Just wanted to say for the record, I've switched to CORE.  So far, so good.  I'm feeling satisfied with my food choices.  We'll see if I'm doing it right on Tuesday, during WI.

Five months and no posts.

 

In July I was obviously struggling, although I felt good about my weight loss and energy level.  And then ... since then, I've been struggling  I've gained about 10 lbs. back and I'm sick about it. 

 

Here I am faced with yet another New Year and a New Year's Resolution.  Same ol' resolution as the past - loss weight, get fit.  Sigh.  But this year ... 2007 ... this is the year that I reach my goal.  No excuses.  I can do it.  I deserve to do it.  I want to do it!

I starting working out at the YMCA back in January.  It was part of my New Year Resolution - the same resolution that I make year after year after year after year .... you get the idea.  

 

It amazes me that I've stuck with it this long and I'm very proud of myself for keeping up with it.  For the most part, I've gone three to five days a week, completeing 30-40 minutes of cardio on the elliptical (I heart the cross training reverse program), followed by weight training. I feel 100% better when I exercise.

 

Anyway, when I signed up at the YMCA, Harry showed me how to use all of the machines and how to track my progress in the gym's computer kiosk thingie.  Every minute of cardio and every pound I lifted was recorded for me.

 

And today, after finishing 30 minutes on the elliptical, the computer screen said:

 

CONGRATULATIONS, SHELLY!  YOU HAVE REACHED THE WHITE LEVEL!

 

Well, I expected balloons and confetti to fall from the gym (but it didn't). Nevertheless,  I was so excited!  I had earned 150,000 points and was finally rewarded with my very own White Level T-Shirt!  I know a t-shirt really isn't a big deal, but I worked hard to earn it so it means a great deal to me.  I did it!

 

    

Maybe I was just getting bored with the same o'l same ol routine.  Staying OP, doing my elliptical workouts.  Same thing day in and day out.  After a while, anything will get old.

 

After hearing about all of the Hotties successes with the The Firm, I decided to take the plunge.  I picked it up at Target yesterday and made it through my first WO (albeit with the kids and dog along side of me).  I'm excited about adding this new piece to my weightloss puzzle!

It was not a good day.  I mean, it was a good day.  I had a nice day with the kids.  It was not a good WW day.

 

We met up with SIL and her girls at The American Girl Place at The Grove, looked around for a bit (all I can say is WOW ... that store is amazing) and then had lunch at Marmalade Cafe.  I had a salad with Baslamic Glazed Chicken, Roasted Tomatoes and Goat Cheese.  Ate a roll with butter.  That's where the fall began. 

 

Dinner.  Salad, corn, rib eye steak (too much of it), watermelon.  And then, reduced fat slow churned Peanut Butter something-or-other ice cream (2 servings - dh promised to never buy it again), more laughing cow cheese with salami (several trips back and forth to the kitchen so I don't even know how many little salami/cheese thingies I ate), honey mustard pretzels.  Went back for more ice cream, but thank goodness dh had previously finished it off!  My stomach feels so bloated.  I feel awful.  

 

Thought about ordering the TransFirmer tonight, to spice things up a bit.  Decided to hold off and go to Target tomorrow to see if they have it.  If they do, I'll buy it there.  Otherwise, I'll order it off of QVC.

 

I feel like I'm spiraling out of control and I hate it.   I've  worked too hard to blow it.  I will not give up.  I can't!

I've been very lax in posting on my blog and unfortunately, I've been very lax in following WW.  I did well on program until the end of June.  Then we went away to Bass Lake for a week.  During that time I didn't record points, didn't stress about food (although I did think about my food choices and overall I felt as if I did pretty well).

 

Then we came home and I began a love affair with reduced fat Land O Lakes Mild Cheddar Cheese and Rosemary & Olive Oil Triscuits.  Oh cheddar cheese and triscuits ... how I love you so!  When that affair ended, I thought I was safe UNTIL Mollie begged me to buy Laughing Cow Cheddar Cheese so that she could try it.  Well, I don't think the poor girl ever got to try it because late at night I'd make my return trips to the fridge and managed to finish off the entire bag with the rest of the triscuits.  Sigh. 

 

At least I know that the cheese/cracker thing is a huge trigger for me and you can bet your sweet booty that I won't be buying cheddar or crackers anytime soon.

 

I did eat my way through the 4th of July - gin & tonics, tortilla chips with nine layer dip, roasted chicken, corn on the cobb, caeser salad, watermelon and a big slab of apple pie with cinnamon pecan crunch ice cream.  But, that was a holiday and holiday points don't count ... at least they don't count until I weight myself!

 

It's been 3 weeks since I've been to an official WW meeting.  I'm toying with the idea of just doing WW on my own (with Hottie support, of course).  But so far, it doesn't seem as if skipping the meetings has had a good effect on me.  In fact, it's been the exact opposite effect!

 

 

 

 

We had a nice 4th of July. We went to a pool party/bbq. No joke, the kids got out of the water for dinner and then back in the pool and then out for dessert and then right back in the pool and then finally managed to get out for fireworks.

Fireworks. Well, they're illegal here in L.A. County so if you wanna see them you have to go to a big public display. Dh's friend says he knows the best spot on this hill (just a little walk up this path) where we could see fireworks all over the valley. So, we all go and it turns out the little path is a very long, uphill path that has been totally overgrown with weeds (uh, make that dried twigs) that are taller than me! The kids were real troupers, but we could have used a machete to find out way through the path. Finally, we come to the "spot" and yes, we could see fireworks but they were no bigger than a postage stamp. Not very exciting. After ooohing and aaaahing at our postage stamp fireworks display (the adults made a big show if it for the kids who were whining "This is booooring") we had to wind our way back down through the twiggy mountain (as Julian called it) in the pitch dark, back to our cars. Next year, I think I'll set my sandchair on the lawn in the park and enjoy the fireworks as they were meant to be watched. Overhead, in comfort!

It's been quite a long time since I've posted (obviously), but things are going well.  I finally figured out how to use the self timer on our camera and have uploaded some recent pics of myself into the slide show.  Down from size 16 (where I began) to a size 12 (10 on a really good day).  I still have a way to go.   I'm approximately 18 lbs.  from goal, but I'm confident that I'll get there. 

 

I'm still working out, but I'm not nearly as fanatical about it as I was in the beginning.  Maybe I'm getting bored with the old routine.  Maybe it's because we've had some beautiful days and I'd rather be outside than in the gym or in the stores trying on smaller clothes.   

 

More cupcakes!  This time, for Julian's preschool class ...

I've thought about things to write ... if only my ideas could work their way from my brain all the way down to my fingers and then onto the keyboard.  If that could happen magically, then I'd be all set.  Then I would have written my article for BabyZone and my blog would be current.  Then I'd get rid of that feeling that something dark was hovering over me.  Unfinished business.  I hate that feeling.

 

Easter candy is kicking my butt.  Yes, it's true.  I raided my children's Easter Baskets while they are blissfully sleeping, totally unaware that mommy is snaking their robins eggs.  The fact that I haven't been to the gym in two weeks is not helping the situation.  Luckily, this is the last day of Spring Break.  That is not to say that it's been a bad time.  I've enjoyed having my kids home with me.  I've enjoyed spending time with them and the fact that we haven't had to rush around.  However, kids back in school = me back at the gym.  I'm looking forward to it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today, we baked cupcakes.  It wasn't anyone's birthday, or a bake sale.  It was just a regular Thursday and when I asked Julian what he wanted to do, he replied "I want to bake cupcakes with you."  And so, we did!  Here are a few pics of Mollie and Julian and their creations.  Don't worry, Martha.  They've got nothing on you.

Ok, I just GOBBLED down a chocolate dream VitaTop. Yummy!  I'm looking forward to having one with a cup of coffee.  Hmmm, maybe I'll brew a pot right now.

The thing is, if we do nothing, then we get nothing. That's the way life is.

I want to be in a better place a week from now, a month from now, a year from now. Heck, I'm 40 years old. If I don't do it now, when will I?

Every morning when I'm on the elliptical at the YMCA I see the pool through a big picture window. It's an indoor pool and every morning there is some sort of water aerobics class. It's always a group of older women, with shower caps on their heads so they won't get their hair wet. Many of them are overweight. All of them are pruney. It's not the most appealing site. That's my future, I think. Shower cap covering my grey hair, bobbing around in the water. It really scares me.

I've spent so much of my life uncomfortable with my body, unhappy about the way I look and feel. If I don't do it now, it will be too late. Too late to enjoy my hottie-ness! I want to enjoy every minute of it that I can. I can't wait anymore, thinking it'll happen tomorrow. I want to make it happen today.

Mollie's Brownie Troop is donating clothes to a Women's Shelter as a service project.  This morning, I went through my drawers and closet in search of items that either don't fit or that I just don't like to wear.  I ended up with two piles of clothes, most of which were too big for me.  Pants that I can remember being uncomfortably tight now look ridiculously huge.  Skirts that once fit comfortably now turn around my waist or sit too low on my hips.  I even got rid of every XL top that I owned.  No need to hide behind baggy shirts.  Cleaning out the larger sizes was extremely liberating.  It reminded me of how far I've already come on my weightloss journey.

 

I had my WI on Tuesday.  It's Friday and I'm just getting around to post my weekly weigh in.  Why, you ask?  Well,  I had a horrible eating week and ended up gaining over two and a half pounds.  I'm just sick about it.

 

It's not like the extra weight just snuck up on me, I knew I was eating things I shouldn't, like the potato chips, chinese food  and doughnuts at Mollie's slumber party.  It was my choice to eat those foods and obviously, a bad one.

 

I'm finding it difficult to get back on track this time around.  I've been working out religiously.  I even increased my cardio time and intensity.  It's the food that's a challenge. Could be the fact that I've been so "good" since the beginning of the year and now I feel the need to rebel?  The question is, rebel against what?  Against who?   I am obviously sabotaging myself, my own goals, my own health, my own happiness.

We've got a house guest through the end of the week - our neighbor's little dog, Mimi.  Mimi has made herself quiet comfortable here.  She especially likes to perch herself on the back of our living room chair so that she can look out the front window. Meanwhile,  Chula's nap schedule is all out of whack because she feels the need to monitor Mimi's activities pretty much every moment.  Click on the pics to enlarge them. 

Well, it was a fun night at CEC last night for Mollie's bday dinner.  Both my parents and dh's mom joined us.  Boy, that place was crowded for a Hump Day!  I had a big salad and two slices of pizza (one cheese, one veggie) but had saved up points for it.  My Dad called me skinny (LOL) and my mother told me she was going to call WW today to see when she can go to a meeting.

 

Every summer we go to Cabo for a week with my parents - we own a timeshare there together.  This would be our 8th year going (the first year we went I was just pg with Mollie).  Anyway, with all of my Dad's health problems my parents have decided that it would be best not to go out of the country.  When I told dh, he suggested that we trade our week for someplace closer to home.  He said that the important part of our vacation is the kids get to spend time with their grandparents, not "where" we go.  Isn't he the best?  We tried to get a place in San Diego at the beach, but at this late date it's impossible.  We're probably going to trade our week in Cabo for a week in Las Vegas this summer. 

Despite having a huge dinner at Applebee's Sunday night (I ordered off of the Weight Watchers Menu), I had a nice WI on Monday morning ... down 1.6.  Yippee!

Today we took the kids to the snow.  One of the really fabulous things about living in Los Angeles is the fact that we can (although we didn't and probably never will) spend the morning in the mountains and the afternoon at the beach.  It is possible, people!

 

So, we piled into the minivan and drove approximately one hour and found ourselves on Mt. Pinos in Frazer Park.  Lee kept calling it Mt. Penis, which obviously had the kids rolling with laughter all day long.  I'm sure it will be quite interesting when the kids tell their friends (and their teachers) that they played in the show on Mt. Penis over the weekend.  Yikes! 

 

If you'd like to check out pics of our snow day, I've uploaded them into our photo album.

 

 

 

What Your Underwear Says About You

You've washed your underwear so many times, you don't know what color it used to be. You're a closet exhibitionist who gets a thrill from being secretly naughty.