Staying Busy!

Hi!
Sorry I didn't get a chance to pop back on yesterday, as I said I would. I actually completely forgot to do that! I've been so busy with planning GS events, sitting at GS cookie booths, making sad travel plans, going on a fun Spring Break ski vacation with my kids and coming down the home stretch as we plan our big European vacation with the troop this summer....that I've been swamped!

I have a 300 person event planned tomorrow that I'm working on with my GS troop. We are hosting a badge day for both Brownie & Junior girls. Each of them will be working over a 3 hour period and earning 3 Try Its/badges. It's a great event! We usually do it twice a year and this is our second time. It's generally a very fun time for everyone. It's pretty stressful for me but I'm really working on trying to be as mellow as possible. LOL!

I'm eating OK. It could be better, but it could be MUCH worse. I haven't measured or weighed myself (and wrote it down) since we got back from Oklahoma. I'm planning on doing that on Monday though. I need to get back on track and find out where I am. I did hop on the scale after Oklahoma though, I had gained 4 pounds. I know for sure that I've lost 2 of those pounds, possibly 3. I'll know for sure on Monday though when I step on the scale & check my measurements.

Tonight I've been watching our puppies too, on top of everything else I'm doing. They got spayed & neutered today (1 girl & 2 boy mini dach's). Poor little things! They are doing pretty well though. The girls have been kind of a pain in the butt helping watch them though. They don't like that I'm making them take responsibility for their own dogs. Ugh! Kids, they can truly be a pain in the butt (even though I love them like crazy, they often try to figure out how to get out of the stuff they don't want to do). Does that sound familiar to any parents of teenagers? LOL!

On that note, I think I better wrap it up. I would like to get to bed at a decent time, since I'll be getting up early to prep for the event. I have to be up there by 8 AM and I have LOTS to do before that.

I'll be sure to check in soon. No worries! I'm still here!
Hugs from AZ,
Shannon

I'm here! Don't count me out!

Hey!
I'm still here, don't you EVEN count me out of this game! :-)

I'll be sure to come back and post today. I have to run downtown but I WILL post in a few hours. It has been one crazy month. I'll fill you in shortly.

Hugs from AZ,
Shannon

Tough Week

Hi all,
It's been a tough week here. Unfortunately we had to go to Oklahoma for the funeral of our 1 month old niece. She passed away on February 30th and the funeral was on March 4th. The poor little thing was born with multiple birth defects including Trisomy 13 and a cleft palate. What a sad, sad thing. She was adorable and will be greatly mourned by her parents and siblings.
RIP little Amberlyn!

My DH and I drove to OK and back together. It was some nice time together, even though the reason was very somber. We seized the opportunity to meet a fellow YOADer in OKC on the way home. It was a wonderful meeting! We are so glad that we did that. It made a very sad trip end on a high note.

We spent the afternoon in OKC at the OKC National Museum--The Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial. It was a wonderful tribute to some very unfortunate victims. It's a beautiful museum and I definitely recommend it if you are ever in OKC.

I did pretty good with eating and exercise but I did stray some. DH and I shared some home made raspberry cobbler twice (it was fabulous) and I had some home made chicken & noodle soup. Other than that, I stayed on YOAD foods for the most part. We did have some Chex Mix in the car on the way up and back. That wasn't totally YOAD but it was yummy!

I'm not sure I want to get on the scale this week, I may just wait until next week. I hopped on two days ago and it showed a 2+ lb gain. I'm not sure if that was accurate because it wasn't a morning weight. I didn't think I was that off track but I'm afraid to get on the scale. I'll let you know what I decide.

I guess that's all for now. This week will be very busy here. It's the last week of cookie sales and we have LOTS of booths. No worries, I'm staying out of the Thin Mints completely!
Hugs from AZ,
Shannon

Weekly Weight & Measurements a Day Early-3/2/08

Unfortunately we are on our way to Oklahoma this morning. My BIL & SIL lost their new baby daughter and we are going to the funeral to support them. What a sad time. She was born with a number of birth defects and struggled to remain on this earth for 5 weeks. What a little fighter! :-)

I won't be here tomorrow so I took my weight & measurements a day early.
Weight-181.8 (home scale shows 183.2 lbs-so I converted the number to show what the gym scale would show, using the difference of last weeks gym to home scale number).
Down 3.7 lbs (I'll be curious to see how accurate that is when I weigh next week in the gym)
Abs-37" (no change)
Sucked in Abs-33.5" (down 1/2")
Chest-37" (no change)
Neck-14.75" (down 1/4")
R arm-11.75"/15.75" (no changes)
L arm-11.75"/15.5" (no changes)
R leg-22.75" (no change)
L leg-22" (down 3/4")
Pannus-44" (no change)

I'm surprised to see the change finally in my neck! It takes forever for my neck or pannus to change at all. I'm just continuing to move forward and make positive changes in my life. We have arranged to stay at a hotel with a fitness center and I will be using it daily while we are gone.
See you when we get back,
Shannon

Weekly Weight & Measurements 2/26/08

Weight-185.4 lbs (the gym scale--I'm up about 2/3 a pound)

I also weighed myself on my new home scale too. I wanted to see how much the difference was going to be. The home scale weighs 186.9 lbs (at least I know how it compares to the gym scale now). I think once I hit the 170's I'll switch to weighing in at home......but maybe not! LOL!!

Abs-37" (down 1/2")
Sucked In Abs-34" (up 1/4")
Chest-42.5" (up 1/4")
R arm-11.75"and 15 7/8" (no change and up 1/8")
L arm-11.75 and 15.5" (no change and down 1/4")
R leg-22.75" (no change)
L leg-22.75" (no change)
Pannus-44" (no change)

There you have it, today's numbers. The full monty. I was disappointed in myself, as I said earlier, but that doesn't make things change. What it does do though is motivate me. For the past two days, I'm moving forward.

I'm a true testiment to "Fall Down 7 Times, Get Up 8".....heck it's more like Fall Down 145 Times, Get Up 146! :P~~~

Hugs from AZ!

Reality Check

Hello!
I hope everyone is having an amazing day! It was absolutely beautiful in Phoenix today! I wish you could have all been here! I think it was in the mid-upper 70's. I rode my bike after going to the gym because I just wanted to be outside some. Wow it was nice! (Don't mean to rub it in to all of you snowbound folks...honest!)

I checked my weight and measurements this morning. For the first time since I started my weight loss journey I actually gained weight. I gained about 2/3 of a pound. I know why and I know that I have 100% ownership of that. I can't not exercise for 3 days and eat too much (even when it's YOAD food). It's that simple. I'm not worried but I was saddened and disappointed in myself.

Yesterday my YOU turn was in full swing and I burned 668 calories at the gym. I had a good caloric intake and all was well. Today I had a great 60 minute workout and did fine with food too. I'm on track and moving forward. I'm not worried, I'm optimistic and encouraged. I have the keys to my own weight loss, its just up to me to open the door.

OK--enough of that drivel. LOL! Here's a GOOD story now. Yesterday I put on a pair of jeans and went to the store. While I was there, I realized that they weren't my jeans and thought, hmmmm...that's weird. Later on, I was picking up my DD's from school and my middle DD said "Mom!! Why are you wearing my jeans??" How cool is that?! For the first time in my life, I actually weigh the same or less as my two oldest DD's.

I also have retired as "the fat sister" in my family. It's a title that I am very happy to give up. I feel bad that anyone has to be "the fat sister", but for now I'm just going to be happy it's not me. The next step is to get my sister on this YOAD journey with me. I've been working on her little by little, planting the seeds. I'm hoping they'll start to blossom soon. My oldest sister lives a very healthy lifestyle and she read YOAD after I recommended it to her. She's been living it as long as I have. My youngest sister doesn't have a weight problem. Now it's just me and one of my older sisters that need to get the weight off. Not much longer and there will only be ONE of us that's overweight!

Gee....can you tell I'm sharing some feelings here?? LOL! Well heck, I guess I'll stop rambling for now.
Hugs from AZ,
Shannon

P.S. I have a new song for everyone to listen to. It's a bit of a tear jerker. It's called "You're Gonna Miss This" by Trace Adkins. It's so, so true!

Roller Coaster Ride

It's funny how my weight loss journey is such a roller coaster ride. At some parts you are just chugging along so well, there's nothing that derails you. At other points you get side tracked often, overindulge in the "correct food" by emotional eating, lack of motivation or just plain boredom. In the old days, prior to reading the YOAD book, those side tracks would lead to weight gain and the end of the journey. The "diet" would be over and I'd just be who I was, no more guilt about my weight, no more feeling bad about my food choices and no more being self conscious every moment about what I looked like.

Last night I had a revelation! This isn't the old days. It's time to YOU turn it around and get on track. I'm not going backwards, I'm not quitting anything, I'm not a failure! I merely had a couple of days over calories--hardly the end of the world. Heck, I didn't even have anything "bad" to eat--it was just too much of it. Anywhere from 200-500 calories too much of it (4 days of the last 7). A couple of those days I offset that intake though with an extra vigorous workout or even a second workout at the gym. Needless to say, all is far from being lost. It's actually a pretty good feeling.

It's OK to know that everything doesn't go perfect all the time and you can still be on a weight loss journey. It's OK to eat above calories sometimes. It's OK not to be perfect. Heck, no one is! (Believe me this is actually pretty significant stuff for me to say--I am a true perfectionist). I am proud that I can reflect on this now and move forward NOW. I am happy that I can make changes on the inside, even if they aren't always seen on the outside.

With weight loss, comes tremendous change. It's actually the least talked about part of losing weight. For those of us that have always been heavy, it's a very scary thing to think of being a "normal weight". There are so many things that we will have to learn to handle--people flirting, being more aware of our surroundings, paying attention to the signals we're sending out, being a part of the "invisible crowd" (words borrowed from my friend Elizabeth), how we carry ourselves, building our self esteem and so much more. Lots and LOTS of change. Most of it is exciting though--I'm actually really starting to touch on this stuff now since I'm in a size 14. I'm getting closer to "normal size" and am starting to look more like the "average woman" instead of the "fat lady" or "chubby girl". A whole new set of rules are coming my way and I'll be spending the next few months (or even year or so) learning them. I can say I'm a little scared of these rules but I can also say I'm really excited at the idea of living by a set of rules I've never been a part of before. It will be an interesting ride....that's for SURE!

Hugs for today,
Shannon