Celebrating a small success!!!

So although I've been less than wonderfully dedicated to the exercise cause, I have been watching my eating (and writing it down) which is HELPING!!! I'm down 6lbs since last week! And by normal standards that is a lot, but when you're over 280lbs, it is understandable. I weighed in last Saturday afternoon and I was topping out at 284.5lbs...this afternoon the scale read 278.5. Yay, me!!!

My top weight has been 284.5lbs and quite frankly it scared me! My husband stated that he was more worried about me developing diabetes and that kind of woke me up again. I had FOR SURE been sleeping on the healthy job in the past several months.

I had a Tastefully Simple party last night where we tried all kinds of yummy foods. Jennifer Longstreet came by to do the party and she did a GREAT job!! Please feel free to click on her name and shoot her an email if you're ever in need of any products. I plan on incorporating several seasonings and things into my regular cooking schedule. I have to celebrate my keeping up with that schedule! I've diligently made a schedule of supper plans for two months now. And only about 3 nights a month ave we strayed from the game plan. I'm going to sit down tomorrow after church and make up March's menu. Perhaps some time I'll share my more tasty recipes with all of you!

Well, I'm off to watch one of my favorite classic musicals (Annie). I always preferred the older one with Bernadette Peters, Carol Burnett, and such... and possibly enjoy a small bowl of popcorn with the show. =) Laters, friends!

To loop or not to loop...

So since I'm a stay-at-home mom I peruse the channels on TV rather often. And there seems to be a lot of bariatric surgery (both stomach stapling and lap-band) commercials on during the day. And as I struggle through all this and fight my impulses NOT to work out (I truly detest the practice on a whole), I wonder if that option would make things better. Being severely obese (which I am at more than 100lbs overweight) I think this might make things easier.

But SHOULD things be easier? I mean, grated it was incredibly easy to put this weight on over the years, but perhaps it SHOULD be a struggle to take it off again. Maybe in that struggle you find your true strength and begin to appreciate those thinner days so many years ago. Or by chance, it makes you happier to STAY healthy when you DO achieve your goals, because you know how much work it would take to get there again.

I'm sure our insurance would kick in in the payment arena, being that I have a family history of diabetes and such. But I'm thinking that I NEED to just bite the bullet and struggle through. I do not judge others that have taken the surgical route at all! We each must decide our paths for ourselves. And I believe my path rotates on a loop upstairs in the gameroom and goes by the name of treadmill.

Helping out...

This evening my plans were a tad derailed...I had a friend call and need me to come over and watch her kiddos whilst she visited her mother who has recently been hospitalized. So I threw together a plan for supper, told the hubby what to get on the way home, and headed out.

I've sat here and read through a few blogs, and I'm only hoping that I can be inspired enough by these wonderful folks to continue the trek towards a healthier me. I'd say a better me, but I beginning to change my mind about that. I think I'm a pretty fabulous me right now, I am just not near as healthy as I'd like. Just last night (or rather QUITE early this morning) I got some reassurance from my Hubby. He woke me up around 1:00am for...SEX!!! Yep! He woke up in the middle of the night with a craving, and it was me!!! I have to admit I was mildly annoyed to be plucked from a deep slumber for a poking session. hehe But I can't say I didn't enjoy it and it does help to know he still finds me desirable.

So tomorrow morning I will wake up, exercise, shower, and get dressed...even if I never leave the house. Because I'm a pretty hot chick as I am, I just need to be healthier. =)

Can I take a personal day, please?

So this weekend I did pretty well on my food stuff, I have it written down here in a journal, but won't bore you with all the gory details.

My concern today is...can I take the day off? I plan to weigh in later this morning. But I must tell you I've been sneezing since I woke up this morning. Ugh!!

I got two new workout DVDs that I plan on trying this afternoon...




To be perfectly honest, I'm tired of watching all these celebs dance their butts off on the show and drop the pounds. So I'm hoping to learn some smooth moves (whilst dreaming of Maksim) and lose a few in the process.

In lieu of snacking...

So like some people who are trying to quit smoking or any other habit they're trying to stop, I've found that in order to stop with mindless snacking I need something to do with my hands. Sure I could get on the computer and play some equally mindless game, but somehow that just doesn't cut it. It would appear that the two mindless activities are drawn to each other, ugh! Go figure.



So I do crosswords. But I am kind of a cheater and not like a hardcore crossword doer. I LOVE LOVE LOVE People magazine crosswords. Every time they come out with the special puzzle books I snatch them up and take them home to get to work on. I don't complete most of the puzzles in the book, but will work on them from time to time. Usually before I go to bed, when I'd really rather go grab something from the fridge or pantry, instead I grab my puzzles and a pen and get to work. Of course this is only mildly mindless, since I have to think about the answers often times. Somehow this occupies my mind enough that I don't feel the need to snack at all!

What about you? Do you have some special activity that you do to avoid some habit you're trying to break?

The good day...

Today was not necessarily a good day in the eating department, but it WAS a good day in terms of how I felt!

Here's the run-down on food-stuff:

Breakfast:
Hot tea and strawberries

Lunch:
Chicken Sandwich
About 5 tater tots
2 mozzarella sticks
1 cherry limeade

Snack:
1 Pepperoni Pizza Pocket

Supper:
Spaghetti with meatballs
Garlic bread
Salad

Alright, so that's out of the way. Yep, I did a bad, bad thing, but I'm not going to punish myself about it.

Now onto the better thing! Today I felt genuinely pretty!! I got all dolled up to go to Ash Wednesday service. I'm in the process of growing my hair out, so its at that in between stage (too long to wear the normal way I was wearing it, and too short to do too much with as far as a medium length hairstyle goes). So I decided to try something I haven't done in over a year. I broke out the curling iron and went to work. And I LOVED the way it looked!! I put on my makeup and everything went just right. Lashes curled just so, no clumping of mascara, lines of eye shadow were just as I'd wanted them to be...it was greatness in the mirror. I grabbed a long skirt, my best pair of Spanx, put on my pantyhose, slipped a nice sweater over my head and I was out the door to pick up the kids from school.

I sat in the car waiting for my son to get out of class and saw my reflection in the side mirror. So I grabbed my phone and snapped a shot of it. Here it is:
So today, I felt pretty! I posted this picture on my facebook page and got a lot of great feedback about it. Sure, I still have a few more chins that I'd care to have and my face is a little more round than I remembered it being so many years ago. But today it didn't matter, because I felt pretty and tomorrow is another day to do better with my food and regain the me that is hiding deep inside...continue my search for my inner skinny and bring it out for all the world to see.

I did my best when...

Over the past couple of day, I've been trying to go back over in my mind when I had my greatest successes with weight loss. And I've come up with a couple of simple truths.

I did my best when I was keeping a food journal.
I did my best when I made it a point to exercise in SOME WAY every day.
I did my best when I drank plenty of water every day and stayed away from Cokes and such.
I did my best when I made a point of NOT eating fast food!
I did my best when I just wrote it all out.

So over the course of this week I will re-implement each of these things into my every day life. Today I start with the food journal. And I think I will use this blog to help keep track of that very thing. The best part about it is by doing these things I will be checking in and writing more (which helps with the last one). So here's what I had today:

Breakfast:
None

Snack:
1 cup hot tea with 1 TruVia packet

Lunch:
Chicken & Beef Fajitas
4 Flour Tortillas
1 Serving Spanish Rice
1 Serving Fat Free Refried Beans
2 Cans Diet Dr. Pepper

Snack:
3 Pork Egg Rolls with Sweet & Sour Sauce
Grapes
Strawberries

Plans for Supper:
Shrimp & Scallops with
Fettuccine noodles and
Light Bertolli Alfredo Sauce
Garlic Bread

So bear with me friends and supporters, and I'm sorry if this isn't going to be the most thrilling words I write. I need to get back to me. I need to get back to those wonderful feelings of wanting to be out there with others and see and be seen!! I have crawled into a cave known as my home and barricaded the door with things like laundry, needing to make dinner, miscellaneous housework, and so much more. and in the process, I'm barricading myself against my friends and family that have supported me throughout everything and whose love and affection hasn't wavered even once!

Snow + Exercise?

Alright, I know my northern friends will think I'm full of it, but I don't care. I LOVE the snow!!! Dallas got 11.5 inches of this beautiful white stuff yesterday!! We got 6 inches here at the house. Here's our snowman we built:


Yep, he's about 7' tall, because we do things BIG in Texas, y'all! hehe

The kids and I got up this morning and went to work on just enjoying the snow. Seeing as how we so rarely get any in Texas, this is a REAL treat! And the great thing is, its that good sticky snow (perfect for snowmen and snowball fights). I did my fair share of running around, chasing the kids, and pelting them with snow...so I think I might have burned off at least SOME calories in the process, right?!

So today, I'm going to continue to eat right, and just enjoy the day. I might even get around to the treadmill later on. I'm thinking about just going outside and taking a long walk instead though, gotta see if anyone else built Texas snowmen. hehehe

Fits like a glove

Sadly I do not mean a new dress or other outfit. Instead, I'm talking about this blog. I took quite a bit of time off from the blogosphere. I wish in my time off I could say I'm svelte and sexy and what-not, but alas I'm not.

I've reached a new high, but for the past two weeks I've been making an effort to get up early, make breakfast for my family (and self) and get work done every day on my medical transcription. I hope to be done with the program and seeking employment early next month. Most morning I wake anywhere from 4:30am to 6:00am. I end up crashing into bed some time around 10:00pm most evenings, although a few its been a bit earlier.

I NEED to get back into a good exercise routine, especially given my recent waking habits. Unfortunately the Wii is out of commission, and has been for some time (I need to send it off for repairs and just haven't gotten around to doing so, yet), so that means no Wii Fit or EA Active Sports for me. I still have several exercising DVDs and the treadmill as well. So I just need to commit to it and do it.

Why is it that it is always easy to say "this will be my year" or " tomorrow I start anew" and the such, but when it comes down to it....I never seem able to keep that motivation up. I've thought of joining a gym, but I have had memberships in the past and not stayed with those either. I don't think I need any surgical help, nasty powdered shake, or diet pills to get me on the right track. It just takes determination, and no one can provide that but me, myself, and I.

So tomorrow, when I awake again early in the morning, I hope to exercise and keep on track until I reach my goal.

What I've had today:
Breakfast: 5 Homemade Sausage Kolaches, 2 cups diet cranberry juice cocktail
Lunch: 3 Kolaches, 1 Diet Dr. Pepper, 1 slice key lime pie
Snack: 2 cups hot tea with Truvia sweetener

Plans for supper are to make Jambalaya or Gumbo