Dietitian Review and Weigh In

I was happy to step on the scales this morning and record a loss of 1 lb.  This is really great in light of the fact that I have not set foot in the gym at all this week.  On Monday, the University was closed due to ridiculous cold.  Tuesday I was sick and had a doctor's appointment.  Wednesday, I had my appointment with the dietitian.  Thursday I was still sick (sinus infection...the pressure makes my head feel like it's going to explode), and Friday I was sent home by my office girls because it was snowing and was supposed to get bad.  But I still managed to drop a pound!  YAY!

On Tuesday, as I said, I had an appointment with my doctor to make sure I was clear to participate in the Biggest Loser program.  He gave me two thumbs up, without question.  My blood pressure was excellent and he said my heart and lungs sounded fantastic.  My only issue was the stupid sinus infection, which I've kind of been fighting off and on since January 1.  I've been on an antibiotic since Tuesday and I'm STILL waiting for it to kick in. 

Wednesday I finally got to meet with the HyVee dietitian, Jennifer.  I felt like I was talking to a friend.  We spent about 20 minutes talking about what I've tried in the past, what I'm currently doing, and what I want to do.  She took me around the store for about 30+ minutes and showed me some different products and gave me ideas on how to combine them for meals.  I thought she would be pushing veggies, veggies, veggies, but she really didn't.  She showed me some frozen meals, which really surprised me because I've always been told to stay away from the frozen meals because of the sodium content.  When I questioned that, she said the particular ones she showed me met the acceptable levels for sodium.  I wish I could remember which brand, but I don't.  If I see them, I'll know them!  When I got home, I thought that I should have taken my phone with me and taken pics of all the foods.  That would have been helpful!  Hindsight...

So my assignment for this week is to keep a food journal in writing.  I will turn it in to her next Wednesday (unless we have the massive snow that they are predicting...) and we'll go over what I ate.  She will comment on what can be improved and what is going well.  And from there, we'll make small changes each week or two weeks until I'm heading down the right path.  I like that.  I did not want someone to hand me a list of foods and say, "Here.  Eat this stuff, and don't eat anything else and you're cured."  No, that does not work.  I've been through that before. 

Since this is the 1st of February, I should review some of my stats for January.  I created a spreadsheet to track weight and miles (bike, elliptical, walking).  According to said spreadsheet, I have gained 2 lbs since January 1**.  That is not very impressive.  I have walked/biked/ellipticaled 92.82 miles.  I was really hoping to hit 100, but I'm not going to stress it.  It would have easily happened had I been able to get to the gym this week. 

Goals for February:

• Lose 5 lbs
• Run/Walk/Elliptical 100 miles
• Kick butt in the Biggest Loser program
• Start working on getting rid of Diet Mt Dew
• Try ONE new recipe or ONE new veggie

What are your goals for this month?  Writing down your goals has been shown to be an effective step in helping to reach them!  Feel free to share your goals in the comments, on Facebook, or just write them down in a special notebook.  We can do anything we put our minds to. 

**Edited:  I just checked my stats again.  I did NOT gain 2 lbs in January.  I stayed the same.  My weight at the beginning of the month was the same as my weight this morning.  Oops!  I like that a little better...but not much.