SO Ready for Vacation!!

Wow, so I haven't posted in almost a week! I was so busy last week I just didn't get a chance to get back here and post.

My last post was a good one but this one won't be...I gained weight! It was only 1lb but it was still a gain! I didn't eat very healthy last week and never made it to the gym so I can see why I gained. Then we went to a lake in OK for a family reunion. We actually camped in a tent and it was SO HOT!~just above 100 degrees. There was a lot of food and we just sat around and chatted. I saw a lot of family that I havent seen in years, including my Mom. It was great to see everyone and some that I've never met before. I hope to go every year from now on...

I did find out last Friday that I am being layed off at work. So, this Thurs is my last day. I'm really not too worried about it though. I have really been expecting it for a long time. Business has slowed and part of the company has been sold. I should get unemployment, possibly severence pay and my husbands job pays decent and is doing really well! I may just enjoy some time off for a bit and go out to visit my Mom in TN for a week or so in August. I should really be able to focus on getting to the gym everyday too, NO EXCUSES!!!

It's going to be a busy week. Getting ready to go on vacation Friday! Woohoo!! My last day at work would have been July 10th but I had already requested vacation for next week a while ago so that is why this week is my last week. But, I am going to make time to get to the gym before we leave this week. I also went and got more fruits/veggies for this week. We are leaving Fri morning and will stay at my parents cabin at the lake Fri and Sat for the 4th. Then get up early Sun and drive to Chicago. We've never been so we decided to do that this year. We will be there until Fri and will drive back. We may stop back by the lake and stay Fri night/Sat there before we come back home. It will be just my husband, my best friend and I going to Chicago. I can't Wait!! We will be doing a lot of walking so that will be my exercise and we are going to take a cooler with some sandwich stuff and water so we won't have to eat fast food all the time.

I am also in total SHOCK about all the celebrities passing away recently. Farrah, Michael, Ed Mcmahon, David Carradine and now Billy Mays! Most of the time when they report a celebrity passing away I'm not really familiar with who they are because it's may be an older person that acted back in the 50's or something but most of these I am more familiar with. Especially Michael Jackson because he has always been one of my favorite artists. I love sooo many of his songs that I don't even have one particular favorite. I think it is sad though that the media has overshadowed everyone elses death by MJs. We just recently started watching Pitchmen that has Billy Mays in it. It's a pretty good show. I never cared for his infomercials because he was yelling at ya! Anyways, my thoughts and prayers are with all of there families in this tough time.

Well, if I don't get to post again before this weekend have a safe and Happy 4th of July weekend!

Victory!

So, I completely forgot yesterday to write about a few NSV I had this past weekend!
On Friday afternoon my friend Julie and I went and did a little shopping. It's getting up to 100 degrees here now so she wanted to get a couple pairs of shorts for summer. I figured I might buy a pair or 2 but not much because I'm trying not to spend too much on clothes until I lose another 25lbs or so. I have been wearing about a size 18 or 20 depending on who makes the clothes but normally it's an 18 that are pretty tight. We went to Fashion Bug because they have plus size that's not quite as expensive as Lane Bryant and they usually have good sales. First off, they were almost completely out of shorts! They had one rack that was about half full of a couple different styles. She grabbed a couple and I decided to try a pair. I thought I would try a 16 because most of my pants are getting really loose. Well, THEY FIT!!! Yay! I was so EXCITED because I really wasn't sure if they would or not. And they fit comfortably too! So, I bought them! We also went to Gordmans and they had some good sales so I bought a couple other pairs of size 16 shorts. These were a little snug but I bought them anyways because I WILL be able to fit in them soon, more motivation, right! It's still a big size but it made me feel so good to fit in them and I wore them on Saturday to the reunion. I felt really good all weekend (except for swimsuit time on Sunday, still not too comfy with that yet) and I haven't felt that good in sooo long. Also, all weekend family just kept gushing about how great I looked. I'm not really someone that likes a lot of attention so it was weird but it also made me feel really good. My husband even keeps commenting that he can tell I'm losing weight. :)

Last night I was doing some cleaning cuz I'm having people over on Wed night. I went through our dresser to take some of the winter clothes and get them put away to have more room for summer clothes. I have 2 pairs of jeans that have been just sitting in one drawer because before I started losing weight they didn't fit well. One pair I had for a long while then I went to wear them one day and I couldn't even come close to zipping them up. The other pair I bought around Nov or Dec of last year. I ordered them online which makes it hard to get the right size but I didn't want to go try any on. They ended up being pretty tight. I wore them once then after I washed them I couldn't zip them up either. Which sucked because they are one of my favorite pairs that I do have. Well, I decided to try them on last night and they fit too! I am actually wearing them today and they are really comfy! I tried the other pair on and they fit too! So, now I have 2 more pairs of pants that I can add to wear to work. Yay!

One other thing is that since I am wearing these pants today I am wearing a blue shirt with it because it has little blue pretties on the back pockets. I wanted to wear a ring that has blue too. One of the few I have is my High School ring. I originally bought it to wear on my right middle finger. Well, over the years I have had to wear it on my ring finger because my middle finger has apparantly gotten fat too. Well, then it started getting tight on my ring finger! I am wearing it today and it's starting to get loose on my ring finger again. I can almost get it on my middle finger! Woohoo! Anyways, I just wanted to post all this 1) because I am SOO EXCITED about it! 2) Just to track it and if I ever fell discouraged I can come back and read this post to show how far I have come so far.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Well, the weekend wasn't the best food for me but I didn't eat too much of anything. We had a family reunion (stepmoms family) on Saturday and I just had a little bit of the foods that I really liked. I had to bring a dessert and made brownies because their my husbands favorite. Mine too which is why I probably shouldn't have made them, oh well! I only had one small one though. Then Sunday we met with Joe's mom and stepdad for breakfast, went to my step grandparents for lunch and cake (of course) for Father's Day and a few Bdays. Did some swimming though so I got some sun and a little exercise! After that we met up with Joe's Dad for dinner. It was a busy day and too much food! I only ate until I was full though and never overate. I did have a small piece of cake and small scoop of ice cream Sunday too. AHHH! It was REALLY GOOOD though! The problem is once I start with junk food I have a hard time getting away from it! I had my Fiber One cereal for breakfast this morning. But I had to go to the store at lunch to more fruits/veggies for the week and ended getting chinese food. Ooops! lol It was good and I didn't eat all of it - just ate until I was full. I know it's not good for me but I went to the store hungry (bad idea) and only had 30mins for lunch. I did have some fresh pineapple for a snack earlier and will have an apple later too then have a healthy dinner. I'm sure I'll be over my calories today but I'm not going to worry about it too much and just get back on plan tomorrow. I am really happy on my weigh in on Sunday because I lost 3lbs which was a big suprise! So, I don't want to screw that up by eating bad all week. I may not get much working out in this week either. I've got a Pampered Chef party Wed night so I gotta clean tonight and tomorrow to get ready since I wasn't home all weekend. We are planning to go Thur to see the new Transformers movie! Can't wait! Then Fri we are going to OK for my family reunion on my mom's side of the family so we'll be camping all weekend. These last few months have been busy and will be the next few weeks too. We are going to Toronto Lake for 4th of July then the next driving to Chicago for our week vacation! So, I've gotta lot to do!

Missouri 60 pics

Ok, so here's my pic for this challenge from the Anti Jared. I was going to post last night but was busy but anyways here it is.

I did good yesterday and did my strength training and ate within my calories so I'm really proud of myself for that. Today was hard though cuz I've been hungry all day. I ate the same as yesterday but I think it's cuz I stayed up way too late ~1am! I was hungry then and woke up starving and never really got rid of the feeling all day. I've done well though and not pigged out on anything today though. I also went and did the elliptical after work today! Yay for me! I don't really have much else to say today. I'm tired and sore so i'm gonna rest a bit a do a little laundry. Fun stuff!

New Challenge!

Ok, so I've really been slacking lately with my new healthy lifestyle. My eating hasn't been the best and I haven't been working out much. Last week I did pull a muscle in my neck and it was very painful but it's no excuse to take the whole week off! I was doing better mid-week but I just slacked instead. I also didn't go to the store last week so I didn't have much fruits/veggies to eat and went out for fast food way too much.

But, this week I am getting back on track. I have Fiber One cereal for breakfast w/half a banana and 1% milk. Snack is either pineapple, nuts or Fiber One bar. Lunch is salad that I made (iceberg lettuce, leafy spinach, carrots and radish), 1/2 a sandwich (Sara lee low sodium turkey, colby cheese, mustard and wheat bread) and some baby carrots. Last night for dinner I made tilapia, brown rice and corn. The tilapia didn't turn out too well. I think I might have cooked it too long because it was a little tough and there wasn't much taste to it either. I did put some italian seasoned bread crumbs and little parm cheese on it but I just didn't enjoy it. If anyone has a great recipe for tilapia please feel free to share! Anyways, I ate most of it and all the corn but I also had trouble with the rice so I didn't eat any of it. I did a 20 min resistance band video from www.sparkpeople.com and also took the dog for a quick 20min walk last night! Had a few strawberries then went to bed.

I do have some major motivation for the next 60 days thanks to Tony, The Anti-Jared, as he has created a challenge to all to take a pic of yourself then in 60 days take another to see how much you've changed and I've decided to give it a try. I really need to step it up! I have also been doing a Biggest Loser Challenge on one of my teams at Sparkpeople. This week's challenge is strength training so I need to get in as much of that as possible. So, I will be posting my new pic on this blog tonight as today will be day 1 of the Missouri 60 Challenge from Tony - Wish me luck!

bad week

This week has not started off the best.
Sunday was Okay. We stayed up late so I slept in until about 11:30 or so which was way too late. Oh well. I had some turkey bacon (first time I had it and it was really good), 2 slices of wheat bread toasted with butter and egg beaters that was equivalent to 2 eggs. It was all pretty good. It was only the 2nd time to have the egg beaters and they aren’t too bad but are a little different than regular eggs and so much better for you. We got around and met my in-laws at the new house they’re having built to see the progress on it. It’s really coming along pretty quickly. We spent a few hours there then went to have dinner since it was almost 5 by now. I had grilled chicken, baked potato and veggies. Although the chicken had melted cheese and bacon on top which wasn’t the best for me but I tried not to eat all of that part at least. There were some storms rolling in so we headed home to get the dog inside. We were home half hour or so when it started raining and the wind started picking up. About an hour after it started storming I was on Sparkpeople.com updating my nutrition, fitness and a thread for a challenge I’m doing with them when the power went out! Joe checked the breakers and it wasn’t that so he thought the transformer behind our house might have blown. It was still fairly light outside so we opened all the blinds but we had to scrounge around for candles and flashlights. I called the power company and they’re automated system said it’d be on in 2-4 hrs. Well, about 2hrs later still no luck so I tried again and it said the same thing. Not much we could do so we headed to bed. We had opened windows to let air in cuz it was getting hot inside too.
Well, I tossed and turned all night and the cat kept jumping on my dresser and messing with the blinds trying to get into the window since we had left it open which woke me up a lot. By morning every time I turned I noticed my neck was hurting. I thought I just slept on it wrong. Eventually, it was time to get up and ready for work so I started trying to get ready but the spot on my neck would tense up and it would hurt, A LOT, until the point I started crying. I finally had to just call in because I could hardly move with having intense pain in my neck. I took a muscle relaxer that I had left over from the last time I pulled a muscle. Joe got me an ice pack and I went back to sleep. I actually slept until about 10:30am. Around 11am Violet started barking like crazy at something outside so I looked out to see what was going on but didn’t see anything. I thought maybe the power company was out but didn’t see anyone. (I had called that morning before going back to sleep and they said a crew was in the area). I went back to the restroom and was getting out when the night light came on! I was like, WooHoo! We had power again! I text Joe to let him know and he came home for lunch and brought some food – I was starving since I hadn’t eaten anything yet. After he left, I slept pretty much the rest of the afternoon on the couch. I didn’t do much that evening but watch TV and he got some fast food again. I know – terrible for me but I also missed breakfast so the only thing I stayed in was my calories for the day. I took another muscle relaxer and went to bed early.
Tuesday morning I was still in a lot of pain so I stayed home again and slept most of the morning. Then laid around on the couch and watched TV all afternoon and evening. I had egg beaters, toast and turkey bacon for breakfast/lunch. Then we went and, you guessed it, fast food again.
Today has been much better. My neck is almost pain free. It still hurts to turn my head to the left too far but it’s not nearly as painful as it was on Monday. I went into work and had a lot to do to get caught up from being gone for 2 days. I didn’t take any muscle relaxers yesterday or today because those things relax me too much and I just want to sleep. So, I’ve just been taking ibuprofen and putting a heating pad on it. I had some Fiber One cereal for breakfast, snacked on carrots and had a sandwich for lunch so I’m getting back on track now. I feel like the muscle relaxer is still trying to get out of my system though cuz I feel all groggy and slow moving today. I may take another day off from the gym but at least take the dog for a walk tonight.
We are going to Oklahoma this weekend to visit my half brother, Michael since he is home on leave from Iraq. He has to go back next week and will be there for a few more months before they are done with this trip. We will also visit my grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousin while there so I’m really looking forward to it. I haven’t been down there for a while so I’m ready to see them all.

2lbs in 2 weeks!

So, I haven't written in a long while.
I wasn't doing the best for about a month. I didn't really gain alot though so I'm happy about that but we did a challenge at work that was a month long and I only lost 2lbs the whole time. Yes, I'm happy about the 2lbs! But was hoping for more. Oh well.

I went to Toronto lake with my family for Memorial weekend. I did decent with eating. I drank water all weekend. Only had 1 diet coke! Ate mostly well but didn't have a lot of fruits/veggies to eat. I didn't keep track of what I ate for the weekend so I don't know how bad I did but I don't think I did as bad as previous lake trips. I did have a few smirnoff's fri/sat night too. So, when I got back I weighed about 5lbs heavier! I didn't exercise but about 1 time the rest of the week because I was just being lazy...But, I ate well during the day. Had lots of fruits/veggies. By sunday, I lost those 5lbs + one! I was really happy about that!

The next week I did good. Ate well everyday and stayed within my calories but only exercised a few times during the week. (I keep track of food and calories on www.sparkpeople.com and it is the best website for weight loss!) So, I was happy that I lost 1 more lb by the next sunday! I always wish it was more of course but I'm really glad to even lose a pound at a time.

I've joined a few challenges on sparkpeople though and am working on losing 10lbs in June, try a new fruit/veggie each week and take my dog, Violet for a walk everyday. I also have my 10yr reunion from high school in Aug so I am working to lose 20lbs by then! So, this week has gone well. I've been eating well and going to workout. Took Violet for a walk last night too! She really enjoyed it and I really did too. It was nice out - not too hot or cold. It was just a quick 30min walk but it felt really good. Joe mowed while we walked and when we got back I went out in the backyard for a bit to watch - he built a remote control (RC) lawn mower. So, I watched for a bit then I drove it too. He just got a new controller on it so I had to try it out. Well, I gave it back to him and he was going along when we saw something start running across the yard from under the mower! We thought it was a squirrel at first. Violet took off after them and so did we! It turned out they were baby bunnies! Violet got a hold of one. :( but we got it away from her and I had her by the collar when she slipped out of the collar and went and grabbed another one! We got it away from her and I went and put her inside. The 2 she got seemed to be ok. There were several of them..at least 5 that we saw. They had a hole in the yard that they were hanging out in the middle of the yard. We caught each one and put them back in the hole. We got a few pics and I will post those later. They were so cute! I felt bad that Violet got a hold of those 2 though so I hope they'll be ok. We're keeping her inside (except to go out to potty) until they seem to be gone on their own. They were small but I think it may be getting close to time when they go out on their own. Anyways, that made for quite an exciting evening! He finished mowing but didn't go back over that area.

So, as I said I did well with eating and exercising this week. I started TOM yesterday :( and when I woke up this morning I had the worst cramps ever! Once in a while they get reallllyyy bad and it hurts just to sit. Well, that is today. I felt bad but I called in sick to work then took a loritab that I had left from when I hurt my back and went back to bed. I didn't get back up til about 11am. It felt better for a bit but has started hurting again pretty bad. I'm thinking about going to the gym for a workout to see if it might help ease the pain some...i've heard it helps. So, that's quick update on me.

Please add me as a friend on facebook, myspace or sparkpeople if you want - Shaunda Groom or shaungirl22. Thanks for reading!