Weigh in...

344.1!!!!! Yay!! that is 22lbs in 21days!!! I am so excited and feel so good!!

I told a lady at church about Allan and the challenge and gave her a copy of the eating plan and exercise, I really hope that she decides to do it with me. She is such a wonderful person. She needs someone to share a plan with.

Later, gator!!

Weigh in...

I am excited about tomorrow's weigh in! I have done really well this week!

Fast is over in the am, so I can have meat, bread and sweets again! Yay! But guess what! No sweets still. I am sticking to this!!! I have started buying some organic produce and eggs. I wish I could afford the organic meat, but can't. I am really looking forward to some Tilapia. I put Zataran's Creole Seasoning in it and then saute it in a pan with a small pat of butter and then a squeeze of lemon juice when done. Yummy!!! Nix on the butter now, I will use some butter flavored Pam instead. I make shrimp sorta the same way, but add a clove of minced garlic to the butter and then add the shrimp that I have sprinkled with Z and then finish with a squeeze of lemon. I will have to check to see if this is in the plan. Since I haven't had any meat for the same three weeks I have been in the challenge as I have been on the fast, I don't know what meats/seafood are allowed. I know Allan eats shrimp a good bit, so my fingers are crossed!

Had a great day today with Izzy and C3. Went to the Trolley Stop Cafe and shopped around a little. They didn't have as much as I thought they would, but the people were awesome and the food smelled divine!! They have plate lunch specials everyday and they post them on facebook. They also sell crafts, organic food items, organic meat, milk (raw), goat milk, several cheeses... I got a menu and C3 and I plan to go next Saturday for lunch. They have pimento cheese burgers, those sound so good! But that is not what I will be having, probably a salad. I haven't really looked at the menu thoroughly yet.

Well, I'm off to bed, singing again tomorrow so I have to be at church by 7:45, did I mention that it is a 30 minute drive to our church and that I get up earlier for church than I do for work?? Work is 4.5 miles away and church is 26 miles away, but I love our church!!!

'Night y'all!!

Tomorrow...

Going to Trolley Stop Market tomorrow. They have a farmers market there that Wild Wind Farms delivers to. Wild Wind has all organic produce, dairy and meat. I thought I would go check it out. Trolley Stop also has a cafe there and it sounds really good. I thought Isabella, C3 and I would go and have lunch and then shop. They are on facebook if anyone is interested in looking. I watched Food, Inc the other night and it was very disturbing how most of our food is controlled by a handful of companies. Do you know that it is against the law to talk bad about beef? Oprah was sued because she made a comment on her show about not wanting to have hamburgers anymore. There is something wrong with that and how "big" business has so much power.

Do you remember the e-coli incident at Jack in the Box years ago? The 2 yr old boy that died during that time, his mother is now an advocate for more safety regulations for meat. The interviewer asked her what had changed about her eating of hamburgers and she wouldn't answer. She was obviously afraid of saying anything about whether she still ate beef. So sad and scary. What happened to the 1st Amendment?

Ate good today, stayed under 1200 calories and went walking with the hubby.

One more day of the Daniel's Fast. Thank God, I miss meat.

Good day...

Today turned out to be a good day. Work was busy with the new phones...having to answer both phones until line 1 would forward over to the new phone, didn't happen before I left but hopefully it will in the morning. Felt good all day, no headache. It's been a while since I could say that. I've been fighting a sinus infection since Oct and just finished my 3rd round of antibiotics, I think this time it is finally licked.

Great day food wise. Ended up with exactly 1200 calories for the day. Not enough water, though. Good, brisk walk with Ginger. Can't do the stair exercise yet, knees won't tolerate it. Maybe when I weigh less.

Had worship practice tonight, it went really well. Went through all the songs just one time! Normally we do each one at least twice, but there were no new songs tonight.

Night y'all!

Busy, busy, busy...

It has been crazy busy at work this week!! We've gotten a new phone system and we are still trying to switch everything over from ATT to the HD voice phones that we now have. Still trying to work out all the bugs.

Weight loss is going great! Down to 347, following the plan, but slacking some on the walking. We have had snow 3 times in the last 2 1/2 weeks which is unheard of for Memphis. My husband says that it is "Butt crack cold outside". I just don't get that phrase...

Had 2 scrambled eggs for breakfast and now some baby carrots to munch on. It's funny how now they taste kind of sweet since I haven't had any sugar for 3 weeks.

Later...

Sorry...

I didn't post yesterday. Was a crazy busy day. Had to pick up a friend of my daughter's on the way to church at 7:15, be at church for worship team practice at 7:45, then church at 9 am and 10:45, done, dropped off and home at 1. Lunch at 2, then a marriage class at church at 4, back home at 6:30. Then crash!! Ate a salad and then off to bed.

Today was better, work was busy. Then I went to a friend's house and cut her hair for her. Back in the day, I went to beauty school, gradutated and then went back and taught for 3 1/2 years, we moved to Memphis and I worked in a Supercuts and then later a Fantastic Sam's. In a totally different field now. Insurance. I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up.

Hubby and I went to see Faster tonight. It was ok, a revenge movie. It had "The Rock" in it and since huddy is a die hard wrestling fan, he was all for it. Not too bad for an action flick but not really my cup of tea. I did well though, we went to Taco Bell and bought him some food to smuggle into the movie and I got a water. No mex, no popcorn...just water.

Didn't weigh today, since weigh in was yesterday. I get too ticked off when I get on the scale and it doesn't go down or if I gain a little because of water. I don't want to get discouraged like I have in the past and give up. So, I will try to weigh only a couple of times a week instead of every day.

Allan posted the percentages today and I have lost 3.8% of my body weight, sweet. No award this week though other than the weight lose which is nothing to complain about.

Check out the top of my blog where the title is. I was reading my bible last night and found a scripture that backs up Allan's theory regarding food...it is food and then it is poop! Funny!!

'Night y'all

Wonderful...

Today has been wonderful!! Isabella was an angel!

A friend of mine that I have not seen in almost a year, came over today. She takes care of her elderly parents and has trouble getting away. We got to spend a couple of hours together and it was great seeing her. She, C3, Izzy and I went to do some shopping at Walmart. Got more veggies and fruit, and some food for C3 to take to C1's house. She is going to be babysitting there this week while C1's hubbie is off doing his class for the National Guard. He will be gone for a week and since C1 works at night, she needs someone at the house to take care of Izzy. C3 is doing our fast but C1 is not, so she has no fast friendly foods.

I call my children C1, C2 and C3, not to keep their identities a secret, but because my sister came up with the short hand names for them when we email each other.

C1 is Christian, 21 yr old mother of Isabella and wife of Charles.
C2 is Christopher, 19 yr old son, my favorite pain in the ass, love him like crazy but he pushes my buttons like nobody's business!
C3 is Christina, 16 yr old Goth diva, not goth in attitude but she likes black polish and dark make-up, but one of the most loving, giving people you would ever want to meet.

See why we use the numbers? All the Chris's makes it hard to come up with nicknames!! We tried tian (chin), pher and tina, Tina is the only one to stick!!

Can't wait for tomorrow's weigh in! I have a good feeling about it! I can't get over how much I have lost in 2 weeks! It's crazy and so far has not been that hard. Maybe because I have changed my mind set about food. I love what Allan says "It's food...and then it's poop". Priceless! Talk about perspective!

Well, I am off to bed. Hubby and I are both singing in the Worship team tomorrow and we have to be at church at 7:45 for practice.

'Night all!!

Woke up...

to someone coming in my house and guess what? It was Isabella and her mom!! They are going to spend the day with me! I have missed her so much! They live about 45 min away from us and with me getting off work at 5:30, 1 1/2hr drive round trip, I just can't go see her during the week. I was babysitting every Sat but C1 got a job closer to home so I don't get her anymore. Today will be fun!!

down...

to 352!!! Whoo-hoo!! When I started the challenge on 1/9, Sunday, I weighed 366.5, I had emailed my weight to Allan the day before and it was 365.5. So I have lost 14.5 lbs so far!! YAY!

I read Lisa's blog yesterday about her heart condition that she just found out about and I have to tell you, that scared the CRAP out of me!! In her "fat face picture" she weighs 350. I am older than her and weigh a little more and SHE has a heart condition!! Wow! This is serious business, folks. My heart goes out to her, but I am taking this as a wake-up call! My highest weight was about 2 1/2 years ago and it was 382. That's when I found out I have high blood pressure. I dropped 20 lbs quick, fast and in a hurry and am now on just the "water pill" part of the med. I keep having swollen ankles and this is the dr's solution.

I have a friend that is diabetic and she has no feeling in her feet and her lower legs are very dark, almost black. That scares me. My dad had diabetes and I sure don't want it. I used to tell people that I am very healthy, just over weight. Do y'all want to go for a ride in my boat on the river da' Nile??? What was I thinking to let myself get this way?

I thank God that I found Allan and watching him lose so much has motivated me to get off my lazy a** and get busy!!

Maybe it's my imagination, but having cut back my calories and having smaller portions for the past week and a half, I have noticed that I am getting full faster. I am trying to be more conscious of not being hungry anymore vs being full (stuffed, more like). Now granted, it is still hard to "put down my fork". I hate feeling like I have to eat everything on my plate just because I put it there. Lord, knows I don't want to cause any of the starving children in China to die because I didn't clean my plate!! What were my parents thinking??? I am not blaming them for making me be fat, I could have used some self control long before now, but we teach our children such bad habits that they deal with for the rest of their lives.

I guess I better get back to work now!

Later gator... (can you hear my accent, y'all??)

Walkin' In Memphis...

I decided that I didn't want to walk at the office last night because my boss's office partner was having an after hours meeting...he knows some people that don't want other people to see them. So I went home and took Ginger for a walk. She is a dog that we adopted from a family at church who had decided that with two toddlers, they just could not handle two large dogs anymore. She is ginger in color (they named her) and very sweet and playful. We live on one really long block and don't know our neighbors because everyone pretty much keeps to themselves. We get about half way to the corner and my husband calls to see what I was up to, once I tell him, he says that I should have waited and he would have gone with me! I almost fell out!! By this time I am back at our house and told him that I could do it again and would wait for him. He never wants to execise, I guess his overnight stay in the hospital scared him a little and he is now willing to walk with me. It might have had something to do with the fact that I told him that I had said to my best friend that he was going to start going walking even if I had to put him on a leash like a dog!! He thought it was funny. We enjoyed it. All the kids were gone and it was just us and the dogs.

I just realized, we have a "thing" about the number 3. We have 3 kids, 3 dogs and 3 cats. Our oldest daughter moved out, then got married and had Isabella. Then I thought, 1 down, 2 to go. Josh moved in...he is a friend of our sons who was being taken advantage of by his roommate and he wanted to move out but had no place to go. Back to 3 kids...

Lost that same pound again. No more late night eating. It wasted a whole day of dieting. I knew better, but it was just so cold outside and I had just gotten home from my daughter's house and knew that bowl of oatmeal would warm me right up. Next time I have hot tea or broth, that'll work too!!

2 eggs for breakfast, will have veggie burger for lunch, wrapped in lettuce with tomato...188 calories. Maybe another salad for dinner.

I had a salad last night with iceberg, spinach, tomato, cucumbers,walnuts, raisins, a little cheddar cheese, and a chicken patty cut up on top. The chicken patty was a Morning Star veggie thing, no meat. It was good. About 600 calories now that I add everything up. A little high for dinner so I think I will cut out the raisins, they were 130 ca, didn't realize they were so high.

One of my reasons...

See that adorable picture to the right? She is a major reason I want to lose weight and get healthy. I want to be around to enjoy her and be a big part of her life. Both my dad and father-in-law died when my youngst was a baby, so they will never know what a wonderful person she has turned out to be. They knew our two older children and got to spend time and play with them and make some memories that my children share with each other, but not my youngest and that hurts her so much!! She is always asking me to tell her stories about her paw-paws. I don't want that for me. I want to see all of my grandchildren (just one so far) grow up and be able to love their babies. So this is for the long haul! No more backing up and no more "just one more bite".

Doing well...

I am doing well on the new diet. I have been very careful to follow the 1200 diet as closely as I can. With being on the fast, I can't have bread, meat or sweets. So for lunch today and yesterday, I had a Boca Burger (veggie patty) with a slice of Am cheese, a little mayo, some tomato and wrapped up in an iceberg lettuce leaf. I really like this. C3 and I had this for dinner on Monday and we both enjoyed it. I am having the left overs for lunch. The whole thing has about 188 calories, not bad for a lunch.

I had a bowl of oatmeal (brown sugar & maple flavor) late last night, I just wanted something warm and filling and I thought that was a good choice, but this morning I was up by just a little over a pound. I am now at 355.1 and yesterday I was at 353.9. The oatmeal? I know I shouldn't weigh every day but I just look so forward to seeing what progress I have made, but sometimes like today, it can be discouraging. I am not letting it bother me and I am not quitting this time. I just need to do like Allan says and "eat less and move more"!!

I wore my tennis shoes to work today so that I can walk up and down the block before I go home. I don't get up early enough in the am to do it anymore and when I get home, fix dinner, all I want to do is sit in front of the tv and veg out or get on the computer. So, I thought if I did it before I even left work...it would work. We'll see. I had also planned to take a lunch break and walk then, too, but it has been a busy day and I was unable to "clock out" for lunch.

Later...

I won!!!!

YAY!!! ME!!! I won an award from Allan at www.almostgastricbypass2.blogspot.com. It is an "I kicked some ass & lost some weight" award!! My first award!! And I don't have any readers!! Oh, well, can't have it all.

Later, gator!!

Chubby Hubby...

All tests came back NEGATIVE!!! WHOO-HOO!! PRAISE GOD!! My husband is now home and resting from this scare. The dr thinks it is just acid reflux and has put him on Prilosec. He did have an ulcer several years ago, so I bet he has another one from stress and tobacco. I hate that stuff!!

Today was not fun...

Me and C3 went to Tammy's house to watch her dogs while she and her husband went out of town for the weekend. Her 2 dogs are her and her husband's second set of children. Decided not to go to church today because I have a sinus infection and wanted to get some rest. Ed, my husband, called me at about 10:15 to ask when I would be home. I told him that I had planned to stay at Tammy's until they got home. He had left church early and was at home having chest pains. I told him to take a couple of aspirin and that I would be there shortly. We spend most of the day in the ER, he is still there. They did not find any trace of a heart attack but are keeping him overnight to do a stress test in the morning. Hopefully there won't be any blockages because if there is, they will keep him and do a heart cath. Not sure what that involves but I'm sure it is not good.

Did ok food wise until I got home. Christina made some tortilini with sauce and I had a bowl and a half. Should have stopped at about half of what I had eaten.

Did not weigh this morning as I was at Tammy's house.

Later...

Wow!! All that was 2 yrs ago...

I have slipped back into food being the most important thing in my life...the thing that I think about the most.

The corporate fast started again on Sunday and this year has been the hardest for me. I did not pray and get mentally prepared like I have in the past and this makes all the difference in the world.

All lot of things have changed in the last 2 yrs. C1 has gotten married, she is 21 now and they have a baby, Isabella Grace, who I just adore!! She has brought so much joy into our lives!! C2 is now 19 and still lives with us. A friend of his, Josh, has moved in with us, he is paying us rent but has been not getting any hours at work and not able to pay us. C3 is now 16, holy cow!!

One of my favorite blogs to read is Almost Gastric Bypass 2, Allan has been an inspiration to me. He is a in your face, no excuses kind of guy who is losing a huge amount of weight by following the gastric bypass diet but without the surgery. He is amazing!! He has more will power and determination than anyone I have ever seen!!!

I joined his challenge this week. For the first couple of days I did just the liquid part of the diet so that I could get rid of some of the water weight that I have, my ankles thanked me profusely!! Now I am cutting back on the calories but I am unable to follow the diet completely because I am also doing our Daniel's fast. No meat, no sweets and no bread. So I am eating a lot of carbs and vegetables, some dairy and a little fruit. I have lost 6 pounds this week. I started at 366.5 and yesterday weighed 360. I have not weighed yet this am and the challenge weigh in is tomorrow. I am having a hard time drinking all the water, I need over 200 oz per day for my weight just to be hydrated. The bad thing is that I have a sinus infection and everytime I sneeze or cough real good, I pee a little...bummer. I feel like I am 80 years old instead of 47.

C3 asked me last night after I sneezed and jumped up and ran to the bathroom, if I needed her to go buy me some Depends...scary thing is that I considered it!!

Going to Tammy's today to dog sit...it will be hard to not go to the Pig N Whistle and get an Idaho Pig. Which is a huge baked potato with butter, sour cream, cheese and bbq pulled pork...yummy!!!

Later gator!!