Look's like I've made it.

Ok, so I haven't been doing really well at keeping you updated on my weight loss.  I am very happy to announce that two weeks ago I made my goal weight and am now on maintenance.  It feels so good and I have so much more energy.  You really can do it if you put your mind to it. 

Happy Mother's Day

Wow, it's been a while since I last posted, but things seem to be going fairly well.

We'll start by saying Happy Mother's Day to all.

I notice that our host has changed the set up since I last stopped by.  This will take a little getting use to.

The good news is I have now managed to lose 16.8 lbs and I am getting closer and closer to my goal weight.  We head off on a cruise in a couple of weeks so I am hoping to maintain my discipline and now mess up all the work that I have managed to accomplish.

I am beginning to find it easier to deal with this lifestyle change, though I'm sure there are always going to be some occasions when temptation rears it's ugly head.

I hope things are going well for you.

Going in circles

On and off through out my life I have read a great many self-help books. That doesn't however mean that I have always taken their advise though in some cases I have tried.

One of the things I am wanting to do as I journey though this weight loss challenge is to get control of my life. De-clutter the house, the closet and in general my life.

What I am finding to be the hardest thing is to let go of items that have memories tied to them. I can't possibly keep everything, but how do you choose? Just sorting through the closet and trying to get rid of clothes is an emotional roller coaster in it self. I'm finding it difficult to define my style. I like such a variety of things that there doesn't seem to be any one set pattern to my style. Eclectic. Yeah, that makes it fun to try to match up a wardrobe, let alone the rest of your house.

The good news is as I lose the weight I am able to disperse of more of the clothes. The bad news is I'm constantly finding something to replace it. Since I do a majority of my clothing shopping at a local thrift store that has some pretty cool stuff, this isn't quite as costly as it would be if I was hitting the department stores.

I need to work on gaining control of my emotions and compulsions and I need more hours in the day to do all this.

So, how do you do it? How do you choose? How do you get it all done?

Doing a lot of thinking

There has just been so much going on the last few weeks. As you can see by the previous post one of my cousins has been abducted by his father and we have been and still are frantically searching for him.

I've been working full time the last couple of weeks and trying hard to get them to bring me on permanently full time, but so far no luck.

Dealing with the typical family issues along with continuing on my quest to lose the weight.

Admittedly I have failed to exercise for the last two? three? weeks. I've climbed the stairs I can't begin to count how many times at work, have done some lawn work and we did some walking on the beach the other day (oh Lord my calves ache from that). To my credit I have managed to continue to lose weight and I'm down a total of 8.2 pounds. So many more to go.

I've also recently discovered "Pinterest", this may not have been one of my better ideas. Any way, while looking around I got to thinking about my bucket list. So I started checking around some of the other peoples bucket list and find that many of the things that I have already done and considered relatively minor in my life, seem to be great aspirations for others. In case you are lacking for ideas yourself, here's a site I found that has some pretty good ones and lots of choices to get you started. http://www.squidoo.com/100things

MISSING CHILD ALERT-- PLEASE HELP, THIS IS MY COUSIN

MISSING CHILD! HELP US FIND MY COUSIN!

Alexander Erwin, Last seen on or after Feb. 28, 2012, please contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST or 1-800-843-5678 to help bring him home. May be in Alabama, Florida (Ft Lauderdale area), Maryland, Virginia or Metro DC area. This is my cousin, please help us find him.

UPDATED INFORMATION: Answers to the name of Alex. Parental abduction....taken in a Blue Honda SUV Virginia plates JXV8442 may also be in a Charcoal colored Honda sedan. Alex is about 4'9'' and has Red Hair. If you see him and can do nothing else yell his name and tell him to call his mom. He will probably be with a 35-40 year old male that is 6'4'' tall and slender. Alex is 10 years old and has probably been told that his mother is dead or does not want him.
Thank you.

Thanks Pixie

First step accomplished

Woo Hoo! *tosses confetti in the air*

I stepped on the scales this morning and I have finally met my first w.w. challenge goal. I have finally officially lost 5 pounds! Each goal accomplished should be met with enthusiasm and you know what. I can feel it in some of my clothes already. Some of my jeans are looser and I don't have to do that jumpy dance to get them up where they belong (my husband finds this dance extremely amusing) or lie on the bed to get them zipped up (hey, we've all done one or the other or even both)! *does happy dance*

I've still got a long way to go, but seeing some little accomplishment is encouraging.

The only down side to all of this is I have now noticed how much cellulite is/has been building up in my thighs, butt and now I find arms. (I got stuck in a short sleeved jacket the other day and had to have my husband help me pull it off my arms. Not a pretty sight.) I'm going to have to be more dilligant about working on these areas as well.

All in all it has been a good week and at the moment, I am pleased with my progress.

Another week another weigh in

Well, the good news is that the scale went down another couple 10ths of a pound and most of my measurements went down about 1/2".

I was lamenting the other day about how slowly the weight seems to be coming off when I'm eating better than I have in my life and exercising. One of my friends reminded me that since I am exercising, I am also building muscle while loosing and muscle will out weigh the fat. Therefore the loss of weight isn't going to show up as rapidly, but it will appear more in my measurements.

That's what friends are for. To pick us up when we are down and remind us of the stupid stuff we know but have overlooked. I love my friends, they are the best!

On the salad front, I am getting better at making my mother-in-laws secret salad recipe dressing. (Just a couple of points on my salad) and I find that I am not nearly as hungry doing the w.w. this time as I was the last time.

Well, it's time to get off the computer and tackle some of the household chores and do my exercises for the day. I can feel my energy level increasing slowly.

Exhausted

Wow, today I am absolutely exhausted.

After work I came home and hung up a couple a couple of blinds. Amazing how what looks like a 15 minute job can turn into a 2 hour ordeal with the assistance of two out of three cats. Obviously that would be Mooch and Pretty Boy. Nervous Nelly's plan was to run, hide and dutifully allow me to work in peace when she heard the box being opened. I am counting this as my exercise for the day.

Beyond all that there isn't much to tell. Hope you have a great day and keep exercising.

The scale is still going down ever so slightly

Yeah! It's (the scale) is still going down ever so slightly but at least in the direction I want it to go.

The weather is warming back up after our little cool front this weekend. I'm back to doing my daily exercises again and trying to work a couple more into my routine. I am feeling a bit more energetic but I think that may have more to do with some of the medicinal changes the Doctor made after my visit last Friday.

March is right a round the corner and my husband is going to want to start going to the beach again to work on getting us some color back into our skin. We do use sunscreens and are very reasonable with the amount of time we spend out when we go. Having grown up in a most definitely landlocked farm community, I find the most pleasure just sitting in my chair watching and listening to the waves roll in and out on the beach.

After all this is part of what my goal is about. I've got to be able to get back into all those swim suits I got last year.

Hope things are going well for you. Keep up the good work.

Getting back into the swing

What a week last week was and now we face Valentine's Day tomorrow. That week off from my routine wasn't very conducive to my program with going to jury duty each day and when dismissed for the day heading to the office so I could get some things done and have a semblance of a paycheck this week.

The good news is I didn't add any weight last week, the bad news is even with walking a 1/2 mile round trip twice a day (in heals) from the parking lot to the courthouse. I barely lost any weight to speak of. Over the weekend we attended the George Strait and Martina McBride concert. We were parked several blocks from the venue so it was a brisk walk each direction to stay warm. The concert was great and it took a few hours for my hearing to return to normal.

I've got dinner planned out for tomorrow night. We are having steaks, he can have a potato and I will fill up on my salad. No candy is being brought in by me. So now I need to get off the computer, sign the cards and do something with my husbands gifts so they are ready for tomorrow, then I have to get in today's exercises and finish prepping dinner.