Exciting Stuff!

Maybe not for you but it's super exciting to me! Last October I was a size 22, almost a 24. Yeah I know. But yesterday I went shopping and I discovered I was a size 14 or 16 depending on the pants I tried on! I was thrilled beyond belief! And my shirt size is a large with room to spare! So needless to say I'm super excited and thought I'd share with my friends!

Useless ranting...or Pity Party?

I'm about to rant...so if you don't want to hear it don't read.
Why in the world is losing weight so hard? Sometimes this being skinny thing is no fun...although I wouldn't condsider myself skinny, but I'm trying to think like a skinny person. You constantly have to be working out, like an hour a day and your favorite unhealthy foods become a once every few months treat and then when you do eat that food (i.e. Ice cream and a cookie) you get sick.

Whew. Ok. I got that off of my chest. I have been working really hard to be healthy and really change my body. It's working and good changes are happening, but there are days...or weeks...where I want to quit and go back to my overeating and unhealthy ways. This week has been one of those weeks where I want to throw in the towel.

I think normally what keeps me going is being able to work out. Working out gives me more energy, helps me feel better about myself, gives me a sense of accomplishment, and makes it easier to eat well. The last two weeks I've probably worked out 4 or 5 times, which for me, is not good. My will power to resist temptation goes right out the door. This week I helped myself to pizza, cookies and ice cream (big mistake) as well as cheesy enchiladas and Cafe Rio. All of this has set me back and it's been frustrating. I've worked so hard to get to where I am today, literally 6 months at least and now part of me feels like I've thrown it all out the window. Now, I know that based off of what I've eaten this week I'm not going to gain all of that weight I've shed back, but Even a couple pounds is frustrating. Mostly because I could have done better.

I've been waiting forever to have a big juicy burger at red robin, and if I had stayed on track I could have had it this weekend. But now I'm back to a couple weeks away.

I know that compared to all the real problems people have my overeating and lack of exercise is super lame, but to me my weight has been a huge (no pun intended) trial in life. I'm tired of being limited because I'm not taking care of my body, but it's hard undoing all of the bad you took years to do in the first place.

I started at 225, and I NEVER want to be there again. I'm now at 187, and I still have about 40 pounds to go before I reach my goal. I just wanted to throw myself a little pity party before I suck it up and keep going.

In all honestly I feel great. Better than I've felt in years. I'm amazed at the strength that my body is gaining each week. This is my new way of life and I've never been happier. It's just hard saying goodbye to all of those old habits.

I love food. I still love it, I just have to change my relationship with it. :)

So that's my post. It's out there, and now I can get back on the saddle and keep going forward. :)

Birthday Bash and Weekend Crash

Ok, there was no weekend crash so to speak, but I'm not creative enough to think of anything that rhymed with bash that fit with the post. So if you are more creative than me and can think of something that fits and rhymes with bash, keep it to yourself. lol.

So my birthday was at the end of February and my sweet husband really outdid himself. At the stroke of midnight we were laying in bed watching forensic files (is that weird?) and suddenly out from under the covers he pulls out a little gift. First of all I wasn't expecting any gift, other than flowers maybe, and second I definitely wasn't expecting a gift to be pulled out of nowhere. So I opened the gift to find something that fulfilled my every birthday present desire. It was...



An Ipod Nano! Heck yeah baby! Not only is it small enough that I can easily take it running and work out with it, but it also has a fantastic video camera (which I have been using daily) as well as live radio! After a year of silence in my car I finally have something to listen to again! For those of you who are asking why I have had a year of silence in my car let me tell you. Two days before we moved here my car wasn't broken into...ok fine...they may have just opened the door I didn't lock...and stole my radio.
I'll admit silence is nice, and I still find myself just enjoying the quiet, but it's incredibly nice to have the option of my own music, my favorite radio stations, or silence. LOVE IT! So it's pretty much the coolest gift ever!
That day we also got sick of our computer and bought a new MacBook Pro. I'm using it to make this post right now. We love it. It's so nice to have a computer that works!
That night my parents came over and I cooked for them. I know most people like to be cooked for on their birthday, but I love to cook for others so that was really a present to me. I made amazing grilled chicken teriyaki and vegetable crepes. They were amazing! Chris said they scored a 10 out of 10, which is a rare score. Usually I get a 7 or 8. Since I don't really love cake I decided to continue with the crepe theme and make raspberry crepes. I also had the options of Nutella and bananas in case they didn't want raspberries. The combination of two and even the three are to die for. Here is a picture which doesn't do it justice at all.




And here are my very full parents



And because it was my birthday I refused to clean up and wouldn't let anybody else either. So here's the mess I woke up to the next morning.



And just to make this post even longer...
This last weekend we went with my family to Wolf Creek. It was so nice to just relax and get away from it all. I had every intention of using it as a good opportunity to do some homework and get a jump start on this next week. The only problem was that I left the books that I needed in order to do it. So I took it as a sign and didn't do anything but play with my family. Here are a couple pictures of my two favorite boys enjoying just hanging out.




This last one is just for fun and makes me laugh every time I see it.