March 25 2013: I'm grateful for...

I had a really nice weekend.  I felt "grateful" for many things.  So here goes. 

First of all, I have long short week ahead.  So I am grateful to have today off.  I am enjoying the peace that comes between 9am-3pm. 

I am grateful for my husband.  So very grateful and for so many reasons but the reason that inspired this post is as follows: As many of you know I have been doing bootcamp since last September and while I have built up my strength, love going and made some great new friends, I haven't lost the weight I wanted to.  I have lost a bit, but not as much as I should, based on how often I go to bootcamp.  Our trainers started a new program today and last week emailed out a sample "healthy eating meal plan" asking us to commit to it for 5 days. 
This is my downfall.  The healthy eating. 
Sigh. 
But, having done bootcamp for the last 6 months and feeling "stuck" on the scale, I am finally, finally willing to give this healthy eating thing a go, for real. 
So I showed my husband this 5 day meal plan Saturday morning and he jumped right on board.  We went grocery shopping, bought the stuff we didn't have and since then he has been supporting me in this healthy eating thing 110% by doing it right along with me.  I am grateful for that, because it's really hard to do if you are the only one in the house doing it.  He even made me an egg white omellete this morning and even though I have always hated eggs, especially the whites, I ate it.  And survived. 

I am also grateful for the people I have met and the friendships I have created and sustained through bootcamp.  The trainers do their jobs exceptionally well and although the exercises suck at the time, they really do make it as fun as they can.  They create such a positive, fun atmosphere that you miss it, and them, when you don't go.  One of my friends who joined when I did is inspiring and pushing me to do this healthy eating thing.  She is shrinking like I cannot believe and looks awesome.  And she has really embraced clean eating.  She introduced me to a free website called lose it, where you can input everything you eat, the exercise you do, what your weight loss goals are, etc and it will tell you how many calories you should aim to stay within per day, how long it will take to reach your goal, etc. You input what you eat and it tells you how many calories you have consumed.  It has various challenges on it you can join, tells you how many calories you can burn during various exercises (over 500 for one hour of bootcamp) and yes, there's even an app for that!  While I try not to get all caught up in calorie counting and punishing myself if I go over (which I have the last two days since I joined, lol), I do like that it acts as a food journal and holds me accountable.  As a result I am reading food labels a lot more now and noticing and comparing how many calories and carbs are in various products.  If I have to enter the food I ate into the site and have the number of calories that are in that one serving flash up at me, I do think twice about it. It makes it a lot more real than just eating that teen burger and pretending it doesn't have that many calories. I think I was told about it a couple months ago by another friend, but I wasn't ready yet.   Now, I'm trying and so far it's working for me.  And I am grateful to my bootcamp buddy for bringing it up.   

She also introduced me to Checkout 51...do you know about this?  I can't believe I didn't but I think it's because I don't have an Iphone.  So basically, Checkout 51 gives you money back for buying various foods they have spotlighted that week.  You take a picture of your receipt proving you have purchased the item, upload it, and they deposit a rebate into your checkout 51 "account".  Once you reach $20 you can request a cheque and they will mail it to you.  It's based out of Toronto and another money savvy friend of mine has already received a cheque.  I have seen it discussed on many frugal living and coupon websites, but never really paid attention to it, till I realized I could download it on Makenna's Ipod.  Well holy crap, where have I been?!   The thing about it is to stick to what you normally buy anyway and if it happens to be spotlighted by Checkout 51 then yay, free money back.  This week I earned money back for buying popcorn and dishwasher tablets - the exact same kinds I already buy and needed to buy this week anyway.  Last week it was tostitos.   But I didn't buy the rest of the stuff on spotlight just to get the money back - because I don't normally buy that stuff anyway.   They change what they spotlight on a weekly basis.  Thanks Jen, again, for opening my eyes. 

You know what else I am grateful for?  Facebook Classifieds sites.  I belong to the Goderich Classifieds, Huron County Buy and Sell, Exeter Buy and Sell, and a few other pages and this past week scored myself great shoes in new condition, an awesome Roxy duvet cover for Makenna's bed, and I even have dibbs on, yes, an Ipod, at a fantastic price.  (It was only a matter of time until I "needed" my own").  I have bought and sold countless items over the years through facebook classifieds at a fraction of what I would pay otherwise.  It's a brilliant way to get rid of a lot, and find a lot on a smaller budget.  That's even how we found Maggie, our 4 yr old Chocolate Lab last fall!  It's  thrift shopping from the comfort of your own home.  You just never know. 

And finally, while I am always grateful to Kelly Kyle for something, today it is for adding me to the facebook page "what's for dinner?" where lots of people I know, and lots I don't, share on a daily basis what they are having for dinner and other food related ideas.  Soo many ideas on there, and with this whole healthy eating thing underway, I am grateful.  Thanks Ms Kelly :) 

Also, just a  quick note: When I posted my Gratitude post on Thursday night, I was touched by the kind comments sent to me through my own facebook page and this blog's facebook page, comments left on the facebook pages of a couple friends who shared it to their pages.  Thank you so much for that.  You can never go wrong by sharing a kind word with someone else :)

So, I ask again, what are you grateful for?