As a result, my plan is to maintain calories between 1350 and 1450 each day (and adjusting for workouts). Also, I am going to try to keep my “empty” calories down to between 100 - 150 calories.

On another note - I have made an awesome recipe for pumpkin pie that is low in calories (it uses pumpkin pie tarts). The link for the recipe is below. The recipe serving size is for two tarts at 40 calories per two tarts.
—-  http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/recipe/1277216/2

I know I should not keep the candy in my office, but when I don’t, I notice I make worse decisions such as getting a milk shake, or a whole candy bar and eating the entire thing. Any thoughts?

First - the state is so concerned about the obesity issue impacted the bottom line, they are not doing anything to help their employees (or the citizens of the state) loose weight effectively. For instance, many states and insurance companies offer little or no assistance with things like gym memberships or access to nutritional information. There supposedly is a clause stating that people who are overweight because of medical conditions will not be effected. What medical conditions? Does that include someone who is to ill to workout? No, it does not.

Here is my biggest peeve with this issue is that the state will not provide an exception for people who have shown they are working at loosing weight. For instance, a friend of mine who started adjusting her diet started at 330 and is now down to 300 in 3 months. But currently she still is still over the 40 BMI.

One day I will look like this LOL:

In other information, I was looking for a recipe for low calorie squash soup and found an interesting site. The site, http://www.drgourmet.com/index.shtml , allows you to sign up for free and include/exclude different diet styles, methods, foods, etc.. Then the site provides a menu planner. While I do not plan on using each recipe, it is a good resource for different foods, recipes, options over all.

Happy Eating!

Other good news - this new drug combination seems to be working. My top number is down where it is ranging from 125-135. My bottom number is a little high, it typically hoovers around 90, but considering where it was, that is a massive difference.

On a funny note, my size 18 jeans are starting to fall off of me (yay!). I was playing with our dog last night and they just slipped down. SO I need a belt. Because I was curious, I took my old jeans (my size 24s) and held them up to me - it was like one of those shows where you could fit 2 of you into the jeans. It looked like a clown outfit, lol.

So now, I start again. Today is a new day, right. The only thing we can do is look back at the errors we made and use those decisions to make better decisions in the future. That is easier said then done, but at least it is a start. I started breakfast this morning with a veggie omelet and a side of fruit (350 calories).  Lunch will be my other half of the bison burger with steamed veggies.

Other news, I go to my family physician tomorrow to figure out the issue with my blood pressure since it is still up. It is frustrating since research says, that if there is any change to my blood pressure, it should be going down with the 38 pounds I have lost since May, not up.  So, until we know what that is all about, I am going to start looking up information and tips on staying on track even with the holidays and all those sugary and calorie loaded parties and activities coming. As I get information, I will share it….

I had my three month check up with the weight loss today. I lost another 9 pounds, so I am now down to 234. Yay!!!!! Bad news, my blood pressure spiked. I am on meds to begin with, but we are not sure why there was such a high spike (about 20 points).

On other issues - I have had to get new cloths at this point. It is a great thing, but it is a situation of trying to decide what is the most important - underwear that fits, pants that fit, bras that fit….. .