Two posts in one day This one’s worth it (to me, anyways, I’m PSYCHED!!!!)

Ok, again, I feel really, well, stupid over the whiny post from the other day…things have really been looking up since then, and I need to realize there are going to be days like that, and they, too, shall pass…cliche?? Yeah, but so true…

Today, I was told by my mom AND my husband that I’m looking ‘thin’…what a great word…’thin’…Put me in a great mood Then I got home tonight, after the 4 of us going out to dinner at Applebee’s (love love LOVE them for their Weight Watchers menu) for a late birthday dinner for me It was so nice…anyway, we got home and I helped Clint feed all the animals, and decided I wanted to go for a bike ride…I have been bustin’ to get my bike out…so tonight I finally did it. I went inside and got changed, and saw my side view in the mirror, and I wasn’t completely disgusted with myself…I’m sure alot of it is more positive thinking right now than anything, but I was impressed with the changes I even saw So Clint stayed with the girls for me, and I went on my ride. I started out and did my usual 2 mile route that I do when I bike or walk. I live in a great neighborhood that I can go one mile to the end of the nearest side road, and 1 mile back. When I got back to my driveway, I was standing at the end of my driveway with my bike and grabbing a drink of water before I headed in, and I thought “I don’t think I’m done yet!!”…I went the opposite way down the road and took another nice side road near us for a great ride It started getting a little too close to dark for me to be that far away from home, so I headed back. On the way back, I had a dog run with me the entire way home. So when I got home, I jumped in my car, with the dog, reset my mileage thingee, and wanted to see how far I had gone on my bike, while trying to find this dog’s home. Dropped off the dog and headed back home…I was so tickled to see my mileage thingee

I did 4.2 miles on that trip alone!!!!!!!!!! So that, plus the 2 miles I did from my normal route, I did 6.2 miles on my bike!!!!!! I can honestly say I have NEVER ridden my bike that far since I was a kid. I’m SO proud of myself Feels amazing. I did the total ride in about 35 minutes, so that is just about 12 MPH. I got tired, and my legs got a bit sore but it was the best hurt I have felt in forever. I checked on Fitday and I burned just over 300 calories on the ride That is what I would do on Lippy in 15 minutes, but it was awesome to be OUTSIDE…the breeze was so refreshing and the new scenery was enough to keep my mind off of my screaming leg muscles. Thinking back to when I began this journey, there is NO WAY my body could have handled that kind of ride…

Am I getting FIT?!?!?! Hell yeah!!!!!

This is why I hate when I have posted such a downer post…the scale was nice to me this morning…it’s finally showing a LOSS!!! I’m now down to 254 I’ll tell you, one reason I was so down was it showed a gain just a few days ago, and it just wouldn’t budge. I know it was that time of the month again, but geeze…so that’s an official loss of 2.5 lbs. but an unofficial loss of 6 lbs. The scale at one morning was up to 260 again I was flattened. That’s why I had gotten so bummed…but that gain is gone, PLUS 2.5 more…so I’m thrilled this morning and it’s given me new motivation that this CAN be accomplished

Thanks to Jenn for the awesome comment last night and to DS who have told me to hide my scale. I do believe that I’m going to hand the thing over to Clint and have him hide it and only take it out in at least 2 weeks from now…I think that will definitely do me some good…also that will help in the sense that I will HAVE to do good on my eating and exercising, because I will have no idea where I’m at on the scale, so I will have to work harder to make sure there isn’t a gain…
Peggy ~ I’m going to give lowering my tension on Lippy a try…I hadn’t thought that might be the problem…I keep it at 8 all the time…I have been told it was my shoes (got new shoes, didn’t help) so maybe that is the problem…I will find out tonight

Thanks to you all…I can always count on you guys to get me through a rough spot…

Thanks for the support guys Elizabeth and Mel ~ Thanks for your posts both of you…I can always count on you two no matter what and I love it…Beth ~ That was the sweetest comment I have ever gotten here…Love you for it!!!

I’m doing MUCH better today…my friend did come to visit…ok…first, there HAS to be some better way to describe the HELL the ‘friend’ puts you through, cuz it ain’t no friend o’ mine…I did good eating today, did 17:39 minutes on Lippy for a total of .840 miles and 370.6 calories burned…not too shabby…did only do that one time today though…getting my butt to bed now and doing it again in the morning and tomorrow night…I’m figuring out to have a good stance on the Lipster so that my foot doesn’t go numb as bad as it used to…it just gets a little tingly now…hopefully that will eventually go away, I’m very envious of people I hear that do 45 minutes easy on their own Lippys…I wanna do that…

This is funny, but I was on hotornot.com tonight…never seen that site before, and was rating people (a very degrading site if you ask me, so I voted EVERYONE really high) but I came across one picture of a girl that has THEE body I want…so I did a screen capture and snagged it…it could be one that I would want to print and have hanging somewhere to keep my focus on the goal…not sure if I should put it here as it’s someone’s personal photo (although I did crop off the head), but still not sure if I should post it or not…

Well, I’m off to bed, feeling much better, and very appreciative of friends and awesome family (love you Bridge)…night ya’ll !!!

Before I get to the main post, I have to say thank you for all the great comments on the pictures and for the Happy Birthday wishes that were sent…you all are awesome!!!!

I hate when I post an entry such as this…but I feel so ‘blah’…it’s just the usual stuff while trying to lose weight…I haven’t lost nearly enough, it’s not coming off fast enough…you know the routine…

I seem to have become addicted to exercising…so there’s a plus, huh? It’s been twice a day now for awhile…so maybe there’s the old ‘it’s muscle’ kinda reason…I just wish it would show in the numbers…I need to have Clint hide my scale and only remove it from it’s hiding spot once a week, or once every other week…I depend on that scale too much, and I seem to be letting that scale dictate who I am…when it’s up (even 1/2 lb.) I seem to have less self-confidence, feel like everyone is staring at me in a negative way, again, I’m sure you all have felt the same way…but when it shows a loss, I feel on top of the world…almost to the point where I get careless with my point counting, or ease up on my exercise…why in the world would I do that? Could I seriously be sabotaging myself and not knowing it? I don’t think I am, but why would I blow it when something that I’m doing is really working?

When I went shopping about a month ago with my cousin, by the end of the night I realized I don’t like anything about myself. It was insane. I mean physically about myself…I like ‘me’ but just not the ‘outer’ me…That night it seemed redundant that everything that came out of my mouth was, I HATE that about me…I HATE that right there (referring to a part of my body at that moment)…

I want this more than anything, but right now I think that reaching goal is seeming so unattainable that I’m losing perspective on why I’m even doing this…I don’t want this to come across as ‘poor whiny me’…I am in a slump right now and need to talk myself out of it I think…Depression always seems just *this* close to coming back and it’s a constant battle to not let it take over…and I think right now that also is playing a part in my emotions…guess I really am feeling a bit overwhelmed with everything, and really not sure how to deal with it all at once??? Sorry guys…

Hmm…usually by the time I get done posting here, I feel a bit better…not tonight…off to Lippy

Finally I have pictures!!! I still have a few more that I won’t be posting tonight, but I did want to get these up so you can see a few

First, here is the ocean…soooo beautiful and relaxing…I seriously didn’t want to leave ~

This one if my FAVORITE picture from the entire trip…my cousin is the cutie in the close-up…that’s Christina In the background is me, my mom, my aunt and Bridgette (not in that order in the photo)…I told Christy this should be a bulletin board advertising for Ocean City visitors ~

Here is me at the travel center we went to right after the accident ~

Here are my legs…the ONLY part of my body that I am truly happy with…I was walking on the beach and decided to remove my body from the shot…haha…but here are ‘the legs’… ~

And…here’s something I have been looking ALL OVER for and I found it in Jersey, of all places…it’s always the last place you look ~ (mouse over the photo below to see what I found )

I deeply apologize for the more than obvious tan lines…I wish someone would have told me how much it stood out…hahaha…that shirt is sleeveless as you can see, and in other photos it seriously looks like I have a white t-shirt on under it…freakin hilarious!!!

They aren’t the best photos of me, the one in the travel center, like I said was just after the accident, and the one with the collarbones, I had already had a few to drink, and the legs, well, the entire body/head thing is just…well, not there…but you get the picture…(no pun intended)… So that’s it for tonight…I hope these show up big enough, if not, I will work on resizing them soon…night!!!

I still haven’t gotten the pictures I was waiting for, so until I do, I wanted to post about my weekend…then in a separate post I will add pictures

Get your reading glasses and a comfy chair…it’s gonna be a long one…

Last Friday, we got off work early and were on the road by 4:30 p.m. According to mapquest we had about 8 hours of driving ahead of us…we planned on being in Jersey by midnight or so. I planned ahead for my food and all and got some 1 pt. buns, some low-pt. sandwich meat and FF cheese slices, lettuce, that kinda stuff, baked lays, Special K bars, the whole she-bang…that way we didn’t have to make any extra stops for food…only gas and potty stops

We did really good till just before we got into Jersey…we realized that about an hour and a half before where we were, we missed our turn…mistake #1…we pulled into a rest area and the car started making a vibrating noise…so we got out, looked at the tires and all, nothing wrong, so we grabbed our road map and mapped our own way to Ocean City, NJ…got back on the road…mistake #2…and the vibrating noise continued and got worse the further we went…we were all worried, so I called Clint. My mom said my dad had just rotated the tires before we left, and I told Clint that, he said we needed to check the lug nuts and said the tires were probably out of balance and that we should be fine. So we went on

Then after getting into Jersey and getting *this* close to the shore, we got onto the Garden State Parkway which will take us directly south to Ocean city. The GSP is a huge-mongous highway…6 lanes heading south, 6 lanes heading north and the traffic is VERY unforgiving…they are 80 miles an hour cars…insane…then it happened…we were on a bridge, just got to the very bottom of the bridge, and I kid you not, the lug nuts were gone and our front driver WHEEL fell off…I mean, then entire thing came off the car, rolled across all 6 of our lanes and over the concrete median and over the OTHER side of the freeway!!!! I FREAKED…

My mom was driving and she did a hell of a job controlling the car and pulling over as far to the right as she possibly could…one problem…the bridge we were on is still under construction so there are solid concrete medians on the right side of the road and absolutely NO shoulder to pull off onto…so we were sitting in the middle of all this insane traffice in a LANE. These people were flying up behind us (it’s dark at this time and we had our flashers on) and coming closer than a foot away and swerving over as fast as they could…I was scared to death…I lost it and my aunt who was in the front, finally let me out of the back seat, and I don’t remember much after that…I know I jumped over the median to be safe in case someone did hit our car, but I guess I was screaming at my mom, cousin and aunt that were still in the car to get them all out as well…my aunt and cousin did, and we were all safe but my mom sat in the front seat and kind of froze. I was screaming at her and that and the stress of the situation caused her to kind of shut down…she finally got out of her side of the car (the traffic side) and came over to the median where we were standing and started to climb over when a car came up behind our car and I still have no clue how it did NOT hit the car…all I remember was the adrenaline rush of thinking….car, mom, SHIT!!!…I grabbed her and literally yanked her over the median and she went right down on the ground…she has a nice bruise on her arm that is the perfect shape of my thumb in the middle and extends out about 1-1/2 inches up and down…and her knee is all bruised up from the fall…

We were all safe, that’s what mattered…after everyone was safe, the reality of it all hit me and it was like ‘was that real???’ then it was like ‘that WAS real’….PUKE…yeah…I heaved in the gravel…couple times…I couldn’t hardly stand up…I was weak everywhere and my legs didn’t wanna hold me anymore…that was awful…

My cousin had called 911, and get this…2…TWO…towtrucks showed up and not one damn police officer…the police NEVER showed up the entire time we were there…the tow truck pulls up and says he will hook onto the car, drive it about 1/2 mile down the road where there is a shoulder, so we all had to walk to the tow truck, 1/2 mile away. My aunt and my cousin have physical disabilities, so that was hell We ended up being driven to a huge 24 hour service area where I asked one of the ladies working there (obviously not english speaking) for a phone book and received a home-for-sale listing book for some odd reason, and she politely pointed out to me the thousands more of them available for my taking if I so pleased…I said thank you and went and sat down…

Finally got a taxi to take us to the closest Holiday Inn Express and got settled in our room at about 3:00 a.m. Here’s a good tip from an Ohio-an…if you are EVER in Jersey, and you are heading to Strathmere or area surrounding…write this down…never EVER make reservations at a place called Strathmere Motel. I won’t even begin to tell you the hell this man put us through (well, when he wasn’t hanging up on us, that is) from two hours and many miles away, but do not EVER do business with this man…it did get us a few overly-tired giggles while pranking him at 4 a.m however…

Anyhow, we got a total of I think 2 hours sleep that night only to wake up to my mom at 6:00 a.m. doing jumping jacks (already having taken her shower) and singing to wake us all up…she’s a nut…we got to spend the day in the hotel having a really good time actually while we waited for our car to be repaired…we did each others’ hair, nails, had some great talks, you name it…literally, except for the whole accident, we giggled and laughed the entire trip…once our car was done and we were on the road to our original destination of Ocean City, everything was pretty smooth

That was my first time to see the ocean, and I told everyone I wanted to fly my husband and girls out and NEVER leave…it was amazing…I was so emotional all weekend…from the accident to seeing my soon to be sister in law Bridget (who looks INCREDIBLE and is down 20 lbs. now, not 18 I will post pictures of her as well), and just the surroundings of it all…it was a very fun emotional weekend Whew…book now ending…pictures to follow soon

Sorry for not posting about my weekend as of yet…I’m waiting for my cousin that went with us to send me pictures so I can post them as I tell the story…LOL…I promise it will be very soon!

I did, however, manage to gain 2 lbs. over the weekend…I was very good on my points and watched what I ate, but I do believe that sitting in a car for an 8 hour drive on Friday and again on Sunday plus alot of hotel sitting and waiting is what did it to me…no activity / exercise involved…but good news is, it’s already gone

Ann ~ I got your comment and I did re-check my points values on my chart and they are correct. I just received the newest books about 2 months ago if that, and they are the same as my charts…so I’m assuming they are the newest numbers if something did change…I didn’t know they changed…hopefully this helps you! Wonder what version books your friend has??? Good luck to you!!!

That’s it for now…I promise to post the whole weekend (including a very scary accident we had…we’re all fine, so don’t worry:) ) as soon as the pictured get to me in my e-mail

I’m at work, so I can’t give all the details, but tonight I will give you the scoop on this past weekend…including pictures!!! Only 2 of me though because only 2 look decent…LOL…the rest were horrible…soon as I get them up I will post again

I can’t believe it’s here…we leave in approximately 3-1/2 hours for the girls weekend I have never been any further east than Syracuse, NY so this is gonna be an experience to me

So far the tips I have been given include: be up early enough Saturday morning to watch the sunrise over the ocean..there’s nothing better; don’t drink too much the first night so that you can still drink the 2nd night; and we were also told, “I don’t think the ocean is ready for the 4 of you”…LOL…people know us too well…

Have a great weekend everyone!! I’m off to JOISY!!!

First for the really good news You may have seen my latest comments from my previous post that included one from Bridget, my soon to be sister-in-law Anywho, I am leaving Friday around 4:00 p.m. for a GIRLS WEEKEND!!! Bridget and my brother Laddie are getting married in October, in NJ…and my mom and I are heading there this weekend for the bridal shower/bachelorette party No kids, no husbands, just the girls!!!! SO excited I am going to do my best to make the best food choices. I have no idea what to expect for food, but I do know there will be alcohol later on Saturday night…so there’s my points for the day for sure…

Now for an awesome food find. I was at Wal-mart this past week and looking at Smart ones frozen meals. I like to have one or two over a two week time for the days I’m running late and can just grab it for lunch. So, anyways, we’re looking at the frozen meals and Clint was like, ‘You should try these ones…my boss brings them in all the time and his wife is doing WW also’…so when I look at them, they have the Points values already on them and everything. They are Michelina’s Lean Gourmet frozen meals. They have the points printed right on the front…they say ‘6 points* as calculated by Michelina’s’…wanna hear the best part???? Unlike the Smart ones meals that are almost always $2.00-$3.00 each, these are ALL $1.08 !!!! ONE dollar. Uno. One. I was so excited I bought 10. All different flavors, all like 6 points and under, one even being just 2 points. And they are SO good! Today I had the Creamy Parmesan Chicken and it was awesome. I had a sirloin one yesterday and a shrimp one on Monday. They are so inexpensive for my lunches and they make it so easy for me to grab and go in the morning and they are SO yummy!!! Check them out!!!

One more thing, to Miss Bridgette….CONGRATULATIONS!!! She has now lost 18 lbs. following WW You are doing so great and I’m sooo excited for you!!!! She’s going to make the most beautiful bride And, you know, you are going to have to have your dress altered come October after all the weight loss!! And you still have 2 months left You’re going to be so beautiful, I can’t wait…and I can’t wait to see you this weekend!!!! I’M GONNA HAVE A SISTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (See what this poor girl is getting herself into?!?!?!?)