Yo-yo no more

I didn’t get to post this last night (for yesterdays menu) & I have the rest of today’s already planned YAY!

April 19, 2010 - 29/27 points | 2/35 weekly extra points

Breakfast = 8
1 egg - 2
Vanilla milk (1 c. milk, 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp vanilla) - 5
1 toast - 1
Lunch = 9
Spinach - 0
Parm cheese - 2
Craisins - 1
Salad dressing - 4
Almonds - 2
Dinner = 8
Chicken cordon bleu - 8
Asparagus - 0
Snacks = 4
banana - 2
7 smoked almonds / 3 chocolate almonds - 2
Water consumed - 160 oz

April 20, 2010 - 27/27 points | 2/35 weekly extra points
Breakfast = 7
1 egg - 2
2 toast - 2
Jelly - 1
OJ - 2
Lunch = 8
Spinach - 0
Almonds - 2
Craisins - 1
Parm cheese - 1
Salad dressing - 2
Red potatoes - 2
Asparagus - 0
Dinner = 8.5(going on a date with my 5 year old to tour his new school, and going out to Arby’s afterwards)
Jr. Roast Beef (minus 1 bun) - 6
Potato Cakes (1) - 2.5
Snacks = 3.5
Chocolate almonds - 3.5
Water consumed = right now, it’s 64 oz. I’ll update this number after the day is over.

I’m going to try to be a more consistent blogger.  This really does help to have a place to get all of my brain out.

I’m also going to try to be more consistent with journaling my food intake. So far I’ve just been guessing about how many points I’m going through in a day - and I know (from experience) that that doesn’t work. So in order to really get serious about getting the rest of this weight off - it’s necessary! Kinda like doing laundry.  I don’t like to do it, but it has to be done. Or something like that…haha

And…water!!!! Nothing in the world I need to be more consistent with than that! I finally found a water bottle that I LOVE!!! (a 32 oz). I find that if I have a water bottle with me that I can re-fill, I can drink my daily water - no problem at all! So I would suggest that you spend some $ and buy a water bottle! Yesterday, I easily drank about 190 oz of water. I’ve never peed more in my life (even when I was pregnant!

To go along with nutrition is my vitamins! I take a prenatal vitamin (no I’m not pregnant!! It’s just that when I WAS pregnant, I found prenatals to be THE best vitamins that I’d ever taken). I also take a fish oil pill. If I could get in the habit of taking these daily - my overall health will be wonderful! I did go to a heart health clinic in February (for heart month) and they checked blood pressure, glucose, cholesterol (HDL & LDL), the did the doppler on my feet to check blood flow (for any indication of clots). I had never had any of that stuff done and since I had just turned 30 in February, I had wanted to do something like that. All of my numbers came back excellent! I don’t have high cholesterol, my good cholesterol is where they want it to be, my glucose numbers are perfect, blood pressure is right in sync with where it needs to be. So, if I’m wanting to maintain those numbers, I know that it takes work on my part. The fish oil pills will help that good cholesterol to be where it needs to be, the multi vitamins & healthy eating will help the bad cholesterol to stay at bay, the exercise and losing weight will help my blood pressure to stay where it is. It all works together to make a healthy me!!! yay!

I’m also trying to come up with a work out routine to keep my self consistent with working out!!!  I know I can lose weight WITHOUT working out - but even I’ve seen the difference in my body with just losing weight and also adding in the toning up aspect (just compare the 192 butt shot that I posted a few days ago (from 2008) with the butt shot in my weight loss pictures tab from 2010 (at 192 pounds).  Same weight but HUGE difference in my backside.

So, I’m going to try to post my daily food stuff here.  We’ll see how that goes. Luckily I do have an iPhone app for it and can keep up with it fairly easily throughout the day on there - then just transfer it over to here.  At least that’s the plan for now.

I miss having a kitchen.

I know that sounds weird to some of you.  Let me ’splain…

When the soon to be ex and I separated I moved in with my parents. My mother is one of the best cooks that I know. This was passed down from my grandma. And I’m certain that it all has to do with A) my mom being raised in the south and B) my mom being raised on a farm. Cooking, to me, is relaxing. Not only that but it also is a great way to be in complete control with what goes into my mouth. When I’m staying with friends, I love love LOVE to cook for them. But cooking in my mom’s kitchen, to me, is like treading on sacred ground. I just…can’t do it! So I miss having my own kitchen, shopping for my own ingredients, coming up with my own meal plans. I miss it.

I don’t “feel” like I’ve lost weight this week at all. I feel bloated. I want so bad to feel the motivation that I felt back in 2007 when it was “come hell or high water, this weight is comin off!”. I have days like that now, but back then it was an every hour thing. I need to journal my food intake. Badly! I think in my mind I know all the Weight Watchers rules. I think that I can assume how many points are in something. But I think I’d generally be really surprised if I payed closer attention. The same goes with the working out. It was so much easier when I had a trainer. It’s hard for me to be accountable to myself. I do still feel the lunges that I did 4 days ago! They must’ve been good ones.

okay. I’m done complaining now…

CRAP!

Well, today is weigh-in day and I forgot to bring my scales with me this weekend. I don’t feel any lighter though my butt and my legs are HURTING…I HEART lunges!

Here’s to next week!

In other news, I’m considering dating. It feels weird to even type those words! It’s inevitable though.  I love being a wife, I love being a partner, I love being married, I love being a caretaker.  I don’t see me being single the rest of my life.  I just know that it’s in my proverbial cards to be married.  It’s how God made me! HOWEVER… The whole idea of dating creeps me out; the awkward “getting to know you” conversations, the talks about various things that you need to know about a future prospect yet you wonder if you sound weird asking them. The idea of waiting after a first date to see if he’ll call you again.  I compare this to waiting to hear if you’ll get a second interview.  I never really “dated” before I got married.  I had 3 relationships (including the ex hubby).  Before getting married my longest relationship was 4 months. I was never a serial dater nor do I see myself doing that now.  However, I do want to get out there and give it a whirl! I halfway wonder if I’ll be how I was pre-marriage…shy, reserved, SO bashful and lacking in conversational subjects.  OR, if my newfound ME will carry over and I’ll completely just feel how I do now “I love me.  I’m not changing me. If you don’t like that, then we probably wouldn’t be good dating each other”.  God PLEASE let me have this kind of attitude ALWAYS! Before, I’d change things here and there to ensure that someone like me…but being in and getting out of the marriage I was in has made me completely calloused to things like that - which I feel will work to my benefit! YAY!

My idea of dating and my ideas about relationships has changed IMMENSELY since being married (and now *almost* divorced).  So, finding someone with the same ideas…I laugh at what that’ll entail. It’s all up to God. Lord knows I’m clueless otherwise. I’ve already had one random man give me his phone number (I’m supposing this should flatter me, but I feel cynical about it). Another keeps asking my dad if I’ve filed yet and other questions about me.  To which I say “grow some and ask me yourself, silly!”

Do I prefer a man who has already been married since he will have known what a marriage involves?  OR Maybe a previously married man is the reason why his marriage failed (and how do I know if whatever man I date is telling me the truth about why his marriage ended? Seriously, will a man really stand up and say “it was me, I was the reason it ended”?).  For this reason, do I prefer a never-married man?  A newbie to the married world *shudder*. lol

Then there’s kids.  A man who has kids already? But what if he doesn’t like my kids like he likes his kids? But then do I go with a man who has no kids? I don’t want a man I date to meet my kids for a while until I know he’ll be around as a permanent fixture - then what if at that time that he meets the kids he doesn’t like em? OYE!

Then there’s the touchy subjects. Living together, sex, religion…

And my family.  My dear, sweet, caring, well-meaning family…any guy I bring home to meet the family will automatically not be trusted and will probably be put through quite a test with my fam.  I can’t blame them. But what will guys think about this? If they know the full extent of what happened in my marriage, surely he’ll understand.

Like I said.  It’ll have to be a God thing.  Only HE could create a man who will fit my now-picky criteria. And, you know what, I’m thanking God in advance for the man He’s gonna send my way.  He’ll be perfect for me…and my monkies.  Just wonder how many frogs I’ll have to go through first…

So…I’m going through my weight loss pictures on an old photobucket account I once had. I ran across this picture. I think my jaw dropped! It was a pic taken in Jan 08 side by side with a pic from March 08. It was during this time that I was HEAVY into Kettlebells. I remember every week when I’d weigh in, I’d get SO frustrated because there’d be no losses. In fact, in those 2 months, I lost only 3 pounds. However I didn’t realize, until I took this picture, what a HUGE difference Kettlebells were making in the SHAPE of my body. I was losing weight, but gaining muscles! This picture was a huge find for me and just showed me what my body is capable of looking like. WOW! I think I need to hang this up somewhere as motivation to get back on the KB’s hard and heavy! In fact, I weigh less than what I did in the second picture, but my backside doesn’t look NEARLY that good! Wow. I’ll say it again: I MUST KETTLEBELL!!!!!

I looked it up. AND, although at this weight I’m considered “obese”, I am only 5 pounds away from being just “overweight” (according to my BMI) AND 36 pounds from being “normal weight”….

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can….

Ah, yes. The start of a new week. I’ve got my eyes set on Friday and wondering (hoping) that I’ll be able to be in the 180’s (the last time I was in the 180’s was when my marriage went down the crapper and I lost 15 pounds in the course of about 5 weeks. This time around, I’ll reach the 180’s in a MUCH healthier way. So, it’s harder - but definitely a better course of action. WOOT!

Shot a wedding on Saturday in the big old town of Cushing, Oklahoma. Luckily the wedding cake sucked so it was easy to barely choke own a piece of it let alone not even be tempted to sneak a second piece. The wedding reception was on an Elk ranch and therefore part of the dinner was Elk meat (Elk kabob’s to be more exact). My 2nd shooter and I both agreed - it tasted good, but it was like chewing on a tire. It wasn’t tough, just chewy. At least I can add that to nifty foods that I’ve tried! YAY! At the reception they also had bacon wrapped asparagus. I love asparagus. And anyone who has eaten asparagus HAS to know about asparagus pee. HAHAHAHhahaah! I will not go into detail, but those of you who know what I’m talking about…well…you know what I’m talking about.

Most importantly at the reception, there was dancing. I am as white as they come people. I LOVE to dance when no one is around. I keep telling myself that one of these days I’m gonna get up at one of these receptions and actually dance (I won’t see the people again anyway, what does it matter if I look like a fool?). So I did it! I heart the Cupid Shuffle. Although at my next wedding I want to do a big band reception, I think that the Cupid Shuffle needs to be included…a big band version perhaps? hahaha! Nevertheless, I shook my groove thang and it felt GOOD! “now walk it by yourself, now walk it by yourself”

The past couple of days have been emotional for me. Tons going on in my life. I’m at point A. I know where point B is. It’s just the matter of how do I get there, how long do I have to wait to be able to be there…it’s just confusing, frustrating…all those lovely words. A bag of cherry sours has been harmed in the course of the last few days. oye! Other than that - my eating has been great!

Okay….a stack of pictures is calling my name…

I updated my progress pictures (check the link above). A 2 year gap in the pics…you can see where I stopped the whole weight loss journey, huh? haha!

AND, I found my collection of smileys that I spent SO much time downloading! hahahaahh! This blog will now be filled with smiley upon useless smiley!

A little more than 10 weeks (Michael Buble’ concert WOOT!) to lose 7.8 more pounds? WAY doable! I may even re-set the goal as time gets closer. Mini-goals are my weight loss friend!

I’m spending the weekend with my BFF & her baby boy. We’ve been through such similar things in our lives the past couple of years, it’s so great having someone like her in my life. We went on a walk and talked and laughed and laughed some more. So fun!

Anyway - off to work on editing. Excited to see what I can do this week to get myself into the 180’s next friday! WOOT!

First “official” weigh-in since the roadtrip. I gained 2 pounds. I’m not surprised, but actually happy that it’s not what it was on Tuesday morning (193.8!!!)

I’m ALL about goals. I find setting mini-goals REALLY helps to keep me focused. This time around will be no different.

I’m going to see Michael Buble’ in concert in Tulsa on June 22. That is 2 months and 20 days. My GOAL is to lose 9 pounds by then. My lowest weight ever on this here journey was 188. It was there that I got stuck.  I’m hoping that since it’s been a while since I’ve been there - but that I haven’t strayed TOO far away from that number, that my body will forget it was ever stuck there…and sail right past it…hooray for Julie-logic!

I worked out with kettlebells for the first time in a LOOONG time yesterday.  I’ll post my workout below. I didn’t do nearly what I’m capable of, but it was enough that I’m feeling it today.  It also tells me that I did the exercises right too.  I’m hurting in the right spots. :)  I love the “holy crap, I can hardly sit down on the toilet without wincing in pain” feelings!

10 2 hand swings
10 right hand swings
10 2 hand swings
10 left hand swings

10 cleans (right)
5 snatches (right)
10 cleans (left)
5 snatches (left)

REPEAT BOTH SETS ABOVE

50 ab side to siders (I don’t know what to call this one, I sat on the ground, legs elevated, body making a “V” shape.  Held my k-bell with both hands and twisted from side to side 50 times.  I LOVE ab exercises.  This one was always one of my favorites.

I had it down on my sheet to try for a couple turkish get-ups…but I was actually really winded by this time that I didn’t do it.

I think that I have forgotten a lot of our old exercises we did with Jessie (my old personal trainer, who now has her pretty face on the Kettlebell packages in Target..check it out, she was so AMAZING to me!)

In other news: I’m stressed. Stress sucks.  I plan on writing a long blog about it soon, but for now, I have 2 little monkies who want some breakfast!

I plan on going outside and doing another kettlebell workout before it starts raining.