Dieting sucks!!!

How do you like that title! It has been almost a year since I started this journey and I am down 65 lbs.  For that I am very proud and thankful.  And maybe today is just been one of those days but today I am not likeing the fact that I am doing this. 

I am stuck in my progress. I have not lost any weight in about a month BUT I have not gained any either. I'm still keeping up with my calories on My Fitness Pal and I am still exercising at least three times a week, mostly riding my indoor bike. The wonderful Mississippi weather is making it hard to walk outside like I like to do. Plus since the time has changed it is dark by the time that I get off work and there is just really not a good place to go walk after dark except for the mall and that is not where I like to walk. I have been going over to the VF Factory outlet some at lunch and walking and that's ok but I would much rather walk outside. Plus I have got to get some new shoes! I hoping I can find some after Christmas. I can honestly say that my legs, knees nor feet hurt after I walk so I am hoping that new shoes won't change that but the fact that the bottoms of my shoes have worn out reminds me that I do need new ones.

My plan for the remainder of the year is just to stick to my plan and to not go over board with eating. I feel like that that is completly doable for me and I am actually enjoying exercising. It's my "me time". Whether it is walking at lunch or riding my bike that is time that I am "alone". I may just be in the next room riding but with my music going or listening to the bible I am in my own world for at least 30 minutes. When January rolls around I will start hard and heavy trying to get things going again. I've got to do some tweaking to my eating and I just don't know what to do. A co-worker has lost a lot of weight doing the "slow carb" diet, bascially just eating alot of meat and no foods that are white or could be white. I am thinking about doing away with breadsof every kind and uping my water intake. That is just one of the many ideas that I have rolling around in my head.

Rae has started basketball this season. They had their first game this past Saturday and you could really tell that it. She was huffin and puffin after just a few minutes of running up and down the court. She was walking with me alot but once again since the time has changed she hasn't been going with me. That's another reason for me to find somewhere good at night to go. I don't want her to grow up and be embrassed by her weight. She's not really fat just thick but she is also about a foot taller than all of her friends. At 9 she is a 4" 11 1/2". I believe that she is going to be tall and if she is she will get it honestly. There are lots of tall people on both sides of our family. Brady is just about to pass me height wise. I still have him but just a tiny bit and I am hanging on to it for dear life. He just turned 13 (how can that be possbile) and has slimmed up so much. The pants that we bought him at the first of the school year are now to big! Which is a really good thing except they keep falling off of him.

Phil--I love that man but I truly wish that he would get on board of this weight loss journey with me. I know that part of his problem is that I keep buying things at the grocery store that I shouldn't and he keeps eating them. Normally when he sets his mind to doing something there is no stopping him. And I love that about him. I need to learn to be an encourager for him instead of a nagger to him. I love him just the way that he is but for his health I would love to see him lose some weight. It would be so much better for his back and his sleep. He has to sleep on a CPAP machine and recently his doctor order a oxygen meter for him to wear at night. When he wore it that  night his oxygen level was NOT GOOD AT ALL. It was really low like in the 70's. This really scares me. I know that I really have no room to fuss at someone about their weight but I really hope that he will join my on this journey. I might even have to change up this blog some and start posting on a regular basis if he does.

The Gum Tree--I am actually starting to think that I will not be ready for it by May. I have tried to start the C25K program a couple of times and I just physically can not do it yet. Maybe thing will change enough after the first of the year so that it will start being easier for me to do. I really hope so because as scary as running a 10K is to me it is something that I really would like to do.

Goals--I hit my first goal several months ago and I am only 8 lbs away from my next one. That goal is to weigh what I weighed when I got pregnant with Rae. I am close but not there yet. The next goal is to weigh what I did when I got pregnat with Brady. That's 30 lbs lower than the previous goal. Next will be what I weighed when we got married, 20 lbs lower that the previous goal and then another 30 lbs and I will be at what I weighed when we got married. WHEN I get to that weight, if I don't lose another ounce that will be ok. I will technically still be overweight by about 40 pounds based on what all the charts say but I can honestly say that when I met Phil I was happier with what I weighed and how I looked than when I graduated high school and that was 70lbs lighter! So I am 88 pounds away from my final goal. In my opinion that is in sight because I have already lost 64 so what's another 88 after this?

I CAN DO THIS!! And would love to do this with Phil.

Karen

1. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
   1 Corinthians 6:18-20 

Feeling Good

Yesterday was a great day! Phil has been sick so much in the last couple of weeks. He has had so many stomach problems and they just will not go away. He has had every test done that you could do or at least that we know about and they can't figure out what is going on. He and I both really feel like its his gallbladder but every test has come back normal. His mother and sister both had/have stomach problems so we feel like his is right in line with theirs. He goes and sees the dr on Sept 6th so I hope and PRAY that we can convince the dr to just go ahead and take the gallbladder out!! I think this would solve so many of his problems. A couple of years ago we found out that he was allergic to garlic so we try to stay away from anything that has garlic in it but that seems to not matter anymore. It doesn't matter what he eats he gets sick. I said all of this to say that he actually felt some better yesterday. The day started off rough for him but by the time I got home from work he was better. He grilled some wonderful chicken last night for supper and then he and Rae went fishing while I walked. Rae doesn't quite understand that fish don't always bite when you throw the hook in the water!

But I did get my walk/jog in last night. It was the perfect weather to do it  and I walked 1.56 in 30 minutes. I know thats not a very fast time but it is very comfortable for me. I started doing the C25K last night, well I did a modified version of it. I believe their were two times that it told me to run that I walked. But I was still very proud of myself. My goal is to do this at least three - four times a week and just progress the way that I can. But I have got to get some new tennis shoes! Mine are about 5 years old and are worn out. I've been doing some research on shoes and trying to find the right ones. So hopefully we can do that soon. But I will not let that stop my from the C25K. I believe that once I get used to jogging that it will be something that I enjoy. Great tunes, great weather, great feeling!

Slump

It was bound to happen and it finally did. I have come to my first "weight loss slump". Since starting this in Jan I have been really excited about changing my life and I don't know if I have ever been this excited before. The only other time that I have lost any amount of weight was in 1997 and I went on WW and lost 53 pounds. But something happened this week, I just didn't have it in me. I still kept up with my calories and logged them in everyday and I never went over my limit but that is about all I can say. I had been doing really good about exercising, doing something everyday. But last week all I did was mow the yard and I did't even mow all of it. So when I stepped on the scale Sunday morning I didn't see the drop in weight that I have seen every other time that I have weighed. It acually went up .5 a pound. But thats ok.  I stated fresh today! I am making sure that I am drinking my water all 64ozs, I have logged everything that has went into my mouth, and I will walk/jog tonight. Maybe that was what was wrong. School started back and my walking buddy hasn't been with me the last couple of times that I walked. Its just so hard to get home from work, get supper going, clean up and get out the door and still have time for homework and baths. Of course Phil is really good about having the kids do their homework when they get home and he does most of the cooking but my walking buddy is really good about not getting all of her homework done when she is supposed to.
I will take this past week and know that it is in the past. I am still 56 pounds lighter than I was this time last year and I am still looking toward the end goal. It is still a long way off but thats ok. The slower the better. I still plan on doing the GumTree in May and I know that I just need to keep that goal in mind and I can do it. I think that God has given me really great weather the last several days so that I would get back out their and start back doing something that I have truly learned to enjoy.

Happy Weight Loss!!

The post with no title!

I guess its pretty safe to say that I suck at blogging! I really don't know why I haven't blogged anything-maybe because we have a a really low key boring summer. And that has been ok with me. It has been so hot this summer, almost to hot to do anything.  I think that the most exciting thing that we did all summer was VBS at church.

I have a ton of stuff to catch up on, especially picture wise, but the usb cord to our camera seems to not won't to work. As soon as we fix it or buy another one I will have a ton of pictures to upload.

The great weight loss project of 2012 is going great. I am down 54 pounds so far and I could not be happier. Some of the pants that I had that I could not even dream about getting into are getting to BIG!!!! That is AWESOME! I still a long way to go but slow and steady will be just fine with me. We were able to get an exercise bike from a guy that I work with for a really good price so it has been really great to be able to keep up with exercising while it has been so hot. I love walking and I miss it but it has just been to hot. Rae and I have been a couple of times this summer after it has cooled down some and last night was one of those nights. We actually got a nice rain yesterday afternoon so it cooled things down quite a bit. She and I have started jogging some. I am trying to do a modified version of C25K. We walked for 22 mins and jogged for 3 last night. We were only short jogging by 3 mins so I am proud of us.  But I am sore today. I've got to get some new tennis shoes that will be good for jogging. Mine are about 4 years old and are just about wore out. I have this crazy goal of being able to run/jog the GumTree 10K next May. I have no problem walking 1.5 miles in 20-25 minutes but that is gonna have to change a whole bunch for me to be able to do the GumTree. 6 miles is a long way when you are on your feet the entire time. But I know that if I keep up the work, keep doing what I am doing and pray about it that God will help me do this. I just can't wrap my head around the fact that if I keep up the pace that I have been on since starting this in Jan that by GumTree time I could be down another 80 lbs by then.  I know that at some point my body is gonna refuse to work with me but I am going to try my best to not let that stop me. I have always thought about doing the GumTree but I've never been this close to actually doing it. We'll see. May is still a long way off!

I Ran

I ran today. I didn't run far and for a long time. BUT I RAN!  Brady has started walking with Rae and I and tonight after we had made the trek up the hill and as we started down I ran. Brady didn't like it that I was passing him so he did his best to stop me.  But I ran. Then I ran again. Again not for a long time or distance but I ran. And it didn't kill me. I didn't pass out and I really didn't get winded.  I believe that this running thing might turn in to something that I enjoy. 43 years old, overweight and I ran. The weight is slowly coming off. It seems that my body has finally realized what I have been doing for the past 5  months and said "Not any more". I have been hungrier lately than I normally have so I am trying to change what I am eating.  Hopefully it will help. I also have found that having friends also on the My Fitness Pal keeps me in check. Seeing them post  how they were under there calories for the day and how much weight they have lost since the last weigh in is very encouraging, especially when they are family.

I ran today. On a hot, humid, May night with two of the three most important people in my lives with me.

I RAN!!!

The Band Brady

At the end of school last year Brady told us that they had tested all the 5th grade kids for the band. He tested really well and told us that he would like to join the 6th grade band. This came as a complete surprise because he had never showed any interest in music. He has a great voice when he sings, if you are lucky enough to hear him. So the band it was! He started out at the first of the year playing the trombone but at the Christmas break he told us that he wanted to change and start playing the Tuba. Whatever he wanted to play was fine with us as long as he was happy doing it. They had a couple of concerts this year, the first one before Christmas and they had one just a couple of weeks ago. This was his first concert to play in while playing the tuba and he did a GREAT job.

Don't they all look so happy!

He looks so thrilled to be there. He really enjoys the band but this picture sure doesn't show it.

This is the entire 6th grade band. There are more kids in this band than in the high school band.

Last weekend was the schools band banquet. When I was filling out the permission form for Brady to go I noticed that parents could come too. He begged us not to come. I guess it wouldn't be cool to be seen at the banquet with your parents! So I told him that this time we would not go. We had never had this experience before so we didn't know what the night would be like. We drop him off at school that night and notice that there are alot of other parents there with there kids staying for the banquet.  Phil nor I was dressed to go in or we would have stayed and gone even though he didn't want us to.  So after we dropped him off we went and ate supper and then visited with Papaw, Barbara, Bob and Adam until it was time to go get him.  We get to the school and they are not quite finished yet so we talk to some friends to ours as we waited. When the kids started coming out Phil walked to the door to get Brady and when they start toward the car Phil is holding something in his hand.

Can you read that??? Mooreville Middle School Band 6th Grade Most Outstanding!!!

 

Can you believe it???? Out of the 60 kids in the 6th grade band Brady, My Brady got the MOST OUTSTANDING BAND STUDENT!!!! AND WE WERE NOT THERE TO SEE IT!!!!!arghhhhhhhh!
I felt like the worst parent in the world. They only gave out two awards to the 6th grade class and he got the best one!  I told him to forget ever going to another banquet by himself for the rest of his high school years. I am not missing out on another award.

My little band nerd!! I love him so much!

So very very very proud of you Brady!

They have their last concert this week. The Pop Concert is this Thursday night.

My Fitness Pal

Back in January I was reading one the the blogs that I like to read, Melanie, and she was talking about a new fitness program that she was starting. It was called My Fitness Pal and it had an app that you could download on your iphone. I checked it out a little and thought that it would be an easy thing to do. So I downloaded it to my phone and for some reason this time trying to lose weight just clicked. I have "tried" to  lose weight for many many years and nothing ever stuck. Right after I downloaded it I was hanging up clothes and noticed that the one pair of jeans that I had was just worn out. I also knew that I had about 6 pairs hanging in my closet that I could not get on. So on January 9 I decided that I was once and for all gonna lose this weight.  I have been doing this since then and so far I have lost around 30 pounds. That is a long way from where I need to be BUT I am alot closer to my goal than I was this time last year.

When I started this I didn't weigh myself. I just went by what it was the last time that I weighed which was about a year ago. I wish, wish, wish that I had of gotten a correct weight. I didn't measure myself either and I really wish that I had.

I read on Pinterest a sign that someone had posted:

This is my 12th week.

Some people have noticed and some have not. BUT I CAN TELL! Jeans that would not even go over my hips now fit really good and and very comfortable to wear. I have on a pair of those today and that might even be a little lose.

I actually worked in the yard last week for over an hour. Last summer we tried to pick up sticks out of the yard after a storm and after about 5 minutes I was so winded and my legs hurt so bad that I had to stop. BUT I did last week. And felt really good afterwards. I have also been using the Map My Walk app on my phone.  One of the great things about Map My Walk is it maps whatever route you walk and it will keep up with your stats. It will tell you how long you have walked, what distance, how many calories you have burned and what pace you are walking at. This is the night that we worked in the yard:

One of the other great things about the weight lose is that Rae and I have been talking walks together several times a week. Well I walk and she rides her bike. She loves being outside and I love spending time with her. We have walked at Veterans and Ballard Parks, to Elvis Presley Lake from Barbara's house and up and down the road by our house. 

I also use the Pedometer app. It will keep up with the steps you take, how long you have walked, speed, and distance. These two programs never give the same information. They are close on distance and time.

But never the same. 

I have been trying really hard since Jan to do this and I have to say that I am quite proud of myself. I have goals set all along the way and I am very very close to my first goal. I don't really have a final number that I want to weigh. As long as I am happy and healthy then that is good for me. I was happier with myself when Phil and I met than I was when I graduated high school. I only weighed 130 then. I know that I probably will never be that size again and that is OK. I tell Rae that no one will ever know what you weigh or what size  you wear unless YOU tell them so as long as you are happy and healthy then that is OK. She has actually started slimming up some since I have started this. She has become my little work out buddy and for that I am thankful.

Party, Party, Party

Rae's birthday is Feb 16. It is so hard to believe that she is already 9. There was just so much going on around her birthday that we were just now able to have her a party. But today was the perfect day to have a party. We started on short notice with the party. We didn't decide until this past Monday to have it today. I think that she had a good time. It was a small party but they all seemed to have fun.

That's what Brady thought about all these girls at the house.

I got this idea off of Pinterest. And it is a really cute idea BUT you need to make sure that you have stickers that are big enough. These were the right height but they were not thick enough. They would not stick to the canvas! So the girls ended up using a paint pen and sharpies to write their name on the canvas. I guess next time I need to try the project before I do it at a party.

Pretty birthday girl with her tie dyed cupcakes with tie dyed icing. Her daddy loves her. He had never done this before but he did an awesome job on them.

 

She is in deep thought!

There's that pretty smile!

Grace, Mallory, Rae, Jennifer, Rachel and Eliza

Silly Silly

Brady wanted in the picture.

And another one

Great group of young ladies!

CELEBRATION!!!!!

This title reminds me of my very first concert that I ever went to. It was Cool and the Gang and they were in Starkville. It was on a school night because I did everything in my power not to have to go to this concert. It wasn't that I didn't want to go but I was going with two couples, Jima and Tim and Andy and Anita. Going to a concert when you are single, going with two couples and one of those couples being your sister and her boyfriend was not how I wanted to spend my night. But Momma made me go.  The night started off kinda rocky when Andy almost back down the hill in our front yard. But I guess it turned in to a good night.

ANYWAY....

What the title is really about is Phil's birthday. Its not actually until the 25th but because of everything going on this month we celebrated it early. Friday night the 16th we went to Bob and Barbara's and had the Willis party. We always have so much fun when we all get together. We eat what the birthday person wants, they get what ever they want for dessert and then you take your chances when you open up the birthday cards. If its a funny card you HAVE to read it out loud.  We have had some FUNNY ones over the years.

Reading birthday cards

He wanted Lemon Ice Box Pie

Funny card of the night

Earlier that day we had all went to WalMart to help Papaw celebrate his retirement. He has been there for 13 years and is having to retire because of his health. If it had been up to him, he would have never left. He really loves  his job and the people that he worked with. You could tell from the crowd that greeted him at the door just how much he was loved. They had him a beautiful cake and some going away gifts. It was really a special occasion and I'm glad that we all got to be a part of it.

This is what greeted Papaw when he got to the store. He had not been able to work since Thanksgiving day. He fell that day and hit his head and while he was off of work from that he fell and broke his hip. So he was happy to see all of them and I believe that they were happy to see him also.

 

 

 

WalMart gave him a beautiful pocket watch.

His Old Fart hat

Basket full of goodies

The man in the blue shirt said the prettiest prayer over Papaw and for Papaw.

Mr Howard, Store Manager and Papaw

These two are the biggest buddies. When Papaw was in rehab for his hip, Mr. Howard was out of state with his wife because she was having cancer treatments and he would call Papaw and check on him.  He is the nicest man.

Saturday night we celebrated some more. We had the Steele birthday party at Jason and Amber's. Jima's birthday is on the 17th.  Amber and Jason fixed the best supper. Jason is an awesome cook and he grilled some burgers and some of the best squash and zucchini. Amber had fixed a BLT potato salad that was awesome. Of course our entertainment for the night was Little Ms AG.

AG was already enjoying her supper when we arrived.

Two pretty girls!

Enjoying her Nilla Wafer

 

Rae doing her job for the night. She loved it. AG is lookin awful hard at Uncle Tim.

What you talkin bout Willis?!

She loves her Mommy

The girls

Jima got a pretty MSU bracelet from Jason, Amber and AG

Something was funny!

When I asked Jima what she wanted for her birthday she told me dirt. So we gave her some good ole Auburn dirt (and a Lowe's GC) for her birthday.

Jordan is an outdoors man 100%. He loves to be outside. I was hoping that we would catch us some catfish to throw on the grill.

We just partied all weekend and had a great time!