What a wonderful Easter.

This year my plans were to stay home on Easter and enjoy the Sabbath with plenty of rest... and I mean sleep! The baby had been in the hospital since early Wed. morning and had just gotten home mid Saturday afternoon. We were all exhausted- I spent all of Sat filming for a "life group" scene to be introduced to the church next month and I was DONE! Plus, I don't think Jesus pushed the whole "dinner" thing anyway. However, we ended up at my mother in laws for a dinner which I had no business eating ANYWAY! I have been out of points for about the last 2 weeks, I am telling you! And of course I missed last Thursdays meeting, so I have fallen a bit. But I enjoyed myself a little, well maybe a little more than I should have. But I worked a bit off later, tell ya bout it in a minute. We did a little egg hunt for the boys and their aunt, uncles, and a couple cousins... even Maw joined in to help! It was a blast watching the 2 of them get so excited! Jeremiah had no idea what to do... he kinda liked the first egg he had. When they were finished we went back in and Mikah and Jeremiah played with the eggs for a while- peacefully. But that was short lived, Mikah threw one and hit Maw so she threw back. I took the opportunity to lob a couple in his general direction, one bursting open on his forhead, and then he started a war which included his little brother and Daddy. Mom, or Maw, (my mother in law) thought it would be funny to call Uncle D, Uncle CJ, Aunt Manda, and cousin Megan from the video games just to be bombarded with flying plastic eggs. Well that was it! The war had begun! Behind couches, around corners, under tables- we were all hiding! Even the baby took cover from the madness! Sometime later a short truce was called for bathroom breaks and refueling... plus ALL the eggs were now mismatched and none were paired. We got out the tape and worked quickly to salvage whatever we could. Pieces of shattered eggs covered the battle zone. The guys, taking this a little too seriously- mended their wounds and prepared for the final showdown! We lined up the couches, chairs, and purple heart bags- a brave warrior took the neutral zone to return our eggs and it was on! Eggs flew, grandparents ran for cover taking refuge in the kitchen while the war raged on! Yes, indeed... I was hit- busted in my forhead- a flash back to what I dished my own son moments before! Eventually- we all were sweaty (and rug burned), the eggs were broken, Nunny went all Rambo on the furniture, the baby cried and it was over. Above, you will see what remianed of my motehr in laws living room and furniture. I believe it was the "Easter Egg Exchange" or "Extravaganza" or something with an "E". Atleast I got some exercise. Me in my favorite slacks, the boys in their suits, Jeremiah in his- well, he won't fit it again anyway! No matter how much you vacuum... if you have a dog, the hair WILL be there... and you will wear it home. And then I am sure I had another brownie, kidding, but it wouldn't be unlikely with the way things have been lately. Hopefully this week will get me back on track. It's no excuse, but things were a little off this past week with being at the hospital and all- I am just glad to be home, so I won't complain too much about weight and numbers right now. I just hope the gain won't be too bad! HAHA. BTW... Jeremiah is well again. Healthier than before, I think as of right now. It should take a couple of weeks before his body gets back to normal, but he is managing to stay decompressed!! It is great... but you do know that means I am cleaning a pooey butt much more frequently, right?! It is like taking care of a four month old baby... getting up in the middle of the night, checking on every whimper. Well I guess maybe more like a 2 month old baby. Last night I got to sleep through the night. Praise God for that. I will rest eventually I do have faith in that! One day there will be rest. And things could always be so much worse, you know?! But didn't my babies look good... I just couldn't get them to cooperate for a good photo! This was about as good as it got! Happy belated Easter, Happy Spring! The nicer weather is coming!! Its coming!

No time... Gotta Clean up

2.2 pounds last week!! I was really excited considering I struggled with some bored eating over that weekend. This week has been a bit stressful and really trying at times. I have some exercise to do to make up for a couple collapses. Oh, well. I should realize by now that I really shouldn't worry about it. I am getting there... I just need to learn balance and a new coping strategy and I will be fine. Thanks be to GOD for helping me continue on. Sometimes I get down on myself for one mistake then I sabotage my efforts, but then He lifts me up again and tells me to dust myself off and keep going. Yeah, sometimes He makes me pick my own butt up, but I am getting up. For that I am grateful and by the grace of God I continue on this journey. And I am beyond thankful for the support I receive from friends and the ocassional compliments I get... at those times I KNOW that though I don't see it, change IS coming about. Now I am gonna clean house and put the boys down so I can be alone. I am 1.4 pounds from my 10% goal. Well, the initial goal set for me. I'll take suggestions on what the next one should be. Another 10%? 2 pant sizes? 6 more inches? A five mile run... in 45 minutes? I want to set the bar high... just not ridiculously out of reach!

What happened?

I only lost .8 this week. What a bummer! I knew it would be a bad week after the loss I had the week before. Usually a big loss will be balanced out by a smaller loss, so I expected it- just didn't want it to happen. Plus, I worked even harder and longer exercising so I did burn fat, but I am sure I was also building muscle. Since the last time I did measurements (2/21/08) I have lost another 4 inches. About an inch from my waste, 2 from my bum (there it goes, Dre :( ... ) and Billy made a half inch disappear from my neck, he really may have pulled the tape too tight. It was apart of his plan to make fun of me- talking about losing a chin. Not very nice. Yeah, so this week was so bad, that next week really can't be too much worse?! Not if I keep working hard, it will pay off. Maybe next week will be another big loss. I will try not to bank on it or my feelings may be more hurt than this week. I mean, I exercised almost 4 hours this week! That is good for how busy I have been! Right now myself and a few others are trying to completely convince ourselves that doing the 3 day breast cancer walk (60 miles!!) will be a GOOD idea. I am up for it, I just think that blisters are frightening my potential teammates! Want to join us?? (Oct. 3-5).
Yeah, well I am hoping to go into October knowing by the time the month is over i would have lost another 10-15 pounds!! I am just getting excited thinking about what I could lose by the end of the year if I keep working as hard as I am now. So I am suppressing that stupid .8 and pressing onward. To date... 20.4 pounds. And I am serious about the walk thing!!

Speechless (at weigh in... not now!)

I don't have, too much to say. I am kinda shocked. I know this is a bit unusual considering how much I usually have to say. In general, we all know how much I like to talk. I lost 4.6 lbs- in ONE week. I could not believe it, I actually told her that that had to be wrong! I couldn't believe I told her that, but it was like one of those times where there is no control over your tongue. I think we all have had at least one of those moments. Don't lie! So she proceeded to turn the monitor around as I stepped off the scale and watched it drop to zero. I stepped back on, and it showed that I lost another .2... but she didn't rewrite anything... so it was honestly 4.6. The previous week was my lowest loss, but still a loss. I thought I was reaching the point where things would mellow out a little. Guess not! Works for me though. After a couple rough days, I didn't think any amount of exercise would help me. I was cleaning Wed. and I was too busy to eat, so I fed the boys and kept about my business- telling myself I would eat in a few minutes. By about 3 o'clock, I realized I HAD to eat lunch before I got to church for dinner! But I still had to shower- all I ate was a cup of pineapple! At church I realized I forgot the checkbook so I ate the last 1/3 of Mikah's burger and 1/2 his fries and had some water. By the time I left I was REALLY hungry, so I took 2 pieces of crisp burnt bacon off the serving plate at my mother in laws when we picked up Jeremiah @ 9. Got home, still wasn't satisfied so I stole 3 Chips A Hoy from Billy's leftover lunch, then proceeded to eat an English Muffin with Mikah and had some V8 juice. Mind you, I only exceeded my points by one or two, so I only used 2 points of my weekly allowance this week. But I thought for sure with THAT little performance- there was no way. I was praying for just a small gain! It just seems odd to me, the worse I feel that I do, the scale is usually more nice to me. The better I feel about my week, it's like the scale HAS to make the point of telling me that I am not all that! But I am feeling pretty good today. My competitive spirit is saying to me, if I did that in one week, with doing just the exercise I did, eating what I did... what can I do this week? NOW, I am thinking I will probably work myself into exhaustion and never again partake of a slice of pizza, or touch my extra allowance points. That plan certainly will not last long- did I mention that Mikah has a birthday party to go to tomorrow! Oh well. But I will probably work myself till my bones fall apart. I mean, I see it as- 3-4 lbs a week until my birthday, I could lose over 35, even 40 lbs before my birthday! And then maybe my bike won't bruise my butt when I ride! And then I will have an excuse to do some shopping. If I reach my 10% goal in the next 2weeks, I get to go buy a little something. The idea of going CLOTHES shopping is exciting. Before Weight Watchers, the last time I went shopping was after Christmas, I got 2 pairs of jeans becuase I put on too much to wear the old ones. Before that... maternity shopping! That is sad. But the good news is I am heading in the right direction. Still haven't had breakfast yet, so I suppose I should before my body starts holding on to things again. Lets go 5 lbs!!

Disappointed, yet flabbergasted!

I have to say, this week has been VERY different from the past weeks. From what I ate, to how much, how often, the "work outs", what I cooked... everything. This was only the second week I did not tap into my weekly allowance points. (The points allowing those occasional splurges). The first week- was my first week on the program. My theory was to lose more quicker, don't eat "crap", but then I realized if I deprive myself from the foods I love to eat, I WILL NOT last. So that did not last long at all. It was intentional- my not eating those extra points, just that there was no "occasion" special enough. We didn't eat out much and I made healthier choices when I did. Then, there were days where my schedule was thrown off and I did not eat when I probably should have. You may think that it isn't that big of a deal to eat frequently or to eat on a schedule, but it really is! Your body gets used to eating at a relatively regular time. So I think I could have thrown my body off a little. Which feels kinda bad. BUT I found myself half way through the week and had not lifted a finger to exercise. My bad! So I jogged for 35 minutes those last few days. So I earned more "activity" points than I usually do. Every week I raise the number of points I would like to earn. That way I know I am increasing my exercise. And I did considerably well this week. And then there was the days like Sunday- when we are at church into the afternoon. I don't get a really good breakfast, and then lunch can be a little delayed. And there was the day when I had to go to court for a traffic ticket and I ate breakfast 4 hours earlier than I usually would if I were home! I was too tired to eat when I got home and I napped and missed lunch. So basically, I made great strives this week, but I did make a few mistakes and had some shortcomings. The scale on Thursday was not as nice as it had been in the past weeks. I lost only 1.2 pounds. As you may see from the title of this post- I was disappointed. I felt as if all my jogging and abdominal exercises should have paid off and I really was banking on ATLEAST 2-3 pounds. Then again, were those bad days bad enough to trump my hard work and all that sweat?! I can't possibly know. Yet... something FELT a little funny when I looked in the mirror as I was getting ready for my WW meeting. My usually tighter jeans (fresh out of the dryer- you know how THOSE fit!!) were just right. And I thought I LOOKED better. I was actually feeling good about what I was seeing. Billy and I retook my waist measurement to find out I was missing an inch there! I was flabbergasted! Oh my, I was excited! So I went to my meeting with my head held high. It is funny how much of a difference an inch makes... it often can mean the difference between seeing a more of your own skin or looking down to the ground and seeing your feet again! WOW! Though I wasn't as glad about my weight loss, I was proud to know my cardio MUST be working! When I got home (with my nice KFC dinner- I had the points!!) we had dinner, watched LOST and before bed... we retook ALL of my measurements. And I found out I also lost an inch in my bust! How great is that?! Now my belly is further in, as is my back, making me look slimmer on both sides. Well, except for my toosh. That measurement has not budged yet! But I must say, for the time being- I don't care about that one! So- to date I have hit 15 pounds on the dot plus 2 inches lost. And I like to remind myself that we did not do the numbers until about my 5th week on the program, so there could have been a little more trimming that I will never know about. All looks well and know I am aiming for a much higher loss this week to make up for last week. I still am on track to losing 30 pounds by my birthday- April 15th. And I will work to that goal until it is achieved! Thanks for humoring me... there were alot of mixed feelings this week. I have been disappointed, yet flabbergasted!

I am getting there...

Slowly, but surely the weight is coming off. I am losing it. After the 4th week, I lost 2.6 lbs. This past Thursday, weigh in showed another 2.2 lb loss. Loss to date is at 13.8 lbs. Yet I could not tell you where the weight is going because I swear I still think it's there! It feels good though- seeing my weight go down. At this rate, I should reach my 10% weight loss goal in another 3 weeks. And then I will aim for another 10%. My current jeans are a little looser, I had to buy a belt! I have been doing some jogging, walking and doing both indoors when I can't go out. When I wear out one set of muscles, I target another. This past week- I jogged for 35 minutes in the house, I COULD NOT walk the next morning because my calves were just a little too tight! I don't think the motion indoors is the same, therefore there was a problem. So the next day I did an abdominal workout. I tried the next day, couldn't lift my legs off the floor!! So I did 5 sets of pushups and did some brisk indoor walking. The next day... I couldn't do ANYTHING! So we went out and bought bikes for myself and Billy. We are getting a trailer for the boys later today. (I have the pleasure of watching my friends little boy during a wedding). This is just so when I wear out all the other muscles I have, I can move onto something like bike riding that won't hurt a bit!! I am just excited to be moving about outdoors again. It feels wonderful. And my boys enjoy the extra fresh air and riding in their SUV. My goal this week- make this the best week I possibly can! They tried to get me this morning at breakfast at church! You should have seen all the greasy meats they wanted us to clog our arteries with! WOO! Wonderful as it all was, I took a little of this and a little of that, came home, added the points, and I was astonished to see how well I did. And the little bit of food that I had, compared to my kids and husband- I did really well! And was full before I was able to finish! (Boo hoo). Just wait till spring! I can't wait to get back playing football and soccer again. It will be awesome. My birthday is 2 months away... I plan to be 30 lbs lighter, and I can't wait. Keep praying for me. Believe me, the strength to change my poor habits are not of my own accord!

After week 3

I have lost 3 more pounds, bringing my current loss to 9 pounds. I relly wanted one more to make it ten!! Oh well... I will keep workin on it. I have started being a little more active. I will slowly increase once my moving about has become more of a habit. I will aim higher every week. I am on a roll and very proud of my accomplishments and the help and encouragement I have received from my family and friends. Thanks guys!! Here we go!! Now I will get to see how much I have lost in a month. That is really exciting to see the scale go down. I have already begun some shopping for smaller clothes and I can't wait to wear them out. My goal for this week will be 4 pounds. Three would be great... anything at all is just perfect. Wish me luck and continued strength (not really mine... I must say).