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Eileen - Day #308 - Saturday
 Daily intake goals::  < 35g carbs / < 1700 calories / > 64+ oz. water
Exercise yesterday::  60 min. tennis - me & Kevin vs. the wall
Net carb grams yesterday:  33.8      Calories:  1283
Weight today:  235.4     Change:  +-0.0    Total weight loss:  -49.8
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I have had the most awesome day.  From beginning to end, it has been incredible!

My husband kept asking me last night and then this morning, “It’s Mother’s Day weekend - what do you want to do?”  My only answer was, “I wanna go out and play.”  Meaning, of course, that I wanted to go to the park and play with the sports equipment in my trunk.  He said ok but we’d go out to lunch first.

So we went to Tiffany’s, the place where I get that salad I love so much.  Kevin (16yo son) went with us; Eric (20yo son) was at work.  After lunch we decided to stop at “Play it Again Sam,” a store that sells new and used sports equipment.  Too funny!  We were like kids in a candy store, wanting to touch everything and try everything!  I thought to myself at one point, “Who are these people?!  All into weight benches and stair-steppers and tennis gear?  We certainly can’t be us!”  But we were us - just a new and different us than the us we used to be!! 

We bought a used football (Kevin liked the feel of it) and six used tennis balls (to replace the balls that Kevin hit onto the roof of the grocery store yesterday.  Yes - six of them!  LOL!). 

Then we drove to the park.  There were people using both tennis courts, so we went out to the baseball field.  Kevin pitched, Hubby hit, I stood in the outfield.  This time, though, I made the best I could of being out there.  First of all, instead of walking back and forth, I jogged to pick up the balls.  Mostly.  Secondly, I brought my “little girly bat” with me.  Yeah, Hubby calls it that because it’s only 29 inches long and really light.  We had to buy him a bat that’s 33 inches long and weighs twice as much, so he and Kevin use that one. 

The reason I brought my bat is because I throw like a girl.  It pisses me off that I throw like a girl but I’ve always thrown like a girl.  No amount of practice has ever made it better for me.  So when I’m way out in the outfield, I can’t throw the ball to the infield - but - I can bat it there.  So I got plenty of batting practice today by tossing the balls up and hitting them back.  It was fun!

After a while, Hubby pitched and Kevin hit, and then I finally took a turn.  I kept missing every ball and so Kevin, who was pitching, asked me to hold my bat out over the plate.  I did what he said and he told me to back up.  “A little more.  Okay, right there.”  The next pitch came in and I hit it.  And the next.  And the next after that!  It cracked me up!  I kept missing because I was too close to the plate?!  How strange is that?

My arm felt good today - until I hit a softball.  Owwww - I told Kevin not to pitch the softballs at me anymore!  They are heavier, I guess, and yeah, hitting one of those jarred my elbow a bit. 

After an hour of baseball, I noticed that the courts were empty, so we switched to tennis.  Hubby and I shared one side and Kevin played alone against us.  It was so fun!  I really love tennis.  I feel regret for all those years that I let slide by without this kind of active and healthy entertainment.  Especially as a mom, I regret it a LOT.

After the hour was up, we sat on the bench for a couple minutes (chugging water - it was HOT!) and Hubby said something like, “So where are we gonna go next?  Somewhere there’s a pool?  And a jacuzzi?”  I looked over at him - YEAH!!  Let’s do it!  “Oldsmar?” he asked.  I nodded with a huge smile.  “If you wanted to know what I wanted to do over Mother’s Day weekend, then yes - THAT’s what I wanna do!!!”

So we went home and packed.  And got Eric, who was home from work.  And drove to Oldsmar - a town only 10 miles away - and checked into a hotel!!  We’ve been to this hotel before, but last time we were here we rode our bicycles here, stayed the night, and then rode them home.  This time, wrung out from our two hours of exercise, we weren’t about to ride the bikes.  We wanted that pool - and that hot tub!!

We swam for an hour or so and then soaked in the hot bubbly water of the jacuzzi for about 15 minutes.  OMG it was awesome!! 

So I’m typing this from our hotel room (got a really nice 2-bedroom suite for a great price).  This hotel also has a little tennis court (wooohoo!) so we’re gonna get up in the morning, play some tennis and go for another swim (and soak) before we go to Tampa to visit my mom.

Perfect, perfect Mother’s Day weekend for me!!!  Happy Mother’s Day everyone!!

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Eileen - Day #307 - Friday
 Daily intake goals::  < 35g carbs / < 1700 calories / > 64+ oz. water
Exercise yesterday::  60 min. tennis - me vs. the wall
Net carb grams yesterday:  34.1      Calories:  1210
Weight today:  235.4     Change:  +1.4    Total weight loss:  -49.8
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I complained today, pretty much every time I moved, about how sore my legs were and how swollen and sore my knees were.  Last night’s tennis with the wall did kick my ass!

But ya know what?  I did it again today.  Hehhehheh.  Kevin and I actually went to the park intending to play on the courts, but both courts were occupado.  So we went to the grocery store and we both hit balls against the wall.  It was a little less intense than what I did yesterday because we shared the task of running to hit the ball, but was a good hour’s worth of exercise nevertheless.

So the swollen knees, I’m sure, accounts for at least some of the weight gain I was faced with this morning.  Eh, it’ll come back down.  I just hate that I’m back in the 40’s again!!!  ARGHH!!!  Oh well at least I’m only two-tenths of a pound away from that fifty-pound mark.  But dang it I didn’t ever want to have to pass that mark ever again!!!

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This afternoon I went to see the movie Ghosts of Girlfriends Past with Matthew McConaughey.  It was cute and amusing - and even touching, if you like that jerk-redeems-himself-by-the-end kind of story (which I do).  I’m a big fan of Breckin Meyer and he played the brother that was getting married, so I enjoyed his part in the movie a lot.  Breckin Meyer, if you don’t recognize the name, played Kate’s brother Charlie in Kate & Leopold, and he played Harrison - the skateboard dude - in the movie Clueless.

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Eileen - Day #306 - Thursday
 Daily intake goals::  < 35g carbs / < 1700 calories / > 64+ oz. water
Exercise yesterday::  50 min. tennis + 80 min. deep clean
Net carb grams yesterday:  24.1      Calories:  1214
Weight today:  234.0     Change:  +-0.0    Total weight loss:  -51.2
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There was no tennis break at work today and it’s funny but I really missed it.  I like getting my exercise in at the beginning of the day (or even the middle of the day) rather than at the very end like I have been.  Early this evening, Kevin went to Youth Group and when he got home I asked him if he wanted to go play tennis with me.  He said his legs were sore from Personal Fitness class at school today and no, he didn’t want to go.

No problem.  I will go by myself.

I drove to the local grocery store.  I’m so visual, I can’t help myself LOL!  Yes, I googled an aerial view of the grocery store, so I can explain where I was playing!

It was a perfect spot!  I had a nice high, flat wall to play against (as indicated by the orange arrow), with a large paved area almost completely surrounded by 6-foot privacy fence (red arrows).   (Yes, *grin* I photoshopped that cute yellow car into the aerial photo!)

I parked my car and cranked the radio up.  I glanced at my watch when I started playing.  It was 7:40. 

After the first 10 minutes, I knew this was gonna be more of a workout than I expected.  It’s different than playing against a person!  A person misses sometimes and so you stand there and wait.  A person sometimes runs after runaway balls and so you stand there and wait.  A person sometimes stops and takes a break and so yeah, you stand there and wait.  The wall, now, is a different story.    The wall doesn’t miss, it doesn’t pause for anything, not to run after balls, not to take a drink, not to sit in the shade for a few minutes.  The wall hits it back at you every time.

After 30 minutes, I was doubtful that I would make it to 60.

Up on this wall was a light fixture, a security camera, and a sign.  The sign says “SMILE” and is made of metal which makes a satisfying noise when you hit it with a tennis ball.  I kept trying to aim for it and every time I hit it, I’d shout at it, “Got ya again!”  Ha!  I am so easily amused!

At the 50-minute mark I stopped for a drink.  I didn’t have a camera but I had my cell phone so I snapped a few pictures. 

I even took a picture of myself.  OMG my face is so flushed and I’m all sweaty so I look like I’m about to have a heart attack.  I was actually feeling pretty good at that point, after 50 minutes of movement, I was feeling energized and alive - I felt much better than I looked!

After that 60-second break, I went back to it.  I knew I would make it to 60.  And I did.

A few people drove around the back of the grocery store and looked surprised to see me there.  Every single one of them, though, waved and smiled as they drove through.  I guess it’s not every day you see a woman who’s 100 lbs. overweight, kicking her own ass behind the grocery store!

=D

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Eileen - Day #305 - Wednesday
 Daily intake goals::  < 35g carbs / < 1700 calories / > 64+ oz. water
Exercise yesterday (Tuesday)::  60 min. tennis
Net carb grams yesterday:  32.2      Calories:  1342
Weight today:  234.0     Change:  +0.8    Total weight loss:  -51.2
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It’s actually Thursday already but I was so busy with other things last night that I never got around to posting a blog entry.

My office-mates and I went to the tennis court again yesterday but it was getting close to noon by the time we got there and it was really really hot.  Not as hot as it’s gonna be in August, but hot enough.  Anyway, C., who is the skinniest of us all, pooped out after 50 minutes.  “Do we have to put in a whole hour?”  Of course I was like, no, if you want to go now, we can stop.  Meanwhile all I can think about is that I’m 10 minutes shy of a star.  LOL!!

The Wednesday evening “We’re gonna make work a workout” thing with my boys is now officially a weekly commitment.  Last week we trimmed the jungle in the driveway, this week we tackled our kitchen.  I told both of them, “We’re going to work for one hour.  We’re going to work hard, and work fast.  We’re going to sweat and we’re not going to complain.  And we’re going to get some stuff done that needs to be done!”

We started by moving everything out of the kitchen that could be moved.  All the small appliances, all the clutter (how does that happen?!  I don’t put stuff on the countertops!), both chairs (barstool-kinda-things), and my sewing table (which sits mostly neglected in the corner, with more clutter on top).  Once the room and the counters were empty, then we started cleaning, starting at the ceiling!  While the boys cleaned the walls, the counters, and the stove and refrigerator, I filled a bucket and started scrubbing the floor - by hand - on my hands and knees.  Hey I’m all for swiffering on a regular basis but sometimes the floor needs that close-up attention.  When everything was clean, then we could start bringing things back in, sifting through the stuff that didn’t belong and either pitching or putting away elsewhere.

Anyway, it actually took the three of us one hour and twenty minutes to transform our kitchen into uncluttered and sparkling clean.  We were all sweating and I was way more excited about how great it looked than they were, but they humored me.  =D

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To everyone who is now or has participated in my W8Challenge site:  I’m askin’ for a favor.

I’m paying for Google Adwords, trying to get some folks from the web to come to the site - and I’ve been getting some clicks lately, but not one has signed up!! I thought it might help to have some user “testimonials” on the home page, something that will help to sell folks on the idea of sticking around and giving it a try.

What I was thinking of was like what I’ve seen some of you write to others about how the challenge motivates you to stay within your food goals or to do an extra 10 minutes of exercise… whatever, in your own words - if you could take a minute to add your two cents, it would be GREATLY appreciated!!

To add a comment to the home page, just log in first and then click on the yellow HOME link in the upper right corner of the page (or on the logo up there). Then scroll down, you’ll see the input box for the table I added to the home page.

Thanks SO MUCH for your help with this!!!

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Eileen - Day #304 - Tuesday
 Daily intake goals::  < 35g carbs / < 1700 calories / > 64+ oz. water
Exercise yesterday::  none (sick)
Net carb grams yesterday:  33.6      Calories:  1392
Weight today:  233.2     Change:  -2.0    Total weight loss:  -52.0
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I expected a drop in weight this morning but yeah I was surprised at seeing two whole pounds!  Yikes!  I wonder if I’ll actually keep it.  I never know, especially when I have a loss brought on by being sick.

I feel better today.  I had some discomfort this morning but it was pretty mild.  Thanks so much for all the well-wishes!  I felt the positive vibes.  =D

This morning my co-workers came to the office prepared … for tennis!  There were actually five of us at the office today and the three who went with me last Friday were excited to go again.  The fourth (D., who was out of town last week) had no interest at all in playing tennis but she decided to come along and watch (oh, and take pictures!). 

We spent the whole hour laughing!  With all four of us playing, we found that we were more successful at getting the ball to actually go back and forth across the net.  Oh, not that we were *good* by any means, but at least we didn’t suck quite so bad!  The sun was shining and it was really hot out, but I think we all really enjoyed the exercise and the hilarity. 

For the first half hour, I was playing next to M., our Administrative Assistant.  (She was the one who was wearing sandals last week and spent her time retrieving balls for us.)  She had a hard time at first but then warmed up and did just fine.  At one point, a ball came at her and she held her racket up in front of her to hit it - and I heard the ball *whack!* but then it disappeared!  I was like “Where’d it go?!” and poor M. was looking around, up, behind - looking for the ball - and then we all saw it at the same time and burst out laughing.  It had gotten lodged in her racket!  Ha!  What are the chances of that happening?!?

Anyway, it was a great workout and my elbow was much MUCH better!  I bought a resistance band for it and that helped a lot but it had also healed quite a bit and I barely felt any pain at all.

 
So here we are, the four of us.  I don’t really care for the picture of me LOL my legs are so white and my hair is wild and I look so frumpy!  But then I realized why I look so frumpy - it’s because my clothes are hanging on me!!  The shorts and t-shirt I was wearing are too big on me now.  =D

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Eileen - Day #303 - Monday
 Daily intake goals::  < 35g carbs / < 1700 calories / > 64+ oz. water
Exercise yesterday::  60 min tennis + 30 min baseball (mostly walking)
Net carb grams yesterday:  20.8      Calories:  1364
Weight today:  235.2     Change:  +0.4    Total weight loss:  -50.0
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I spent most of my day today… in the bathroom.

I did finally manage to eat something around 2pm and felt worse again afterwards.  Around 4pm I drove myself out to CVS and bought Immodium.  By 6pm I was having horrible abdominal cramps.  By 8pm I felt much better and was able to eat a small meal in front of Dancing with the Stars.

My weight’s been creeping up and up but I am SO going to see a loss on the scale tomorrow.  Even though I didn’t exercise at all today, I feel like I’m wrung out.  Ugh, I hate feeling sick.

I did get a chance today to work on the website.  Lukas has been doing some interesting things with the tables and I’ve been coming after him and choosing styles and colors.  I really like today’s change to the “Group Chatter” table.  It looks more like comments to a blog now than a table.  He did good!

Yesterday, Hubby and Kevin and I went to the park to play.  We started out by playing “baseball.”  Oh that’s in quotes because it wasn’t really baseball, it was “Kevin-pitches-while-Hubby-hits-and-Eileen-goes-and-gets-the-balls.”  Then it was “Hubby-pitches-while-Kevin-hits-and-Eileen-goes-and-gets-the-balls.”  Then, finally, it was my turn to hit.  I missed the first pitch and just got a *piece* of the second one, and it felt like my arm exploded!  It hurt so bad that I actually cried, which horrified my husband.  (I totally expected him to yell, “There’s no crying in baseball!!  LOL!!)

I didn’t hit any more baseballs.  I knew I had a touch of tennis elbow, but I didn’t think it was all that bad.  Except when you combine tennis elbow with the shock and vibration of hitting a baseball with an aluminum bat - well, let’s just say it hurts a bit.  A freakin’ LOT.

So I spent a half-hour walking around the outfield, retrieving their hits - and then we switched to tennis.  Now I know it’s probably not a good idea to aggravate a tennis elbow injury more by playing more tennis, but it’s just so fun!  And it didn’t really hurt that much.  Well, it didn’t make me cry, anyway.  We played for a full hour and Hubby didn’t even want to quit then.  He liked it a lot!

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Eileen - Day #302 - Sunday
 Daily intake goals::  < 35g carbs / < 1700 calories / > 64+ oz. water
Exercise yesterday::  none!
Net carb grams yesterday:  29.4      Calories:  1380
Weight today:  234.8     Change:  +1.0    Total weight loss:  -50.4
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Yes *sigh* my weight is up again instead of down BUT I’m still beyond that 50-lb mark and plan to be there forever!  Thing is I can feel the swelling in my knees, not sure why it’s there.  They were swollen last week after I played tennis with Kevin and then on Friday morning I played again but yesterday I didn’t do any exercise at all and yet the knees are still swollen today.  I guess it’s all that running back and forth but they don’t hurt (TG!), they’re just retaining a bunch-a water.  Weird.

Okay, yeah I played tennis Friday morning!  I had told my co-workers about playing with Kevin and showed them the new rackets and balls and two of them wanted to play.  “Can we go on Friday? Can I borrow a racket?” one asked.  ”Yeah I have a racket of my own, I’ll bring it on Friday!” the other one said.  As the boss, I’m all about finding ways to keep the staff connected (and healthy) so of course I said yes!  We’ll go play tennis on Friday morning.

At 11:00 am I declared the office officially closed for the next hour - and we all (four of us) piled into my convertible and drove to the park where the tennis courts are.  Three of us were dressed ready to play - the other one, who wore sandals and a skirt that day, she fetched balls for us which was awesome!

Two on one side of the court and one on the other, the three of us hit balls across the net for exactly 60 minutes, breaking only to gulp water (at 11am to 12pm the sun here is brutal even in May!) and comment about what a great workout we were getting.  By the end of 60 minutes, my two tennis-playing co-workers were sweating and limp from the exertion.  As the heaviest person there, I was proud that I definitely was able to keep up with my skinnier friends.

On the way back to the office, they all said they wanted to do this three times a week.  “Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday!” they said.  I just smiled.  I’d be fine with that, better than okay with that - but I know how it goes.  We’ll get busy or they’ll get distracted and we won’t be able to keep up that kind of commitment.  But it’s nice that they want to!

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The May challenge is well under way!  If there’s anyone else from earlier challenges who would like to join us for May and want me to transfer their login and password, please let me know!  We’d love to have you!

Congratulations to Delita (gold!), Brseay (silver!), and Kevic (bronze!) for winning the April challenge!!  Here are the final standings for April (the top 15 anyway):

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Eileen - Day #299 - Thursday
 Daily intake goals::  < 35g carbs / < 1700 calories / > 64+ oz. water
Exercise yesterday::  90 min heavy work & lifting
Net carb grams yesterday:  20.6      Calories:  1257
Weight today:  233.8     Change:  -+0.0    Total weight loss:  -51.4
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WOOOHOOOOOO Today (was) officially the last day of the APRIL CHALLENGE.  Not all of the challengers have checked in yet with their stars though.  I  will be posting the official winners tomorrow night. 

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Yesterday my boys and I started some work at our house, work that involved some heavy lifting.  Today we worked again, this time trimming the trees and bushes next to our driveway, which sounds like a relatively easy task but was more like taming a jungle.  It took all three of us almost two hours to cut back the tangle of vines and branches, cut everything down into smaller pieces, load all the debris onto the back of the truck, and then cram it all into the dumpster at my work.

The reason we’re doing all this is because on Saturday we’re picking up an RV which we will be parking in our driveway for an unspecified period of time.

My brother bought this used RV several years ago with intentions of “fixing it up.”  It’s been sitting at his friend’s house for quite a while now and finally he decided to offer it to us.  I haven’t seen it so I have no idea what kind of shape it’s in, but my brother said that the engine runs fine, all it needs is “some work” on the interior.

It’ll be a project for us to work on, ha!  As if we don’t have other projects which are yet unfinished.  But heck, the price was right.

Because my evenings have been consumed with yard work, I haven’t been able to go play tennis again and I’m itching to go!  I was telling one of my co-workers about having played tennis with Kevin and she wants to go tomorrow morning.  I’ve already warned her that I’m not actually ready to play a game and she agreed that she wasn’t either, but that it would be fun to knock a ball around anyway.  That’ll be fun!

Oh and by the way — thanks everyone, for all your kind and encouraging comments about the pictures I shared in the last post!  I still don’t see that big of a difference even though I know I can definitely feel the difference!

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