Day 33 What? I Didn't Go Over the Bank?

I had a heck of a Friday. I got up and got my Shorty around and ready for school. One thing I had worried about when school started back up is that Lauren would want to go to the donuts shop on Fridays like we had in the past. I know it is not healthy for either of us, but my deal is I like that we have something that we do together and she spoke of it often during the summer, even after I started my lifestyle change. So I managed to hold off on a real breakfast by having two tablespoons of the tuna left over mix from the night before. I had worked out and was starving, so I knew waiting another hour was not an option. Lauren indeed did ask for the donut shop and I obliged with the hope that the shop had some healthy choices, but I just had not noticed before. Sadly, the shop did not carry fiber bars or muffins or any other thing that may leave me feeling like I had made a wonderful choice. What I did wind up doing is buying a kolache, or as others may call it, a pig in the blanket, which research wound up calling around 270 calories. With the tuna and the kolache, I wound up doing 370 calories for breakfast, which is a bit above average for me, by like 10 calories, so I was marginally happy with that. I did not pack a snack however. I surprisingly was not starving at lunch, but I don't think I am going to start skipping the mid morning snack just yet as I think it contributes to my metabolic successes I have had of late. So thru lunch I had eaten a total of 755 calories, then the tuna snack left me at 855 calories.

I spoke about going to my friend Bobbie's house in yesterday's blog and one of my worries was saving enough calories for there as I was not sure of what the menu would be. We typically have steak when we go up. But Bobbie knows about my new lifestyle and my commitment to the calorie counting. So she cooked us up some delicious kabobs! It was boneless skinless chicken in Caribbean Jerk sauce and red bell peppers, onion, mushrooms, grape tomatoes! oh it was yummy eating and each kabob stick only had around 120 calories worth of food on it! so on the side she had made corn on the cob, half cobs, and a salad. She had these bottles of I want to say salad spritzers. These things are amazing! I read the nutrition label to find that the one I had, Italian something or other, was only 10 calories for 10 sprays. So I assumed that ten sprays would likely not do much. Wrong! It covered the salad plenty and tasted great!! So all told, I had an estimated, highly at that, 500 calories at supper. But wait I forgot! On the way up to Bobbie's (it is about an hour and a half drive) we all knew supper was going to be late and so we decided that we would grab a small something on the way up. The decision was made that we would stop at Arby's for Junior Roast beef sandwiches. I for some reason had gotten it in my head they were only 150 calories. I later found out they were 270, but it was a no harm, no foul situation as I had not eaten enough calories for the day to go over!!

Now here is the great thing. All day, I had kinda had a fleeting notion to not hold myself strictly to my 1800 calorie bank. "You are doing so well and it is the Branson trip weekend, just be responsible" I told myself at first. Guess what, the real me, wasn't hearing it! I quashed the idea within a second or two the two or three times I thought about it today!! I mean it was not even an option to me!!! Then, when I was debating about the piece of garlic bread I ate last night, I struggled with the idea as I just have gotten so picky about calorie value lately. I had plenty of room for it, but I seriously debate about bread every time now (thanks Christine for putting that in there!!).

So I don't recall if I have mentioned our kittens on here before or not. Dot the cat had a litter of kittens about two and a half weeks ago, four of them. Well she had been doing a fairly good job of keeping them mothered up, but she has began to not do so well the last few days. We lost one this morning and it was the one Lauren and I wanted to keep, the runt. I chalked that up to prolly just the runt not getting fed like the rest, etc. Well when we got home this afternoon, we discovered that the little black kitty had gotten awful weak on us and so we started feeding it milk with a dropper. It had apparently progressed to the point that it was beyond saving and passed away last night as well. We are hopeful the last two will make it. As we were inspecting the other two last night for wellness,we discovered they were covered in fleas! So we stayed up till 2 tonight trying to get them uncovered. Kathy is very fearful that if we bathe them in Dawn, which we know rids the fleas, that Dot won't recognize them as her own and stop feeding them. I was a huge stress ball and worried sick about the kittens, yet I did not feel the need to eat to suppress or make it better! I am really really starting to believe in myself and gain confidence in my ability to make the better choices now a days! I am not to the point that I will stop counting calories, as it is a great comfort to me and keeps me focused, but I can see a point in the next couple of years in which I could possibly forego the process. I have often wondered if that would be possible for me, in fact I wrote a post about it at one point. I just can't believe the great things that Sean Anderson's Blog put into motion in my life! I mean wow folks, wow. It just took that one nudge, that one inspiration, that one "aha!" moment! I admit I have not read all the entries, but I have read most of the beginning and the last years worth and I recommend it to everybody I know that expresses any interest in all in what I am doing to lose weight. I honestly credit Sean for all the new found success I am having and I hope that he is able to get set up to put his message out there for the public to see and take the same inspiration from as I have. So as I just want to salute you Sean Anderson. I know I am doing the leg work, but you planted the seed and made it grow and for that I am eternally grateful!

I have to get up in about 4 hours and get ready to leave for Branson, so I am gonna sign off here with my usual request. Please, keep blogging and sharing your experience with me for the inspiration I get from it, and I will try to do the same for you!