It poured rain again today, all day long. When I woke up, I did the routine I created on the Wii Fit U. It was a 35-minute routine that was mostly yoga and strength training exercises to work my hips and balance.
Even though I've been doing the physical therapy exercises for a while now, I don't feel like they are working. I don't think I've gotten any better at them, which means it's unlikely I've gained any strength (I could be wrong, we'll see when I go to my appointment this week). I noticed when I was walking on the treadmill yesterday that my left knee still buckles inward upon each step--and that's what the physical therapist is trying to correct. When I look straight ahead, it doesn't feel awkward or anything; but when I look down at my legs, I can see that my right leg looks like it's functioning normally, but my left has that weird buckle.
I tried SO hard to correct it while I was walking, but even when I really focused, I couldn't make it look symmetrical to the right leg. So, I'm afraid that even if my stress fracture is healed, I'm just going to fracture it again unless I correct that problem. I can't help but wonder if it's happening because of my weight gain... when I was at my goal weight, my thighs didn't rub together when I ran; but after gaining 25 pounds, they do. I think it may make me swing them out to the side a little when I walk or run, and maybe that's causing my knee to buckle in. I'm not sure why it would be on just the left side, but it's just a theory.
Regardless, I'm going to continue with the strength exercises and getting my weight back down. I've been doing really well on Weight Watchers! The weight is coming off very slowly this time around, but I've logged a loss each week this month, so I'm happy with that. And I'm currently on a binge-free streak of 12 days. That may not sound like much, but it's my longest streak in months, maybe even a year!
After I wrote the post about the habits that helped me lose 125 pounds, I decided to take my own advice and stop worrying about what's "right" or what other people think about my diet. Over this past year, I was eating a lot of crappy food that I wasn't used to eating (fried foods, particularly); so when I was trying to go back to eating a healthier diet, I realized that I just didn't love the healthy foods that I used to. Adjusting my taste buds takes time.
I ended up impulsively buying a couple of Lean Cuisine meals because they were on sale, and while I never really cared for them before, I discovered that I actually like them--and they make staying on track during/after lunch much easier for me. I know that the LC meals have all kinds of processed junk in them, but they are definitely healthier than a binge or super heavy restaurant meal. They're the perfect amount of points for lunch (6-8, generally), and I pair them with a fruit or vegetable, so they're really satisfying. Lunch has always been the most difficult meal for me, because I never know what to eat, and I don't want to cook for just myself. The LC meals have made that easy for me.
For dinner lately, I've been experimenting with new recipes from some cookbooks that I have. I remember doing that when I first started losing weight--I would go through cookbooks and mark several recipes to try, and then we'd try them. If they were good, we added them to our rotation, and if not, we just didn't make them again. Today, it was pouring rain all day, and soup sounded really good. I ended up making an old favorite, Stuffed Pepper Soup. So good!
I love this soup, and I think I'm going to try making a stuffed cabbage soup as well, by replacing the peppers with cabbage.
Since the kids started baseball, I've been making a lot of dinners in the crock pot. I normally like to eat dinner at around 4:00, but we don't get home from their practice until 6:15! For the first couple of practices, I was starving, and it was stressful to try and make dinner while helping the kids with their homework and all that. Using the crock pot is so helpful!
In the evenings, I've gotten back in the routine of having a small dessert. This whole week, it's been a tin roof sundae: 1/2 cup vanilla ice cream with 1 T. chocolate syrup and 1/2 oz. peanuts. It's small, but because I love ice cream, it gives me something to look forward to at the end of the day.
I've actually managed to keep a container of ice cream in my house without eating more than 1/2 cup per day--crazy! ;) Usually, it doesn't last one night.
And finally, I've gotten back in the habit of NOT snacking. I lose weight best when I eat just 3-4 times per day, so now I've been having breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. Because of this, I can eat more filling meals (I can spend more points on meals, since I'm not spending them on snacks) and I'm much more satisfied.
I'm going to do Motivational Monday tomorrow, no matter what! I still haven't figured out the whole Photos app thing, but I figured I can at least take a screen shot photo of the email, which saves to my desktop. I really need to take an Apple class or something to get this Photos thing figured out. I can save pictures there, but they aren't there when I want to upload them. They don't show up until DAYS later. So frustrating! But anyway, if you have a submission, here is how to do it :)
Even though I've been doing the physical therapy exercises for a while now, I don't feel like they are working. I don't think I've gotten any better at them, which means it's unlikely I've gained any strength (I could be wrong, we'll see when I go to my appointment this week). I noticed when I was walking on the treadmill yesterday that my left knee still buckles inward upon each step--and that's what the physical therapist is trying to correct. When I look straight ahead, it doesn't feel awkward or anything; but when I look down at my legs, I can see that my right leg looks like it's functioning normally, but my left has that weird buckle.
I tried SO hard to correct it while I was walking, but even when I really focused, I couldn't make it look symmetrical to the right leg. So, I'm afraid that even if my stress fracture is healed, I'm just going to fracture it again unless I correct that problem. I can't help but wonder if it's happening because of my weight gain... when I was at my goal weight, my thighs didn't rub together when I ran; but after gaining 25 pounds, they do. I think it may make me swing them out to the side a little when I walk or run, and maybe that's causing my knee to buckle in. I'm not sure why it would be on just the left side, but it's just a theory.
Regardless, I'm going to continue with the strength exercises and getting my weight back down. I've been doing really well on Weight Watchers! The weight is coming off very slowly this time around, but I've logged a loss each week this month, so I'm happy with that. And I'm currently on a binge-free streak of 12 days. That may not sound like much, but it's my longest streak in months, maybe even a year!
After I wrote the post about the habits that helped me lose 125 pounds, I decided to take my own advice and stop worrying about what's "right" or what other people think about my diet. Over this past year, I was eating a lot of crappy food that I wasn't used to eating (fried foods, particularly); so when I was trying to go back to eating a healthier diet, I realized that I just didn't love the healthy foods that I used to. Adjusting my taste buds takes time.
I ended up impulsively buying a couple of Lean Cuisine meals because they were on sale, and while I never really cared for them before, I discovered that I actually like them--and they make staying on track during/after lunch much easier for me. I know that the LC meals have all kinds of processed junk in them, but they are definitely healthier than a binge or super heavy restaurant meal. They're the perfect amount of points for lunch (6-8, generally), and I pair them with a fruit or vegetable, so they're really satisfying. Lunch has always been the most difficult meal for me, because I never know what to eat, and I don't want to cook for just myself. The LC meals have made that easy for me.
For dinner lately, I've been experimenting with new recipes from some cookbooks that I have. I remember doing that when I first started losing weight--I would go through cookbooks and mark several recipes to try, and then we'd try them. If they were good, we added them to our rotation, and if not, we just didn't make them again. Today, it was pouring rain all day, and soup sounded really good. I ended up making an old favorite, Stuffed Pepper Soup. So good!
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This whole bowl, 2-1/2 cups, is only 6 PointsPlus |
Since the kids started baseball, I've been making a lot of dinners in the crock pot. I normally like to eat dinner at around 4:00, but we don't get home from their practice until 6:15! For the first couple of practices, I was starving, and it was stressful to try and make dinner while helping the kids with their homework and all that. Using the crock pot is so helpful!
In the evenings, I've gotten back in the routine of having a small dessert. This whole week, it's been a tin roof sundae: 1/2 cup vanilla ice cream with 1 T. chocolate syrup and 1/2 oz. peanuts. It's small, but because I love ice cream, it gives me something to look forward to at the end of the day.
I've actually managed to keep a container of ice cream in my house without eating more than 1/2 cup per day--crazy! ;) Usually, it doesn't last one night.
And finally, I've gotten back in the habit of NOT snacking. I lose weight best when I eat just 3-4 times per day, so now I've been having breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. Because of this, I can eat more filling meals (I can spend more points on meals, since I'm not spending them on snacks) and I'm much more satisfied.
I'm going to do Motivational Monday tomorrow, no matter what! I still haven't figured out the whole Photos app thing, but I figured I can at least take a screen shot photo of the email, which saves to my desktop. I really need to take an Apple class or something to get this Photos thing figured out. I can save pictures there, but they aren't there when I want to upload them. They don't show up until DAYS later. So frustrating! But anyway, if you have a submission, here is how to do it :)