. I was pretty hungry for dinner, though.
I decided on a stir fry. I sauteed up some chicken and broccoli in a little macadamia nut oil, then added some House of Tsang teriyaki sauce and cooked brown rice. Dinner in 10 minutes.
This was a nice big plate of food. FYI, calories come in at 442 for this plate.
On a blog note – I found a website that is going to help me organize all my recipes in searchable format. It’s called Recipage and the code will be embedded on my site in the header here. Now it is just going to take time to get them all in there, so be patient with that, but it will be much easier to find a recipe I talk about, but might not link to.
I will be working on that tonight since there is no football on. I don’t know what to do with myself LOL! I won the picks this week *and* I ended up winning for the year. I picked 64% of the games correctly this year. Take that, sports pundits. They need to hire me. 
I have my snack ready to go for later.
Plus some cashews for crunch. Not sure I can go a day without some sort of nut LOL!
Hi, it’s been awhile since I commented on your blog. I love that I come back and you are still doing it….eating healthy and posting the pics to prove it. Great job. You are an inspiration.
Love the bargains – and I agree, sizing is just so funky.
Happy New Year to you & John & Pixie! Having an overall goal of doing monthly goals sounds like a great way to focus on things you want to accomplish in the new year.
And I hear you on the need to focus more on healthy eating habits. I’ve been feeling that OMG-getitoff-getitoff-nownownow!!! feeling myself. I need to reacquaint myself with the stuff I was doing to be healthier that sort of got tossed to the side during all the “stuff” of 2011.
That sweet potato soup sounds pretty good. I think I’d try either curry powder or pumpkin pie spice to jazz it up a bit. And yum, strawberries! Believe it or not, there were a few ripe ones in our garden today!
Lori,
I loved the 90/10 idea. That makes great sense in terms of maintaining a healthy yet realistic lifestyle. In answer to your question about half a meal – I think I’ll just do 3 meals plus one snack that are a bit more indulgent than others.
This idea caused me to wonder if I have a calorie average for lunch and dinner – I always eat the same thing for breakfast so that doesn’t cause me to question. I’ll have to look back at my Spark pages to see if there is an average. I figure if I have an average, I can then consider what might be a “bit” indulgent instead of “incredibly indulgent.” I know myself well enough to know that, in the moment, I might confuse the two (even though they look so different) if I don’t have a preconceived notion of boundaries. Anyway, I’ll enjoy playing with that idea.
I really enjoyed your guitar performances. You should feel really great about yourself and the way you went after that goal:) Happy New Year!
Yay to bargains!!!
Great goals for the month!
Congratulations on winning the picks and the regular season!
I’m looking forward to a trip to Coffee Planet with you. I think I need to make some January goals, too.
I have a theory about those crazy sized clothes, esp. when they are on a bargain rack or at Ross or something. I think they are just plain marked wrong, so they never sold because no one tried them on that would actually fit into them. You must not have that much to lose if your regular size still fits!!
I love your monthly goals. And I like your 90/10 eating plan. I don’t remember hearing you say that before.
Great bargain Lori. I bought 5 blouses yesterday for 70% off the original price.
We have the same goal for January: lose weight and keep exercising. I’m sure we both will lose some weight this month.
Pants sizes continue to confound me. I tried on a size 12 just before Christmas and they were too small. I was wearing a size 8 at the time. 🙂
Our goals are very similar–just find a steady speed in the right-hand lane and cruise along ’til we’re comfortable again. No need for darting in and out of traffic. It only leads to road rage. 🙂 (Dang, that was a good analogy, if I do say so myself. LOL)
We got some snow but it’s not much and there’s no more scheduled in the forecast. Crazy here too!
Awesome deals on the jeans! I often go to Goodwill for pants – they are so inexpensive and I use those for weekends and lounging around when I don’t need anything really new or fancy.
2012 goals – mine is weight loss too. Got a LOT to lose this year but we have a lot of time to do it. 🙂
Good goals Lori & me, I don’t go way out with anything I want to accomplish.. I know life changes but I do try to move forward & for me, that is good.. at 54, I don’t get all crazy – just want to be fit & healthy long term & yes, health insurance – I need that! For me, th main thing is a job & making some money…
OK, how is Pixie in 2012 – I had to ask! 😉
Great goals and jeans bargain:)
Yep, the low sodium soups really need some tweaking, don’t they? Glad it was filling! I got strawberries too – $1.50 a quart! And its weird that we don’t have any snow either – which means January and February will be awful. 🙁
I came up with some yearly goals this year but it was difficult – maybe you’re right that monthly goals are the way to go. I always love your meal ideas – I use your Perfect Omlette technique all the time.
Monthly goals sound great! Happy New Year to you!!
Hi Lori. WOW….what a smokin’ deal on that denim! Woo Hoo!!!! Love the monthly goals rather than annual ones. I’m more a “process” than a BIG goal girl, taking things in smaller steps works well for me too. Have a great Tuesday.
LOL at Cammy’s analogy.