March 27, 2012

Week 16: Another Milestone!

Current Weight:  227.8
+/- this week:  -2.2
+/- this round:   -22 (20 pounds!)
+/- total:    -40.1
Short Term Goal 2:   225.8 (10%)

Sorry for my weeklong absence here.  This week and next may be a little light to be honest.  Sam was sick all last week, then when I headed down to Seattle on Friday and didn't have to be taking care of kids anymore, my body just gave in and got really sick too.  Soooo... my fun weekend down there was still semi-enjoyable, but I also felt like ass most of the time, and am still slightly sick.  Now I'm starting to feel a bit better, but Danny spiked a fever last night and pretty much slept all day today and went to bed with a ridiculously runny nose tonight.  WOO!  By the time we all recover, it'll be the weekend and since next week is Sam's spring break and my Mom will be out of town, I'm not sure I'll get much computer time.  If nothing else, I'll get my weekly updates in!

So, I hit 20 pounds this week!  Which feels good... but looking at my overall number, which hit 40 this week, feels really good.  That means I'm within 10 pounds of my lowest weight loss.  Right after I had Danny I was -50 pounds, and when I hit that it's going to feel amazing.  Being sick did have a silver lining, I suppose... I don't think I would have lost as much if I hadn't been, though I still would have hit the 20 pounds mark.  I've only got 2 pounds to go before my 10% goal also, which is exciting.  My current BMI is 35.5, which is 6 lower than where I started.

Hm... that has me thinking about milestones that will be really exciting for me.  Hitting -50 will be one.  Then hitting 213.5 pounds, which is my 1/2way point to my goal.  Then, getting under 200.  When I hit 200, I'll have lost 25% of my total body weight.  Then getting under 180 because I hovered there for years and years.  I feel amazed even thinking that these things could really happen.  For non-weight goals, the biggest will be the first time I'm able to buy outside the plus size section - Old Navy anyone? 

This week, once I'm really feeling better, I'll try to get some exercise.  Between the mall and grocery shopping today, I got 2 hours of walking in.  I almost died from exhaustion afterwards, making me realize I'm not better at all yet.  No big challenges this week, date night tomorrow, but that's about it!

Starting Weight 1 (Feb 2009):  267 lbs
Starting Weight 2 (Dec 2011):  249.8 lbs
Starting BMI:  41.8

Weight Lost:  40.1 lbs
Goal Weight: 160 lbs
Goal BMI:  25.1

Short Term Goal 1: 237.8 (5%) - Met 1/24/12
Short Term Goal 2: 225.8 (10%)

Long Term Goal: 160 lbs
To Go: 67.8 lbs

March 20, 2012

Week 15: Short but Sweet

Current Weight:  230
+/- this week:  -1.6
+/- this round:   -19.8
+/- total:    -37.9
Short Term Goal 2:   225.8 (10%)

This is going to be short because Sam has been home sick for the last two days and I'm tired and haven't been getting enough sleep.  I lost 1.6 pounds somehow this week even though I went over my weekly points and didn't do a ton of activity.  I think I'm a little sick too, so my appetite hasn't been huge the last couple days, so maybe that's why.  Who knows, I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

I just need to go down at least 0.2 this week to hit -20 pounds!  An exciting milestone, and last time I didn't hit -20 until week 20/21, so that's kind of awesome.

Challenge this week will be my trip to Seattle this weekend, freedom from kids, eating out etc.  I also plan to do a lot of walking though.  I am crossing my fingers that the weather will actually be nice like the weather reports say so I can go to the zoo on Saturday, which will most likely be a good 3-4 hours of walking around.  If I fit in some walking on Friday, I should be pretty good.  Even if not, I am willing to accept however it turns out.  I only get to go away on a mini-vacation like this twice a year, so whatever happens I'm not going to beat myself up over it.

Starting Weight 1 (Feb 2009):  267 lbs
Starting Weight 2 (Dec 2011):  249.8 lbs
Starting BMI:  41.8

Weight Lost:  37.9 lbs
Goal Weight: 160 lbs
Goal BMI:  25.1

Short Term Goal 1: 237.8 (5%) - Met 1/24/12
Short Term Goal 2: 225.8 (10%)

Long Term Goal: 160 lbs
To Go: 70 lbs

March 17, 2012

A Good Day

Our day started out with visitors in the back yard.

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Danny loves them, and stands at the window staring for a long time.

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I love to watch them too.

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Just LOOK at those ears!


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Sam didn't care about the deer as much, he was watching a video.


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Then he wanted to break out the moon dough.


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Danny just wanted to make a mess.


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Then he climbed up on Sam's chair and they did it together.


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Some mac & cheese was eaten.


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Some laundry was done.


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Some dishes got washed.


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At one point, the living room looked like this...


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But I still snuck away for a couple of minutes to look at blogs like this...


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And there was a little bit of this.

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Day turned into evening and Sam had some hummus.


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Danny went down early after a fun day with no nap.


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And Sam and I hung out on the couch, and he had a couple of Samoas for dessert.


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He went to bed a little bit late, he said he was not tired, but it took less than ten minutes for him to fall asleep.  So I came back out into the living room and had a little bit of dinner - leftover chicken & rice.  And then...

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Fin.

March 15, 2012

TV Time! Zombies, Mobsters & Vampires

SPOILERS AHOY! If you have not watched the last few episodes of The Walking Dead, Desperate Housewives and The Vampire Diaries, avert your eyes!

Some shows are on hiatus, and others are just about to go.  Sometimes I include TV stuff in my Friday Fragments, but after the last 2 days of TV watching, I have too much to say about a few of them! 

The Walking Dead

OMG!  First of all, I was surprised by Dale's death, but also thought it was awesome.  Why?  I recently totally devoured all 94 issues of The Walking Dead comic books.  If you haven't read the books, they're significantly different than the show.  In a way, this is nice because I don't feel like by readin the comics I have spoiled the show for myself.  There are also things that I wish they would do differently on the show, and a couple of these things started to take shape in the last two episodes.

Oh my Lord, I cannot tell you how glad I am that Shane is finally gone.  Shane was not a long-lasting character in the comics.  I was okay with Shane on the show for a while, but as he's gotten increasingly more volatile, particularly the last couple of episodes... I've just been sick of him.  I also love that they used Shane to introduce/highlight the 'we don't have to get bitten to turn' storyline.  I really liked the way they did that scene - the flashes of zombie interspersed with Rick's grief and pain about what he'd done. 

I also really like that they had Carl show up and shoot zombie Shane.  One of the differences from the comics that I'm not crazy about is the difference in Carl's character.  I feel like show Carl comes off as a little whiny/wimpy and sometimes creepy.  I don't feel that way about book Carl.  He became harder earlier on, and I am hoping that this is the start of him becoming more like he is in the books.  Also, they way they shot the scene with Rick thinking Carl was pointing the gun at him?  Excellence.

The last development that I was excited about was the herd of zombies coming out of the woods.  We haven't learned too much about the zombies and how they work, but this is an element from the comics that I am super glad they're introducing because it's going to bring more drama and craziness.  In the comics, no one is really safe (well, except MAYBE Rick because it's his story), and I like being reminded of that on the show as well.

I love this show so much.  The zombies, the relationships... I just love that a show about zombies makes me cry on a regular basis (Hershel giving Glenn the watch, anyone?!).  It's just so good.

The question now is who will not live through next week's season finale?!

Desperate Housewives

So, I chose to read a spoiler last week so I knew before the end of this week's episode that it was going to be Mike who died.  Despite that, I found myself crying at the end of the episode.  I did not expect to feel so sad about it, but it was the life flashing before his eyes part that did me in.  I may be a weirdo here, but I'm glad that they're doing big things with the end of this show.  I hate when a show goes out with a whimper, and so often the last episodes of a series kind of suck.  Two of my very favorite shows ever, The X-Files and Quantum Leap,  had series ending episodes that I really thought sucked, frankly.  Six Feet Under did a great job with theirs. 

I think the end of a series is a chance to do BIG dramatic things that you might not consider if you knew a few more years of stories were coming.    I am very excited to see how all of this ends.  One thing that I REALLY hope they'll do is wrap up Lynette's story with something positive for her.  I feel like she just gets constantly screwed, and it bugs me.
The Vampire Diaries

I started watching The Vampire Diaries because I like all things vampire, but I didn't expect to love it as much as I do.  I have to say though, I think Elena is crazy for choosing Stefan over Damon.  Holy hotness.  He's also got that thing going on that always does me in.  You know, i-seem-like-an-asshole-but-am-actually-awesome-and-in-love-with-you.  I was really surprised by the end of the last episode when the doctor lady stabbed Alaric.  I am sort of tired of Alaric dying and then coming back.  It's kind of getting old.

What shows have you been enjoying lately?

March 14, 2012

Going to the Chapel!

I have been bursting at the seams with some exciting news that I couldn't share right away.  In December, my sister Kira and her boyfriend Brent came up to Bellingham to spend Christmas morning with our familiy and visit some friends.  In addition to having our frist Christmas with Brent, we had another reason to celebrate because on Christmas Eve, my sister got engaged!  Okay, one exclamation point is not going to be enough here...

My awesome sister, Kira
MY SISTER IS GETTING MARRIED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kira & Brent in Hawaii last November

I am beyond excited.  Brent is an awesome guy, and he treats my sister as well as she deserves.  He is kind and carrying, and it's easy to see how much he loves her.  Also, he gives me free bacon from his farm.  REALLY good bacon.

When we were little

Seriously though, I am so happy for my sister that I could literally cry... I am a big emotion ball.  I can't wait for so many things.  Welcoming Brent more into our family, having my kids get to know him better (he is great with them), visiting them on the farm and spending time there once Kira moves out there, helping my sister plan her wedding, using up an entire box of tissues at her wedding (you know that's going to happen - the other day I got slightly choked up when I realized after she moves, she might not want to stay on the family cell phone plan with me and Justin), and there has been talk of possible little Kira & Brents at some point... The idea of my sister having kids fills me with the kind of happiness that can't be put into words.  These people are going to be absolutely amazing parents.

Me and Kira the day Sam was born

Kira and teeny weeny Sam

Kira and Sam on his birthday last year

Kira and Sam with Danny the morning after he was born

I have so much to look forward to and I'm so happy about all of it.  I'm lucky to have a sister who is so close in age to me, we've been in very different places and I'm just excited to share all of the things that have been so amazing in my life now that she'll get to experience them.

Me and Kira at my wedding

She is one of my best friends, and beyond any of that she is a pretty amazing woman with exceptional thoughts and ideas.  I love her more than I can really say, and I can't wait to add her wedding to my list of special memories I share with her.

March 13, 2012

Week 14: Thinking About Exercise

Current Weight:  231.6
+/- this week:  -0.2
+/- this round:   -18.2
+/- total:    -36.3
Short Term Goal 2:   225.8 (10%)

Not a very big week.  I was happy to see a loss at all though because I had a crazy day of excess on Sunday.  It was my best friend's birthday and let's just say there was a lot of food/cake ingested.  And it was washed down with a lot of Lemon Drops.  It was a special day, so I just let it happen, because if I don't allow that kind of thing once in a while, none of this will work.

So, I was hoping to at least stay the same, and it's nice to lose a tiny bit.  If I do well this week, I may be able to hit -20 pounds next week!  We'll see.

I am thinking a lot about exercise.  Justin got me the Zumba game for the Wii, and it's pretty fun.  Now that Danny's sleeping later (knock on wood) again, I'm thinking about trying to get up at 6 and do that in the mornings.  Perhaps I'll try that in the next few days.  It's also a possibility that we may be able to get a gym membership through some extra computer work Justin's been doing.  That would be nice.

This week, challenges will be few.  Friday is usually date night, but Justin's going to be out of town, so I am not sure what the plan is yet.  Maybe I will just go out and have some me time.  Other than that it should be a pretty quiet week.

Starting Weight 1 (Feb 2009):  267 lbs
Starting Weight 2 (Dec 2011):  249.8 lbs
Starting BMI:  41.8

Weight Lost:  36.3 lbs
Goal Weight: 160 lbs
Goal BMI:  25.1

Short Term Goal 1: 237.8 (5%) - Met 1/24/12
Short Term Goal 2: 225.8 (10%)

Long Term Goal: 160 lbs
To Go: 71.6 lbs

March 8, 2012

Friday Fragments: Pets, Proactiv and Random Pieces

Friday Fragments are bits and pieces of your week that are usually brief; too short for a stand-alone post, but too good to discard. Collect humorous observations, "Heard" items, and other small gems and put them together in a Friday Fragments post.

Friday Fragments are the brainchild of Mrs.4444 and you can find more at Half Past Kissin' Time.

*****

I'm going to start out with this just bizarre article I read.  Did you hear?  Several large papers recently posted articles about how PETA's shelters have a 90% or higher kill rate, at least in the last  years.  Really, PETA?  I have completely lost all respect for this organization.  I have not been a fan of their tactics, showing horrifying photos of animal mistreatment is bad enough and really not the way to get people to listen to you.  Ad campaigns where they mock/attack a video game character for one of his costumes and comparing Thanksgiving turkeys to eating your pet dog are ridiculous and taking it to far in my opinion.  Now we find out that they are actually killing thousands upon thousands of shelter animals.  I will never support this organization again.  How about trying to be responsible instead of incendiary?

*****

Well, Paul won Top Chef.  Thank God.  Totally anti-climactic.  This was the worst season ever.  It was all team challenges and gimmicks, and I rarely saw the innovation, uniqueness or mouthwatering foods that I look forward to from this show.  I am not interested in who can not make a mistake after being forced to man a BBQ all night without getting heat stroke.  I really, really hope this was a fluke and Top Chef hasn't jumped the shark forever.

On another TC note, I was at Barnes & Noble browsing the new book tables and came across Gail Simmons Book "Talking With My Mouth Full: My Life as a Professional Eater" and I added it to my to-read list.  It would be interesting to read more of what she does when she's not on Top Chef.

*****

Sam was watching a video on YouTube yesterday and before the video there was a Proactiv commercial where Justin Bieber was going to surprise some fans. With a years supply of Proactiv...?? I mean, how crappy would you feel if your moment of elation that Justin Bieber was at your door was followed by the low of knowing he was there to give you acne medication for your pizza face???  What genius came up with this gimmick?

*****

So, I LOVE The Walking Dead and I recently was able to get my hands on all of the comics that have come out so far and totally devoured them.  So good!  It was interesting to see how the show diverges from the story in the comics (a lot), and I can't wait to keep reading.  I have to say that after reading them, I am hoping that recent show events lead to show Carl becoming a bit more like comic book Carl.  I also loved this week's episode because I feel like for the show to keep the right feel, there have to be big deaths - in fact, I'd kind of like to see them more often.  In any case, I would highly recommend both!

*****

I got some sad news from New Jersey this week.  Spooky, the sweet kitty who lived with my sister and stepmom, was killed by a car on Wednesday.  My stepmom is a total animal lover, and Spooky moved in a while ago after she had been taking care of him as a stray for a while.  Once he got used to being inside and around so many people all the time, he really warmed up and he loved to come and get petted.  We will miss having him around.

And with that, I'm all out of fragments.  I hope everyone has a nice weekend and gets to do something fun!


March 6, 2012

Week 13: Slow & Steady Wins the Race

Current Weight:  231.8
+/- this week:  -1.2
+/- this round:   -18
+/- total:    -36.1
Short Term Goal 2:   225.8 (10%)

Another good week!  I used all my daily points but did not go over my weekly points this week.  I also got 19 activity points, which is great!  I think they recommend trying to get 14/week but I'd like to shoot for closer to 20.  I don't trade my activity points for food points, maybe if I ever get to the point where I'm in maintenance, but for now I would feel like I was wasting it.

I looked at my chart and I am ahead of where I was last time around.  I am so close to being 20 pounds down, and that will be a milestone that really feels like something to me.  I lost a point this week so I now have 36 daily points instead of 37.

This week I got Zumba 2 for the Wii!  I haven't tried it out yet, but I am really looking forward to it!  I did buy some Girl Scout cookies today, because I can't really deny myself those.  I just have to make sure I moderate - really one at a time is the best way.

Challenges this week will be date night on Friday and Book Club/Birthday Party on Sunday.  I'll save up my weekly points and Sunday I'll just eat a light breakfast.  I'm going to try to get activity at least 3 days, but ideally 4.

Starting Weight 1 (Feb 2009):  267 lbs
Starting Weight 2 (Dec 2011):  249.8 lbs
Starting BMI:  41.8

Weight Lost:  36.1 lbs
Goal Weight: 160 lbs
Goal BMI:  25.1

Short Term Goal 1: 237.8 (5%) - Met 1/24/12
Short Term Goal 2: 225.8 (10%)

Long Term Goal: 160 lbs
To Go: 71.8 lbs

March 5, 2012

PAUSE

Things I saw yesterday that gave me pause:
A man with a dredlock mullet.  Seriously?  Business in the front... matted dog in the back?

A woman holding her 1 year old's head while she cried about getting her ears pierced.  I had to leave the store I was in.  I've never had a gut reaction like that, but I totally did.  I know it's a cultural thing for some people, but it was just... icky to me.

A man with dredlocks stuffed into a giant hat-like thing the size of a regular pillow.

The most recent cover of Vogue with Adele on the cover, all photoshopped to hell.  WHY?



March 1, 2012

Book Update!

I have been on a major reading kick for the past couple of weeks.  I don't know about the rest of you, but I go in and out of periods where I read a ton and don't read much.  My goal is 50 books a year, but sometimes I don't read for a couple of weeks or even a month, and other times I seem to just devour books.  Danny is finally old enough that sometimes on the weekends when they're both home and they're playing I can actually pick up a book for a few minutes, which is awesome. 

Right now, I am at 13 books out of 50 towards my goal - that puts me 6 books ahead!  Now, 3 of those were Walking Dead compendiums which are pretty quick, so I will probably try to read enough books this year that I don't really count those towards my 50 - or count 3-4 of them as one book.  Even without those, it puts me 3 books ahead and I'm halfway through one and about a quarter of the way through two others.  Here's what I've been reading lately!

I recently finished The Midwife's Confession by Diane Chamberlain.  This one has been on my Nook for a while and after I finished the last Kristin Hannah book, I decided to finally read this one.  Since it was on my e-reader, I didn't really  have a description and wasn't sure what the plot would be. I really enjoyed this one.  It is in the same vein as Jodi Piccoult and Kristin Hannah - a story about women characters with lots of drama and heartache and some twists in the plot.  There were a couple that I totally didn't see coming, although the very end of the book I did sort of figure out before I got there.  If you like those other two authors, I'd definitely recommend this one.  I looked at some other Diane Chamberlain books after finishing it, but not many of them caught my attention with their descriptions like this one did.  I finished this book in 3 days because I really wanted to know what would happen!

Before The Midwife's Confession, I read Night Road by Kristin Hannah.  My first time reading Krisin Hannah was for book club last monght, and I knew immediately that I would read a bunch more of her books.  She reminds me some of Jodi Piccoult, but all of her stories are really based around female characters and relationships.  I really liked this book.  It had a couple of twists, but mostly it was just a story about what happens when bad things happen to good people and how we can reconcile it when our loves for different people start to clash. 

Earlier this year I read Feed and Deadline by Mira Grant.  I am into zombies, vampires and werewolves, and I was into them before this whole Twilight craziness.  I had Feed on my 'to read' list for a while and I finally picked it up.  Holy cow!  I knew as soon as I finished it that it would be on my top 5 list for 2012.  One of the things I loved about it was that even though it takes place in a crazy world after a zombie uprising, the story centers around three journalists covering a senator's bid for the Republican nomination for President.  A zombie book with politics?  So interesting!  I thought the story was well told and I really liked the main character, Georgia Mason, in this. 

Now, here are the books I'm reading now.

I just started Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen.  I read her book Every Last One last year and was blown away by it.  After reading it, I put this one on my list.  It centers around a woman who is running away from her abusive husband with her 10 year old son.  Domestic Violence is an issue I'm really interested in, so it seemed like a good fit.  I'm only about 25 pages into it, and it hasn't totally captured me yet, but I bet it will soon.

For my book club for March, we're reading Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin.  I'm about halfway through it, and devoured the first half in one day after picking it up to force myself to get started.  I chose this one, but I realized later that I have another book on my 'to read' list called What Alice Forgot, which is the one I'd actually meant to suggest.  So even though I wanted to read this one too, I was kind of kicking myself.  I'm glad now though, this one will definitely make for good conversation at our next meeting.  It is a fictional book based in historic fact about Alice Liddell Hargreaves, the girl who Lewis Carrol's Alice in Wonderland was based/written for.  If you're a big fan of Alice in Wonderland, I'd warn that this book may change your perceptions, and throughout the first half I've found myself unsettled several times.  I've gotten to the point where Alice is in her early 20s and I am eager to see where her relationship with Carrol ends up.

I am usually listening to an audiobook, I drive 20 minutes each way when I go to town, so I keep one on my phone to listen to in the car.  I have also been listening to it when I go for walks to distract myself from how much I hate exercising.  Right now I'm listening to The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.  I am only about 25% of the way through it.  I read the first two books in the series in 2010 and for some reason never finished the trilogy.  I am not as captured by it as I was by the first two books.  I am wondering if there's going to be a mystery in this one or if it's just going to center around Lisbeth Salander's trial or whatever.  I am also annoyed at the author for naming two prominent characters Niedermann and Niemenin.  WTH?  It's hard enough to keep track of everyone in the book without this confusion!  I'm interested to see where the story goes, but I think it'll be a while before I'm done with this one. 

What are you reading?