Day 25--Finally a weigh in...

Okay, so...  (my son was saying this a lot recently and I kept wondering where he picked it up from, and then one day I realized after writing it that I say that all the time without thinking about it, so THAT is where he gets it from).

Okay, SO...I finally remembered to step on the scale this morning before my shower and all the getting ready activities of the morning.  As suspected I did not lose much since my last weigh in.  But I did lose.  The scale read 288lbs, down 3 pounds from my last weigh in and 17 pounds from my day 1 weigh in.  SO, even with the emotional eating of the weekend, my body continues to amaze me in losing a bit more poundage.

After dropping the kids off, I headed over to the pond.  I am so grateful that the snow has finally melted away from over 90% of the path around the pond.  It was a clear blue sky, the pond is actually showing large open water areas, and the crocuses are coming up.  I even saw some daffodil leave (no flower yet) in the garden by the pond.  I did 5 laps around the pond, which amounts to about 1 1/3 mile (3.5 laps =1 mile).  Then I enjoyed my breakfast.  Today I did have my yogurt (Dannon Light & Fit blueberry) with dry oatmeal, a medium coffee, and 3 cups of water.

I had a great long (2+ hours) phone conversation with my best friend after that, and ended up standing outside the library in the little park for all that time enjoying the warm 40+ degree air, the sunshine, and the bright blue sky.  It is great to have a best friend that knows me so well (after almost 19 years of friendship--we met as freshmen in college--she knows me better than anyone except myself--and even then I wonder...).  We talked about a lot of things, big and small on both ends.  It was just a wonderful connection with her, and though we only see each other a couple of times a year (as we live over 300 miles apart), it is amazing to me how much she is always there for me.  God has blessed this friendship, which has endured over a lot of rough and rocky spots over the years.

I have not gotten a lot of work done today (I did get a little bit, but am running short on time), so tomorrow I have to buckle down and have an uber productive day.  Blessings to you all and I will write again before bed.

Day 8--Beginning a second week of my new life... (6 pounds lighter)

Okay, so today is the first day of Spring.  I woke up as the sky was still gray (stupid time change, but that will change soon enough as its lighter earlier every day), and reminded myself that it is the first day of spring.  I went through a mental gratitude list in my shower, and then got the kids up, dressed and out the door.  And THEN realized we were running about 8 minutes behind the latest-we-can-leave-to-still-be-on-time cutoff.  AND it was snowing.  So listening to the radio on the way to school and there are winter weather advisories in effect until like 10pm.  So, it is a snowy, and yucky first day of Spring.  BUT I am grateful that it IS the first day of Spring.  For some reason this winter has just been enough for me (I usually don't mind winter too much, and actually enjoy it for a good while).

So, lets start off with the weekly weigh-in:

Here is last week's (the very first-March14, 2011) weigh-in at 305lbs:

And here is this week's (March 21, 2011) weigh in at 299lbs:

My camera appears to have messed up on this one, as I had to do it twice, and the second one I did for some reason is not readable to my computer.  SO I have put the bad one on as it is all I have.  I also have one still shot of the scale which  I am putting here, but is also is a bit hard to see (though the important amount is there...)Oh, and I am including a copy of the weekly newspaper (we don't have daily ones out in this rural area, ), so that you can see that the pics were taken at least around the time of the newspaper...however the cat tail/cat butt was not planned...he just chose that moment to have a snack--right in the middle of my shot.
So, 6 pounds down in the first week, and I had a lot of disorganized eating, and episodes of wanton gluttony, but as they say in many philosophies like the law of Attraction, Positive Thinking, Zen ideal, etc... Your MIND is the most important part of any change.  So, as I focus on increasing my health--mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually, then THAT is what must happen.  "What you think about you bring about." (from The Secret, though I don't recall the speakers name).

Okay, now onto today:  I drank 12 oz of water on the ride to dropping the kids off at school, then got a small (12oz) coffee at Stewart's with half & half and a little sugar.  I at a bowl (approx 1 cup (2 packets) of plain instant oatmeal and sprinkled in some dried cherries (less than 1/4 cup)--but no milk or sugar).  I also had a 6oz Raspberry Dannon Light & Fit yogurt.  And a bottle of water (which I took my herbal supplements with, except the approximate gram of cinnamon which I added to the oatmeal near the end (too much to be enjoyable through the whole bowl but, okay when concentrated into the last couple of bites, as I do use it for medicinal purposes...)

Side note:  I have figured out a way to heat water to at least luke-warm to make the oatmeal in the car--using a smaller plastic water bottle (16 oz store brand with thin walls), I wedge the bottle 1/2 of water between the defrost heater output and the windshield.  The hour long drive heats the water to a nice almost hot temperature, which I then pour over the instant oatmeal--and viola, warm oatmeal without having to pay $1.60 for a cup of hot water. I wonder if it will work for those little Campbell's Soup at Hand things, as they are about the same diameter, I'll have to try that.....

So YEAH 6 pounds down in 7 days (74 more to go to reach my first goal).  AND (ignoring the raging snow storm) it is the FIRST DAY OF SPRING.  Life is Good, Life is GOOD!