Archive for September, 2008

Greetings from The Grand Strand in Myrtle Beach, SC

I’m not quite sure what to do with myself. Last week we were in Charleston, SC for the Scottish Games, this week we are in Myrtle Beach,SC for the Fraternal Order of Police Conference. Boy I’m getting spoiled! I truly am at peace when I’m near the ocean. Just the shear lull of the surf pounding, the scent of salt in the air, and the sight of the seagulls gracefully soaring through the air makes my senses reel. The past two weeks have been lots of fun and believe it or not I have excercised more these two “vacations” than I ever have. I’ve been eating breakfast and doing my 5 mile walk(can you believe my 5 year old did it this morning). After our walk my son and I headed to the pool while his dad is in his meetings for the day.

Now I’ve indulged a few times but I haven’t over done it. Like last night at the banquet. I had two servings of the steamed veggies, 1 small slice of roast and 1 piece of chicken parmesean (no pasta). They had mashed potatoes, rice, and bread but I didn’t have any of those. Used to I’d have one of everything. Then….. the dessert….. omg! A fabulous piece of turtle pecan pie which I graciously shared with my 5 year old cause neither one of us needed a whole piece. lol.  Tonight is our last night here and we have tickets for what else  but an all u CARE to eat buffet.  Funny how they changed it to “all you care to eat ” instead of “all you can eat”. Does the wording really matter… after all it all comes down to choices and accountablility. I plan on having a light salad, boiled or grilled shrimp, and steamed veggies if they have them. Hopefully when it comes weigh in time on Monday I’ll have done myself justice this week and be a few pounds lighter.

Tomorrow we are taking Brenny to the Aquarium. I can’t wait to see his reaction to all of the fish swimming over his head.

Well it’s time for lunch. Gotta go find some grubb. You all have a great rest of the weekend.

Religion and Buddyslim

I write this on my own blog because I feel that I need to say a few things in regards to the religion and Buddyslim discussion but I’ll refrain from putting it on anyone else’s blog to keep there from being any tension or accusations of my “preaching” or “Bible thumping”.

I have read some posts lately that are asking why we “Christian’s” feel the need to bring our religion to the Buddyslim site. Well in rebuttal to that I have to say that #1 my faith is not pocket Jesus that I pull out on occasion. My faith is very important to me just as anyone else’s is to them. I live it day to day the best that I can just as I have to eat, sleep, and breathe. Is it personal? Yes! It is also a huge part of what I think, say and do in this life everyday not just on holidays, Sunday’s and Wednesday’s. My “religion” has helped me with my weight loss just as much as counting calories and excercising.  I have lost 14 lbs since beginning on this site and I could not have done it without my faith. Isn’t that what we are supposed to be doing? Aren’t we supposed to be taking care of ourselves physically, mentally and spiritually?

This is not to start drama on the site, Lord knows there has been enough of that on here. It’s more to give an insight as to why I myself (as I don’t speak for all Christians) bring my religion to this sight. No apologies for my use of Jesus, my faith, or my Christianity. I would just as soon leave here as to give up my being able to FREELY express myself with who I am and what I believe. This is supposed to be a safe haven where we are able to do that. If I were to go on a blog where a person was stating their sexual preference and told them that they should keep that information to themselves, and that it’s their private business then isn’t that the same thing that’s happening here? For me, that is not a lifestyle I would choose, but do I have the right to go on a blog and tell them that? No, I do not. I give them all the love and support that I can because we are all here for the same purpose, to encourage and uplift them and to keep them from giving up on their weight loss goals, not put them down for what their personal beliefs are.

Ok, I got that off my chest. Thanks for reading my thoughts on the subject now let’s get back to the task at hand….. Shuck those pounds folks!!!!!!! Good luck to all Christians and non-christians.

New Shoes and old jeans for all my hard work!

I have been walking as my excercise of choice for the past 2 months. When I started I was 308lbs and got winded just going up the steps in our home. Now I am up to 5 miles a day and it’s “no sweat” so to speak. I can’t begin to tell you how much better I feel and my confidence has shot out the roof.

Tuesday I realized that I have not rewarded myself for all the miles I have put on my feet the past few months. Normally I reward myself with food, but this time I decided to do something better for me. I got myself a new pair of walking shoes.  I usually have to find a 10 1/2 wide but this time I had to get a 10 wide. Has anyone lost weight in their feet? Oh my gosh, I was soooooo happy. 

So I got home and was going through my winter clothes because it seems that summer has faded fast around here. Looking through one box I found two pair of jeans and one pair of capris I have not been able to wear in over 2 years. The first pair of jeans was a 24 and they fit perfect! The other pair are 22’s and are snug, but I feel like I’ll be in them in no time. The capris are 24’s and I have never worn them….and they fit perfectly now. Yippie!!!!! I am so stoked right now.

Hubby and I are leaving for a Fraternal Order of Police Conference at Myrtle Beach, SC in a little while. I can’t help thinking that this year I may not be in a bathing suit, but next year…. oh my gosh! I will reward myself with not only a new bathing suit, but a whole new wardrobe. :) This week the hotel where we are staying has wireless connections so I’ll be able to keep in touch with you guys. Take care and I’ll stop in later tonight. 

Light bulb moment in the Biggest Loser forum!

I just had the most amazing thing happen. I was in the Biggest Loser forum typing about my before pics for the challenge and was given the most wonderful gift from God. I realized that a lot of my problems with my weight are because I fail to finish projects, not because they are too hard, but because I’m scared to finish them. I can’t tell you why, but I intend to explore this.

 When I was in high school I was the typical teenage girl. I loved doing make-up and hair. In my junior year I signed up for cosmetology class and passed the state test my senior year. I worked in a salon for 3 months and quit. I worked at wal-mart the next 5 years and up until almost 9 years ago I was from job to job, all over the map.  I was a wife, and stay at home mom of 2 daughters until my ex husband decided he needed to “find himself” so he found himself at a lawyers office and filed for divorce and remarried within a month. Meanwhile, I figured I’ll go back to work at wal-mart and go back to school to be a social worker. I worked at wal-mart for 1 year and a half until a better opportunity came along. At the same time I took two classes and quit college, after making excuses for myself that I didn’t need a full fledged degree to do the job I was doing (only 12 semester hours and 2 activity courses). During all of this time I just kept gaining weight. I blamed it on my being too lazy to excercise and having children. So , I worked for a nursing home for 5 years as an activities director (lol the irony) and absolutely loved the job. I love working with the elderly - they have seen so many things in their lifetimes. Anyway, I am 6 college credits away from being nationally certified and I stopped taking the classes. Stopped going to the workshops and never renewed my membership the the state organization for fellow activity directors.

I guess what it all boils down to is that I need to make some major decisions not only about my food intake and my excercise program, but also about how to overcome being afraid to fail. I’ll be exploring this a bit more over the next few weeks and post some goals and some other things that will assist me in this journey of self discovery.

Take care everyone….. go out and face something that you are afraid of today!

I met my first mini goal!!!!!!

All righty then 10 lbs down and 130 to go. Woo hooo!!! I’m so excited :) .  I think this is the first time I’ve EVER lost weight and felt like it was effortless.  No cravings, no unhappiness, no sorry I can’t have that.  I eat what I want but just control the portions and excercise, excercise, excercise. 

On to the next ten. I hope to  shed the next ten pounds over the next month. I figure if I work really hard I may have 40-50 pounds gone by the end of the year. Yippie! Just in time for Christmas to get some new clothes.

Now if I can gain employment my week will be complete!

 Have a lovely day ya’ll.

No weight loss this week, but I’m not bummed… how unusual.

From the time I started here last month until this last week I have lost several pounds. This week, there was no loss but I don’t feel as bummed as I usually do. I guess because I’m beginning to understand that I’m only going to get out what I’ve put into it. I’m the only one that can be accountable for the weight coming off. I’m the one that has to make the day to day decision to get my lazy butt off the couch and move. I’m the one that has to make the decision on the doughnut or the yogurt.

Last week I didn’t excercise as much as I usually do due to getting up every morning to go job hunting. (I know it’s no excuse, but I REALLY need a job) Anyway, yesterday morning I made a point to get up, get my kids off to school and take my morning walk. I really had missed it last week. I think it might be the reason I was so irritable with my kids last week as well. (poor things) Weight loss is going to happen, I just need to get my butt back into gear and make every step count.

 Choices…. that’s what it all boils down to and we have to make the best ones for our bodies.