Category: Uncategorized

May 9-week 3 no sugar is working but…

I have cut out desserts (cakes, cookies, chocolate, etc…) for 3 weeks now. And I wanted to see if it was working. Here are the results…

I have been sleeping better

I have had more energy

I have lost 4-5 pounds (and I am not really restricting my eating except for the sweets) so it is working.

So why am I disappointed? Because I miss sweets. Not all the time, but I miss them. It was teacher appreciation week and Mothers Day today. I had ONE cookie for the week (from a special bakery in town) and one small piece of pie today. I have avoided a lot of the sweet stuff this week but in those two instances, I gave in. And here is the disappointing part-instead of eating them and feeling good, I just wanted more. I really think, for whatever reason, that eating sugar is like pouring gasoline on a fire for me. It ignites my hunger and my desire for more. No matter how much I have, I want more.

I need to use this information and move forward and continue eating healthy. I know I am doing the right thing but it is hard. I also really struggle with eating poorly when I am stressed and these last few days have been extremely stressful and it doesn’t seem like it will calm down any time soon either (random back and neck pain, teaching, coaching, house shopping, etc…)

Tiny habits that I am still practicing are saving spare change for a trip to Paris, washing out my lunch dishes at school instead of waiting and bringing them home, and parking farther away in the parking lot (easier now that the weather is getting a bit nicer in Michigan)

As I start week 4 of no sugar, I encourage others to do it. I am fully in support of small changes but in some instances, a drastic change may be necessary and this is appearing to be the truth with me.

Until next week-stay healthy!

THANK YOU SO MUCH to my 40 followers! I think of each of you when I write my posts. Have a great week!

May 2-week 2 of no sugar got a little harder

If you read my post last week, you saw that I decided to give up sugar until my birthday. Its a big habit instead of a tiny habit, but I felt like I needed something drastic to kind of “jolt my system” back into healthy eating.

It did exactly what I wanted it to. And last week wasn’t that hard. This week wasn’t even too bad until Friday. Someone brought homemade cookies to school on Friday. And someone said “oh just have a bite” and I did. And that SHOULD have been the end of it. But it wasn’t. In 100 percent transparency, I did NOT eat any more sugar. However, I DID eat a LOT of other food to try to replace the feeling of not having sugar.

I wasn’t even that hungry but I felt deprived and wanted something. So I ate some popcorn. And then I had a glass of beer. Then some potato chips. Then some wings. Then a granola bar. Then another glass of beer. These are all things I wouldn’t normally eat (or at least I wouldn’t eat all on the same day).

So I felt like I had failed. And yet…I did NOT go get a donut/muffin for breakfast the next day. I did NOT eat any sweets the rest of the weekend. I went grocery shopping today and bought grapes and bananas and blueberries. So I am succeeding right?

Well, this week starts teacher appreciation week and it is going to be tough because a lot of “treats” will be brought into school that normally aren’t there to tempt me. So here is where the tiny habits come back into play. I am going to take it one day at a time. I succeeded today. I will try again tomorrow. And if tomorrow is a failure, I will try again Tuesday. And of course, next Sunday, I will let you all know how I did. Wish me luck!

April 25-week 1 of no sugar is working

So I wanted to believe that I could have a little bit of sugar each day and be just fine. Apparently, that is not the case for someone like me. I have gone one whole week without any dark chocolate, candy, cookies, pop, desserts, etc…and I feel pretty good.

I have eaten fruit (blueberries, grapes, bananas) and have eaten SOME carbs so it is not 100 percent keto but I will say this…

I am sleeping better and not as much.

I don’t feel as ravenously hungry as I was feeling.

I have a decent amount of energy which is great also.

So the verdict? I don’t think I can “moderately eat” sugar. It has to be an all or nothing thing for me. And right now, it needs to be a “nothing”. Heres why-I enjoy sleeping and not waking to feel sluggish. I enjoy energy. And I enjoy not wanting to feel like I have to eat all the time.

Before giving it up, I was eating a piece of candy here, a donut there, a cookie here and there and once I ate one thing, it was so much easier to just keep eating sugary food. There was no “moderation.”

So tiny habits I am embracing are parking my car farther away in the parking lot, saving spare change, and sipping water throughout the day. However, the sugar habit? I had to go big on that one. So far it is working. I will keep you posted on week 2. I am taking my tennis team out for ice cream on Tuesday. We will see if I can resist.

THANK YOU to my 39 followers! It means so much to me and I hope my words resonate just a little! Stay tiny!

April 18-Go tiny or don’t. Sweets are where I can’t.

I have an enormous sweet tooth. Always have. I attribute my unhealthy eating to this sweet tooth and when I can get it under control, I am usually healthier. Last fall I went strict keto and lost a good amount of weight. I felt good but also too restricted, so I started cheating a little here and there during the holidays. Then the pandemic hit and I actually did pretty well when we were in lockdown.

Where things started to go poorly was this fall when I started school again. Teaching in a pandemic has been HARD. I’m tired and stressed and have been using food to comfort myself. I don’t know if it has really helped, but it’s what I have been doing.

Now I am in the midst of coaching my tennis season and I am eating terribly because I am even more tired and even more stressed. So, while I am sticking with tiny habits for a lot of things, I need to do something to get my diet back to healthy. No more candy. No more cookies. No more desserts, cakes, etc…Until my birthday on June 5. Thats about 7 weeks away. I thought I could eat a tiny bit of these things each day and be fine. I can not. The minute I open the “dessert door”, it’s a run away train.

So I am going “big step” for this one for the next 7 weeks. No sweets until my birthday. I will keep you posted. Wish me luck.

April 11-Changing the tiny habits a little. Food Journal week.

So I just got back from the Vegas trip that I had written about in previous weeks. It was great-not long enough but what vacation ever is right? And one of the great things we did on this vacation was spend our mornings by the pool. There is nothing like a little pool time with strangers to make you wish you had worked a little harder on your “beach bod” over the winter.

I am not a jealous person by nature. Every once in a while the little green monster pops up in my head but for the most part, I believe that if you work hard, you deserve what you get and so I am not usually jealous of people. WELLLLLLL I was a little jealous of the bodies I saw at the pool. So immediately I did what I assume most women do and I started think of what diet I was going to start when I got home. But then I thought about this blog and how I would eventually like to travel around the country (and world) and give speeches to people about how the tiny habits worked and all the other stuff doesn’t. I also HATE the idea of going on a diet-the mere mention of the word makes me say UGH.

So I counted how many weeks of school I have left. (approx 8.5 so we will say 8)

And I researched some “weight loss tips” while I was sitting at the pool and I had an idea. What if every week, for the next 8 weeks, I tried these tips? Added a different tip each week? Couldn’t hurt anything and it might help. So this week will be a “food journal.” I will not be analyzing what I eat or counting calories or anything like that-I will simply be writing down everything I eat and seeing if it helps. I will still try to follow a lower carb diet but I will include how I feel when I eat/don’t eat/exercise/etc… I gave myself a few days practice before today and just after being at my parents for a couple days…DANG I am NOT eating great! So maybe my disappointment in my body is well deserved. I am sure that if I showed a nutritionist my food log, he/she would laugh in my face. Therefore, it has been slightly effective so far even though I am not doing a specific diet or severely restricting my eating-remember, I am looking for tiny habits that simply become a lifestyle.

So this week is simply food journaling. If I have time (which is unlikely because I am coaching 3 tennis matches this week and teaching full time) I may analyze how many calories I am eating, but we will see. It is a work in progress, just like everything. The goal is to get to June 9 (last day of school) and feel more in control of my eating, a little trimmer, and not feel like I went on a diet.

THANK YOU to my 37 followers! I wondered if anyone was reading my words and apparently 37 of you are so thank you! You make me smile, keep me honest, and keep me going.

March 28-use it or lose it! (the motto of my 96 year old Grandma who still drives and lives alone and moves her own patio furniture)

Last week I did not post. I woke up and my whole body ached-mostly legs and right arm. It was from teaching tennis and standing on cement for 2 hours every day to feed balls. This is something I had no trouble doing 10 years ago in the height of my tennis coaching. However, I am 10 years older and my body was not used to it (USE IT OR LOSE IT) so it rebelled against me and made me rest for a whole day. (I was fine the next day after a bit of ibuprofen and rest and hydration.)

Elliptical-probably am not doing while I am coaching. I get 10-12 thousand steps a day at this point with work and practice. Once matches start, I will get even more so trying to preserve energy.

Health-I am parking in a separate parking lot (athletic parking lot) so it naturally increases my steps every day and allows me to drop my clothes in the locker room so that I can change for practice (If you are new here, I am a high school teacher and tennis coach)

Money-did a great job with this also. Was able to save about 100.00 to put toward the Vegas fund. We are leaving in 4 days so it is crunch time!

Home-Staying up on the dishes is about all I have accomplished. I make sure to use the same coffee cup and lunch dishes so that I MUST wash them each day and they don’t pile up in the sink. I have found that when you always have a backup, you get lazy and don’t wash stuff. Henry David Thoreau said “One is enough,” and he was so right. Another tip is to always take something with you when leaving a room/place. When I leave the living room, I take a cup with me to the kitchen.

Mental-reading a book on motivation for exercise called NO SWEAT. I will discuss this in a future post

Other-wrote a thank you note to my parents

Bursts. So last Sunday when I didn’t feel great, I realized that I had eaten some heavy sugar items along with my quasi keto diet. So my burst this week was to be very strict about only eating carbs in fruit (blueberries and bananas) and the low carb Aunt Millie’s bread which is delicious! I FELT SO MUCH BETTER! So even though I don’t think I lost any weight, I FEEL BETTER and isn’t that what we are all after? I also chose a salad on Saturday night instead of pizza because I wanted to feel good this morning-AND I DO!

I was also VERY stressed last week at work so I tidied up my classroom and shoved things into drawers and cupboards so that I have a lot of clean spaces around me. It helped a lot. Every morning I put a few more things away (out of sight) and just that small action/step has REALLY helped the stress level at school.

Next steps

Continue the parking farther away

I will get a lot of steps in Vegas

I will eat as healthy and low carb as possible but it is vacation and I will be treating it as such 🙂

Money-I will also be using some of my vacation money to visit the outlet mall on vacation and buy some shoes (haven’t bought dress shoes for work in over 2 years and pain free feet are a must!)

THANK YOU to my 30 followers! You keep me honest and keep me going! Have a great week and a half ( I will post after we return from Vegas)

March 14-learned a lot this week

This week was a good week-especially coming off of last week’s failure. One of the biggest things that I learned was that persistence is everything-in work, in life, in diet, in saving money, in EVERYTHING. No one that accomplishes anything did it because they gave up, so despite last week being a failure, I persisted and kept going this week with my tiny steps. It was a good week.

Elliptical-I didnt do it this week. It was really nice out in Michigan and I took that opportunity to walk outside for exercise instead. 4 days this week. Tennis coaching starts next week so I am sure I will be getting more steps in during future weeks.

Health-I parked far away in the parking lot and enjoyed my walks outside.

Diet-3 full keto days and the other days were quasi keto. I consider that a win. I feel good. Not sure if I am losing weight but I am not gaining weight so that is a win.

Money-I did a great job with this. I used EXACTLY the money I had budgeted for the week and while I didn’t get to save anything, I did not have to take money out of my savings account. I also got myself an oil change and my hair colored with my budgeted money. Huge win! Sold a jacket that I wasn’t wearing (on ebay) so that money will be put into savings. Also I had to replace my toothbrush this week (electric one that wouldn’t charge anymore) so I used my credit card points and bought one. It was technically free! yay!

Home-on Friday night I watched a few youtube cleaning/organizing videos and felt the desire to “tidy up” my bedroom. I also got rid of a jacket that could not be repaired and was coming apart (faux leather coming off)

Mental-I am reading a book about sleep. It is very interesting.

Other-I complimented a person and went to my niece’s soccer game.

Bursts-a bit of a burst to tidy my bedroom after watching some decluttering videos on youtube.

Missteps-not really. It was a good week. Even when I didn’t eat fully keto, I didn’t do anything crazy and I am happy about that.

Next steps. Persistence and maintenance of current tiny habits.

Elliptical-I am uncertain about this because tennis is starting and so that means a 2 hour practice after school. I will see how much energy I have.

Health-I will continue eating my cheese sticks for breakfast, salads for lunch and almonds for a snack. Dinner will be a challenge as always and I am working on that.

Money-I will save whatever amount (be it small or large) and transfer it to my Vegas account. We go in 3 weeks so need to keep my eye on the ball for that trip.

Home-I actually am doing a load of laundry right now and I threw away some papers. I also put away a pile of clothes that had been sitting out for a while.

Tiny tip for laundry sorting. When the clothes come out of the dryer, dump them IMMEDIATELY onto a surface that you need clear (couch, bed, dining table) This will force you to fold them and put them away so that the activity in that space can continue.

Mental-continue reading the book about sleep and not be ashamed of wanting or needing more sleep.

Other-keep a good attitude about coaching tennis. I saw a quote that said “you can complain and whine or you can accept and move through” so that is what I will do. Accept and move through.

Have a great week! THANK YOU to my 19 followers! I hope these words inspire you to make tiny positive choices in your own life this week 🙂

March 7-a week of failure. I must have tried to do too much.

This was a bad week. I’m actually amazed at how bad it was. It was as if all my tiny habits didn’t matter and I didn’t care. Usually, I can analyze what happened and pinpoint where I went wrong. Unfortunately, that isn’t possible this week.

Elliptical-I did 15 minutes one day and didn’t do any the rest of the week. I was either too tired or didn’t feel like it or ??? Maybe I pushed too hard too fast? This week I will go back to what is attainable. I’m not sure what that number will be. I will let you know next Sunday.

Health-I did part far away in the parking lot but that is about it.

Diet-I ate terribly. It was a keto fail. I can’t even call it keto. It was simply “eating whatever I wanted with no regard for anything else.” I wonder if it had something to do with changing up my breakfast.

Money-I did a great job with this. I was able to transfer some unspent money into my Las Vegas account for our upcoming trip. Im actually really happy about how I did with this.

Home-my bedroom was a mess all week

Mental-I struggled to read anything or care about trying to improve myself.

Other-I did compliment a person. But it didn’t feel like much.

Bursts-NONE

Missteps-THE ENTIRE WEEK as you saw above

Next steps. So here is the important part and here is where I feel like every article/blog post/book I ever read leaves me hanging. They don’t talk about this part. I understand why. It feels like failure. I feel like a failure. And yet, I have a choice. I can keep falling down this hole of self pity, apathy, and failure or I can start again. I choose to start again. Slow and tiny even though my heart wishes it could be fast and big. Slow and tiny is how I will get there.

So…next steps will be…

Elliptical-I will start with 1 minute and increase where I can

Health-I will go back to eating my cheese sticks for breakfast, salads for lunch and almonds for a snack. Dinner will be a challenge as always and I am working on that.

Money-I will save whatever amount (be it small or large) and transfer it to my Vegas account

Home-I actually am doing a load of laundry right now and I threw away some papers. I also put away a pile of clothes that had been sitting out for a while.

Mental-I am going to read for pleasure. If I stumble across a self help book that seems interesting, I will consider it.

Other-I am not sure what to put in this category. I did write a St Patricks Day card to my grandma and I am going home to see my parents next weekend.

February 28-last day of the month

This isn’t a great post but I did it and that is all that counts.

Tiny steps last week

12 min elliptical to 13 (2 days) and 15 (1 day) min.

Money-credit cards are still paid off. Any money I can save is for Vegas, or Paris Olympics, or a future house.

Health-park farther away in parking lot. Did elliptical 4 times this week

Home-pulled up comforter on bed. Kept dishes out of the sink.

Mental-read a book about Motivation and Drive by Daniel Pink

Other-complimented 1 person

Bursts-I didn’t really have any except for grading almost all the essays (150) for my juniors.

Misssteps-I do great during the week and not as great on the weekend. I wonder if I am too restricting during the week and it is causing this on the weekends.

Next steps

15 minutes on the elliptical from now until Spring Break.

All money saved will go to spring break fund-have about 5 weeks

Health-stick with the one chocolate bar per week

Work-stay on top of lessons, planning, grading and preparing for tennis season

Home-keep dishes out of sink. Maintain clean bedroom

Other-send St Patricks Day cards to my nieces and my Grandma

February 22 Mother’s Birthday celebration

Feb 22

So last week little steps

10 min to 12 min of elliptical

Money-credit cards are still paid off.  Sold some clothes for 38.00. Got a reimbursement check for 25.00. half is going to Vegas fund (6 weeks away) and half is going to Paris Olympics fund (3 years away)

Health-parked farther away in parking lot again-did elliptical 5 times this week Realized that I feel puffy even thought I am eating low carb/keto so need to rejigger my diet a bit (see post below about tiny habits in reverse)

Work-Wrote for blog many days this week but am not feeling any desire to work on fiction so did not work on that.

Home-pulled comforter up on bed, washed dishes out from lunch at school, did laundry. donated 3 bags of clothes that couldnt be sold and took 2 coolers back to my parents.

Tiny steps in reverse. I was eating handfuls of keto crunch for last 3 weeks. It’s keto. Must be fine. Well just like small steps in the right direction can help, small steps in the wrong direction are not helping. I feel puffy. As you know I don’t weigh myself. I have been eating keto and I feel as though it isn’t working. So going to be more purposeful with the keto crunch. Going to spread it on yogurt. Use it as a topping. See if that helps. Only packing my lunch with the essentials and no “back up food” in lunch or car. Except almonds.

Also going to be stricter on keto and reduce carbs down a bit more. I had been doing moderate carbs at dinner. Going to go lower carbs for dinner and see what happens. 

Mental- read articles about rewards-am reading Drive by Daniel Pink right now. Its talking about motivation.

Other– goal was to compliment two people. Only complimented one. Will try again this week for two.

Bursts-had a burst to clean out my car. As soon as I dropped off the clothes to be sold, I wanted everything out of my car and cleaned. Car wash. (didn’t vaccuum-its winter in Michigan so no point). My car looks awesome but now my bedroom is a mess LOL.

Missteps

Didn’t have anything big this week but I feel puffy so I need to reevaluate how much keto crunch I am eating.

Next steps

Try for 13-15 min on elliptical (trying to prepare for Vegas and tennis season so I am pushing a little harder). Also need to lift weights. Arms are very weak.

Money-have a budget of 50.00 to get me through a short 3 day week. Going to eat food at home and only buy gas.

Health-bought my fancy chocolate bars. Allowed one per week from now until Vegas. I have 6 total in my cupboard. Goal is only 1 per week. Also cleaned out car so there is nothing but almonds to grab and snack on. Remember my tough time is 1-5 pm each day

Work-notes each day for the blog. Also asked to shadow some other teachers at school so I can work on becoming a better teacher. (they have agreed so need to find a time to book that)

Home-keep dishes out of sink and put away everything I brought in from my car.

Others: compliment 2 people this week.