Shannon's Weight Loss Journey

OK, OK, OK!!!!

2009-04-02T14:35:00.002-06:00

So I've been threaten with bodily harm if I don't put up another post!!!

OK, not really, but it was close ;-)

I'm still going strong. I'm hating that it's going to take so long. I think that goes to prove that our society is so stuck on QUICK, NOW, FAST, IMMEDIATE, that when something takes time, it's, well, annoying!

I am also finding it hard to find time to blog. VERY hard. So, please know I'm here, chugging along!!

Running: I am walk/running 3 days a week right now. This week I should be doing more running than walking but my body can only run 3 minutes twice in a 45 min. session, otherwise my legs feel like jello and I feel as though I'm going to fall down.

Here's this week's schedule for me:

Walk 5 minutes (warm up)

The first number is walking, the second number is running.

3/2 (walk 3/run 2)
2/3
3/2
2/3
2/3
2/3
2/3
5 Walk to cool down

TMI, Maybe?

2009-03-16T14:05:00.003-06:00

As I mentioned before, I am adjusting my breakfast and lunch meals to reflect better eating habits by making better choices, yada, yada, yada.........I was at Wally World yesterday and decided on some Fiber One bars for breakfast (Oat & Chocolate if you must know :-)

QUICK. GOOD. EASY. See, I'm in our van 2 hours every day toting kids from place to place so breakfast tends to be a tough one because 99.9% of the time I'm on the go.

I even noticed on the side of the box that the fiber in each bar is more than some people consume in a day....WAHOO and extra bonus for me! 9 grams of fiber PER BAR.

So, I'm cruising through W.M. and realize I'm getting shaky. BECAUSE, it's 2 pm and I haven't had breakfast OR lunch. So, hey, I broke into the breakfast bars. I ate one in W.M. and ate another about 2 hours later, NOT THINKING OF THE FIBER CONTENT.

Do you see where I'm going with this one?

Yeah, let's just say I spent WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY too much time in the restroom yesterday. So, people, be mindful of upping your fiber all in one day :-)

Distraction

2009-03-12T12:00:00.003-06:00

Spending 99% of my time with all of my kids, I am a MASTER of distractions. Distracting the kids so they don't get in to something, cause trouble, fight, etc. The educational word is to "redirect". Whatever.

:-)

I have found that when I "distract" myself, or REDIRECT my attention while I am on the treadmill, it really does completely get your mind off of, "Ugh.......how much longer? How far have I gone?" This gym has 12 TV's going at the same time. Plug in your headphones, punch what channel you want to listen to, then stare at that particular screen. I am in LOVE with the comedy channel this week. I know I've already mentioned this, I don't have Alzheimer's, I'm just really excited! I think I'm going to get episodes of things I can watch on my iPhone. That way I am watching EXACTLY what I want, AND, there's no commercials. I HATE COMMERCIALS!!!

My training regimen (fancy way of saying getting my butt in gear, eh?) is 1 and 4's this week. I was able to do 8 sets, so 40 minutes total. One minute running, 4 minutes walking.

I would get to listening to a comedian and look down and realize I had run for one and a half minutes! Wow!

So, let's just hope I can keep this up! Next week come the 2 minute sets. I think I can, I think I can!!

************************************

EATING

I have really watched my food consumption for breakfast and lunch by making wise choices. Dinner I have left alone for now. I'm afraid if I change EVERYTHING all at once I'll get burned out quickly.

Sheepishly

2009-03-09T20:34:00.003-06:00

So, I think I'm heading toward running a 5K to give me something to focus on instead of just "going to the gym". Maybe by putting it in writing I'll stick to it? We'll see.

Today was my official DAY ONE of training. My goal was to run an itty bit. Run one minute, walk 4. I was able to do this 5 times before I had to leave the gym to pick up the kiddos. I know I could have done it longer, which was frustrating to have to stop, however, I think that's a good thing, right?

:-)

It sure helps to have Comedy Central on the TV making you LAUGH through your running. Come to think of it, maybe it's a brain teaser........they tell you laughing releases endorphins, right? So, if you exercise (which releases endorphins), and laugh at the same time, I guess you get a DOUBLE dose. That's my theory anyway :-)

On a different note, I really do want to take progress pictures...........BUT I'M SCARED!!! :-)

Here's one for you. A friend of mine told me that you burn the same amount of calories walking or running as long as you go the same distance. TRUE?? It takes you LONGER to walk, so that's more steps. Running gets it done faster. Definitely an interesting concept!!!

Time??

2009-03-08T20:51:00.004-06:00

Geesh........I struggle enough as it is staying home with three kids (5, 2, 9 months) and keeping our sanity.....then along comes the time change and it takes ANOTHER hour from me!!! WHAT??

So, I'm here........I'm shifting my lifestyle slowly.......time for blogging is few and far between. I'm going to try VERY hard to keep things up here because it keeps things up to date for me and something to track my progress. Not to mention I get to check up on YOU too! :-)

So, EXERCISE. Gotta have it. I went walking at the gym for 55 minutes last Wednesday. Not fast but for almost an hour. All that it takes to even GET to the gym with all 3 kids (one in preschool, one in a mother's day out program 2 days a week, and the baby goes with and stays in the nursery) I feel as though I've accomplished something by the time my feet hit the treadmill! HA!

My immediate goal is to go to the gym twice a week for a couple of weeks. THEN, figure out how to work in a third day.

It's slow, I know. BUT. It's progress.

Baby steps, you know. Just like Dave Ramsey says. BABY STEPS.

Hello, Hello?

2009-03-02T15:38:00.005-06:00

Anyone home?

Ahhh!!!

Wow. Let me clear off the cobwebs around here. Geesh. It's pretty bad, eh?

Well, here I go. Round 2. I am one child more and back to where I started with the weight loss goal. I'm almost EXACTLY where I was when I began this before! Except I have another child! He's 9 months old now. Wow. Where did the time go??

********************************************

So, here we go!

I have joined a gym here in our town. It's a pretty neat place, actually and I'm (shhh....don't tell anyone) a little excited about visiting there just because of the neat things they have. Like, a movie theatre work out room with cardio equipment. Nothing like making the time go by faster, right? :-)

HOLY COW!!!

2008-06-26T21:09:00.003-06:00

Well, the last time I posted, we found out we were having a baby boy. Now we've had him and he's wonderful!!

I will come back here, slowly, as 3 kids is a handful for us right now.

Here's a picture to tide you over!

Hope all is well with the weight loss world out there!!

Blessings,

Shannon

It's a.......

2008-01-04T18:01:00.000-06:00

Yep, we found out today what we are having...........this 13 pounds belongs to a little baby boy :-)

We have a 4 year old boy, 18 month old girl and now another boy. Our little girl will be sandwiched in between two brothers!

Just thought I'd let you all know!!

Anybody there?

2008-01-03T15:33:00.000-06:00

I know this blog began as a weight loss blog, AND IT WILL RETURN TO ONE at the appropriate time, however, with my "SURPRISE" of our third child coming, I obviously cannot continue with the weight LOSS for now :-)

I have been a lurker on my weight loss blogs and I am very proud of all of you! WAY TO GO YOU GUYS!!!

On the day I found out I was pregnant, I weighed 172. Today (Jan. 3, 2008) I weigh 185. Thirteen pounds gained in 12+ weeks. Good or bad, THEM'S the FACTS! :-)

My due date has been changed to June 4 so I'm about 18 weeks into this pregnancy.

Eating:

I kept my same eating routines for the first 3 weeks until some SEVERE morning sickness kicked in. It was all day.........miserable, almost NON-functioning morning sickness. I ate whatever I could hold down, which, unfortunately wasn't "good/healthy" food. "Healthy" food is not my number one choice on any normal day, it's a habit, so when I HAVE to keep food down to survive, it ended up being things that weren't great. Fruit was always good so I stuck with that a lot of the time. THANKFULLY that only lasted for 3 weeks, then slowly life began to get back to normal---as far as eating :-)

My taste isn't back for the healthy food, however, I do the very best I can eating tons of fruits and veggies when my stomach will allow it. Chicken is out almost 100% of the time. I have no idea why, I just don't want it. I like salad, cereal, fruits, veggies for the most part.

Here's a couple of pictures for those interested...........

HELLOOOOO!!!!!

2007-11-24T19:56:00.000-06:00

Well, for those of you who will try back here to see if I've fallen off of the earth.....I'm here but boy do I have some news for you guys.

"Surprise" is the right word to describe the picture below.....

(looking?)

(here it comes)

(take a deep breath......)

Yep........Shannon and family will now be a Party of 5. Curious what I've been up to lately? Now you now :-) Wrapping our heads around the idea of a third child.

SURPRISE!

That doesn't even begin to describe it.

Due date: June 16, 2008 Exactly ONE WEEK prior to my daughter's 2nd birthday.

So, unfortunately, my almost 30 lb. weight LOSS will have to be put "on hold" until after this "surprise" arrives :-)

I know this blog was started as a weight loss blog........and I will update it periodically with food issues, but obviously there won't be any weight LOSS on here for a while. I have followed some of you over these past few weeks but honestly, just getting through a day was about all I could handle before collapsing in bed. My "morning sickness" was ALL DAY and HARSH.

THANKFULLY, now that I'm almost 12 weeks into this thing, I'm feeling better.

So, PLEASE know that I WILL be checking and following you all!!! I am very proud of all those pounds that have fallen off of you!!!!!!!! YOU GO GIRLS!!!

Feel free to check back here for updates on "the surprise".

Found it

2007-10-16T18:46:00.000-06:00

I found a place here in our town that does those meals in packages that I mentioned in one of my recent posts. The only problem is the nutrition info! HOLY COW! Some aren't that bad....here's an example of a "good" one:

Chicken Piccata Servings: 6 (1 breast w/sauce) Calories: 150 Fat: 2g Fiber: 0g Protein: 27g Carbs: 4g Sodium: 340mg Sugar: 0g Transfat: 0g

They have several options as to how many meals you can get at a time. For a 4-6 person serving, and you get 6 of those, that's $132. Not bad for $5.50 a person, depending on how much you eat.

We may try this out. I'll keep you posted!

FYI, here's one that's BAD.

Beef and Asparagus Cordon BleuServings: 6 (1 cordon bleu per serving) Calories: 370 Fat: 27g Fiber: 2g Protein: 27g Carbs: 4g Sodium: 490mg Sugar: 1g Transfat: 0.5g

9 years old

2007-10-16T16:13:00.000-06:00

What were you doing when you were 9? Hmmmmmmm..............I was in, what....the 4th grade? I was learning double digit multiplication (I remember specifically because I had a really hard time learning this one), reading stories, auditioning for our school Christmas play (where I was selected as the "mother" of the play). I also had this INCREDIBLE black bus driver that I will NEVER forget. She made EVERYONE feel "cool" and special. She sang songs with us all the way to school! It was wild. We LOVED her. I LOVED riding the bus. How many kids do you hear say that today?

Why do I even bring up 9 years old? Because I am sitting here watching our local news and was saddened by a story about a 9 year old girl that has ANOREXIA!!! WHAT THE HECK!?!?!? Is our society so terrible that a NINE year old truly CARES about what she looks like SOOO much that she develops an eating disorder?? What is going on in this world today?!?! Do we as mothers teach this to them without knowing it by looking in the mirror and saying," Whew. I look fat in this!" or, "I wish I could loose some weight." I know one of my older brothers used to tell me that I needed to stop eating so much because I was "chubby". I remember HIM being the first one to make me look at myself in a negative light. To this day he has no idea I remember that. HOWEVER, it didn't make me stop eating!!! And, by the way, I was a TAD chunky, but NOT fat. I will post a picture if I can find one around here.

This story just stung me when I heard it. WE are doing this to our kids and I don't think we even realize it! SIZE 2's are NOT normal! BUT, almost everything kids see (magazines, movies, videos, etc.) make it look like it is. I'm really sickened by this story.

I have a daughter. Her name is Katie. I was ecstatic when we found out she was a girl, but inside I was terrified. Why? Because I don't think I can raise her with all the things she needs. Probably a fear most parents have but I truly feel this way. I was not raised from a mom who taught me about "girly" things. She never showed me how to put on makeup, wear cute clothes or pluck my eyebrows. She never taught me how to cross my legs or wear hose. She didn't help pick out any prom dress or take the time to show me any girly things. She never told me what a period was either. So you can see why I'm 34 years old and freaking out that I NOW have to raise a daughter with the fear of doing the same thing to her. I think because I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOO on the opposite side of the spectrum from my mom in most ways, that I won't do this to her, but I'm still scared to death. Who's to say that when she's 9 I won't be going NUTS because she's got an eating disorder?

Every generation, I'm sure, goes through the, "It's so much worse these days" syndrome, but I truly feel that in the year 2007, raising kids is a scary time.

I pray that this process (of losing weight) will help me teach my children how to eat healthy, have a positive look about themselves, and be genuinely happy and healthy people.

Thanks for giving me a place to share my thoughts.

Ellen

2007-10-16T12:39:00.000-06:00

For those of you who are pet lovers, this video of Ellen DeGeneres will break your heart. I happen to LOVE Ellen's humor and used to watch her show pretty frequently. I saw this on Yahoo video and it just tore me up. She LOOOOOOOOOOOOVES animals and would do ANYTHING for them. Bless her heart.

Click HERE to watch.

171/172/171/172/171/172

2007-10-16T12:15:00.000-06:00

Yeah.........confused about the title of this post? Me too. This is what my scale told me this morning. :-) So, to be fair, I will say 172, which puts me down another POUND for this week :-)

You know, most of you guys post something every day. I wish my life was THAT eventful to write something so creative and cute/funny, however, I just "ain't got it" in me to do that! My life is almost exactly the same Monday thru Friday. Though I wouldn't change places with ANYONE, I cannot say my life is filled with a bunch of events to write home about :-) Even my dieting stuff is boring. Basically, I don't eat stuff high in fat or calories-----pretty boring, I know, but that's all I do. I stick to it with the exception of once a week, and even then, I really try to not make TERRIBLE choices at that.

Here's a question for you guys.........have you ever heard of those places you can go to and create several day's meals at once? If I understand the process correctly, you buy a package that includes a certain amount of meals---let's say 14 dinners. Then, through a 2 hour process they help you put together 14 dinners that are freezable, you create them, take them home, and voila!! You have 14 nights worth of dinners! Have any of you tried something like this? If so, how did it work out? Was it ridiculously expensive? I'm considering this to try something completely different.........I'll keep you posted!

Here's something that will make most of you laugh...........I heard THE question from my 4 year old yesterday........."Mom, where do babies come from?" UHHHHHHHHHHHHHGHGHGH! It's really not that difficult of a question to answer, but you hear all of your life, how awkward it can be to have to answer that question. I just said they came from God and he was content. I will return the favor when he's about 12 years old :-) hahaha!!! My sister in law is expecting so there's TONS of questions about babies right now. I'm glad this simple answer worked. For now. :-)

Sunday, while getting dressed I realized how incredibly sad my wardrobe is. My clothes look HUGE! I wanted to take a picture just to show you guys but I was running short on time. Maybe this next Sunday :-) It's a great feeling, but irritating at the same time.

Dancin' a Jig!!

2007-10-09T13:18:00.000-06:00

173 this morning! Yea!!! After eating like I did last week I am surprised I was down a lb! :-)

Yeah, you hear me complaining, don't you?????? HAAAA!!!

I wonder why it's so incredibly easy to put weight on but so freaking hard to lose it?!?!?? What's up with that?

I am sooooooo ready for some chili and cold weather! We are getting cooler weather here the latter part of this week and weekend. NOTHING near chili weather, but at least it's heading in that direction!!

I hope you guys have a wonderful Tuesday!!! (At least this week I know it's Tuesday today!! ;-)

I'm a Star!!!!!!!

2007-10-02T11:00:00.000-06:00

Holy weight loss Batman.........I'm a Blogging Star to Shannon!! Shannon gave me this awesome star for being a support for her. Well, apparently she doesn't realize she's been a terrific supporter for me and I couldn't have gotten this far without her! Thanks tons, Shannon for the STAR!

I LOVE getting surprises, but I LOOOOVE giving them more, so here you go support buddies! Thanks for supporting me!

Let me pause for a moment and say I read several blogs on a semi daily basis and they ALL inspire me in TONS of ways. Please don't take offense if you don't get this award, I just didn't want to list 30 people! :-) I love ALL OF YOU!!!

I now "knight" the following with a Blogging Star award!
(Feel free to pass the love along!!)

Chubby Chick
To Whom Much Is Given...
CCC's Journey
Dancer In Me
Weighing in with my .02

Hugs to all of my blogging buddies!!

Week 24 Weigh In

2007-10-02T10:26:00.000-06:00

Eeekkk....going out of town and eating out.....AND eating what I wanted three times, didn't help my weigh in this morning. But, alas, I must be honest.

176 was my weigh in. Whew........talk about motivation to eat right. Three days doing what I wanted KILLED my weight loss strategy!! Yuck..........

Oh, but the lasagna, chicken nuggets and (chicken) chimichanga were sooooooooo worth it!!! :-)

On a funny note......

I went to McDonalds to get an UNsweet tea while I was waiting to pick up my son from preschool on Friday. I was THIRSTY THIRSTY!!! They handed me my UNsweet tea and I asked for some Splenda. "How many?" they asked. "EIGHT" I replied. NOW BEFORE YOU GASP, have you seen how big those TUBS of tea are that McDonalds sells? OK, moving on.....hehe I added my Splenda and took about 4 or 5 HUGE gulps.........HOLY COW I thought I was going to get sick!!! They gave me a sweet tea instead of an UNsweet tea, THEN I added my 8 packs of splenda on top of that! WHEW WHEW!!! Talk about sweet!!!

174!!!!!!

2007-09-25T12:48:00.000-06:00

It never fails.......my weigh in is on Tuesday and inevitably my "loss" is on Wednesday. Maybe I need to change my weigh in to Wednesday!??! HA!

Down another pound and I'm a happy camper for it!

***UPDATE***

You know your brain is fried when you have to have someone tell you IT IS TUESDAY!!!!!! Holy cow.....Thanks Shannon for keeping me sane! hahaha

I would write it off as a blonde moment, however, I'm not blonde! hehe

Waaaaaay In

2007-09-24T11:30:00.000-06:00

Let me begin this post with a HUGE SHOUT OUT to my fellow blogging buddy, Shannon (yes, we share this awesome name :-). She hit the big 2-5 mark today!!!!!!!! YEA SHANNON!!!!

On to more boring stuff........;-)

I updated my side bar to include a week-by-week weigh in. (Shannon, I COMPLETELY stole this from your blog!! :-) I hope there's no copyright involved! haha

No loss this week. I'm still at 175.

CONFESSION :-)

We went out to eat with some friends of ours Saturday night. We ate at P.F. Changs........HOLY COW I love their food. I felt guilty eating EVERY. SINGLE. BITE. of my entree, though not guilty enough to stop! haa

THEN, we went back to their house where N. had made these INCREDIBLE brownies with cream cheese spread on top, and strawberry jelly added on that. OH MAN it was good. I'm surprised the scale was as nice as it was to me this morning! haa

The purpose of my title is to say this.......I am beginning to feel like I've been doing this weight loss things for...EVER. I knew it was going to take a while, and I still do. It's just so annoying that I am 23 weeks into this process and I'm not quite 1/2 way there. ALMOST. BUT, not quite :-)

My next mini goal, as I have stated already, is to get to the 1/2 way mark, which is about 5 lbs away. Probably another month away but maybe not!

Weird-ism

2007-09-21T18:52:00.000-06:00

This post has absolutely nothing to do with weight loss at all. So, if that bugs you a little bit feel free to check back on the next post :-)

I have a family blog, and I thought about posting this on there, however, it’s truly a “family” blog for friends and family, and I don’t want them thinking of this every time I see them over the next however many years :-)

I am a sensitive person. I’m sure my husband would describe me as a VERY sensitive person. So much so, that I feel like I have this weird “ability” to read INTO almost anything someone can say, or even NOT say to me. It can be a simple “hello” at a grocery store, and I feel like I can sum up that person in a heartbeat. It’s bazaar, and I know that, however, I cannot seem to shake it no matter how hard I try.

This is what spawned my post. Today I took my kids to a local park to play since school was out due to teacher inservices. We had a blast! While we were there, I happened to recognize a little boy. At first I couldn’t place it. It was like my brain was doing a “computer search” for this “file” (face). My mind raced and I looked up at the mother, who I’m sure thought I was a tad wacko because I stared at her son for about 10 seconds, then looked up at her and asked, “Do you go to “insert church name here”?” She looked at me a little irritated and said, “No.” I tried again….”Is he in preschool somewhere?” Same reply back. “No.”

Let me add in here that these “no’s” were somewhat irritating sounding to me so I began to feel a tad uncomfortable so I felt even MORE compelled to figure this out so she didn’t think I was some psycho mom staring at her child! Hmmm…I already covered my two “child” outlets…where else…….then it dawned on me…….

"He was in a Mother’s Day Out program last year, wasn’t he?” Almost reluctantly she said, “Yes, at (insert church name here).” AHHH!!! That’s where I recognize him from! My son, Andrew went there last year and I subbed at the preschool a handful of times. “Oh.” she says in a very, almost annoyed tone.

And that was the end of the conversation.

So, my mind begins to spin. “Why is she being so weird? Did I say something wrong? Ask it wrong? Am I not dressed appropriately or something?” (see, my insecurities begin to kick in, huh?)

She looked to be a mom in her early 30’s, thin, nicely dressed and groomed, makeup, etc.
Who knows why she reacted the way she did toward me but it stung. It reminded me of being back in middle school or even high school when you got the “You’re not included” signal from someone or group. It’s weird. I often wonder if I’m the only one who ever feels this way which makes me NOT talk about it. Who knows. Maybe it’s a 6th sense or something (just kidding).

This is just one example of a bazillion I could tell you about. Andrew’s preschool moms are the same way. Obviously not ALL of them. Really, most of them are so wonderful and sweet and nice and….you get my point. But there’s a couple of women who dress to the hilt, have BEAUTIFUL hair, makeup, clothes, vehicles that could probably pay off our home, etc. We (mothers) have to see each other every morning and every afternoon because we drop off and pick up our kids at the exact same place (duh)so you would think it could all be nice and polite for a few minutes?! It’s as though there’s a club of sorts that you have to be inducted in to and I didn’t get invited. Again, I’m telling you it’s weird.

So, there's my weird-ism. We all have them I guess, I just haven't learned to deal with mine yet. I'm only 34!!!!!!!!!

Ok. Thanks for giving me a place to voice a weird-ism of mine :-)

Whew........

2007-09-18T15:15:00.000-06:00

I'm sure glad that salt left my body............I LOVE how it tastes going in but it sure holds on to that water!!

Thankfully, I am down to 175 this morning :-)

My next little goal is hitting my 1/2 way mark, which is 5 more lbs.

Not a whole lot going on here. My routine is the same....spending a lot of time in the car running our 4 year old to and from preschool (*video below*), playing with our 14 month old daughter and all the other "stay at home" mom duties.

I'm not sure how the weather has been where you guys live, but this past weekend was AWESOME here! We had a taste of fall and now I'm DIEING for cool weather. Fall has always been my favorite season for so many reasons..........long sleeves, sweatshirts, jeans, hats, gloves, colorful leaves, cold noses, bus exhaust fumes....

Let me explain that one......

My brain connects fall with marching season. You see, band was my life in high school (and thereafter). We had (and still have) a very successful band program in high school. My entire life evolved around marching band. I was a section leader/field commander so I spent even more time around the band.....not that I minded at all! (I became a band director after all :-) Anyway, our band was so big it required tons of school buses or greyhound buses to get us to and from places. Not to mention the marching competitions on the weekends, where the parking lots were PACKED with school and greyhound buses, all giving off that wonderful smell of fall..........exhaust fumes :-) Ahhhhhhhhhh.........those are some of my fondest memories :-)

The weather is back up to the high 80's again, but I know fall is just around the corner!!!

I'm also ready for some good chili and soup!!! Any good "healthy" recipes you guys have for either of those?!?!

*******************
I was proud (but shocked!) to hear my 4 year old say this:

Oh well

2007-09-11T14:55:00.000-06:00

My Tuesday weigh in was up a pound. 177. Not surprising to me because I ate WAYYYYYY too much salt these past two days. Do you guys ever get that awful craving for S-A-L-T??!?! Whew.....well, I had the craving and fed it and now I'm facing the consequences :-)

Please do me a favor.... take a moment to say a prayer & remember all of those affected by 9-11.

Un-official weigh in

2007-09-07T09:02:00.000-06:00

I just couldn't resist sharing I hit the 25 pound mark this morning!! YEAH ME! :-) I have lost 25 pounds so far! Whew.........I feel like I've been doing this forever......and in actuality, I guess I have....well, since May 8, and that's a long time!

We had my son's 4th b-day party this past weekend and lots of people noticed I have lost weight. It made me feel good to hear them say things like, "Wow! You've lost a lot of weight!" or "You're looking really good!" So, I guess I've reached that point of people noticing, which is really nice.

The one thing that DRIVES ME IN SANE is the question of, "Are you on a diet?" I'm not sure why......I'm kind of quirky that way, meaning, some things just get on my nerves quicker than others and that question is one of MY PERSONAL pet peeves. Why? Because I don't look at it as a diet. It's just food choices. That's it. I'm not stuffing my face with sweets and fats all day long, and guess what gang? YOU LOSE WEIGHT! DUH. Anyway, sorry to hit on a negative here but that is a big pet peeve of mine :-)

My response to them was, "No, actually, I've just changed my eating habits." Jokingly I would say, "Anything my husband eats, I don't." Maybe at some point soon, I'll get him on board so he can lose some weight too. He needs to, but just doesn't want to yet and until he reaches that point of WANTING to....well, you know the story.....he won't! :-)

Here's our big boy riding in a go kart with his Uncle Drew :-) We took him to a put-put/go kart place for his birthday. I thought I would share a picture :-)

Interesting

2007-09-07T08:17:00.000-06:00

I had a nurse come out to our house for a "life insurance" interview/meeting this morning. She gathered a little 'tinkle' then took some blood. THEN, she pulled out the S-C-A-L-E. This is the first scale I have been on (other than my own of course) so I was very interested to see what the difference would be between the two scales. Her scale read 178.8. Very interesting. Of course I had my clothes on but still.

I like MY scale better :-) haha!

WOW!

2007-09-04T12:45:00.000-06:00

177 this morning! That's my Tuesday weigh in :-)

I was a little apprehensive about getting on the scale because last night we went out to eat at Outback and I had a 7 oz steak....., "...and it was good." to put it in biblical terms :-) I also ate a few bites of a baked potato w/ butter and sour cream. I did eat a salad before that :-)

Nonetheless, I'm sure it will show up with my weigh in tomorrow though.

BUT, for today.......it's 177!!!

:-)

Sorry folks

2007-08-30T09:01:00.001-06:00

Please accept my apologies for not posting this Tuesday.......I'll get my life in order....EVENTUALLY! :-)

178....that was this morning's weigh in! One more pound kicked to the curb. I'm doing my best to make good food choices whether eating out or not.

THANK YOU for those of you that responded to my question about eating out! I was very curious how others handle eating out. Ultimately, in our household, we eat out for two reasons:

1. It's convenient
2. My husband LOOOOOOOOOOOOVES good food. (Honestly, it doesn't take much to talk me in to going out to eat :-)

Breakfast and lunch, in our house is almost ALWAYS eaten at home. Only on very seldom occasions do we eat breakfast or lunch while we are out. When I say "we", that's really just the kids and I because my husband is at work during the day.

So, dinner is left. I would say my husband picks up dinner on his way home from work probably once a week, then Sunday after church is always a given. My husband eats out with some friends every Thursday evening, but that's just him. I eat out pretty often on Wed. evenings because I go scrapbook w/ a friend. Gosh, as you can see, we eat out a lot. Again, it's all about convenience.

I'm with Lady T in saying that it's always cheaper and almost always healthier to eat at home.

Here's to eating healthier WHILE at home!!! :-)

Now I'm only OVER WEIGHT!!

2007-08-23T12:38:00.000-06:00

I wish I could come up with some creative titles for my posts..........some of you out there are very good at it!

The past week and a half or so has been a little rough as far as the eating goes. I will begin first by saying on Tuesday morning, (my new weigh-in day) I was at 179!! So, now I am officially a "70's" girl. I guess that would be a "170's" girl but hey, it gets the point across :-) This puts me as "OVER WEIGHT" on the BMI scale, as opposed to OBESE, so that's a VERY good thing!

Now, back to my rough week. I guess saying it was "rough" is a little over stated, but I will say it has been a little harder to make the "RIGHT" choices. We have a Carrabbas restaurant near us.....which is just terrible because they have INCREDIBLE Italian cuisine. I literally could eat an entire loaf of bread with their oil and special mixes of herbs and spices. Holy cow it's good! MOST of the time I get salmon or chicken, which is ALWAYS wonderful, but you know....when you go out to eat sometimes, you just want a big, fat juicy piece of RED meat! We went out to eat after church this past Sunday and I got a steak.........it was fixed PERFECTLY. I ate about 8-10 bites and figured that was PLENTY, and gave the rest to my husband. MY GOODNESS every bite was heavenly. I am STILL waiting for my taste buds to LOVE the healthy stuff more than STEAK and ICE CREAM and FUDGE and OOEY GOOEY BROWNIES! haha You get my point. :-) I really don't think that will ever happen, but I can wish for it, right?!?!

Here's a question for all of you......how many times, on average, do you eat out (or order out) in a 7 day period? I KNOW that times have changed because when I was little, we ONLY ate out on Sunday afternoons, after church, and THAT, in itself, was a VERY special treat. We only did that probably once a month.

I am VERY interested in what you used to do when you were growing up, AND, what you do now, so please post and let me know!

Two Points

2007-08-18T07:08:00.001-06:00

Point One

I need to create a consistent weigh in for my weight loss blog. Unconsciously I have been posting only when there's a loss! HA! I see how some of you are so regimented with your weigh-in's I guess I should join that band-wagon too.

I think I'll put it on TUESDAY since I began my weight loss journey on Tuesday, May 8, 2007.

Point Two

As I was walking our dog last night, I realized something....TWO somethings really. The first thing I noticed is that my shorts don't ride up when I walk like they used to. Something that has ALWAYS annoyed the BAJEEBEEZ out of me. It's not completely gone, but almost! This is something I never thought about! Ahhhh....an added incentive in loosing weight.......no wedgies! haa

And the second thing I noticed was that my arms don't hit the fat around my arm pits. Follow me here........really, it's the fat just below my armpit and toward my back. This is something that has annoyed me FOREVER, and actually, it was the first sign, back when weight started creeping on, that I noticed! Wearing good bras or sport bras never helped either. So, I guess I just had to get rid of it. It's not completely gone, but almost! To the point I can tell a big difference!

Kicked Another one.......

2007-08-10T13:54:00.000-06:00

I was able to drop another pound today! The scale just smiled at me and said, "180".

I have been CRAVING salad over the past few months. It's crazy........I bet I could eat a salad everyday. AND, I'm in a BLUE CHEESE mode. If I eat a salad, it has blue cheese. Crumbled Danish Blue Cheese to be exact. A year ago I would have told you, "GROSS!! You like blue cheese?"

On a random note, for those of you who might be looking for something different to add to your plate at night, try this. I went by the deli in our grocery store and had two pieces of seasoned turkey cut (1 inch think for each piece). I took it home, plopped it in the frying pan, added a little bit of Splenda brown sugar and a little bit of water and voila! It was very good. We threw some veggies on the side and dinner was served! Definitely not a gourmet meal, but it was REALLY good :-) Even our one year old enjoyed the corn on the cob.

Not a whole lot to report. The school year is coming back around again and I love it. Ever since I was a little kid I have loved the beginning of school because it meant new clothes, new school supplies, organizing (yes, I think I'm a tad OCD), and pretty much everything starting anew. Being a teacher, I was the same way, it was just on the other side of the coin. I LOVED it. Now, I am staying home with the kids and my husband teaches, so I get to see him go through all of this, however, he doesn't find the "new" thing as exciting :)

Our almost 4 year old son begins preschool. We had visitation day today and it was wonderful. Rumor has it that this preschool is one of the best preschools and so far it hits the mark. I am very excited for him, and in turn, he reflects the excitement back at me. His first day is Monday. OH HOW FAST THEY GROW UP!!!

Food with a PUNCH

2007-08-06T12:36:00.000-06:00

OK, I totally stole this from a SparkPeople email, but I thought it might help my fellow weight loss buddies!

It's a small list of food that packs a punch...

GRAINS:

whole wheat cereal
oatmeal
whole wheat bread, pita, bagel, pasta
brown rice
deli rye
pure bran muffins
cream of wheat
raisin bread

FRUITS/VEGGIES:

oranges
berries (especially blueberries)
cantaloupe
watermelon
apples
avocado
chili peppers
spinach
sweet potatoes

DAIRY/PROTEIN:

low fat or skim milk
low fat yogurt
salmon
tuna
chicken
almonds
peanuts
walnuts/hazelnuts
beans
eggs

My Belly

2007-08-06T09:58:00.000-06:00

Nothing like getting straight to the point, eh? :-)

I am getting a little aggravated with one thing but before I tell you more about it let me say I am VERY happy with how things are going with my weight loss. I am not a pessimist by any stretch of the imagination and my weight loss is no different. I know it's pretty simple math---calories in vs. calories out and I'm very conscious of everything that goes in my body. Anyway, with that being said, I'm going to complain about something today.

As I have already said, MY BELLY.

My belly annoys me. A LOT. I'm not sure if it's because I gained a lot of weight while pregnant with my first child, which maybe stretched out my entire stomach or what. I had another child over a year ago and REALLY watched everything about that pregnancy (weight gain). I did a great job but I'm thinking maybe I stretched things really far out of whack?

Here's the scary details....for those of you that know me personally.......you might want to stop reading here because it might be too much information to look me in the eye again :-) haha

My belly has a little "hanging" going on and I contributed it to my pregnancies, however, I read on Pasta Queen's blog that she did the pencil test. (Let me say here that, yes, I did the pencil test and it fell to the floor :-) I don't believe Pasta Queen has children, so maybe my belly "hanging" isn't from pregnancies. In support of this, I see women all the time that have had children and their bellies look flat and don't have "hanging" going on (J, you are a perfect example). I'm guessing that when I lose all of my weight, most of my belly hanging will go away!?!? I also know from TONS of reading that you cannot pinpoint weight loss, meaning you cannot do sit ups for it to help lose belly hanging. All the fat has to go away first, which is what I am losing. I just hope it takes the belly along with it.

Part two of this is clothing. My butt and hips are comfortably in a size 14, however, my stomach is in an 18. I have a pair of Spanx which does help "put things in place" but it's weird how my body works. It's like this.....I'll put the Spanx on and the fat is pushed up over the top.....like an over filled muffin tin!!! HA!!! I like muffins and all.....but I don't like LOOKING like one

So, my weight loss continues. I hope to get rid of my "muffin" soon :-)

Funny Story

2007-08-04T15:38:00.000-06:00

Shopping today:

My son: "Can we get some candy?"

Mom: "Son, that's the LAST thing we need to do right now."

My son: completely silent....

30 minutes later, as we were leaving...

My son: "Mom, can we go get our candy now?

Mom: "Honey, I told you we weren't getting any candy."

My son: "No you didn't. You said it would be the last thing we would do."

The big 2-0!!!

2007-08-01T07:40:00.001-06:00

Yes, ladies and gentlemen..........I have reached a loss of 20 pounds this morning! I did the victory dance :-) I think my son will sum up my mood....

I guess I really need to set some goals and put them in writing. I didn't have a "set" goal but for some reason when I hit a 20 lbs mark, I feel incredible!! It is 1/3 of my total weight loss goal, which is wonderful! It's also a solid number....it's even...it ends in zero....it's all around a good number :-)

I keep telling myself, I know I could loose more weight if I exercised a LOT. I just don't have the desire to do it. I HATE exercising to be honest. HATE HATE HATE it. Before I got pregnant with our second child I was going to the YMCA about 3 times a week and really trying hard. I hated it. Everyone says, "find something you LIKE to do!" Ok, how about scrapbooking? I like that!?!? However, that doesn't make you loose weight.

Anyway, WAAHOO for me today!

This morning when I woke up, I felt good before my feet even hit the ground. I love days like these....when everything falls into place :-) Though I must admit that it's only 8:43am so there's a lot of day ahead! ha! I will say that I am one lucky person and I don't say it often enough. I have two incredible children and an awesome husband. He works so incredibly hard for me to be able to stay home with our children, and yet, tries very hard to find time to make "special" for all of us.

See, I told you I woke up in a good mood this morning :-)

Happy August 1st to you!

Food for thought....

2007-07-31T08:57:00.001-06:00

I saw this on the Today Show this morning and thought everyone might appreciate it. It's low calorie NO COOKING meals that sound pretty good to me! As they said this morning, if you choose one from each category, by the end of the day you will have consumed approx. 1600 calories. I'm shooting for under 1200 a day so I will tweak some of these ideas, but hey, it's ideas and THIS is exactly what I have been looking for to get me out of my eating slump!

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/20043281/

ARGH!!!

2007-07-30T19:23:00.001-06:00

You know what I hate, tremendously?!?!?! SPAM. You know what I hate even more?!?!? COMMENTS ON MY BLOG THAT ARE SPAM!!!Sorry I had to add the word verification....I guess it's like a security system on blogs. Bleh.

Good Food!

2007-07-30T10:06:00.000-06:00

I still am irritated at whoever is to blame for allowing our taste buds to develop a love for fudge, chocolate, coconut pie, BBQ, ribs, white bread, creamed corn, chips, dip, baked beans and anything else you can imagine that would be at a family reunion weekend! :-)

My irritation falls on myself, mostly (I GUESS) because I could eat an entire bag of chips with a good dip....in about 30 minutes, followed by a good, ooey, gooey brownie that's so thick and moist it almost sticks to the roof of your mouth.

So, all those foods pretty much sums up what I had to eat Friday night and all day Saturday. As I have said several times before already, I wish my taste palate would love broccoli, lettuce w/o heavy dressing, tomatoes, etc. I did really well at eating VERY small amounts of all of this stuff, which put me hungry most of the time but I dealt with it. As I told a friend of mine the other day, I have almost developed this person in my head that takes no crap.......meaning this....if I think, "Man, I'm hungry." This voice will say, "SO WHAT FOOL. Eating this kind of stuff is what got you fat in the first place. Keep your mouth shut and deal with it." So I walk away thinking, "OK." :-)

The scale hasn't budged in either direction and I'm okay with that.....for now. I LIGHTLY indulged myself to some REEEEEEEEEEEEALY good food this past weekend so as long as their wasn't a gain, I'm okay.

Did anyone notice my weight loss?

YESSSSSS! With this question, "Are you dieting?" My response was this, "Not so much dieting, as changing the way I eat." She is a nurse so she knows the ins and outs of health. I looked down at the table in front of us and smiled at her and said, "THIS SUCKS." I thought she was going to bust a gut laughing so hard. :-)

Also, Friday I took our one year old in for her next round of shots and one of the nurses there is a sister of a very good friend of mine. She saw me and said, "You're looking good, Shannon! I can tell!" Now, whether or not she was coaxed by her sister (my friend---and you know who you are J. :-) I'm not sure.......but either way, it did begin to hit me, maybe I am reaching that point in weight loss that people MIGHT begin to tell. It's a little sad to think it takes more than 20 pounds to loose to get to this point, but hey, when you have an extra 60+ pounds hanging on you, I guess it's not so easy to tell at first.

Bye, bye 183 :-)

2007-07-24T10:24:00.000-06:00

My scale loves me :-) This morning it gave me a wonderful compliment of 182. I love my scale....today. :) haha

I went shopping today....briefly. Can any woman shop, BRIEFLY??? Well, I did. My goal....in and out in 30 min. with $50 to spend. Goal.....to buy ONE pair of pants/capris and a top or two that FIT. Yeah, I have already complained about this (at least out loud I have) that my clothes are now ridiculously baggy and annoying. My dress pants are baggy....WAY baggy. AND, since I stay at home with my children, I don't need to dress up every day to go to work, I really don't want to spend much money, if any, on clothes that I KNOW I won't wear very long. (I'm being pretty confident, aren't I??? ha!) So, the last time I bought pants they were an 18, and a little snug at that. These are the pants that are now uncomfortably big. So, I tried on 16's which means I can shop in the "REGULAR" clothing department and not the WOMEN'S SECTION where almost everything there looks like grandma clothing (I don't mean to offend anyone if you look good in these types of clothes, I just don't want to wear them yet). AAhhhh.....this was nice. Not a lot to choose from, but hey, I won't be picky yet. When I reach a 12 or 14 I know I'll be in luck.

Luck was WITH ME today, let me tell you. The VERY FIRST pair of capris I tried on fit like a glove! WOW! OK, price? 80% off.......total at the register.......$9.99. WAAHOOO!!!! I was really wanting to scream in the dressing room, but I didn't, in fear of being escorted out of the store :-)

Next, shirts. Apparently my upper body is retarded. WAY retarded to be exact. I find all of these incredibly cute sleeveless tops, put them on, and you can literally see my entire bra underneath my armpit. Do people really have arms this big??? Cause I can tell you right now, my arms are NOT small by any stretch of the imagination. 10 shirts later......yes that's TEN, NONE fit because of this problem. Going down a size doesn't work either. Then my stomach sticks out like I'm 7 months pregnant! I guess that's the problem. My shoulders and chest must be a medium size, but my stomach protrudes so much I have to upgrade. That's the only thing I can come up with.

Final purchase.....one pair of capris, three shirts and some play-dough for my son :-)

Now I'm wondering if anyone will notice any weight loss on me when I wear my "magic" capris. I call them magic because if they cause someone to notice that Shannon has lost weight, I'll be one happy camper.

This weekend we are having a family get together with my in laws, so I'm wondering if anyone will SAY anything. It's one thing to have a thought in your head, "hey, so-in-so looks like they have lost weight.....I'm not sure though so I won't say anything...." I want to reach that point that someone says, "HEY SHANNON, lookin' good girl!" haha We'll see. I'll report on Sunday if anyone noticed.

By the way, why does that matter so much? Not sure......I guess I never outgrew wanting other people's approval. Hmmm....there's a deep statement to end on!

Have a great day today!

Where do you STAND on water?

2007-07-16T07:09:00.000-06:00

I have always struggled to drink plane-jane water. I don't really like it at all. Now, give me a little flavoring in my water, and BINGO, I'm great. The only time I have EVER craved water is when I have been out in the heat for extended periods of time, then I can drink nothing else. So, I have always struggled with the "8 glasses a day" thing. When I did weight watchers, they said try to drink 8 glasses (64 oz) of water/flavored water/tea in a given 24 hours. I just couldn't do it. I even posted about that a while back. It's just too much for me. HOWEVER, SparkPeople posted this article, which makes sense to me. Take a read....it'll only take you 30 seconds...

ASK THE EXPERTS

Can other drinks such as diet sodas and herbal tea count towards my 8 glasses of water for the day?

The latest recommendations from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science, Dietary Reference Intake for Electrolytes and Water say (say that 5 times fast!!! haha) :

"The fluids consumed do not have to be only water (AMEN!!!). Individuals can obtain their fluids from a variety of beverages and foods. Contrary to popular opinion, consumers do not need to consume 'eight glasses of water a day' to meet their fluid needs."

However my own personal opinion, particularly for people trying to lose weight, is to encourage additional water intake whenever possible. I feel it helps to cleanse the body when weight loss and fat breakdown is occurring. I also know that it helps to keep the hands and mouth busy, so snacking is less. This is a form of behavior modification. I personally know that many people feel better when at least 4-6 glasses of plain old H2O is consumed to help meet total fluid needs.

Written by Becky Hand, Licensed & Registered Dietitian

I have no doubt that this is a controversy just like Global Warming, Religion and the next President of the US, but for now, I am just peachy with the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science's statement.

February 10, 2008

2007-07-15T14:42:00.000-06:00

Seems like a really, really long time away, doesn't it? But so did 9 months when I was pregnant with my kids!!! HA! My point being this........if I keep up my average of loosing 1.5 pounds a week, in 30 weeks from right now, I'll be at my goal weight. My birthday is February 11, so happy birthday to me!!! :-)

You know, it sort of makes me want to get CRRRRRRRAZY with it and see if I could do it by Christmas. Hmmmmm.........I'm sure it's possible. Almost ANYTHING that's 'somewhat reasonable' is possible........but do I have the MOTIVATION. AHHHH....there's where the problem lies. Right now, my weight loss is almost completely controlled by food intake. I started out by going to the Y and working out and walking, etc. but it seems that with two kids who are mostly under my responsibility, it's just not that convenient to exercise. Isn't that terrible? It's not CONVENIENT. Good grief. I guess if it was "CONVENIENT" everyone would wear a size 2 and there would be no health issues in our world today.

So, there's my new thought for the beginning of this week.

MAKE IT CONVENIENT.

185

2007-07-12T11:29:00.000-06:00

Last night I had that awful craving for something fudgy, brownie, etc. So I made some "No Pudge Brownies". If you haven't ever tried these, YOU MUST! I ate two and was happy as a clam (which, by the way, how happy are clams??)

Then, if that wasn't enough good news for a week (being able to eat some ooey, gooey, chocolate brownie), I stepped on the scale today and was down another pound! YEAH BABY! This process seems to take FOREVER, but it's nice to watch those pounds go BYE BYE. I can tell you this, I will NEVER let another pound hit this body once it's gone, with the only exception of another pregnancy. It takes too much work to get it off!

On a random note, did any of you see Chelsea Clinton and how ridiculously skinny she looks??? I saw a clip on Fox News the other day in regards to a patch she used. I didn't hear the entire story but good grief. What I got from the story was that she lost a crazy amount of weight in a month or so. I wonder, first of all, if it's true, and second of all, what kind of havoc it has/will cause to your body?? If there isn't any, BRING IT ON BABY! :-)

Another pound dismissed

2007-07-08T16:12:00.000-06:00

I don't know how it happened (ok, so I have an idea) but another pound has gotten up and left my big ol body and I'm very happy for it!

186....ahhhhhhhhhh

Then, we went out of town to my sister-in-laws for the 4th. Thankfully, they are really healthy eaters so there wasn't a lot of temptation there though we did go out to eat a couple of times. I ate a HUGE roll of doughy, garlicy, soft, gooey, BUTTERED bread and about fell out of my chair it tasted so good. I'm beginning to think I have a huge food addiction and didn't even know it! I'm telling you people, I could have eaten a dozen of those.....but I didn't. I hate one. I had the urge to eat another but I didn't. THANK YOU, ME!!

I also have realized I've gotten ok with portion control. We went to eat at the Cheesecake Factory and I was CRRRAVING some blue cheese dressing.........so I began my meal with a salad and blue cheese dressing. I was so hungry I inhaled the HUGE salad and only ate about 15 bites of my meal! It came home with us and my husband ate it for dinner. I did eat a little dessert, however, but I couldn't eat much of it. It was CRRRAZY rich. So, overall, I am proud how things are going so far. It's not a FAST weight loss but at least it's somewhat consistent.

Oh, I also wore my new bathing suit while I was in Georgia. I know I wasn't the thinnest and most attractive woman there, but at least I didn't feel like that woman on the yogurt commercial that tries to hide herself behind her float (with the song of, "Itsy Bitsy, Teeny Weeny, Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" in the background :-)

On a more serious note, I will say I have begun to have the shakes pretty frequently. Mostly in the mornings after I drink my coffee and haven't eaten breakfast but that's not the only time I get them. It got so bad this morning I almost couldn't hold my spoon to eat my cereal! It's gotten to the point that I think I'm going to make a dr's appt to see if I can figure out what the underlying issue is.....if anything. I'll keep you posted!

Happy Sunday!

Bathing Suit

2007-07-02T20:44:00.000-06:00

I can tell my body is slowly changing. My older clothes are fitting comfortably again, which is a HUGE thing for me. They are my PRE Katie clothes (who is now one) so I feel good about that!

I also went to buy a bathing suit and was able to buy a 16 which fit comfortably. That's a big deal for me!

I guess the thing that's really annoying me now is how boring eating is. I know if I work really hard at it I can make it, 'not so boring' but as I stated in the previous post, I'm getting pretty sick of chicken and fruit. I know, I know........there's tons more out there but there's several things I just don't like to eat so it really limits what I'll eat. Obviously I'm not just limited to chicken and fruit, these things just seem to be the easiest and most convenient.

Today, I took a bite of ONE puff cheeto....HOLY COW that stuff is good! I say "stuff"....JUNK. I'm not sure I will EVER get to the point of liking broccoli or fat free anything as much as a big hot fudge brownie or a great chocolate chip cookie!!!!!!!

Still going strong

2007-06-28T16:56:00.000-06:00

Nothing has changed really. I'm still eating a lot less, trying not to be hungry, which I am successful most of the time. Weight is slowly coming off, bit by bit. I am now at that irritating stage that NONE of my clothes FIT. They are all too big, some very noticeably. I WANT to get them taken in, but if I keep this weight loss up, I don't want to spend the money on fixing old clothes when I can just tolerate it for now then buy new ones in the end! :-) Obviously, if I HAVE to I guess I will but for now, I'll just suffer.

The biggest thing I notice is that the belly doesn't sag so much. I know w/ 2 c-sections under my belt (okay, VERY bad pun...:-) it makes it a little worse, but for the most part, I think I'll be able to get my stomach back to some form of normalcy. At least that's my goal!

I am getting bored with eating chicken, I can definitely say that. I am also getting a tad bored of salmon, which is just about the ONLY thing I get, other than chicken, when we go out and eat. I'm going to have to make some changes quick before I end up eating a HUGE steak or something :-)

On a side note, I ate a chocolate chip cookie today........holy cow it tasted good. REEEEEALY good. I wish I could eat broccoli and feel that way!!! Why is our brain wired this way? The obvious answer is that we have trained it to be that way.....I guess I have a lot of work to fix my "wiring", eh??

Two more down

2007-06-25T19:14:00.000-06:00

This past week has been Crrrrrazy! My daughter turned one on Saturday so we had a big family/friend bash for her. Our house is not, "guest friendly" every moment, so it takes us a little time to get it to be "guest friendly". One of my friends used that quote today and it really made me laugh. "Guest friendly". HA! I keep the house livable, but with two kids and my husband working two full time jobs, it gets a little "UN-guest friendly" at times. ANYWAY, I think I burned a LOT of energy on cleaning and prepping for her b-day bash. Then, if a b-day wasn't enough, I decided to feed my now one year old her first peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Well, after ONE BITE, her body freaked out. Literally. Hives immediately popped up on her lip, then face and within minutes they were all over her body. Almost as if 1000's of mosquito's had attacked her in under 5 minutes. She was obviously reacting to the peanut butter. So, after a visit to the ER, she rested very well last night and hardly has a remnant of hives on her body today. She does have scratch marks on some places that she actually scratched raw. The entire ordeal made me sick at my stomach. Now we know we have a child allergic to peanuts. So, from now on, when you read those ingredient labels and see, "made with peanuts" or, "manufactured around peanuts" you can think of my lovely daughter Katie. Now I'm one of those paranoid PEANUT parents!

Maybe will all of the stress, that's what caused my body to kick two more pounds! OR, it could be that I've been eating right :-) Either way, I'm 2 pds less and I'm okay with that!

Ahhhhhhhhhhh.............

2007-06-12T11:34:00.000-06:00

189 This morning!! I am so happy to see that I have made it into the 180's. :-)

I have been reading lots of blogs lately. There are TONS of great writers out there! I am definitely NOT one of them. This is just my journey of my weight loss which is pretty bland compared to LOTS and LOTS of blogs I have read.

Nonetheless.......I keep on trucking!

YEAH BABY!!!

2007-06-10T12:35:00.000-06:00

190 THIS MORNING!!!

Whew....I went from 192 to 190 in the blink of an eye (or so it seems :-)

I know I would be losing a lot more if I would/could exercise every day. It's so difficult to get two YOUNG kids ready AND out the door, not to mention it needs to be in between nap times. It's a scheduling nightmare for me.

My food intake is pretty consistent. Either just coffee for breakfast, or coffee w/ cereal and skim milk.

Lunch is usually a sandwich or a Lean Cuisine pizza w/ fruit.

Dinner is usually chicken or some type of lean meat (turkey, etc) w/ some veggies and/or a salad and fruit.

If and WHEN I get tired of these selections I'm going to be in trouble! ha

THANK YOU 192!!!

2007-06-03T18:48:00.000-06:00

Yes, I have met 192 again :-) I say again, I guess the last time I saw that number was during my daughter's pregnancy. She turns a year old in less than three weeks :-)

I was thinking today about goals. It's nice to have little goals along a HUGE journey. For me, it's so I can break up the BIG goal into "bite sized chunks". I don't know what my "chunks" are yet. How are you guys doing it? 5 pds at a time? Certain weight marks? (for instance, when I reach "x" weight, I will *fill in the blank*).

Right now I think my first goal is to hit the 180's. Do you have REWARDS of sorts for each goal you reach?

As I was getting dressed for church I realized my BRAND NEW pants I bought from Lan.e Br.yant were really big. Two weeks ago they fit great. It's nice to see a difference in clothing, but then that negative feeling of, "I'm going to have to spend a lot of money on new clothes pretty soon." hits me. I guess it wouldn't be so bad if each penny wasn't having to be watched. I LOVE buying new clothes though. I guess we'll have to figure something out. You can only wear clothes that are too big for a short time before you begin looking really frumpy!! HA!

I rode my bike, went swimming with the kids and walked the dog today. Not bad for me!

YEEESSS!

2007-05-31T07:28:00.001-06:00

I have wondered about this whole "calorie in vs. calorie out" thing of losing weight for a long time. I received an email from SparkPeople today----READ THIS ARTICLE if you have the same question I do/did!!

If by some chance you cannot get/ or don't want to go to the link....here's the answer!!

Question:

Can you explain to me in simple terms the concept of "burning more calories than you consume" in order to lose weight? If I'm eating 1400 calories a day, but only burning 500 a day exercising, how can this be making progress?

Answer:

It sounds like you’re referring to a "calories in vs. calories out" type of equation. One pound of fat is made up of roughly 3,500 extra calories. To lose 1 pound of fat, you need to create a deficit of 3,500 calories.

Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the calories burned by your body on "idle". This is the minimum amount of energy needed by the body at rest in the fasting state. This includes the body functions such as circulation, breathing, generating body heat, transmitting messages to the brain, cellular metabolism, and the production of body chemicals.

A simple way to determine your BMR is using the basic "rule of ten". Multiply your weight by the number 10 and this is your BMR. For example a person weighing 150 pounds would have a BMR of 1500 calories. (150 x 10 = 1500).

This BMR number is about 60% of your total calorie needs for the day. The digestion and absorption of nutrients makes up 10% and the other 30% comes from your physical activity. This includes anything from blinking your eyes, getting dressed, washing the car, to running a marathon. For example, a person weighing 150 pounds would need:

Basal Metabolism…………........60%………1500 calories
Digestion and Absorption…...10%……… 250 calories
Physical Activity……………......30%……… 750 calories

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Energy use for the day……. 100%……….2500 calories

Therefore to lose weight, one needs to consume fewer calories than are needed each day. (Your SparkPeople diet plan has taken your BMR into account IN ADDITION to your current normal activity level -whether you checked off sedentary or very active, etc in your preferences during setup. The caloric range you need to stay in to lose weight was given to you.)

Basically, you create a deficit of calories in 2 (or 3) different ways:

Eating Less Calories than you Burn each Day.
Eat anything less than what you use each day (1500 cal BMR, 250 cal digestion= 1750), consistently, and you will lose weight. So, if you eat 1200 on this day (a 550 calorie deficit), and all week long like this, you will lose 1 pound (3500 calories) in about a week.

Exercising More
Keep your caloric intake the same (1750) and create your deficit by burning extra calories. So, if you burned 500 calories through exercise alone, you will still lose 1 pound in about a week.

A Combination of Both Diet and Exercise
This is the most effective way to lose weight and keep it off.
Say you cut your calories by 300 and burn 250 calories with exercise. There is your 550 calorie deficit—with much less deprivation and work.

You could speed it up by cutting more calories and exercising more—whatever works best for you. Some people hate to diet, others hate to exercise, so maybe you’ll do more or less of either one.

Of course, the example above was just for simplicity. You can cut any number of calories from your diet (more or less than the 500 in the example) and you can burn more or less than the example illustrates. As long as you are consistent, your deficit will "add up" over time…and you’ll slim down.

Which is better? Naked or swim suit?

2007-05-30T20:37:00.000-06:00

Food:
Not a whole lot to post. I'm still cruising along with this diet thing. I have found that I am a much pickier eater than I originally thought. There are certain things that I just cannot eat and it really limits what I can make/fix for meals. I cannot/will not eat:

green or red peppers
mushrooms
whole wheat pasta of any sort
slimy tomatoes (any tomato that is not firm I will not eat)
fat free cheese
peas of any kind

I have also discovered that I really love Lean Cuisine pizzas. So much so that I have eaten them just about every day for lunch!

Exercise:
On an exercise note, I have ridden my bike with both kids in tow AND walked almost every evening. Clayton is back and I am a very happy camper! :-)

Weight:
My weight is still at 193. I keep hoping for that 192 sometime this week. My next goal is the 180's :-) My daughter's 1 st birthday is in three and a half weeks........I want someone to say, "you look like you have lost weight." NO ONE in my family knows I'm in the process of loosing weight. It should be interesting. Honestly, I'm not sure what I will say in response to a comment. I'll have to play that by ear.

Motivation:
You know what I want? I want to be one of those people that goes running in the morning. I WANT to be one of those people that says, "Hey, let's go for a run." AND MEAN IT! Not to mention being able to do it....I want to be one of those people that can jump up a flight of steps and not be winded. I want to be comfortable in a bathing suit again. I have two kids that I know would LOVE to be at the pool and I just cringe at the thought of it right now. I'm not sure I would feel much worse if someone said I had to go naked!!! Isn't that awful to feel that way about the way you look??? Crazy....

So, my motivation is this...to know that this process can help me turn in to this person I really WANT to be rather than the person that I am today.

My Mom

2007-05-27T10:33:00.000-06:00

My mom is.......well, I'll just stick to the subject of dieting and food in regards to my mom. :-)

My mom always mentions weight about someone. And let me tell you, it's ALWAYS negative. Here are some comments that you WILL hear from my mom on any given day.

"S (one of my brothers) needs to loose weight. He's getting a big belly on him. He needs to loose that weight."

"Dad eats all the time. His belly is getting so big! He eats because he's bored. He'll go out just to buy some candy and eat the whole bag in one day!"

"You need to really watch your weight, Shannon. You are getting at the age that you need to be very careful with what you eat. You REALLY need to try to drop all of your weight because the older you get the harder it is to loose it."

"Look at that belly!"

Now, here's some more of her goofy comments that truly drive me insane. I have attempted to have conversations with her in the past about "proper eating". It's amazing to me what she thinks. She'll cook green beans and add 5 TBSP of BACON GREASE. I'll WATCH her do it, then later she'll say, "Oh it wasn't that much. It was barely a teaspoon. Besides, you HAVE to have SOME fat in your diet."

She herself should probably lose a little bit of weight but she's certainly not FAT by any means. I bet she's about 180 or so but I can never get her to fess up.

I guess I should say this...my mom is truly the most pessimistic person I have ever known or met. Even if there isn't a way to make something sound bad, she will. AND, if you are REALLY excited about something, she will have a way to make you feel awful by the end of the conversation. Drives me insane. Both of my brothers have learned to just listen and walk away...I am WAYYYYYYYYY too stubborn for that most of the time and end up fighting/arguing with her.

She also suffers from SEVERE panic attacks, which she has been dealing with since she was about 20 or so. BUT, that's another blog entirely!!

Is there a point to this post? I guess....it's more of a venting venue than anything. I get very much annoyed at her thought process and when I'm trying to lose weight inevitably I hear things that are NOT supportive at all. I guess that's why NO ONE knows I'm even doing this except for the readers of this blog. Not even really my husband. He doesn't even know this exists yet (the blog or the weight loss).

Two french fries

2007-05-27T09:12:00.000-06:00

I am an every day weigher. Some people weigh once a week...that's not enough accountability for me...I like looking at that scale every morning to see what it chooses to say (notice how I take on the silly student mentality and act as though I have NOTHING to do with it....just like a kid in school who says, "Mrs. So-in-so GAVE me a 78." Who earned that grade, mister???"---Definitely the teacher side of me coming out, eh?) BUT, I digress.

I am very ritualistic with it too....get up, potty, remove PJ's... voila...weight check. It really makes me wonder how on earth a body can fluctuate so much in a day. I have varied as much as three pounds!!! Pick up THREE POUNDS of anything, and you're telling me my body can actually gain and lose THAT much weight in any given 24 our period?? That's baffling to me. I also have noticed....

before I go on, bodily functions are going to be mentioned...if offended, move on... :-)

Bowel movements have something to do with it as well. DUH. It weighs something too. I guess my point is I'm one of those people that doesn't have to go very often, so when I do, it definitely shows up on the scales!! HA!!! Funny, but true :-) Enough of that....

So yesterday, I HAD to get out of the house. I had cabin fever so bad it was awful. Since both of my kids are somewhat feeling better I decided to go out and run a couple of errands. My son asked if we could eat at Mickey D's. I hesitated because.....well, for obvious reasons. FRENCH FRIES. CHEESE BURGER. BIG MAC. BUT, when we got there, I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich they have which was actually GREAT! I wiped off 3/4 of the mayo and really couldn't even eat but about 3/4 of it. I also got apples with it, even though I was DIEING for those awesome french fries. Here's a funny.......after I was finished, I went to put my garbage in the bag and I had a 'treat' in the bottom....two little french fries saying, "SHANNON, EAT ME!!!" So, I did :-)

Breakfast:
Coffee, FF creamer & splenda
Quaker Oatmeal- Apples and Cinnamon reduced fat and sugar
2/3 cup of milk in the oatmeal

Down Another!

2007-05-26T10:20:00.000-06:00

As of this morning, the scale was cooperating with me and said I was down another pound! YEAH! I truly wasn't expecting that since I have not been to the Y in several days because of the kids being sick. I HAVE been riding the bike and walking but I have no way of keeping up with calories, time, etc. I know I burned something cleaning yesterday :-) Who knows how all that works anyway.

Which brings me to another point...

THEY...whoever THEY are.....say that if you eat less calories than your body burns, you lose weight. Well, come on people, do ANY of you really know how many calories your body burns in a day? Walking to the car...taking a shower, vacuuming, opening the fridge, changing a diaper, doing laundry?? Anyway, you get my point. I understand to keep the calories down and exercise, it just annoys me when I hear vague statements like that.

I just recalculated my BMI (over on the left) and figured out that when I get to 179 pds. I will only be "OVERWEIGHT" as opposed to "OBESE". Just like Oinkstop was saying in an earlier past of hers, who knew one would be happy to say, "YEA!! I"M OVERWEIGHT!"

HAHA!! he hem...OK, maybe I'm the only one finding that funny. There HAS to be humor in this somewhere, right?!?

Dad is GREAT!! Give us the Chocolate Cake!!

2007-05-25T14:54:00.000-06:00

(This title is from Bill Cosby's "CAKE" routine. If you are not familiar with it, it's on his OLD "Bill Cosby Himself" standup.)

Not a lot to say today, really. Hubby is out of town so it's just me and the kiddos, both of which are sick--AGAIN. I did manage to begin the "cleaning sweep" that needs to be done before my daughter's first birthday (in one month). It's actually Spring Cleaning/Katie's b-day preparation :-) But nonetheless, the end result is still the same---WONDERFULLY CLEAN HOUSE.

On a WAY side note....I attempted to wash a few walls and realized THE PAINT WASHES OFF!!! What kind of moron would paint a wall with paint that washes off???? (Apparently the previous owners of our house---that's who!) It's not WATERCOLORS people?!?! So now I'm stuck....how do you clean off little finger smudges, dirt, etc. without washing off the paint?!!

When was the last time you washed your china?? Yeah, that's what I did most of the day today...dust, wash--CAREFULLY, put things back in their spot, organize like crazy....etc. As I was reorganizing the pantry there was one thing in particular that stared at me the entire time...an oooeee---gooey chocolate cake mix. LORD help me get through this day without whipping this cake up.......THEN, I found a cake set that my mom got me for Christmas, TWO YEARS AGO, that allows you to add fun things in the middle of cakes.....OH THE TEMPTATION!!! I abstained....very irritated about it, but I didn't do it. I wanted to...but I didn't. Oh boy did I want to :-)

Food Diary

Breakfast:
Coffee, FF milk, splenda
Kashi Go Lean Crunch w/ FF milk

Lunch:
Lean Cuisine 3 meat pizza
cherries
1/2 small container of no sugar applesauce

Snack:
Kashi Cinn. & Raisin w/ FF milk

Dinner:
Lean Cuisine Sweet & Sour Chicken
added a little lite mozzarella cheese

2 bottles of water

64 oz, ARE YOU SERIOUS???

2007-05-24T08:01:00.000-06:00

Water

So far, I find it almost impossible to drink 8 glasses of water in a day. I walk around with a bottle of water with me every where I go and I cannot seem to get 64 oz of water in me during a day. It's like a reach a limit and my body says, "NO MORE." I know there are arguments out there about whether or not 8 glasses is too much, etc. I hate to be a whiner, but good grief! I don't want to throw up just to get the water down! Maybe it'll get easier as time goes on. Part of my issue is that I HATE to drink if I'm not thirsty.

Do YOU drink 64 oz of water a day? Does it bug you?

Food Diary

Breakfast:
2 cups coffee, 2 TBSP of whole milk (out of creamer), splenda
Kashi Raisin bran crunch
1 cup skim milk

Lunch:
PB&J (natural PB and sugar free jelly)
few Natural Doritos
small bowl cherries

Dinner:
Tuna sandwich
1 sm. peach
Quaker caramel rice cakes

2 bottles of water so far (9oz each)

Must Read...

2007-05-23T19:07:00.000-06:00

I read a GREAT post today over at Pasta Queen's blog. If you haven't already read it, I suggest that you do! It's entitled, "Motivation Schmotivation"

One of my biggest pet peeves with people (including myself) is "EXCUSES". I think my new motto needs to be,

"JUST SHUT UP AND DO IT, ALREADY!"

If you live in the south, you have to add the phrase "Bless her heart" to make it okay to say this phrase :-)

Exercise: Rode my bike for 1 mile then walked the dog for 15 minutes.

Food Diary:

Breakfast:
Starbucks Non-fat Grande Carmel Machiato
2 Kashi Peanut Butter chewy granola bar

Lunch:
Lean Pocket Ham and Cheddar
1/2 Apple
pretzels

Dinner (from Cracker Barrel):
Grilled chicken
green beans
yellow corn

2 bottles of water
Dt. Caf. Free. Dr. Pepper

Whole Wheat Pasta, anyone?

2007-05-22T20:41:00.000-06:00

DISGUSTING! I have tried it before and promised to give it a try again. I bought the angel hair pasta (Dodgon or something like that). I literally had to control my gag reflex when I took the first bite. I don't know what the issue is with it but I cannot stand it. I would rather go for the rest of my life without putting one piece of pasta in my body than to eat that stuff again. I have two boxes here at our house if anyone wants it!

I will say that my husband, who is ANTI anything diet, said it wasn't THAT bad so for you out there reading this and think you might want to try it.....TRY IT!!!! Just because my taste buds abhor it doesn't mean yours will! :-) And for those of you that like it.....hail to you!!

On a different note, my husband will be going out of town for 4 days which means I can eat whatever I want (diet wise of course) and not have to cook big meals!!! This will be good for me!

Exercise...

Last year, no no....two years ago, I bought me a bike in hopes that I would ride it! (great concept, right?!) Well, I got pregnant with our second child and needless to say, the bike has sat in our garage for 2 years. We also bought a bike trailer that goes on the back that looks like a miniature tent that kids can ride in. Well, last night, my 3 year old and I went to Wal Mart to buy a bike pump so now we are set and ready to go! Tonight, we cruised around the neighborhood for about 40 minutes. I did better than I thought I would especially with a 35 pd 3 year old in the "tent"! (Here's a generic pic. online I found of this "contraption")

Eating Because He Does

2007-05-22T11:23:00.000-06:00

I have noticed that I eat because my husband eats. I'm trying really hard not to do that, but here's what happens in our house....

I may not want a big meal for dinner. I COULD be satisfied with a bowl of cereal w/ some fruit, but I know my husband would not, which in turn, means that he'll stop by McDonalds or Pei Wei on the way home from work. Sometimes when I'm REALLY not in the mood to cook, I will tell him this...but most of the time I end up having to concocted something that I CAN eat along side with something that he WILL eat (he HATES everything fat free, or at least he THINKS he does---he carries this stigma that EVERYTHING FF is awful. I will agree that a LOT of it does taste AWFUL but some does not and some can be hidden.)

Anyway, there's my thoughts for today so far!

Food Diary:

Breakfast:
Coffee/FF creamer/Splenda
8oz FF milk
1 c. Kashi Crunch cereal
small banana

Lunch:
Lean Cuisine 3 meat pizza
bowl of fruit (2 HUGE strawberries, some cherries)
1/2 small container of Dannon Light & Fit yogurt)

Dinner
1 sm. chicken patty
Marinara sauce
whole wheat pasta (AWFUL!!)
small bowl of cherries

snack: caramel rice cakes w/ all natural peanut butter

2 1/2 bottles of water so far

Outside vs. Inside

2007-05-21T10:14:00.001-06:00

My 10 month old daughter, Katie, is a little under the weather. She had the flu about a month ago and never really shook off the cough that accompanied her illness and last night her temp went up to 101.1. I know that body temps usually are elevated in the evenings anyway but I knew this cough was probably becoming an infection of sorts. So, I tell you that to say I didn't go to the Y this morning, but rather, went for a walk around the neighborhood. I have clocked a path that is exactly one mile, and that is what I walked. As I was walking it made me wonder, surly you burn more calories if you are walking outside rather than on a treadmill---here's my logic (which could be way goofed up)---a tread mill's belts keep running no matter what. When you are walking on the pavement, YOU have to create the momentum it takes to keep going....is this my brain's way of phyching me out?!? :-) I'd be curious of your thoughts on this one....

I do know that you can keep your walking pace WAY more consistent when you are on a treadmill. No matter how your body feels, those belts keep on a truckin', where as when I was walking up a little incline my body said to me, "HEY!!! This takes more work!!" Of course I was pushing a stroller too, but anyway.....your thoughts???

Another very STUPID question I have is this.......when "THEY" say you should drink 8 "GLASSES" of water a day......what constitutes a glass? I'm assuming 8 oz. Again, what are your thoughts?

Breakfast:
Coffee w/ FF creamer & Splenda
Kashi TLC (Tasty Little Chewies) Peanut Butter Bar

snack: Kashi TLC Peanut Butter Bar

Dinner:
small grilled chicken breast
salad w/ lite ranch and crumbled blue cheese
7 large shrimp w/ a little cocktail sauce
1/2 banana
small bowl of cherries

snack: small hand full of pretzels

Water: 3 bottles of water
1 dt. caffeine free Dr. Pepper

Man, changing habits is hard!

2007-05-20T13:16:00.000-06:00

I don't know about you guys out there, but Sunday mornings are just INSANE at our house. Trying to get all four of us up and out the door for church is a ridiculous task....you would think that we would have developed a routine of sorts, but NOOOOOOOOO. I'm truly lucky to be able to gulp my coffee while I'm shoving baby food at my daughter, while commanding my son to finish his breakfast. We just got back and the morning seems like a whirl wind!

Now on to food things...we went out to eat after church at this old country restaurant (Couser's). Almost everyone there is over the age of 70! I LOVE IT! It's very good, inexpensive food and every older person stops to talk to the kids. It drives my husband insane, but I love it. I love old people so any opportunity to talk with them, I'll take!

However, at a food establishment like this, it's hard to order off of the menu because you have: BBQ, fried chicken, fried okra, mashed potatoes loaded with lord knows what, sweet tea (my absolute downfall) WHITE ROLLS!!(also my downfall). As you will read below with my daily food diary, I only gave in to the sweet tea. I realized next time I'm going to ask for unsweet tea and use the artificial sweetener...I didn't think about that until after the fact. CHANGING HABITS IS A VERY HARD THING TO DO!!!

Breakfast:
coffee w/ creamer & splenda
cup of Kashi crunch (dry) Ate it out of a cup, in the car, on the way to church.

Lunch:
small grilled chicken patty
green beans
small salad w/ regular ranch
sweet tea

Dinner:
Chicken Noodle soup (left overs from Wednesday)
3 HUGE strawberries

Snack: Quaker Granola bites (90 calorie snack pack)

3 bottles of water (9 oz each)

Ruff day...

2007-05-19T15:24:00.000-06:00

Today I'm really not up for a post other than my food diary. We had to put one of our dogs to sleep this morning. That's tough....really tough.

I am down one pound this morning, so there's a glimpse of good news.

Breakfast:
Coffee w/ creamer & splenda

Lunch:
Lean Cuisine Pizza (3 meat)
few cherries
few pretzels

snack:
left over cherries from lunch
left over pretzels from lunch

dinner:
meatloaf (recipe below)
yellow corn
salad

2 bottles of water so far.

MAMA'S MEATLOAF (I got this off of the internet--It was really good! I cannot stand green peppers so I omitted that from the recipe. I also used whole wheat bread)

1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped green pepper
3 Tbsp. minced parsley
1 tsp. pepper
3/4 tsp. salt
1 large egg, beaten
1 slice white bread, torn into small pieces (or 1/3 cup bread crumbs)
1 1/2 pounds ground round
1/3 cup ketchup

Preheat oven to 350. Combine the onion, green pepper, parsley, ground pepper, salt,
egg, and bread crumbs until the crumbs are moist. Crumble beef over the onion
mixture and stir until just blended. Pack the mixture into a 9x5 loaf pan coated with
cooking spray. Spread ketchup over the top of the meatloaf. Bake at 350 for 1 hour or
until meat loaf registers 160 on a meat thermometer. Let stand in the pan for 10
minutes. Remove the loaf from the pan and cut into slices.

6 servings, 5 POINTS each

A Great Way to Begin the Weekend

2007-05-18T09:36:00.000-06:00

I went to the Y this morning with both kids. 3 1/2 year old boy and 10 month baby girl. JUST to get things together and get out of the house seems to take enough energy to burn a TON of calories! THEN, once you get there you have to distribute the kids to their appropriate destination...THEN, and only then can you work out! :-)

They offer an aerobics class called Zumba which was going on when we got there. It really looked fun! I hope if I keep walking for at least another month that I will be able to go and enjoy that class. (I don't think I could last 10 minutes in there right now and I don't want to be a wuss! ha!) They looked like they were dancing and having a ball. There were TONS of people in there so it must be a good class!

On a side note, I'm curious if exercise has an effect on sleeping? I have NEVER had a problem going to sleep, but here over the past two weeks, I have a boost of energy in the evening which makes it hard to wind down and go to sleep! So, for two nights in a row I was up until about midnight, then up by 6. The funny thing about it is that I haven't been tired??? Anyway, could be a coincidence, but I just find it odd.

EXERCISE TODAY:
I walked for 42 minutes at 3.0 burned 167 calories and walked 2.1 miles.

Breakfast:
Kashi Cinna-Raisin Crunch in a cup (dry)

Snack: Kashi Cherry/Choc. snack bar

Lunch:
PB&J (natural Peanut butter and sugar free jelly)
pretzels
4 white cheddar dorito chips (yes, I know but I couldn't resist)
small bowl of cherries

Dinner:
Lean Cuisine pizza (Roasted Garlic Chicken)
Lite & Fit Dannon Yogurt I added a handful of blackberries
Dessert: Keebler Mini Fudge Stripes 100 calorie pack

2 bottles of water so far

Ho hum....

2007-05-17T14:08:00.000-06:00

Part of dieting that annoys the crud out of me is having to think so much about what you are going to eat. I'm not even sure men think about sex this much! HA! Sometimes I just want to eat---mindlessly. Unfortunately, that is what got me here so that habit has to change. I guess once the NEW habit is created of having healthy things be my first choice, then things won't be so annoying/difficult.

Anyway, this morning I would have LOVED to fix a HUGE bowl of real, fattening oatmeal with tons of REAL brown sugar and REAL butter and eat until I felt stuffed. BUT that's not an option so back to reality :-)

Food diary:

Breakfast:
3/4 cup Kashi go lean crunch w/ blueberries
3/4 cup FF milk

Lunch:
ham & cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread w/ spicy brown mustard
small bowl of cherries
7 (yes, that's 7 counted chips) Doritos (I talked about them in an earlier post).

snack:
Kashi cherry/chocolate TLC bar

Dinner:

Lean Cuisine Lasagna

salad w/ crumbled blue cheese and ranch dressing

2 bottles of water so far

Oils/Butter

2007-05-16T14:33:00.000-06:00

What's the best oil to cook with? A recipe I was cooking last night called for Canola oil. I thought Olive oil was the best to use? We have extra virgin olive oil but honestly I know know what the EXTRA VIRGIN even means!

Also, what's the best kind of butter or a butter want-a-be to use? Margarine, butter, Smart Balance, etc.

Anyone out there have any answers to these questions?

Convenience

2007-05-16T12:18:00.000-06:00

That's a huge problem not only with me but society. Everything is about "convenience" and not so much about what the RIGHT thing to do is. "What makes my life easier" is usually the path I choose, however, when it comes to food, that's NOT a good thing. Eating right just doesn't seem very convenient to me. Maybe it's just my bad habits that make it seem so INconvenient. Anyway, I just thought I would point that out because today, while I was going crazy trying to get out of the house on time to get my son to preschool, I was STARVING but didn't have time to eat or have my coffee---both of which are bad for anyone who has to deal with me :-) I poured some cereal in a plastic cup and grabbed a bottle of water and off we went. On my 4 mile trek down ONE street to get to my son's preschool, I pass 6 fast food restaurants. Do you know how good a sausage, egg and cheese biscuit would taste rather than my Kashi Crunchy cereal?! It just irritates the crud out of me to TRULY WANT something but trying to be disciplined enough to not have it.

There's nothing in my life, other than food, that I feel this way about. Would it be NICE to have a HUGE vehicle that both of the kids AND all of their STUFF could fit in?? SURE. But do I think about a LOT. NO. I don't EVER think about it because our little Camry gets us around and does the job.

Clothes---I don't care about this really either. Just as long as I can have clothes on while I'm staying at home with my kids, and don't have to wear the same pair of dress pants every Sunday to church, I'm fine.

I know you get my point but I just don't get it. I don't GET why my taste pallet almost CRAVES things that are BAD for me. A sausage, egg and cheese biscuit is as good as a fillet mignon!

I'm just filled with issues, aren't I? :-)

Chips:

I bought some chips at the store yesterday in hopes that they are OK to eat. I have not done much research on chips but I really really do like chips. I like the salt more than anything. I bought these Doritos that are called "Natural White Nacho Cheese Doritos". They taste GREAT, however I'm sure they aren't a great snack....because I like them :-)
I also bought some Keebler Right Bites which are fudge covered shortbread cookies in 100 calorie snack packs. I LOVE these things! Good for you? Look HERE. You be the judge...I'm sure they are not but for a once a week treat, I'm okay with this. (I think ;-)

Food diary:

Breakfast:
Kashi crunch cereal
1 cup of FF milk before I ran out the door

Lunch:
20 fresh cherries (LOOOOVE THEM!)
Lean Cuisine 3 meat pizza
Chips (as discussed above)
Dessert: 100 calorie snack pack of cookies

Dinner:
Quick Chicken and noodles (recipe below)
small bowl of cherriessalad with blue cheese added

Drinks:
2 bottle of water
3/4 can of Dt. Caffeine Free Dr. Pepper

Quick Chicken and Noodles

Prep: 5 min - Cook: 25 min

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1 pound)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon paprika
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) Swanson Chicken Broth (1 3/4 cups)
1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves, crushed
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 cups frozen vegetable combination (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots)
2 cups dry medium egg noodles

In medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, cook chicken 10 minutes or until browned. Sprinkle with garlic powder and paprika. Set chicken aside.

Add broth, basil, pepper and vegetables. Heat to a boil. Stir in noodles. Return chicken to pan. Reduce heat to low. Cover and cook 10 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink, stirring occasionally.

Makes 4 servings

Nutritional Values Per Serving:
Calories 245, Total Fat 4g, Saturated Fat 1g, Cholesterol 91mg, Sodium 528mg, Total Carbohydrate 18g, Dietary Fiber 3g, Protein 32g

YEAH BABY!!!

2007-05-15T08:26:00.000-06:00

DOWN 3 POUNDS!! Yep, you read it right....down three this morning :-) That's a wonderful incentive to continue....

To continue avoiding fast food (my husband ate McDonalds last night for dinner...you think I didn't want those fries??? BUT, I didn't even look at them. Out of site out of mind, maybe??)

To continue trying to eat more healthily.

To continue exercising which is something for ME. This doesn't happen very often, if at all.

To continue setting a better example for my kids (and husband, I guess)

To continue doing something that makes me feel good about myself.

It's truly amazing how awful being overweight makes me feel.

I went grocery shopping today. It was my first BIG shopping spree since I began this. I had everything plotted out all the way down to having a grocery list printed from Excel, organized by isles (because I know Kroger that well! ha). Shopping healthy is expensive! I'm used to the .89 loaf of bread, instead, I have to buy a loaf for $3.89 because it's the only whole wheat bread I can tolerate. I did get some things to try so as these next 7 days roll by, I am going to comment on the items I purchased and let you know if I liked them or not, in addition to what they are.

No walking today.

Breakfast:
coffee/creamer/splenda
cream of wheat made w/ water and blueberries

Lunch:
PB&J (natural Peanut butter and sugar free jelly) on whole wheat
1/2 apple
pretzels w/ honey mustard to dip (very little)

Dinner:
Sesame Pork
WW Recipe 6 pts (this makes 4 servings)

Ingredients
2 TBSP sesame seeds
2 tsp canola oil
1 lb. boneless pork chops, cut into large bite size pieces
4 c. broccoli (I used fresh broccoli, could use frozen)
1/2 c. prepared stir-fry sauce

Instructions:
Stir sesame seeds in large skillet over high heat 1-2 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and reserve.

Heat oil in same skillet over high heat. Add pork and stir until browned.

Add broccoli and stir-fry sauce; cover and cook for 5 minutes.Toss with sesame seeds.

Special Notes: Could serve w/ rice, though we didn't.

Beverages today:
1 1/2 bottles of water
1 dt drink

Food on the Brain

2007-05-14T12:43:00.000-06:00

One weird thing about my brain is this.........FOOD...WHEN CAN I HAVE IT?? WHAT CAN I HAVE?? HOW MUCH?? It's really crazy. It's like it's on my mind 100% of the time. It's also like I think ahead, "I'm not going to be full, therefore I'll be hungry."

I HATE being hungry so I guess that explains why I feel this way, though I still think it's very strange to be so preoccupied with food consumption. I remember when I was in college sometimes I would literally forget to eat and begin to wonder why I was feeling so badly. I wish I could get that back somehow!

MOVING ON :-)

I went to the Y this morning to walk. (35 min. @ 3.0) I really, really enjoy these TV's! It seriously takes your mind off of exercising and on to whatever you are watching. If I could get a treadmill in our home that was okay, I could walk two hours which is the time it takes to get ready, go to the Y, walk and get home. AND, I wouldn't have to watch commercials :-) (yes I am addicted to TiVo).

Today's food diary:

Breakfast:
1 cup Kashi Mighty bites, dry (in the car)
coffee w/ creamer & splenda

(went to walk & got hungry afterward!!)

snack:
1 cup Kashi Go Lean w/few blue berries & craisins
1 cup FF milk

Lunch:
Lean Cuisine Sweet & Sour Chicken
pretzels w/very little honey mustard to dip

Dinner:
1/2 tuna sandwich
1/2 apple
pretzels
kidney beans w/a little relish

drinks:
2 Dt. drinks
2 bottles of water

Mother's Day

2007-05-13T20:46:00.000-06:00

Good grief. Eating right can be tough when you do not have good choices in front of you. For instance, at the last minute my two brothers and I (and our families) decided to bombard my mom and dad for Mother's Day :-) The menu for lunch? BBQ, coleslaw and potato chips. ALL of which I love. I don't mean kind of like either.

I didn't use a bun, ate a small portion of BBQ and a little bit of coleslaw. Dessert...chocolate cake and pineapple upside down cake. I ate four bites of each and actually felt okay. Obviously this is NOT the meal of choice while trying to drop weight but at least I didn't binge on everything...I kept it under control.

Breakfast:
Kashi Mighty Bites dry
Coffee, creamer & splenda

Lunch:
BBQ
coleslaw
cake

Dinner:
PB&J (all natural peanut butter and sugar free jelly on wheat bread)
pretzels
1/2 apple

1 bottle of water
dt dr pepper

EXCELLENT!!!

2007-05-13T19:57:00.000-06:00

Saturdays are going to be my fun day at the Y. WHY, you ask? Well, check this out. I walked into the wellness center (child free, I might add)--feeling good that I'm at the Y on a Sat. afternoon. There were not a lot of people there, thankfully, so all of the equipment was available. I have walked twice in there already, and due to a shuffling of work out equipment since the last time I had been there (over a year ago), I spotted treadmills and walked directly to them. Well, Saturday, because it was so slow and I didn't feel so rushed I was way more observant. Check this out........they have treadmills with TV's built right in!!! Over 100 channels to choose from. I had my shuffle with me to listen to the christian group, Acapella, but heck, if I can watch a movie---I'm sold! 40 minutes later, I looked down and was shocked to see that I had been walking for 38 minutes!!!!!!!!!!! YYYYEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSS!!! I wish I had one of these things in my house....I'd be a size 8 in about a month at that rate! :-) So, yet another encouragement for me to go to the YMCA. UNinterrupted TV time......AND get my exercising in! WOO-HOO! I think next time I will time it out to get there "on the hour" so I can catch the beginning of something and just walk for an hour. :-)

Today's food diary:

Breakfast:
Kashi Go Lean
FF Milk
Coffee w/creamer & splenda

Lunch:
1/2 PB&J sandwich
pretzels
two slices of apple
few almonds

Dinner:
baked salmon
sweet potato w/ cinnamon & splenda
salad w/ FF Catalina dressing w/ almonds & craisins

2 bottles of water today

This Is What I Want To Do

2007-05-11T07:25:00.000-06:00

Well, it's Friday. I have made it through a few days and feel that I am doing pretty well! I was not able to walk yesterday but I did Tuesday and Wednesday.

Thoughts for today:

Change is difficult. Especially when you are "going it alone" in your home. Here's a 'for instance'. I asked Clayton if he wanted to do anything special tonight for dinner (if we go out to eat, it's on Friday night or Sunday after church). His response was, "Why don't I pick up Pei Wei on the way home and we can relax and eat in." Humph....I don't think there's much I can eat. So, four days into this process and I'm faced w/ my first dilemma. I'm sure you are thinking, "What's the big deal? Just tell him he can pick up his own and you'll fix something for yourself at home." That creates a frustration for him because he'll get irritated and say, "Then never mind. I'm not going there to just pick up dinner for me." Petty, I know. But still frustrating for me.

Menu for today

Breakfast:

Kashi Go Lean w/ 1/2 cup of blackberries
1 cup of FF milk
cup of coffee creamer/splenda

snack:
10 almonds w/ craisins (cherry flavored)

Lunch:

Lean Cuisine Deep Dish Pizza (I really liked this!)
Strawberry yogurt (Dannon Lite & Fit)
handful of pretzels
Quaker rice snacks (5)

Dinner:

Sweet & Sour Chicken w/ pineapple and onions

handful of rice cakes (4-5 minis)

Drinks for the day:
Raspberry Crystal Lite mixed with Black Cherry Shasta
Water 1 bottle

Picture for the day...

This is what I want to do.... (this is my son w/ a neighbor running their tails off chasing bubbles)

1 for 1!

2007-05-10T07:46:00.000-06:00

Well, dinner last night passed the CLAYTON TEST! :-) EXCELLENT!! The casserole was very tasty, I have to admit. It took a little bit longer to fix than "instant" food but it was very good. Not to mention it passed the CLAYTON test :-) That's big people...that's big! (recipe in the post below if you are interested)

Weight in this morning: 197 (hmmm...down a pound! Cannot beat that!)

Thoughts of the day:

I feel so incredibly motivated it's nuts. However, I know this is the 'norm' for me. I begin with lots of "gusto" but before long the gusto is gone. So, now I'm on a war-path to figure out how to keep the gusto gusting :-) There's a small seed deep inside of me that wants to be a runner. A REAL runner. One who runs marathons. Those people are amazing to me. I tried running when I was in college just because the guy I was dating at the time was a health nut and wanted me to. I didn't care much for it and gave it about 1/2 the 'umph' I should have. But now, I see the discipline it takes and what it can do for your body and....don't laugh at this one....but running all of the time allows you a little more liberty with eating things that are....well, not quite so good for you. Because you burn so many calories running (assuming you run almost every day) a "once-in-a-while" goodie wouldn't kill you. I'm not a dessert person but once in a blue moon a HUGE chocolate fudge brownie with chocolate syrup is just amazing!

Another point:

I want our children to be healthy. I want them to WANT to run and play and have fun. I WANT them to be sports people. I WANT them to love exercising and eating right. Why? Just like the "Dave Ramsey financial philosophy" I want to change my family tree. I want to pass the baton on to them to live a healthy life so when they get older and have their own family they won't have obesity issues like most of our society has today.

Downer for yesterday:

Last night after I got both kids in bed, I saw Clayton get a carton of ice cream out of the freezer. Did I want some? Actually, no. So what's the problem you ask? I want him to be as motivated as I am about loosing weight. I want a partner in loosing weight so I'm not doing this alone in my house. That's a lot to wish for, I know but hey, you can always wish....right?? Maybe one day.

Food Diary:

Breakfast:
Coffee w/ creamer & splenda
1 1/2 cups Kashi Mighty bites w/ FF milk

Lunch:
Kashi Sweet and Sour Chicken frozen entree (It was actually pretty good!! Except for the green beans, they were pretty nasty.)
handful of pretzels
10 salted almonds

3.5 grams of fat

Dt. Mt. Dew
1/2 bottle water

Getting rid of temptation.... (Clayton brought these home last week)

Take a guess how many fat grams are in one of these babies?? TWENTY-SIX!! 660 calories, too! Whew....a happy goodbye to you!

Dinner

Left overs from last night

chicken casserole & salad

small handful of pretzels

Dt. Pepsi

1 bottle of water

snack

5 caramel flavored rice cakes (small bite size)

The Morning After

2007-05-09T14:41:00.000-06:00

Today is the second day I've gone to the Y. It feels good to be doing something for me for a change.

Andrew went to preschool today and Katie stayed in the Y nursery while I walked.

35 minutes walking on the treadmill-- 1.6 miles (speed=3.0)

Today while I was walking on the treadmill, I was curious how all of these moms do it. They look like they are a size 2, with three children! I want to be like that. I want to be thin. Sometimes I feel like I'm doing this for the wrong reason. I get that I should be doing it for ME and for my health---I am---but I still want to look cute in a little black dress, again. Is this wrong? Right now, whatever will help with my motivation is all I care about!

Grocery shopping
I hate trying to shop 'healthy'. Most of the time it's more expensive, but that's not my biggest annoyance. It's my lack of knowledge that drives me insane. How much of this? How many calories are ok? What's good...what's bad? High protein, low protein.....lots of carbs, not a lot of carbs....no sugar....fat free..........UGH!!! And the way they market things drive me insane, too. It appears to me that they want to add FAT FREE, HEALTHY, or 33% less calories than the leading brand. I spend more time reading labels than actually shopping! Grrrr.....

I bought fresh parsley for the first time today. Let's hope I use it correctly! ha I also bought two new spices. I have to admit I haven't bought any spices since....before our wedding? (we just celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary, so that shows you how often I buy them :-)

I also bought wheat pasta. I have tried this before and HATED it. Jenny--I bought the angel hair pasta per your request...I'll let you know how it turns out!

Food Diary:

Breakfast:
1 1/2 cups of dry cheerios

snack:
1 cup Kashi "Mighty Bites"

Lunch:
PB & J (sugar free preserves)
whole wheat white bread
15 pretzels
Craisins (cherry flavored)--THESE ARE GREAT!

Dinner:
Chicken/(brown) rice casserole (recipe below)
Salad w/Italian dressing
fruit bowl (strawberries/blackberries/blueberries)

snack:
handful of mini-marshmallows

Liquid consumed

Dt. Mt. Dew

2 bottles of water

Chicken Rice Casserole with Mozzarella

Ingredients
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 clove minced garlic
1-1/2 medium red bell peppers, diced
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
1 cup low-salt chicken broth
1-1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups cooked brown or white rice
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons non-fat sour cream
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
8 ounces skinless, diced cooked chicken or smoked turkey
3 ounces part skim milk mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup chopped parsley

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Spray a 1-1/2 quart casserole with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, warm the oil until hot but not smoking. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until the onion begins to brown, 3 to 5 minutes.

Add the bell peppers, corn 1/4 cup of the broth, the thyme and black pepper, and continue cooking until the bell pepper begins to soften, 3 to 5 minutes.

Stir in the remaining 3/4 cup broth, the rice, sour cream, and mustard. Add the chicken, remove from the heat, and stir until well combined. Stir in one-third of the mozzarella and the parsley.

Transfer the mixture to the prepared casserole. Spread the mixture evenly. Sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the casserole is heated through and the cheese has melted.

Yield: 4 servings

Nutrition Information:Values are approximate per serving: 378 calories, 28 g protein, 12 g fat, 39 g carbohydrate, 63 mg cholesterol, 557 mg sodium.

A New Beginning

2007-05-08T18:52:00.001-06:00

I have made a personal decision to begin a weight loss regimen that will take me down to a much healthier weight, regardless of what I have to do to get there. I am tired of being overweight. I have been at the point for some time now. I no longer feel good about what I look like, which in turn affects everything and everyone around me. I want to become disciplined enough to do this for myself because I deserve it. I want to be able to run and play with both of my children and not get tired. I want to feel good about myself and feel the confidence I had many years ago.

Please follow along with me as I begin this grueling process of losing weight.

For my benefit, I will journal every morsel of food that goes in my mouth until I get things right.

Beginning thoughts:

I hate non-fat foods. They, almost always, taste awful to me. Non-fat cheese is like eating cardboard. My goal is to be able to create food menus that have taste, not a lot of fat, and will allow my husband to eat without running the other direction.

I am also a carb lover. Wheat pastas are awful. I will try anything once. Wish me luck.

I also love bread. I have discovered that Pepperidge Farm has a white whole wheat bread that I actually like. THIS IS GOOD!

Some fat free dressings are ok. Lots of low-calorie dressings are ok as well.

I am a big fan of potatoes

I love diet drinks

I love fruit--all of it!

I love some veggies...broccoli, potatoes, carrots, onions, lettuce, tomatoes, olives, banana peppers, spinach (depending on how it's fixed)

I cannot tolerate mushrooms, bell peppers, slimy tomatoes,

Here are my stats as of May 8, 2007
Height: 5’5”
Beginning weight: 198

Clothing sizes:
Shirts 14/16
Pants 18

Food Diary for Shannon

May 8, 2007

Breakfast:
Coffee w/ creamer & splenda
1 cup dry cereal (honey nut cheerios)

Lunch:
6” tuna sub on Italian Herb & Cheese bread w/ cheese, lite mayo, spicy mustard, onions, olives, lettuce, tomato (ate about 2/3’s of it)
Dt. Coke
Baked Lays chips

Dinner:
2 cups Raisin Bran Crunch
1 cup 2% milk
2/3 cup chopped up strawberries

snack: 1 1/2 cups of 2% chocolate milk

1 cup of popcorn

Total water consumed: 1 bottle.

EXERCISE
30 minutes walking on the treadmill @ the Y
147 calories burned
1.4 miles walked

By the way, going to the Y entailed taking both children (10 months & 3 1/2 years).