Thank-you

Thank-you for your prayers. The doctors were able to put the stint in & clear the blockage. He was feeling a little better when my mom called to check in. She's suppose to call me daily with updates; if not, I'll be calling her.

I really appreciate the support I receive here. Knowing people were praying for us, made it easier for me.

I'm off progress when it comes to my goals for the week, but I am not eating everything in sight, although I've really been tempted a few times. Not eating as well as I should, but no where near as bad as I have. I think a lot of us are just very happy with the small victories. It's another step in the right direction.

Thanks again and best wishes everybody!

Say a prayer

My mom called today. My stepdad had a heartattack this morning. He's in the hospital, of course. The doctors originally said he has blockage in a main artery & they wanted to go in & clear it (balloon stint?) but that he's not strong enough so they wanted to wait 3 days. About the time I was calling to find a flight, they changed it to tomorrow morning. Apparently his original heart surgeon (he had triple bypass at the beginning of the year) conferred with the new doctors & they decided now was better. He's not going to improve in 3 days. No way I can get there that quick so guess I'll wait it out at home. So please say a prayer for my stepdad, Kenneth.

I'm trying not to let this derail my progress completely. Actually, when I first heard the news, I went to the gym because I was anxious & filled with nervous energy. Since then, been more of a slug & craving carbs/comfort food. I was already feeling sluggish this week, but I'm going to do what I can.

Best wishes everybody

lazy weekend

It's been a lazy weekend. Dh came back from his business trip & took us out to eat at a pizza buffet........  Yeah 'nuf said.

Back on track tomorrow! I am so happy with my weight loss so far & I really want to have another great losing month!

Have a great week! Best wishes everybody!

What I learned while dining out yet again.

Today was a travel day. The kids & I went to have lunch with some distant relatives & spent most of the day on the road. I was slightly dreading this lunch date, but it couldn't be avoided. I'm not very comfortable with the people we were seeing nor was I relishing another restaurant meal so soon. I'm positive all the eating out I was doing before helped pack on these pounds!

The restaurant is a bbq place. I'm pretty proud of myself because I ordered a small lunch portion of meat without any bread. I also skipped the bbq sauce. I did have a sweet potato with one serving of cinnamon butter. Oh I love that stuff! Remembered to order my water, too!  I had a realization while eating. Usually I drown my food in sauces and butters. I love the taste of the bbq sauce, the sweetened butters, the cheesy sauces, etc... But I'm not so sure I like the taste of the food? I never did really tast it before. It was just a means of getting the saucy stuff in my mouth. Today, I actually tasted my meet & sweet potato. Hmm... It wasn't bad. I really need to work on tasting & enjoying my food, not just shoveling it in or using it as an extra to the sauce. I'm learning a lot about myself & the way I USE to eat.

Anyway, the lunch meeting went better than expected. I remembered to bring my water & get more water when we stopped. Ha! Take that evil addictive soda! My only problem now is that I'm sitting at home, dh is still away & the relatives sent 3 pounds of mixed chocolate candy bars home with the kids.  I've given in a couple of times tonight to mini Twix bars before I ordered the kids to put it all away & lock the pantry. Make me think before I eat it, at least.

Hope everybody has a great weekend! Best wishes!

walk it off

Dh is away on a business trip for a couple of days. The kids & I went to Steak & Shake for dinner. I had the pepperjack melt with a cup of chili & fries. I ate all of the chili & half the melt before realizing I was full. It took a few minutes too long to compute because hey that's my normal meal & I'm never full until the end?! I was bummed about wasting food for just a minute then realized that the good news is my tummy is finally shrinking! I know the stats, most American restaurants offer oversized portions. I also know that most of us were raised to clean our plates and not waste food, so it took a minute to reconcile myself to doing that. My body will love me more for shoving that plate away.  If it had been the chili, I'd have asked for a to-go box, but fries & melts get soggy, so not a great take-home idea.

Okay, I still have some walking to do, so I need to get moving. Need to walk off some of that greasy food! Have a great Friday everybody!

Best wishes!

shrinking, slowly shrinking!

I've lost  8 pounds this past month! Yeah, I was just a little pleased about that.  I can't find my sheet  from last month to do a comparison, so when I go back tomorrow, I'm going to recopy it. I want to know how many inches I've lost in the past month. I know it's at least a 1/4 inch from everywhere, but want to see what specifically from where.  The frustrating part, it really didn't show much of a body fat loss. From March 19th until today,  I've lost 16 pounds & 21 total inches but no body fat? I'm working out more, so it can't all be muscle  loss.  I just don't understand it.

Anyway, I will gladly take the 8 pound loss! Just means I need to keep working hard & concentrate more on what I eat!

Best wishes everybody!

It's W-I Day

It's that time again! Around 4pm today, I'll be getting my official weigh-in. I know I'll show a loss in pounds, but I am really, really hoping to see a decrease in body fat percentage. According to the scale, my weight changes about 5 pounds a day, just depending on time of day & when I eat. So, I've been thinking that the body fat % increase/decrease would probably be a better measure of success. Wish me luck! I'll check back in tonight with the results - Good or Bad!

Best wishes!

gym

Went to the gym. While I was working out, I noticed one of the trainers kept staring at me.  Finally, she walked over to comment that she can tell I'm losing weight. She says it's showing in my face & belly.  When I came home & told my family, my oldest daughter was like 'Duh, we can all tell." Well, I can't see it! I can feel it in the way my clothes are fitting a little better, but I don't see it. Why didn't she say something before? All my dd can say is, 'look in the mirror, isn't it obvious?' Nope! But I am so happy that everybody else is noticing!

Anyway, wanted to share because it  made me feel good! Everybody have a great day!

How many? Week 7 Goals: 09/17/2007-09/23/2007

I just added up how many miles I walked last week. 33! That' is truly a record for me. Wow! No wonder I am tired. I did well, but not perfect on my goals last week.  I only managed to eat a healthy breakfast & drink my 90 oz. water on 5 days. I stayed the same on my weight, no loss or gain. I'm okay with that because TOM arrived last week & it could have been worse! I did make all of my exercise goals! That's how I managed to walk 33 miles.

Here are my goals for this week:

• Eat a healthy breakfast daily
• Drink 90 oz. water daily
• Take my vitamins daily
• Do 2 sets of 3 types ab crunches daily
• Go to Curves, minimum of 3x
• Do 2 extra sets of arm exercises 1x
• Lose 1-2 pounds!
• Walking & 10k training = 25 miles minimum

I decided to combine the walking & 10k training because we've added running intervals and I want to build strength & endurance.  Last week I had a hard time with the running parts, I did them, but it was really hard & I don't think I can make the running mileage jump (time spent running vs. walking) this week as scheduled. DH believes it's because I was walking so much every day that my body didn't rest enough in between sessions. Since we're not training for a specific race, we have the freedom to modify the training to suit our needs. In this situation, it means making a smaller jump for me.

Hope everybody has a good week! Set your goals & know we can do this!

Best wishes!

Sunday Smiles

Having a great Sunday? I am! DH was feeling creative & cooked dinner. He's a pretty good cook! I'm one of those people that absolutely must follow a recipe. DH likes to experiment & seems to have an instinct for seasonings & flavor combinations that I would have never thought about! He smoked a roast stuffed with guava & garlic cloves. Sounded weird to me, but oh my, did it taste good!  Had a big dinner & it's been rainy, so I am feeling very sleepy & lazy.

Hopefully, I will be feeling a little less full when we go for our 10k training tonight.  Not actually doing a lot of running yet, mostly walking. Even a little bit feels like a LOT considering I haven't really run in years! LOL

When I went walking yesterday, had 3 guys check me out! Well, they were checking out my big ole butt! Are you kidding? There's nothing sexy about that booty, ya'll! I thought it was amusing. I just don't get many people checking me out unless I have the kids with me. Having 5 kids tends to get a lot of attention! LOL

I've read that several of you are doing group challenges for this month. How are you doing? Are you on track or need a shot of motivation? I have my official monthly weigh-in coming up this Wednesday. I know it's gone down a little, but I'm really hoping for a good number! Even more important, I'm hoping to see my body fat number decrease! Last couple of times it barely budged! Of course, I wasn't being consistent with exercising & eating right.

Hope everybody is having a great weekend! Good luck on your challenges!

Best wishes