Sunday, July 31, 2011

Doing Good!

I have been saying that I'm gonna update but it just hasn't happened till now. I should probably wait till after Tuesday's appointment, but, eh, I better do it while I'm in the mood!

We cancelled our internet a few weeks ago, so its a PITA to blog from my phone. So bear with me!

So I am a whopping 41 lbs down! That deserves a happy dance! Its hard to believe I'm 34 lbs from 200! That's nothing! I mean its a lot, but its so close! Of course the closer I get, the more I think I'm gonna want to get to 175, but we'll burn that bridge when we get there!

I feel great! It seems like just about every day I notice some new place that its noticeable. Obviously my waist line. Shorts that I couldn't button in April fit perfect, if not loosely. There's extra room in my bras (which I'm not thrilled about, but it happens). Those are the obvious places. I've realized that its noticeable in my thighs and even my calves (which Clint pointed out) and my face! Clint pulled up a pic on his phone from April and pointed out the difference. I LOVE when he points things out to me. I have mostly been wearing the same shirts this whole time, and I'm realizing that they're looser. It all just feels great!

The other day I went through allllllllll my clothes. There were a few things that I was hoping I hadn't gotten rid of, but found that I have, which is a bummer. But I still have a bunch of old shirts that either fit well again now, or will soon! It was a lot of fun trying everything on. I didn't mess with winter clothes because they don't matter yet anyway. And it gives me something to look forward to! ;)

So I got my blood drawn last payday and the nurse called a few days later with results. Good news!! My A1c, which is my long term blood sugar, went from 6.3 to 5.9, which I think is really good! Pre diabetic range starts at 5.7, so I'm almost there! My insulin went from 17 to 8 too which is good! I will know more about what the numbers mean at Tuesdays appointment, but I was happy to know they went down! Yahoo! I may be mistaken, but I believe they just like the A1c to be below 6 before getting pregnant, so I think maybe we will get the go ahead at this appt. However, I still plan to wait till I reach 200 lbs. Which will be hard to do once we get drs approval, but I still feel like its the right thing. Then I'll get off the pill and continue to lose weight while we TTC.

So that's that!

I haven't scrapbooked in probably a month. I just got burn out... I hope to get back into it soon though! Not scrapping has made my days much more boring.

I think that's all there is to talk about.....

I'll try to update after Tuesday if I learn anything interesting at my appt!

Friday, July 1, 2011

Random Babbling

So I guess it's about time for a real update. But there's not much to say! I am currently 28.5 lbs down. Looking forward to that 30 lb mark! One of my best friends is getting married at the end of September (sorry if I've mentioned this already) and I want to lose another 30 by then! I have a dress that I've only worn once and only Clint has seen me in. It's nothing fancy or special. Just something that's practically new! But I believe I was about 220 when I wore it. So it's really just over 25 that I need to lose by then. Assuming I lose weight in the same places that I gained it. LOL. I think it's an achievable goal. But I won't be too disappointed if I don't reach it. I know that the second 30 lbs will be harder to lose than the first 30. And I'm sure I will have something else that I'll be able to wear if I have to. I hope that I don't have to buy anything new because I just don't want to shop until I get very close to by goal weight!

I scheduled a drs appointment for August 2 (Robin has one that day too, yay for going together!) and I'll get blood work right before that so I am excited to see how much my A1c drops! I'm also excited to see how proud my doctor will be of my weight loss! Even if I don't lose any more weight by then, he'll be proud (I've doubled since my last appt). But I hope to lose another 10 lbs by then. Fingers crossed!

I have been acting up a little though. I may have already blogged about this, heck, I can't remember! Oh I know I blogged about adding in small amounts of soda. I've also started sweetening my tea again (half a packet of sweet & low). Also one my lower calorie days, I often "reward" myself with a handful of chocolate chips. That's bad, right? It's still not coming close to putting me over my calorie goal for the day, but it doesn't make it good! Also I'm having more bread. I get so tired of just ham steak & an egg for breakfast, putting it on toast makes it so much more enjoyable. I know an 80 calorie slice of bread isn't gonna kill me, but I just hate that I'm starting to add things back in. I almost bought juice too! But I was able to resist that. I always want to buy candy bars when I'm at a checkout, but all I have to do is look at the 300+ calories and I don't do it. HOWEVER, Skinny Cow now makes candy bars, and they are sooooo good! I haven't seen them at checkouts yet, but I did buy a box. I don't eat a whole package at a time (the one I got is little clusters, 5 in a package). But that's not what I need to be snacking on, I need to go back to snacking on fruits and veggies and hard boiled eggs. I hope I can get back on track. Again, I know that even with all that, I'm still doing good. Still losing weight, and still staying under my calorie goal every day. But still. It's not the right thing for me to be doing.

HA! And I said that I didn't have much to say!

The last few weeks I've been Netflixing the series Life Unexpected. It only lasted 2 seasons, and only 26 episodes. I watched the last disc yesterday. It was such a good show, I can't believe it didn't last! In case you don't know, it's about a girl who was put up for adoption as a baby, spent her life in foster care, and found her birth parents when she was 16 and the judge put her in their care. Her parents had her at 16, so of course they weren't together, which led to some awesome, dramatic complications. But also a lot of wonderful emotional moments. So I was really disappointed that it didn't last. But I was so happy with the way they ended it. I was afraid it was gonna be a giant cliffhanger like so many shows that get cancelled too early, but it ended with closure for the viewers.

Okay, I'm done. But I want to share some of my favorite pictures that Jenn at Jennifer Rice Photography took of me the weekend of my birthday. I don't think I've ever felt like I look so pretty, except maybe at my wedding. She did a great job! (I may not have resized them perfectly. I forgot to do it in Photbucket, so I freehanded it.)










Envy & Appreciation

Most of the time we think about what we don't have. We don't have enough money. We don't have enough friends. We don't have enough nice things. We don't have a family. We don't have pets. We don't have a sports car. But most people rarely take the opportunity to think about what they do have. We have a roof over our head. We have vehicles to get us from A to B. We have people that love us. We have a job. We have fresh air to breathe. We have food on our table. We have things to occupy our time. We have life.

I've been thinking lately. Everyone has something that someone else wishes they had. And everybody wishes they had something that someone else has. So I think about the things about my life that others might envy. I have a husband who loves me and takes care of me and provides for me. I have the most amazing dog. I have the best family-in-law a girl could ask for. I don't have to work. I have fantastic friends that have been and will continue to be there for me through anything and everything. I have time on my hands to do the things that I want to do. I have an amazing Mom who has seen me through everything, and a brother who has always been my protector.

I also think about the things that others have that I want. I want to not live paycheck to paycheck. I want a husband who is a little more sensitive and thoughtful. I want children to occupy my time. I want to decorate my house. I want to travel. I want ambition to follow something that I'm passionate about. I want to be out of debt. I want more of a social life. I want to own a place that we can call home forever.

There are people in my life who have a lot of the things I wish I had. Anyone reading this.. if you're a parent, I envy you. If you see all your friends on a monthly basis, I envy you. If you have the means to travel and buy all the things you want and need, I envy you.

I have some friends with jobs, college and children, or at least 2 of the three. They don't have a lot of free time and I often get the feeling that they envy all the free time that I have. I have time to scrapbook and go to the gym and spend with my husband or friends or family. They don't have as much of that time, so they have to be more choosey about how they spend their free time. What they don't realize is that I'm jealous of them. Okay, I don't really want to go to school and would only want a job if it was something I enjoyed... but children. I would love to have children getting in the way of my scrapbooking and using up all my money and making it hard for me to do anything social.

One of my best friends is starting a photography business and doing wonderfully with it. I wish that I had something that I was passionate about, as she is about photography. Something that I cared enough about to want to learn more, and want to pursue it as a career. I envy the passion that she has.

So what I'm trying to say is appreciate what you have, because you never know who is out there wishing they were in your shoes. Love your spouse, love your children, love your pets, love your house and your possesions and your job. Don't take it for granted as so many (myself included) do. Appreciate what you have and don't dwell on what is lacking in your life.