Post-WI Wednesday

I am so happy I could just spit. :) After a vacation of being careful but not too, too, careful and another week of giving my appitite free reign, I was quite excited to only be up half a pound! I was expecting to be up atleast 3 or 4 pounds. It was the kick in the pants I needed. So, it's back to counting points today.

My girlfriend and I had a huge walk lastnight. Well, I say walk, but I tell ya, she hoofs along a quite a clip! I was puffing and trying to keep up with the conversation. Whew! My rear muscles are sore today!

So with Thanksgiving coming up I have a game plan to survive the weekend. Our leader told us some tricks we could use. In your mind, make a 1 cm ring around all the portions of your food. Make sure you can see the plate between your potatoes, meat, vegetables etc... It will help with portion control. Also, to gobble up the conversations and the family time instead of all the snacks and treats. And when it just gets too much, go outside for a walk until the craving passes. And drink half of your water before the big meal.

Easy right? Riiiiiight. LOL! We'll see. We will be away from Friday until Monday. That's a long time for me to be good. But I am determined to try!

Have a great Turkey Time everyone! There are lots of things to be thankful for! :)

Stacie

San Fran Photos

I thought I'd post some pictures from our San Fran trip. One is a picture of the Crookedest Street. One is of me looking like a goof on a Segway tour. (SO fun!) And the last one is of me at the north beach by Fisherman's Wharf. I spent the day there relaxing with my sketch pad and pencil.

Sorry this post is not WW related! :) Oh wait, I will add one more picture... The food picture is my attempt at eating healthy while on vacation. HA! I'll bet there's 15 points or more on that plate! It was nearly impossible to eat out and stay on plan for a whole week. Anyway, I am back at it here at home where it is much easier to say on track!

Cheers everyone! Have a good night!

Tuesday Night

I have WI tonight! Fingers crossed! Actually, it's a bit of a scheduling mess. I forgot that I had ww on Tuesdays and I invited 3 friends over for a spaghetti dinner. Whoops. It takes me 15 mins to get to and from WW and the meeting is at 5:30. Argh. Anyway, these friends are pretty laid back, so I will invite the ladies to come with for the ride and we will eat when we get back.

Ok, I have some very exciting news! We are going to Tokyo, Japan for two weeks in November! YAHOOOO! We are taking my Mom along to help out with the children and to keep me company while DH is working over there. They sent pictures of the hotel we are staying at in central Tokyo and it looks really fancy. I've been to Italy, France, Austria, Germany and the UK, but they all are somewhat similar to our culture. But JAPAN?!?! Now this will be different and fun! I am happy to be taking the kids. Two weeks is just too long to leave them behind! My sons teacher asked him to do a video diary and bring back some things to share with the class. He is really thrilled to be put in charge of such a task. :)

Anyway, I had better get going before our guests get here!

Cheers,
stacie

Back from San Francisco

I had a blast! A whole week to myself! DH got back at 7:30 each night. I got to see Pier 39, Fishermans Wharf, take the ferry to Sausalino, ride the cable cars and the street cars, see china town, do a segway tour (so much fun!), do some shopping, see the aquarium on the bay, and relax at the north beach. (sunburn!)

At the end of the day, I didn't leave my heart in San Francisco, I left it back home! I was glad to have such a fun trip, but I was twice as happy to get back to my kids!

WW-wise, I tried to keep it moderatly healthy. At first I did the fresh salad and fruit thing, but it was getting very expensive to eat like that. Before long, I was going for cheap instead of healthy. You know, $2 hotdog and $5 bottle of water?! I had chowder a lot for lunch. I know for sure that I will not be down, but I would be happy to stay the same or even have a minimal weight gain. We'll have to wait and see. All I know is that no matter what the results are, I will keep at it. A small weight gain during a week of vacation is not something I plan to get overly upset about! It was worth it baby! :)

Hope everyone is doing well, and htabby that you kick that cold to the curb!

Weigh-In Results

I was down a pound! Yahoo! My bff and I went for a run afterwards. She was complaining that I was running too fast. I guess my legs are just longer because I was enjoying the comfortable stride. She said she felt like she was doing wind sprints. LOL! She said that if I wanted to run 5k, I'd better slow down or I would never make it to 5k. Strange, because I was really just joggin' along.

Anyway, DH and I are off to San Francisco on Sunday, no kids! We are there for a week. I am looking forward to the holiday. Well, he is working the whole week, so I really have a week to myself! I looked up all the spas in the area, and I am hoping to have a hot stone massage while I'm there. I also booked a tour of the Alcatraz prison. That should be neat. The tour includes the whole city as well. It's an 8 hour tour by boat and bus.

I am hoping to stay on my diet while I am there. I want to find a place close to the hotel that does a mean salad. The problem is, DH's company pays for our food. So let's do the math :

Habitual over eater + endless new restaurants + a large per Diem = trouble!

Last night at our meeting, we were discussing how to change the negative thinking to positive thinking... so here goes. I will have fruit for breakfast all week. I will have only salads for lunch all week and I will try to pick the healthiest options for supper. AND I will track everything.

I am excited that DH and I will get to run together in the morning. Not an option at home with 2 kids!

See you on Monday when I get back!

Cheers,
Stacie

Finally back on track!

Well, here I am again - back on track and running again. I am so happy about it. It was high time to do some damage control after the summer!

The great news is my girlfriend joined WW with me. She only has 10 - 15 pounds to lose, but it is great to have someone there that I have a hoot with. We go for a run after weigh-in. She already does 5K three times a week, so she is slowing down for me. Hopefully we will both be running 5k together soon enough!

I am hoping for a loss at the scales tomorrow night. I would like to be back to a healthy, fit weight again.

I was at a birthday lunch with my girlfriends last week and we were talking about our bodies and complaining about thighs, baby bellies, saggy boobs etc... One of them just shook her head and said, "You know, it's really sad that we are so down on ourselves. There is nobody here who is really overweight." Another said, "Yeah, twenty years from now, we will be wishing for the bodies we have now." It really hit home with me that I need to stop complaining about every little thing concerning my body. I remember in public school feeling down because I thought my thighs were chubby. (I was tall and skinny.) Discontentment with my image has haunted me my whole life. Well, no more! My goal is not to be skinny and hot. My goal is to be healthy and fit. I will be thirty in March. I want to enjoy my health and body during this next phase on my life.

So, back to WW, back to eating healthfully, back to a regular exercise routine, and back to being in control of this body of mine! :) I have come to realize that this is not something I will be doing for 12 weeks. It's going to be a lifetime thing. I'm resigned to that now and I will keep on keeping on! :)

Glad to be back! Can't wait to get reading your blogs again!

Cheers,
Stacie

A new goal!

Hi everyone!

Well, this whole maintaining thing is WAY harder than I thought it would be! I have fallen back into old eating habit with alarming speed! I have watched my weight climb over the past few weeks. This morning I hit my "Uh-oh!" weight. (170 pounds). That means I have gained back 5 pounds.

So this morning, I had 1 cup of bran flakes, 1/2 cup of milk with 1 tbsp of brown sugar on top. (3 point breakfast.)

I have a big event in July that I would like to lose 10 pounds for. So this is me - back and raring to go! I tossed out a bag of chips this morning and purged my cupboards of unhealthy snacks. I am going to the grocery store today to stock up on fruits and veggies.

I am happy that my "uh-oh" weight is now 170 instead of 199. I want to catch myself now before it gets out of control! :)

I am resetting my ticker to reflect my new goal! I also plan to start walking again.

I hope everyone is doing well! I will have to go and read up on all of you! :)

Take care,
Stacie

Wonderful Wednesday

I am doing well at maintaining my weight. I think in a few months I might join again and lose another 10 pounds. But for now, I am happy. It's fun to be tracking things loosely in my head, and not writing them down. I just keep telling myself, that even though I am not on WW, I still need to be making appropriate and healthy choices every day.

Today, I plan to make my meal plan for the week. I am trying to keep making the same healthy meals I was making while on WW. I am also going to call and join the local beach volley-ball league. That was my long term reward for hitting goal weight. I am very excited about that!

I had a Pampered Chef party last night. It did really well and I get $120 in free product! Yahoo! Plus 2 half price items and a host special. It was really fun. I had 15 girlfriends over and we had a hoot.

Hope you all have a great day!

Stacie

Marvolous Monday

I'm baaaaaack! Wow, I hope I haven't been forgotten! :)

What a crazy few weeks it's been. DH was away on business for 10 days, which means I got to be Mommy and Daddy with no computer time for me! :) I honestly don't know how single Mom's do it. I have a new respect for them!

So I hit goal weight and I am trying to maintain now. I'm not going to go to the meetings anymore. I am going to keep blogging. It just seems like a lot of money to be spending just to maintain my weight! If I run into trouble, I will join again. :)

I had the best NSV this past weekend. My DH said, "I love the way you look right now. It's perfect for me. If you want to lose more, make sure it's just for you, because right now you are my ideal of the perfect body shape." WHHHOooooOOOOHHHooOOOOO! It made me blush ...and pounce! :) LOL!

More big news, we just celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary! My Mom and Grandma babysat the children for us while we spent the night away. We had dinner at a fancy restaurant, (got all dressed up and everything!), spent the night at a nice hotel, had a buffet breakfast and then we spent the rest of the day at an outdoor nature spa. It was the perfect getaway! And all for just $316! We were very impressed with that package deal! :) We were able to reconnect again. What a difference to not have the kids around! We made a pact that we would try to do this every three months or so. It was amazing.

Now that hubby is home, I plan to try running again. My knee is completely better. I am going this week to the running room for get inserts for my shoes. If running doesn't work out in the long run, I plan to join the beach volleyball league here, and also join an exercise class at the local gym. I am glad to have lost the weight, but now my goal is to be toned and fit!

I've missed this! I hope you are all doing well, and I'm sorry that I've been away for too long! :)

Cheers,
Stacie

Sick

Boy, reading my blog must be such a downer lately! LOL! Now I am sick as well as DD! I am going to go take some meds and chill out for the day!

Htabby, I walked instead of running last night. I pretty much ended up limping home, so I am not going to walk or run until my knee is completely better. I don't want to do permanent damage. And beside, I sick of smelling like A535 rub! LOL! :)

Have a great day all!

Stacie

Sleepless in Stacie-Land

Blaaaaaah - DD barely slept last night. Poor little girl is so congested and schnozzy. I think I need to have a nap today. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I made a roast chicken dinner last night. I measured everything that went in my mouth and tracked everything. That's a big deal for me, because I usually throw caution to the wind when faced with a roast dinner. :) I made Rice Vegetable and Chicken soup with the leftovers. It always nice to have a quick healthy meal in the freezer.

Today is a laundry, cleaning, organizing day. I drugged DD with Tylonal, and she is sleeping soundly. (No worries, it was the proper amount - just in case you think I actually over dosed her!) :) I am on borrowed time! I'd better get crackin'!

Have a great day!
Stacie

Diet Fairy

I don't know why I've been this lucky. After doing very poorly WW-wise for the past week and a half, I am only up 1 pound. (!?!?!?) I'm not sure, but a think the diet fairy paid me a visit and blessed me with a minimal weight gain even though I've been quite naughty.

I know this speed bump has to do with pms/tom, but I still feel deep down like I am committed to losing more weight.

I chose 165 as a goal weight, but now that I am there, it doesn't feel as stellar as I thought it would. I still feel thick around the middle. I am fiddling with the idea of changing my goal weight to 150 or 155. I feel as though I should lose this weight while I am still feeling motivated to do so. However, I think for these last 10-15 pounds that I will try to exercise and tone up as well as diet. Hopefully by the time I reach 150 I will feel not just thin, but healthy and fit as well. The recommended weight range for my height and age is 163 - 135ish. I think 150 would be perfect.

So, the running thing... I think I need to give it a rest, or only do it 3 days a week as per Htabby's instructions. My knees are getting pooched. My left knee has a lot of pain when I finish a run and both knees feel weak on the days I don't run. :( I am so pooped about this. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. LOL! :(

DH goes away on business this week for a little more than a week. Both kids came down with a cold/flu last night. *rolling eyes and LOL* It should be an interesting week!

Have a great day!

Finally Friday!

Good morning!

I am so happy the weekend is here. :) We are going to my sister-in-law and brother-in-law's for the weekend. Our children play so well together and we always enjoy our time there. It's a 3.5 hr trip, but well worth it! :)

I don't want to admit this, but I've been totally honest this whole time, so I won't hold back now. I skipped WI on Wednesday. I just couldn't face the scales knowing that I was going to be UP when I was only one pound from goal last week. I know my attitude and bloating has a lot to do with it being that t.o.m. Hopefully next week things will level out again. (My mood and my weight!)

But I won't skip WI next week, no matter what. I've come too far to quit now! :)

I went for a run last night. It was really late - 9:30 when I left. My DH would only let me out of the house if I carried my cell phone with me. I was running down town which is very well lit and has many little outdoor pub patios along the way. I figure someone would have to be very stupid to jump me on main street. LOL! It was my first time running for 2 minutes, walking for one, 7 times. My knee feel weird today. The inside of my left knee feels almost bruised inside or something. Strange. Anyway, I'm sure it will go away in time for my next run.

We had our first PRIDE training with the CAS to become foster/adoptive parents last night. It went well. We left our DD with a babysitter for the first time. When I left, I was sure she was going to cry the whole three hours. When I got home, she was asleep on babysitters chest and the babysitter said she only cried when she changed her diaper. DD cries when I change her diaper, so no big deal there! :) It makes me feel better about leaving her for the other 9 sessions!
Well, I'd better get packing for the weekend! Chat with you all on Monday! :)

Stacie

Wednesday Morning

I screwed up. Big time. I went out for dinner last night and ordered 2 Marinated chicken skewers, a cup of rice, 1 oven roasted potato, and a greek salad. (Sound ok right? Looks fairly points friendly?)

I thought so too - until it arrived on a platter. It was HUGE! I asked the server for a "take home container" and split the meal in two. I finished the half size portion and felt full. (Way to go, way to stay on track! Wahoo!)

Once we got home, I laced up and went for my run. (What?! You motivated little minx you...)

But alas, here's where the story gets a little sad. I get home, and go to get some water out of the fridge and spot the other half of my meal. I heard it calling to me... "Staaaaacieeeee....Staaaaaciieeeeee....." I am starving from the exercise, so I pretty much dive in face first.

Once I finished that, I spotted my DD's birthday cupcakes. Uh-oh. Yup, ate one - butter cream frosting and all.

Then I pouted for the rest of the evening. :(

I have WI tonight. Oh dear. I was up 3 pounds this morning. Erk. There's no amount of dieting I can do today to repair the damage. AND I'm out of WW tags, so I have to pay the full price to have them tell me I am up.

Anyhow, today is a new day! I am going to drink all my water, stay on track and hopefully do a stellar job in the coming week. :)

I have to go fertilize the lawn before the rain starts! Hope you all have a wonderful day! (And the weather is good for Htabby to go for a run today!)

Tuesday Morning

Good morning everyone! :) Sorry I've been MIA for a few days!

Guess what?! I set my Mom up with a blog! She joined WW's a while ago, and she has done so well. :) She is an awesome lady, (of course....she's my momma!) and she would love some encouragement as well. Her new blog is www.corrinnescorner.blogspot.com Check it out! She is on dial up, so she will only to able to update once in a while. But she is excited to get started!

I have been so busy this past weekend. It was my DD's first birthday party. We had my side of the family over for the day on Sunday. We had a big dinner and the sweetest little pink cake for DD. Lots of presents and fun times! :) (Have I mentioned that I suck at adding pictures? LOL! I can't get this one right side up!)

As far as WW goes, I have been trying so hard to be good. We had my Mom and Grandma visiting since Thursday. Mom is on WW as well, so I was trying to serve very healthy meals and snacks. My problem lately has been that I run at around 7:00. When I get home, I am starving hungry, but at that time of night I don't have any points left. I feel so guilty about eating activity points. It seems like a waste of energy. I know that you work off two points to gain one, but that means that I am eating back half of my run. Or do I have that wrong?

I met 3 other mom's for a playdate at the park this morning. Two of them are runners and we have decided to enter the HBC 1k walk for the kids and the 3k walk for us mom's. It should be fun. :) They don't have a 5k option. It's 1k walk for kids, 3k walk for adults or a 10k run for adult. And seeing as I don't want to die along the Ottawa canal, I decided to not do the 10k run.

Running - this is getting addicting. I hate my days off. I love the days when I get to go for two days in a row. LOL! Last night was the first time I ran that I could breath normally for the whole walk/run. I wasn't panting. I was able to take breaths that were getting to the bottom of my lungs and enjoy the run a lot more. It's great! Tonight is my last r1/w1/10x and then I move on to the next stage! :)

I'd better get going. I want to rake the lawn while DD is sleeping! :)

Have a great day!

Updated pictures - finally!

Here they are ladies! My before and after pictures! I set out to become a fit soccer Mom and 27 pounds later, I think I did it! :)

(Might I add, I am wearing my spiffy new running outfit and my new Nike Moto's!) I'm in the second week of 5k training now! I went for my first R1/W1/x10 last night. It was great. I love the new shoes. They feel like you're wearing socks with foam on the bottom. You can feel the air whistling through the shoe as you're running. So nice!

Have a great day!

Thursday

I was down 2.5 pounds at WI! Yahoooooo! That puts me a one pound from goal! And I just checked and I am officially within a healthy BMI range for my height and age!

Grandma and Mom come today, and we are going shopping in the city. I can't wait! Shopping, East Side Mario's for lunch, more shopping...! :)

I am super happy about the weight loss and twice as determined to see goal next week!

Have a great day everyone!

Weigh In Wednesday - pre-weight in

Good morning all! I am so very excited about WI today. I was up .5 pounds last week and I vowed to be down 2 pounds this week, and I think I've done it! :) I also think that I might hit goal tonight. I really hope so.

Today I am getting the house ready for company. My Mom and Grandma are coming for Thurs-Mon. They are helping me paint my dining room/sitting room. I can't wait. My friend is an interior decorator. About a year ago she spent 4 hours going through my house and making suggestions on what colours to paint, what to buy for decorations, what to toss, what to keep, window covering suggestions, etc... I keep all her suggestions in a file and slowly work away at them as my budget allows. We bought a brand new house 2 years ago, and I must say, things are coming together! :) I am most excited about the bay window. We made it into a sitting area with 10 different sized throw pillows and a covered 2" foam cushion to sit on. (My Mom and Grandma are seamstresses, so they helped me make the pillows, curtains, and window cushion.) It has tab curtains with a fancy rod and whispy material thrown over the top of the rod. Hard to explain, but it looks pretty neat! Actually, let me go take a picture and you can see for yourself.... hold on...!

Hrm, apparently I suck at adding pictures. They're stuck together at the top. Oh well, you get the picture anyway! :)

Ok, I really gotta go get the house vacuumed and mopped! Cheers!

Tuesday - 2nd post

Just in case my ticker is confusing you, I thought I would explain the new numbers...

I joined WW in June of '07. I weighed in at 193 pounds. I did really well for about 8 weeks, then I fell off the wagon for a few month. I gained back some of that weight again. I rejoined and when I did, my starting weight was 183. So this was what I set my ticker at when I started to blog.

Now that I look back on my weight loss journey this past year, I realize that falling off the wagon didn't erase all the hard work I put in during the first stretch on WW. It was just a part of the journey.

So, I've reset my ticker to include the past year. I set my starting weight as the weight I was the first time I joined in June.

That's all... :) Just thought I would clarify!

Night ladies!

Tuesday

I went for another walk/run last night. Today is my last day of 1/2x6 and then I move on to the next stage of the program. I am very excited about that.

I went out and bought new running clothes last night. Black long yoga pants with white piping stripe down the leg, matching black fitted tank with white piping, and the matching black hoodie with white piping. Oh, and socks. I plan on going to an athletic store on Thursday to buy a new pair of Nike runners. Mine are getting worn out. I have to admit, I am starting to feel like the fit soccer mom I set out to become! :)

I asked DH if he liked my new clothing or if I was still too fat to wear stretchy yoga pants. He barely glanced at me and then he dodged that bullet by saying, "I have no idea how fat is too fat." (He has no patients for these type of questions. I think he purposely words things like that to reiterate that he doesn't want to answer stupid "fat" or "self-esteem related" questions.)

But like a bulldog on a pant leg, I said, "Well if you were driving past and saw me running would you think "ugh, stretchy pants!? Really?! Who wants to see that?!" or would you think, "Wow, she looks fit, like she's been running for years!"? ".

He's like "Hon, they're clothes. They're black. I'm not sure what you want me to say."

I just gave up and took off out the door running. There's no use fishing on dry ground.

I've only drank a 1/2 jug of water today. Yikes. Must go chug! Have a great day!

Cheers,
Stacie

Monday

I'm not doing much today. I have to re-tidy my house after the weekend. I relax a lot on the weekends and then spend Monday's getting things back into ship shape. I have some piano students coming this afternoon.

This morning I went to Walmart with DD to buy some invitations to her 1st birthday party. They say: A royal invitation! Princess Teagan wants you to come to her palace on _____ at_____ for her 1st birthday! Ahhhh cute eh?

We went to McD's while we were there, but I was VERY good. I had 2 chicken fajitas with a side salad and fat free dressing, diet coke, and some happy land cookies. Well, I ate all the heads off the cookies to make them baby bite size so Teagan didn't choke on them. Funny, but the on-line calculator won't tell me how many points just the heads of Ronald and the gang are. LOL! :)

I am determined to be very good for the next 3 days. I want great results at my next WI! I am tired of this stay-the-same, up .5 a pound nonsense.

I vow to drink 3 liters of water today AND go for another run tonight.

Well, gotta go chance a very smelly diaper. Whee!

Cheers!

Sunday

Good morning! I did it again! I went for my second run last night. It was so amazing. It was drizzling out, but I didn't let that stop me. I ran 1 min, walked 2, 6 times. It takes me all the way across town and then I walk home. DH fixed two songs for me on the computer. One is one min. long to run to, and one is 2 mins long to walk to. It was sure easier than looking at my watch every 10 seconds. I love being married to a geek. It comes in handy! (Unless you need something fix in the house, then you are out of luck!) LOL! Anyway, this run was easier than the first. It seemed that the one minute went by so quickly. I am looking forward to next weeks runs that are longer.

We are going to a friends house for a 40th birthday party today. It is a potluck. Erk. Never a good thing for me. Everyone brings the best of the best and it's usually filled with calories and fat! It's like a banquet! Oh dear. I made a low-fat baked veggie casserole and it will probably be the only healthy thing there! :) (I also made a sweet potato pecan dish, and a sugar and cinnamon crispy cake. I will avoid these dishes... I think.) Oh man, I'm waffling with will power before I even get there! Uh-oh.

Thank goodness for those extra 23 flex points I have left! I think I will need them!


Have an awesome day! It's Sunday - dont' forget to renew your spirit today! :)

Freezing Rain Friday

Today was such a rotten weather day! We were stuck inside most of the day. When I get bored, I bake. Baaaaad idea - Goooooood cake. Yikes. Now I remember why I can't have baking in the house.

So to make up for the naughty sugar and cinnamon cake bungle, I went for a lane swim at the public pool this evening. My legs were already sore from my run on Thursday, so I used a floaty to keep my legs afloat and just worked my shoulders and arms. Now my whole body is sore. LOL

For the record, I still do not look good in a bathing suit. Better, but not good. I am
SO self conscience being that undressed in front of people! You don't realize how much you wobble until you have to walk across the deck of a packed public pool. LOL!

I saw two of my young female piano students there. I swam over to say hi, but I could tell that I was totally bring down their "cool" factor in front of the teen boys, so I quickly wrapped it up and went back to lane swimming. Once the boys left, the girls were right over to chat and giggle. Man, do I remember those raging hormone days! Anything to impress the boys! By the way, it's so weird that I am "uncool" to pre-teens. When did I get old and un-hip? :)

I am getting up early tomorrow morning to go for my run! :)

Cheers all!

I did it! I did it! I did it!

I went for my first run/walk tonight! I ran for one minute and walked for two, six times tonight. I couldn't believe how far it took me! I was WAY across town. Then I walked home.

At the start of the 3rd run, my leg muscles felt so weird! Like the walking made them cease up of something. Once I started running they warmed back up again and I was fine.

Here's the funny part... I had to wear a bra and a really tight swimming suit under my stretchy jogs and sweatshirt. It was the only way I could get my 38, nursing, D's from boppin' around. Man, I really need to invest in a good sports bra that will cement my chest into place.

Now my legs, butt and shoulders are SO sore. I feel great. I am so determined to stick with this running program. It makes me feel active and alive.

Now I am off to hop in the jacuzzi for a bubble bath and then off to bed! Night everyone!

WI Wednesday Results

I was only up .5! Yahoooo! I'll happily take those results! I plan to be down 2 pounds next week. You watch! I'm gonna do it! AND I'm going to start the running program starting tomorrow. Well... only if Froggie gets on her treadmill tonight. (tongue in cheek of course!) :)

Good night ladies!

WI Wednesday (Morning)

Good morning everyone! :) Well, yesterday was a bomb for me. After seeing the doctor, he sent me to the hospital to have an IV for dehydration and blood work. After spending the whole day there, they sent me home and told me that they don't know what's wrong, and it must to some sort of stomach virus that has inflamed the lining of my stomach. Food is just sitting in my stomach undigested for days. Weird. Anyway, I am feeling a bit better today, but still don't feel like eating or drinking. So, the point of all this whining is that I got up this morning and weighed myself and I gained 7 POUNDS in 3 days. And, I have to weigh in tonight. Great. It must be the IV that caused the weight gain, because I've eaten next to nothing for days now because it makes me so sick. Weird, weird, weird. I can't wait to be feeling back to normal. Then I can get my eating/drinking back on track.


So today, I plan to finish all the housework I wasn't able to do yesterday, go for a walk, and try to eat and drink. If that goes well this morning, I might call my girlfriend and see if she wants to bring her son over and we can take the kids to the park this afternoon. That's it!

Have a great day everyone! Enjoy this spring weather - get outside today! :)

Tuesday

There is not much happening here today. I plan to finish up the last load of laundry this morning, and hopefully get in to see my doctor. I have a few piano students this afternoon. This evening we are going to our friends sugar shack to watch them make maple syrup. The kids will enjoy that. Other than that - na-da!

Htabby, I know you are going to ask how the running went last night so I will have to fess up. I didn't go. I have been feeling quite strangely lately, and I just didn't feel well enough to go running. It's a bummer, but hopefully the doc can clear things up for me and I will be running before you know it! :)

Have a great day everyone!

Wonderful Monday!

Good morning everyone! Spring is here and I am feeling so happy about it! No more cabin fever!

We woke up on Saturday feeling that spring-y feeling. You know, the whole "open all the windows-let's use the sidewalk chalk-lets wash the car with the hose" feeling. It was great. We did none of the above, but DH and I did go for a long walk with the children in the wagon. We walked to the local bakery (45 min walk there) and had a sandwich on bakery bread, a diet pop and we split a peanut butter cookie. It was a fun outing. Our little town has a very scenic and quaint down town area. We came home and played games and had a nap.

Sunday we went out for brunch with some friends. It was a buffet, but I was very good and stuck to the fruit and salad bar. I only had some chocolate pudding for dessert too! That afternoon I took my DS for a walk while DH stayed home with DD while she was sleeping. We just poked along playing eye-spy, checking out birds, peeking in store windows, walking funny/backwards and giggling a lot! :) My son said to me "Mom, your like a friend-mom!" Melt my heart! :)

It was the perfect weekend.

I walked my son to school instead of driving him this morning. I am a walking machine! Today I plan to do all the house work I ignored on the weekend. :) Laundry, vacuuming, laundry, dusting, laundry. LOL!

Have a great day everyone!

Finally Friday

I am feeling like crap today. I have a migraine. I hardly ever get them, maybe once or twice a year. This one is a doozie. I am throwing up, have diareaha, and have lost most of the vision in my left eye. Blah.

I'm going back to bed.

Stacie.

WI Wednesday - Report

I weighed in last night and I was down a pound. I am fighting my "whoop-dee-doo" instincts. I know down is down, and down is better than up, but all the same, when you've been trying really hard, walking and tracking and drinking your water, sometimes a one pound loss can be a little disappointing.

Anyway, I am trying to knock that negative talk out of my head and look at the bigger picture. I have lost 25 pounds in the last 10 months! In the past 6 weeks, I have lost 15 pounds! Now I am only 3 pounds from goal weight! Of those 6 weeks, I've been down every single week expect for one where I stayed the same. A one pound loss should be celebrated because I am still firmly on the wagon! Am I right? I'm right. Right?! LOL! :)

I am wondering if I need to decrease my breastfeeding points as my DD is nearly a year old and is nursing less. (Once in the early morning, once during the day and once in the middle of the night.)

Today I am going to get a criminal check and a drivers abstract from the police station for our adoption/fostering application. I'm thankful for a clean past, no drug smuggling, auto theft, breaking and entering, or prostitution. But wouldn't you know it - I got a speeding ticket JUST LAST WEEK for first time. :( Oh well, I think they are looking more for DUI's than doing 95 in an 80 zone. (Oh ok, it was 119 in an 80 zone, and I didn't have my ownership in the vehicle, but the cop was really nice and dropped it down for me.)

Have a great day ladies! Drink, track and get some exercise today! :)

Cheers!

Oh my word!

We just got the application package in the mail to become foster/adoptive parents. It is SO detailed! I have spent the past 2 hours filling out questionnaires and forms. Whew! They are very thorough! Finances, Childhood, Marriage, Sex life (!?) etc...! I feel like I've been through the wringer!

I know I am down a pound so far. I really thought I would have lost more this week because I've been very good. But I'll take every loss I get! :) I only have 2 more tickets to weigh in, so I really want to lose these last 4 pounds before my tickets run out! :)

I'd better get back to these forms! I'm still not done.

Cheers!
Stacie

I'm Back!

Hi everyone! I've been so busy lately that I spent a week at my parents with the children to recharge my batteries. Gotta love Mom's! :)

The WI last week went better than expected. I stayed the same! :) I have really knuckled down this week and I am hoping for a 2 pound loss.

My girlfriend is a huge exerciser. She has listened to me whine long enough. I complain that I can't walk because my daughter hates the stroller. My girlfriend got the great idea to lend me her backpack so my daughter can ride in it. So now, I am supposed to go for a walk with my 20 pound daughter strapped to my back. Darn. Now I seriously have no excuse! She is bringing it over on Wednesday.

I was telling HTabby that I have a bike. When I first got it, I took my 4 year old son out biking and ended up running him over. He had tread marks up his back and I cracked his helmet. I know, I know, how do you run someone over?! He fell off the sidewalk and I was riding on the road. I tried to stop, but he literally fell right in front of me, so I ran him over. He was fine, but but he won't go bike riding with me anymore. *pout* My family still teases me about the tire marks.

I just realized that I haven't drank any water today! For shame!

Hope you are all doing well! Spring is just around the corner! I can smell mud puddles and dog poo already! :)

Cheers!

Peeking Through Fingers...

Alright, alright, I'll admit that I am reluctant to post today. I kind of fell off the wagon during the course of the Easter Weekend. My Grandma, Mom, brother and sister all brought my favorite foods. Everyone brought enough chocolate to sink a ship. I tried, I really did. I was fine on day 1, 2 and 3, but I pretty much face planted into the baked beans, ham, homemake dinner rolls and scalloped potatoes, corn, and pineapple peppers. Once that happened it was like I couldn't stop!

I weighed myself this morning and I am up a pound. I gave myself a little pep talk this morning, mapped out my day, filled my water jug and came up swingin'! :)

Other than that little blip, we had an awesome weekend. It was so fun to have everyone home. It was a bit chaotic with 15 people staying here, but chaotic in a very I-love-my-crazy-family kind of way. We had an egg hunt for the children and their Easter baskets were overflowing. It seems very quiet today after 5 days of action! I will be happy to get back into our routine again.

Hope everyone is well! I'll be checking up on you all soon! :)

I will post my "after" picture once I reach goal! :) I am dying to put them up here too! :)

Cheers!

Weigh In Wednesday

I did it! I did it! I was down 2 pounds this week! I am so excited that I am only 4 pounds away from a weight that I was only dreaming about 10 months ago! :) Since starting 10 months ago, I've lost 24 pounds!

Gotta run! Everyone gets here tonight!

Happy Easter everyone! :)

I think I can, I think I can!

We've had so much company lately! I've had one day of the past 8 days where we didn't have someone staying here. (That's 3 different sets of company.) And there's more to come! I am having 15 of my relatives staying at our place for the whole Easter Weekend. And lest you think I am being a martyr, let me clarify that I love having company. DH and I enjoy having a lot of people around and feeding everyone. It's fun for our kids too.

I have been a good girl all week as far as WW goes. I've planned, tracked and served WW friendly meals. I saw the lowest number yet on my scales the other morning. I am quite chuffed about that! :)

I know I keep going on and on about my new cook book, but now I've tried 16 recipes out of it and we've loved every single one! I highly recommend it! :) Company's Coming 2-in-1 Healthy Choices.

It will be nice once things settle down again, and I can browse everyone's blogs! I hope you are all doing well! Take care!

Ketchup on my blog!

Sorry, bad pun. I have to catch up on my blogging! :)

We have had company since last Friday! I have been cooking and cleaning for nearly a week straight! And I have more company coming tomorrow and staying until Monday. Meal planning has been a challenge, but not impossible. I just fed everyone WW friendly meals and they didn't even know it! :) They'll go home and be down 2 pounds! LOL! :)

So... all that exercising and careful dieting last week resulted in a 2.5 POUND LOSS! WooooHoooo! I am getting close to goal! :)

I ended up buying the Sofie Kinsella book like I promised myself. I stayed up until 1:30 am to finish it. It was amazing, as all her books are! :)

I took my nephew (Riley) and son (Carter) down hill skiing on Tuesday. The conditions were perfect! Sunny, mild and we had just had a dump of fluffy snow on Monday night. The line-ups were crazy, but it was well worth the wait. I took my nephew (10) as a birthday gift to him. He had never skied before. I was freaking out, because Riley would fall half was down the run, I would have to help Riley while watching helplessly as my 4 year old bombs the hill without slowing down and rips away from me! I was scared someone would snatch him at the bottom of the hill, but I couldn't just leave Riley stuck on the run. Argh! Finally, I had to leave Carter with my Mom in the chalet until Riley could do the runs without falling. The afternoon was MUCH better than the morning, as we were all skiing together again. Getting off the chair lift with two children was difficult. Anyway, Riley kept saying "this is the best birthday EVER!" so it was all worth it!

My family took me out for my birthday yesterday. (I'm going to be 29 on Friday!) I had WI that night, so I was very good and ordered a vegetarian chilli with 2 small soft tortilla wraps. While I was drooling over the menu, I kept telling myself "Full is full. No matter what you order, full is full." And guess what? After a bowl of chili I was full! :) AND I didn't have to feel guilty about my meal! :)

Well, I'd better get the house back in ship shape for our company. I'll be busy again for the next little while. I suffer from withdrawal symptoms when I don't have time to check up on everyone's blogs! This is my fix for the next few days! :)

Take care everyone and enjoy the remainder of the March Break! :)

March Break!

I am so on top of this diet thing! :) I was OP yesterday, and OP today!

We are having company for nearly the next two weeks, so I spent this morning getting groceries, menu planning and making meals ahead of time. (Huge pot of Turkey Chilli, a double batch of 2 point Curry Apple and Vegetable Soup, and home made whole wheat buns.) I am severing WW friendly meals the WHOLE two weeks! :) I'll bet they won't even notice. They'll just think we are super healthy people! The only thing I am worried about is one of our guests said he would like to treat us all to a nice meal out on the town. Erk! I think I will save every flex point for that!

I am so excited to have my son home from school for a whole week! I have all kinds of fun things planned for him/our family.

• I'm going to take him downhill skiing again.
• I also want to take him in to the city and go skating on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa. You can rent a sleigh with blades on the bottom and pull the kids if they get tired of skating.
• I have some play dates set up with my girlfriends and their kids. (I'm never sure if the kids or the Mom's are more excited about those. LOL)
  
• My in-laws are coming for 4 days, and they are so great with the kids.
  

I may be too busy entertaining (or shoveling snow - 30-40 cm expected!) to post much this weekend, but I hope everyone enjoys themselves!

Cheers!

Today is a new day...

They canceled our WI last night due to the weather. I felt so cheated! I was so good all week, with my tracking, eating, exercising - and I don't even get to see if it paid off. :(

I know it sounds strange, but it's like my motivation is a parking meter. Those meetings are like the money in the meter. I get to see the pay-off, get some encouragement, top up my motivation and I'm good to go for another week. I spent last night feeling out of whack and kinda discouraged.

But today is the beginning of a new week. If I can get my head in the right place, my chunky butt will follow along behind! :)

I made myself a fruit smoothie for breakfast. I nearly made some banana muffins, but I thought better of it. I froze the banana's instead. I will save baking for a time when I am feeling stronger and more motivated. (That's a bit of a nsv for me.)

I vow that I will stay within my point range today. I will save my flex points for when we have company this weekend.

Have a great day everyone!

Walking Wednesday!

I did it! I went for a walk last night! I loaded up my mp3 player, got all bundled up and walked all the way across town. (Don't be too impressed, I live in a small town. LOL) :) It took me about an 45 minutes instead of an hour this time, because I actually ran for part of the way. Ok, only like 3 blocks of running the whole trip, but still... for me it was more exercise than I've had in over a year! :)

Oh, and don't poke fun at my beet red tomato face! :) I always look like I'm about to have a heart attack when I exercise. Even as a totally fit teen, I would turn bright red at the least bit of exercise! :)

Yes, I will be buying myself Sofie Kinsella's new book today! :)

It's amazing what this blog is doing for me. With all this positive feedback and encouragement, I feel so motivated! WI is tonight and I have a great feeling about it! Fingers crossed! :)

Terrific Tuesday!

I got up and weighed myself this morning and I saw a number I haven't seen in nearly 7 or 8 years! (170) What a motivation to stay on track until WI on Wednesday! I am at the lowest I have ever been since starting WW!

Also, if I get another 5 pound star, my treat is that I can take my son on another down hill skiing trip! Fingers crossed! It would make a very fun outing on March Break!

Ok, so here is my vow to you my blog friends. I will go for an hour walk tonight. If I go for an hour walk tonight, my reward is to buy myself the new Sofie Kinsella book. There! I said it, so it must be true. :)

I mailed out a batch of birthday cards on Friday and got them back in the mail yesterday. Apparently, they won't send them if you don't put stamps on them! LOL! Who knew?!

Have an awesome day today! We are very good at this weight loss thing! :)

Super Sunday

Today went really well. The children played so nicely together, and we adults had a blast. We had some friends over for a Sunday dinner just for the fun of it. The meal was perfect and I was so proud of myself for taking small portions of everything. I didn't even have to use any of my saved flex points! Also, I changed my mind on the dessert menu and just served a fresh fruit tray. (Mango, pineapple and navel oranges) I knew if I made the coffee cake, I would be too tempted to indulge! Everyone was gushing over the fresh fruit. :)

And, get this... (I am so excited!)... I went for an hour walk today! It is the first exercise I've done since starting WW! No kidding! I have been so inspired by all you ladies who are earning your AP, being all dedicated and athletic, that I decided that I needed to start moving as well. I phoned my girlfriend who is a health nut and invited her to come along. She was so happy, (she's been lecturing me forever) that she hopped in her jeep and came right over. She set the tempo, and I tell ya, I couldn't even finish a sentence without huffing and puffing. (Yes, we were walking almost as fast as we were talking!) Here's the cool part - I enjoyed myself! Heck, I may even go for another walk tomorrow! :)

I am just winding down after an awesome weekend and looking very forward to the coming week!

Polished feeling!

I spent most of the day polishing my house. I swept, mopped, vacuumed, dusted, polished, and organized. Whew! I feel on top of everything now, and I am ready for the white glove test! :)

I went to shopping in the afternoon. I bought the prettiest blouse, a sweater and a cami. Oh, and a cashmere zip hoodie. All in a large now, instead of an XL. :) The one sweater feels a bit loose, but I was so excited to fit into a L that I didn't want to jinx it by trying on a M. We are having company tomorrow - I plan to feel like a million bucks with my polished house and polished outfit! :)

I have saved ALL my flex points for the dinner I am serving tomorrow. I am having some "melt off the bone ribs", rice, corn, carrots, a sweet potato casserole and a chocolate chip coffee cake. Yowza! That meal will add up quickly! :) There will be 10 of us!

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend. Make that a wonderful on plan weekend! :)

Happy for Hubby

Today is one of those days that I feel on top of the world! I am a happy girl! Being down 2.5 pounds at WI yesterday was such a boost!

My DH weighed in this morning and he was down a pound. That's 5 pounds in two weeks! Yay for him! I am so relieved. I thought he was going to throw in the towel or get lax about it. He is not one to show a lot of emotion, he be seemed pretty happy this morning!

I called my sister this morning and we had a "cleaning challenge". It was awesome. I would set the timer for an hour and in that time we had to strip the beds, re-make the beds and wash the dirty linens. I would call her when the timer went off. Then we would think up another challenge. It was so much fun! (Hey, we mom's have to get our kicks where we can!) :) I love my big sister!

I plan to have the following today:

B - 2 slices of toast with sugar free jam and coffee
s - fiber one bar
L - frozen WW dinner. Sechwan noodles, (Oh dear, another word even my spell checker can't figure out.) my favorite! With a salad of course.
s - A strawberry/pink lemonade slushie (from my new cookbook!)
D - Hmmm... I'm not sure yet. Maybe sausage, left over potatoes, peas and a salad.
s - Popcorn

Grocery day tomorrow! I can't wait to do my menu plan this afternoon, so I have it ready for tomorrow morning.

Have a great day everyone!

WI Wednesday Part II

Down 2.5 lbs! Yahoo! I am more than half way there! :)

Weigh In Wednesday

I am so excited to be going to WI tonight. I have been such a good girl, and my scales at home are telling me this will be a good WI!

On a down note, my DH is seeing no results at all. :( He lost 4 pounds the first week and has stayed the same for this week. I can tell he is a bit discouraged, but I don't know how to fix it. He is eating exactly the same things I am, except he has a 6 point breakfast of Bran Flakes and milk. Poor guy, he is trying so hard. I'm bummed out for him.

My son and I baked a cake from my new cookbook yesterday. It was an Apple Carrot cake with Apple Cream Cheese Frosting. A 9x13 pan yields 24 pieces, 3.5 points each. Oh man, it was SO awesome! We all had a piece, I kept 3 more pieces for tonight's dessert, then I split the rest and took it to both of our neighbors on either side on us. (Thus ridding myself of the temptation to dive right into the pan.) They love it when I am on a diet!

Wish me luck at WI! I am hoping for at least a 2 pound loss.

Cheers!

Awesome recipe book!

I went out last night in search of a low-fat recipe book. I found the Company's Coming Healthy Choices 2-in-1 Cookbook collection. ($18.97) It has so many great sounding recipes in it! Lots of smoothies, breakfast ideas, one-dish dinners, salads, desserts, lunches, side dishes, pastas, snacks etc. It gives all the NI for each recipe. I went through it with my points calculator and wrote in all the point values for each recipe. I was amazed at how low the points were!

I have been so disappointed in the past with low fat cookbooks (including the WW cookbooks). Most recipes are not very "family friendly", at least for my family. My son (4) was looking at this cook book with me and was pointing at things he wants me to try making. DH and I were drooling over many of the main dishes. I can't wait for grocery day! I will be armed with a ton of new recipes to try!

My eating for today:

B - A tropical smoothie. (Banana's and pineapple... yum!), and a fat-free strawberry yogurt
s - A fiber one bar and started my 1 liter of water
L - WW turkey, gravy and mashed potato frozen dinner, 2 slices of whole wheat bread with a slice of fat-free turkey meat, with fat-free mayo and mustard, I finished off my liter of water.
s - I plan to have a mango
D - We are trying new recipes from my cookbook. Tangy Orange Chicken Breast, and honey garlic glazed baby carrots, salad and a piece of Carrot Apple Cake with low fat apple icing! :) I can't wait!

Have a great afternoon everyone!

Good Monday Morning!

I stayed on plan all weekend! I even gained some activity points by doing a whole day of spring cleaning in our basement! I had all of my flex points still, so I used up some of them over the weekend. I still have 19 flex points, but I don't think I will use them with WI so close (Wednesday) I am gearing up for another week of menu planning and staying on track! :)

My new favorite WW recipe are the terriyaki turkey burgers. (Wow, I spelled that so poorly, even the spell checker can't decipher what I am trying to spell!) Only 5 points for a loaded burger! My DH and I agree that they taste better than ground beef burgers.

Good luck to the rest of you today!

I Almost Exercised!

Last night at 7:00, DH said he would watch the children while I went and tried out the new gym in town. I got all excited, ran upstairs, pulled my hair back into a pony tail, ran to my closet and... that's were it all fell apart.

Hrm.... I could wear these size 16 fleece jogs, but they are huge on me and make my butt look weird. (I'm a 12/14) *toss* Maybe these beach pants, but they have a fold down waistband and might fall off if I run. *toss* Shorts? LOL! I kill me. *toss* Oh, I know, these old exercise pants with the elastic waist band and zippers on the ankles. Perfect!

Now for a bra. I take off my nursing bra as it offers no support. I have 3 more to choose from. One red under wire push-up from La Senza, it's sister in turquoise, *toss, toss* or a t-back sports bra. I try the sports one on first. I give a little hop to check the support and nearly give myself a back eye. Foiled again. Hey, what if I put a really tight swimming suit on OVER the sports bra! I give that a try. The girls stay in place, but the legs are tight on the swimming suit and it cuts into my thighs. It hurts, but I figure it's my only option.

The top now. It can't be too light, because the swimming suit is black and I don't want to advertise my strange undergarments. So again, I have 3 options. A top that matches the pants, but is really short. If I lift anything, my belly will show and people will see my bathing suit. *toss* A black t-shirt! That's the ticket! It doesn't really match the pants. *toss* My last option is a tank top. It doesn't match and it shows off my less than toned upper arms.

So there I stand, in our walk-in closet, wearing sports pants, sports bra, bathing suit and holding a tank top. It is now 7:45. I can feel my excitement melting away. I put on the tank top and take a look in the mirror. Ha, I look ridiculous! I have a uni-boob, my tank doesn't match, and there is an old washed in stain on the calf of my pants that I didn't notice.

I take everything off, and hop into a cozy pair of pj's. I go to my son's room, and snuggle with him, read him a book and turn out the light.

I head downstairs where DH does a double take at my pj's. "You're not going to the gym in THAT are you?!" I explain my wardrobe crisis. He just rolls his eyes and says "You use anything for an excuse to shop won't you?"

So, today I am going to go shopping for work-out clothes. I am also going to check to see if I can gain any activity points by shopping. Now THAT is a realistic goal!

I was OP (on plan) yesterday, and plan to be OP today!

Have a great day all!

WI - Seven Pound Loss!

I had weigh in tonight, and I nearly fell over when they told me I had a 7 pound loss! Success breeds success and I am twice as motivated this week! :)

After the meeting, I went to the grocery store and stocked back up on healthy snacks and lots of fresh fruit. My new favorite snack is the Fiber One Chocolate Granola Bars. So tasty I feel guilty. :)

Only 11 pounds to goal!

Mount Washmore

Nothing exciting happened today. I spent the day doing laundry and housework.

My children and I were in the local newspaper today, for attending a Valentines Day dinner at my son's school. We are in such a small town that it's not hard to get in the newspaper. Not much happens here! :) You sneeze funny and tah-dah... there you are on the community events page! :) It makes for a nice scrap booking page though.

I am totally on-plan and looking very forward to my 2nd WI tomorrow!

Happy Family Day!

It was our first Family Day holiday in Ontario, and we had such an awesome day! I took my son (4 yrs old) downhill skiing for the first time. It was a blast! I enrolled him in a private lesson for an hour in the morning, and by the time he was finished the lessons, he could ski! I was so proud of him. I am aching from head to toe from having to haul him back up when he fell down, help him get on and off the lift and tows, and power skiing the flat stretches while pulling him with him holding onto my ski poles. Whew! Skiing is hard enough, let alone doing it for two! :)

I packed a tuna on a 2 whole wheat english muffins, fiber 1 bar, diet coke, water, and a Healthy Choice vanilla pudding, and half a mango for lunch.

I used up my day of activity points and some of my weekly point allowance by taking us all out for Chinese food afterwards. We were starving from all the fresh air, and it's my son's absolute favorite. It was so worth it. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day!

Dancing Smack Dab in the Middle of the Wagaon!

I love this fresh start feeling! I am NOT going to fall of this wagon! I have next to no groceries and I still managed to have a very healthy breakfast and lunch.

Ok, WW ladies, you may want to turn away here if you don't want to explode with envy....!

I get 36 points a day because I am a breastfeeding mom. How cool is that? I've eaten a very filling breakfast and lunch, and I still have 17 points left for the day!

I really have no excuse to fall off the wagon with this many points to play with! :)

So, here's my musing for the day. Me getting a cell-phone or a gym membership is pointless. Within days of buying my cells phone I was forgetting to charge it. For weeks I carried around a dead phone. Then I lost my phone. Once again, I'm paying a $40 monthly bill for a dead phone I can't find. (This is my 3rd time trying to be a responsible cell phone owner.) The sad part is, I can't cancel it because that would be like admitting I am too stupid to own a cell phone.

Likewise, I have purchased gym memberships in the past. I go 5 times the first week, once the next week, then I feel guilty about not going for a few weeks, then I forget I even have a gym membership. Forget, that is, until the $ gets withdrawn from my bank account every month.

The conclusion of today's musings is that I am to air-headed to own a cell phone and too lazy to belong to a gym. Hmmm.... this self analysis is for the birds.

I think I will look into a "pay as you (don't) go" plan for my dead phone and a pay as you (don't) go plan for our local gym.

Cheers everyone! Have a great day!

Happy Valentines Day!

It figures - my first day back to Weight Watchers and I had to go to a Valentines Day Dinner! I sat myself down and had a little pre-dinner pep rally. I said, "Self, you are not to go back for seconds, you will drink only water, you will load up on salad. IF you do this, you may have a small piece of that butterscotch cream pie. You have already tracked this meal, so stick to it! Ready...? OK!" And gave one of those weird cheerleader head nods and cupped hand claps quickly followed by a pom-pom shake and ending with a spectacular star jump. The people at my table were giving me strange looks, but I don't care, because it worked. I stayed on plan for the first meal in a long time!

Now I am off to start supper. Ready...? OK!

Yahoo! I went to my first weigh-in! My start weight was 183, which was about what I expected. I decided to wear a 3 pound long jean skirt to WI (weigh-in). Imagine my delight next week when I lose an additional 3 pounds of "clothing weight". LOL!

My DH (darling husband) says he is going to join me on the plan. He is the ultimate lazy dieter. He will eat what ever I pack in his lunch and whatever I put in front of him at supper time, and nothing more. It's almost like dieting for two. :) I love doing it though. It is so much fun to have someone else join me!

Oh hey! I get to start drinking my water again! I am looking forward to that. Maybe if I get enough courage up, I will join a challenge on the Weight Watchers Board. I have never done one, but I have heard good things about them. I just don't want to be the "newbie" who makes all the dumb mistakes. :)

Well, goodnight! I have to go and teach a piano lesson now!

Soon to be thin,
Stacie

The Last of My Fat and Happy Days

Our trip to Florida was awesome! The highlight was para-sailing over the ocean. We had a blast beaching it, outlet shopping, dolphin spotting, kite flying, sunset watching, pool and hot tubbing, mini-golfing, and eating some amazing seafood.

Now it is back to reality! I am going to go to the WW meetings again, starting on Wednesday. I am so pumped! I am going to join for 12 weeks and I am determined to stick with it for the whole 12 weeks. I think I can lose 20 pounds in that time, which should take me to goal! I am nervous about my first weigh-in. My scales at home are a lot more forgiving! :) I hope I don't die of shock!

Tah-tah for today!

Thick and Tired of it

I am 5'9" and I am a size 10. I have no stretch marks. I am toned, firm and unlike Bridgit Jones, I have no wobbly bits. My hair just falls into ringlets with no need for frizz control. My house is always immaculate and organized. I am in control of my eating habits, and I turn my nose up at unhealthy foods.

*snuffle, snort, yawn, s-t-r-e-t-c-h, rub eyes and chuckle to myself over the lovely dream I've just had.*

Well, it was almost true. I am 5'9". However, I am a large size 12 and small 14. I am have stretch marks under and over my belly button and I wobble quite a lot. (When I am not wearing control top nylons. Bless the person who invented those!) My hair is nearly to my waist, but I always wear it up or I look like a frizzy cocker spaniel. I do my very best to keep up with my house work. (thank you FlyLady.com) And I am on Weight Watchers.

Rather, I should say, I am a non-practicing Weight Watcher. I pay for the on-line subscription, lurk and post on the message boards, all the while stuffing my face with whatever I feel like eating.

Before you start gasping and wagging your finger, may I say, I was not always this way! I started Weight Watchers in June of '07. I lost 18 pounds. Then Christmas happened, and happened and happened and heck, it's been Christmas for months now! I have gained back 8 pounds, but I am in denial and refuse to change my stats on my WW posts.

I am going to Florida on Friday, and I am determined to recommit to WW once I get home. I am hoping to use this blog as a way to encourage myself. I am hoping to keep it as a light and amusing look at my weight loss journey! You are welcome to come along for the ride!
See you on Feb 10th!