OK, OK, OK!!!!

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?

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

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

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??

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?

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!!!

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.......

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?

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!!!!!

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

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

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

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

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!!

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!!!!!!!

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

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!!!!!!

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

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

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........

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

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

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

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!

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

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!!

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

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.......

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

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

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

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!!!

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....

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!!!

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!

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 :-)

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!