Saturday, September 8, 2012

Sept 8, 2012

LOL I love that the first line of my last post states that I plan to start updating every weekend. And that was on June 2nd. Oh well, shit happens!

So that weekend ended up being my last at the golf course. They did some rearranging of people and I got the short end of the stick and got booted out of the golf course. I was so bummed. I love my golf course and all my regular customers! But oh well. They did offer me another job with townsite (townsite runs everything around here), and I am a cleaning lady now. Yes, me, a cleaning lady. Doesn't fit me well, but I'm truckin' along! I've been doing it a few months now. I clean the conference rooms, the laundromats and empty houses, mostly. The conference rooms and laundromats are daily (I work M-F, 8-5) and the empty houses are as they come along. I also do the random things they ask me to. Pretty much I'm thier bitch. lol. Last week I spent an entire day with the movers they hired to move furniture from 4 intern houses into the storage room. I'm not there to help, just to let them into the houses and tell them what to take and where to put it and  that kind of thing. A couple weeks ago I and a few others were moving all the junk (and I mean junk!) out of the old cafe because they've got people wanting to look at the space, I guess. It would be great if that got reopened as some kind of food place! I still get to cover at the golf course when needed, and I've worked at the gym a few times too. So I do it all. And I still do the mine tours.. I get to take time away from the cleaning job to do that, so its nice! :) I didn't want a full time job, and I still don't. But it's what I've got, so I'm managing. I've learned alot as a cleaning lady, like razor blades are great for so many things, and pumice stones make toilet bowls shine! But do you think my house is cleaner? Heck no! By the time I get home, the last thing I want to do is clean. I still keep it as clean as I have to, but its not great. And I don't cook as often as I used to. I mean I used to cook every night except for the random occasional eating out, or him cooking, of course. But now I can't tell you how many times I've initiated "fend for yourselves" nights. That's not me, and it has to stop! So I've been making a greater effort lately to cook more often. Now, when I do clean my house good, I do it better than I used to, and I have more of a system. I guess that's a plus.

With all this working, I began slacking off with the gym. Its a fairly physical job (some days more than others), so I felt like I was getting a decent enough workout in at work. And I would come home so exhausted and the gym became so unappealing. I would still go 2-3 times a week, usually just do cardio with the occasional weights. Of course I also eat more... a lot of granola bars and things throughout the day. But I've still maintained around 197-200lbs, and I've been ok with that. Up a little from my lowest weight (193) but still not bad. Well lately I've noticed that I LOOK like I'm gaining some back. My tummy is a little bigger and my pants are a little more snug. So I pulled out the old measuring tape and OMG! Apparently I'm losing muscle, so therefore not gaining so much weight, but still getting fatter. Not cool. I'll post the measurements in a minute, but I want to say that they lit a spark under my ass and I am back at it!! I hit the gym every day this week, after work. If I bring my clothes to work instead of coming home to change, I'll actually go. I've done at least 4 weight machines each day... I did all the weight machines twice this week which used to be common, but not so much lately. And I'm trying to challenge myself with weights again, by upping the weight I do. Building muscle cuz I want to see those inches fall right back off, and then some. I'm really glad this motivation kicked in again, and really hope it sticks! It's been about 6 months since I've really been in the swing of things and I guess I needed that break, and now I need to get back in gear. I'm counting calories again and have stayed within my calorie goal all week! Woot woot! I have adjusted my calorie goal (I'm using MFP again) though.. before I had it set at trying to lose 1.5 lbs a week and a sedentary lifestyle. Now I've set it at 1 lb per week, and a "lightly active" lifestyle. I could probably say I'm "moderately active" but it depends on the day, so I'll underestimate it. So my net calorie goal now is 1800 which is really easy to stay within. Last time I was counting calories I think it was at 1450 or so. I'm not as strict on my diet as I was a year and a half ago when I started this weight loss journey. I'm not really watching carbs or anything (and I probably should be), I'm not cutting out soda (yet). I'm just watching calories for now. After my next blood draw (should be soon), if my blood sugar is up I'll probably start watching carbs again. If my blood sugar is still good, then yay! When I say "good" of course I mean "better"... it still wasn't where it should be at my last check. Which was like 6 months ago. Damn... Dr. O dropped the ball on that one, I was having it checked every 3 months! I'll have to get an appt made for that.

Anyway. The measurements! (I used to call my hips my waist (beause I didn't know where my waist was, lol) and my wasit my torso, so I'm fixing that now, and calling it right.) (Last time I measured was mid-March, the difference will be in parenthesis)
Sept 5, 199.25 lbs (^4lbs)
Hips: 47.25" (^1")
Chest: 37" (^1.75")
Bust: 43" (^.5")
Thigh: 25" (^1")
Waist: 38.5" (^1")
Arm: 13" (^.75)
Butt: 43.5" (^2.5) (not sure if I measured that exactly the same as it was a new addition..)
So, see! Gain gain gain! Not good!

So enough about that. Clint and I are taking a real vacation at the end of the month, and we'll be gone for a full week and a half! We're driving to Oregon to visit mom and Keith. Clint & Keith will do some hunting a fishing. Mom and I will do some shopping and talking, and it'll be a good time! We're spending a full 7 days with them, with 2 days driving on each end. On the way there, we're planning to stop at Shoshone Falls in Idaho, just for something to do that's Zoey friendly. Of course we're bringing Z! I'm so looking forward to it, I think we really need this!

I think I'll end this for now. I've got to get dinner going for the husband (because its what good wives do!) before he goes to work. I'll try to do this more often now that I'm on the weight loss rollercoaster again!

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Weekend Update: June 2, 2012

I'm gonna try to start updating every weekend, since I'm so bored at work anyway. Not that so much goes on in a week that I'll actually have things to talk about, but.. oh well. Maybe I'll do themed posts or something, idk! Today I'm gonna try to figure out what I did wrong last time that made my post one great big paragraph. How annoying was that? My apologies!

Well I think that fixed it. I was in HTML mode, I need to be in Compose mode. Ok.

Maybe I'll fix my last entry.

Alright so here are some pictures. Of course if we're Facebook friends you've seen them. But oh well.

My little family! <3
My Mommy and I! <3

 And here I am looking super sexy, in my not so humble opinion. ;)
And this one is probably a little more "me."
The last two are, of course, from my photo shoot with Jenn. I hope to get the CD with the rest of the pictures soon. :)

So. I guess there's not much to update on. Life is still good! I don't think anything amazing has happened since my last post. Clint's been working a lot of overtime, which is nice! I mean the paycheck will be nice. Well, who am I kidding? The extra me time is nice too! :p

Oh! Well I did have a birthday since my last post. But I'm just another year older. Didn't do anything special. Actually I went to town for grocery shopping that day, had lunch with Jess, and had a pretty good day. But I was in a foul mood that evening for some reason. Not a good start to my 29th year. But oh well!

Our anniversary is on Wednesday. We're terrible. No plans. IDK why we don't do stuff for special occasions. But he IS working a lot and maybe we'll go out to dinner that evening. Maybe we'll plan something for later in the month. I'm really wanting to go to a water park again, like we did the day after our wedding. That would be a fun belated celebration!

Okay I'm out! Peace!

Thursday, May 24, 2012

May 2012

Well it's been damn near two months since I've updated, and blogger has been rennovated! Oh snap! I'm sure I'll get used to it and love it soon! :) For now, it's just diiiiffferent!

So I type this from work! I got a brand new laptop the other day and am able to get online at work at the golf course, so this is awesome! I've been meaning to blog, so here I am!

Where to begin? Work. Work is good! I really enjoy working at the golf course... don't ask me why! It's pretty boring most of the time (well not now that I have internet), but I've met a lot of people and I feel like I'm making a name for myself in this small town. I'm not only known as "Clint's wife" or "Kallie's/Robin's sister in law" anymore, and that feels good! It's a super easy job, all I do is greet people, take their money and drive golf carts. And some light cleaning. Easy peasy! I work alone mostly. My boss is in his office right next to mine a lot, but not all the time. Then there's the yard boys and mechanics who are in and out. I get along with everyone just fine, even though I don't get to see much of them! Most of the time its just me and a book (now a comp!:) ) hanging out at the front desk.
I'm also still doing the tour guide thing. Still learning, honestly. I officially passed pit driving yesterday and am allowed to drive without supervision. However, I still don't know nearly enough about the mines processes to lead my own tour. Yesterday I drove a second van and that went ok. My driving was spot on, but I didn't know some of the stuff. A lot of the stuff. I don't know if I'll ever feel ready to lead my own tour. BUT I'm okay if all I ever do is drive the second van, and let the other guys take all the small tours. We'll see I guess. What I do love about the tour guide job, is the social aspect, of course (same applies to the golf course, duh!). The tours are usually older folks, and they're always so nice. It's interesting to see the different groups of people, and different reasons they come on a mine tour. I think I'm good at the tours because I'm so personable. The man who has been doing the tours for years is a sweetheart, but not vert chatty. We all know I don't have that problem! :p
What comes along with working? MONEY! I cannot express how nice it is to have spare money again! We were sooo living paycheck to paycheck, just barely skating by. And now? Well, now we were able to afford for me to get a new laptop. We got internet at home. Clint got a smoker, with accessories. I got a lot of new clothes. Life is just good and easy again, and I'm not taking it for granted. We also got caught up on some debts and we're making effort to get a lot of the things that we need/want. But not just firvilous things, things of real value (mostly). Last time we had money, we ended up with nothing to show for it. This time will be different. We've got a few major purchases in mind for the near future. Can't wait! :)
You know what else comes with working? Less free time. I swear I feel like I have been "booked" for months. The tours are only a few hours, but add that time to gym time and its a fairly full day. I don't have a lot of days off that I don't have something to do like go town (be it for fun or not). I'm just busy. It's nice, but I would like a couple days to get caught up on my DVR and scrapbooking/card making. I think I've made ONE card since I started working. Well now that I have internet at work, I'll be able to catch up on Hulu! And I can bring netflix to work.. I also haven't watched a DVD in probably a month. So yay! I'm making progress. Because tv is sooooo important you know!

So my mommy came for a visit!! We had THE BEST time!! I don't think I've ever had so much fun with my mom! It was Mother's Day weekend. Her plane landed Thursday just after noon. We had a nice lunch, then went to Arizona Mills for hours and hours. She wouldn't let me buy much for myself, no matter how hard I tried! LOL But I got a bunch of new clothes that day, including a swimsuit that I actually feel like I look good in! Can't wait till the pool opens so I can wear it! We got home pretty late that night, but had to get up early to listen to Chris's bands radio interview online. (I guess I should mention that his band as a song being played on local Arkansas radio!!) That was super cool. The rest of Friday was pretty relaxed. I showed her around town and Clint smoked up some ribs. Saturday we went to Prescott and did a little shopping there. Then we headed to Phoenix where we did even more shopping and had a nice dinner before heading to our hotel. Mom's flight left early Sunday morning and it was sad to see her go. The hotel felt so empty when she left. (She took a shuttle and I went back to sleep). We had a great time though, we laughed so much and didn't get cranky with each other at all. It was great! Then Sunday I met at a mall with Rheannon where I did EVEN MORE shopping! I probably didn't buy as much stuff as I'm making it sound like. But more than I've ever bought in a weekend, that's for sure. And lots of shoes overall. I no longer wear flip flops with everything!! :) It was good to see Rheannon, she's still crazy as ever! After that I did my grocery shopping then headed home. It was a long day. A long weekend. But wonderful!

What else?

 Oh yeah, my body. Probably hasn't changed since my last update. My weight is fluctuating between 195 & 198 ish. Usually I gain on weekends and lose during the week. I'm not getting exercise or eating as well at work. I need to work on that, but it hasn't happened yet. That being said, I'm feeling pretty good about where I'm at. I would love to lose another 30 lbs or so, but if I stay at this weight, this size, forever, I think I'd be okay with that. I look the best I've ever looked. EVER. I'm still not thin, but I'm small enough that if I dress right I don't look fat. And I feel good. I feel great, actually. So I still want to lose more, but I also want to be able to wear all these new clothes for a while, so I probably won't worry much about it for a while. As long as I maintain, and don't go over 200lbs again, I'll be happy. For now, anyway.

Speaking of my body, Jenn did a photo shoot with me again. She did one last year too. These are considered my "after" pictures. They're 51 weeks later. They're amazing. In some of them, I think "damn I look sexy!" I love the pictures so much, and I've only seen 10 of them. There are 10 more coming next week! She is so easy to work with too! She gets all excited about the pictures as she's taking them and she just has the best energy!

I'm afraid I'm getting cocky though! Maybe its just a new level of confidence. I don't know, but I'll try to keep it in check. But damn I look good! ;) (the winky face makes it okay, like I'm kidding!)

What else.... Clint is good. Zoey is good. I've got a birthday and an anniversary coming up. We're having Clint's family over on Sunday for my birthday. Not sure if we're celebrating our anniversary. We should. But we'll see. Hmmmm now my wheels are turning!

I guess that's all I've got to update on. And I really should start on my daily cleaning list. So I'll end this now. It's already a novel anyway! :) Maybe I'll do a picture post tomorrow. :)

Friday, April 6, 2012

NOTE: I typed this yesterday. :)

This one will not be a novel! I don't think...

So I'm loving being out in the working world again. My safety classes were boring and I spent the majority of the time chatting with the instructor (I was the only one in the class) about unrelated things. But that at least made it less boring. I worked Sat & Sun at the golf course and I was the only one there all day both days, and did fine. I had only had 2 hours of training a few days prior. Clearly its an easy job! And pretty boring if there's not enough people needing golf carts. But hey I will get caught up on my reading, if nothing else. BTW, the golf course is 10 hour shifts. Yowza! The best part of that job is driving the golf carts.. super fun!! hehe.

I had the driving class today and did better than expecting. Of course it wasn't physically driving... just a class and a test. But I don't get the sticker saying that I passed until I drive with someone else a few times. I kinda like I have my permit. In the next couple weeks I get to go on a few ride alongs with the other tour guides, then I'll get to drive quite a few times with one of them with me before they send me out on my own. I'm SO thankful for that. I want plenty of time to get comfortable driving in the mine and in that big van!

I'm using my down time (well, some of it) at the golf course to "study" for the tour guide job. My biggest fear about the job is not having anything to talk about. I'm supposed to be informing these people... I need to first inform myself (another reason i'm glad I ahve a while before doing the tours on my own), so I borrowed a book about the history of Bagdad, written by someone who worked for the mine for many years, starting in the 30s I believe. I'm taking notes and I'm gonna reorganize them and study the crap out of them. I just feel like I have no business being in this position at this point. I want to know my stuff!! I am SO looking forward to my first ride along though! I've never been on mine property, ever! So just getting to be out there and seeing the things I've heard Clint and others talk about for so many years will help me gain understanding.

So anyway, working is good for me! It gives my days off purpose. I feel like I have to get things done so I end up being more productive. It feels good! Although, its caused me to have to drop for 3 DVDs at a time from Netflix to 2 at a time because I haven't been keeping up! I may even drop it further... we'll see how it goes! It's hard enough to keep up with my DVR. See.. I have a life again!! :)

IDK if I mentioned this in my last post, but I'm a size 14 now. A year ago I was a 22. Just sayin'. Not much has changed with my weight.

Alright, longer later! It's bed time for this girl...

Saturday, March 24, 2012

March 2012

Maybe I should start naming by posts by the month that they're posted, because I generally only update once a month. It's a thought!

Well normally I start with weight talk, but I had too much fun on St. Patrick's Day to lead with anything else!!I went to Prescott to celebrate with two of my best friends, Jenn and Jess (a bunch of J names, as we realized every time we introduced ourselves to people. lol). First Jenn and I did some shopping at Ross where I found a shirt that I love, then we met up with Jessica for more shopping. Then went to Jenn's house to get ready. We went to dinner at Applebees at around 8. Apparently Applebees does karaoke on Saturday nights. So I rocked some Kesha! I've been wanting to do Tik Tok karaoke and I finally did and it was so much fun, even if I was a nervous wreck. BTW, I was the first to go for the night. I was so brave. From Applebees we headed downtown... where it was dark. Not just because it was night time, but because the power was out all over downtown. Totally creepy but cool! Thankfully, Matt's had backup power (making them one of the two bars with power that night), so they were letting people in and it got crowded fast! It took a little while for them to get lights and music going, but once they did the party was on! And before the lights and power, everyone was so friendly. It made for a great atmostphere. We made friends with a group or two of people, just had a great time talking and dancing and laughing.. and dancing. And dancing. Oh, and did I mention dancing? I have never been so dancey.... in public anyway. It was awesome. I was fearless. So not like me. But I look a kagillion times better than I have in the past and I guess I have a lot more confidence. And OMG more stamina!! Apparently I'm in pretty good shape because I danced for hours and didn't get tired. I outlasted my friends (who, if you don't know, are far from overweight). I wasn't even afraid to stay out there when they were cooling off. It was awesome. I can't express enough how much fun I had. I wanna do it again!! LOL And I think it's safe to say that we and our little group of friends for the night, were the life of the party. Seriously amazing night. Okay... I think I'm over it.. LOL.

So I had planned to come home Sunday, but it snowed and I got stuck because I'm an Arizona driver, not accustomed to driving in the snow. So I made it home Monday, with a cold. I can complain but the cold was so worth it after having so much fun.

On Tuesday I went into the staffing agency to talk about a part time, temporary job they had available at the golf course. While there, she also mentioned another job doing tours at the mine. So I took both of them! I have safety classes (MSHA) Monday-Wednesday, golf course training Thurs morning, another class Thursday afternoon. I get Friday off (which is grocery shopping day) and I work at the golf course on Saturday and Sunday. I might have the driving class the following Monday. And all of a sudden I have a life. But after the first week, it will calm down quite a bit. I'm not sure how many hours to expect other than the golf course will be Friday-Sunday until the person that I'm filling in for is able to return. I'm not sure how often I'll be doing tours, no more than 3 times a week, and likely not that often.

I have to admit, the tour guide job makes me nervous. I'll be representing the company and have to make a good impression on these people, have to drive well, and be super friendly and informative. I have A LOT to learn about the inner workings of the mine and the history of the town and all that. I really should be studying right now!! It's a totally different kind of job for me, and I am nervous, but also excited! It sounds really fun and it's a challenge and I don't often challenge myself but I believe I can do it. And if I can't, well, then I have to quit. No big deal, right? So there, I'm gonna take a chance and go for it! Woot!

Anyway it'll be nice to have a little extra money coming in so we can get out of this rut. Little by little we're getting there!

Okay I guess now I'll talk aboutthe weight stuff. So today I weighed in at 195.5lbs. Not bad but not great. I think my lowest is 193. I didn't go to the gym for over a week (sick) and today was my first day back, so hopefully I can start to drop the lbs again. But I haven't been doing great with food. Sigh. I need to get back on track but just can't find the motivation I guess. I mean I haven't gotten all my old habits back and I'm still trying and doing okay, I'm just not doing nearly as much as I could be. I'm not sure if I have a new set of measurements... I probably do. But I'm not gonna mess with that today. I do, however, have a pair of size 14 jeans on right now. :) That makes me happy!!

I am worried that working will interfere with my workouts. Next week with all the classes wil be tough but I'm gonna try to go to the gym right after classes, at least for a half hour. After that it should be part time enough that it's easy to fit in at least 4 trips to the gym a month. At least I hop so! I know that when I'm at the golf course on the weekends, I'll be skipping the gym. Partly because the gyms closed on Sundays and closes early on Saturdays. Maybe I'll try to go Friday evenings. I wish I was a morning person and could go before work. That's very unlikely though! Maybe if nothing else I'll walk to and from work. But I won't because I'll always be running late. IDK. But if I go Mon-Thurs, that's good. So any other work I get, I need to work the gym into that schedule. We'll see. I guess I can't really plan it yet because I don't know what to expect. I just REALLY don't want to gain that 80 lbs back. I really don't want to gain 10 back because that's how it starts right? Little by little. Nope.. no way... Not gonna happen with me. I will just have to find ways to fit my workouts in!!

I am thankful that I won't be working around food though. That would be a bad temptation. I'm sure I'll bring snacks to work but being away from fried food and donuts is a good thing!!

Well I think that's all that's on my mind at the moment. I'm so excited about going back to work and being around people again!! I've been in such a good mood ever since I found out! I'm sure I'll update soonish about my jobs!

Till next time....

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Bet ya didnt know I could write a novel..

Well crappers it's been forever since I've updated. I keep meaning to but it just hasn't happened. Oh well, I'm here now. Be happy! :-p

Of course weight/diet talk comes first. So I hit the 200lb mark at the end of January!! SO STINKING EXCITING!! I was just ecstatic! Seriously! It was a fantastic feeling!!
However... since then I've fluctuated like crazy! After Super Bowl I got back to 202, lost that in a few days and I've remained under 200, but just really up and down with it. I've gotten down to, I believe, 196.25. Today I weighed in at 198. It's so frustrating and its got me thinking I need to make some diet changes. I'll get into that in a minute. I just want to get down to 175 so I can say I've lost 100lbs! LOL Also wanna be there by the time my mom comes to visit (April or May) because we're gonna do some shopping!!
I've been going to the gym like a good girl. Still basically doing the same routine. Although I've added a couple things. There's a thing that you hold yourself up with your arms/shoulders/elbows... not like pull ups. Your head is above your arms. I need to figure out what its called. Anyway and you lift yourlegs up and its a stomach exercise. I was surprised that I was able to do it so I do 10-20 of those at least every other day now. And there's a machine that I've always been afraid of! LOL It's the pull up assist thing... The weights couteract your body weight so you're able to do pull ups and push ups. So I do that every other day now. Also I recently learned that I can do sit ups!! I did 7 the first night and that was all I could do but I was so proud! LOL So I'm trying to start doing those randomly throughout the day. Once I lose all this fat, I want to have some muscle under there!! When I do the treadmill now, I try to do it "right." I realized that when I hold onto the handles I don't feel like I'm getting as much of a work out. My knees don't have to bend as much. Like I was basically holding myself so that it was taking away most of the elevation. Not sure if that makes any sense. But test it out... step on a treadmill, raise the elevation and hold onto the handles for a few minutes. Then let go. You'll feel a difference. So now on the treadmill I don't hold onto anything (except my phone of course :p ) and I feel like I'm getting the full benefits. Of course I don't raise the elevation as high as I used to and I don't burn as many calories. Boooo to that! But I really don't think I was actually burning as many calories as it said I was the other way. So I feel like this is more accurate. But now I'm burning less than 500 calories a day with my cardio. Booo! lol.

Food. Food sucks!! Okay so my last post I was apparently doing great. That didn't last long. I'm not doing terribly, but back to the 100 calorie packs throughout the day. So I bought some sugar free candy to try to replace that. Sugar free candy has sugar alcohols which give you serious gas. So don't eat too much of it. You've been warned!! Sugar alcohols are better for diabetics but still not great. I did some research after eating a bunch. lol. So I've eased up on that of course. Still doing calcium chews. I was in a habit of having a handful of chocolate chips every night. Sometimes during the day but mostly just before bed. That's not good for me, of course. So when I ran out I didn't buy more. Its driving me crazy!! LOL Somehow it's making me want to bake! So now I am fightint the constant urge to make cookie dough. The plan is to make it (without chocolate chips because I don't have any) and freeze it and then I won't eat it all the time. Except that I have nothing against frozen cookie dough. So not a good plan for me. But I don't think it will be long till I give in. I've also decided that since I can't load up on carbs or sugars, I can have plenty of fat instead. Meaning cheese. So I eat string cheese and add parmesean to a lot of things. And I wonder why I'm not losing weight like I used to. And I made a broccoli cheddar soup yesterday. I think it's super yummy even though it looks like baby food. I topped it with parmesean and dipped Italian bread in it. DOH! Rule breaker. Cheese instead of carbs, but lets add carbs to it.. so its all unhealthy. Except for the fact that it is indeed BROCCOLI soup. Gotta be a little healthy (btw, broccoli also gives you gas :p ). So that's my food frustrations. I need to figure something out. I feel like my waistline was better off when I was just having chocolate chips at night. :sigh: I'll figure it out eventually!
Also I've stopped countint calories again... I need to get back into that. I think it really helps. But its a pain in the butt when its recipes and you have to figure out how much you had and all that. But... no excuses.. starting Monday I need to start doing that again.
Oh and I've only had soda once this year and that was in the many drinks I had at the super bowl party. But I'm okay with that! Special occasions are.. well, special!

So the broccoli soup brings me to my next topic. I got the recipe from Pinterest. It's damn addicting, that Pinterest!! I pin a ton of recipes, including desserts that look to die for and have me looking for excuses to make them. But also healthy recipes. When I pin a "Healthy-ish recipe" it's generally low carb. So it might be high fat which isn't healthy in most peoples eyes, but the low carb makes it good for me. Also anything with veggies I generally put on that board. Then I have the "Not So Healthy Recipes" board which is stuff high carb and friend and you know, delicious! I've tried a few zuccini recipes that are good, I just need to perfect them. I did a chicken recipe that I liked but Clint didn't seem to love. Figures. We have such dissimilar taste buds.. it's so annoying! LOL
I also pin a ton of outfits. I'm so not fashionable, but I would love to be. Pinterest is helping me see how to put outfits together, and its making me care more about how I dress and accessorize. Like maybe its not really okay to wear flip flops with everything? This is disappointing to me, but good to know. lol. I want to get some flats of some kind. I just can't rock the heels on a regular basis. But I can get cute flats. And jewelery! And bags! Oh my I need to win the lottery!! While I'm still losing weight, I'm gonna try to focus my shopping on shoes and accessories though.. Stuff that always fits, no matter my size! And I've bought enough shirts lately so I'm good. I am gonna need shorts before too long the way the weather has been. BEAUTIFUL! I love AZ!!!

What's next.. Oh lets get to the crappiest news I have. GAH! Okay so good news is we got a nice bonus this year! yahooo! We had big plans to pay off some debt that we've been paying on monthly and were so looking forward to having that done with. But just in time, an old debt came back to haunt us! Me, actually. It was an old creidit card that I let go in my early 20s. So all the money that was gonna go to our current debts had to go to my old one, or else. I was so upset. Clint wasn't home and they made me agree to it right away, so I couldn't talk to him about it. I was so scared to tell him!! But he is an amazing husband and was sooooo nice about it. Said there will be other bonuses and we'll get ahead eventually, not to get all worked up about it. Because I was alllll worked up about it. Still pretty mad about it. I mean it just sucks. But I am so thankful for my super aweseme husband. He could have been pissed and made me feel like crap. But he didn't. Every once in a while something comes along, reminding me how lucky I am. And I am so lucky.

One of my good friends in California is getting married soon and I don't get to go! I'm so bummed about that. I was hoping to use the bonus to go till Clint and I decided it needed to be spent responsibly. I haven't seen that group of friends since my wedding, and some since long before that. I would love to get to see them. Someday!

This is gonna be really long. I should have warned you at the beginning. My apologies.

Last year, I was deinied spousal life insurance due to my weight. I was so embarrassed I didn't tell anyone at the time. This year, I was sure I would qualify and filled out the evidence of insurability form with pride! I put my weight at 195 which was only a small lie. But I also had to put the pre diabetes and the PCOS on there. Because of that, they needed an exam. So they sent a woman from PortaMedic TO MY HOUSE which was totally weird! This was just a couple days ago. She took my vitals, my blood and my urine. I wish they would have sent me to a lab. Anyway. On her scale I weighed 202. WTH! The previous morning at the gym I was 197. But at 5'9, 202 just just barely in the overweight range for my BMI (as opposed to obese). But when she measured my height she got 5'8.5. GAH! So by her measurements, I'm still just barely obese. Which might be okay because last year I think I was morbidly obese (seriously.). But IDK. ANd IDK what they're looking for with my blood and stuff. Can they deny me for being PRE diabetic?! IDK. I guess I'll find out soon enough. BYW, the lady that came out. Very nice. But she brought her dog (left in the car, bust still weird.. something I would do. lol) and she just didn't seem super organized and she had hell finding my vein when taking blood. ICK! Also when she did my BP she left the thing on there way too long and made my arm actually go numb. Anyway, glad that's over with. Just awaiting the results... Not sure when I'll get them but she gave me a number to call but didn't say when. lol The bright side to all that is that I'll have new A1c results and will have an idea of how I'm doing with my sugar intake.

On a super happy note, my mommy is coming to visit!! Not for sure when yet. I think probably early May. But maybe April. I have not seen my mommy since November 2010. This is the longest we've gone without seeing each other and I hate it. I miss her so much and I'm pushing her to plan this trip lately! I know she is for sure coming (she misses me toO!!) but I just want to have it set in stone. lol. It'll only be for a long weekend, so we'll have a lot to cram in! But I'm so excited!!!

I think that may be all I have to ramble about! Except I forgot to include my latest measurements...

Feb 15, 198.25lbs
waist: 47.25 (-.75")
Bust: 43 (-1.5")
Chest: 37 (-.5")
Torso: 38 (-1.5") !!!!
Thigh: 24 (same)
Arm: 12.75 (-.5")

Lost a whole inch & a half from my bust.?!?! Hopefully thats a mistake. lol (But reminds me that I bought a new bra. Finally. Went from a 44DD to a 38DD. It's a little snug but much better overall! Figured it was better to go a little small than a little big)

Well my fingers feel like they're about to fall off so I will end this now. Sorry so long.. thanks for reading!! :)

Sunday, January 8, 2012

1st Update of 2012

We're about a week into the new year and so far so good! Nothing to complain about, anyway.

I am doing pretty good with the resolutions. I haven't had a soda all year and I've definitely cut back on the sugar. I've gone back to only having a chocolate treat once a day, generally after dinner. My afternoon snacks are healthier. Like yesterday I made a veggie soup and that's gonna be my afternoon snack and/or side dishes for a few days. Or I'll have fruit. I keep meaning to make hard boiled eggs, but keep forgetting. Anywy, definitely doing better and not really having a hard time with it after the first few days. I guess I do kinda cheat and have a chocolate calcium chew or two throughout the day to make me feel like I had chocolate. My other resolution was to crank up the gym routine. Well, I tried. But the routine I had detailed in my last entry left me exhausted the rest of the day. :( I felt fine while working out, but after the shower and relaxing for a minute, my body just felt limp and so tired. I guess I don't really need to burn over 600 calories at the gym everyday. So I went back to my old routine (eliptical, half weights, treadmill (rotating which weights I do daily) and I've added 5 minutes to my treadmill time. So far I've only had one day of that. But I think that will be okay. And I burn like 570 calories doing that so that's plenty. I keep meaning to look up how many calories you burn with daily activities like housework and sleeping. Just to see.

I've also started counting calories again with My Fitness Pal. It really does help! I forgot how much I liked to see the end of the day prediction. "If everyday were like today, you'd weigh xxx in 5 weeks." It gives extra motivation and something to work toward. And when you have a bad food day it makes you realize how much of an impact it would have if you always had bad food days!

I was pretty proud of myself on Friday, grocery shopping day. Had a normal breakfast. Then lunch at Red Robin where I got a salad (love thier salads). Yes I had ranch and the foccacia bread they serve with it but I don't think that's too terrible. Then instead of the 100 calorie pack of brownies I had in my purse, I had a banana on the way home. While the evil Robin ate Reese's. Mmmm. But I did good, so I'm proud!!

I guess I should talk about the doctors appt I had on the third. My blood sugar is still high (actually a point higher than last time) at 6.0. I gotta keep in mind, though, if I remember correctly, that the A1c test is your blood sugar over the last 3 months, like that's how long it stays in your system or something. I'm not a scientist or a doctor. Anyway. If that's the case, this test had October, November and most of December. Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas cookies (I did it right before Christmas). So that's a bad three months! Hopefully the next one wil be better. I think it'll be in March so it will have probably the end of December, January, February and early March. I'm sure I'll do some poor eating on Super Bowl Sunday and there's probably some poor eating leftoever in December. But the rest of it should be okay! No other special eating occasions that I know of! My doctor did tell me that I should be eating like a diabetic. I don't really know how diabetics eat. But I'm gonna try to learn. For now I'm just doing like I said and cutting way back on sugars and carbs. That veggie soup I mentioned earlier didn't have potatoes or noodles and only had half the corn it called for. I'm trying.. baby steps. If the next draw is still as high or close then I will try to make more changes.

Also at my appt, we talked about me getting off the pill and TTC again soon. Dr. O said I can get off the pill whenever we're ready (yay!), but warned us to be ready to get pregnant right away. Apparently when you have PCOS, the birth control gets the PCOS in check and makes you more fertile. It takes a few months for the PCOS to kick back in so therefore I'm most fertile the first few months. Exciting, but kind of scary!! With the miscarriage in 2010 of course I am nervous about being pregnant again. I know that I'm a million times healthier now though. But I am also a star candidate for gestational diabetes which I read up on yesterday. Early in the pregnancy it can cause birth defects (commonly in the heart in brain :( ) and miscarriage (possibly why I miscarried last time). Later in the pregnancy, it can cause a big baby, resulting in C section. And as soon as the baby is born he/she has to be tested and possibly treated for low blood sugar. I feel like it's a big risk to take. But I also know that lots of women get gestational diabetes and give birth to healthy babies. But it does scare me and even makes me feel a little guilty for wanting to have a baby that could possibly have birth defects and other problems. But I know that it's a risk we have to take. I'll always have blood sugar problems. Anyway, we have an idea of when we plan to get off the pill, but I don't think I'm telling! :p I think I'll let it be a surprise when I get pregnant. Although I will probably have to vent about something TTC related and blow my cover. Well for now our plans will remain a mystery! Bwahahahaha!

Now it's time for weight talk! Well on New Years Eve I guess I pigged out a little and gained 3 lbs by Jan 2 (gym close on the first). So that put me back up around 211. Yesterday I was back down to 207 even! Woohoo! Almost back to my pre-Christmas weight! LOL. And the way I've been eating and exercising, I expect to see some good loss again! Like how it was in May, hopefully!

I did measurements on January 5th, at 207.25 lbs. Some slight changes for the better...
Waist: 48" (same)
Thigh: 24" (-1/2")
Torso: 39.5" (-1/4")
Chest: 37.5" (-1/4")
Bust: 44.5" (-1/4")
Arm: 13.25" (same)

I tried on a pair of 14 jeans, same brand as the 16s I got before Christmas. No dice! LOL. I was thinking these 16s are perfect in the waist but kinda loose in the thigh and butt (I always have this problem), so I thought maybe a pair of 14s would fit well in the thighs and butt, and I would be able to fake button them with a rubberband. But no. Not that close yet, but I'll get there darnit!

So what else.. New Years Eve I did end up playing Wii with Robin and Ellie. We all had fun. :) I brought over my noise makers that were my moms when she was a kid (about age 12) so they are ancient and super cool! Ellie sure liked them! LOL.

I guess that's it since it hasn't been that long since I last updated. Hope everyone is doing well!