Wish it were Sunday
Cause that's my fun day!

And now I have that song in my head

Well on a health note, I got another problem dropped on me. Looks like I will need a small outpatient surgery. Still working to schedule, but I hope to only be out a day & then just recover over the weekend.

In frugal news, I stayed home most of the weekend. Saturday, I bought veggies & fruit only. And yesterday was a no spender. My mom paid for a movie ticket for me in return for letting her borrow my car Saturday. I wasn't going anywhere so I was happy to lend it.

Today will probably not be a no spender. I owe $1.00 in fines at the library & I want to pick up some root beer at the grocery store. Its my splurge now that I have given up caffeinated soda. I don't miss the caffeine anymore, but I DO miss the carbonation!

Tomorrow is payday & I have a budget already prepared. I have had to do a lot of planning lately with my illness. I don't have a name for it YET, but the doctors have agreed, it isn't going anywhere any time soon, so I am treating it like one of the invisible chronic diseases and am looking to research & books on how to help handle daily living. (Thanks libraries for having such a great collection!)

Lunch challenge is going well - packed all today.

And today's 5 THings to do are as follows:

1. Library
2. Grocery store
3. Schedule MRI, get referral for MRI & schedule outpatient surgery for 2nd health issue (DONE)
4. Make food for work for Tues & Wednesday
5. Clean bedroom, change sheets
6. Straighten hair before bed to save time in the morning

I had an appointment with a rheumatologist today. I was hoping that she could finally give me a definitive answer as to what is wrong with me. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to do that. But she was able to tell me definitively some of the things it's not. She also is sending me for a huge blood workup and an MRI of my neck & head. She also wants me to see a neurologist. So at least I have my next step.

Not to get into much detail, but I am having enough medical issues to affect my day to day living. Which is frustrating, especially since I don't know the cause. In the mean time, I am dealing with the day to day symptoms of my 'mystery disease' and am focusing on the things that I CAN control right now. Which is healthy eating, finances, exercise & organization

I have packed my breakfasts, lunches & snacks all days of the Month but 2 times. So no more buying lunches! I was also provided free lunch twice! So the lunch challenge is going strong!

I have yet to get back into exercise, but I have been doing stretching a few days a week. I am hoping to feel well enough to go to the gym and put in 20 minutes on a treadmill or bike. I plan to start back slow!

Money-wise, there hasn't been a lot of spending. mostly grocery shopping and dinner out with a friend one day. Tuesday is payday, so I have the budget already set up for that.

I already made a meal plan for the week, all of which is Weight Watchers friendly.

Each day, its a given that I will have at least 2 servings of dairy - milk, yogurt, or cottage cheese. I try to get 5 servings of fruits & veggies in a day (sometimes more!). I stick to whole grains when possible.

So here is my Meal Plan:

Saturday
Breakfast: Chocolate milk, banana
Lunch: Pasta salad with tons of veggies & turkey pepperoni
Snack: veggies & dip; pretzels; asian pear
Dinner: Turkey BLT
Snack: Chocolate milk

Sunday
Breakfast: 2 Hard boiled eggs, chocolate milk
Snack: Veggies & hummus
Lunch: Salad with tuna
Snacks: apple, banana
Dinner: Breakfast for dinner- whole grain waffles, sugar free syrup, promise light, turkey bacon & breakfast potatoes

Monday
Breakfast: cottage cheese, blueberry muffin, banana
Snack: veggies & dip
Lunch: Pasta salad with turkey pepperoni
Snack: yogurt
Dinner: Loaded baked potato with cheese, bacon bits & ground turkey

Tuesday
Breakfast: yogurt, 2 hard boiled eggs
Snack: banana, veggies & hummus
Lunch: Salad with tuna
Snack: apple
Dinner: Penne pasta with spinach cheesy tomato sauce


Wednesday
Breakfast: yogurt & cottage cheese
Snack: veggies & dip, animal crackers
Lunch: Salad with turkey pepperoni
Snack: banana and/or apple
Dinner: Meatloaf muffin, baked fries

Thursday
Breakfast: cottage cheese, blueberry muffin & chocolate milk
Snack: 2 hard boiled eggs, veggies & hummus
Lunch: salad, meatloaf muffin
Snack: banana and/or apple
Dinner: Chicken taco wrap

Friday
Breakfast: yogurt, banana
Snack: veggies & dip; pretzels
Lunch: Salad with bacon & pasta
Snack: apple
Dinner: Turkey BLT

I have plenty of grab & go snacks as needed - almonds, animal crackers, all bran crackers, granola bars. I am trying to keep processed foods to a minimum, so they will be used sparingly and fruits & veggies will be my go to snack!

And as someone who is dealing with a daily illness, I have found that I need to prepare as much on the weekend because I am too tired during the week to do much. So many of my meals are easy to pre-make or are quick to make in the evening!

I am trying to get back to my 5 Things List. Tomorrow's 5 Things will be.

1. Attend Weight Watchers meeting
2. Attempt some type of work out
3. Grocery shop
4. Clean out car
5. Laundry

Sorry I've been MIA the last few days, I haven't been feeling good. This medical issue is wearing on me because its not just one issue. At the age of 31, I have enough medical problems and medicines for an 80 year old!

Anyway, this weekend there was little spending, mostly on groceries. Yesterday, I packed breakfast. I had a half day at work because I went to one doctors appt at 12:30, had lunch at home after, went to a 2nd doctors appt at 4:30, had dinner at home after & then packed up & went to a sleep center to have a sleep study done. Oh the fun.

Yesterdays spending was $20 for a copay.

Today, I bought a soft pretzel at work, so that is 1 of the 2 days I have 'lunch out' from the Lunch Challange. I packed breakfast & lunch today, but was really hungry, so I added the soft pretzel.

And in conjunction with eating, I should mention that as of Saturday, I was down another 2.2 pounds, for a total of 6 pounds in 3 weeks! Yay me

I am changing my plans for my tax refund. I will update when I finalize my plans for the funds.

In the meantime, I have been doing well with spending. Wednesday was a no spender since I took the day off.

Thursday, I spent on gas, groceries, stamps & $5.00 on a beer at book club.

Today, I have spend nothing, but plan on paying a $1.00 library fine.

I was lazy packing today, so I brought yogurt for breakfast & had crackers & peanut butter for lunch. Dinner will be breaded chicken with pasta & sauce and a nice side salad.

Took the day off to rest up since I haven't been feeling good. I have laid around, watched movies on the dvr & did my taxes.

I'm getting much more than I expected due to a couple of changes this year. I will be getting a total of $1672 back between federal & state.

I am putting $397.76 to my efund to bring it up to $1200.00.

$300 is being set aside as the goal of my weight loss. I have to get the weight off & keep it off as it accelerates my medical problem. So my big goal is that when I get to my goal weight, I will buy new clothes!

$261.78 will go to payoff CC # 1
$712.46 will go to cc # 2.

I will be snowballing the min pay to cc # 1 ($15) to cc # 2 when it completes.

Today's food. I slept in, so not much of a breakfast was needed.

Breakfast: 2 hardboiled eggs
Lunch: salad with pasta & croutons
Snack: airpopped popcorn
Dinner: undecided... but it will be made at home

Edited to add: My dinner was yummy. I wasn't feeling up to making a real dinner, so I popped a potato in the microwave to cook. I heated up some previously browned grown beef (2oz), threw in 2 tbsp Hormel bacon pieces, 2 tbsp of promise light & 2 tbsp of fat free sour cream for a big loaded baked potato. It was yummy, and although having the promise light & sour cream was a bit of a splurge, it was all completely within my Weight Watcher's plan! Gotta love it

Today was a no spender. It was a little icy getting to work this morning, but I arrived safely. And as a treat for some hard work, our manager took us out to lunch & treated.

We spent 2 hours away from work, I had a healthy & yummy chicken Caesar salad, and a nice time with my coworkers. I also was giving a gift card to Wawa. I don't know the amount, but I can assume that it was probably $5 or $10. No matter the amount, its a great gift!

I had plans with friends tonight, but canceled them because I'm not feeling good. I actually felt badly enough to request tomorrow off. I need some rest. Unfortunately, this is an ongoing health problem & I don't want to waste days off unless I have to, but in this case, I really feel its necessary.

So tomorrow will be a no spender as well! LOL

Lunch Challenge meal update:

Breakfast: animal crackers, celery & carrots, fat free ranch dip
Snack: banana
Lunch: (FREE) chicken Caesar salad
Dinner: Pasta with veggies with light oil & vinegar
Snack: pretzels & fat free ranch dip (Loving the dip, can you tell??)