Dead weight

Even when I was at my goal weight, I felt like a blob in the sense that I didn’t move very gracefully. I feel like I walk like a man, and not very elegantly. I am heavy in my steps and don’t have very good movement.

Why is this coming up you ask? Because the personal trainer I go to (who is great) focuses on sports training. We do a lot of foot work and quick feet, two things that I don’t have. I always dread the part of the session where we have to do foot work through the ladder.  First of all I am trying to focus on what my steps are – because each time we go through it’s something new and my coordination is not great and second trying to stay light on my feet.

I always get so frustrated because I am trying to move quickly, yet I am going so slow.  Plus trying to remember to move my arms at the same time – there is just too much going on!

After my session yesterday I asked him why I was having such a hard time moving and staying light on my feet – and it all depends on the position of your body and how tired your legs are. The more tired your legs are the harder the drills are. WELL THAT EXPLAINS IT! My legs are always sore just from the warm up! Haha. No but for real, I need to work on the position of my body and hopefully I will be able to have quicker feet. I tried it after we were done talking and I was able to move quicker, but I was also in a good mood so that probably had something to do with it as well.

I am also going to try to walk lighter on my feet too – more on the balls of my feet. One reason why I never wear heels (besides how much they hurt my feet) is I always feel clunky and clumsy walking in them. I know I am tall – but I am not that big, I should be able to be somewhat graceful.

I guess I can’t have it both ways – competitive soccer player and graceful female…or can I?

On a different topic I still need to find a new sport/activity to do. Yes I have my soccer and my trainer, but since I gave up running I want to find something new.

I used to go to the Zumba classes at my gym, which I loved, but haven’t been in quite a while. Perhaps what I’ll do is look at the schedule and pick out some gym classes to go to and try something new next week!

Tomorrow is my birthday...stay tuned for a special post!

P.S. I sprayed my clothes with laundry smelling fabreeze this morning (even though they were clean) and now I am getting this GREAT smell every time I move!

Gluten Free?

Well today was our residents farewell lunch and since one of them has a gluten allergy we took them to lunch somewhere that was safe for her to eat...Organic Works.  I am not big into trying new foods so I was hesitant and skeptical, however, someone else said that their food was really good so I was excited to try something new.

I ordered a turkey sandwich on rye with tomatoes, onions, lettuce, sprouts, and cheese, with a side soup of cream of cauliflower. We got dessert after to share with everyone so I will give you a full run down of my thoughts. Keep in mind I am a VERY picky eater:

Sandwich: was AMAZING. The bread was good and had a slight after taste but very delicious.

Creamy cauliflower soup: It was okay, not my favourite, so I didn’t eat much of it (trying to be good and if I don’t love it I won’t eat it). I did like that there was no chunks in it though.

Cheese: One of my coworkers got cheese on her platter and shared. It was an old cheddar (white) and very good.

Brownie: Again this was okay, but not stellar. The icing was very good but the brownie was a bit spicy.

Ginger cookie: I took one small bite and that was enough for me. It was very strong and spicy – leaving a burning taste on my tongue. Consensus of the group though – they liked them.

Raisin sunflower cookie: Again, I took one bite and that was enough. Although it wasn’t bad it was just a bit too dry for me.

Again, this is only my opinion and I am a picky eater.

The service was great, especially since we went with a large group and no reservation. The atmosphere was as if you were sitting at your own kitchen table. Very tea house like.  There was a wall of old doors that was separating what looked like the kitchen and the dining area. They were very old and country like. It was great that we could see into where the food was being made in a unique way. The owner came around twice and asked us how everything was and if there was anything he could get us. He was also a wealth of knowledge about gluten free products (as should be expected).

I would go back again gladly.

Tonight I have a session with my trainer and then working on my to-do list. Dinner tonight will be salmon, rice, and green beans with garlic. Last night I had pancakes…again. I have been on plan for 2 full days now and today will be number 3. 

My weight loss journey...

I thought I should write a post showing my journey for those of you who don't know me.

My name is Kelly and I am 23 years old. I started my weight loss journey when I was 19. I have been heavy all of my life and have tried many many ways to lose weight.

I got a gym membership in November of 2007 and was working out very slowly (as I couldn't move very much). I was trying to eat right but didn't understand why I wasn't loosing weight.

One night at the gym as I was about to leave I saw a weight watchers meeting and decided to get some more information. My aunt had great success on weight watchers so I wanted to find out what it was all about.

I ended up joining that night at a starting weight of 274.4 (the heaviest I had ever been - and ever will be). I went home that night and read through all of the material and got started right away. I decided that I was going to give this my best shot for a month and see where it got me (assuming I would fail). So I followed the plan, and low and behold my first week I lost 4.4 pounds! I was very pleased with this and kept working hard and the weight kept coming off. When you are larger the weight comes off easier at the beginning, but you don't really notice this.

When I got to about 40 pounds lost I was looking in the mirror and still did not see a difference, so I took a picture of myself and compared it to my starting picture and then I saw the difference.

Starting weight:

20 pounds gone:

40 pounds gone:

80 pounds gone:

115 pounds gone:

So many thoughts and memories are going through my head right now. It felt so great to hear from everyone how great I looked! The whole process took me just over two years from start to "finish". I say finish like that because it is never really over.

I do know that there are so many things that I enjoy doing now that I never could have dreamed of doing before - but I'll save that for another entry.

The whole time I was losing weight everyone asked me "what is your secret". My favourite thing to do was look around to make sure no one was listening, lean in towards them, and whisper "diet and exercise". Everyone thinks that there is some magic formula to losing weight and their kind of is, but it's not a secret. Calories in vs. calories out. However, that being said losing weight is NOT easy. If it was then no one would have a weight problem. It takes A LOT of hard work and dedication to get to your goal, but hey, nothing ever worth doing was easy right?

And as hard as losing the weight was it was the best possible thing I could do for myself. I know that I am not at my goal weight now but I am still far healthier than I was and can do far more things then I could ever dream of!

I am VERY open about my weight loss and have nothing to hide. The pictures of me before are reminders of what I was and what I will never be again. The pictures of me after are there for me to be proud and remind me of what I can accomplish if I put my mind to it (which, btw, is anything!)

Another thing that makes me proud is all of the people that I have inspired to lose weight. One of the greatest feelings is hearing how something I have said or done has helped someone else.

I will write a post sometime soon of what my "tips" are, so keep an eye out for it!

Until next time...

When I'm not right I will admit it…sometimes

Okay well I have put my foot in my mouth. Sean is a spender and I am a saver (although Sean has gotten MUCH better and is pretty conscious of his spending. But if you let him he would rack up the credit cards in a heart beat!). He is also not a big numbers guy so I am the one that takes care of the finances and makes sure that the bills are paid. Sean looks over them once and while when I force him to see the numbers haha!

Anyways the other night he said to me “I want to look at the budget to see if we can make some changes”. HA! I laughed at that. I am careful with the money and I do a pretty good job at making things balance, but we still have a decent size of debt that we want to pay off. So I said what the heck go for it. I saved a copy for him so that it didn’t interfere with my spreadsheet and he looked at it for about 10 minutes and said “okay there”.

I was excited to see what he had figured out (knowing full well that it wouldn’t work since I had thought of every possible thing). WELL GUESS WHAT?! I WAS WRONG! I looked at what he had come up with and it was actually a really good idea! I’m really excited about this since because of his new plan we are going to be able to pay off our debt by March 1, 2013 which is sooner than it would be with what I was doing. It also helps that recently my hours at work were increased so that brings in an extra days pay/week.

So to my husband, I am sorry I doubted you, I was wrong. You can mark it in the calendar since it doesn’t happen too often and I know you like to gloat when it does J.

So over the next year, it is going to require some discipline and work, but if we stick to it we will be debt free (a feeling that I am longing for!).  

Last night we came up with the plan and then made a list of expenses coming up that we will have over the next while so that we can plan ahead for them. This plan still allows me to put money into savings every month and we just moved some numbers around! It’s a win-win for everyone. It’s actually kind of lame how excited I get over this – but having no debt will be an amazing feeling!

We still have some things to figure out, however, we will be able to start this March 1^st so that we can do it in one year.

We have had issues with our internet since last Thursday and have been without (other than being able to check it on my phone or going to my parent’s house). So today the technician is coming to install our new whatever it is and then we should have internet back again! It has been a LONG week without it let me tell you that!

Tonight I have a few follow up calls to make and I am also hoping to start making some of my homemade cleaners so we can start using them as we are running out of almost all of them. My mom started using them a few months ago, so I know that they work, but I’ll post more about them later once I’ve had a chance to see it myself.

Tomorrow night I am planning on hitting the gym (we’ll see if that happens) and then I am going to finish up all of my taxes. The numbers are in for the most part now I just need to double check them and add a few little things and they should be good to go. My T4 came in today so my goal is to take them in Monday.

Anyways, kind of a boring post for today – hopefully the next one will be better!

Our long weekend...a few days late

Well that was good long weekend! Saturday night we took our very long
grocery list and went to the states to do some shopping. It did take a
bit longer than expected because we were not familiar with where
everything was, and didn’t know what some of the items looked like,
but we made it out alive and without spending too much money.

The following is $88 worth of groceries:

And a few things we couldn’t find we picked up at No Frills on Sunday
for about $20:

On Sunday I decided to get started on the baking part and made 4 banana
bread loaves, 50 muffins, and 80 cookies. Sean had to do the banana part
of the banana bread for me to prevent a migraine – but once it was
poured into the tins and baking it was fine. I also made a large pot of
vegetable soup to get that out of the way as well. 

We turned in early Sunday night in preparation for a long day on
Monday. I had planned to get up around 8:30 , but managed to drag my
butt out of bed at 10 and got started right away. I made a large crock
pot of risotto, a crock pot of sloppy joe mix, 60 meatballs, and 4
meatloaves. 

It doesn’t sound like much but it amounted to this:

I had also planned to make homemade tortilla shells, but I was tired
from standing all day, so I plan on making them later this week.
Hopefully, this will last us a while. I say hopefully because my husband
likes to eat, and when he sees that there is a lot of food he just eats
more.  

Yesterday I had pancakes for breakfast and for dinner because it was
just that kind of day! I like putting a thin layer of peanut butter and
jam on top of them, almost like toast but fluffier. We took Levi to the
dog park for some exercise, came home and bathed him since he was SO
muddy, and then watched a movie in the evening and went to bed early
again.

We had no internet all weekend, and it almost killed us! Sean wasn’t
able to watch TV and I had to check e-mail on my phone (which makes it
very tough to respond).  Hopefully that will be back up and running
sometime today. I can’t believe how much we rely on technology for
everything! What did people do before TV, internet, and cell phones? 
 

Last night we had our last dog class. Of course, at PetSmart, they understand that pets are like family
and they go all out on graduation night. Levi doesn’t like anything on
his head which is perfect for us because he sits so still and we can get
a really great picture! That is it for his training; he has completed
all of the levels! 

Such a good little boy he is, and I can’t say enough nice things
about PetSmart. Their training program is excellent and they are ALWAYS
there if you have any questions. Our trainer spent so much time with us
outside of lessons when we were going through a 5 month rough patch with
Levi, and we have a very well behaved little dog because of it. She was
a wealth of knowledge and had many ideas for us to try when something
didn’t work for us. They were great with the dogs too; you could
really tell how much they loved each and every one of them. 
 
Now that Levi is well behaved we are going to start working on some
tricks with him. He can do a few, but we spent so much time on his
behaviour, that we didn’t have much time to teach him tricks. 

A long weekend

Since the last post was from the past few days, luck you, get a second post!

It's a long weekend here in Canada and both Sean and I get Monday off. I decided that the best way to spend that extra day would be to cook ahead a bunch of meals to stock up our freezer, that and do my taxes.

I worked on my taxes last night and this morning, and they are mostly done (just have to go over them and double check my numbers.

The rest of the day today I have spent figuring out what I am going to make to stock the freezer and put together a grocery list. I am going to make the following:

- 2 loaves of banana bread
- 2 loaves of meatloaf
- cranberry oat muffins
- veggie soup
- hamburger patties
- sloppy joe mix
- hamburger surprise
- meatballs
- zucchini risotto (I'm going to try this in the slow cooker since it does take a long time to make normally).
- homemade tortilla shells
- burritos
- ginger cookies

I was only planning on using Monday to cook, but I am making more than I thought I was going to, so I am going to start on Sunday afternoon.

This morning we had our usual weekend breakfast of pancakes. Sean went to mix the batter and realized that we didn't have enough pancake mix, so we got dressed and went to the grocery store. While we were there we decided to get some bacon too. When at my parents house earlier in the week I had tried bacon that had been cooked in the oven, and it was so good, so naturally I wanted to try it.

It was an epic fail, but at the same time a great success...

This part was the fail - it was on the top rack:

This part was the tasty part - it was on the bottom rack:

I think next time I will switch the top and bottom rack cookie sheets half way through to make it a little more even. But I still consider breakfast a big success. * Side tip - if you have left over pancakes put them in the fridge, then when you are ready to eat them put them in the toaster to heat them up, and they won't be soggy!

Tonight we are going to be going to the states since we need a bunch of items that we can only get there, so we might as well do all of our groceries at the same time. The list is quite long since I'm going to be doing all of the extra baking but it will cut down on cost and time over the next little bit.

Anyways, my laundry is done, so it's time to fold it and then take a short rest with Levi who is sound asleep and Patches who is snoring away (we are watching her this weekend while my parents are away - and of course using their washing machine!)

Until next time...

From the past week...

I wrote this over the course of the week and kept meaning to post it, so here it is:

Well, after my not so healthy weekend, Monday was good…then
Valentine’s day. I thought it would be no problem because I
didn’t really have anything to worry about, until a co-worker
brought in my favourite chocolates in the whole world. I was counting
honestly…for a while. Then I lost count and gave in all together. SO, I
guess I didn’t even make it to Tuesday before I was not tracking
everything I ate. But I’m not going to give up. There is still hope
for me! In my old department where I worked they knew not to bring me
chocolate of any kind, but in my new area, and since I have not been
very disciplined the past few months year, they don’t know that.

On Tuesday I had a session with my trainer but something came up and he
wasn’t able to make it. We had pasta with veggies for dinner and then
took Levi to his second last dog training class. I felt like a terrible
person because we had to teach them two new tricks over the last week,
but life just got in the way and that didn’t happen. All of the other
dogs showed off their tricks while Levi was just a spectator. But he did
manage to do one trick that he didn’t know before, so I didn’t feel
quite so bad. After that Sean and I went home and watched Homes on Homes
and snacked on chips…I feel like the theme for this blog should possibly
be weight gain, not weight loss since I have clearly fallen off the
beaten path. 

I have let the stress of life take over and have not made any time for
me or my health. My parents are a big help right now because they are
going to be helping me with the busiest part of my business so that I
can try to take some time to focus on getting going again. I really
appreciate that they are helping me, because I just keep going deeper
and deeper - the wrong way!

On Wednesday I did my 3km run – in training for this half marathon
Nicole and I are doing in October. Sean and Levi came with me, and we
finished the whole thing without stopping, but I did go pretty slow.
When we were finishing up the last part of the run I was thinking about
how much I actually hate running. Really – I can’t stand it. I like
the idea of running, but anything long distance is not for me. I enjoy
100m sprints but that is about it. So I thought, why am I doing
something I hate so much? I texted Nicole and told her that I am not
going to do the half marathon and she understood. Now I just need to
find a new activity/sport that I could possibly compete in. Any ideas?

The past few days my hands have been really cracked and dry since when
Nicole left she took her Herbal Aloe Hand Cream with her, so this
morning on the way out the door I grabbed my tube of Herbal Aloe Hand
Cream to stash in my desk and put some on when I got to work. What a
difference it makes! It’s not greasy at all, and with one application
my hands stay soft all day. Everyone could smell it and asked for some,
which of course I shared since you only need a tiny amount (size of a
dime) to do both hands.

You can find it by going to the following link:

Canadians: https://mygreatshapetoday.com/kelly_12/product/ca-skin-care-and-fragrances/ca-herbal-aloe-hand-and-body-cream-200ml

Americans: https://mygreatshapetoday.com/kelly_12/product/personal-care/us-herbal-aloe-hand-and-body-cream

Ahh, speaking of hands. It’s time to admit something that I am REALLY
not proud of. I can not longer wear my wedding rings because they are
too small; with the weight that I have put on my fingers have also
gotten bigger so my small rings were blocking blood flow. It was a major
struggle to get them off, and saddened me very much - but maybe it will
motivate me to get my butt into gear (since I think it is really
important to wear my wedding rings + I love them). My husband just told
me that I should just get them made a size bigger, but clearly as a man
he doesn’t understand… that is just as crappy of a feeling as buying a
pair of pants in the next size up. When I got my engagement ring I was
heavy, and I had to get it sized smaller about 4 times. And when we
bought my wedding band, it fit right off the shelf (which made me so
happy because they keep them small and hope that you will nee
d it a bigger size).  Anyways, now my fingers feel bare and I hope to change
that soon.

On the depressing topic of what doesn’t fit, I will also point out
that my winter coat is a struggle to do up every day and I have NO idea
how the zipper hasn’t ripped out of it by now! I bought it at the end
of the season last year and it fit great…but this year, not so much. Of
course I was too cheap and too proud to buy another winter coat this
year (thinking I was going to lose the weight and fit into it), so I
have been wearing my good one either not done up, or wearing my rain
jacket which has no insulation at all. Being cold is kind of a cruel
punishment to me since I don’t fit into my good coat.

This post is starting to become very depressing so I am going to finish
up with this note. Even though over the last year and a half I have been
going in the wrong direction on the scale I WILL NOT GIVE UP. I worked
far too hard to lose all that weight and there is no way I am going to
just give in and put it all back on.  I will take this time my parents
are giving me, and focus completely on my health, and get myself back on
track and going the right direction. I know how to do it - I just need
to be able to put it into motion. So join me on my journey of getting
healthy! (Again!)

A fresh start

Wow, what a challenging weekend that was!

Saturday day time I was doing very well, then we went to a murder mystery at a friend’s house. We had brought veggies and dip for the appetizer, and I knew that we were having chicken and Greek salad for dinner. So the meal was a very healthy option for me, which made my life much easier. So we eat dinner and I am pretty full (plus the dress I was wearing was already pretty snug). Then after a little while they opened dessert, which is usually not such a big deal… but one of our friends is an amazing baker (and that is a understatement). She had made carrot cupcakes (I hate carrot cake, so no big issue right?), and a pie and cookies. So I took a small piece of pie, a cookie, and yes…a carrot cupcake. Why? Who knows, but it was amazing. All of it. The pie was so good, the cookie was delicious, but the carrot cupcake (and I don’t even LIKE carrot cake) was pretty much the best thing I had in my life. Packed full of sugar and fat and all of things I am trying so hard to stay away from. So I had already taken too much dessert, and was still very full from dinner. But do you think that stopped me from having a second cupcake later in the evening? And then even after that half of my husbands cupcake? So for dessert (that I was not planning on having) I had a piece of pie, a cookie, and 2.5 cupcakes.

But Sunday is the start of my week, and I was determined to get back on the wagon and track/weigh measure everything. That is my goal for this week. To track/weight and measure everything honestly. Because I know I’m not going to be successful if I don’t even have a good idea of what I am eating.

I started off with some oatmeal – tracked it. Lunch was a deli sandwich made at home, with pickles and orange wedges on the side – tracked it. We were going to Kitchener for a family birthday and for dinner we always do one of two things, order in pizza or go to Swiss Chalet. So I knew either way that I was covered and could make a good healthy choice. I was mentally prepared for this too! But then there was cake, and not just any cake…Costco cake. I was cutting the pieces so I had control over how big they were. But I cut some really really large pieces. I did cut a slightly (very slightly) smaller piece for myself. I ate it and right away counted the points for it. Which I’m not really sure what it was since there was no nutritional information but I trying to be as honest as possible, and count high. Then we did end up ordering pizza for dinner which was no problem because I ordered a salad and had one slice of pizza. I counted it all. THEN I proceeded, to have a few small bites of cake, a small chocolate bar, and some chocolate milk to wash it all down. I used about 35 of my weekly points allowance just on this extra food. And the cake was not near as good as those carrot cupcakes from the night before.

I am telling you all of this to be 100% accountable. I did track everything I ate yesterday and know that I don’t have many points left over this week so I will have to earn some activity points.

Todays meals will be:

Shake for breakfast

Shake for lunch

Apple and peanut butter for snack

Grilled cheese and soup for dinner

Oranges for snack

I also have a 2 hour soccer practice tonight so I can get some good exercise in there too.

Again, my challenge (and promise to myself) is to weight/measure and track everything accurately. And although I know I can’t undo what I ate this weekend, I do know that I can start fresh today and try to learn from my mistakes – which happened to be being unprepared for what was going to be there/ not being able to control my environment.

Listen to the lyrics

Oh wow, this week was crazy. Between being sick, and trying to catch up at work, and of course my calls...I haven't had a chance to breath!

I wanted to write tonight about something that is really important to me...music.

As I have been going through this crazy week (and let's be honest, they are all crazy no matter what) I have taken the time to reflect on parts of my life. As I was doing this (mostly while driving) I found a common factor that was part of all of the major parts of my life, music.

I have very fond memories that all involve this amazing gift that we have. For example:

The night before I turned 13 my dad and I drove around town with now where to go. We sang at the top of our lungs many songs. The one that I remember from that night is "If I had a Million Dollars" by BNL. It is a memory that I will have forever.

So many times during highschool my life revolved around music. I remember always having in my music player (whatever it was that decade) always in on my walks home. Small Town by TFK got me through some really tough times. In fact, that whole album by TFK was/is amazing and I still rock out to it.

For one of my birthday's my friend Kelsey bought me a microphone for my car so that we could sing into it while dancing wildly in our seats. My sister Tara refused to ride with my because my car did not have tinted windows and she was beyond embarrassed. I didn't care though - I'm sure I gave people lots of laughs :).

I took many road trips to visit camp friends and always loved rocking out to so many great cds, including the Spice Girls, BSB, Aqua, oh so many more.

One album that I also really liked was one that was made by my camp friend Andy. I can't think of the name of it off the top of my head, but I do know that my copy is so scratched from listening to it so much.

There is music that sets the mood, Christmas music, sad music, happy music, relaxing music, dancing music. Music that just pulls you out of your seat and makes you move - Stuck like glue by Sugarland, Christmas Eve by Celine Dion and I'm sure that there are many more, but those are the two that have recently had an affect on my life.

When I was in public school I was always in every music thing there was...all of the choirs, bands ect. If there was anything musical going on in our school you can bet that I was part of it. I played the flute most of the time - even did solo competitions - and then when my finger got broken (a story for another day) I had to switch to the trumpet. Which is much heavier to carry home! I even got the music aware at our public school. Oddly enough as involved as I was in music in public school, I did not carry on in highschool. I did try guitar for a while, and would like to learn to play someday, but I think you need to have rhythm for that...which just doesn't flow in our family!

Of course there is the very satisfying worship songs. Generations by Sarah Groves, Fall Apart by Josh Wilson, When the tears falls by the Newsboys, and so many more. Always great to move the soul and feel God's presence.

One of my best friends Kate always brings a tear to my eye when she sings, which is the reason why she sang at our wedding a song called Grace of my life by Brian Littrell (I love that entire album let's be honest!). Anyways back to Kate. Her mom was driving me home one night from youth group and Roch Voisine's With these eyes was playing. Kate was singing and I have NEVER heard her sing so well as that night. She sings amazing every time I hear here as I mentioned before, but that night was something different. We still talk about it to this day, which is why it is our song.

My favourite artist is Elton John. His music fills me with joy. I love every one of his songs. They all have meaning and purpose, which so many songs today lack. Not only do they have meaning they are all original and his own, he doesn't do covers. I have a DVD box set of some of his concerts that were filmed live and when Sean is working afternoons and not there when I am going to bed, Levi and I snuggle up and put on one of them and just listen as we drift off to sleep. It is my dream to see him live someday. He was not too far from us last year, however, we had already booked the trip to BC while he was here. Trust me I strongly considered cancelling the trip just to see him. Then when I was in Vegas he was there just two days before I got there...of course. But someday I will go. I just hope he doesn't die before I get the chance to see him perform.



That year for Christmas I asked Sean for the This Is It cd, and he really wishes he didn't get it for me. He is one of my new loves and Sean is so sick of the songs. I have a few favourites from that CD and they are as follows: They don't care about us, The way you make me feel, Black or White, and the winner is Man in the Mirror. What a great message. I know that he went through a lot back in the day - but let's be honest, people exploit celebrities all the time, and it's really not our business. As to what they say he did to those children, we really will never know, but if this person was accused of this once, why, please tell me WHY, would any parents let their child go there...unless they were looking to get money from him. So I don't know what really happened, but I do know that there are two sides to every story.

So as you can see, music has played a very large part in my life (which is kind of funny because I am not musically talented). And anyone who has been in the car with me knows that I never listen to a song for more than a minute. I am a chronic song flipper and as soon as my favourite part of the song is over I move on to something else. My ipod is filled with the most random music you could imagine! There is no screamo, and no opera but pretty much everything else!

I am going to close with my "calm song". What is a calm song you ask? It is the song that no matter how angry, upset, or stressed I am I play and it calms me down. Sometimes I have to play it on repeat a number of times before it works, but without fail it works every time. Why this song you may ask? If I figure it out I'll let you know because it beats me. I've posted it below so you can look it up for yourself.

Chicken Fried: By Zac Brown Band

You know I like my chicken fried
A cold beer on a Friday night
A pair of jeans that fit just right
And the radio up

Well, I was raised up
Beneath the shade of a Georgia pine
And that's home you know
Sweet tea, pecan pie and homemade wine
Where the peaches grow

And my house it's not much to talk about
But it's filled with love
That's grown in southern ground

And a little bit of chicken fried
Cold beer on a Friday night
A pair of jeans that fit just right
And the radio up

Well, I've seen the sunrise
See the love in my woman's eyes
Feel the touch of a precious child
And know a mother's love

It's funny how it's the little things in life
That mean the most
Not where you live or what you drive
Or the price tag on your clothes
There's no dollar sign on a piece of mind
This I've come to know

So if you agree, have a drink with me
Raise your glasses for a toast

To a little bit of chicken fried
Cold beer on a Friday night
A pair of jeans that fit just right
And the radio up

Well, I've seen the sunrise
See the love in my woman's eyes
Feel the touch of a precious child
And know a mother's love

I thank God for my life
And for the stars and stripes
May freedom forever fly
Let it ring

Salute the ones who died
The ones that give their lives
So we don't have to sacrifice
All the things we love

Like our chicken fried
And cold beer on a Friday night
A pair of jeans that fit just right
And the radio up

Well, I've seen the sunrise
See the love in my woman's eyes
Feel the touch of a precious child
And know a mother's love

Yes, a little chicken fried
Cold beer on a Friday night
A pair of jeans that fit just right
And the radio up

Well, I've seen the sunrise
See the love in my woman's eyes
Feel the touch of a precious child
And know a mother's love

Well, that's all for now, thanks for joining me - it's time to have a hot bath and play my new relaxation cd I got this week!

Alive?

I went to work today, barely alive. I was still not feeling much better, but didn't feel it necessary to go to the doctors (you need a doctors note if you are off for 3+ days). I had an optometrist appointment before work so I was up even earlier than normal...

I got my eyes checked out (they are fine, same as 4 years ago). Went to work hoping that I would just be able to do some catch up and take it slower. As the day progressed I actually started feeling much better, aside from the headache and the sore shoulder muscles. But all in all I am feeling much better.

Tonight, aside from calls, I am babysitting Sammy, who is quite possibly cutest, more fun, and most well behaved baby I've ever met. His smile just melts your heart!

Thankfully I don't have any late calls and should be able to be in bed around 9:30 tonight (fingers crossed). I am having a day where I really really need chocolate. Anything chocolate. Ladies, you know where I am coming from...right? At least tonight's dinner is good...Greek pitas! Yum.

Tomorrow night is Nicole's farewell dinner. She is moving to another unit in our organization and she will be dearly missed. Although I have really only known her a short time (since July 2011) I have gotten pretty close with her, and will miss working beside her all day long. Although with my music and the slurp of my Worthers, I don't think she'll miss me ;) We will be going to Tony Roma's to eat, and I have already chosen a really yummy salad that I plan on having. I'll be bringing my own dressing to save the added fat and calories!

Anyways, that's all I have time for now...talk to you soon (hopefully I will be able to fight off my chocolate need!)

From the past few days...

Hello there and welcome to my blog, I hope that you enjoy your stay!

I have a few things to write about from the past few days, so bare with me if this is slightly longer than normal.

Saturday - My weekly weigh ins are Saturday mornings. This week I was down 0.6 lbs. To some that might not seem like a lot, but one thing that I have learned over the past few years of my weight loss journey is that any loss is a step in the right direction. That is more than half a pound and I am quite pleased with that. My co-worker Nicole and I decided that we were going to sign up for a half marathon in October (Nicole, it's in the blog now, so we HAVE to do it!). Today was going to be my first day training. I had been running 5k consistantly in the summer, so I thought I would start with an easy run of 3k and work my way up from there (for those of you that don't know a half marathon is 21km). So, Levi (you will hear LOTS about him) and I started out the run at a pretty good pace and I was feeling pretty good. Until about 1km into the jog. I was dying! Holy cow, I thought that 3km would be an easy start but it has been months since I have run and I guess my regular workouts didn't help much! I did manage to finish the whole 3km but it took me a painfully slow 17 minutes. But I did not stop (even though I'm pretty sure I could have walked the last km faster than I jogged it...HA!) The rest of the day I spent doing calls, and then Tara and Kevin came over for dinner. We did make your own pizzas and watched a movie. We had a great time.

Sunday - I have been on a pancake kick again, for some reason I love pancakes with peanut butter and jam...so Sean made these for breakfast and we headed off to church. After church we came home and I did calls most of the afternoon. I managed to get a nap in there and then did some more business stuff in the evening while Sean went to his parents to watch the superbowl.

Monday - This is now the second week of my new work hours, 8-4 (I was 9-3:30). I got to work and was really not feeling well, but since I refuse to call in sick unless I can't get out of bed I was going to just work through it. I couldn't concentrate, my head was thumping, and I was congested. At 9:30 I made the call and went home sick for the day. I got home and 10 and slept right through until 4. I did a few of the calls I had scheduled for the evening, skipped out on soccer practice and went back to bed early. I don't know what hit me, but I was just wiped.

Tuesday - I woke up this morning still with my head pounding, barely able to open my eyes. I called in sick as I thought I should still try to sleep this off. I slept pretty much until noon. Sean (who is home during the day right now because he is on afternoons) made me some lunch and I have been laying in bed ever since I woke up. I hate being this lazy but what ever "bug" I have has really sucked the life out of me. I am feeling slightly better now, and since the weather looks amazing outside, I am going to try to go for a short walk to see if the fresh air will do me good. I do not want to spend another day stuck in bed (although it is nice to catch up on sleep).

I am also planning on spending some time going through new shake recipes so that I can add some virety to my daily shake routine. Once I have done that, I am going to keep reading this book I borrowed from the library called 397 ways to save money. So far it is really good! There are so many little ideas to save money in this book, and has made me see that all of the little things add up pretty quickly.

I guess since this is the first post in my new blog I will write a little about me so that you will know who I am talking about as you follow along...

Levi = my 19lb minature schnauzer who is my baby. He is very well behaved, but still likes to bark as people come in the door. Give him 5 minutes and he's settled down quietly in your lap. He is very much a "momma's boy".

Sean = my loving husband of 1.5 years. We have a long history (great story) but I'll save that for another day.

My weight loss journey = At 19 years of age I weighed 274lbs. I knew that something had to change and over the course of two years I lost 115lbs. From a size 22/24 to an 8. On my honeymoon I ate a lot of not so good foods and came back 14 pounds heavier. Over the past year and a half that number has slowly gone up and up. But I am now back on track and moving that number in the right direction, back towards my goal.

My work = I work as a medical secretary at the hospital in the city where I grew up. I also own my own business called Online Business Systems. We are a company that uses the internet to market our amazing product (Herbalife) to people all over the world. You will hear a lot more about this in later posts.

My husbands 3 words to describe me = Smart, beautiful, and entertaining. He adds in determined but that is more than 3 words ;).

That's all I'll say for now, stay tuned for future posts!