Embracing the Weight Loss Journey

My vision board!

2011-06-13T07:40:00.000-04:00

A couple of posts ago I shared with you that we'll be trying to qualify for a home soon! Yesterday I hunted the web for pictures of possibilities that having a house will give us!

We'll most likely be getting a foreclosure or a property that needs a lot of work! But it will be ours to fix up however we want/can afford. One thing that we've noticed is that once we get into our house, depending on what we get into, our monthly housing expense will be cut by 1/4 to a 1/2 of what we are paying right now! That means that we will have money to play with!!

For my vision:

1. I would like to have a pool!

2. An herb garden, and veggies too, but mainly herb. We are blessed to have a lot of trees where we live right now, but that means no full sun to grow herbs. Otherwise I would be trying right now with a window box!

3. A dog! Jared is at the perfect age to have a 4 legged companion!

4. A garden shed, a place to tend my plants, cut and dry herbs.

5. Chickens!! Yes, Fresh Eggs!

6. A Cow....Yay Fresh milk and butter!

7. My very own craft room! A place to call my own so I can leave projects I'm working on out and work on them whenever I can without having to factor in take out/clean up time! :)

8. A road side stand to sell my herbs, eggs, maybe some plants. Nothing big...

9. Oh, and an Ikea kitchen!! Sometimes I go to Ikea just to look at their kitchens. Love them!

I know a few of these possibilities depend on where we buy. We would love to have 1/2 to 1 acre of land and of course we need to be agricultural. If that doesn't work out, it won't be the end of the world. I don't have to have chickens and a cow! I can have an herb garden anywhere I have sun. And if I don't have a roadside stand, I can sell them on Etsy. So it's all good! I taped my hopes to my front door. So that every time I leave the house to spend money, I'll have that picture in my brain!

New Exercise and Weigh In

2011-06-11T14:48:00.000-04:00

I weighed in this morning and I'm down a pound! :) Very happy with that. I had a very in control week.

WW magazine arrived in the mail yesterday. I was desperate for peace! So I quickly ran to my bedroom and shut the door. One article intrigued me. It wasn't really an article it was just a snippet and the title read : "Walking Shortcuts" there was an item about beach walking. No thank you! I've got plenty of beaches around me which I totally take for granted..I'm not really a beach person. Hot, sandy, rashes...need I say more? I will tell you it said that you could swap out a 30 minute walk for a 15 minute beach walk....for me, still, no thank you.

Then I saw, swap your 40-minute walk for a 20-minute pool walk!! YES PLEASE!!! Now that summer is here J and I swim pretty much everyday...at least 5-6 days a week. So I dusted off my water aerobic shoes...

and took off for the pool. I wore my heart rate monitor and timed it and I have to say that I loved it! That is a workout I can fit into my day easily and right now...it's a fun work out. I will say that as far as intensity it wasn't there, but my legs did feel like I worked them out because of the resistance of the water. I need to get one of these: in case you're wondering it's a weight belt for the pool...

I'm a bit too buoyant, which is a great asset if I'm ever lost at sea, but not so much when I'm trying to water walk/jog! :) I think that having a weight belt will allow me to have a more intense work out.

I will tell you that I was so proud of myself because I did the pool walk today even though there were other people there. I did NOT care what other people thought about what I was doing!!

Yay me! :)

Dancing for exercise!

2011-06-09T12:35:00.000-04:00

Well not everyday. But last night I went to The Dallas Bull and did some line dancing. I love dancing and haven't been for years! They charge a $5 cover, but you can bring in water...so that's cool. My knee was talking to me a little bit. So I only did 3 dances, but between learning them and doing them, I worked up quite a sweat. I put ice on my knee as soon as I got home.

So - if anyone is local to the Tampa, FL area, you should check them out. I hope to be there next week.

Since I've switched back to Momentum on WW I'm not having any problems with hunger, or cravings. I like my carbs and when WW switched over to PP they made those not so point friendly, so it was harder to fit them into my day. So what happened? I started getting heavy handed on my measuring and sometimes not measuring at all, just eye balling it, or really just closing my eyes and putting a big ol' hunkin spoonful in my pie hole! Yup that was 100 points. :)

Life is good! My hubby's business is doing great! We were advertising on Craig's list, believe it or not that's the only place he got calls from. We tried paying for advertising...no luck! But, we've gone from posting an add every couple of weeks to every couple of months and the calls are coming in! Plus he's getting a LOT of referrals! So proud of him.

We hope to qualify for a house soon. Now that his biz is over two years old, hard to believe, we need to call and get the ball rolling!

I'm going to create a vision board for the house. I'm sure the mortgage company will tell us we don't have enough money saved up. So to keep us focused we're going to create a board as a family! I'll have to take pictures of it and post it when we're done.

I'm still working on my mosaic. But it's hard when I don't have a dedicated place to put my stuff out and leave it....I have to take it out to work on it and put it away when I'm done. If I could leave my stuff out I could work on it 10 minutes here and there and it would get done. Just getting the table cleared off ;) takes 10 or 15 minutes! Yeah, I need better organizational skills!!

Alright, well if anybody is still here, I assume you're sleeping so WAKE UP~! The ~~snore fest~~ post is over!! :)

Hope ya'll have a great day!

Changes

2011-06-04T21:04:00.000-04:00

Well I decided to go back to the old WW program. I'm happy to say that I found lots of support on the WW website and on Spark People.

After following the old program for a week I'm down 1.6. I have to say I feel much more satisfied on the old program. That's mentally satisfied as well as physically.

We went to my sister's last weekend and played Just Dance on the kinect and darn if I didn't twist my knee. So exercise has been sporadic, though I've been swimming a bunch of times this week and that seemed to help. Or maybe that was the 5 or 10 minute sit in the hot tub after the swim. I'm supposed to walk a 5k tomorrow, but I'm not sure that will get done. We'll see how I feel tomorrow morning!

My little man crossed over from being a tiger scout to a wolf scout. He was so excited! He kept saying over and over today, I can't believe I'm a wolf scout! :)

I like the symbolism of walking on the bridge, over the creek, as he crossed over the creek he went from tiger scout to wolf scout!

The new wolf scout!

I can't believe how fast time is going by. Time marches on for sure. He will be 7 the end of July! When we moved back to Fl in 2006 he wasn't even 2 yet! Bittersweet!

Well here's to another successful week for all of us! :)

Checking in! Life is good!

2011-05-23T21:29:00.000-04:00

Hey! Well this has been a great week so far and it's only Monday! :)

I didn't make my meeting on Saturday but I weighed on my Wii, as far as I can tell I lost a 1/2. I've had to recommit to my program and I had to give myself a good talking to about bringing sweets into the house. Crafty little buggers! I was doing real good there for a while with them in the house, if for a while you mean a week which I do, and then before I knew it, oh 6 weeks or so later,...well, I wasn't! Apparently I'm not so quick on the uptake, or I'm just real good at denial, I should have connected the dots much sooner! Sweets in, weight loss out. Yeah...der! So they're back out and you can't eat what you don't have...so that's good!

I've had to recommit to tracking AND staying within my points. Uhm, in case any of ya'll were wondering, just writing down what you eat doesn't work.....dang it! I'm always trying to find a short cut! But I've always been directionally challenged, so, again, not the sharpest tool in the shed.

Focusing on fruits and veggies this week. It's Monday and I still have some weekly points left. Usually those suckers are gone by Saturday night and I'm off eating the WP's for the people that don't eat theirs. Yeah, that doesn't work either!

Sooo, there you have it. Apparently I'm a fine example of what NOT to do! :)

Oh well, live and learn. I'm back on track, being honest with myself and writing it all down! :) Yay me!!!

Weigh in Day with some special guests!

2011-05-14T10:48:00.000-04:00

MIA again!

2011-05-11T07:27:00.000-04:00

Hey everybody, sorry I've been missing again. I'm doing OK. Though last week was homonal H.E. double hockeysticks! I managed to lose point 2. So I'm down a total of 28.

I've been walking 5 days a week. I'm up to 35 minutes. Will be bumping up to 40 here pretty quick. I love my pedometer. I've been wearing it around the house and it really does make me more aware of what it is to get 10,000 steps in. Last night I did another lap around my apartment complex to get those last steps in!

At my WW meeting the leader mentioned that the FDA suggests 1500 mg's of salt. They lowered it, it used to be 2100 or 2400. Wow! That really says how much salt we're taking in from our boxed food. I've never really paid that close attention to sodium, but I'm thinking I might do a little experiment to see how much sodium I take in during the day. I'm getting better about eating clean, but there are still some processed foods in my cabinet. Hmm, gonna have to check that out!

Here's a couple pics of my little man. He is such a ham! He's got quite the personality and he's so animated! He's a fun little guy!

I took them on my iPod touch so the quality is not that great. He was making me laugh. He just got a mohawk hair cut and I hadn't put any gel in it to make it look like a true mohawk. It's more like a baby mohawk. I wasn't sold on the hair cut, I didn't let him know that. I figure it's his hair it will grow back and it's a great form of self expression!

Alright I'm off to check on you guys!

Weigh in day!

2011-04-30T08:59:00.000-04:00

Well I'm doing the happy dance! Down 2 pounds!!! I haven't seen a 1 pound loss let alone 2 pounds in months!!! (That 6 pounds when I was sick didn't really count) I didn't step on the scale once during the week and that really helped me because no matter what the scale says it's an excuse to eat and really I didn't need anymore excuses this past week. I think what saved me this week was all the walking I did! I walked 6 1/2 miles this week!

I also think that because I didn't step on the scale mid week I was more relaxed. Stress is not a good thing.

So I'm down a total of 27.8. Even though I ate more than I should have....overall, I'm making better choices. I feel like even though I probably didn't deserve the 2 pounds this week, there were MANY, MANY weeks that I did deserve 2 pounds and didn't see it. So I'll take it!

I feel very motivated and back on track. This week, I've committed to tracking everyday and staying within my points! And walking!

Quick Video update!

2011-04-29T18:06:00.000-04:00

Life without a car....

2011-04-21T08:48:00.000-04:00

for a little while anyway. We're making the best of it. Yesterday little man and I went on walk about. I'll tell you what.....life as a pedestrian in a city like Riverview/Brandon FL is NOT great! Sidewalks are scattered here and there. But overall it was a fun adventure and I'm thinking that we may choose to walk at least once a week when time is not an issue!

We saw lots of stuff we wouldn't have seen if we'd been driving! We saw this little guy, I think it's a centipede and of course J had to get right down and look at it up close!

It took us about 45 minutes (there was so much to see) to get to Tropical Smoothie Cafe and there we had a smoothie of course and we did some school work! :)

From there we walked over to Game Stop and looked at the Wii games. J has certain chores he has to do and I made a lap book for his chores with cards that he moves over daily from chores to be done, to finished chores. He makes a certain amount a day and we keep track and check off the days and he looks at a picture every day of what he's working for. Depending on what he's working for it takes him anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks to earn enough $$. The picture serves as a reminder and helps keep him motivated! This is what he's working for this time.

From there we went to Joann's Fabrics and got him some modeling clay. He's been "sculpting" things with his play doh and using my containers to store them in. So we decided that he might be better off with clay that he can air dry and paint.

These are the Play doh creations!

This one is my favorite. The warthog! :)

Creations with the clay.

While on our walkabout we found a nest. Kinda hard to see in all the branches.

And this little guy!

We also found an unopened bag of seeds, we're gonna plant them. I think they were petunia's? From Joann's we went to Publix and had lunch and then we walked home. The heat got to me on the way home. I've never tolerated it very well. Even when I was thin!

I wore my pedometer and when we got home it said I'd gone 4.02 miles and walked 10,195 steps! Not bad!

Then we cooled off in the pool!

Cars are nice and so convenient! Not to mention cool! Ice cold air! But sometimes it's nice to take the scenic route. Stop and look at the caterpillars! :) Oh, and I think the hi light of the day for J was when we were walking over I-75 and we stopped and looked over at the cars and trucks zooming under the bridge. He did the arm motion for the big trucks to blow their horns. 5 trucks looked up and saw him and blew their horn as they were going under the bridge! That made his day! And mine too, to see the smile on his face! :)

Let's give it up for Mizfit!!

2011-04-18T09:44:00.001-04:00

One of my, and I'm sure your, favorite bloggers has a new venture! :)

Head on over an show some support.

She's teamed up with My Trainer Fitness and made these:

I just placed my order this morning for Mizfit's cards. She made two sets, the 100 calorie 6 pack and one for work. Since I don't work I ordered the MTF for kids:

Head on over to Mizfit's site and read her post, there is a special offer that you can take advantage of!!!

I cannot wait to get my cards!!!!

Congratulations Carla!!!!

Fun, Fun, Day! :) And kind of a weigh in...

2011-04-16T18:06:00.000-04:00

I didn't go to my meeting, but an unofficial weigh in on my Wii shows that I kept 2 pounds of my sick weight loss off. I'll take it. Not as good as I had hoped for, but a pound a week? I'll gladly accept that. This wasn't one of my better weeks as far as eating and tracking goes. There was quite a few days that I was off the rails. I accept that. What's awesome about my mindset these days is that doesn't totally throw me for a loop. The choices I make when I'm off the rails now aren't as bad as choices I've made in the past. So, nuff said about that! :)

So this morning we went to Bearadise Ranch what a fun time that was. The Welde Family has been in the bear business for 85 years! There are some pictures on the website linked above.

Waiting for the show to start. Jared with his Panda Bear toy!

Me and my honey!

These bears are so beautiful. My favorite thing is how they talk to the bears. They ask them to do their stuff, they don't try to force them.

They get rewarded with lots of treats. Honey and dog biscuits.

I love this picture. This is the son and he's holding paws with 7 year old Bruno.

So after we went to the bear show we stopped at the Outlet Shoppes in Ellenton. We've never been there before and had a nice time walking around....though it was a bit hot for me. So we left and we're about 1/2 way home when this happened.....

My hubby was driving, turns out my timing belt broke. Oh well it could've been much worse.

We called our brother-in-law and he rented a uhaul car dolly, so while we were waiting my honey built me a shady place to sit. I don't handle the heat very well. Luckily we had stopped at the gas station for a couple of drinks with lots of ice!

Little man exploring!

Me sitting in my man made shade!

Silly Little Man

Enjoying the breeze!

Well, then the call of nature comes, if you know what I mean. We'd been out there for a bout 1 1/2 hours....so my man built me a privacy lean to. :)

Of course J couldn't quite figure out how I was going to use it. He thought I would sit on the branch....that made me LOL!

All built, and I tried, but it was just too out in the open for me. Luckily brother-in-law got there shortly after, so I didn't have to wait too, long!

What a fun day! Break down and all! I don't think I'd change it. We had fun just sitting, talking, laughing and playing!

I'll take it!

2011-04-09T14:26:00.000-04:00

Weighed in today, lost 6 pounds! If you've read my previous posts you know I've been down with a stomach bug and if you've read prior to that you know I've been struggling with a plateau! So, even though those 6 pounds were most likely all due to the stomach bug....any of you that have had a stomach bug, know I earned that weight loss! :)

So that puts me down 30.2 pounds! I. Will. Take. It. :) It put me at 10% lost, actually a little over, I'll take that too! :)

Great ending to a not so great week.

I want to share what I had for lunch today. I love egg rolls, but I don't like the price tag or the points count when we go out to a restaurant. So I found some in the freezer at the grocery store. Ever tried these:

They were very good I baked them in the oven. 2 of them were 6 points. I mean, why have one egg roll when you can have 2! ;) Though I do think depending on what you pair them with 1 could be plenty. I paired mine with a 1 point soup I made with chicken broth and frozen veggies.

It was a good filling lunch!

This weeks meeting at WW was about the walk it challenge. They do a 5k walk towards the end of May. I'm going to do it this year. I bought a pedometer to help keep me motivated. I'm a gadget girl! :)

I'm off to enjoy a nap. Still didn't sleep all that great last night. Been up since 3:30.....getting a bit sleepy. I'll be checking on all you guys later on today! :)

Almost Weigh in Day

2011-04-08T07:57:00.000-04:00

Out of curiosity I decided to step on the scale this morning. I lost 10.5 pounds from this stomach bug! DANG! Too bad that won't stick, trust me I worked real hard for that weight loss! I was pretty miserable for 2 solid days. Still not feeling 100%. But feeling much better than I was. My fever broke last night.

So I'm gonna take it easy today, track my points and I'll go to my weigh in tomorrow and see what it says. To me it won't be a real weigh in, but I don't want to not weigh in. That could lead to bad things for me! Gotta keep my head in the game!

Sickies got me!

2011-04-07T13:13:00.001-04:00

Oh gosh, last week my hubby and son were down with some stomach bug. Fever, major cramps! Intestinal stuff. Know what I mean? Well I made it through last week without a hitch, thought I had dodged a bullet and then BANG it hit me! Tuesday late afternoon my stomach starts feeling a bit off and I start getting chills. Oh no!!! Yup, it got me! Still not feeling back to normal. Hungry but nothing sounds good. I've had dry toast, ginger ale and popcicles. I feel like I'm chasing my tail! Trying to keep myself hydrated but what goes in...must come out causing lots of cramps along the way! :(

I'm off to take a nap!

Weigh in Day!

2011-04-02T05:38:00.002-04:00

I'm actually posting this BEFORE I weigh in. Am I expecting a loss on the scale? Well, I'm not sure. The scale has really thrown me for a loop these past 5 weeks.

When living with or through or on a plateau, I found it hard to believe that I wasn't a failure. But, I had to rethink that when I looked at my weigh in book, because over the last 5 weeks I've lost point 4. And what that says to me is that you're doing what you need to do, but it needs to be tweaked.

Listen I've been to WW several times before and I have pretty much always had the same experience. Week 1 lose, week 2 maybe lose, week 3 stay the same or gain a pound, week 4 gain 3, week 5, yeah there wasn't usually a week 5. In the past I've lost steam really fast! I know what blowing a week looks like and it doesn't look like the past 5 weeks in my book.

Last night I considered skipping the meeting this morning. I considered allowing myself to have an all out. Just eat everything that wasn't nailed down. Just do it! That's when it clicked for me, that I'm NOT a failure. I'm learning to live a lifestyle! The journey isn't ALL about the numbers on the scale. I'm putting changes into place in my life that are working for me. I'm traveling down the right road even if the scale took a left turn a while back and got lost. There are so many other things to consider here. So many other things. I don't know what the scale is going to say, but whatever it says, I've learned this:

"Never, ever, ever, give up!" and "Fall down 7 times get up 8"

What do those two quotes mean to me? As long as I don't quit, I can't fail!

EDIT: Just back from weigh in, down point 8. Almost a pound! I'll take it! So I have point 8 to go to get to 25!!!!

Bad storm!!!

2011-03-31T13:44:00.000-04:00

Wow I went to Target in Riverview this afternoon to pick up one thing. I knew exactly where it was and I thought....I would zip in and out. Yeah, not the case.

It's been a very dreary day today. Lots of raining, thunder, tornado warnings and even some watches. Now, I live in Fl so this is nothing new.....especially when you get into the summer months. So I have to say I was a bit complacent when I heard about the storm warnings. Yeah, yeah...yada, yada, yada! Not saying that's a good thing...just how it is.

So, I walk into Target, it starts to pour and I think, that's OK! I'll just walk around. I loving window shopping in Target! Power goes out...total darkness. On FB I estimated it was probably 5 seconds. But as I sit here and count 1 1000, 2 1000....it might have been closer to 3 seconds...but I'll tell you what... Target with no lights on is pitch black. Couldn't see a hand in front of my face. That made my heart jump into my throat. Then it happened again. My heart starts racing. A Target employee standing right in front of me....we're listening. We hear a rumble, was it a cart scraping along? Could have sounded like a train. I say "What's that noise?", hoping to see a big humongous one wheeled cart, scraping along the floor, go by us. He looks at me and says "Tornado?".

Gulp! He says "Alright, lets go to the back of the store" I say in my head "I'm your new best friend" and I start following him rather closely. Luckily I was pushing a cart, otherwise...it may have seemed a bit inappropriate, how close I was to him. Seeing as how I had a cart, it just seemed a bit rude!

I kept taking big breaths in and after I let the breath out I said "Yup, I'm freaking out!" For some reason some people thought that was funny. I guess because I seemed so composed. Who knows?

Anyway, they kept us in the store for a good 45 minutes and when we came out....this is what I saw:

Not sure if it was a tornado, there was a tornado that touched down on Bloomingdale, that's the road Target is on. As far as damage, this was minimal, no cars upended, no flying cows!

Glad to be home, safe and sound and dry!

Sickies at my house!

2011-03-28T17:42:00.001-04:00

What a weekend! Stayed the same at the weigh in. Did a post about it that some of you may have seen in reader, but I deleted it because it sounded like too much whining to me! Bottom line, I need to try harder! Keep on keeping on!

Saturday morning my little man woke up with a fever. By the time we put him to bed that night he was at 104! Today he's back to normal, but my poor hubby caught it last night. There's a lot of digestive issues with this bug if you get my drift. Hopefully this one is skipping over me!!

I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend. I'm hoping to get a good night sleep tonight.

Brunch with a side of Zoom and Boom!

2011-03-25T07:48:00.002-04:00

Well yesterday I had the opportunity to meet up with two of my favorite Blogger Buddies! I had the pleasure of spending time with Diana AKA Scale Junkie and Cammy from The Tippy Toe Diet.. I'm blessed to live close enough to Diana, and we get together on a fairly regular basis. She is a great support system for me and I love her company. Cammy on the other hand doesn't live in our area. Diana and I met her in person the last time she was here, 2 years ago. I hope that Diana doesn't mind, but here's what she had to say about Cammy and I agree 100 trillion % :

" If you've been lucky enough to meet Cammy at a blogging event you already know this but for those of you who haven't met her, she has the warmest personality and is such a beautiful person inside and out and its like she sparkles, she radiates this warmth and is true pleasure and joy to spend a few hours with."

After I met her the first time, I felt like I had known her forever! I can't even put into words what I think of this woman...I guess that's why I copied from Diana's blog, because she is much better with her words than I am. She is a lovely, lovely person, inside and out! :)

We enjoyed our brunch and we were having a nice chat when all of a sudden there was this loud boom. I swear my heart jumped into my throat. On a side note, have you ever watched an action movie and when there's shooting and explosions, instead of people hitting the deck and crawling under the nearest table they just stand there and look around kinda confused? I typically yell at the screen when they do that. Come on! Really? Well I'm here to tell you, yes, really! I was so shocked at my lack of instinct. When that sound happened, it scared me, but I sat in my chair and calmly looked around assessing the situation. I didn't dive under the table. I had an instant head ache and my heart was racing, but apparently I didn't feel like I was in any real danger. Finally when I could collect my thoughts I could see that a car had driven through the wall of the restaurant!!! Oh, and I guess I should mention, thankfully there were NO injuries!

Here's a couple of pics from our adventure:

Me and Cammy! :)

Cammy and Diana!!!

I'm not sure why there isn't one of me and Diana or the 3 of us together. I think we were still a bit shook up!

On a totally unrelated note, this is a cool great dane named Basil that was passing through while we were milling around looking at all the fireman...er, uh, I mean making sure that everyone was ok. Yeah, that's it! ;)

Weigh in day!

2011-03-19T08:47:00.001-04:00

Down point 6! I'll take it. After 3 weeks of stalling out, it feels good to see the scale moving in the right direction. I actually feel kinda proud, this is the first time ever in my history of trying to lose weight that I actually had a plateau to make it through. I don't know if I can call it that, but it was 3 hard weeks of doing what I was supposed to and not seeing any results.

I have a question for those of you that have made it to your goal, those of you that have tried to lose weight more than once. What made this time different? Did you know that you would make it this time?

I'm asking because I have tried more times that I can count, to lose weight and I KNOW without a shadow of a doubt that this is the one, this is the time that I will make it to goal! It's an amazing feeling. I guess I should say without a shadow of doubt, every now and again a little doubt creeps in but it doesn't stay long. I won't let it!

I found a nice article on WW online about why slow weight loss is good! You can read it here if you feel you need a pick me up!

Bra Talk!

2011-03-17T11:38:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to put that out there in case there are any guys reading....you might want to skip me today! ;)

So I have been wearing the same ill-fitting bra for the last 6 years! No, I'm not kidding. I only have 2 bras and they are two different sizes. Yesterday I decided that enough was enough and I went to Cacique and got measured for a bra! I'm happy to report that my size is smaller than it used to be! What a relief that was. Now I can shop more off of the rack. :)

I bought two new bras! I bought a functional one and a pretty one. I don't think I've ever had a pretty bra. At least I can't remember the last time I had a pretty bra.

I noticed that my heart rate monitor worked much better with my new functional bra. Apparently there was a bit of sagging going on and it was pushing on the hrm. Big boobs are HIGHLY over-rated. Well, let me rephrase that......real (opposed to fake) big boobs are HIGHLY over-rated. I'm pretty sure that if someone came to me and handed me $20k and said you can have any plastic surgery you want, it would be a breast reduction. I know a lot of women wish they had bigger boobs, but really they're not that great, especially once you hit 40!

Just some things to consider.........

when going braless I run the risk of getting my boobs caught not only in the waste band of my pants, but a kitchen drawer!
they cannot be trained to push the right buttons. I had the pleasure of leaning over an office phone and in the process mashed a certain combo of buttons and had the music turn on....full blast....no idea how to turn it off!
If I run, I run the risk of knocking myself out AND giving myself a black eye, or two.
When I sleep I have trouble finding a comfortable position, I always end up laying on my boobs.....and that's when I'm sleeping on my back.
When I lean forward to take a bite of food my plate gets pushed away from me.
When I take a zumba class people think I'm selfish because I take up two spaces, that's really to save them from being smacked in the face or the back of the head because once the music starts going and I start swinging and turning....well, you get the idea!
When I lay on my back with a bra on, I run the risk of suffocating myself!
If I turn too quickly I think there's someone patting me on the back.

Yeah, big boobs....not so great! :)

Don'tcha Just hate it...

2011-03-12T09:25:00.000-05:00

when you put the work in but you don't see the results you want to see. Well that's my week this week. I won't say I was perfect, there's no such thing, but I will say that I stayed within my points and I exercised! I stayed the same for two weeks and this week I gained point 2. In the big scheme of things, that's nothing really, but it is frustrating!

I'm glad that I went to my meeting. I found lots of support and I found people that are in the same boat as me. It's nice to know that I'm not alone.

My plan? Keep on keeping on. Something has to shake loose at some point....right?

Even though the scale isn't cooperating I do feel good. I feel strong. I feel smaller. I'm noticing changes in the way my clothes fit.

It IS frustrating when the scale doesn't cooperate. But, it is important to remember that it ISN'T the only measure of my success!

Luckily I don't have an actual scale at home. I've watched a lot of crime shows on TV, lets just say, I know how to use a hammer and I know how to hide the evidence! :)

Yum! Yum!!.....and Boo Hoo!

2011-03-10T09:13:00.000-05:00

I tired these today for the first time.

Yum and Boo Hoo!

I have to say they were YUM-MY! They were BOGO at Publix this week. So very affordable to try!

And then I looked at the nutritional info:

It makes me very sad to see that not only is there partially hydrogenated oils in this product, but also high fructose corn syrup! I typically read labels on processed food BEFORE I buy them. But these were on sale so it was a planned grab. I've been trying hard to stay away from both of these ingredients. I have been eating more fruits and veggies with the new WW points plus, but I do like to have a granola bar every now and again. It helps with my sweet tooth and it's half the points of a regular candy bar, not to mention more filling.

I thought I had found a good replacement forvthe fiber one bar, unfortunately with the above ingredients, I won't be getting these again!

Girl scout.....cookies!

2011-03-08T18:13:00.000-05:00

So, on Monday's I usually go to Orlando to work with my friend. For some reason I had a very light breakfast, which, for me, isn't a good idea, especially on Monday's when I'm away from my stocked fridge. I know I could pack a cooler, and to be fair, I did take my lunch with me. I ended up taking my friend out to lunch to celebrate her birthday. I had a chicken salad and I like to use salsa as dressing. So, I'm still doing good.

But I was extremely hungry when my hubby and son came to pick me up and we're facing a 90 minute drive home. Well, while I was working hubby went to visit his brother and we bought girl scout cookies from our niece. They picked those up while I was working. So, I get into the car and I look at all the different types of cookies. I like to drive so I can't read the NI on the box. My hubby being oh so helpful holds up a box of shout outs and says these are 13 calories a cookie. So I have one. Didn't really like that cookie, so I move on to the next, he holds up some Lemonade's and says these are 20 calories a piece. YUM I liked those...a LOT. So I'm driving and I'm frantically stuffing these wonderful tasting low calorie girl scout cookies in my mouth, and I'm doing a mental tally of how many cookies/calories I had. I was going to do the 40 cal = approx X points plus and then calculate it out when I got home. Hubby held up a couple of other boxes and gave me some more calorie counts and it hits me. This CANNOT be right!

We're sitting at a stop light and I about fall outta my seat. Turns out my man, my wonderful, wonderful hubby of 20+ years, was reading the servings per box as the serving size! So in other words, the cookies that he said were 13 calories a piece..yeah not so much. He was reading 10 cookies is 130 calories when really, 10 was the number of servings in the box and the serving size was, if I remember correctly, 4 cookies.

Ya know, I had to laugh, at myself. Because really, really, did I REALLY believe that these cookies were so low in calories? At first I did because the first cookie I tried, the shout out that was supposedly 13 calories a cookie didn't taste that sweet to me and it was kinda small. But when I moved onto the Lemonades, yeah, there was NO denying it. Those cookies were actually 75 calories a piece not 20. hahahah

It's amazing what we are willing to believe when we want it to be true!

Luckily I had plenty of points to cover the unexpected cookie splurge. And even if I didn't, all's not lost. It's done, moving on!

I think my hubby was getting me back for the time that I drove his Mustang. When I got home I told him that while I was sitting in traffic I smelled something funny, like something was burning. My hubby is an auto mechanic so he went right out and checked under the hood....turns out there was a small electrical fire and all the wires were melted and burned together in one big clump. He really didn't understand how I possibly couldn't have known that there was a fire under the hood WHILE I was driving down the road. In my defense...there was no smoke!

Weigh In Day!

2011-03-05T08:41:00.000-05:00

Stayed the same this week. When I first stepped on the scale and saw that , I found it quite irritating and disheartening. However, as I sat through my WW meeting I realized a couple of things. I haven't been exercising very much at all! As I stated in my previous post I've gotten pretty bored with my at home options. And for those of you that took the time to offer your suggestions, I appreciate them! :)

And, I looked back over my weight tracker and see that over the past 11 weeks I've lost 5.8 pounds which averages out to about 1/2 pound loss per week! Not great, BUT at the same time, that falls into WW's guidelines of a healthy weight loss average. They say 1/2 to 2 pound weight loss per week. So I'm not doing as bad as I thought.

I was ready to blame it all on the new WW program. But, truth be told even without the exercise I fall right into what they say is "normal".

I've been wanting some weighted gloves to use with my Wii, so, at my WW meeting, I bought a boxing workout DVD that came with weighted gloves and I'm planning out my exercise for the week. I'm thinking I'm going to try and do something every day, and I'm going to try a few different things this week and see what I like.

I'm also toying with the idea of signing up for the Disney 1/2 Marathon, WALKING it, NOT running! Not ready for that yet. In the meantime I was told about a website called Active so that I can find some 5k's to sign up for. There are some avid walkers in my WW meeting and they do all the 5k's. So I thought I would give that a shot! :)

So overall I feel like it was a successful week. I feel very motivated to try even harder! I'm excited to try some new workouts. I think that for me it's a positive experience. I think that in the past I may have gotten so discouraged that I would have talked myself into quitting. But I reminded myself when I started this back in August that I was doing this NO MATTER HOW LONG IT TAKES! Of course that was when I was losing a pound a week and it was going a little faster....ha ha, but I'm still not going to quit. That's NOT an option. I can try harder, I can change it up. I have more control over this than I realize!

I hope you all had a great week! :)

Help please!

2011-03-04T12:13:00.001-05:00

Alright, I need you to guys to throw me some exercise ideas! I'm bored! I like the Wii and I like my Leslie Sansone dvd, but I'm tired of doing only them!

I'm not a member of gym, though I kinda wish I was right now because it would be nice to go jump on an elliptical or a treadmill for 30 minutes or even attend a class. But the $$ isn't there for that right now. I know I'm fickle right? Wasn't it about a month ago I was saying I didn't want to join a gym? :)

I could invest a little bit of money in a new DVD or cheap piece of exercise equipment. I'm talking bands or weighted gloves....cheap!

So hit me up in the comments. I need some ideas on working out at home and different ways that you add more movement to your day. Not necessarily working out.

All or Nothing thinking....

2011-03-02T18:19:00.000-05:00

Bear with me on this one, I'm working off of 3 1/2 hours sleep....

I used to consider myself an all or nothing person. In the past when I tried to lose weight if I wasn't 100% on program, well, that was a total failure in my eyes. All or nothing thinking leaves little, if any, room for error! I attribute that to one of the reasons I never succeeded in my past weight loss endeavors. Not the only reason, but one of them!

I was thinking about all or nothing mentality and I started wondering if that type of thinking makes you less flexible. Because when you live your life with no shades of grey, only black and white, that makes me realize what an uptight person I can be! I don't want to be an uptight person!

I want to learn to be OK when things turn out differently than I planned. Sometimes I get caught up in the details.

I'm happy to say that doesn't happen to me as much anymore in my weight loss journey, I'm going with the flow pretty good!

But, life, in general....? That's a different story.

Goodie Box! :)

2011-02-28T12:28:00.000-05:00

I was fortunate enough to win Mizfit's giveaway. The box arrived today. I was expecting "a" bag of cereal. The box was filled with samples!!

Wow what a generous giveaway!

I've never heard of Kay's Naturals. I have to say that I love that there is so much protein in the snacks and cereals. All their products are gluten free and full of protein.

Little man tried the cinnamon pretzels:

I was pleasantly surprised by how much he liked them! He had no idea that he was eating something that was "good" for him. He thought it was a "treat"!

For those of you fellow WW's out there all the samples they sent were 3 PP a serving. I can live with that because of the amount of protein. I feel like I'm eating something that will stick with me for a while! Unlike pure carbs that burn through pretty fast!

I have to say a Big, Big, Thank you to Kay's Naturals for the generous amount of samples. I realize in my video I didn't mention them once....sorry about that! :)

Sick no weigh in!

2011-02-27T16:47:00.000-05:00

Oh boy, what a weekend. Hubby and J went camping with the cub scouts. They left Friday and got back earlier today. I was sick so I didn't make my meeting. Congestion, cough, dizzy, I think that was due to the congestion.

I'm feeling much better today. Can I just tell you all how nice it was to have quiet! Peace! It was so nice. I feel recharged and ready to face the week. I spent a good portion of the weekend in silence. No TV, no radio. Just playing around on the computer, relaxing and a bit of clutter control. It. Was. So. Nice!

This is a reminder to me about how important it is to have a bit of peace and quiet everyday! I need it, it recharges me.

I didn't have a great week, as far as eating and working out, I felt sick most of the week! If I had to guess I'd say I gained, I know I have some water retention going on. But my week resets on Saturdays and I'm off to a great start! Got a workout in today! :) First one in a while it felt good!

This week I want to give 110%. So, I'm off to plan my week. What do they say, failure to plan is a plan to fail?

I hope that you all had a great weekend! :)

Woo Hoo Weigh in Day!

2011-02-19T11:27:00.000-05:00

Down .6 total of 23! I'm almost to 25 pounds!!! :)

That's Awesome!

What else is awesome? Well I tried on my jeans from way back when and they fit! I got them from fashion bug, so I'm not sure what size they are...they had that new sizing going on a couple years ago and they're either a 5 or 6 but I'm not sure what that equates to in plus size. But whatever, I'll take it! I haven't been able to wear those jeans in over 2 years!

Yay me! I think I may wear them out and about today. They're a bit snug, but I think it's a good reminder of what I've accomplished so far! :)

We went to the fair!

2011-02-17T08:29:00.000-05:00

When we go to the fair it's all about the animals. We don't ride the rides or play the games, yet. This year he noticed the games. I hate those games!

We saw baby pigs! So cute!

A furry donkey

My little man and his toothless grin. He really does need a haircut. He's being mistaken for a girl, which I don't get at all! He's not very happy about that. He's gone to McD's a couple of times they've given him a girl toy. hee hee Which is met with an angry "I am NOT a girl!" :)

Ferris Wheel, pretty to look at!

My favorite part, feeding the giraffe! I love the giraffe!

Funny thing about pictures, I don't always like the picture, ya know, how I look in it, I posted this one because of the way it makes me feel! It's a happy picture!

I could have stood there all afternoon with the giraffe! Just watching him!

Mother Goose!

Ferris Wheel at night!

I had to take a picture of this booth. Really some of the things they come up with! I did have my annual funnel cake, I shared it with the fam!

I told J I'd rather spend the $2 for him to go through this thing then $$ on the games!! They kept trying to give him free games and I just kept saying it's a gateway! They just want to suck ya in!

This is the Giant Snake!

This is the reaction to the giant snake!!! :)

Fried Candy Bar....Really?

I played with the manual settings on my camera...I need to learn what it all means!

I like the lights!

It was a fun day with the family!

Ah Ha Moment!

2011-02-16T08:47:00.001-05:00

I just realized something! Something just clicked into place for me. And the comments on my last post led me toward the realization.

First I have to back up a bit. When I was a child I had the hardest time with fear. I thought that if I felt fear that ='d NO! Now obviously in some cases it does. Walking down a back alley at night, that fear is your gut telling you that you shouldn't be doing that. And in those cases you should listen. That's not the type of fear I'm talking about. I'm talking about everyday, fear. Like, I'm afraid to try out for tennis because I won't be any good. Or I'm afraid to take pictures on my camera using manual settings because the pictures will come out lousy.

Yes, I know these are not life threatening fears like walking down a back alley at night. But for me they minus well have been. Any type of fear paralyzed me!

It took me until my late 20's to early 30's to understand that EVERYONE has those types of fears. I had operated on the presumption that all these people going out and trying new things were FEARLESS. So I spent years and years and years trying not be afraid. When all I really had to do was walk through the fear and do it anyway! To help me I sometimes would ask myself "What's the worst thing that can happen?" Once I looked at my perceived worst thing that could happen, it made me realize that most times I could live with the outcome of failure, and being able to say "At least I tried" was all the success I needed!

What does this have to do with my last post and the "Why" question? Well I just realized all of these years and years and years, I've been operating on the presumption that people that had lots of weight to lose and lost the weight and maintained it, did it without ever feeling like they just want to give up! That they did it without ever feeling weak. Or tired of the journey. So all these years, when I would get to a point that I felt I was going to sabotage myself, I would spend endless hours analyzing myself trying to fix that glitch in me. Instead of realizing that more than likely EVERY successful weight loss story probably has a moment or two or maybe even three where they just wanted to jump off the wagon!

Do you know what this means for me? It means I can quit trying to fix ME! I'm not broken! When I feel like this, I need to work through the feelings, that's all! Yeah I know, sometimes that alone probably ain't easy, but for me, it's a huge load off to realize I'm OK! There's nothing "wrong" with me. Well, except for my inappropriate laughter and my tendency towards impatience! :) But overall, I'm OK!

Does it really matter?

2011-02-14T06:29:00.001-05:00

I feel it, I'm getting stuck. Stuck in the muck. I feel like I'm trying to pull myself over the rails. Sabotage central. I recognize the signs. I'm still fighting! I know I'm fighting because I'm still losing weight, I'm still exercising, I still write things down and I'm still going to meetings. But I feel the shift. This tiny little shift in my mindset.

Now in the past, it would've been all about figuring out WHY I do this. Not necessarily a bad thing, UNLESS you use this as an excuse to sabotage yourself. Which, in the past, I have done.

I'm not doing it this time. I've been wondering to myself, does it REALLY matter WHY I do this? Does it? Has years of waffling up and down on the scale in search of the answer really been helpful? I can answer that with all sincerity NOPE!

I've decided to keep traveling the path I'm on, sure and steady. I'm not stepping off along side the path to gaze up at the sky and ask why! I'm not doing it. I'm keeping on. Struggling or not, I'm keeping on. I'm making it to my goal. I don't care how long it takes me! That was what I told myself in the beginning. It's not about how long it takes. It's about doing it! Doing what needs to get done to get me there. It's about making a lifestyle I can live with! It's about getting healthy! It's about moving more! So as far as I'm concerned I'm doing it! I'm already doing it!

So, to the part of me that doesn't believe I can do this, or think that I deserve to do this....I'm taking you down!

Weigh in day

2011-02-12T17:47:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone!!!

Down .6, total of 22.4. Slow, very slow! But I'll take it!

Not much going on this week.

Thanks for all the supportive comments on my dreams. I notice that as soon as I wrote about the dreams I stopped having them. I'm sure I'll have it again. I've had a dream like that on and off since my mom died.

Well, I'm off to check on you guys!

Sad Dreams and Weigh In!

2011-02-06T05:37:00.000-05:00

I didn't get to go to my meeting yesterday. I was helping out at a conference and I had to be there early! I weighed on my Wii and the weight doesn't match the WW scale, but as far as I can tell I maintained this week.

I did get my 5 hours of exercise in. But I was very sloppy with my food. I wasn't very diligent about weighing and measuring my portions out. I think I was a bit heavy handed. Two things saved me from gaining this week. First the exercise! Second I tracked. Even though I didn't measure I did write things down. I guestimated a lot of things this week and I really did try to be honest with myself about how much I ate. I also ate ALL of my exercise points this week. I would love to say that was a planned experiment, but it was just one of those weeks. Looking back I can call it an experiment and say that I probably shouldn't be eating all my exercise points. But then I think about the fact that I didn't weigh and measure and realize that maybe I can eat all my exercise points (if it's a week that I need to) as long as I weigh and measure. Maybe my points calculations were off because I didn't keep a close eye on portions! Who knows! But I walked away from this week feeling happy and sad about my efforts. But this is a journey, and there is always an opportunity to do better! I'm not discouraged!

Sad dreams? Ugh I've been having a reoccurring dream about my mom.

A quick back story about my mom for those of you that don't know. My mom died at the very young age of 55. My mother died from complications of her disease, alcoholism. Which for me, translates to a LOT of unfinished business between us when she died. I have a LOT of unresolved issues and feelings about her.

I have been having this dream almost every night. I'm looking for my mom, she's been missing for months now. I go to her house and find her bags packed. I find pictures of me and us. I investigate I try to find out who she spoke to her last, where she might be, where she's been. Last night's dream was a bit different. In last night's dream I laid down on the floor and sobbed. I remember thinking in my dream I've cried like this before. When my mom died. In my dream I realized that she had already died, but I didn't want to accept it. I wanted so badly to find her.

I miss her so much! Just to talk to her one more time. To give her a hug. To have her meet her grandson.

Then I remember how it would really be if she were here and still drinking. There would be so much turmoil. There were spaces in time when my mom was sober and I loved those moments. My mother was amazing. She was talented and smart and funny. I miss the relationship we could have had as adults! I wish I could pick up the phone and call her and tell her about my day. My heart aches! Sometimes more than others. The realization just hit me it's February. Now I understand why she is on my mind and in my dreams over the last week. This is the month that she died. 1997. 14 years ago. Time heals, it does. But sometimes the pain and sadness and feelings of loss come back sharp and biting!

It's strange how some years the anniversary comes and goes and I don't remember until it's already passed. Those years I feel guilty for not remembering. Then there's years like this, I spend the whole month thinking about her, about the days leading up to her death. This year, I'm gonna feel the feelings. It's OK to remember, it's OK to feel, it's OK to cry. Let it all out!

Extra Sugar Free Gum

2011-02-02T15:47:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone, Extra sent me an email with a link for a free pedometer app for droid and iphone and a .50 coupon off the purchase of their dessert gum. They asked me to share with my readers and I'm happy to do so.

I did not receive any compensation for doing this.

Click here to go to the page, from there you can click on a link to install the app on your droid or iphone. There is also a button to click to get the coupon.

The only flavors I've tried of the dessert gum are the mint chocolate chip and the key lime pie. I love the mint chocolate chip and it has helped with my cravings! The key lime pie....uhm, that was a bit too tart for my taste. But my husband liked it!

I'm off to download the app, it is compatible with the ipod touch! Yay!

I did it!

2011-01-31T18:24:00.001-05:00

Thank so much for your support! I did it!!!

Now tomorrow I'm doing it in the morning! Working out in the evening is not doing it for me right now!

Hold me to it!

2011-01-31T07:44:00.000-05:00

OK you guys. I have to confess, I did not exercise yesterday and I haven't exercised yet today. I'm kinda in a funky funk mood. My food choices haven't been great over the last couple of days, BUT (notice it's a big but) I have stayed within my boundaries. So I'm OK with that!

I'm going to Orlando today, that's my typical routine during tax season. I do part time bookkeeping for a long time friend and she is based in Orlando. I usually work from home, but during tax time I go into the office once sometimes twice a week.

Anywho, my point is, when I get home tonight I WILL do 30 minutes of cardio, my Leslie Sansone DVD 2 miles and I'll do 30 minutes of Wii, Yoga and strength training.

I need you guys to hold me to it!

Hope you guys have a great Monday!

Weigh in day!

2011-01-29T07:43:00.000-05:00

Down .8 total of 21.8!! Plunking along! :)

This weeks meeting was about exercise. Something I have been kinda lax with. I haven't been scheduling it in. It's been a whenever, type thing. That works out OK when I'm motivated to get it in, because I make sure that I get it in. But, when I'm not so motivated, or I just plain don't feel like, which seems to be the case lately, it gets pushed back, and back and back, until the day is over. I'm not gonna do it right before bed because I have a hard enough time falling asleep without getting all revved up after exercise.

Our leader issued a challenge to the whole group to get 5 hours in this week. That's doable! That's 45 minutes a day if I do all 7 days. That's my plan!

So, I'm committing to 45 minutes a day and I'm committing M-F to get it in right after I get done working. I work 5A-7A so from 7A-8A, exercise! I do so much better when it's done first thing in the morning. So Sat and Sun I will get it in at 10A!

Anybody else want to commit to a certain amount of exercise this week? Doesn't have to be 5 hours, can be whatever you want/need it to be! Let me know in the comments!

Blog Award

2011-01-26T06:34:00.000-05:00

Some lovely blogger buddies named me for the Stylish blogger Award!

Debbie over at Weigh Down

A Healthier Plate

Anneg121 over at Life Alignment

Thank you so much for thinking of me!

So, 7 things about me...hmmmm

1. I love slapstick comedy!

2. I suffer from inappropriate laughter. If I see someone fall down I ask if they're alright, unfortunately, it's usually while laughing hysterically.

3. I love to laugh! And, it really is a great core exercise. Whenever I've done the test at the gym to gauge fitness level, I'm off the charts for endurance when I do the stomach crunches! That's all due to laughter!

4. I'm struggling trying to find my passion in life. I want to find what I love to do and do it for a living. Who knew finding something you love to do could be so hard.

5. We moved back to FL in 2006 after living in upstate NY for 8 years. I miss NY terribly, the seasons, the hills, the gorge trails! It's so beautiful up there.

6. I have a hard time sleeping when my husband and son go on camping trips with the boy scouts. I usually have to leave a LOT of lights on.

7. I'm selfish and I'm impatient. I'm working everyday to become a better person.

Now I'm supposed to pass this award on to some other bloggers, but I just can't choose. I would love to know 7 things about all of you!! Hit me up in the comments.

Weigh in day!

2011-01-22T07:36:00.000-05:00

Down a pound! Total of 21. I'm very happy with that loss and the overall week I had.

The meeting this morning was great. We talked about the 49 weekly points. I was surprised to learn that a lot of people don't use all of them and some don't use any at all. I depend on those points to make it through the weeks successfully. I also lose slower, but I'm OK with that!

My exercise has been slacking so this week I'm working to make that a priority! My goal is to get up at 5 every morning get my 2 hours of work in and then work out right after that. My days go by better if I get it out of the way in the morning.

I hope that you all have a great weekend!

The power of "No".....

2011-01-20T10:38:00.000-05:00

I have always known that when it comes to food the word "No" doesn't work well for me. I've always had a weight problem. I don't remember a time in my life when I wasn't thinking about food or weight loss. That's sad! There is one childhood memory in particular that formed my relationship with food and the word "no". I remember my mother walking me through the kitchen and pointing to peanut butter, ice cream, graham crackers, cookies, and I'm sure a few more things, and saying something along the lines of "you see all these foods, you can't have them" or maybe it was "they're not for you". Well dang, what do you think happened? I become obsessed with all these foods I couldn't have. I started sneaking food. It got so bad that every time my parents would leave they would say "don't eat anything while I'm out" of course I'd run right to the pantry and dig in. That's when I started getting punished for eating. I got spanked for eating what and when I wasn't supposed to eat. That's messed up!

The word "no" in relationship to dieting has created a longing in me, a desire, a want, maybe even a need to eat what I'm not supposed to eat. Rebellion, yeah, but I also wonder or think that maybe it was also a way to prove my worth. I'm worthy of having this too! It's just for some people in the house, why am I not good enough to have this?

Throughout my history of dieting and gaining weight, because unfortunately diets always brought binges, the word "no" has been present. This time around I've decided there isn't room for the word "no". This time the word's that I have picked to accompany me on my journey are:

1. Wait: wait until my week resets and I have room for that, or wait until you get home and have something that is more bang for your points buck

2. Choice: You can choose to eat that but then the rest of the day/week will be pretty lean

3. Compromise: Last time you chose this, so this time you should chose that. or how about a 1/2 cup instead of a whole cup

4. Commitment: I've committed myself to finding lifestyle changes I can live with, not just ones that will get me to a goal weight

I have been doing WW's successfully even through the holidays since August. I'm convinced that even though I've had struggles, and hard days, I've had more success mentally than I can explain! I don't feel compelled to eat things in huge quantities...I won't say that I've never felt that way since August, but I will say that when I've had those feelings it because there's a little "no" in the back of my brain trying to rear it's ugly head.

The power of words, the power of actions. I'm sure that when my mother took me around the kitchen and pointed out all those foods to me...she wasn't trying to hurt me or plant a seed. She wasn't doing it to be mean. She was doing it to help me. It's only taken me 35 plus years to realize that! What can I say, I'm a slow learner! :)

My new favorite treat...thanks Roni!

2011-01-17T17:48:00.000-05:00

Ok I had to post this, you guys have probably already seen this post from Roni... where she linked to this post. I'll give you guys a moment to check this out and then hurry right back...k?

Isn't it wonderful? Do you love banana's, do you love ice cream? I do! Luckily I almost always have frozen banana's in my freezer. So I was able to try this out today. I don't have any pretty pictures to show you...but I can tell you, it was a big hit in my house!

I don't have a big food processor. My mother gave me a mini chopper ages ago and it's still working so I gave that a try. I sliced the frozen banana and put it in....even one frozen banana was too much for my mini chopper..it took a long time and a lot of pushing down the banana and pulsing chops. I didn't think it would work in the blender without adding liquid so I skipped right over that option. I took it to the kitchen aid mixer instead. It worked...didn't get as creamy as in the chopper but it was much less labor intensive!

I loved how sweet it was and I loved how creamy it was...just like ice cream! What do I love the most about it? The ingredients list: Banana! That's it! Banana!!! :) For those of you doing WW it's FREE!!! Makes me wonder if there's any other fruit that would have a similar consistency....hmm...

Just thought I would pass it on! Enjoy! :)

Going in the right direction!

2011-01-15T08:02:00.000-05:00

I feel good about this past week and not just because I lost weight! Down 1.2.....although, that does help. I finally felt more focused and back to normal after the holidays. I tracked! Wrote it all down! What I love, I had two indulgences this week one over the weekend, Tiramisu. My most favorite desert EVER! Counted it! The other, I was driving back from Orlando on Monday and I stopped and had fast food. I haven't had fast food in a while, it was good! I had a small vanilla shake with my meal. I don't ever do that. I have to tell you that shake was GOOD! Counted it!

It made the rest of my week leaner, but I was OK with that! And I lost! :)

So those of you that commented on my last post....did you pull out your Leslie Sansone DVD? Tell me which DVD you have and if you have more than one, I'd like to know which is your favorite and why! Or if you have any other exercise video or tool that you use what it is and why you like it.

Yesterday I did the LS DVD and I did all 4 miles. The last mile was with the band and I'm feeling it this morning. I'm very happy with that DVD purchase. My sister lent me 2 of the LS DVD's she has, so I'm going to give them a try. Does anybody have her boot camp one, I think it's a 5 mile?

Well I'm off to check on you guys! :) Hope that you all have a great weekend!

to gym or not to gym?

2011-01-13T13:58:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking that I might want to join my gym again. But I really don't want to. I don't have the money to pay all up front and I don't want to make monthly payments. Not to mention....I can do a 30 min work out at home and it will take me 30 minutes...where as a 30 minute work out at the gym typically takes 50 to 60 minutes when you count travel time! So I figure I can do more workout in less time!

I love my wii fit plus. The Yoga and the strength training are the best. I love the feedback I get, though sometimes it can be confusing. I feel like wii fit trainer dude is a bit schizo! While doing yoga, in the same breath he'll say "you have GREAT balance, you're a bit shaky"....hunh? That's good for a laugh. I do find that it's a bit lacking in cardio. Yesterday I got this:

I bought this DVD at Walmart for $10 plus tax and it included the band! It could be a good deal from amazon too if you take advantage of the super saver shipping or have amazon prime. That's my amazon affiliate link above...feel free to click on if you want..or not.. :)

I wasn't really sure what to expect. But I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. It's easy to follow...so easy!

I wore my heart rate monitor and my heart rate got up there. I did 2 miles of the work out, there's 4 miles total, and then the stretch at the end and it ended up being a 32 minute workout. My heart rate monitor said my average rate was 126 but my highest rate was 144. I really liked that the video was geared towards anyone. If you can stand in place and march...you can do this work out. If you're not very fit you can leave out the arms, if you're super fit you could do a jog instead of a march.

I have a whole bunch of Leslie Sansone dvd's in my netflix queue! I think I will be adding more to my dvd collection. If you don't have a netflix membership you can reserve them at the library for free, well at least my library does it for free, so be sure to check your library guidelines out! I found one on the shelf, haven't checked online to see what other copies they might have.

So I think I've decided for now, not to gym! What about you guys? Do you have memberships, do you use them, do you enjoy the gym?

Chickadee Needs our help!

2011-01-09T10:03:00.000-05:00

Can you help even by reposting on your blog or sharing on your facebook!

Here's the blog for Chickadee's mom, journey beyond survival. She is an amazingly strong woman!

Just dance...ow my knee!

2011-01-08T07:45:00.000-05:00

What do you get when you add hormones +a twisted knee from playing just dance on the kinect + the only exercise for the week bending the elbow? Well that equals +1.8 on the scale! That darn new math! :)

Am I disappointed...well yeah, I made some poor choices this week. But I really do feel that I wasn't in my right mind. Those PMS'y hormones have gotten much stronger since I've hit my 40's. Thankfully I can say that this is just one week in the big scheme of things! A measurement to confirm what I already knew.....all the above things combined don't equal weight loss. But just in case ya'll were wondering, the proof's in the pudding. Crap, I ate the pudding...well you'll just have to take my word for it!

The kinect I love it. It was a lot of fun. My knee, well, my knee didn't like it. I took it easy last week. It's feeling better, but still not 100%. This week I will work with and around it and make sure I get some light exercise in.

Overall, I feel good. In the past this gain would've pushed me over the (queue dramatic music) edge, dun, dun, duuun! But I've committed myself to this journey and going up on the scale is part of it. Not the fun part, but a part none the less!

So, off to check on you guys!

Woo Hoo!

2010-12-31T09:30:00.000-05:00

Well I didn't post it last week, but I gained 3.4 pounds last week after my sugar cookie indiscretion! :) I'm happy to report that I just got back from my WW meeting and I'm down EXACTLY 3.4 so it's a wash. I haven't lost 3 pounds in a single week since starting this journey back in August.

This weeks meeting was about making goals for the upcoming year. Specific and reasonable. Well I thought about it on my drive home from the meeting and I would really like to see myself 68 pounds down by this time next year. Why such a strange amount? Because that will mean that the first number of my weight will be a 1 instead of a 2! I have been averaging about 1.1 pounds a week so I would have to step it up a bit to 1.3 pounds a week.

I'm thinking that's doable. Will I be disappointed if I don't make it...right now I'm thinking no. Especially if I know that I've given it my all and done my best.

No resolutions for me this year! Only goals!

Mizfit talked about will power verses willingness! It was a great post. I'm happy that I have the willingness to change!

Christmas Surprise!

2010-12-27T19:51:00.000-05:00

Well I just couldn't resist posting this video of little man. I love his excitement and enthusiasm for his present! :) Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Mindset!

2010-12-26T06:43:00.000-05:00

Well if you read my last post you know that I had a bought of sugar cookieitis! :) It's so strange to me when I think about how I reacted to that slip up. When I brought the cookies home I knew what I was doing. I got nervous and excited. I haven't had a pig out in a while. Some of you know what I'm talking about. You wait until the house is empty and then you bring out your favorite pig out food and you have at it. Then you destroy the evidence!

I wondered as I brought the sugar cookies into my house if that's what this was. Was I preparing for a pig out? Was I? There was a voice inside my head that was saying "la, la, la, la, la, I can't hear you" to the voice that was wondering about the pig out. The battle inside me was interesting. I decided to eat the sugar cookies, the good thing I didn't eat them all and I didn't eat my portion of the sugar cookies all in one setting. There was another part of me that was wondering if this was it. If this was the part where I fall of the wagon and don't even attempt to get back on for 6 months or a good 25 pounds whichever showed up first.

Then a little voice in my head spoke up and said "this is ridiculous, the way you're thinking right now...ridiculous". "you have reverted back to your all or nothing thinking". "what you are forgetting is you have a choice in the matter, it's not about being perfect it's about being consistent" . Then I realized that this voice, THIS voice, was the voice of reason. The voice I should be listening to. It's not about being perfect at all. It's about making better choices. This is what I've been striving for.

To answer that voice in my head asking is this where I fall off? No, it's not! I choose not to fall off ever again! The road may be bumpy along the way, but I don't have to fall off. I can choose to ride with or without a seatbelt, but I won't be falling off! I don't like that way of thinking anymore. It leaves visions of the wagon leaving without me and me having to try to catch up with it. Nope, I'm gonna hold on for all it's worth. This is my journey. It's not ever going to be perfect...but it's mine and when I think about it...I'm doing just fine..better than fine!

Gah! Sugar Cookes!

2010-12-23T07:47:00.000-05:00

Well with a title like that, I think you can guess that I maybe, uh, had some sugar cookies this week. :) They were good and I counted them, but I have gone over my points for the week. I have a little mantra going on in my head that says "I'm not a failure, this is normal life". It bums me out that I would even consider myself a failure for eating too many sugar cookies. I've been telling myself that normal people overeat, one difference between me and them, they naturally make better choices at their next meal, or the next day. It all balances out. If I let it! There's another difference between me and them, I have that horrible voice in my head that tells me I've blown it, minus well go all out. But I ain't listening to that voice. I'm telling that voice to kiss my ass! :)

I consider it a victory that I wrote it down, that I'm aware, not letting myself pretend I didn't eat it or eat it with blinders on! So that's good! I have to weigh in a day early because Christmas is on Saturday, my normal weigh in day. So I expect to see a gain. Eh, it happens! No more sugar cookies for me today! ;)

20 pounds down!

2010-12-18T08:23:00.000-05:00

I'm down 1.2 this week for a total of 20.6!!! WooHoo! I'm so excited to reach that point. A little over 8 pounds and I'll be down 10%.

My hubby did his first barter for service! For those of you that don't know he's a mobile mechanic. Last night a customer offered him a brand new, sealed in the box, ipod touch, (he won it at his office Christmas party raffle and lucky for us already had one) plus some cash for work on the car. Frank said yes! I'm so happy, because in this case it's Merry (Early) Christmas to me! Those things go for $225 and Frank and I were figuring he "paid" about $80 for it. Can't beat that! It's a very cool gadget! LOVE IT!

I've downloaded a bunch of free apps. I love that I was able to download some kids books for free. That will make the weekly drives to Orlando much more fun for Jared!

The New Year is right around the corner! So hard to believe. I'm not one for resolutions, but I will be working on a schedule! That will be my goal. To come up with a schedule so that work, working out, school, cleaning and cooking all get done! I'm married to wonderfully patient man and if you could see my house.....lets just say it ain't pretty! I need a routine. Working from home is great! But sometimes it's hard to fit things in because I'm a procrastinator and think I can always do it...later! So over the next week I'll be thinking about what I can do to get it all in!

Well I'm off to check on you guys!

I'm still here!

2010-12-11T12:49:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it's been 2 weeks again! I'm plunking along! I'm down 2.2 this week. Last week I was up .2. So I'm down a total of 19.4!

I can't tell you how happy I am to be living WW's. I'm working it! I'm still losing an average of 1.1 pounds per week. For me as soon as I let go of the idea that I had to do this fast, it got real easy for me.

Losing weight does take compromise and sacrifice, but I've found a way to do this making compromises and sacrifices I can live with! For me, I've learned that's the only way this will work! I feel content! I can't believe that I'm down almost 20 pounds! :)

So to all my WW friends out there, what do you think of the new plan? I LOVE it! I love the additional daily and weekly points. I lost 2.2 eating ALL my daily, ALL my weekly and 20 out of 25 AP's!

I'm off to check on you guys! :)

Not as young as I used to be!

2010-11-27T08:11:00.001-05:00

Hey! I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I had a great one.

This year I decided to go shopping with my sister-in-law on Black Friday. Actually before Black Friday. We had our meal and then all the guys went home and the girls cleaned up. After clean up we played Bingo. It was 50 cent buy in and we had 5 chances to win on our card. That was fun! I lost all my money. Luckily I only came with $3 in quarters.

We headed out around 11pm and I didn’t get back until 7am! I can’t remember the last time I’ve been out all night. It was a lot of fun. We stayed away from the crowds.

It was a great reminder to me that things are what you make them. If you think that Black Friday shopping is going to be this horrible, crowded experience filled with a bunch of rude pushy people….then that will probably be your experience.

I went in there deciding that it would be a fun experience. A challenge to stay up all night. To laugh and be silly because what else can you be when you’re sleep deprived! And that was the experience I had!

I also learned that being awake over 24 hours straight, fun while it lasted, is hard to recover from!

I think that when we’re losing weight we have to decide to make it the best experience it can be. For me, I know I’ll have to make sacrifices, and compromises, but I’m trying very hard to make all of them positive and workable for me and my lifestyle!

I gained .2 this week so that’s 1/5 of a pound gain!! I’ll take it! I’m quite happy with that and the choices I made this holiday! I noticed that it was much harder for me to exercise while I was out of town. Next time I will plan for that! Specific times and specific things I will do to get my exercise in.

I took a page from the book of my wonderful friend Carla, I think that she would have been proud to see me doing walking lunges as I wandered through the house making sure I picked up all the dishes!

My plan will be to build on that next time we go out of town.

All my fellow WW’s out there, are you excited about the new plan coming out? I sure am! However, I am a bit worried that the WW food scale I just got may not work with the new program! I have heard that fruit will be 0 points…has anybody else heard any rumors about the new plan? Please share them in your comments!!!

Well I’m off, I’ve gotta get some work done, then I’ll be checking on you guys!

Some person by the name of marschen keeps linking to my posts.

2010-11-23T10:47:00.000-05:00

And that alone wouldn't be a bad thing to me if this person actually were a blogger, but this web page is a link mill with nothing original of their own to post. The web page is here and I've kindly asked this person to stop doing it...twice! It doesn't seem right. I guess the reason it bothers me is because when it comes up on google alert it shows my original post by me and then underneath it shows my post giving credit to this marschen person. If you visit this web page it's just a bunch of links. I want mine out of there! Any suggestions on how I can get this done?

New smoothie addition

2010-11-23T07:18:00.001-05:00

I talked a while back about adding spinach to my smoothies! That has been a great addition. It’s strange though, this only works (for me) with fresh spinach. I tried frozen and it just didn’t work as good.

Well yesterday I made up some Orange puree’. It’s basically cooked carrots and sweet potatoes pureed in the blender. My son is a very picky eater when it comes to veggies. So I sneak it in where I can and then when he tells me he likes it I tell him what’s in it! Luckily for me, so far, his response has been positive! Well I was out of fresh spinach so I put a 1/4 cup of the orange puree’ in my smoothie with vanilla extract a banana and vanilla protein powder! I didn’t even taste the veggies! I’m all for not tasting my veggies!

Oh, and the above idea isn’t mine…I got it from :

This book has some great recipes in it. One of my fav’s is the chocolate chip cocoa pancakes…I think that’s the name. It uses a purple puree’ which is made from blueberries and spinach!

It’s a great way for me to get my veggies in too.

Anyone going shopping on black Friday? This will be my first year! I’m going with my sister-in-law. Should be an experience. I’m not much of a shopper, but I enjoy her company. So I’m looking forward to a fun time.

Well I’m off to start my day! Hope ya’ll have a great one!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-20T19:29:00.002-05:00

I hope that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! I know that I will. We’re heading out Weds to spend time with my brother-in –law and his family! Then when we get back from there we’ll be spending some time with my sister’s family!
I’m looking forward to all of it!
While some people feel like this when they think about getting together with family for the holidays:

Or maybe this:

I feel more like this:

Except maybe quite not so crazy looking!
I have a lot to be Thankful for! Counting my blessings for sure.
Weigh in went well this week. Down .6
Total of 17.6! Still averaging about a pound a week! How do I feel about that? See the above picture!
I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Quick update before I head out!

2010-11-13T08:02:00.001-05:00

Hey everybody! Had a great week. Added some walking to the routine. Feeling very happy with my progress and life in general.

I’m down 2.2 this week so my total is now 17. Yay me!

My hubby and son are away on a cub scout camping trip this weekend. I’m heading out the door to spend the day with them and enjoy them and the weather!

Hope that you all have a great day! I’ll be checking on you guys tomorrow morning!

5% Gone!

2010-11-06T07:56:00.001-04:00

This past week was a great week! Still working out on the Wii Fit Plus. You know what I love about the Wii Fit Plus? It’s the feed back. I picked the dude to be my trainer guy. When I’ve completed the jack knife exercise he says “You have very strong ab muscles” and I say, “Why yes I do! “ When I complete the lunge he says “You’re very strong aren’t you?” and I say “Why yes I am!” ha ha Nothing like getting your ego stroked by a computer!

My husband laughs at me when I have this conversation with trainer dude! My son, just sits with a weird expression on his face, that I take to mean….she’s lost it!

Trainer dude is also tough on me at times. Like when I try to do the Bridge.. that sucker’s hard and I think I’m up to 1 rep now! Hey don’t laugh, gotta start somewhere.. But then I have to listen to him say, rather sternly… “HEY! these muscles aren’t going to work themselves you know” to which I reply….”SHUT UP!”

Oh, the title of this post….I reached my 5% goal. Total of 14.8 down. Lost 1.8 this week. So close to 15. When I weighed in I asked the lady if I met my 5% she said yes, she asked if I wanted to celebrate…I guess the happy dance I was doing at the scale went unnoticed by her. Then I asked if I got to 15 and she said “so close!” I told her it just gives me something to celebrate next week!

Well I’m off to check on you guys!

Listen to your heart!

2010-11-03T10:38:00.001-04:00

It’s taken me some time…ok, a lot of time, to figure myself out. In the past I have just looked for what works in general. I’ve looked outside of myself and thought that I needed to be doing what everyone else was doing. If people didn’t journal because they think it’s too time consuming, I’d kick that to the curb. If people thought that abstinence was better than moderation….moderation was out. If people were doing intuitive eating, forget following a plan!

What’s wrong with not tracking, abstinence or intuitive eating…..absolutely NOTHING! IF that’s what works for you!

I have finally come to a point in my life that I’m looking inward to find what works for me. Wow what a difference that has made! Gone is the feeling of being a round peg trying to fit in a square hole!

The past couple of years I was totally unplugged from myself. I felt like a dog chasing it’s tail. Around and around and around and then splat!

I feel good! I feel satisfied and sure about what I’m doing! I’m committed and I’m consistently losing weight! Am I perfect…NO! Most definitely not! Luckily my goal isn’t to be perfect it’s to be consistent!

I’m writing this post because right now, I’m just so happy with myself! I have my goal in sight! I see it and I’m working towards it! I know there will be days when I don’t feel this sure or this happy! I wanted to write about it so I could remind myself that the answer is in me! Not out there, not what other people are doing or what fitness experts say I should be doing! The answer is in me to do what works best for me! I need to trust myself! Believe in myself! I’ve been doing that since August and I couldn’t feel better about it!

Past the first holiday!

2010-11-01T07:41:00.001-04:00

I don’t know that I can say that I ever kept track of the Halloween candy that I’ve eaten. Let alone wrote it down and counted the points for it! But this year I can!

I know to some, maybe a lot, of you, that seems a bit tedious! And in years past I would have agreed with you, but having done it this year….I feel empowered! I feel like I can make it through the rest of the holidays without white knuckling the weigh ins!

Over the past 2 weeks I’ve lost .4. I’m ok with that because I know that I’m doing what needs to be done! Body doesn’t always cooperate! Water retention!

I’m working on a new hobby. I’ve been trying to find one for a long while now. My brother in law lent me his scroll saw and I have some patterns for some puzzles and other stuff made out of wood. I like painting so I’m going to be working on that. I’ve tried and thought about trying a lot of stuff over the last couple of years and this is the only thing that I look forward to doing! So I’m gonna give it a whirl. I’ll post pics!

Alright off to check on you guys. I’ve been absent a while again! Time sure does fly!

Full Steam Ahead!

2010-10-17T19:10:00.003-04:00

I’m still moving forward! I’m down 12.6 pounds. Averaging about 1.3 pounds a week. I’m very happy with that average because in the food world I’m satisfied! I’m not sure how I got here. Every once in a while I’ll think and wonder how I flipped the switch. I THINK it has to do with my commitment to making this work for me! And being honest with myself. And eating as normally as possible. I’m getting my fruits and veggies in but I’m also getting in my sweets!

At birthday parties I eat cake! At bar-b-q’s I eat the food! I participate! But here’s the thing, I’m not eating the whole cake or all the food at the bar-b-q. I was so happy when I went to my nephew’s bday party and they had pizza, sweet tea and cupcakes! I had A glass of sweet tea, I had A piece of pizza (thought about having another piece but felt satisfied with one) and A cupcake!

I’ve done that whole thing of eating before the party or bringing something for me to eat, or not having cake….(let me just say that if these strategies work for you, THAT’S GREAT! We all have to find what works for us!) What happens to me when I do these things is I feel resentful and it almost always leads to a binge fest.

Now if I don’t have the points for all of it, I squeeze in what I can and if there’s no room at all, I tell myself that Saturday is coming around and if I really want what I missed I’ll get it then!

Does anyone have a Wii Fit Plus? I just started using it to actually work out, not just play, and I have to say I love it! I can create my own workout and I can decide how long I want it to be and what I want to incorporate into the workout. LOVE. IT. !

So I’m happily plodding along!

2 Weeks again?

2010-10-05T13:05:00.001-04:00

Really over 2 weeks! It’s hard to blog these days. Need a routine!

I’m doing ducky! I’m down a total 10.4. Yeah! I also measured myself a couple of weeks ago and I was down almost 5 inches!

I’m doing WW and I’ve been doing great at being honest and keeping track of my points. Boundaries are good!

This is a mental journey! My whole journey flipped when I committed myself to this program and committed to being honest with myself! It’s amazing what a difference that makes.

I’m still having trouble getting my exercise in. We quit the Y for a while. Couldn’t afford WW and the Y. I chose WW and I’m losing weight.

I have to schedule my exercise in. Otherwise it doesn’t get done!

Hope you all have a great week! And Happy October!

Good Week!

2010-09-18T07:46:00.000-04:00

Just got back from my weigh in and I'm down another 2 pounds! Total of 9.2. I'm very satisfied with this loss and I have to say that I'm very happy with HOW I'm losing this weight. I'm eating real food, I'm eating a variety of food, I'm eating things I like....a LOT!

In the past I've had the mentality that I need to lose weight as fast as possible! I'll exercise 20 hours a week and never eat sugar again and I'll eat 1100 calories a day. But, before I start, on Monday of course, I'll have a last hurrah! I'll go out and buy all my fav sugar laden foods and have a party! Does this sound familiar to anyone else or am I the only one that's done this? Guess what happens when Monday rolls around....there's still sugar laden food left around from the last hurrah so I eat it of course and man that tasted good. I'm not ready to give it up, I'll have another last, last hurrah and start next Monday! This cycle runs at least for a month or two, I never start and in the meantime I gain XX number of pounds! Yikes!

I'm not doing this perfectly, but what I am doing is making choices. There are times that I've made a choice to have something, but I count the points for it! I'm not white knuckling it. When I want sweets I have them. I make them fit!

This week I had a situation that I would normally eat over. Instead I picked up the phone and called one of my friends. We talked for a while, when I got off the phone I was still sad about what had happened, but that was OK. I moped around, but I didn't eat!

I had another situation this week. Klondike makes Slim a bear ice cream treats. Well, they were BOGO and I bought 4 boxes. Two of em were the choc dipped ice cream bars - you know the ones with the hard choc shell one em. The other two were fudge bars. All of em 2pts each. I found a red light food.....the choc dipped bars...yeah those won't be coming back into the house again! If I want one of those....I'll go to dairy queen or someplace else where I can get one. I ate the whole box! 16 points! Yikes! I'm proud of myself for counting the points. Acknowledging the fact that I could not stop at one, uhm but next time maybe I can acknowledge that BEFORE I polish off the whole box! ha ha I'm proud of myself for NOT opening the 2nd box....I told my hubby to work on the second box. Even though I ate too many it was a learning experience for me! I'm all around proud for how I handled it! :)

This week, I gotta work on the exercise. Walking with the family Sat, Tues and Thurs for 30 and doing the Wii Fit plus 20 mins 2 times this week and whenever else I feel like! I like the Wii Fit plus!

Made it!

2010-09-13T21:17:00.000-04:00

Oh boy, last week. Hormones! I survived and I went to the store when I felt strong enough to avoid the half gallons of ice cream! I got some manageable WW treats. So I feel good about that! Lost 2.2... :)

My little man J had his first tiger scout meeting tonight. Here's a blooper video of him saying the oath!

I've watched it a bunch of times, funny stuff! You know how kids are they like to make ya laugh so of course after this accidental one, he did it a couple more times on purpose. Yeah, those not so funny!

Thank you!

2010-09-08T16:04:00.000-04:00

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. My hubby is doing OK. Little rough around the edges, but OK!

Ever have one of those days where you want to dive head first into a vat of ice cream? Ugh, that's my day today! I'm feeling angry and tired and I want to soothe with food. That's my thang! I feel like I'm trying to sabotage myself. I'm not giving in! If I have to go get something sweet it will be portion controlled, like a cone from McDonald's or a piece of pie from Village Inn. They do free slice Weds. I'm not going to deprive myself, if I want something sweet that bad I'll get it, but I'm not diving in. I won't go to the grocery store and get a 1/2 gallon of ice cream. I know from experience that will make me feel worse and it's hard to get back on track after that.

This morning we went for a walk as a family. That was nice. Good way to start the day. We're going again on Friday morning. It's a nice path. I think I'm going to bring my rubber tubey things. I was thinking circuit training would be fun. I can use the tubes to get some resistance in.

I don't think I told you, we decided to cancel our membership at the Y. So I'm gonna have to get creative with my workouts. In some ways I feel like there's more options at home. Less chance of getting into a rut. But I think for me, it takes more commitment to get my work out in at home. Does that make sense? I think it's because I'm home and I can do my workout pretty much whenever...so it's easy to tell myself I'll do it later! Procrastinator? Me? Yeah, pretty much!

Well thanks for letting me vent about my ice cream struggle. I actually feel better!

2010-09-04T09:13:00.000-04:00

My mother in law passed away on Tuesday evening. She's been in the hospital since late March, early April. I do believe she is in a better place now. She suffered through 2 heart surgeries and a stroke. I'm sad that she's gone, but I'm happy that she's moved on and is no longer in that bed, in that hospital!

I'm sad for my hubby and his brother and sister. They were very close to their mom. :(

The service is today and I'm sure that it will be packed.

In spite of the emotional/hectic week I lost .6. I'll gladly take it! Down 5!

We're off to Orlando! Hope you all are doing OK!

My word!

2010-08-27T19:31:00.001-04:00

I can't believe it's been so long since I blogged! I think about it a lot and wonder how you all are doing!

I'm doing hunky dory! I'm still tracking, weigh in is tomorrow and I'm expecting a loss. Edited Sat morn: Weigh is was great! Lost 2.6...WooHoo!!!! I maintained last week, but what was nice about that...I knew that I was doing what I needed to do. It wasn't a white knuckle weigh in, if you know what I mean!

Life's busy and exciting right now. This week I started homeschooling J. I didn't know what to expect....but I did expect lots of protests and whining. From J, not me....well, OK, maybe there was a bit of whining from me.. ;) It was such a great week. There was only one day when there was a little bit of protest...again J, not me. We worked through it. We joined a local hs group and will be going on some field trips soon. The group has a park day every week, it was yesterday and J met up with some boys and I watched as they all collected sticks, well some of em were branches, big humongous ones as thick around as J. They worked together gathering and building and propping. Once I looked over to see him carrying this huge branch while roaring! :) My little cub!

I feel like we're getting a routine down! I like routines!

We've been working on our money situation. Learning to manage our money, not the other way around. I'll tell you what, once we started naming our money...our spending amnesia has practically gone away! :) Those of you that haven't heard about the envelope system...it's great! You should check out Dave Ramsey . It's been great for us. We're actually managing to save up for a vacay! One thing about saving money, if you wait until you have enough money to save, you'll never save! We've been saving all of our change towards vacation and sometimes I go into the bank with only 3 rolls of pennies to deposit, it adds up!

As far as eating....I'm doing great! I've flipped a switch and I think it's because of my level of commitment. Understanding that while yes I have to make lifestyle changes I can live with, I also have to be willing to make sacrifices and/or compromises! I've been preparing meals and I've been writing it all down.

I've had some outta control days, but I've gotten right back on track! I'm realizing that it's not about being perfect, it's about being consistent! and kind to myself! I'll tell you what in my 40's hormones are a flying about and some days I can't get enough food! Luckily those days don't happen very often and the envelope system is helping in that area too, because once the grocery money is gone for the week it's gone! So no going out to the grocery store for an ice cream run!

So that's my world! What's going on with you guys? Off to check, but feel free to fill me in with a comment! :)

Oh boy!

2010-08-15T12:50:00.000-04:00

Time sure does fly when you're...ok, you know what, it flies whether you're having fun or not! I can't believe it's been so long since my last post. I've been out living not blogging. Don't seem to be able to do both at the same time. :) That's not true, I can do both, I just have to find a happy balance.

I started going to my WW meetings again. Finally I've come to the realization that I'm me! ha ha, yeah I know, it took me long enough right! What I mean is that I accept that in this juncture of my life, intuitive eating, normal eating, it doesn't work for me. I'm accepting that for me, this journey has to have boundaries (my daily/weekly point allowance) and I have to have accountability (tracking what I eat) and a certain amount of sacrifice (portion control and limiting sweets).

Now, 3 weeks ago I would've balked at that and my rebellious, cut my nose off to spite my face, personality would've come out. Then I thought to myself, no sense walking around with a fat ass and no nose! :) Really, I thought to myself, what do I want out of my life? I want to be healthy, fit, strong....that's what I always say, sometimes it's with a mouth full of ice cream that I'm saying it. But this time I made myself break it down. What do I want out of my life? I want to camp, hike, bike, go to water parks, go to concerts, fly in an airplane. I want to DO things and I want to do them comfortably. I can do the above things now and some of them I will do now. Other's I will skip for now because it's not comfortable. The water parks...eek, I'll go to the beach now instead! It's kind of like a water park if you sit down in the waves...yeah I know..not really.. basically I want to be more active in life and I want to be comfortable being more active.

I plan on being more active now. I see a camping trip with hiking in my near future! Yay! I've also decided to enter some 5k walks. I found a site that shows them and there's pretty much more than one a week. So, my goal right now is to do one a month...if our budget allows! I'll let you know when I sign up for the first one!

So after my first week back on WW I tracked every single day! I didn't exercise...starting that back up this week. I lost 1.8! It felt good! I also took my measurements and plan on tracking those.

Off to check on you guys!

Silly Giggles

2010-07-02T08:57:00.000-04:00

One thing that I am, is quick to laugh. I hope that none of the people that know me think they should go off and become a stand up comic because of MY reaction to their jokes. That could be bad for them, very bad!

My son Jared has figured out this part of me. The part that laughs easily. He loves to make me laugh. Yesterday while driving over to my sister's house we started telling knock, knock jokes. I told him the one about the banana and then on the last one I say orange, he says, orange who, and I say, orange you glad I didn't say banana...... He laughed hysterically and then says...I don't get it. So that made me laugh and then it was his turn to tell a joke. It went something like this:

Jared: Knock, Knock
Me: Who's There?
Jared: Windshield
Me: Windshield Who?
Jared: Aren't you glad I didn't say tire?

Yeah I guess he didn't get it. LOL

He also found my ticklish spot. I've done a good job of keeping it hidden these last 5 almost 6 years. Well he thought that was THE best thing ever! It reminded me of the joy I got, when he was much younger, as I would chase him around the couch saying "mama's gonna get you!" and he would let out this delighted squeal!

It made me smile to see him so happy about being able to tickle me. The people at Publix thought it was hilarious! he he

My week wasn't a good one, exercise and food wise. It amazes me that I can feel so on track and then all of a sudden I'm off the rails! Not waiting until tomorrow to get back on track! Focusing on what was good about this week! Moving on!

I hope that you all have a great 4th! My hubby is taking 3 days off! Very excited about that!

Off to do some living, laughing and loving! :)

Saturday Weigh In and Goal Review

2010-06-26T07:34:00.002-04:00

Sometimes I have to laugh at myself, the way I try to rationalize things and work the system. I lost .2 this week. There's a reason for that teeny tiny loss. I tracked this week, but if I'm 100% honest with myself and you guys, I over estimated my portion size and under estimated my points. I'm getting my exercise in! My eating needs to be neater if I want to see real, consistent losses, which I do! :)

At my WW meeting this morning the topic was portions and estimating points accurately! What a timely topic for me!!! :)

I like that while I'm admitting the areas I'm failing in, I don't feel like a failure. I feel successful. I feel good about myself. That is a huge NSV for me!

My goals last week:

1. Get 2 fruits and 3 veggies in a day. Did great with this!

2. Limit my dairy to 3 servings - I love my dairy! Spot on

3. Workout M-F Cardio up to 40 minutes a day Weights still 2x's a week Got all my cardio in but on 1x on the weights, actually got extra cardio!

4. Enlist the help of my husband and my friends when I'm feeling stressed. Practice some deep breathing, do some pushups anything but eat! Feel it, work through it, don't shovel it down with food. Thankfully, I didn't have a lot of stress this week.

5. Positive Self Talk! Same as last week. Still needs work!

Goals for this week:

1. Track, weigh and measure food. If I'm someplace that I can't weigh and measure, err on the side of caution and use reasonable portion/points amounts!

2. Get 2 fruits and 3 Veggies in a day.

3. Plan dinner every day! This give me lunch for the next day. Also stops with the grab and dash!

4. Enlist the help of my husband and my friends when I'm feeling stressed. Practice some deep breathing, do some pushups anything but eat! Feel it, work through it, don't shovel it down with food.

5. Positive Self Talk!

Here's to a great week!

Oh, AND starting next week I'll keep going to weekly WW meetings, but I'll only be weighing in once a month there. I'll keep weighing weekly at home. I'm a lifetime member and right now the monthly fee is too much for our budget to bear. So this way I'll still be going to meetings every week, but only paying $12 a month instead of $40!

Fishing and Hiking...

2010-06-25T05:13:00.000-04:00

This week I've done some extra stuff in the exercise department. On Tuesday we went for a hike at Morris Bridge Park. It's a nice park. I can't believe how hot it's been. I brought water and drank a LOT and sweat a LOT too! It felt good. It felt good to be out with my boys enjoying nature.

Yesterday I took my son fishing. That is a relaxing thing to do. If relaxing means, baiting a hook with bread every 60 seconds and then ducking as the little man casts his line out, which it does! ;) I call it exercise because every time I duck I'm doing an ab crunch! We saw turtles and birds and fish. He even caught one. He couldn't get it off the hook, so I had to do it for him. I was traumatized after that as the hook came through the eye socket of the poor little fish. I had to wiggle the hook to get it to go back through the eye socket and finally out of the mouth. The fish swam away as soon as we dropped him in the water, he wasn't bothered by it at all! I could not keep the look of disgust off my face. I think it makes J happy to know that I have been totally and throughly grossed out. It's what boys live for! Hence the courtesy sniff! Which is a totally different topic for another day!

Sorry I've been MIA on my blog reading. I've been thinking about you all and wondering how you've been doing. I hope to have some time to catch up with you today and over the weekend!

Best news ever!

2010-06-21T16:22:00.001-04:00

A couple of posts back I talked about Mrs. E and her diagnosis of bone cancer. Well, they did surgery today and the bone doctor confirmed it is NOT cancer! It's Hyperparathyroidism which is nothing to sneeze at. It causes a slew of problems, but it's not cancer and it is treatable. I'm so happy to hear that!

So far my week is going OK, I know it's only Monday, but my week starts on Saturday. Jared went to VBS for the first time today and he had a great time! When I picked him up they told me that he was a good listener. It's always nice to hear that instead of something like, "your child said damnit!". ha ha

We went through the damnit phase when he was much younger. I thought for sure he was getting it from Frank. Then I caught myself one day opening up a can of tuna and it sloshed all over me, smelly tuna water. I said, under my breath, damnit! Then I gasped and said "It was me!" LOL

Anyway, it's been a good day! Off to check on you guys! :)

Saturday Weigh In and Goal Review

2010-06-19T08:30:00.000-04:00

This was a great week for me. I exercised 4 out of 5 days, and really it was 5 days, on Thursday I found myself at the Y twice and did an extra hour of cardio! :) So even though I didn't go yesterday....technically I got the time in! I tracked 6 and 3/4 days out of 7. I got all my water in. Positive self talk....still working on that one. I wasn't very aware of when I was bashing myself. Still not tuned in.

I was up .2 in my weigh in. I went off the rails last night. There is a connection between stress and shoveling food in my mouth. I was messaging with my friend Deb last night, (thank you Deb, I was totally not going to go to my meeting this morning!) She talked me down from the ledge ='s running from the scale. While messaging with her I realized that I had a very good week. My week was 90% great!

I reminded myself that while I feel compelled to eat when I'm stressed or angry, I'm really making a choice. It doesn't feel like a choice, but it is. I think the reason that it doesn't feel like a choice is because it's what I've always chosen to do when I'm stressed/angry. It's second nature and a lot of times when this happens I don't truly realize what I'm doing until it's done.

So my goals for this week:

1. Get 2 fruits and 3 veggies in a day.
2. Limit my dairy to 3 servings - I love my dairy!
3. Workout M-F Cardio up to 40 minutes a day Weights still 2x's a week
4. Enlist the help of my husband and my friends when I'm feeling stressed. Practice some deep breathing, do some pushups anything but eat! Feel it, work through it, don't shovel it down with food.
5. Positive Self Talk! Same as last week.

My overall thoughts on how I did for the week. I think I did great! I only had one day and not even a whole day that I was off track. I made most of my goals and I'm happy that even though the scale doesn't reflect how great my week was, that's not spoiling how I feel about my progress! In the past I would have focused ALL of my attention on the 10% that was off and the 90% that was on and great would have gone unrecognized~! So there's progress right there! :)

I've been couponing! :)

2010-06-17T09:49:00.000-04:00

I attended a (free) class taught by the lovely ladies over at. True Couponing. I was skeptical! But I couldn't believe the deals that they were talking about. AND she gave us a list of items that you should get for free. WHAT? Over time they say that I should save 70 to 80% on my grocery bill. And that I'll use 70 to 80 coupons a week.

I'm not sure that I'll ever get that good. But this week I used 49 coupons. I spent $88.88 and I saved $147.39. Which means I saved almost 67%. The best part....I get to shop at Publix! In the past I've always shopped at Walmart and always bought store brand, nothing wrong with that it works! They do typically have the lowest prices. Except when Publix puts their item on sale for BOGO AND you have a manufacturers coupon AND a store or competitor coupon like target! :) Then the savings are unbelievable.

This weeks grocery trip....I got free razors, not those pink disposable ones that take half my skin with them, nice ones! The Schick Hydro and I got free shave cream, also from Schick. I got Kellog's Waffles for .29 cents a box and some of them they actually paid me to buy! I got vitamins for $3.00 that would've been over $11.00. I got free bread! It's so exciting and it's made grocery shopping, fun! Yes I'm weird that way! LOL

Even if you don't live in my area you should check out their site. It explains how it works and there is a link that you can click on from their page, it has a coupon database. You can search for whatever you want to buy and see if there is a coupon out there for it. This week I almost had a coupon for everything in my cart. The only things I didn't have coupons for were my produce and my meat, and sometimes they even have coupons for those!

My week is going great. Spot on with the exercise, tracking and water! Water is easy to get in this time of year. It' been a scorcher here!

Of to check on you guys! :)

When life hands you lemons, sometimes all you have is bunch of lemons!

2010-06-15T05:40:00.000-04:00

I want to start off by saying I'm doing great! Still Tracking and exercising. All is good with me. :)

I went to Orlando yesterday and while I was there I stopped in at the hospital to visit a very, very, good family friend. This family was like a second family to me when I was growing up. Sometimes, more like my very own family or what I wanted my family to be like! Well in March Mr. E passed away. I hadn't seen these people in years, and I went to the funeral and didn't know what to expect. It was like we hadn't missed a beat. So I've kept in touch since then, visiting Mrs. E and her son (aka my little bro) M a couple of times. Well, Mrs. E fell down and broke her leg. While they were checking her out, they ran some tests and last night I got a text that confirmed what we were hoping wasn't true, she has bone cancer. :( I really feel for them. M just lost his father not even 3 months ago and Mrs. E, her husband, and now this. It's almost too much to bear. I had a restless nights sleep as this kept coming up in my thoughts. Today I feel sad.........

I'm off to workout!

Good Monday Morning! :)

2010-06-14T05:57:00.000-04:00

I'm off to workout and then on my way to Orlando to work. Getting ready to head out the door to the Y, cardio only today since it's a busy day. Taking my lunch and a snack for the ride home. I have tracked for the last 2 days! :) It makes such a difference for me. I think years of denial have given me food amnesia! There's no denying it when it's on the paper in front of me!

I hope that you all have a great Monday!!

Weigh in Saturday and Goal Review

2010-06-12T07:55:00.000-04:00

Finally, finally! Down 1.2! I tracked this week 4 days out of 7 and 2 days I started tracking and then, got side tracked! That's progress! I feel like I have the right mindset, lifestyle changes! I'm coming up with a plan I can live with, exercise AND eating. I'm happy about that!

My goals last week:
1. No eating after 9pm. For me this is a good one because it keeps me from the boredom eating that I do in the evenings! I did OK with this 5 out of 7 days. :)

2. Bite it/Write it! Writing down what I eat. I need that accountability, otherwise, well, lets just say it ain't pretty! Progress shown above, still need to work on this.

3. Continue my M-F workout. Cardio 30 mins a day, weights 2x's. I might throw a Saturday cardio in there...but M-F is non-negotiable! Eek, this was not a stellar week. I made a mistake and set up J's swim lessons too early in the morning. I thought it would be OK I would go work out early and then my husband would bring J to swim class. Well, being at the Y for 4 hours straight isn't very much fun! Lesson learned. Will schedule lessons later in the day! So - this week will be different!

4. Water! It is super hot here in Florida and I really have to stay hydrated! 8x8 at least! I did great with water! :)

So goals for this week:
I'm keeping 1 -3 and I'm adding,
4. Positive self talk! I tend to make fun of myself, it makes me feel comfortable. I've touched on this before, if I can make fun of myself and make people laugh, they're laughing with me not at me. But at the same time, saying all this mean stuff about myself even in a funny way, isn't healthy for my self esteem! So this week whenever I feel the urge to say some mean about myself, I'm going to do my best to catch myself and NOT say it and instead think something positive instead! That's going to take some doing! I imagine it will take me a while to stop myself before I do it! Should be interesting!

Overall it was a good week! I'm happy with how I did!

Heat. Sand. Thigh Rub. Need I say more?

2010-06-10T07:26:00.000-04:00

Well yesterday Jared and I ventured off to the beach. It was a very good reminder of why I don't like going to the beach. The reasons that I don't like going to the beach are 99.9% weight related. A couple of you commented about me getting out of my comfort zone.

I need to do more stuff like this. It's a great reminder of why I want to lose weight. Let me just say that only 1% maybe 2% of it has to do with looks. That ship has sailed. The rest of my reasons have to do with comfort, feeling strong, feeling energized, health and thigh rub! :) I have not worn a bathing suit out in public, public, like a beach for probably 3 years! I was fine until we got to the beach, then as soon as I would get outta the car, thigh rub! Please tell me I'm not alone in this!

A couple of months ago I bought some Body Glide. Let me tell you that stuff is AWESOME! I put it on before we left the house, I put a pair of pants on over my bathing suit. Drove for a little over an hour, walked (what seemed like) a mile from my car to the water. Took my pants off, got right into the water, was in the water for a good 20 minutes, got out walked back up to our chairs.....NO THIGH RUB! Wow!

Walked down closer to the water, sat in the sand and built a sand castle, got back in the water, walked back up to the beach, etc, etc, etc! NTR! I even walked (the mile) back to the car without putting my pants back on...NTR!!!!!

That alone was enough to get me back out there to do it again! It was a great day! We went to Siesta Key, it was my first time there and it was a beautiful beach! Here are a couple of pics:

So for me this was a great day. I didn't care what people thought about how I looked. Their opinions are none of my business. I played, sat on the ground (which can be tricky for me, getting back up ain't as easy as it used to be), enjoyed myself!

It is a reminder to me that I need to stop waiting for this weight to come off to do stuff. My life is happening now, with or without me. Getting out of my comfort zone is a great reminder of why I'm working towards losing weight! So, what am I going to do today to get me outta my comfort zone....what are YOU going to do?

Ugh and the beach.

2010-06-09T05:54:00.000-04:00

Fighting with myself about working out this morning. It's NON-NEGOTIABLE you're going. End. of. Story. Get your butt outta bed and get to the Y! OK, alright already, just let me finish this post!

Jared and I are meeting some friends at the beach today. I'm not a big fan of the beach. It's hot and the sand, it gets ALL over! But Jared likes it. This is one of the things that would be easier to do if I didn't have so much weight to carry around. I've been forcing myself to do things that I normally wouldn't do, like fishing, swimming, going to the beach. To remind myself how uncomfortable I am. It seems strange that I would need a reminder, but I'm good at denial.

I have a tip though, for those of you that frequent the beach. A great way to get the sand off before you get in the car, baby powder. Sprinkle or pour it where ever you have sand, which would be pretty much all over, and then brush it off. The sand comes off with the excess baby powder and instead of feeling all sticky you feel nice and soft for the ride home! :)

So today will be about building sand castles, finding sea shells, maybe a little swimming and maybe taking a few pics, having fun with the little man!

Good Monday Morning!

2010-06-07T05:24:00.000-04:00

Have you guys tried these?

I found the large ones at Costco's and for those of you doing Weight Watchers it's a nice thing! The large ones are 1pt each and they are VERY filling!

Here's the nutrition info on the large ones!

For Breakfast yesterday I took 1/2 cup of Southwestern Egg Beaters and cooked them up, then I put about 1 T of shredded cheddar cheese. Then I microwaved some turkey bacon. Took the eggs out of the fry pan and put the tortilla in. Flipped the tortilla, put the eggs back in and then crumbled up the turkey bacon. Very filling meal for 4.5 points!

I like these better than bread. They're very versatile!

I'm off to go work out in a few minutes. Today is going to be a busy day, I go to Orlando on Monday's, I do part-time bookkeeping for my friend. So I'm telling ya'll that when I get back from the gym I will pack up my lunch AND my dinner so that there is no reason to stop at a drive thru! You guys can hold me to that!

I hope that you guys have a great Monday!

This weeks goals!

2010-06-05T19:58:00.000-04:00

Well I'm going back to setting weekly goals for myself. That works well for me.

So for this week:

1. No eating after 9pm. For me this is a good one because it keeps me from the boredom eating that I do in the evenings!

2. Bite it/Write it! Writing down what I eat. I need that accountability, otherwise, well, lets just say it ain't pretty!

3. Continue my M-F workout. Cardio 30 mins a day, weights 2x's. I might throw a Saturday cardio in there...but M-F is non-negotiable!

4. Water! It is super hot here in Florida and I really have to stay hydrated! 8x8 at least!

So that's what I'll be working on this week! :)

Ridiculous! Oh, and scroll down for BLOG HOP!!!

2010-06-05T07:57:00.007-04:00

Me, I'm ridiculous! I tracked more than I did last week. But I'm still making poor food choices. WHY? I'm stuck in this cycle of sabotage. I'm burying my head in the sand. I'm exercising M-F and then I'm eating what? You know! Junk! Why am I buying it? Argh!

I'm going off to bang my head into a brick wall a couple dozen times! Yeah, that might help! :(

Edited to say: After I wrote this I went to my reader and read Jack S*it and A Deliberate Life they wrote just what I needed to read!

Oh, and this one too, Believe In Yourself

You're next!

Still going strong on my morning workout!

2010-06-02T07:42:00.000-04:00

Not much going on here. Tracking...ah, doing better than last week.

Working out? Doing great with that! I was afraid that after the holiday weekend I would have a hard time getting back into it on Tuesday morning. I have 30 minutes of cardio to make up for not working out on Monday...well actually now only 15 mins, I did an extra 15 yesterday! :)

When my alarm goes off, maybe for a split second I say "no"! Then I tell myself...non-negotiable, and I crawl out of bed. I know that I will feel great when it's done. My reward is watching 30 minutes of HGTV. They have a craft show on from 6:30 to 7 that I like watching that while I'm on the treadmill or the elliptical. It gives me something to look forward to. :)

Without him realizing it, I'm trying to get my husband into a workout routine....shhhhh, don't tell him! He doesn't read my blog so I don't have to worry about that. But then I'm not exactly subtle so I'm sure that he already knows. he he

I leave the house around 6 and come to the Y, over the next 1 1/2 weeks Jared is taking, what they call, intense swim lessons. That just means that instead of 2 times a week it's 4 times a week. Well I signed him up for the 8:45am class. So I come to the Y early and then Frank has to bring Jared and get here no later than 8:30. Much to his chagrin I figure he should go ahead and do some cardio while he's here! Right?! :) So hopefully today he'll step on. Yesterday he didn't. I'm not saying nothin though, because I know how my hubby is. The more I prod the more he digs! As in heels in the ground! So I have led the horse to water, so to speak, gotten my hubby to the Y, but I can't make him exercise.

My son and hubby caught a yellow rat snake....snakes don't bother me, but I really didn't like the looks of this guy. Usually I'll hold a snake, not this one. I kept saying he doesn't look very nice, I don't like him. He's gonna bite me. Well when my son had him outside, sure enough he did something that snake didn't like and it bit him. So that snake is getting the boot! But here's a picture.....

Weigh in! Blueberry Picking!

2010-05-29T20:03:00.000-04:00

Today was my WW meeting, gained .4, getting closer to losing weight. After the meeting I came home, picked up little man and we went blueberry picking! They hand you a bucket and you fill it to the brim for $15 AND they tell you to eat as much as you want to eat while you're picking! Oh My Goodness! I didn't know that blueberries grew in Florida. It was such a fun time. Jared and I searched for the plumpest biggest blueberries we could find. Blueberry panacankes (that's how J pronounces it) for breakfast tomorrow! :)

That's a pic of our blueberries and it doesn't even begin to touch how many we have! We walked away with at least 7 pounds for $15.00! Can't beat that!!! I'll be freezing some for smoothies!

We made some blueberry muffins this afternoon. Jared had just gotten done pouring the last 1/2 C of flour into the bowl and was stirring it around. It was kinda close to the edge, I turned my back for a minute and yup you guessed it. I turned back around just in time to see 3 1/2 cups of flour falling to the kitchen floor. I was so proud of myself because I didn't flip out or say crap or darn or anything. I did have a sharp intake of breath, and I could see Jared was starting to get upset and I said "Oh, I wasn't expecting that, oh well! That coulda happened to anybody. It's no big deal!" Then he said "Oh well, we'll just clean it up" I said "Yup we'll clean it up. We have plenty of flour" Then we got to make white foot prints on the carpet as we walked to the closet to get the vacuum cleaner!

Sometimes I forget what's important. Flour got spilled, oh well! Move on! Life is too short to sweat the small stuff! It was a learning experience for him and me!

This week my goals are to get to the Y M-F be there by 6am. 5 days of cardio and 2 weight workouts for upper and lower body!

Track my food, stay within my points. Get my water in!

This week I want to see the scale move in the right direction!

Blog award and 7 things you wish you didn't know about me! :)

2010-05-29T07:58:00.003-04:00

Thank you to Diane over at it's time, for my award! If you haven't checked out her blog you need to head on over. She's quite an inspiration!

The rules that go along with this award are as follows:

1. Give this award to 7 bloggers. (hard as many I follow have already recieved this)

2. Share 7 things about myself you do not know.

The people I'm giving this award to may have already gotten it, but that just goes to show you how great I think they are!

1. Cammy over at the Tippy Toe Diet. She's quite a blessing and an inspiration. She offers great support and great tips.

2. Deb at Shedding My Fatsuit. I love this blogger. I can relate to her a lot. I think we may have been separated at birth. I love her honesty!

3. Spunkysuzi Working towards a healthier me. Now I love visiting Suzi's blog, she always has great ideas for meals AND she offers up beautiful pictures of her daily walk.

4. Lance over at The Jungle of Life, while not a weightloss or fitness blog, his blog offers up such inspiration. I stop by there every Sunday with my cuppa joe in hand and read his Sunday thought. It's always thought provoking and moving. Lance is an all around great guy! Who says guys can't be beautiful....

5. Jannie Funster, also not a weightloss or fitness blogger, but a funner blogger there never was! She always makes me smile!

6. Scale Junkie, you all know her and love her! I know I do! HYC need I say more? OK, I will, she is supportive and she has a great writing style. I love reading her stories about walking her dogs, hot and fresh, cold and old, poop. See I bet you can't wait to wander over and take a look!

7. Everyone on my blog roll. At one time or another all of ya'll have offered me support and have had a kind word to say. Can't thank you enough for that. Yes I mean you! :)

Now for the other part, 7 things about me you don't know. Hmmmm....

1. I'm a glass half empty type of person. When I was growing up I chose to view life this way so that I could never be disappointed. Yeah, that hasn't really worked for me! I'm trying to change that about myself!

2. I love to sing. When I was in high school I belonged to show choir. My happiest high school memories are singing and dancing in that group.

3. I watch Glee! See number 2!

4. I'm home schooling my son. :) Crickets chirping...

5. Hmmm I don't shave my legs everyday....more crickets....

6. I'm thinking about becoming my own personal trainer, getting certified and all!

7. I'm afraid to take a class to become certified because I have so much weight to lose and I don't want people to give me the "What's SHE doing here" look.

My week is coming to an end.....

2010-05-27T09:32:00.003-04:00

Working out.....WOO HOO!!!! Right on the money. After tomorrow it will be 5 days! :) 2 upper, 2 lower and 5 cardio! :) Very happy with that.

Eating/Tracking......Boo Hiss! Still have a big issue with self sabotage. Bought ice cream and that's never a good thing. Not sure why I did it. I bought it while I was having an internal battle. Yes, no, yes, no, yes, no. The yesses won. Crafty little buggers. Next time, because there will be a next time, I'm going to try 2 things. 1. Tell myself I can have it tomorrow, that sometimes works, but I have to be in the right frame of mind to fight it. 2. Tell myself that instead of buying a 1/2 gallon, go to McD's and get A cone. One! Much to my disappointment I haven't been tracking. I KNOW I do better when I track. So that will be on my goal list for next week!

Tomorrow I'm looking forward to my cardio workout. I've decided to go to the Y and use their pool and do some laps! I love swimming! :)

Facing and Conquering fears!

2010-05-25T07:51:00.005-04:00

I'm so proud of my son! Since the day he was born he has been afraid of water. It's kind of a love, hate, relationship. He loves to play in it, but hates when it gets in his face. His eyes really! At every bath time for the last 5 + years it has been a battle to wash his hair. I do my best to keep the water out of his eyes, and mostly I do, but it isn't without a struggle and lots of whining and crying. My son cries too! lol :)

He's been taking swim lessons for the last month. He did great until the instructor wanted him to put his face in the water. Then, all bets were off. She was great with him. She pushed him a little, just enough. After class she suggested goggles. One of those slap the forehead, doh, moments for me. Ah, yeah, why didn't I think of that?

So the next class we came equipped with goggles. He fiddled with them throughout class, too tight, too loose. Through it all Miss Courtney was very patient with him, she worked with him and showed him how to take them on and off, push them to make sure there's suction so no water gets in, etc, etc! He didn't quite trust the goggles. He'd stick his face in, but he wasn't opening his eyes! :)

Yesterday's class was amazing. He swam with his face in the water, pretty much the whole class AND at the end of the class he jumped into the water without (much) hesitation at all. After class he came over to me full of smiles and said "mama, I feel good. I feel happy. I conquered a fear." I replied "You sure did, sweetpea, you should be soo proud of yourself!!!" He asked, "mama, are you happy, are you proud of me?" I replied "I sure am, honey, I am SO proud of you, but it's more important that YOU are proud of YOU!" Lots of hugs and kisses followed!

After class we came home ate some lunch and then went swimming and he jumped in 5 trillion more times. Sometimes our children teach us! It was a good reminder of how rewarding it is to face our fears!

Totally unrelated, look at this humongous moth I found at the Y this morning. It was on the floor near the door. You should have seen the way this woman looked at me when I scooped it up into a coffee cup saying "Oooh I think my son would love to see this!" It was as if I had two heads!!! lol The picture doesn't do it justice it was quite pretty, unfortunately the light wasn't right for taking pics and I had to use the flash.

No pod person here...

2010-05-23T16:59:00.002-04:00

Looking forward to tomorrow and my early morning workout! :)

Yes it's me, I have not been replaced by a pod person!!! At least I don't think I have, hmmm, would I know if I had?

Enjoy your Sunday evening.

Yay Me!

2010-05-20T18:48:00.002-04:00

I can do that right? Toot my own horn?! This week was a huge NSV (non-scale victory) for me. I put my exercise first. I've been trying to get back into the exercise scene for a while now. But I was having trouble making it a priority AND I was procrastinating it. Is that two different ways of saying the same thing? Anyway, I decided that exercise had to be done first before I did anything else, then it's done!

So for the past 4 days, tomorrow will be 5, I've gotten to the YMCA by 6:30am and I've done 30 mins of cardio and alternated upper and lower body workout. Tomorrow is cardio only. That's a routine I can live with.

I almost hit the snooze button this morning. I was so tired, but that would've made it worse. I had a pep talk with myself and it went like this: "There's no other time to do this, no you can't miss a day, get your butt outta bed and get to the Y, you'll feel great once the exercise is done! " And I have to admit...er, I was right! :)

This also serves as my quiet time. I have a very chatty 5 year old AND he's an early bird. I'm an early bird too, but I'm a bit more quiet in the morning. So driving to the gym and working out and driving home has been a great way for me to take care of myself and allows me to have a bit of quiet before I start the day!!!

Self Sabotage and Excuses!

2010-05-18T08:54:00.003-04:00

This week is off to a great start. Made it to the Y again this morning and got my exercise out of the way. I cannot even begin to tell you how great that feels!

Yesterday I was listening to a podcast from Two Fit Chicks and a Microphone and it contained a jewel of information that I needed to hear! In this podcast (episode #8) they touched on Self Sabotage. I'm very familiar with this concept. I have a fear of failure, but I'm realizing that I have a very real fear of success too. I've always wondered why I would buy and eat foods that I don't really want . I now realize that it was my self fulfilling prophecy of failure.

The fear of success, well I can't really go into detail on that one, but I will say this, realizing your fears, whether they be of failing or succeeding they need to be dealt with. They need to be revealed and looked at, thought about and meditated on. Because until they are dealt with they will keep coming back up. I have a feeling that there is more than one fear, for me. But it's another piece of the puzzle.

The other area of this journey that I need to examine is my all or nothing mentality. Which is basically the thinking of a perfectionist. Something I would never call myself, I mean, have you seen my house? YIKES! But when you think about it, perfectionist thinking puts a LOT of pressure on you, meaning me. I'm overwhelmed from the start and I think to myself if I can't do it perfectly than why bother.

I need to realize that less is more, and less counts! (Thank you Mizfit!!!) And that sometimes life gets in the way. I need to go with the flow! If my day doesn't go the way I think it should, that's ok! It happens, make the best of it! It's the whole, well I blew this day I minus well go eat a cake and since I blew this day the whole week is gone, and I guess I should just wait until Monday to get back on track. When Monday comes and there's still junk food in the fridge, well I should finish that up first and before I know it another month has gone by. That's messed up!

A great start to the day!

2010-05-17T08:24:00.005-04:00

I have made a decision about my workout time. I'm doing it in the morning. Another blogger over here inspired me to give it another go. My problem is that I procrastinate.....everything! I put it off and then at the end of the day, too tired, put it off again until tomorrow, and so it goes.

I was at Joann Fabric's yesterday, how does this tie into working out, hang on, I'm getting there....on the clearance rack they had a calendar for .97. It has a magnet on the back of it so I can stick it to the front door. Yeah, yeah, I know most people put them on the fridge.... anyway, last night I planned out my whole week. Work out time, as well as work time.

So, what did I do when the alarm went off? Well, I actually woke up 10 minutes before the alarm went off and I got out of bed, got dressed and hit the road! I had a great 30 minutes of cardio and then I did about 20 minutes of upper body. The best part, I got "me" time at the beginning of the day! I came home feeling refreshed and ready for day.

My goal this summer is to get more into a scheduled routine. That's when I do my best. That's when things get done. That's when weight gets lost.

**** Edited to add: I must go get some work done...1 1/2 hours behind schedule AACK!!! I guess procrastinating is a hard habit to break. Just think if I'd started work when I said I was going to I would be almost done and ready for a break in about 30 seconds!!!!*****

Fun with Pool Noodles!

2010-05-15T07:21:00.002-04:00

In my effort to move more, I've been spending a lot of time at the pool. Jared is learning to swim so he's been all for it. I've been doing pool exercises while he swims and I can stay close to him if he needs me.

While goofing off and well, just being my normal silly self, I came across an interesting way to work your core. I invented a new exercise! It's not for people that don't like to get their hair wet, or do a face plant and maybe end up with a snout full of water. But if you enjoy laughing and being silly then this is the exercise for you!

Step 1: Find two pool noodles and a pool!

Step 2: Once you're in the water attempt to take each pool noodle (separately or at the same time) and put one foot in the middle of one noodle. So each foot should be in the middle of one of the noodles.

Step 3: Beginners, just attempt to balance while standing on the noodle, once you can do that ..

Step 4: Advanced, let your legs float out to side pretending to do a split, then bring your legs back down until your back in a standing position.

Step 5: Flail about while onlookers chuckle while watching you slack jawed thinking "what the....?"

Step 6: Flap you arms back and forth while laughing profusely, then right before you lose your balance and go under the water take a deep breath so as not to suck in half the pool through your nose!

Repeat steps 1 - 6 as many times as you want! :)

I'll tell you what balancing on those noodles really gave me a fun core workout! Not convinced? Well, you'll just have to give it try and find out!

Foto Friday

2010-05-14T07:06:00.008-04:00

Patiently watching and waiting!

I got something!

Can you see the barbs on this fish?

Holding the fish up, but watching it like a hawk! J doesn't want to get jabbed with one of those barbs!

Hope you guys had a good week! I'm off to check on you now!

Moving more...

2010-05-10T15:56:00.000-04:00

That's my goal in general. I was blessed to find a Wii Fit in our price range at Costco's last week. I have to say, I've been having a lot of fun with that. That gets me up off the couch and moving about a bit. Jared and I went fishing today, that got us outside and into the fresh air. Made it to the Y for J's swim lesson and then I walked on the treadmill while he ran around in the play area.

Moving feels good.

But sometimes it's hard to get up and away from the computer. When did I become so attached to this thing? When I'm inside the house, it's on and I'm on it! That's not good.

I leave you with a couple of pics from my time fishing with J! Good times!

Mother's Day, Happy?

2010-05-09T18:34:00.000-04:00

Mine was! I hope that everyone had a happy day. My little man gave me hand picked flowers. :) I love them.

They came in the Styrofoam cup and when I moved them into the vase I noticed all the pretty blue flowers at the bottom.

It was a nice relaxing day, with lots of hugs and kisses!

I hope that all of you mothers out there had a great day too!

I'm back! :)

2010-05-08T18:17:00.002-04:00

Oh blogger how I've missed you! You're so easy, and I mean that in a good way.

I'm not really a computer person and word press, you're lovely and all, but you are not easy! and I don't mean that in a good way! So I figured I could save $6.99 a month and maybe buy a cute ring tone for my cell phone every now and again. They have some funny ones from the movie "Napoleon Dynamite" please tell me you've seen it!

I'll have a real post soon!

What Lies We Speak

2008-11-15T05:57:00.002-05:00

to ourselves?

So this morning as I'm getting ready for my WW meeting I'm wondering what lies I've been telling myself over the last 6 weeks. I'm now up a total of 5.2 from my lowest weight. It pains me to tell ya'll this, but it's the truth. I have been whispering lies to myself over the last 6 weeks and I can see myself trying to deny the fact that I'm not doing what I'm supposed to be doing. For instance the biggest lie I've been telling myself over and over:

I'll start tomorrow. I just need to finish eating the junk that's in the house. Once it's gone I can start fresh.

OK here's and idea, how bout you a. throw it out and b. quit buying it. I mean really!

I notice that I haven't been getting on the scale everyday. This is my way of denying what I'm really doing. I haven't stepped on the scale for a week. For me that's like sticking my head in the sand or covering my ears and screaming, la la la I can't hear you! Oh and I haven't been wearing my jeans AND I haven't been trying on my smaller size jeans. These are all ways of pretending what's happening isn't really happening!

I've been focusing on how much I have to lose instead of setting smaller reasonable goals for myself. When I focus on the total weight, I get overwhelmed. For me right now it's about focusing on today. Really that's how it should be all the time. Just for today. Just for today I'm writing everything I eat down and I'm weighing and measuring and I'm getting in all my servings on veggies. Just for today! I can worry about tomorrow and the day after that when they get here!

Tiny changes and choices made over time can either get me to my goal or take me farther from it. I've decided that I've walked far enough away from my goal and now I'm turning around and heading closer to it! Not tomorrow, TODAY!

Tis the season to be self destructive, Fa La La La La, La La La La

2008-11-14T10:52:00.003-05:00

Or maybe that's just me? OK!

So here's the deal. I hurt my back. My lower back. I have an appointment with the chiro on Monday afternoon. Hoping something needs to be whacked back into place. As I think that my little man whacked something out of place as he jumped (all 50 pounds!) on my back while we were playing on the floor earlier this week.

At first I thought it was just a stiffness. Now it's uncomfortable to sit, stand, lay. I really feel it if I do any accidental twisting, not the dance, and when I'm getting dressed. Lifting my left leg up to step into pants, Yeow to the right side of my lower back. Maybe that's why I'm still in my pajamas, yeah, that's why. *wink*

Looking back...

2008-11-13T05:58:00.008-05:00

Deb at Shedding My Fat Suit, tagged me in a meme : What would you say to your younger self 2, 5, 10, and 15 years ago?

This is hard! But I'll give it a go.

2 years ago I was 39 (almost 40). I would tell myself not to get so hung up on age and to quit being so afraid of living and dying. I was rapidly approaching 40 and that was a hard time for me.

5 years ago: I was 37 and my son had just been born in July. I would tell myself not to sweat the small stuff. You're a good mom and quit being afraid! (Seeing a general pattern here?)

10 years ago: I was 31, we had just moved from Florida to Upstate NY. Just because. I would tell myself to embrace change and enjoy it. That's what life is all about, oh, and quit being afraid!

15 years ago: I was 27, wow I had been married for almost 3 years. My mom and dad were still alive. I would tell myself to give my parents lots of hugs and kisses and tell them I love them often. Forgive them their short comings as they did their best and they would both be gone soon. My dad in 2 years, my mom in 4. I'd tell myself to learn to love myself and be happy with me, and of course, quit being afraid!

I tag:
Tisha at A Blob Blog
Shanna at A Gym Rat's Tale

And anyone else who wants to participate!! :)