Friday Results

How cute is this cartoon? Anyway, still feeling like a huge balloon, I stayed true to my word and stepped on the scale this morning. Not too bad-188.4. I was still hoping for better results, but since this is probably the worst week of the month to weigh, I will take what I can get. So now since I bought this new digital scale (it keeps track of weight for up to 5 individual people) I have lost 6 pounds. I would say that is in about 5 weeks. Since I started blogging about it, I have lost 3 pounds. To make things clear, I am counting my initial weight with the new scale at 194.4 pounds. So 6 pounds total loss so far. I will be anxious to check next Friday, because I know the results will be so much better. Also, for extra incentive I am allowing myself prizes for every 5 pounds lost. For the first 5 I bought myself some new makeup. I am not sure what to do for the next 5...I have 4 more pounds to figure it out, though. I am thinking I will probably need some new shoes by then!

Perfect Healthy Snack

This is my best healthy snack discovery yet! We have these at work among our healthy eating snacks at the switchboard (a program put on by one of our health conscious employees), so I bought one for the first time yesterday. Wow! It is so flavorful. You can't totally tell from the picture, but that dark brown top layer is exactly like the filling in the Little Debbie Pumpkin Smiley faces they have during the fall season. Then on top of that is a layer of chopped pecans. Yum. The majority is the regular kashi type granola which is equally as tasty. The nutritional info is perfect, too. Only 120 calories, 4 whopping grams of fiber, and 3 grams of fat. This would probably equal 2 Weight Watcher points. Great snack when you have a sweet tooth. I know we all struggle with our weight at some point, so I thought it would be fun to pass along a fun snack choice. I need to check out their other flavors.

On a similar note..
Tomorrow is another weigh in day. I think I am going to officially change the weigh ins to Friday. Analee was right; this way I can splurge on something over the weekend and still have time to make up for it during the week! check in the morning for results-dun, dun, dun...

Results again...

It is that time again. I was scared to step on the scale this morning because I just wasn't feeling thin. Water weight, big dinner last night, etc. So I was sort of happy to see I still lost this week, but not much. Today's weight is 189.0, a .2 loss from last week. I am going to try again Friday when I think I will have lost some of this puffiness and water retention. But I remember this from weight watchers. Some weeks are great, some not so great, and any loss is a loss. I wish I had my old weight chart to look back on and see how the weight loss fluctuated. Anyway, I was hoping for better results, but I will take this small loss. Check back for Friday results-

Gary's Answers

Here are Gary's responses about me to the same questions. Not too bad. A couple could have better answers, but overall I am impressed. Except for #18!!!! Wrong! And about the food I don't like. There is really only one food I don't like-collards


1. He's sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen?
Friends or 90210

2. You're out to eat, what kind of dressing does he get on his salad?
Ranch

3. What's one food he doesn't like?
pinto beans, beans in general, doesn't like the texture

4. You go out to eat and have a drink. What does he order?
Diet Coke

5. Where did he go to high school?
Voorhees. NJ

6. What size shoe does he wear?
8 1/2

7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be?
plastic Walmart bags

8. What is his favorite type of sandwich?
BLT from SUBWAY

9. What would this person eat every day if he could?
pizza with mac n cheese

10. What is his favorite cereal?
Lucky Charms

11. What would he never wear?
mini skirt

12. What is his favorite sports team?
EC U

13. Who did he vote for?
Obama

14. Who is his best friend?
Gina

15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do?
tie between not putting dishes in dishwasher and not picking up clothes

16. What is his heritage?
Polish

17. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what kind of cake?
cupcakes

18. Did he play sports in high school?
No, she cheered. Cheerleading is not a sport

19. What could he spend hours doing?
crafts

20. What is one unique talent he has?
extreme multitasking

Husband Quiz

I answered these questions for a quiz on Facebook sent to me from Ally. The only one Gary said I got wrong is the cereal, but he couldn't give me a better answer, so technically that is right! He eats Cinnamon Toast Crunch ALL the time! I am going to send this to him to fill out about me and I will post the results later. I am scared to see what he puts down! Somehow I'm thinking it won't be quite as accurate as Analee's!!!!



Here's a chance to see how well you really know your husband. Go to Notes and click on new note. Cut, paste and fill in the answers!

1. He's sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen?
either the news or the History Channel

2. You're out to eat, what kind of dressing does he get on his salad?
Never gets salad! On the rare occasion-Catalina

3. What's one food he doesn't like?
Too many to list: mashed potatoes, watermelon, strawberries, bagels!
Meat and potatoes man

4. You go out to eat and have a drink. What does he order?
Sweet tea

5. Where did he go to high school?
Jamesville High School, Jamesville, NC

6. What size shoe does he wear?
14!!!!

7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be?
he collects everything..shark teeth, old bottles, you name it

8. What is his favorite type of sandwich?
Subways Spicy Italian footlong on Italian herb bread with mustard, toasted

9. What would this person eat every day if he could?
Boss Hogs BBQ

10. What is his favorite cereal?
Cinnamon Toast Crunch

11. What would he never wear?
Muscle shirt

12. What is his favorite sports team?
Carolina Panthers or Ind. Colts

13. Who did he vote for?
Barack baby!

14. Who is his best friend?
Female me, male William

15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do?
nag, nag, nag, he wishes I would turn the shower knobs all the way off! drip, drip, drip

16. What is his heritage?
Cherokee/English

17. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what kind of cake?
Strawberry with cream cheese frosting or lemon with lemon icing

18. Did he play sports in high school?
Yes! Football

19. What could he spend hours doing?
Messing around in the barn/garage...wait he already does that!

20. What is one unique talent he has?
He can repeat a joke or story word for word like no one else!

Coughing

Poor Gabe has this terrible deep, congested cough that sounds like pure rumbling in his chest. It's awful, and I think it is getting worse. He tossed and turned all night and every time he would cough he would start crying. It's one of those coughs that if he could just cough up the phlegm like we can, he would be alright. I wish we could give him some medicine, but I know that is totally out of the question now. I will still probably give him some Tylenol tonight to help him sleep. He hasn't had a good night's sleep since Sunday. Also, maybe the humidifier with the Vicks vaposteam will help. I heard you can give honey, but I think that is more to suppress the cough than to help make it more productive. Does anyone have any other home remedy ideas to pass along?

Then I made the number one cardinal mistake of reading about this on the Internet. I was just looking for some tips, but after searching now I am worried it could turn into something more serious. I will wait it out until this weekend then see how he is doing. Luckily there is no fever-just a terrible cough.

On a separate note, he goes to the dermatologist tomorrow for a check up on his little patch on the back of his neck/head area. We know it will have to be surgically (gulp!) removed, but I guess we will find out when tomorrow. That is a day I am already dreading. I don't know how you do it, Analee!

Artificial Gardens?

This is an extreme exaggeration, but why do people do this to their yards? I was driving back and forth between Greenville and Washington today and I saw so many houses with artificial flowers planted in actual flower beds in front of their houses. What is up with this? The neighborhood in between our office and Gabe's daycare is the worst when it comes to these artificial gardens! Some even have them planted as borders framing the front sidewalks! People, please stop doing this to your yards-nothing planted would look 100% better than this crap! Sorry if this offends anyone, but this has become a new pet peeve.

And the Results are in......

It is good news to report today! My current weight today is 189.2 for a weight loss of 2.2 lbs since last Monday! I was so glad to see these results because I was extra careful this past week. It feels good when the numbers reflect your hard work. And this even includes a Valentines splurge at Chilis on Sat. ! I walked 5 times this past week as opposed to 4, so maybe this helped with the numbers. Either way, I am so excited especially since I go to the Dr. tomorrow. I wanted to be in the 180 range instead of the 190's. If I remember correctly, at my last years appt. I weighed an even 200. Anyway, I am slowly getting there!

I remember reading this quote a long time ago, and it helps to keep me on track when I am about to make a bad eating decision. "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" So true!!!!

Facebook Finatic

I could strangle my sister-in-law for getting me hooked on Facebook! I am totally addicted already! It is amazing the people that start coming out of the wood-works-people you even forgot about. But it is a great way to re-connect, and I am really enjoying seeing pictures of my old friends and their new families. What I really love is how everyone is friends with everyone-not quite the way it was in high school! But we are in our 30's now (well, some of us!) and I am glad to see that people have grown up and old grudges no longer exist. Sometimes when I check out an old friend's page, I am amazed to see some of the people under their friend list. I'm like, what? You guys hated each other in high school! Funny stuff.

Prime example of my addiction. I got to work at 8, checked e-mails and all that good stuff, then got ready to start my data entry. All of a sudden I remembered to check my Facebook page to see if there were any new editions. 2 hours later, I am starting to work. But then I remember I need to do a new blog for the day. Now it is 11, and I have one hour until lunch. what should I do with that hour?? Just kidding, of course I am going to do work, but I know I will be back on FB sometime this afternoon!

Ready, Set, Diet!

I am ready to lay it all out there for everyone to see. This is by far my most ambitious blog, but a blog I feel is necessary. Maybe I feel motivated after watching The Biggest Loser last night, but whatever the reason, I am ready.

I have been dieting/losing weight/exercising pretty regularly since Jan 1st of last year. I can proudly say I have lost 21 pounds since then, but you do the math...that is not nearly what it could be. With all this extra weight there is no reason not to be losing no less than 3 pounds a month (and that is very lenient). That would total no less than 36 pounds. So what is happening? Easy. I have dieting extremes. I am either gung ho and determined, or slack off and eat whatever I want. I wouldn't call this yo-yo dieting, just back and forth. Anway, I can be really good for a long time, then something happens (birthday parties for example) and I get off track. Had I stayed on track all along, I would be a cool 165 ish pounds, not the (dun, dun, dun, )191 pounds I am today. Yes folks, I weigh 191 pounds. But let's put this in perspective. I weighed 212 when I got home from the hospital, and 225 at my heaviest 8 months pregnant. CRAZY, right?

Long story short, I have included 2 pictures from when I was my ideal weight of 150. This was when we first bought our house, and I was probably six weeks along with Gabe. I am not trying to get back to 150, but more like 160-165. That is totally do-able, it just will take some fine tuning. So for the last 4 weeks I have been keeping a food journal, and I really think it helps. I write EVERYTHING in it, including how I feel, when I messed up, what I ate and why. If anyone ever found this and read it I would be mortified! But it is helping and just in these last 4 weeks I have lost 5 pounds. Good start.

So the point of all this rambling is to put it out there for everyone to read which I think will help keep me on my toes. I weigh every Monday morning, so I will update the numbers accordingly. You guys should feel priviledged because even my own husband has no idea how much I weigh! And he never reads this blog, so no worries there. It is time to get this "baby" weight off and get my size back on track. I know I have always been a little on the bigger side, but this is just ridiculous!!!!

What Was I Thinking?

It all started with the idea to make Valentine's for Gabe's class at school. No problem. I bought a cute stamp, some gift tags, and Charms lollipops to attach to each tag. Curl some pretty ribbon, and voila-an original Valentine for each kid in the class. I made 12 thinking there are 12 kids in his class.

A few days later a sign-up sheet for their Valentines party went up with a note stating that there are 19 kids in the class! What???? Gabe has been in this 2 year old class for 2 months now and I am just finding out there are 19 kids in that class? I guess since I drop him off and pick him up at funny times (8:15/4:30) I must miss these other kids. I do remember one day picking him up and telling his teachers I didn't recognize half the kids in the room. Anyway, the point is they informed of us of the 19 kids so we could bring party supplies for 19 kids. Gabe was sick the first two days the list was up, and from past experience I know those lists fill up fast. There is always one category that stays unfilled, though. The treat bags. It is easy to bring chips, fruit snacks, and mini cupcakes or cookies. It is not easy to bring treat bags filled with goodies for 12 kids, let alone 19!

Now this brings me to the crazy part. For some reason I felt the need to ask about the party list and what else they might need. Of course one of his teachers mentions they still need treat bags. So........I volunteered to bring them! I noticed there was still one more spot open to bring treat bags, so I thought that meant that me and another mom would split them in half. Uh no. It's just me. So now I have to make 7 more Valentines, plus 4 for his teachers, 2 for the lunch ladies (they are totally worth it!), and 19 treat bags!!!!!!!

This is crazy. I am in no mood to be creative with these, so I think I will head over to the Dollar Tree and see what I can come up with. Lesson learned. Always get to the sign up list first!!

Big City

Well I am headed to the big city tonight, Charlotte. My brother called last night with the best news-he is coming to town (not really my town) for a job interview and wanted to see if we could come and meet him for dinner and hang out. So, of course, and now I am all packed and ready for a road trip. I haven't been to Charlotte since I was in college, so this should be fun. Not that we are really going to do anything but have dinner and hang out in the hotel, but it will be nice to get away for the night.

Except the leaving Gabe part. I am such a sappy wuss when it comes to leaving him!!! Other than a trip to see Billy Joel when he was 3 months old, I have never been away from him! I wish he and Gary could come with my mom and I, but Gabe is still getting over a stomach bug, and I hate to take him away from home when he is still not eating or feeling well. Maybe another time or another trip. Gary is going to do great with Gabe, so at least I don't have to worry about that. Until night time comes and it is "mommy, mommy, mommy"

Anyway, I am so excited to see John and hope his interview goes well. I try not to think about it too much, but it would be soooo amazing if he and his family could come east!!! Salt Lake is too far and we never get to see one another. And now with the kids (he has 2, Zach and Ella) it is even harder to not see them grow up knowing each other. I will just keep my fingers crossed!

Slumber Party! (Sort of)

We had some friends over to watch the Super Bowl Sunday night, including Gabe's friend, Samantha. They had a great time together running, screaming, dancing, and yes taking a bath! Since the game was so late, it ran into our usual bathtime/nightime ritual, so we decided to make it a little more fun for them. What a great time to take some pictures! After the bath they settled down into our bed to watch some cartoons. Well, that didn't quite work out that way, but at least we got a few shots of them snuggled up together! By the way, I still can't figure out how to post these pictures in order, but I guess you get the gist of it. We had a great night, and I think the kids had an even better night!

Once Gabe was finally asleep (around 9:30!) I finally got a chance to sit down and actually watch the game. At least I got to watch the most exciting part of the game. I was glad to see the Steelers win, but felt bad that the Cardinals had come so close. Anyway, maybe we will have to turn this into a Super Bowl tradition!