Monday's Project: Letter to Me

Once again I am turning my homework assignment from Christie in late…I sure hope I can break this pattern soon. I feel like I am always running a few days behind. Just too much happening in my little world to accomplish all that I want to. Oh well, at least I am getting it done. It was kind of hard for me to think ahead to what I want to accomplish this year, but it has been a great exercise for me.


Good morning you healthy, happy thing,

Here it is the end of January 2011!! Can you believe how far you have come since the beginning of 2010? I can, but then again I had more confidence in you than you did at the beginning of the year. So let’s run through some of what has been accomplished during the year, shall we? I think you’ll be surprised.

The beginning of 2010 was a very stress filled time for you and your family while your hubby looked for employment and you both just wanted to give up on everything, but through the power of God and friendship you hung tough and pulled through.

Now he is happy and bringing in some big bucks through his work as an architect and other endeavors. You sucked it up and just decided you didn’t lose all that weight in 2009 to gain it all back and worked harder than ever at getting down to “goal weight” (which you just accomplished a couple of weeks ago!!) Yay!! You finally got to join your youngest son at the bounce house this summer, because you finally were “skinny” enough to ride the rides (150 pounds seemed like it would never show up on those finicky scales of yours), but you persevered and it finally appeared one day when you least expected it! Oh how happy your little man was when you got to play with him there!!

Exercising and eating right became such an important part of your life during 2010 that it is hard to even imagine going more than a day of eating junk food and laying around… that’s not to say there aren’t days that you don’t eat the “right” foods, or exercise, but now it is a rarity. The rest of the family is totally on board with you, too, so now everyone eats good, healthy foods and exercises right along with you. What a joy to have a healthy, strong family! This was also the year that your extended family started heading in the right direction with their health…That was fun to watch!

You also started doing things you never thought you could accomplish again; bike riding for long distances, hiking with friends, walking in the 3 Day Walk for the Cure, and even beginning to get into the running scene that all the girls at the Sisterhood have been doing all year. With the rough cartilage in your knees you never thought that you could do all these physically challenging activities but you can reverse a lot of health issues when you start taking care of your health. Your doctors are pleased beyond belief at what you have done this year and authorized you to go off all your medications except your allergy medication! Wow….you/I never would have thought that would be possible!

You had other accomplishments this year as well. You started getting caught up on some of your long awaited craft projects. You cross stitched a Christmas stocking for your little man, made some scrapbooks for both boys, and worked on a quilt for your oldest son. You also learned that you need time for YOU!! That was a difficult one, since other than exercising you rarely took any time for you before this year. You also started dating your husband again, which was beneficial for your entire family. What fun…

Well that takes care of the highlights of 2010. You have accomplished so many things this past year and I just wanted to sit down and tell you how proud I am of you for not giving up at the beginning of the year like you wanted to! That would have been the easy way out, and you chose to go the hard way…and we both know that nothing comes easy that is worth doing!

Love ya, Me!!

Weekly Weigh In and Other Info...

Yesterday at the Sisterhood was weigh in day. I was not in a good place emotionally yesterday so I didn't bother to write my post. I didn't figure a bunch of people needed to hear me whine and complain about my moanings and groanings so I just ignored it! Besides I was having a hard time getting to the computer yesterday....so anyway I have a ton of excuses, but whatever!

So anyway, my numbers yesterday were 187.6, up from the previous week of 187.2. I know in my head that .4 of a pound is not a big deal, but to someone who hasn't lost any significant weight in 3 weeks it was a big deal. I'm in this for the long haul and I know (in my head) that sometimes I will stall out for a while, but I was VERY frustrated about it yesterday.

Our family has been going through a lot of stress the past 6 weeks and I think we were all having a bit of a melt-down yesterday. Me gaining a bit of weight instead of losing it was just another blow to my mental outlook.

So how did I get past my meltdown and start looking at this weight gain in a more positive perspective, you ask? or maybe you didn't? I'll tell you anyway! I ate whatever I wanted to yesterday. I didn't count calories, fruits/veggies, carbs, proteins, fats. I just ate till I didn't want anymore food. Then I spent 20 minutes in the bathroom regretting eating a bunch of fatty food that my digestive system didn't like and couldn't handle. Then I exercised for 40 minutes and went to bed. This morning I got up and decided to weigh myself to see what damage I had done yesterday. Guess what? I didn't gain weight and I didn't lose! I weighed exactly 187.6 pounds this morning!

Then I got onto the Sisterhood site and saw the post that Christy wrote. Basically she is telling us to "get back in the saddle" and "stop stressing over the little things". So, that's exactly what I did. I started tracking my calories today, which I have done periodically. I decided to get back on track. I also ate good, healthy food today. I went to ChuckECheese and ate salad and drank Iced Tea without sugar. I rarely drink tea, and when I do drink it I put sugar in it, but I wanted to stay away from soda (and sugar) because that is my downfall area. I wanted to do it "right" today.

So I am going to say a big "Thank You" to Christy for taking the time to write that post today, because I don't know where I would be tonight if I had not have read it this morning. I also know that without the support and "swift kick in the b*tt" from my fellow sisters when I need it I would not be down a total of 38 pounds today from 10 months ago.

I also need to say "Thanks" to ChristieO. A few weeks back we were to link up on a post that ChristieO wrote and share our "Project Me" post, then leave the link in the comment section and she said she would send us a motivational bracelet. I promptly did, but forgot all about the bracelet till last night when I went to the mailbox and found the bracelet from Christie. It was exactly what I needed -- "Strength * Focus * Discipline -- to keep me going today!

So...once again I have the Sisters to thank for pulling me through the rough patches. I am determined that this year will be my year to win this battle of obesity and unhealthy living that I have endured the past 10 years and with the help of my "sisters" I will be successful!! Thanks, ladies! Ya'll are the BESTEST friends a girl could have!

Tiny Talk Tuesday

Tiny Talk Tuesday celebrates our children and their view of the world. They continually make us laugh and by recording their Tiny Talk we can focus on one of the many JOYS of parenting! If your kiddos made you laugh this week (don't they always), then feel free to share the humor! Check out more Tiny Talks with Mary.

The past couple of weeks have been rather unusual for our household. Instead of having one 6 year old boy in the house, I have had 2 of them! One of my friends needed to go to Pennsylvania to help care for her ailing MIL and FIL. Our boys get along pretty well (for the most part) so he came over during the day to hang with us while dad worked and big brother did school. Some interesting conversations were heard between the two boys this week so I thought I would share with you. I also want to tell you that I am SO THANKFUL THAT GOD KNEW I COULDN'T HANDLE 2 young boys at the same time....that's why he decided to bless me with 2 boys, but seperated by 13 years!!

I will call our friends little boy "the lion"...if you knew them you would understand why...but that's all I'm saying about that!!

The Lion: "I don't want to play that with you, it's boring".
That Other Kid: "Ok, what do you want to play?"
The Lion: "Um...I think I want to play that with you. Maybe it will not be boring!"


During a rare time when I managed to get them to both work on school work at the same time this conversation was heard:

The Lion: "Handwriting is my mostest favorite thing to do for school."
That Other Kid: "Math is my bestest thing....cuz I'm good at it! I know what 6 times 9 is...it's 63!" (Of course he doesn't bother to tell his friend that he learned it by watching a tv show!)
The Lion: "I don't know what "time" is. My mom hasn't told me that yet!"

Both boys are extremely competitive and it was nearly the death of me over the past 2 weeks!

The Lion: "Ha, your mom is starting school with me first!!"
That Other Kid: "Why do you always start school with him first? I want to be first, cuz I am YOUR kid!"

Do you think I would have heard that from a kid in public school?? I think not!!

I love my friend and her kiddo, but I am so happy to have just 1 kiddo in my house today!!

Now Is the Time To "Toot God's Horn!"

For the most part my blog focuses on my weight loss journey and the boys and their activities. Yesterday's assignment at the Sisterhood was to "Toot My Horn", tell people why "I Rock"! It was challenging but a great exercise for me, but today I am going to post a bit of praise for GOD and Toot HIS Horn!! Before I do, I will be giving a little background info...If I don't you'll be confused and I don't want that. I want this post to be "clear as a bell" so to speak. I want this to be a visual reminder of the good and bad!

Here goes...My dh is an architect, who has been working as a contract designer for the past 5 years. Before 2009 he rarely had to "look for work". It always came to him, or he would make a few phone calls and "boom" he had work, so his marketing plan was to pick up the phone and talk to a few people. Throughout the first half of 2009 business slowed down to basically non-existent. He lost client after client until August when there was "no more work". The beginning of September he started seriously looking for work and "just happened to drop in" (co-incidence, I think not) a former client's office. He talked to the owner and a few days later he started working there. He was promised work for 2 months' time, but the longer he worked there the longer the owner wanted to keep him working. About 1 1/2 months after working there they asked him to continue working till the end of the year. We were excited! We now knew we would have income through the end of the year and the way it looked it would be extended even further. He was so busy working in this office he didn't really think much about marketing or looking for more work. It didn't really look as if he would need to worry about it.

We thought he would be working for an extended period of time and we had figured out how to lower our expenses so that we could afford for him to work there and not worry about "extra work". Then on December 18th, dh was told he would not be needed to work over the weekend. Come back in on Monday, the 21st. Most people would be excited to be told "not to work over the weekend" but we are not most people. This seriously cut into our income (paid hourly) and we really needed that income to meet our budget. We started freaking out a little but he welcomed a break to hang out at our new apartment, since he hadn't really gotten to spend much time there yet. We took it in stride.

He went back in on Monday, the 21st and was told he would only be working Monday and Tuesday and then there would not be a need for him! HELLO....Can you say FREAK OUT??
Where was our income going to come from? How were we going to pay bills? How would we live? You can imagine how my life turned upside down, can't you? Keep in mind that most people when they get laid off from a job can go file for unemployment and collect a bit of a check for 6 months as long as they are looking for work. As a self-employed contractor, dh couldn't do that!! UGH!! Not to mention, guess what? It's the end of the year and the Christmas holiday break! No one hires at this time of the year! UGH!! Again!!!

Time for me to really stress...Strange thing is, dh wasn't really stressing out too much. I guess I was doing enough for both of us! We spent a lot of time praying for God to provide for our needs. We also spent a lot of time trying to find ways to "not spend money". The first part of January dh started making phone calls and started looking for work. He didn't really have a game plan, just start making phone calls to all the people he knows and telling them he was looking for work and sending out resumes. He has an amazing number of contacts. He has an impressive resume. He also has done some impressive work during his 20 years doing independent contract architecture.

This past week, dh finally got into contact with some offices that actually are hiring. He got 3 interviews this week. He feels like he will be offered at least one of these positions soon. Problem with this scenario...we "were" down to about $20 in the bank. No credit cards. Little food in the house. And no idea how we would pay rent on the 1st of the month. We borrowed money from That Kid (who has a great job) so that the cell phone (the one that dh uses for making business contacts) bill could be paid without disconnection.

I spent Wednesday and Thursday in probably one of my worst funks ever. I spent a lot of time crying. I spent a lot of time telling God, "I just can't do this anymore". I spent a lot of time complaining to God that we had endured enough of this "no money stuff". I told God that "we can't live on nothing". I broke down and cried while talking to a couple of friends. I just basically had a "melt down". Strangely enough, I am following a Bible Reading Plan and I started reading Job on Wednesday. Then another friend emailed me a quote from Job. Hum....maybe God was trying to make a point, huh?

I woke up feeling better on Friday. I decided I would just hold my head up and make the most of the day. A friend of ours from That Other Kid's hockey team was coming over and taking us to the new movie The Tooth Fairy. It was right up our alley. We were excited and looking forward to spending some time with friends doing something fun. That Kid also got some tickets to a hockey game that he couldn't use so he asked me to sell for him. He told me to keep half the money from the sale of the tickets since he couldn't use them and the money had already been spent. I started sending emails to people I thought might want them. I didn't hear back from anyone right away, but just decided that I would hang on and believe that they would be sold!

Early in the afternoon dh got a phone call from a "new" client. She asked if he could do "xxx" and would it be possible to "meet with her this afternoon?" Ugh...YES!! He wasn't doing anything else...and the possibility of a contract job that needed to be started SOON!! Can you say, "YEAH GOD??!!!" So dh started getting ready for meeting with the client. That Other Kid and I started getting ready for the movie with friends.

About this time, one of my contacts I had emailed about the hockey tickets said he was interested if they were still available!! Thank you, God! Tickets were sold!! I could meet them Saturday morning and they would pay for the tickets then and we had some cash to get through the end of the month...some grocery money, gas money, and able to pay the water bill. Now to just pay the rent...where would the money come from for that? (Hang on, my story is not finished yet!)

My friend called and said she would be here in a few minutes. We went out to meet her and she handed me an envelope from her sister. Inside this envelope -- $500 CASH!! (Not enough to pay rent, but I believe my story isn't told!) As I opened the envelope FULL of cash from a lady that I had only met a couple of times I just stood there and cried. My friend also gave me money for gas so that That Other Kid could go play hockey tomorrow with the team. After taking us to the movie and dinner at Chickfila (TOK's favorite place to eat) my friend stopped off at the grocery store and bought us almost $50 of groceries. God is soooooo good! He used my friend and her family to BLESS MY SOCKS right off!

At this point, Saturday late afternoon, dh is sitting in his office working on a proposal to present to his new client and we still have 10 days to come up with the money to pay rent. My faith and trust that "God will provide all I can ask or think" has been restored. So I am sitting here at my computer waiting for God to bless our socks off again! HE CAN AND I KNOW THAT HE WILL! I will be reporting back as God blesses us more....

How has God blessed you recently??? I would love to hear your story!!

Monday's Project: Tootin' My Own Horn!!

Wow!! The Sisters are making me toot my own horn this week....that is not something I am real good at, but I don't want to let my sisters down so I have done my homework and found 5 ways to toot my own horn and tell ya'll "why I rock"!!

1) I have been married for more than 25 years to the same man! I married young and was told that when you marry young (19) you risk divorce within the first 5 years. Well I guess I beat the odds there...cuz this summer we will celebrate 26 years! I'm not saying it hasn't been a struggle at times, but when you make a committment to someone you need to hang tight and make it work!

2) Last year I graduated That Kid from our homeschool and sent him off to a Private Christian University. I homeschooled him all the way through from kindergarten. He attended some dual credit classes at the local community college as a senior and made A's in 3 of the 4 classes. He made a B in the 4th class. Not bad for a student who was a self-proclaimed "hater of school". He is now attending a university and has decided he wants to get his PHD in Psychology. Hum...I musta done something right, huh?!!

3) I have lost at least 40 pounds since my highest known weight of 229. I didn't really start counting my weight loss at that point, because I didn't really think it could happen without some surgical help. However, once I went to the doctor and he told me I needed to "do something" to get this weight off or I would be a diabetic soon I started working HARD to do just that!! I consider my starting point 226.8 because that is what I weighed on that day back in March of 2009. I have done it simply by cutting back on food intake and exercising! No pills, no surgery, just plain and simple HARD WORK!! I had been on high blood pressure medicine for over 5 years because of the excessive weight gain and NOW I'M NOT ON IT BECAUSE I HAVE LOST ENOUGH WEIGHT TO NOT NEED IT!! Yay Me!!

4) I normally have a very curvy figure...and now I seem to be getting it back. At least according to my husband!! I still have a long way to go but I'm getting there!

5) I am a good friend. I love to help others and serve them any way I can. Right now I am helping a friend (while she is out of town taking care of her in-laws) and taking care of her little boy during the day. I am also "trying" to homeschool him and That Other Kid at the same time, something that I am finding a bigger challenge than I thought it would be!

Thanks for making me look for ways I ROCK! I think it helps to have it in writing too. That way when I am down I can look at it and realize I'm not all bad!

3 Things to Motivate Me While Exercising

Hum....Let's see...What motivates me while I'm exercising? That is the question of the day, and I have been thinking about it all day. Now it's time to tell ya'll my answer, right?

1) Pictures of my family that are on the shelves above the tv. I use the tv to exercise with; using the Wii or DVD's. Seeing these pictures are constant reminders of WHY I am doing this daily exercise routine.

2) Actually having pants that are falling off of me! This reminds me that yes, I am losing weight while I am exercising. This is a constant motivator!

3) Listening to music keeps me moving also. I don't really need it so much with the Wii, or DVD's but when I am walking or doing something at the gym I CANNOT work out without MUSIC!

Those are my 3 motivators!! I can't wait to see what others use to motivate the constant movement of exercise.

Week 3 -- Rethinking The Shrink

I guess I REALLY need to rethink my shrink this week, because I sure didn't shrink much. There is NO WAY I'm going to make my goal of losing 10 pounds at this rate. Anyway, here are my sad numbers :((

Last week -- 187.9
This week -- 187.2

That's only .7 of a pound, UGH!! BUT, on the bright side of this sad tale is the fact that indeed I DID lose weight this week....even if it's a small amount. I am continuing to learn more about myself and what my trigger points are for wanting to eat more food than I really need. I am also learning how to walk away from food in times of stress which right now is a pretty constant thing in my life.

I think I'm going to try bumping my exercise up this week and see if that helps me to lose weight a little faster. I also am going to commit to going to bed at a consistent time and see if that helps me in the long run. My allergies are running wild right now so that may be contributing to my "dragging through the day" feeling no matter how much or how little I sleep.

Hope everyone else had a great week!!

Motivation...

Well....I was supposed to have this done and posted on Friday. Here it is Sunday night/Monday morning and I'm just now getting it done. The end of the week has been crazy. I have barely had time to sit down at the computer for 5 minutes to check emails. Until tonight when I decided it HAD TO BE DONE!

Our homework for this week from the Sisterhood was to be fun and motivating. I have to say it was FUN and it's nice to SEE the reasons why I bust my butt every night exercising and refrain from drinking gallons of coke when I'm stressed. Another thing that was beneficial for me while I was creating this motivation wall was to see exactly how far I have come in 1 year! I had a little help from dh with the pictures and he saw my photos and said, "Wow! When were these taken?" It was nice to hear him acknowledge the change that was VERY evident right there on the computer screen. Ya know, it's kind of hard to notice something different in a person when you see them every day! It made me feel good to have that positive reinforcement.


My motivation wall has 2 different pictures of myself. The top one was taken at Christmas 2008. The bottom one of me was at Christmas of 2009. I'm not sure exactly how much weight I had lost between the two years but it was at least 30 pounds!

The picture on the left is a picture that I took after I had completed the 6 week challenge on the Wii EA Sports More Active. I was surprised at the calories burned, miles 'ran' and overall totals that were provided! It was very encouraging to see how I had done during that time. I was moving, sick with the flu, and we celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas all during that 6 week time!



They are the reason I want to be fit and healthy! They are both young, healthy and active! If I want to live a long life to be here for them I need to be healthy and fit as well!


Below my picture here I have my favorite Bible verse - I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
It hasn't been easy to lose this weight, but I know I can do it because Christ has enabled me!

Thursday Three -- My Heroes

For today's assignment over at the Sisterhood I am supposed to write out my 3 Fitness/Exercise Heroes. Who gives me support when I'm up and who gives me support when I'm down.

The first couple of heroes are easy...

1) All the ladies over at the Sisterhood of Shrinking Jeans! I don't know how I could have gotten this far without this wonderful support system. I am so blessed to have found them in the beginning! They have been a CONSTANT support for me, cheering me on and giving me a kick in the butt when I needed it. I Double Heart LOVE EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM/YOU!!

2) My friend Kat is my second fitness hero. She is an inspiration to me. She motivates me, cheers for me, and helps me make decisions that are good for me. She also knows how to pick me up when I am down (like last Thursday!) She works out EVERY day....HARD!! She bikes, power walks, does the gravity machine, whatever it takes to push her body to an extreme level of fitness. She knows how to take care of her body and is doing a great job of it!! She keeps me going when I want to quit!!

3) (This may sound cheesy and immature, but whatever!!)
My Wii is my fitness hero! Since the purchase of my Wii and the games like Wii Fit, WiiFit Plus, Wii - EA Active and More Active, The Jillian Michael's Fitness Ultimatum...even the Sports game it came with (bowling, tennis, golf, baseball and boxing) I have been EXCITED to begin exercising and I have been able to STICK with it!! Before this purchase I got bored with exercising and just quit! Now I look forward to my exercise time and I have been able to stick with it over the long haul!! If I start to get bored with a game then I just change the game and do a different one for a while! Right now, I am doing the Jillian Michael's Fitness Ultimatum. It is good and pushes me in the right direction to continue changing my body to my ultimate goal...lean, and healthy!

Weigh In

Today is weigh in day over at the Sisterhood and I have to admit I was NERVOUS about getting on the scale. But I don't want to miss out on an opportunity to get a number written down so I jumped on the scale. I was PLEASANTLY surprised!!

Last week's weigh in: 191.2
My weigh in today was: 187.9!!

WHOHOOOOO!! That's a loss of almost 4 pounds on a week where I was afraid I would gain! This week has been stressful. I have been eating dinner with the family and feel that I was eating too much for that evening meal. Some nights I would eat a snack late...just to get my 5th meal in for the day (supposed to eat 5 small meals a day with the GameOn Diet!).

One of my goals for the Rethinking My Shrink challenge is to eat 5 fruits/veggies a day and I can happily say I have been eating them EVERY DAY!! Another one of my goals for this challenge was to lose 10 or more pounds, and I am almost at my halfway point in reaching that goal!!

Can you say "New Workout Clothes"???? I can hardly wait!! Cuz did you see these pictures that I took Monday night???



Can you tell how baggy these clothes are getting? If not....Well THEY ARE!!

This weight was also another milestone for me, since I am only 2 pounds away from the weight I was when I got pregnant almost 7 years ago!! I have also lost 38 pounds since I started this journey on March 25!!

Tiny Talk Tuesday

Tiny Talk Tuesday celebrates our children and their view of the world. They continually make us laugh and by recording their Tiny Talk we can focus on one of the many JOYS of parenting! If your kiddos made you laugh this week (don't they always), then feel free to share the humor! Check out more Tiny Talks with Mary.

As a homeschooling momma I have joy and (sometimes frustration) of help my kiddo learn to read, do math and all the other wonderful things he has to learn to be a well rounded student/person. As a general rule teaching That Other Kid has been a breeze compared to what I had to go through with That Kid. However, since we started back with school the Monday after the New year it hasn't been such a breeze!

Over the past week he/we have struggled with putting the toys and video games away long enough to concentrate on school. I have struggled with juggling all the chores, computer time and helping dh with his job search.

Today was the day that shall go down in history as our most unfocused day "so far"!!

I am using "Hooked on Phonics" for Phonics and learning to read. Up to this point it has been great. Some days he struggles with focusing on the reading, but most days he is excited to do it because he knows he is learning to read. Yesterday we started school and he seemed to be unfocused but did ok with everything. Till reading time. He was supposed to read the words: On, And, Is, The. He listened to the speaker, and repeated. Then it came time to read it for himself.

This is the scenario from yesterday.

TOK:
"On
And
Is
The"

"On
And
Is
ummmmm I forgot"

"On
And
Is
ummmmm I don't remember"

"On
And
Is
ummmmm I have a bad memory"

At that point (after helping him numerous times to "remember" I gave up) and said we would work on it tomorrow.

So today's scenario went something like this --
We read through the words with the tape PERFECTLY! Then I turned off the tape and had him read through the words. First time through he read the words, perfectly again! Then the troubles started!

TOK:
"On
And
Is
And"

"On
And
Is
Is"

"On
And
Is
On"

Me: "No, the word is THE. Look at the word and spell it out!"

TOK: "I don't have a good memberer and I don't remember what that word is."

Me: "Yes, you do. You just need to concentrate. Try it again!" So we go through the words again. ON, AND, IS, THE! "Read the words to me again..."

TOK: "On, And, Is, On. On, And, Is, The. On, And, Is, I don't remember! I don't have a good memory!"

After working on this for at least an hour, I told him we were done with school.

5 minutes later he read his brother's name on a video game!! He also told his brother what 9 + 9 equals!! Um....do you think he had a focus problem today!! Or maybe a mental block about the word THE!!

Tuesday Confessions....

Wow!! Do I have a list today? and they say that confession is good for the soul so I need to "just do it" and spill my confessions. Here goes:

Thursday I ate an entire bag of chocolate kisses that a girlfriend sent for Christmas. It was sent for the whole family....I devoured it before anyone else could have any!

I was sick afterwards....both mentally and physically. Will I ever learn??

I did it because I was stressed out and angry at my family for "demanding my time"! I ask you, is that a good reason to make myself physically and mentally sick? I think NOT!

Since then I have been FOCUSED on eating right. I even took protein bars to the hockey rink this weekend so I would eat those instead of being hungry and coming home and eating everything in sight!

I have been preparing meals for my family this week and we've ALL been eating together as a family! But I think I have been eating TOO much at dinner time. I need to cut back on my serving sizes.

That Kid has been home from college since December 18 and I have LOVED having him home. That Kid leaves for college on Saturday and I'm going to miss him TERRIBLY but it will be nice to have one less person in the house. It's crowded when we are all here together! Nice....but still crowded. It is also difficult to get into a real school schedule with That Other Kid...because they want to hang out together and I don't blame them!

That Kid has been working out with the P90X DVD's this week and I have been watching some of it! It is TOUGH!! and it's making me want to work out harder so I can get to the point where I can do this workout with him! I'm a long way from it though!! (I'm proud of him for being able to what he can with this workout!)

Stress is bad....and I have been able to deal with it MOST days (since Thursday) this week by walking away from it and going to hide out in the bathroom -- the furthest place from the kitchen.

I started working out with Jillian Micheal's Fitness Ultimatum and I commented to dh that I think she is trying to kill me! I have been sore, but feel like it is an excellent way to further get my body back to where it should be!

That's all folks....how's your week going?? Have any confessions to make? Go over to the Sisterhood and confess. It's good for your soul and it's wonderful to have friends to "feel your pain"!!

Mom's Going to Bed...Eventually!!

A friend sent me this as an email this weekend and it made me realize just how much we as women/moms do that just come second nature to us. It is how things get done in our homes regardless of whether we are stay at home moms or work for pay moms. It is the way of women....selfless and nurturing....



Mom and Dad were watching TV when Mom said, "I'm tired, and it's getting late. I think I'll go to bed".

She went to the kitchen to make sandwiches for the next day's lunches. Rinsed out the popcorn bowls,took meat out of the freezer for supper the following evening, checked the cereal box levels, filled the sugar container, put spoons and bowls on the table and started the coffee pot for brewing the next morning. She then put some wet clothes in the dryer, put a load of clothes into the washer, ironed a shirt and secured a loose button.

She picked up the game pieces left on the table, put the phone back on the charger and put the telephone book into the drawer. She watered the plants, emptied a wastebasket and hung up a towel to dry.

She yawned and stretched and headed for the bedroom. She stopped by the desk and wrote a note to the teacher, counted out some cash for the field trip, and pulled a text book out from hiding under the chair.

She signed a birthday card for a friend, addressed and stamped the envelope and wrote a quick note for the grocery store. She put both near her purse. Mom then washed her face with 3 in 1 cleanser, put on her Night solution & age fighting moisturizer, brushed and flossed her teeth and filed her nails.

Dad called out, "I thought you were going to bed."

"I'm on my way," she said. She put some water into the dog's dish and put the cat outside, then made sure the doors were locked and the patio light was on. She looked in on each of the kids and turned out their bedside lamps and TV's, hung up a shirt, threw some dirty socks into the hamper, and had a brief conversation with the one up still doing homework.

In her own room, she set the alarm; laid out clothing for the next day, straightened up the shoe rack. She added three things to her 6 most important things to do list. She said her prayers, and visualized the accomplishment of her goals.

About that time, Dad turned off the TV and announced to no one in particular. "I'm going to bed."
And he did...without another thought.
Anything extraordinary here? Wonder why women live longer...?

CAUSE WE ARE MADE FOR THE LONG HAUL..... (and we can't die sooner, we still have things to do!!!!)

Rethinking ME -- The Hard Facts

On Monday ChristieO assigned us a PROJECT!! I've been thinking of it as a homework assignment which is probably the wrong attitude to have about it, but it was challenging and thought provoking. That was the purpose of it and it was really good timing for me to have to do it. Before I answer all the questions posed on Monday I want to tell you that this could not have happened at a better time in my life. Yesterday was stressful for me and I made the WORST food choices I could have made. Then I sat down and did my "homework" project! Wow!! What an eye opening experience! So here goes....

What about 2009 DID NOT Work?
Playing it by ear -- winging it -- just eating whatever and whenever I wanted. I didn't eat a lot of junk, but I just wasn't conscience of "is this good for me?"

What were my goals for 2009?
My main goal for 2009 was to lose enough weight so that by Christmas I would weigh no more than 150 pounds!! I obviously didn't make it :((

Did I fall short of my goal for 2009? Why?
Definitely, but now I realize it was unrealistic to even set that high of a goal for 9 months. If I would have made that goal it would have been done in a UNHEALTHY way, and that's not what I want. I want to be healthy...inside and out!!

What are the biggest obstacles to me losing weight?
STRESS!! It is a killer for me; literally and figuratively! Inconsistent eating habits also created a major road block for my weight loss. I ate far too many meals going through the drive through and in the car! Even if I stayed away from cokes I still ate too many french fries!!

What were my patterns?
I would eat well for a few weeks and start losing more weight, then something would come along and stress me out again, then I would turn to the fast food lane again! Or the candy bag!! Eating more at meals than I should!! Basically, bad food choices!

What was my "rock bottom"?
Rock bottom for me was when I went to the Endocrinologist and weighed in at 229! He told me to lose weight and 2 months later I went in and I had only lost 2 pounds! At this point he told me to stop "trying" and "DO IT"!! If I didn't I would soon be diagnosed with diabetes. That scared the crap out of me!! That was the last straw so to speak! No cokes, eat right, lose weight by exercise and good eating habits!

What worked for 2009?
That part was easy...I successfully gave up COKES cold turkey for 6 weeks! After that 6 week period I only drink coke on special occasions or when I just "want" one. Not an everyday occurrence. It is a conscience decision to drink a coke now; not just what I drink when I want something to drink. NOW I drink WATER...almost exclusively!
I also started exercising NEARLY every day!! I have had a few periods when I have taken more than 1 day off in a row (like when we were moving and when I was VERY sick with a sinus infection). I even exercised on a trip to Kansas that I took in May! Before, I would never have exercised on vacation!

Potential obstacles as I continue losing weight?
Busy schedule, stress with current financial issues. I still don't handle stress well as is evidenced by the fact that I came home stressed out yesterday and ate a bag of candy!! On the up side, for the rest of the day all I ate was a big bowl of fruit with yogurt and a bunch of WATER!! It also made me realize I need to find alternate ways to deal with hunger when I am stressed out! I need to have simple healthy foods available AT ALL TIMES!!

Part Three -- Figure out how to deal with the potential obstacles!
Well it would be so easy if I could just sequester myself from the rest of the world (kind of like what the Biggest Loser people are doing) but I can't do that, so I have to find out what works for "my world"! I think the key for my success is to stay consistent with my eating habits of eating every 3 hours and making sure I ALWAYS have a GOOD HEALTHY snack available for those times when I am "just too busy" to sit down and have a good "meal". Walking away from stressful situations is a key for me, too. As one of my friends told me this morning....JUST SAY NO!! Even if I just go do a few push ups or sit ups, jumping jacks! Something to "chill out"!! Walk AWAY from the stress will keep me from "munching on junk"!! It doesn't really help -- it only makes me feel better for the few minutes that I am eating it. It sabotages everything I have been working on for the past 9 months!

So...my goal for 2010 is to WALK AWAY FROM THE STRESS in my life and have healthy snacks available for when I am too busy to eat a real meal! If I can successfully do these 2 things I will accomplish my goal!! Healthy, lean, and at a "healthy" BMI instead of my current obese BMI!

3 Things....

so...over at the Sisterhood we are talking about 3 interesting/funny/embarrassing things that have happened to us.

I've been thinking about this for a while this afternoon and I guess I'm pretty boring or I block out things that embarrass me because I can't really think of much.

I did come up with a few things that most people outside of my family don't know about me:

1) I fall asleep EVERY.SINGLE.TIME a Star Wars Movie comes on tv! I even fell asleep at the Theatre when dh took me to see one of the movies. I can't even remember which one, but dh tells me to put in a disc of Star Wars if he thinks I need a nap now!! I guess I'll never live that one down!

2) I weighed 105 pounds when I got married back in 1984! I wore a size 5 wedding dress! I was also 19 years old....I am under no allusion that I will be that size again! Nor do I want to. I'm wearing a size 14 now, and it's gone down 2 sizes since I started working out and exercising. Man I was thin!!

3) Since Brooke admitted to being a "phantom pharter" I should also admit to the same! I do it while sitting at my computer and blame others in the house!! It's easy to do because I have a 6 year old who thinks its cool.

So what are your embarrassing moments??

2009 In Review

Today's You Capture Assignment was to document 2009 in photos. I'm not famous for taking pictures but I usually get the camera out for the "special stuff". So I am showing some of our special events of 2009!


That Kid's First Junior's Level Hockey game to officiate!



That Other Kid at the Gainesville Zoo with his best friend!



That Other Kid -- as goalie!!


Both my boys on the ice at the same time!! What a special mommy moment!!


A little brotherly love!! So glad That Kid came home from college to hang out with his brother!!


Re-engergizing after a game of football in the backyard!!


Me -- at the beginning of my weight loss journey! Can you tell I wasn't happy??



Me -- about 9 months after starting on my weight loss journey! 35 pounds lighter than in March...at least I was a little happier, right??

I can't wait to see what 2010 brings for our family!!

Weigh In Time....Rethinking Lots...

Well it's Wednesday and you know what that means, right? You get to take a peak at the scales and see how much weight you lost this week! You also get to visit me and see what I did right and what I did wrong! Fortunately, I did some things right cuz I have lost 1 pound this week.

Last week -- 192.2
This week -- 191.2

Certainly not what I should have done to meet my goal of losing 10 pounds in 7 weeks, but it is better than I expected.

Honestly, I am surprised! For some reason I have been having a real struggle with chocolate this week and usually I don't....must be hormones or something. Could be stress, as I have been catching myself snacking alot because I have been facing some stressful situations. BUT.....I am under control again! I put the snacks away! I got a big bag of chocolate kisses from one of my best friends from high school and I was not VERY tempted to eat the whole bag. I think if I would have gotten it a couple of days ago I would have just sat down on the couch and eaten the WHOLE BAG. Tonight it sits on the kitchen counter and I don't even want it....well maybe I want it, but I'm not going to eat it!!! I have a goal and I WILL BE SUCCESSFUL!!!

I have been exercising like I'm supposed to which is helping me lose weight and cut down on my stress. Monday night I started working out with my new Wii game that dh gave me for Christmas, Jillian Michael's Ultimate Workout! OMG, it is killing me! The workout is typical of Jillian....see if she can cause you to die while exercising! I am stillsore from my workout last night and it's been nearly 24 hours since I worked out! I would say it is definitely a good workout!! I have set it up to do a month long Resolution, which has me working out 4 days a week. Since my goal is to workout at least 6 days a week I will probably do something a little less intense the other 2 days! My muscles will probably thank me!

I set a goal of eating at least 5 servings of fruits/veggies this challenge and I have been doing great with it. I have really been mindful of getting enough fruits/veggies this week. That is probably what has enabled me to lose the 1 pound I lost! I also set the goal of keeping my house cleaned up and organized. I have done surprisingly well with this. I am not a great housekeeper...and I don't like to be bothered by the mundane tasks of cleaning up, but I have been doing much better this week! My dh has even noticed that the house is cleaner and more organized. YAY!!

I started the Game On Diet Plan again with my friends this morning, so that has helped me stay focused today. I have eaten well and frequently. I set goals to meet for the game that I will meet in addition to the goals I set up with the Challenge for the Sisterhood. We have a great group of women doing the game and we will have fun and lose weight together!!

Thea over at the Sisterhood gave us all a homework assignment to Think about ME. Think about the things that got us to the point where we are now. Think about what it will take to get us where we want to go. This has been a tough assignment for me MENTALLY! I have been putting it off because I don't really WANT to deal with it....but I REALLY DO WANT TO DO IT!! I want this weight to come off and I want to be a better ME...for myself and my family!
I will get my homework done, because I NEED TO KNOW WHAT IT WILL TAKE TO FIX MY ISSUES!!

So...how's your New Year going?? I would have to say that this one is shaping up to be better than last one ended and that is the ultimate goal, right?!!

New Years Confession

The Sisters have changed the schedule for this new year. Tuesdays are now confession day. I guess that gives us an extra day to decide if we are going to truly confess from the weekend or just "let it slide" and then ask how we gained weight on Wednesdays! They also created this cool button and I think it fits pretty well. (No Bull-sh** allowed!! -- my 6 year old just asked me why no bulls were allowed (I told him cuz they were BAD!) and I added the extra letters!!!)) Confession is good for the soul, but it is usually because of EVIL/SIN that we NEED to confess, so good job ladies on the cool and new button for Confession Tuesday!

Here are my confessions for the week:

1) I have been craving and eating A LOT OF CHOCOLATE the past few days -- basically since New Years! I'm sure it's because of hormones and stress, but that's not really a good excuse. I HAVE TO STOP or I WILL NOT MEET MY GOALS!!

2) I have been countering all the chocolate with fruit...I have been getting my 5 servings of fruits/veggies every day. Although, yesterday it seemed to be a real struggle.

3) I finished the 6 week challenge on the Wii EA Sports More Active this weekend and it felt GREAT!!

4) I took the next night off and watched a movie (Julie and Julia) and enjoyed myself thoroughly.

5) I started working out with Jillian Micheals Ultimate Workout (Wii) last night and my muscles.still.hurt!! I start on The Resolutions (1 month workout) tonight and I'm kind of scared! She kept telling me I wasn't working hard enough last night...what's she going to say tonight, when I am already sore??!!

6) I have the Biggest Loser tv show (new season) set up on DVR for tonight. I'm looking forward to working out then watching the show afterwards! What better motivator than 2 sessions of JILLIAN to keep me moving???!!

7) I'm looking forward to tomorrow -- I start the Game On Diet again with my friends and we weigh in for the Sisterhood. This will keep me from eating a lot of junk -- cuz I don't want to let my friends down again and I want to meet my 7 week goal of losing 10 pounds!

NO MORE CHOCOLATE --- LOTS OF FRUITS/VEGGIES!!

What are your confessions??

A New Year, A New Decade = A New ME!!

Last night dh and I watched a hockey game with That Other Kid, then as I was putting That Other Kid to bed dh started watching a movie (one I didn't have any interest in!). I had been busy all day and didn't have a chance to get online much so he finished watching his movie while I visited blogs and left some comment love! We still had time to watch a movie (of my choice this time!)-- so we watched The Proposal and both thought it was a great movie! By the time all the movies were over we were both exhausted so we went to bed! It was a nice relaxing way to ring in a new year...and forget about the OLD ONE!! 2009 was not a stellar year for our family although we did have some good points. However, we are all counting on 2010 being OUR YEAR!

This year starts off with us not really knowing what tomorrow will bring. We all have goals and desires and dreams, but don't really know how they will come to pass.
We figure we have done what we know to do, and have to leave the rest up to God! That Kid will start back to college in a little more than 2 weeks and move back into the dorms. His big goal for the next semester is to pass all his classes with a good GPA! That Other Kid and I will start back with kindergarten after having about 6 weeks off due to the move and the Christmas holiday time. His big goal for the year will be to finish kindergarten and PLAY HOCKEY, continue progressing through his karate belts, and PLAY Wii (apparently, since he seems to want to do that whenever he isn't playing hockey or with friends!) DH will begin looking for work on Monday, since his contract ended right before Christmas time. So DH's big goal for right now is to find some architectural design work (and quick, huh GOD!!) As 2010 begins I am getting myself back on track with my weight loss and exercise goals. The past couple of weeks I have had problems staying focused and consistent. I am excited that there are plenty of others to keep me accountable and focused as well as help me "rethink my shrink"! My big goal for the year will be to continue losing weight and by the end of 2010 I plan to be at my goal weight (which is still unknown -- I'm sure I will know it when I get there!)

With that goal in mind this morning I wanted to see exactly where I was, and where I had come from, so I took down my measurements and recorded them. I also weighed myself. For the record -- I have lost at least 20 inches of flab this year! I plan to get that much more off!! I plan to be a lean, mean, momma by this time next year!! This morning I weighed in at 191.2 which is 35.6 pounds less than when I started this journey on March 25th, 2009. I have a long way to go, but at least I'm making progress and I have begun the process! So here is what I looked like this morning -- 1/1/10




This is beginning of a new decade, a new year and it's gonna be a GREAT ONE!! I hope you have a great one too!