Supper...

So, Christina and I had Allan's pizza tonight for supper.  Mine was 8.5 points and her's 12.  The only thing I miss with this is the crust.  I would love a buttery, deep dish pizza, yum!  But my bootie is big enough, thank you very much!!

I joined a challenge today, it ends on 12/19, I just realized that the day it ends is the anniversary of me and my husband's first date, 29 years ago.  It's a Christmas Dress Challenge.  I need to find something special to wear that I will need to lose weight for as an incentive.

Night, y'all

Switching gears...

It's been 2 weeks since I have blogged or even read any.  My friend, Tammy, has convinced me to give Weight Watchers a try.  So I am.  My first meeting was on 9/8, 2 weeks ago and I didn't start until the following Monday.  I've only been doing it for 1 1/2 weeks and the options are great, the food is what you choose and at 48 points plus, there is a lot.  One thing it is doing for me is I am eating a lot more fruit and veggies.  The numbers are slowly coming down but WW prefers that you lose slowly.  I promised her 4 weeks and I will stick to that and see how it goes.  I weighed 336.2 (4 lbs, exactly, higher than my scale, but then...I had clothes and shoes on at the meeting!!), that same morning at home, my weight was 332.2.  For some weird reason, you can't weigh in the nude, go figure!  This morning on my scale, I weighed 330.8. That's 1 1/2 lbs.  We'll see tomorrow afternoon.

My 30th class reunion is in June '12 and I would like to go.  I've not been to the others because I was ashamed of my weight.  I would like to get back to what I weighed when I got married and that was about 240, size 22. I don't know if I can lose it that fast on WW.  I know I can on 1200 calories or low carb, BUT can I stick with those for the long haul is the sticking point.  The way I am eating now, I can do for the long haul.  I am still watching my carbs, though.  Still not eating much bread, sugar or pasta.  I am putting sugar in my coffee, though. and counting the 1 point for 1 tbs.

I really need to start going to the gym again.  The weather change here is killing my sinuses and that is just the excuse I need to be lazy and not do anything.

Jacqui gave me an award and that is great!  I love it!  Thanks, Jacqui!!

I will post 5 people I read and who deserve it later.  I should be able to get to it tonight.

Later, y'all!

Yay!

11.3 lbs so far!!  I am excited!!

We had breakfast for supper last night.  Eggs with ground pork and cheese, bacon and biscuits for hubby and child.

Dinner was 4 carbs oh! and coffee 1 carb (creamer)

Breakfast today was a protein shake - 4c
Lunch - cucumber with ranch - 5c
coffee - 1c

Not real hungry today, I think that is a good thing.

Found out today that I am getting Izzy at 9:30 on Sat, Christian is going to travel with her husband to his "one weekend a month" with the National Guard.  I'm glad because Christian always wants to go and do things, eat out, go shopping and it just wears Izzy out and we don't get to really enjoy our time with her because she gets tired and cranky.  This will be fun!

After while, crocodile!

Day 10...

I wasn't very hungry yesterday or today.  I think I have hit that point in Atkins where you start to feel like you don't need to stuff yourself to get past the cravings.

Yesterday's menu:

breakfast - protein shake - 3c
lunch - caesar side salad from Wendy's with ranch dressing - 4c
           hamburger patty with cheese - 1c
           3 deviled egg halfs - 0c
snack - caesar side salad - 4c
dinner - protein shake (not really hungry) - 4c
snack - hamburger patty with cheese - 1c
            home frapp - 4c

Total - 21

Not enough veggies, I know.

Today' menu so far:

breakfast - protein shake - 4c
lunch - cup of cucumber slices with ranch - 5c
           2 slices of smoked pork butt - 0c

I have to say that the cucumbers we are growing are delish!!  I need to eat more of these!

Later, gator!

Weigh in...

Weigh in was yesterday, even though I have been weighing almost every day.  334.7, that's 9.1 lbs lost this week!!  I know most of it was water because my ankles were very swollen from the Mexican food I had over the weekend before.

Cooked a lot yesterday.  We had sausage, chicken, hamburgers, pork steaks, grilled onions, bell pepper, green beans and deviled eggs.  Lots of carb friendly food.  I made pimento cheese for one of the guys at work, he loved it.   I ran the recipe through Sparkpeople and it came in at 1 carb per serving.

Deviled Eggs

I mix into the egg yolks: mayo, very small amount of mustard, dill relish and Zatarain's Creole Seasoning.  Be careful with the Zatarain's the more you use the hotter and saltier it gets.

Night y'all!

Great day...

Had a great day with the girls today.  Christian started sewing Isabella's quilt, we cut the squares over a year ago and put it away and she finally got the itch to start it!  Then we went to Vikki's house and I cut her and her husband's hair...she is such a sweet lady!!!  She had 4 grandchildren and both of her children have decided that they wouldn't have any more.  So when we go visit she always sends toys home with us for Isabella.  Today was a wagon/dump truck kind of thing that has large leggos in the back of it.  She has enjoyed playing with it.  Then we went to O'Charley's and I had the Black and Bleu Caesar salad.  It was very good, the meat was a cut up sirloin steak, I forgot to tell the server to hold the croutons, so I ended up picking them out.

Not sure how many carbs I had today but I am sure I am under 20 for the day.  Breakfast was scrambled eggs, cheese and ground pork that I got at Wal-mart and seasoned it with Zatarain's Creole Seasoning, so it made a good pork sausage without the fillers that have carbs.  So breakfest was 4 carbs. Lunch was probably about 7-8 for the 3 cups of romaine, 2 slices of tomato and the dressing.  Steak was 0.  Dinner was a home hamburger patty with 2 pieces of cheese and 2 small pieces of tillapia.  3 carbs?  So about 15?  I may have a cup of decaf coffee before I go to bed.

Night y'all!

Day 5...

Breakfast was scrambled eggs and bacon, 3 carbs, lunch was 2 grilled pork chops and green beans, 4 carbs, and dinner was spaghetti sauce with zucchini noodle and parm cheese on top.  Very good, but remind me to read the label BEFORE I eat it.  1/2 cup of Hunt's Zesty & Spicy Sauce is 11 carbs, dang! that's more than half a day's worth!!!

I ended the day with 25 carbs, that's 5 over but not that bad.

I need to run this recipe Picadillo through Sparkpeople to get a carb count on it.  It is something I have made before and it's really good.  I leave the green olives and wine out because of my husband.  He only likes black olives and I only like green ones.  Talk about opposites!!

About to watch The Black Swan with the family, gotta run!!

I almost forgot!!!

Isabella will have a baby sister or brother on or around March 30th.  We are so excited!!  Last Monday, I took the day off and went to Christian's first prenatal visit.  They took all of us back to a room and we thought we were just going to hear the baby's heart beat, but wrong!!!  They did a vaginal ultrasound and we got to see the baby!!!  It's too early to tell what sex the baby is, that comes at 20 weeks.  The tech said that the baby is 8 weeks and 4 days, which now would be about 10 weeks along.

Please pray for a smooth pregnancy and most of all, a healthy baby.

Day 4...

Doing really well.  Had a protein shake for breakfast, 4 carbs and I am having my first cup of coffee, it will be my last, as well, 2 carbs.  I am cutting back on caffeine and because of low carb, sugar.  I joke about having a little coffee in my cream and sugar.  I use a tall coffee cup that Christina gave me for my birthday last year that has a collage of Isabella on it, it is about 16 oz and I have 2 of these per day.  I usually put in 3 spoons of creams (powder) and 6 spoons of sugar. I got used to using Equal instead of sugar during Phases 4-6 but when that was over and I realized how bad I felt with so much Equal in my system, I went back to sugar.  Today I decided to tough it out without Equal/Splenda/Stevia in my coffee and just use my sugar free liquid creamer.  I hate the after taste that I get with artificial sweeteners in hot liquids.  To be honest, it was not as sweet as I like it but it wasn't "spew it out of my mouth" nasty, either.  I think I could get used to it.  That would be a good thing.

Lunch today with be left overs from last night, chicken tenders and green beans, 8 carbs, no ranch to dip in this time.  So far, I am at 14 carbs.

After while, crocodile!!

Dinner was delish!!

I made chicken tenders and green beans for dinner tonight.  Recipe.  Even my husband like it!! So dinner was 10 carbs and dessert was 3.5 carbs.  My total for today was 21.5 carbs.  Did well on the carb count but not enough veggies today.  I'll need to be more careful so that I don't get stopped up, if you know what I mean.

Feeling better today.  Not as congested as I had been.

Night y'all!

Day 3...

I had a protein shake for breakfast, 4 carbs, stuffed chicken breast for lunch, 1 carb, and coffee, 3 carbs.  So I have in 8 carbs for the day and 12 left.

Last nights dinner of a bacon cheeseburger on an oopsie roll was divine!!  It was just a tad eggy, but I will put in more dry mustard in the yolk next time.  I just wasn't sure how much flavor it would add, also, I put in some parm cheese, I may put more of this as well, next time.

Thank you Caron and Debbie for the encouraging words.  They help.

My friend, Tammy, has met her goal weight and has changed it down some because she feels so much better and it will give her some wiggle room.  She looks great and I am so proud of her!!

I am going to add a new ticker for this phase so that I can track what I lose on lo carb.  I will keep  the other to show my progress from the very beginning.

I had said that I was going to wait until Monday to weigh, but I couldn't stand it, I have lost 5 pounds in 2 days, now I know that this is probably water weight because I had eaten Mexican twice over the weekend and my ankles were HUGE!!!  But we will see on Monday what the true results are.

I may make grilled chicken breasts for dinner with a salad or green beans.  I love the skinny green beans that come in the bag frozen.  I put them in my Pampered Chef rice cooker and add a little butter, fresh ground black pepper and ham seasoning and nuke it for 5-6 min.  They come out still a little crunchy and oh so good!!

Later, gator!

Day 2...

Went home from work not feeling well again. It's just sinus, but man, it is kicking my butt!!

Food has been good so far, I had a protein shake for breakfast, a chicken breast (skin stuffed with bleu cheese, bacon, butter and chives), recipe here and a Caesar salad. Dinner will be a cheese burger on an oopsie roll. I need to run everything thru myfitnesspal.com to see where I am. Oh, yeah, 1 cup of coffee with 1 tbs of flavored creamer.

16 carbs so far. I need to add a small salad, ooohh no!! Grilled onion!! We have some vidalia onions and I slice them and drizzle them with olive oil and sprinkle Zatarain's Creole seasoning and them grill them. They are soooo good!!! Never mind - 14 carbs!! Who knew??? Back to the salad!

How was your day?

lunch today...

was some sliced black forest ham and colby jack cheese and sliced raw carrots, lunch comes in at 5 carbs.

Came home and started cooking, after resting for a bit. I am making my first batch of oopies rolls. Stole this from Jamie aka Carbarella at Your Lighter Side. I did a double batch and added a pinch of cinnamon and a pinch of splenda to the second half. I can't wait to see how these turn out! It seems really simple. 3 eggs, 3 oz of cream cheese and a pinch of cream of tartar. I doubled this and used a 1/4 tsp of cream of tartar so that I could do the sweet rolls, too. I put the egg whites and cream of tartar in my Kitchenaid stand mixer and put it on 10 and let'r rip. I creamed the cream cheese and egg yolks with my hand mixer and by the time I was done with that, I had some really stiff peaks in the egg whites. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray and make six mounds of mixture and flatten them a little. Bake at 300 for 30 min and there you have it!!!

I plan to use some Anne H's aka CarbTripper 's recipes, as well. She made bacon with brown sugar/splenda on it that looked delish!!! I have been wanting to try that for months. She fried the bacon and when it was almost done, you pour off the fat and add some brown sugar splenda blend and then let it carmalize!! Yum!!!

Tonight's dinner will be taco salad sans nacho chips. With 2 tbs of salsa, dinner will be 10 carbs. Total so far is 19. Only 1 left!!

Weigh in...

343.8 lbs this morning! Cripes!

Low carb has started!

Breakfast - 3 eggs, scrambled with bacon bits and 1/4 cup cheddar cheese and a splash of heavy cream (instead of milk)

Snack - coffee with 1 tbs heavy cream and splenda (which I hate in hot stuff)

I am at 4 carbs so far.

I am going home after my boss gets here. I have had a headache for aobut 1 1/2 weeks now that I can't get rid of. I went to the Dr Friday and I told her that I didn't think it was sinus becuase I wasn't congested. She gave me 2 prescriptions, 1 for pain and 1 to help me fall asleep. I have had trouble going to sleep lately. Last night, while I was blogging, I noticed that my nose was stopped up, I guess it was sinus after all.

Holy cow!!

It's been a month since my last post and I have hardly read any blogs, either. I haven't been following any food plans either.

I've been working for M for about 6 weeks now and I love it! It's so much less stressful and I don't feel like I have someone watching over my shoulder any more.

My husband has changed jobs and his salary is lower until he gets his own store. He is working for a tire/car repair company. Money is kind of tight for us right now, but we will get through it.

I have gained a few more pounds, I am now at 338.3. I keep waffling back and forth between what I want to do about my weight. I have thought about it a lot for the last few weeks and have decided to do low carb. I know that I'm carb sensitive, and when I have too many, my ankles swell. I went shopping over the weekend and have bought a lot of carb friendly items. I have been reading a lot about it. I am a subscriber to Your Lighter Side and Carbarella has a lot of recipes that look really good. So this is what I have decided to do, I'll still do protein shakes and the way I make them with unsweetened almond milk (only 1 carb per cup) will keep them low carb.

I am going to do Atkins, induction starts tomorrow, 20 carbs per day with 12-15 coming from veggies. I'll verify that, but I think that is the correct ratio for veggies. I bought an interesting book a couple of months ago that compares a lot of low carb diets and give the pros and cons of them. Pretty neat seeing the chart the shows the differences between them. Like, the amount of carbs per day, how much dairy, how much fruit or veggies, that kind of thing. Its called The Secret to Low Carb Success! Got it on Amazon.com.

I would probably do Paleo if I didn't like dairy so much!!

It's getting late, good night all!!

PS - I am going to update my weight in the morning since I have pigged out today. I am going to try not to weigh every day and just do it on Mondays.

Wow!!

Has it really been a week? It has flown by!

This is my first week getting off at 3 and working strictly for M. I am loving it!! I might not once I get my first check with the lower hours, though! But M has already asked me if I want to increase my hours and I told him to let me enjoy the time off and recover from my 5 yrs of a high stress boss!! He seems so concerned that I not get overwhelmed and that is such a good feeling! He actually told me one day last week, that he had been wanting me to come work for him for years and he was glad that it was finally happening. I asked him about going in at 8am instead of 9 later on when I want to increase my hours and he laughed and said that he was flexible! I can't tell you how blessed I feel with the ways things have turned out! I told a couple of people in my office yesterday (with a laugh!) that I felt so good and that it was nice to have gotten fired and then get a raise!!

I've lost about 6 lbs in the last week. I've not really paid much attention, which is strange because I am usually very anal about weighing every day! I will do better keeping up with things this week.

I came home and cleaned the fridge, took everything out and wiped the bottoms of all the jars and cleaned the shelves, took out the drawers and washed those as well.

Well, I am tired and going to bed! I hope that you all have a great night!

Food

Busy at work today, but it is starting to slow down a little which is what I need.

Food today has been good.

Breakfast - scrambled egg and egg beaters mixed, 153 calories

Snack - 2 coffees, 200 calories

Lunch - salad, 366 calories

Dinner - homemade pizza on flatout bread, 350 calories

Snack - watermelon, 92 calories

So how you doin???

food

Today I did much better. Food:

Breakfast - protein shake, 200 calories

Snack - 2 coffee, 200 calories

Lunch - salad, 366 calories

Dinner - grilled chicken breast, grilled onions, mash potatoes, 540 calories

Grand total - 1206

Weighed 331 this am. Down 5 lbs, let's me know how much I was really eating!!

Slimmer This Summer Goals

1. Survive this week at work!!

2. Stick to plan, 1200 per day!

3. Exercise 30 min, 3 times per week!

4. No binge/depression/emotional eating

5. Eat only when I am hungry and stop when satisfied!!!!!

6. Encourage others in the challenge!!

I'm back!!

Sorry, guys! Didn't mean to worry y'all!

Life has been insane! Isabella's first birthday was last Sunday and she learned to walk and I got to see it! With me working and only seeing her on the weekends, I was so afraid that I would miss that!!

Work has been crazy busy!! I am working for both agents right now! Kitty, the girl taking my place with F, was in the ins licensing class M-Thur and worked in the office on Friday. I was sitting a my desk (now my ex desk) with 2 monitors, 2 phones and each agent's websites on the different monitors! Now, I am training the girl replacing me and also helping F's insurance producer and working for M all at the same time!!! This is my last week with F, it will be strange being in the same office with him and not working for him, I had a customer come in today and ask if he could change his policies to M so that I could continue to service his policies!! Made me feel good!!

Ok, diet time!! I have not done well at all for the last 2 weeks trying to do the liquid part. I would get home and just lose it. I started on the 1200 calorie phase today instead. I was not working the plan, even though the plan works, I was not working it. I just can't seem to get into the place mentally that I was before to be able to do that, so instead of just fighting it and getting back into the vicious cycle of shame and guilt, I am switching plans. This one does work for me and has a lot of variety. Today was not a typical eating day. This is what I had:

Breakfast - lite/fat free vanilla yogurt and a snack cup of diced peaches in light syrup, 140 caloires

Snack - coffee with cream and sugar, 200 calories

Lunch - lite/fat free blueberry yogurt, sugar free cheesecake pudding, 150 calories

Dinner - Marie Callendar's Lazagna, 350 calories

Snack - 2 cups watermelon, 92 calories

Grand Total - 932!!

I didn't intend to eat so light today, but I just didn't have time for anything today. I went to Wal-Mart after work and stocked up on diet friendly foods. This week will continue to be extremely busy so I broke down and bought some frozen dinners, but I made sure that they are all less than 300 calories. I also but salad stuff and put together a salad for tomorrow's lunch.

Now for the really bad news...my weigh in!! OMG! I am back up to 335.9!! I mentioned in my last post that I was not hiding anymore, so there it is. I wanted to cry, but I have been eating like crazy and not trying. That changed this morning when I stepped on the scale. Thank God that I have put the brakes back on before I gained it all back. It depresses me, but I am going to update fitnesspal and my ticker. No more lying to myself by not changing them.

Time to go get ready for bed, see y'all later!!

Day 2

I did good all day yesterday until I got home from work. Tues night, I always go to Tammy's and we have girls night. Usually we watch The Biggest Loser, now we just talk, read, play games on our iPhone...

My husband was not expecting me to be home, I was running late for Tammy's and he brought home Popeye's Fried Chicken, I had some. Oh boy, was it good!! But I am paying for it today, my ankles have turned into cankles! I have had so much water today to try to alleviate it, that I have spent half the day in the bathroom.

I've done better today. I'll do even better tomorrow.

Hope you had a great day!!

A new day...

I got the shock of my life when I stepped on the scale this morning. It is scary how much I have undone so quickly!!! I don't want to say what I weighed but it was definitely a wake up call. So I am back on the liquid diet today, starting off strong. Got too busy to have my snack this morning but that's ok, I think the coffee I had should count since I have gone back to using sugar instead of nutrasweet.

Food so far:

protien shake

coffee

water

lunch will be 2 bouillon cubes in water, 2 lite yogurts. I couldn't find my lunch bag this morning and fudgsicles don't transport well in 90 degree weather. I didn't get a chance to make my pudding and portion it out. I'll do that tonight so that I am better prepared. I have some watermelon and also some baby carrots here at work for snacks.

Eat smart!!

Happy Birthday, America!!!

235 years of independence from the British!! Its seem just like yesterday that we were throwing all that tea into the Boston harbor! What a riot!

Ok, here is the plan!

2 weeks on the liquid diet, BUT, I will be having fruit every day so that my digestive system doesn't shut down. I didn't handle that well last time. I was in a lot of pain and constipated. I figure probably 1 cup of watermelon, cantaloupe or grapes or other fruit twice a day along with the liquids. I bought most of everything I need for this on Sat except some of the fruit, I have some, but not 2 weeks worth.

Then I will switch to the 1200 calorie, 100 carb menu. The 1200 calorie menu from P4 worked best for me and since it was a constant amount of food, it was much easier for me than P5 was. I have to learn good habits first, I have to learn how much to eat at each meal instead of having high calories days followed by low calories days.

I WILL be posting what I eat, whether it is on my plan or not, no more hiding when I cheat. If I cheat, I cheat and I will post about it. I NEED to post about it or it won't work. I learned that the hard way. I will not let anyone tell me what I can post about and what I can't anymore, that's why I started this and that is what I am going to do.

This is my diet for the next two weeks, starting tomorrow, MY independence day!!!

Breakfast - low carb/sugar protein shake made with unsweetened almond milk (lower carb and calories than skim milk)

Snack - 1 cup of fruit

Lunch - 1 cup of chicken bouillon made with 2 cubes, 2 no sugar added fudgsicles, 1 sugar free pudding or lite yogurt (which ever I feel like on that day)

Snack - 1 cup of fruit

Dinner - 1 cup of chicken bouillon made with 2 cubes, protein shake made with almond milk

Snack - 1/2 cup 2% fat cottage with 1 pack of Truvia added to sweeten

Lots and lots of water all day long.

I did this for 2 weeks before but without the fruit and it was not so hard. This is basically what a gastric bypass surgery candidate would have for at least 2 weeks before surgery to clean out their intestines to prepare for surgery. I want to clean out but not stop the function of my intestines.

So, now here are my goals for the next week of Slimmer this Summer challenge:

1. Stick to the plan

2. Exercise at least 30 min 3 times this week

3. Drink my water

4. Read my daily devotions...daily and not all at once toward the end of the week!

5. Continue to look for a new job, not really diet related, but stress related and that ends up affecting my diet.

I hope everyone has a great 4th of July and remember to pray for our troops!

Whoo hoo!!!

It's Friday!!

Today was insane!!! We had a great time at work until about 1pm when F finally showed up at work! We laughed and played and actually got a lot of work done.

F talked to me at the end of the day and told me that he and M had talked and decided (if it was ok with me) that they would share me after next week. I will work 40 hours total for them but not 4 hr and 4 hrs, it will be a blended day where I work for both of them at the same time. How that will work, I have no idea!!! Then on Sept 1, I will work only for M. We'll see. If I get a job somewhere else, I am sooo out of there!! At least this way I will not be out of a job.

I need to go to the store tomorrow and pick up some groceries for my diet and for the family. I am going to start the low calorie tomorrow and then the liquid on Tues after the holiday, I think it will be easier that way. I will only do the liquid for a week or two just so that my stomach will shrink and it will be easier to have less food. Then I will transition to the low calorie, moderate carb, you can't really call 100 carbs low carb. If that doesn't work for me, I will start backing some of the carbs off. Summer is the worst time of year for my ankle to swell. The heat and humidity doesn't help. I am going to try and do more swimming this summer and that should help. I love that my gym has pools, I just need to go use them.

I finished one of the dresses (except for the buttonholes) for Isabella, well, I still have the panties to do. It has turned out so cute! I'll get pics up as soon as I fin

ish and can get her in it!!

The fabric for the pockets is the same fabric for the panties. The fabric is much prettier in person!!

Thursday, again...

Thank God tomorrow is Friday!!! Our modem went out over the weekend and we finally have a new one here at home.

I'm sorry I've not been blogging in a couple of weeks, my life has been insane.

My boss ended up filing an E & O claim and blamed me for it, E & O insurance is like malpractice insurance for doctors. My boss handed me a quote sheet and said that all I needed to do was to hit submit and send proof of insurance (dec page) to the mortgage company for payment. I did that. When I submitted the app, it generated a letter stating that it needed underwriting approval before coverage would be provided. This letter looked exactly like the policy acceptance letter that is normally generated after submission. We were not notified that the application was not accepted, evidently this is different from a policy that is declined. Typically on a decline, we get an email, a fax and a letter to us and the insured, we got none of this. The underwriter told F that we were supposed to check the app in a few days after it was processed to see if the policy issued or not, we didn't know this. F blames me 100%, even though he knew that the customer had prior claims, he should have known what was acceptable and what was not. Just like the main company that we write for, I know that only one loss is acceptable and only if it is weather related. If you have a theft loss on your home within the last 3 yrs, we can't write your policy in Farmers. If you have more than one 30 day late pay on your mortgage in the last 12 months, we can't write your home in American Reliable (he didn't know this). He is the agent of record and he should know the underwriting guidelines of the companies we write through. It is ridiculous that he doesn't and expects me to know them.

A couple of Monday's ago we had a really bad storm and a tree fell on this guy's house, there was no coverage. F has always said that if he had to file an E & O he would fire me. Friday (2 weeks ago) he called me into his office and said that he was moving me to another agent's office because of this, in other words, firing me and finding me another job. He said several times that he hoped that I understood and appreciated that he was moving me and not just letting me go.

He left for about an hour and by the time he came back I had all of my stuff packed and in my van. I had to go back out and get my highlighter!! He came back and never noticed. I asked him when I was supposed start at the other office, he said in about a month!!! Lovely!!

Then in the middle of last week, he tells me that the new girl, Kitty, yes I know her and yes she looks like a stripper (but I like her and she is very nice) is starting in 2 weeks and he won't need me after this week. So now, he gets out of paying me for the 4th. On Thurs night (last week) guess what I find out!!! The other agent decided that he can't afford me, he had already hired someone that was inexperienced and couldn't afford to hire someone else, as well. I told F this on Friday morning and he was shocked.

THEN yesterday morning, he asks me to stay another week so that I can answer the phone while he is training her and then help her get settled in. THEN the other agent in our office (he wanted to hire me and F told him no, it wouldn't work) tells me in confidence (shhhh, don't tell anyone) that F talked to him about sharing me, 20 hrs each, but I would not be allowed to answer his phone, only Kitty would. I'm not supposed to know about this yet. How he lost his ever loving mind???? He has fired me!!! and then wants me back part time to ASSIST someone else!!! When I have told him for years that I have way too much to do and that I need help!!!

Lord help me!!

I had an industry test with State Farm on Tues and I passed both the service and sales parts. They are supposed to contact me in the next 5-7 business days with the "next steps in my career with State Farm". I really hope this works out!! I keep praying that this is God's will for me. I just want away from F, I am so tired of taking all of the blame for things that he messes up.

Kitty used to work in our office several years ago, but she worked for M. He ended up letting her go because she was missing so much work. She and my boss ended up sleeping together and she told me that he was laughing with her about how much stuff he did wrong and blamed on me and got away with it.

Moving on...

The diet is sucking right now. I have done nothing but eat and worry for the last 2 weeks and have probably gained back 15-20 lbs. YUCK!!! I am starting over AGAIN. I keep trying to decide what to do. I like low carb because I am a meat eater but the 1200 calories per day works great but my ankles swell from the carbs. Tammy wants me to do weight watchers with her but that is so slow! I am seriously thinking of doing the P6 again for 2 weeks because it really helped shrink my stomach and I was not nearly as hungry when I went back to regular food. I may combine low carb and low calorie. On Fatheads, the guy talks about keeping calories under 2000 and carbs under or close to 100 per day. I think I will do that but lower the calorie count to about 1200. I still have all of Allan's plans saved so I think I will run the P4 through myfitnesspal and tweak it to fit. What do you think?

Conference was awesome!!!

Had a great time with Dr. Leon van Rooyen, he has been doing conferences for us for about 14 yrs. He is awesome!! He has started hundreds of churches, trained thousands of pastors and started an accredited bible college. His ministry is called Global Ministries and Relief.

Diet is going well but I didn't meet all of my goals this week. I ate off of plan for all of the weekend but still lost a pound. I am not going to make excuses except for that it was just easier to eat out and on the go this weekend. And lunch was catered for the conference on Saturday.

Work didn't go well today. I got blamed for something that was not entirely my fault. I didn't follow up on something that I didn't know that I was supposed to follow up on and the underwriter didn't notify us that a policy was declined. My agent did all of the leg work for a policy and all I did was hit the submit button and get the money from the mortgage company and mail it in. I am so tired of being told that this kind of thing is customer service and that it is part of my job but this is not customer service, it is new business and is not what I am supposed to be doing. Also, I am half training another agent's csr (because he is never there) and also helping train and keep legal the producer that my agent hired. I am so glad I have a job but sometimes I hate the one I have. Needless to say, I am updating my resume.

I haven't started sewing yet but I will this week. I bought a pattern to make something for my friend, Tammy's birthday on Friday, her party is on Saturday, so I need to get cracking. She reads my blog, so I will post pics of her gift on Sunday. Then on to Izzy's dresses!!

Have a great night!!!

This weekend...

will be really busy. Praise and worship practice tomorrow night. A conference at church this week which is schedule for Friday night, Saturday morning and afternoon, Sunday morning and night. I also have a surprise birthday party Saturday night and a house warming Sunday afternoon. By the time Monday comes around, I'll need a vacation.

I want to start Izzy's dress but I know I would stay up way too late doing it and I am going to be busy every night until Monday. I love when Dr Leon comes to our church and does a conference but I am absolutely worn out by the time he leaves!!

Later, gator!

Slimmer This Summer Goals

Goal 1 - Exercise at least 3 times per week for at least 30 minutes each time.

Goal 2 - Eat only when physically hungry, no emotional eating or just because it is time.

Goal 3 - Lose at least 3 pounds a week.

Goal 4 - No more than 1200 per day (easy stick to with Allan's plan).

Goal 5 - Drink ALL my water.

Monday...

Boy was today Monday!! It has been insane at home and at work. I feel like I can't catch up!!

I hate being on adderall but I think I may have to start taking it again. I feel like I can't finish a thought must less get anything done! But it gives headaches, it makes me short tempered, intolerant and impatient.

Diets going ok, not great but ok. I need to start exercising again. I haven't been to the gym in a while and I really need to.

God!! I feel so whiny!!

My boss but us extra monitors, so now I have 2 on my desk side by side. I have joked about getting twice as much work done for the same money. I really think it will make things easier. When a customer calls and complains about a rate increase, I can pull their policy up on one screen and then work on a rewrite on the other and not have to open and closes windows over and over again to get the info I need.

On Saturday, we picked up me and my grandmother's sewing machines, cost $225 for both to get tune ups and repair my Janome. My grandmother's machine is an old cabinet Singer machine. There is a sticker on it in my mom's handwriting that says that my mom bought it from grandmother in 1987 for $175. The crazy thing is that my mom bought the machine for grandmother and then bought it back from her so that she would get it after my grandmother died. Then "loaned" it to me to take home after the funeral. But s

he knows that she and I are the only sewers in the family. Ok, that word was so-ers not sue-ers!! Christian bought 20 patterns last week, on sale for .99 each. This week I bought 1 pattern and enough fabric for 3 dresses for Isabella. It's funny, but, this is the same dress pattern that my mom would sew for Christian when she was little and now I am going to make it for her daughter!! Grandma for Christian and Grammy for Isabella.

Each dress will have contrasting panties. The fabrics on the right are the dress fabrics and the ones on the left are the panties.

I really need to do my goals for the challenge.

Goal 1 - Exercise at least 3 times per week for at least 30 minutes each time.

Goal 2 - Eat only when physically hungry, no emotional eating or just because it is time.

Goal 3 - Lose at least 3 pounds a week.

Goal 4 - No more than 1200 per day (easy stick to with Allan's plan).

Goal 5 - Drink ALL my water.

Ok, that's it. I am not good at goal setting, I am a very good/bad? procrastinator. Hence, doing these on Monday night at the very last minute. Sorry Debbi and Mir.

Now, to figure out the link thing!

Blogger...

has made me crazy for the last 2 weeks. I have been unable to post any comments on anyone's blog, including my own!!! Allan told me to install Google Chrome and type blogger in, I have done that and hopefully this will fix the problem. I will test it in a few minutes.

Went to a friend's house and cut her hair AND my finger! Man, that hurt!! I haven't cut myself like that in a long time.

I will probably read a few blogs and then go to bed, even though it's Tuesday, it's been a Monday!!

Have a good night everyone!

Today was a hot and beautiful day...

I thank God everyday for the sacrifice that our armed forces make. Sometimes they leave their families for months at a time and go to a foreign land to defend our rights here in America. Sometimes they give up their lives and sometimes their limbs, sometimes their mental stability, all for our freedom. Thank you, men and women of the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and National Guard, may God richly bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you and give you peace.

I spent a butt load of money this weekend. I had to buy 9 bags of soil and plants for our garden. I bought a raised garden bed at Sam's and some weed control fabric, good for 30 years, whoo-hoo!!! I this last week and then the soil and plants this week. Bed - $60, soil/plants - $90, fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and yellow and red bell peppers in a couple of months - delish!!!

I think we will get a couple of strawberries, too. There is some room left in the bed and I still have the deluxe topsy turvy I bought last year. I think I will put herbs in it, not sure yet, any suggestions? Email me your ideas since blogger is being stubborn with the comments missmommie1227@yahoo.com.

I thought about doing carrots instead of strawberries but they don't grown back once you pull them. Or even jalapenos, but I couldn't find any.

Cooked out for the family today. Hot dogs, hamburgers, sausage, chicken, onions, baked beans, deviled eggs, corn. Tilapia for me and grilled onions. Oh, and watermelon! I love watermelon!! I could eat this until I puke!!

Tomorrow starts a new week at work, boy I wish every weekend was a 3 day weekend!!!

Gotta go, going to watch Inception.

Frustration!!!

For some reason, when I try to comment on someone's blog, I keep showing up as anonymous. Typically, I would write the comment and select google account and hit post, and it would take me back and I would have to hit post 3 or 4 times before I would get the verification word, then it would post my comment. Well, now it takes me to a google/blog sign in screen and I keep having to sign in and it puts me as anonymous. And then I get into a loop of hitting post, signing in, hitting post, signing in....and never end up posting!!!

Any ideas on what is going on??? Also, I have tried to sign out on my blog and it keeps taking me back to the dashboard without signing me out.

This is making me crazy!!! I am not very computer tech savy but I try!!

Help!!!!

Tornados! Again!

Call me a crazy cajun, but I just finished grilling veggies, chicken and hamburgers (for hubby and son) in between the rain and while the tornado sirens are going off!!! Now the sky is yellow looking and that is not a good sign!

Been hanging in there, spent the weekend sick with a fever and diarrhea. Then Christina woke up Monday morning with her eye lid so swollen she couldn't open her eye. She called me in a panic and I took her to the dr and waited forever so they could squeeze us in.

Just tired all the time. Can't seem to get motivated for anything.

Blah!

It is NOT the end of the world!!!

I don't know where this got started and I really don't care, but the bible says that "no man know the hour of His coming". Jesus is sitting at the right hand of the Father waiting for God to send him, Jesus doesn't even know when he will be sent. So relax people, we don't have plenty of time!!! I do believe we are in the end of the "last days", but since Jesus told his disciples that he was coming back soon and that was more than 2000 yrs ago...it could be next week or it could be in another 2000 yrs. The bible also says that he will come "like a theif in the night" meaning when no one is expecting him.

I believe we should be ready and prepare ourselves for his coming. Get ourselves ready but also help as many others as you can get ready, too. Be the brides that were ready for the bridegroom and have enough oil for your lamp and don't be left behind.

Night y'all!

Sunday...

I meant to post these pics from this past Sunday sooner. This first one is before church, at about 8am. Isabella had been up since about 5:45, she had breakfast and then wanted her bottle. Chris likes to sleep on the couch on Sat night if he has to be at work on Sunday morning. Christina had put Isabella on his side while he was sleeping and woke him up with her. He was talking to her and playing with her and then while she was drinking her bottle, they both drifted off to sleep.

She fell asleep drinking her bottle and then her arm fell over and the bottle rolled over.

This is me and Isabella during praise and worship, this is very unusal because she doesn't cuddle much unless she is sleepy and doesn't feel good, so this was a treat. She really loves the music, she will bounce and clap her hands and rock back and forth (dance)!!

She is such a blessing in my life!!

dinner...

Wow!! Did I enjoy dinner tonight!! I added some Zatarain's to my dinner tonight and it made all the difference in the world!! I love that stuff! It's like chocolate, cheese or bacon...it makes everything taste better! Don't be fooled by other creole seasonings, there is just a special zip to it that others don't have, I don't know what it is...it's like comparing Coke and Pepsi...Coke has a sharp, burn your nose kind of taste, whereas, Pepsi is smooth. Zatarain's is Coke, everything else is Pepsi. But be careful, the more you use the hotter it gets!!

Starting to feel better. The antibiotics are kicking in. Typically, they give me diarrhea but I had the opposite reaction this time and I think that has a lot to do with how I was feeling. I'm over the constipation now and it has swung to the other extreme. Lots of bathroom time!

Y'all have a good night!

Sorry...

Things at work have been very crazy busy at work and my boss has been out a lot so it all falls to me to deal with.

Haven't felt well but the antibiotics I started on Friday are helping and I am starting to feel better.

Diets going well. Getting close to being under the 300 lb mark and that will be awesome!!

More later...

Here is the new do....

We'll do the color next week. That stuff is freakin' expensive!!! We have to prelighten (bleach) it first and then apply 2 colors of blue and the black. I am out of prelightener, so that and the 3 colors will be about $28. Thankfully, I already have the developer that I need.

I'll post pics of it when we are done next week.

Have a great weekend!

long week...

I don't know why, but this week has been really hard on me. I am constantly hungry, my ear hurts, work is a pain...

I want to go hide somewhere and not have to deal with anything.

A friend sent me job referal to see if I knew of anyone for the position. It is temporary with a chance to go permenant, making almost double what I make now. It's through an agency and I ask some questions about it. It sounds like it is in the commercial ins industry which I am vaguely familiar with. I may try for it if it sounds like it will go permanent. Scary, I know.

I am cutting Christina's hair tonight. She wants an Emo haircut. I hope it turns out well.

P6, day3...again

I WANT FOOD!!!! For some reason, I have had the hungry horrors today. I have not endulged them, but dang, it's been hard!! Today is the 11th and that is around the time that Aunt Flo comes to visit, she has not arrived yet, but even when she's late or doesn't come at all, I still have all the "joys" of her visit.

Other than that, things are going good. Snack was delish last night and I get a smaller portion of it again tonight. I can't wait for Monday though!! We are adding REAL food.

I am pretty tired today and my head hurts. I haven't had a chance to pick up my antibiotic for my ear yet. I have an inner ear infection and still some sinus congestion. I hate this!! I love the warm days and cooler nights, but it sure messes with my sinuses!

Dr visit...

went to see my dr this morning and had my annual blood work done. She approved the P6 plan and was very impressed with my weight loss so far. On my last visit, I weighed 366.6 and this morning on their scale after lots of water and fully dressed (they have this thing about stripping down in the hallway to weigh...go figure!!) and was 308.4. I missed a couple of day of my blood pressure medicine (water pill part only) so I have retained some water, that will come off in the next day or two since I now have some extra pills at work for when I forget.

Doing well, can't wait for the snack tonight, though!! It is something that I haven't had in a while. It is new on the P6 since it was not included in the experiment part of the plan. Yummy, yummy!!!

Cryin' fat people night. We will be down to 4 finalists and it looks like it will be a good episode from the commercials.

Later!

If you pray, please pray for south Louisiana. They are planning to open the Morganza Spillway on Thursday and it will flood the small town that my sister has a house in, Stephensville and also Morgan City (where I am from). My sister rents out her house to someone and lives in Lafayette where they rent a house because there are just no jobs in that area and they have been unable to sell their house. My mom is moving back to her house there in the next couple of weeks and my nieces live there with their families.

Where's the nearest bar???

That's the question I asked my boss about 30 min ago and I am still on the phone!!! The phone has rung non-stop today with bs stuff that people want, and flood quotes!!!

Insane!!!

Mother's Day!

Had a very nice Mother's Day today. My husband got me a new charm for my Pandora bracelet and Christian got me the pink pearl breast cancer awareness bracelet from Helzberg's Jewelers. It's a Dorothy Hamill design. Christina made me breakfast in bed, on plan, so it was the easiest she has ever done. She always makes me breakfast in bed on Mother's Day. Nothing from Christopher, yet, except a text message while I was at church. I don't expect anything from him because he just had to replace the starter in his car and they wiped him out. A hug and a "I love you, mom" will do me.

This is what the men's ministry at our church did for the mothers.

They gave every mother a single rose.

There was milk, oj, 3 kinds of cookies, iced brownies and waffles.

This is what I had, coffee with creamer and equal. 2 cups!!!

They had 2 prizes to give away. One for the mother with the most grandchildren, winner had 9!! She got a blooming plant and a gift card to Red Lobster.

The next give away was for the mother with the most teenagers!! Bonnie and I tied at 2 each. She went up first and then me. She didn't know which she wanted the orchid or the gift card to Olive Gardner. I walked up and said, "I'm on a diet, why don't you take the card and I'll take the flowers?" She was fine with that. I walked off kind of proud of myself for not getting the gift card. Here is my orchid plant.

P6, day 13

Well, P6 officially starts on Monday. Allan wants us to consult our dr's about it and I totally understand that. I will be faxing the plan to her office on Monday and see what she says. I am not concerned about it because I have been doing the OPG for 2 weeks and that pretty much matches week 1 that starts Monday. If this was not safe then gastric bypass patients wouldn't be one this for the month before they had surgery. I have done really well on this. I miss food but it's not as bad as it was the first couple of days.

My husband commented last night that he didn't know how I was able to do this, he only sees what I eat at night, so he doesn't see the yummy lunch!! I thought for a minute and then looked over at him and said that I have come to realize that I have the rest of my life to eat but that I needed to do this for now so that I will be able to ENJOY living the rest of my life instead of just living it. I think he finally got it.

Christian and Isabella are out Mother's Day shopping and will be here when they are done. I so love having the two of them come over on Saturday's!! We always have such a good time.

Later, gator!

P6, day 12

Sent my weight in to Allan this morning. I have lost 4.1 lbs since Sunday!!! Whoo-hoo! I have now lost 61.4 lbs since 1/9/11! That means I am 22 lbs away from having lost 100lbs from my highest weight!! I am so excited!!!

I have NEVER lost this much weight on my own before. The most I have ever lost at one time was when Christina was about 2, I lost 20lbs on Atkins then 40 more on phen/fen, 60 total. No pills, no surgery, just me eating less and moving more with a lot of help from friends!!!

Thank you all so very much for the inspiration and motivation and encouragement!!

100th Post!!!

YAY! my 100th post!! I feel like I have reached a real milestone today!! P6 is going well, a little behind on my water this morning, though. Gotta catch up before lunch, so I'ma chuggin'!

I had the weirdest dream last night! As with most of my dreams, this one is very disjointed. I dreamed that Karen (Sunshine's Heart) and I were at Allan's house (not sure if we were in NY or if his house was suddenly in Memphis) and another man was there, I don't know who this was. Sue was out at the gym and man and Allan were playing cards. I was there talking to Karen about P6 and waiting for my kids to call me and telling that their flight had landed and that I could come pick them up. We were joking with Allan about doing Jello shots because it is Cinco de Mayo and they SHOULD BE on the plan!! Allan put some stuffed chicken breasts in the oven and was having me keep an eye on them while he played cards. I, was then whining about having to cook stuff that I couln't eat!! Suddenly, I was making some kind of peanut sauce and Allan was standing there watching, I looked up and he said that it wasn't done yet because it wasn't "crackly" yet. I said that I couldn't wait to taste it and he just stood there looking at me and raised his eyebrow and I said "oh yeah, it's not on the plan" lol That's how it ended. Strange, huh?

Well, gotta run, need to start drinking!! Water, that is!!

P6, day 10

One of the reasons I wanted to do P6 (mainly liquid) was because I am too obsessed with food. I wanted something that would be repetitious and boring. Well, I got exactly what I asked for. I wanted to distance myself from food and be more in control of what, how much and WHY I eat. That is starting to happen. Allan has said that he is changing Phase 5 into Phase 6 starting on Monday. We will have one more week of what we are doing now and then adding in more foods. I almost wish we were doing what we are doing now for longer. I definitely like week 1 better than week 2 on this. Not sure if Allan is changing anything for next week or if we are repeating this week.

It's amazing how good I feel. I would have thought that I would be dizzy or fuzzy headed and I'm not. My step is lighter and I have more energy. I know it's not from sugar. I'm guessing it's because my digestive system has cleaned itself out and there is not a bunch of junk being stored there.

Oh!! I have a NSV!!! While, at Tammy's last night, we decided to measure each other and realized that it was almost exactly 3 months since the first time we had done it. I have lost 19 inches from my body since 2/4/11!! We took more photos, too. If I was brave enough, I would post those to compare then and now. Not gonna happen! At least not yet anyway!

Later!

P6, day 9

My stomach is gurgling like crazy today! I'm hungry finally, I've not been having much hunger until now. I think maybe all of the junk that has been stored in my digestive system is finally gone.

I've had a couple of comments about some of the food I am eating. I get 3 of a certain item per day and it's not normally anything you would see eaten in an office setting, it's so funny. I feel so decadent sometimes.

Looks like there will be more changes coming for P6. Can't wait to find out!!

Cryin' fat people night at Tammy's!!!

P6, day 8

Today has been and still is extremely busy, I just needed a break from insurance for a few minutes. With all of the storms we've been having, we have had tons of claims and now one of our companies is having a moritorium for a few days, so we can't write anything in that company, of course, it is home owner's ins.

Diet is going well, still no cheats. I do miss my hot lunch, though. It is chilly and rainy here and I am wearing a sweater right now. I think I will have a cup of hot tea instead of coffee. Hot chocolate would be nice, good thing I don't have any!!!

I have a feeling we will be doing this or something very close to this for more than 2 weeks. I like what we are doing because the weight loss has sped up and I feel really good. I have a hernia and it has been hurting lately, but with the P6 cleaning out my system, it has gotten a LOT better.

I am reading a book that I'm liking very much. It is called Never Say Diet by Chantel Hobbs. She talks about changing your mindset before changing your body. I am pretty sure that is what I have done. Typically, I would have quit by now but I haven't. I really thought about this and made a conscious decision to not give up before I even started with Phase 4. She also talks about 5 decisions that you need to make and that once you do this will keep you from quitting because of those decisions. I haven't gotten to those yet, I wonder how many I have made on my own? She has gone from 349 lbs to 150 and is now a spin class instructor and a marathon runner. She decided to be the last that she could be. This has helped her tremendously. In 2004, she was on Oprah about her weight loss, she was 4 months pregnant at the time and no one noticed, but she had only lost 1/2 (100) of her goal then (200 lbs). She started her journey 10 yrs ago, on 4/29/01 and has not gained any of the weight back, even through her last pregnancy. I started reading this book on 4/29/11, weird, huh?

Well, there's my phone, back to work!

P6, day 7

We went to Sam's Club after church and picked up a few things. Nothing for me except a diet coke from the deli. Boy was that hard!! Turning down the sample ladies!! Bought Christina a hotdog from the deli that she ate on the way home. Wow, it smelled good!!!

Nothing much going on today. I think I'll go take a nap.

Lost 3.9 lbs. this week. I want some real food!

As they say...

timing is everything. I was going to Vikki's house (cake lady from the other day) to cut her hair at 11am and worried about when I would have lunch. Christian and Isabella came over and then we were going to Vikki's. Vikki called to say that it would work better for her if we came at 1pm instead. Yay! We stayed home and fed Isabella and Christian had some tomato bisque and I had ch...oops! I almost spilled the beans!! No beans on this diet!!

We got finished at Vikki's, she gave Isabella some toys that her grandchildren had gotten too old for, we then went to a Ford dealer to get the code for the keyless entry for Christian's Taurus that they bought last month. We got home in time for me and Izzy to have a snack, Christian left for work and then I put Isabella down for her nap. Laundry time!!

Now I am good til supper!! Yay, no eating out, no cheating and still on track!!

Oh and the sinus rinse is helping with my headaches!!

P6, day 6

Had breakfast, working on my water. Fixin' to get up and vacuum the livingroom and sweep the kitchen. Christian and Isabella are on their way here, with her crawling around and I'm being more diligent with keeping the cat and dog hair up. Need to start brushing Ginger again, she just started shedding her winter coat. She isn't a long haired dog but she does have a double coat, she's ginger colored but with an under coat of blond and that gets EVERYWHERE!!!

Will post again later, hopefully about my success in not eating out today.

P6, day 5, part 2

Another gorgeous day in Memphis!! Diet is going well, no cheats at all.

Made tomato bisque for the hubby at the request of my oldest daughter. She and Isabella are coming over for lunch tomorrow, actually I bribed her with the bisque to bring Izzy over so that I wouldn't have to go get her.

Here is Isabella with the Easter Bunny like I promised. Her dress looks coral but it is a very vibrant pink, the store camera changed the color a little.

Found out today what the changes to P6 are, not much, 2 things removed and 2 things added. I think the reason the changes were made was because one of the items had a lot of sodium and was a concern for some of us. The substitution for this item has more calories so we lost something I really like for something with fewer calories. So, it was mainly a trade off. More calcium for less sodium. That's my theory, anyway.

It should be as successful as this has been, the calorie level is roughly the same.

Night y'all!!

P6, day 5, weigh in...

I lost 3.3 lbs in 5 days!!! This is since Sunday's weigh in. I can't wait to see what it will be on Sunday!!

I'm wearing a shirt I bought 2 months ago that was too snug across my belly to wear. Not anymore!!

Hallelujah!!!

Still on track with the P6 plan, working on getting my water in.

Later, gator!

Good night...

Today was gorgeous!! All the closuds have moved out of the area, the temp was a nice 72, breezy, we had the office door open all day and it was wonderful!!!

Vikki brought cake and it looked good and probably tasted good, I went and made coffee and had it instead. And it wasn't that hard to turn it down.

Allan mentioned on his blog that some of our food will be changing...some additions and some subtractions. I really hope that it's not much. I'm really doing well on this and I hate to change what is working and is easy for me. I have been extremely good and not cheated at all, no substitutions or additions. Saturday and Sunday will be the real test, that is when my will power is at it's lowest. Thankfully, Christina will be at a friend's house and we won't be having lunch or dinner out.

Praise and worship practice was really long tonight. There is one person that doesn't ever seem to have his act together. It would surprise me greatly to find out that he actually practiced during the week like we are supposed to, to prepare for practice.

I'm off to bed! Night y'all!

Cake...

The lady next door brought cake in for everyone. I declined.

P6, day 3, part 2

Took my youngest to the mall to get a gift for her friend whose party is Sat. Stayed away from the food court. The only food sign I saw was for Auntie Anne's pretzels. Not a real temptation, I do love soft pretzels, though. Sam's Club has them in their deli and those are wonderful!

Got back in the car and I realized that I was HUNGRY!!! Drank a lot of water once I got back into the car, it helped. Having dinner now while I type.n

I received the book I won from Debbi at Debbi Does Dinner Healthy in the mail yesterday, opened it tonight and it looks interesting. Probably start reading it later tonight. The Lean Belly Description by Dr. Travis Stork.

Not much else going on tonight, just kicking back and watching tv. I have praise and worship practice tomorrow night. I'll need to bring my stuff for dinner to work and eat before I leave.

Night y'all!

P6, day 3

About to have lunch. Doing well so far, no cheating at all, not even a bite of someone else's food. Like Tammy's zucchini lasagna that I brought her last night, even though it was tempting because I knew how good it was. Thank God she now has all of the left overs from Sunday.

We are having more rain and tornado warnings today. Nasty weather, lots of rain. Tomorrow it's supposed to be gone and clear skies again. YAY!!!

Wonder what I will have for lunch today?? Oh yeah, same thing I had yesterday and the day before! Good, but boring.

I survived!!

and resisted!! Thanks so much for the encouragement! I am about to leave work and it is Tuesday!! That means it's dinner at Tammy's and we watch the crying fat people tonight. That is what one of our local radio stations calls "The Biggest Loser". We love that show. I am bringing her dinner which is the left over zucchini lasagna that I made for Easter lunch on Sunday and I will also be bringing my dinner of ... oh sorry it's a secret! SHH!!!

Y'all enjoy your night and choose your food well!

Much love!!

P6, day 2, part 2

THE OTHER AGENT IN OUR OFFICE ORDERED DOMINO'S PIZZA!!!! AAAAHHHHH!!!! NNNNNOOOOO!!!!! MUST RESIST! SMELLS SOOO GOOD!!!

P6, day 2

Things are going good so far. Working on my water, lots of it! Not really having hunger issues yet, but being busy helps. I'm sure the repetition of this will get boring but maybe that will be a help distancing me from the love of food and help me make it less important to me. It's just 13 days with 11 left.

I have a headache but this has been going on for a week or two, so it's not the new plan. I think it's sinus because it started in TX and just has not gone away. I did a sinus rinse this morning and I will do this for a couple of days to see it helps, if not, I'll make an appt for Friday to see the dr.

Later, gator!

P6

Today was not too bad. It was really very busy at work today and that helped distract me from food. There is a lot less food in P6 and a lot of liquid!! I missed my high blood pressure medicine this weekend and it is a diuretic that helps with the swelling in my ankles. Over the last 2 yrs, when I was first diagnosed with high blood pressure, I have lost weight and the medicine has been decreased as I have lost. I am down to just the diuretic part of it and after missing 3 days, I remembered this morning, took it and have peed all day long!!!

We had some severe thunderstorms today and some tornado warnings for about an hour this afternoon. It got pretty ugly for a little while. We seem to be having a lot more rain than we ususally do.

Today is Allan's one year anniversary since he started his weight loss and in that time he has lost 192 lbs!!! That is amazing! He has been so dedicated, focused and single minded about losing weight and getting healthy that it just blows my mind. That's an average of 3.69 lbs per week, 16 per month. Those are some pretty consistant and awesome numbers!

Off to read some other blogs!!

Night y'all!

Happy Easter...

Church this morning was awesome! Izzy looked absolutely adorable! I'll post her pic with the Easter Bunny tomorrow from work, that way I can scan it and post it that way. If I just take a picture of it, it won't be clear.

Phase 6 starts for me, Debbie, Amanda, Kelly and Allan tomorrow. I bought all my supplies yesterday and am ready to go. I have to say I think this is going to be tough. Very regimented, with exact foods and amounts. Good news, though, we can have all the water we want!!

I will do this, it won't be easy, but it will be worth it. I am losing on average 2 lbs per week but during Phase 4 it was 4-5 per week. I think this may help kick start me again. I just wanted it to go faster. I didn't get fat overnight and I know I won't get healthy overnight.

Tired tonight. I think I will go soak in the tub and then go to bed.

Night y'all.

Friday night...

The passion party was fun. I did well resisting the food and marguaritas. I had dinner before I went and that helped.

Came home with Isabella. We are going to take her to have pics done with the Easter Bunny tomorrow. That'll be fun. Need to stay away from the food court!!! I love the cookies and pretzels and chinese food. I can't even imagine how many calories are in the bourbon chicken that they sell at the chinese place.

Night y'all

Kettlebell...

I did the kettlebell workout with Jillian this morning and made it through about 10 min. Smacked myself in the knee with a 5lb kettlebell switching hands. The getting down and up from the floor was hard. My knees aren't in great shape but with the weight loss they are getting better. I will keep doing this because it does feel good. It's not jarring and the swinging of the kettlebell is kinda soothing in a way. Weird, I know.

Got the food list from Allan this morning and will go shopping this weekend for supplies. This will be an interesting 2 weeks, I thought it was for 1 but I guess we need to do it for 2 to get accurate results. I really hope I can stick with this, it should really boost my weight loss.

My daughter is having a uummm... party at her house tonight and I have been invited. I am, by no means a prude, but there is just something strange about going to one of these with your daughter. I will be leaving Christina (16) at home. I told Christian that I would only come if I could bring Isabella home tonight so that I wouldn't have to make that 45 min drive to her house tomorrow to pick her up. She reluctantly agreed. She has to be at work in the early afternoon so it works out for her as well. So I get Izzy for 2 nights, yay!!

Coffee time!

I may have bitten off more than I can chew!!!

Allan is letting me preview phase 6 starting on Monday with him and Kelly. I'm a little scared, now! LOL I have gathered from his post that the plan will be top secret for now. I can't wait to get it and see what it will be like.

I feel so much better now. I have a little distance from grandmother's death now and I can think of her and not want to cry. I miss her, but I know she is not hurting anymore and now we can talk about some of the silly things she did and enjoy her memory like she would've wanted.

I am off to bed. Oh, btw, hubby is off having his sleep study done. Lucky duck will only have to do one night, whereas, I had to do two. One to determine if I have sleep apnea and one to decide what air pressure I would need. His is so severe that the dr. took one look at his survey/paper work, that he said that there was no need for the first night. He texted me to say that he loved the bed. They use a sleep number bed and it is very comfortable. Now we BOTH want one. Time to start a savings plan for one!!

Night!

Thurs...

47 days left to the challenge. I wonder where I will be then. It would be awesome to be under the 300 lb mark! Each decade of pounds is a milestone for me. When I think of needing to lose 155 lbs, it seems impossible, but looking back at where I started, maybe not. I mean, I've lost 68 lbs from my highest weight 2 yrs ago. I am getting close to that century mark and it's kind of scary. I don't know why. Will I be the same person then? I don't think so. I feel the differences in my personality already. I am more out going and feel more confident in myself. I don't feel as lazy as I used to. I was getting to the point, that it was all I could do to get to work and come home. I would sit and have my children get things for me. I would fix dinner and then I was done for the day. I don't do that anymore. I have more energy so I do more for them and myself. If this is what 68 lbs feels like, what will 223 feel like? OMG, did I just write that?? When I first started this, I had my goal set higher on my tracker so that I wouldn't see over 200 lbs to go because I just couldn't face that number. Now I am waaay under that amount and it feels good! WHEN I reach my goal, I will be less than half of myself!! That's mind boggling to me. Ok, I need to stop scaring myself!!

I read a comment that Allan made to someone saying to look at food that you love like it is killing you and that is so true!! He hit the nail on the head with that one! It's like being in an abusive relationship, it will wear you down and make you weaker and weaker, then it will eventually kill you, not just spiritually but physically, as well.

I am really curious about Phase 6. I hope with his "follow or get out" on this one, that he will give us more details before it starts, that way we can know what we are getting into and those that can't follow it will just not start, instead of dropping out. I know it is discouraging to him for people to quit and maybe this will prevent that.

Later!

Great day...

Today was great!!! My husband found another job to replace the one he has now. Monday, for the second time, they have fired him and rehired him at a much lower salary. I am sick and tired of him getting jacked around and I told him so. It is not right. He called a company that he had turned down a couple of months ago to see if they still had some openings. He said not really but to come by and they would talk. He turned it down because it was for the same money and he was trying to increase his pay so the change was not worth it, even though it was for 5 days a week instead of the 6 he works now, goofball. Well, today they hired him and he starts on 5/9. He came by my office today and we talked and he finally took my advice to leave his current job. He is going to see if they will pay his vacation time when he turns in his notice. Keep your fingers crossed!!

Diet is back on track, because of an all day binge on Sunday, I had gained 2 pounds, but as of today they are gone plus a little extra. Sticking to it like glue!! Thanks, Allan and Debbie for the encouragement and advice, it helped.

Now I need to get my butt to the gym or use the kettlebells and dvd that came in last week. I'll give it a shot in the am before work.

Night y'all

It's Sunday...

We came home on Friday, took our time driving and having fun with Isabella. Just sat around on Saturday doing nothing and feeling sorry for myself. Today we had church and I dropped Isabella off at her MiMi's house this afternoon. I will miss her, but we get her back on Saturday. Still somewhat depressed, it is worse now that I am home and not busy but I think it will be better once I am at work. I have 81 emails and I have already deleted a few. Not a good week...for me emotionally or eatery(I know I didn't use that word correctly). No weight loss this week.

Things to do....

This is what we did on Tues at 3pm, the crying, not the face painting....

This is what we did today....

My grandmother loved the TX state flower which is the bluebonnet. There is a bluebonnet trail around the city of Ennis, TX. The trail goes through fields planted with nothing but bluebonnets. There is even part of the trail that is on private property where you can legally pick them. This is where these photos were taken.

We will be going home tomorrow, it's sad to say, but with grandmother gone, I doubt I will be back to Grand Prairie. We do have 2 aunts and uncles here but I don't think we are close enough that I would feel comfortable visiting, well maybe, my Uncle Jack and Aunt Barbara. Their daughters used to pick on me for being fat when we were kids, so I never really liked them. But we are grown ups now and you would think we would be past that but only the older daughter spoke to me at the funeral and introduced her husband to me (her daughters weren't there yet), but her sister ignored me and didn't introduce her daughter. Oh, well, their loss.

This house feels strange without grandmother.

Who put the fun in funeral???

Today is grandmother's funeral. We are all walking on egg shells around my mom. She is a very strong woman and seems to hold onto everything and then it just erupts. I am finding that I am like this, as well. I cry by myself and try not to in front of my children because I feel that I have to be strong for them, but who will be strong for me? My husband was unable to come and I and my children are the only ones from my mom's children to come, except for one nephew who is in town repairing his house that some tenants left a mess. My sister and all of her family and my brothers and their families were unable to come. I am so glad that we could. I can't imagine how hurt my mother would have been if none of her children were here. But I know that she would have given people the excuses that we used and never said a word to us about her being dissappointed.

Here is Christian and Isabella ready to go. Christopher and Christina wouldn't let me take pics of them.

Here I am driving to the service. My friend, Tammy always takes pics of herself driving so I thought I would give it a shot. Not too bad.

These are the beautiful flowers that my sister sent. She couldn't come because she had just taken time off for her daughter who has been in the hospital for the last month trying not to have the twins that she is pregnant for because it is waaaay too early! My brother-in-law's company that he works for has gone bankrupt.

And, oh my word!!! The funeral food!!! Wow! We have enough to feed an army!!! And with this family, that's just about right! I didn't do well resisting this. The pastor said at the funeral that grandmother had, I think, 24 grandchildren and 32 great grandchildren and 10 great, great grandchildren!!! Amazing!!

My grandmother's pastor spoke at the funeral and it's funny because she attended the chuch before he did and then he was there about 30 yrs before retiring and she was still there!! She became his second mother after his own had passed away.

The chapel sat 95 and there was standing room only. She was well loved and will be missing a great deal.

Yesterday's drive...

We left Memphis at a few minutes to 7 on Monday morning. About an hour outside of Memphis we ran into some severe thunderstorms until we reached Little Rock, then after that it was smooth driving.

Once we left Texarkana, it was beautiful, clear skies all the way to Big D!!

We stopped for lunch at a Denny's just before Texarkana. Christina saw this and had to have some. So, I can't believe I am going to say this, but I paid $5 for a bag of rocks!!!

The Denny's was attached to a gas station for truckers and they had a deli. Does this look obscene or is it just me?

This is Christina talking to her boyfriend on the way! She'd kill me if she knew that I said that!!

Here is Dallas!!!

We got to grandmother's at about 4.

We've gotten to see family that I have never met and cousins galore.

oh, wow!!

I just realized that I have lost a little over 50 lbs since the beginning of Phase 4. YAY!!!

oh, wow!!

oh, wow!!

Church...

was hard on Christina today. She cried through most of the praise and worship part of the service and everytime someone asked her what was wrong. She kept saying she just wanted to go home, but I was singing this morning and didn't want to leave. She said later that she was glad we had stayed. It helped. We are leaving in the morning to go to Grand Prairie. It will be just the 2 of us as my older 2 children and grandchild left this afternoon. Christian wanted to be there early to help my mom in any way that she could. I wanted to leave today but I had some things at work that I needed to finish up since I won't be there this week. Just about done packing. Took the car to my son's work and we detailed it. He works at Carwash USA and we went through the wash, I vacuumed and then he said that I didn't do it good enough and did it again. He put some rainx on the windows and sent me through the wash again. Van looks great. Came home and took the bench seat out of the back to make room for the hope chest. I'll bring my laptop but I don't think that my uncle (who lives with my grandmother) has internet, but I will try to go somewhere with wifi and do updates. I can check my email and read blogs on my iphone but I haven't tried to blog on it. Don't know that I have the tolerance to try to figure it out right now. Thank you all so much for your good thoughts and prayers, they are needed and appreciated!! Love y'all and God bless!!

Heart broken...

I went to Zumba this morning and got there and it had been cancelled, I went home planning to go to a local church at 10 to attend a Zumba class. I was sitting reading and my sister text me and asked it I was still going to be able to go. I asked her, to TX? No answer. I called my mom and told me that my grandmother had passed away in the night and that she was waiting to hear from someone and then she was going to call me. My grandmother, Annie Autin Seal Johnson, was a wonderful woman whom we loved very much. She lost her hearing when she was 2 after a bout of scarlet fever. My mom and I went to TX every summer when I was a child for 2-3 weeks at a time. I loved this time with her and my step grandpa Charlie. She had a hard life, she was born on June 29, 1909. My real grandfather was a hard man and very abusive to her, she survived that and before I was born married a wonderful man name Charles Johnson. They were the loves of each others lives. He died when I was in college in 1982. My mom is the oldest of the 6 children that my grandmother had and the only girl. Momma always said that her children were grandmother's favorites because we would play with her and talk to her, with voice and sign. My cousins only spoke to her when they had to. My children were her favorite great grandchildren for the same reasons. She especially loved Christina, my youngest. She was also very special to Christina. She has cried almost non-stop since I told her. I told Christian and Christopher this afternoon after they had dropped Christina off at the mall to hang out with her boyfriend. I told Christina tonight after I picked her up. It has hit her the hardest, but I did most of my crying this morning when I was alone, now it is time to be strong for my children. My mom will be packing her things at grandmother's house and moving back to Louisiana in a couple of weeks. My Uncle Bob will be helping her and using his truck to move her things. I know my mom will be glad to be back in her own home soon. She has missed my sister and brother and their families that live there. My youngest niece is in the hospital for a while with the twins that she is carrying, she came really close to losing them and she is being kept in the hospital until she gives birth. I know my mom has missed being able to go see her. We were planning a trip to LA next month but now I won't be able to afford to. Maybe in the fall when I have more vacation time. Christian and Christopher will be leaving tomorrow afternoon to go to TX and Christina and I will be leaving early Monday morning. I'm able to stay for the entire week if I want but Christian and Christopher need to be back at work on Thurs. Also, I will be bringing back a hope chest that my grandmother wanted me to have and also a sewing machine that my mom had bought for her years ago. Mine is broken and mom has a really nice one at home in LA, so she doesn't need it. Plus a few nick nacks that grandmother made me pick out a few years ago. Grandmother was 2 1/2 months away from her 102nd birthday. She was welcomed into Heaven with the loving and open arms of our Savior and all of the family that has preceded her. She will be greatly missed...

November 2010

Grandmother and Isabella