Wedding!

Saturday was the wedding of our son Sam's friends Erin and Mark. It was a very sweet ceremony, followed by a reception at (I believe) the tallest building in our town - we were on the 11th floor and enjoyed excellent views of our entire burg! Below, some pictures for your enjoyment:

Jeff, Sam and me - in the dress once again!

The cake topper - I loved it - and I'll post why in a couple of weeks!

After the reception, the wedding party went to their favorite park for a quick game of frisbee - how fun is this picture?!?

All in all, it was a great wedding and I am so glad that I got to go! We ended our day by seeing the new movie "UP" - in 3D, no less! It was really good...of course, my favorite part was Doug the dog...hmmm, reminded me of someone...

My New Kicks!

I totally stole that line from another blogger - sorry, can't remember who! But check out my awesome new running/jogging shoes! Asics GT-2140 - with nifty metallic orange highlights AND if you look real close, you can see a cool psychedelic/Peter Max vibe going on with the fabric on the tongue. I wore them to workout in today, and while I didn't get to run on the treadmill (Will had other plans involving a Tabata), they were very comfortable and I can jump higher and run faster in them! These were an early birthday present from my parents - thanks, Mom and Dad!

I printed out a copy of the Couch to 5K plan and plan on using it for my "at home" program. Jogging on a treadmill during my workouts is quite a contrast from jogging in the great outdoors, and I have to accept this and adjust to the change. But I'm excited to try it! This makes me feel so athletic, which if you knew me, you would know that really, I'm not. But you know what? On Monday, we had no workout due to the holiday, and I actually went for a walk and then later on in the evening went for a bike ride...this is still so odd to me if I actually think about it. Wanting to and willingly exercising??? Oh how the times have changed!

A Yogurty Day...And A Crazy Weekend Recap!

So far, all I have eaten today has been yogurt, fruit and granola. Breakfast was the Strawberry Granola Parfait at Panera Bread, which was oh so good, lunch was a quick stop on the road - McDonald's Fruit and Yogurt Parfait, which was just ok, but it met my needs and held me over, and now that we've arrived home, my dinner has been a container of Fage with half a cup of Kashi Golean Crunch - alas, no fruit, as I used it all up on Friday before we left for the weekend. You may be wondering WHY on earth am I eating so much yogurt...well, we've been eating "out" since Friday and frankly, my stomach just couldn't take it anymore. Even with portion control and choosing healthy foods (like the Mediterranean Veggie sandwich at Panera on Friday...and Saturday), it's just different food than I'm used to eating.

It is hard to eat well when you are out of your element - and on Friday morning we drove to 3 1/2 hours to help move our younger son into an apartment - he and our older son are now living together. After we got there, we of course had lunch at Panera Bread - love that place so much! We don't have one in my town, so the only time I get to eat there is when we go visit the boys at school.

Then we bought Max a bed, strapped it to the top of our Explorer and brought it to the apartment, set it up and then I started cleaning while the boys were moving stuff in and all around. Holy crap, that kitchen needed a good scrubbing! It was a lot of work, but fun to see the place evolve.

Later on, we cleaned ourselves up and took the boys out to Texas Roadhouse for dinner to celebrate the end of the school year and their excellent grades. I had a 6 oz. sirloin, half of a plain baked potato and the house salad - no croutons or cheese and dressing on the side. It was a big meal for me, but I felt fine afterward.

Saturday morning, we were up at 7 am and shortly after were on the road to Frisco, Texas - home of IKEA, where we planned on buying cheap lamps, a couple of dressers, a set of dishes...stuff like that. Imagine our shock when we arrived thirty minutes before the store opened to see people lined up outside! When did IKEA get that popular? Turns out, there was a special $50 off coupon for this chair - you would have thought they were giving away gold by the amount of people lining up for it! It was freaking insane. The line started downstairs, went upstairs, wound all through the showroom, went back downstairs, wound through that showroom, and finally into the warehouse. So the entire time we were shopping we kept having to cut through mobs of people - who were standing in line for A CHAIR. Oh, it was fun.<----insert sarcasm here. And because IKEA is like 4 hours away from our home, it's not as if we could have simply left and gone back the next weekend. So we trudged on. Found what we needed, got everything, stood in line WITH ALL OF THE CHAIR PEOPLE at the registers to pay and were finally on our way back to the apartment. Really, the entire time inside the store only took about 2 1/2 hours, but it felt like we had been beaten and thrown to the wolves.

After a stop at Panera for lunch (I told you I like that place!), we went back to the apartment, unloaded the car and for any of you who have bought stuff at IKEA, you know what we did next: spent the next few hours putting furniture together! Actually, it wasn't bad, but it did take quite a while to "build" everything. More cleaning, hanging, moving stuff ensued, and around 7 pm we all were tired, hungry and not in the mood to get cleaned up and go anywhere, so the boys went out and picked up some pizza - and while I could have made a fuss about getting something healthier, I figured "what's the worst that could happen - I just eat more calories than I normally would, right?"

If only that were true! I got so sick later that night - sharp pains hit me just at the edge of my rib cage. Which then seemed to go through directly to my upper back. No nausea, nothing "stomach" related - but pain, and lots of it. Hours (and lots of Maalox) later, it finally subsided. I'm guessing the two slices of Little Caesar's pepperoni pizza were the ultimate culprit, but all I can really think is that after a year of eating "clean" this kind of food was just too much for my system. The only thing good to come out of this is that I know I will remember just how bad I felt and will be much more diligent with my food choices in the future. Never again, if it's in my control.

So now you are all caught up with my crazy weekend - we are home, Paco the Wonder Dog was well-cared for by our neighbor's son, the cats seem to have forgiven us for abandoning them, and I am off to go read all y'alls blogs!

From Just Do It To I Did It!

I went out for a jog this morning! Woohoo! I lasted all of 10 minutes, and some of that was walking - as a few of you said in the comments from my previous post, it is a lot different jogging outside than on a treadmill! And of course I chose the day that the humidity came back to South Texas - I am sweating from the top of my head on down! But I did it, and that's what matters! Baby steps, I am all about the baby steps.

Did I mention that I made my son Max get up and go with me? On four hours of sleep, no less! (He and his friends stayed up late watching Pulp Fiction.) But once he got going, he ran circles around me, ran backwards, sprinted...oh, to have his energy! Even with all of that, I was glad to have his company for my first-ever outdoor yog, er, jog.

I'll have another opportunity to run on Monday morning (alas, no workouts due to Memorial Day) - I'm gonna shoot for 12 - no, wait...13 minutes!

Wednesday Workout Update

"Veronica and I are trying this new fad called uh, jogging. I believe it's jogging or yogging. It might be a soft "J." I'm not sure but apparently you just run for an extended period of time. It's supposed to be wild." (from the GREATEST movie ever, Anchorman)

Yeah, me and Ron Burgandy...we're joggers. And we like it! OK, maybe I'm just assuming that Ron, er, Will Ferrell likes jogging. I'm sure he does - after all, he's my future second husband, so he's perfect like that. And yes, my current husband is well aware of my plans for Will. He's ok with it, because as soon as Holly Hunter is available, he's all hers. It's crazy talk like this that has kept us going for nearly 25 years! But I digress...it's just that I can't think about jogging without remembering that quote from Anchorman...and if you haven't seen it, what are you waiting for? Go rent it now!!!

Oh yeah, jogging. Yep, I've been doing it - on the treadmill during my workouts. And I am surprised to say that I enjoy it. I actually look forward to it. And on a day like today, when Brad had other plans for us (a wicked full hour of strength training with a bit of cardio thrown in for "breaks"), I am disappointed to not get to jog.

So I know I'm going to sound like a stupidhead, but if I were to, say, jog outside (I know, what a concept) - would I just go? Is this the "Just Do It" of which Nike preaches? Should I time myself like I do at the gym? What about water - do I drink say, 8 oz. before I start and then just replenish when I'm done? This is so weird for me to actually consider it, and yet I am! I realize that I might be overthinking this just a tad (really?!?), but obviously I'm not an impulsive person when it comes to exercise.

In Which I Ponder If Eating The Lasagne Was Worth It...

This afternoon we went to a graduation party for a friend of my husband. Mark got his Master's in Public Health (go Mark!) and hosted a party with homemade lasagne (complete with homemade pasta), salad, homemade sourdough baguettes (!) and red velvet cake.

I knew about the lasagne in advance, and also knowing that Mark is a wonderful cook, I ate fairly light today - my regular breakfast of Fage with 2 cups of blueberries and some Kashi Golean Crunch cereal, and a protein shake for lunch - total of about 600 calories. So, in keeping with my goal of 1,200 calories total for today, I had room for *some* lasagne. The pieces they cut weren't huge, but I still cut one in half, took one small slice of bread (no butter) and lots of salad. Let me just say that the lasagne was amazing...and I make a good lasagne, myself! I savored every bite! The bread was great as well, and I even went back for more salad. The cream cheese frosting on the cake was tempting, but I resisted. I drank plenty of water and left the party a few hours later happy that I had controlled myself, yet still partook of the good eats.

Cut to a couple of hours later, and my stomach is growling. I drink 16 oz. of water. Stomach still growls - another 16 oz. of water. Now I'm sloshy and hungry! I chew the heck out of two pieces of Trident Minty Sweet Twist gum. Now I'm sloshy, my jaw is tired...and I'm still hungry! You know, I could have had a lot more food for those approximately 600 calories of lasagne and bread (the salad calories were negligble) and NOT be this darn hungry!

I feel like I did this to myself and unless I want to up my caloric intake for the day, I'm stuck. And no, I do not want to up my intake...the early stats on the Bodybugg are showing me that on days where I'm not exercising, I don't burn a ton of calories, so I have to be cautious in order to lose weight. Hmmm, I do believe I have answered my question...unfortunately, it was not worth it.

Holey Moley, Would You Look At These Donuts!

These are the Holey Donuts that I won from Jen's contest - I came home from work yesterday to find a huge box on my doorstep...and inside that box was a Styrofoam container filled with dry ice and these lovelies! Now the picture really does not do them justice, as they are still frozen - but you know I just had to open up each and every box to see what was in them! When you are ready to eat one, you simply put it in the microwave for a few seconds and blammo - you have a super-delicious low-fat donut! See the huge cinnamon buns in the lower left corner? They weigh in at 5 grams of fat and 340 calories each - compared with a Cinnabon at 24 grams of fat and 730 calories and you can't beat that with a stick!

Sooooooooooo are you wondering how I liked these? Well, I am too! I haven't had one yet. Why? Two reasons: First, I made a "no baked goods" New Year's resolution (after an, ahem, bit of a problem with said baked goods in December) and I intend to keep it until my birthday (which is in 2 1/2 weeks...not that I'm counting or anything, haha). The second reason I didn't break down and have one...after all, what's 2 1/2 weeks,really? I have been starving for the last couple of days. I mean ravenous, stomach-growlingly hungry. And it's not like I have been doing anything differently - I'm eating plenty, believe me. I just didn't trust myself to actually stop once I had a taste of that sugary, albeit low-fat, goodness. So I will wait. And then only have one when I am in a good place, eating-wise. And I will share with my family. So never fear - these wonderful donuts WILL be eaten...just not today.

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In other news, I cannot tell you all how much I appreciate your comments on my Dietversary/Blogiversary post! Y'all are too, too kind, really. Thank you so much! A new reader, Sandy, tagged me to say six things that make me happy, so here goes - oh and it goes without saying that family, friends and health are all there, so I'll just make this fun:

1. The way Paco the Wonder Dog goes to bed. We have to ask him "do you want to go night-night?" - only then will he run to his crate and wait for his bedtime snack (a few pieces of dry cat food - nectar of the gods to him) - he eats it, and then he's down for the night. Wish my kids would have been this easy to get to bed when they were little!
2. Burt's Bees Lip Balm - LOVE LOVE LOVE - I have them stashed everywhere!
3. Having the option of trying on clothes in a regular store, having them fit, and NOT buying them. Such a difference from buying something because it was the only thing that fit and I needed clothes.
4. My DVR - I love watching TV on my own time, not just when the programs air - and best of all, skipping through the commercials!
5. Getting on the waitlist for a new book at my library and logging in to watch my place in line go up! Of course, the best thing is being first on the list - I always feel like I've won something when that happens!
6. Itunes - being able to download silly old songs and sing along (when nobody is home, of course) makes me feel like a kid again!

And now, I tag anyone who wants to do this - it's fun and gets you in a good mindset!

My Dietversary and Blogiversary!

It's one year later and I'm thin! Haha, not really. I still have quite a bit left to lose. But I have come a long way from May 14, 2008! This truly has been a wild ride - one that I had no idea would take me so many different directions. When I reread my beginning posts, I see how focused I was on just getting some weight off. Whatever it took - hence the (mostly) liquid diet. Exercise was not a factor. Seriously, I was so big, I couldn't imagine doing much of anything physical. Amazing how things have changed! I eat healthy foods and I exercise regularly - and yet sometimes I still look in the mirror and wonder "who is this person and what have you done with the old Shelley?"

I remember my first weigh-in, the day I made the commitment to this diet. I was shocked to realize that even if I lost 100 pounds, I would still be overweight. That just about killed my motivation right there - I mean, come on! Nobody can lose over 100 pounds! And then I went home and googled "weight-loss blogs" and found Lynn and Jennette and Lori - who had all lost over 100 pounds and lived to tell the tale. You ladies gave me hope and that was enough for me to keep going.

As the months went by, I found more and more weight-loss and fitness blogs. I cannot say enough good things about the support that I've received from the blogging community...on my low days you encouraged me, and when I had victories you were there to share them with me. Being able to read what other dieters were struggling through and having success with has helped me so much. Mostly, I know that I'm not alone in this journey. And I thank you all for being there.

They say the proof is in the pudding pictures, so here goes:

Top left: The Beginning - one year ago; Top right: Thirty pounds lost;
Bottom left: Fifty pounds lost; Bottom right: Eighty pounds lost.

May 2008 - May 2009

*Special thanks to my youngest kid for creating the "momtage" and side-by-side photos.

Presenting...My First Smoothie!

I finally found the blender, cleaned it, remembered to purchase some bags of frozen fruit, and voila - here it is! Tasted like a fruity milkshake - so good!
A blend of 1 cup unsweetened Almond Breeze, 1 scoop protein powder, 1/4 cup POM, and 2 cups frozen mango, papaya and strawberries. About 380 calories, which is high, but this was my lunch.

Next time I will try it with plain water instead of the Almond Breeze. I could also make it without the protein powder, but I'm going to workout this afternoon and needed it.

You may notice the lack of green color - I intended to throw some fresh spinach in it, but apparently lost my mind at the grocery store last night and forgot to buy it! I also envision throwing in some chocolate PB2 with the protein powder and Almond Breeze (and perhaps some ice cubes). Yum - I think I have unleashed a monster!

Rants and Raves

RANT: What has happened to the strawberries? Lately they have not been very good - I keep trying different places to buy them, but so far, they have not lived up to the sweet yumminess that I was enjoying last month! And don't get me started on the price of blueberries! I'm looking at you, Sam's Club - $9 for a pound?!? That's hard to pay when they were less than half that a couple of months ago. I may have to figure some other fruit for my beloved Fage!

RAVE: You all know how cool my trainer Linda is, right? Well today she offered to loan me her BodyBugg!!! She knows I'm having trouble figuring out the right amount of calories to consume and still lose weight, and since she doesn't need it anymore, she very generously offered it to me. All I will have to do is purchase the online subscription and I will be all set! I have read about these, and seen the contestants on The Biggest Loser use them, but as they are quite spendy, I never thought I'd be able to have one. And now I will - woo hoo, thanks Linda!!!

RANT: My stomach muscles still hurt. Brad seems to think that I'm not giving myself enough protein after my workouts, and therefore am not repairing the muscles that I've worked. So, I bit the bullet and bought some protein powder and forced myself to drink a "shake" within 30 minutes after my workout today. Actually it tasted pretty good. I have set a "protein goal" for each day and will work harder to get to it - hey, if it will help to get rid of this soreness, I'm all for it!

RAVE: I am LOVING what I've been wearing lately! I have some new capris and bermuda shorts, funky sandals and cute tops - it is just so fun to get dressed now! I am under no delusions - I still have a lot of weight to lose, and my arms could be a lot thinner and my stomach could be flatter - but this is so much better than last year!

It's Awards Time!

The super-funny Gigi over at Chunky Monkey Mama gave me this award - what a sweetheart! Now I get to choose five bloggers to pass it on to...

1. Fat Bridesmaid - this was one of the first weight-loss blogs I found, and is just so encouraging - plus she's a fabulous dresser!
2. Prior Fat Girl - no, I'm not giving Jen this award just because I won the Holy Donuts from her today (thanks again!) - she is so cute and fit, yet she remembers what it was like to be overweight and is working hard to never go back...I want to be her!
   
3. FoodFoodBodyBody - lovely lady who is making great changes while dealing with some pretty serious health issues - great attitude despite what has been thrown at her!
4. Slim Shoppin' - Jenn has wonderful recipes and meal ideas, and is sister to Charlie and Biz, so how could I not like her?!?
5. Fight Fat Phobia - Tricia has a wicked sense of humor and calls it like she sees it - I truly believe she could be a published author with her humorous observations!

So thank you once again, Gigi...and thanks to all of my blogger friends for keeping me so entertained, enlightened and empowered!

Oy, My Abs!

You'd think that after 12 weeks of workouts, I couldn't possibly get that sore anymore...but you'd be wrong! We did something during strength training on Monday - and I have no idea WHAT, as our workouts were completely changed - that somehow worked my abs without me realizing it. I know that sounds crazy, but because I've been able to do crunches like a madwoman this soreness has really surprised me. In fact, doing just 35 crunches on the BOSU ball yesterday was a struggle. Last night while I was loading the dishwasher I could really feel my abs as I bent down and straightened back up. Of course, my first thought was that I'd hurt myself and that I should immediately stop cleaning up after dinner and go lie down...but then I realized that it was simply sore muscles and I *could* continue cleaning (oh the humanity!). Hmmm, I wonder if Brad snuck something seemingly easy yet deceptively hard into my workout? I will have to quiz him on Monday!

In related workout news, because we were at the beginning of another 12-week session, a few new people joined our classes. It was fun to watch them learn the machines, and take it easy while getting used to everything. Brought back memories *wipes tear from eye* - ah, the good old days! Now that I have so much time under my belt, when the new people were told to stop and take a break, I was told "keep going!" so that shows you how hardcore (hahaha) I am!

Oh, continuing from my Good Eats post, we had HG's Scoopable Chinese Chicken Salad last night and it was great! Next time I'll add some extra green onions - either the batch I had was really mild or else I just like an extra bite. The recipe made a ton, and I have some good leftovers for lunch today and tomorrow. Now that's what I like - cook once, eat several meals!

Good Eats!

My Hungry Girl 200 Under 200 book that I won in MizFit's contest (thanks again, Carla!) came and look - it's signed!!! How cool is that?!?
I've been browsing and drooling over all of the great recipes in this book...so many are popping out at me, but this one especially caught my eye: Scoopable Chinese Chicken Salad:I will be making this for tomorrow night's dinner - can't wait to try it! Only 195 calories for 1 1/2 cups?!? This makes me a very happy camper!

Also in good eats, yesterday I made Lynn's Hearty Lentil Spaghetti and it was great - really flavorful and filling! I served it with Barilla's Whole Grain Thin Spaghetti, thinking it was whole wheat pasta, but in looking at the ingredients I'm not so sure it was entirely whole wheat. What can I say... I got a little confused at the grocery store - there are A LOT of options when it comes to choosing pasta!

I recently received a couple of sample packets of Barney Butter - Kath over at Kath Eats Real Food raves about this stuff, so I was glad to finally try it. First things first...it's ALMOND butter, not peanut butter! Somehow I missed that...gotta wonder about my reading comprehension skills! Each packet is 90 calories, and I like the instant portion control with these (they do sell it in jars, as well). Once I got past the "this doesn't taste like peanut butter...oh, wait..." I liked it! One packet covered two English muffin halves (Thomas' whole wheat - yum) quite nicely. I will be incorporating Barney Butter into my meals!

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I'm still trying to figure out what is a good amount of calories to eat per day...on my workout days, I'm aiming for around 1,500, but some days I can't seem to get much above 1,200 unless I eat something just for the sake of the calories and protein...and that doesn't seem right to me. I think what is messing me up is my breakfast - the Fage 0% plain yogurt, 2 cups of fresh strawberries and 1 cup of Kashi Golean Crunch really fills me up and holds me over, which makes me eat a light lunch. I've thought about having less cereal with breakfast, but I'm usually on autopilot when I make it and so far haven't poured less than one cup. Hmmm...may have to pre-measure the cereal into little containers for a while. Anybody else have this problem, or any suggestions?

And Now, The Dress

It ended up being too hot to wear the black cardigan (although I brought it with me in case the A/C was too low) so I threw caution to the wind and showed my arms - there are some muscles under all that flab! My bad-ass shoes were sexy and fun, and I didn't have to stand up for too long in them, so my feet feel fine now. We had a good time and I felt great!

Skirts and Tops and Shoes, Oh My!

Last week I wrote about trying on a cute skirt and top and how surprised I was to have tucked it in...can you believe that I went back two more times and tried the outfit on? I am not normally so indecisive when it comes to buying clothes, but I think it was the skirt aspect that was throwing me. For years, the most leg I've shown out in public has been the bit of calf that my capris don't cover - and I'm short, so believe me, they cover most of my legs!

Anyway, between try-ons 2 and 3, Jeff called with the news that his school's annual gala dinner is this Saturday, which sent me into overdrive-panic mode on getting something fairly nice to wear! I finally made him go with me, and grabbed that outfit off the rack again, along with a dress.

Now here's where it gets funny: Jeff watches What Not To Wear with me (he would kill me if he knew I was telling on him!) and he said about the skirt outfit (and I quote) "it kind of cuts you in half." So I put on the dress, which had a nice empire (yes, I know this from watching the show) waist, and we both agreed that it was much more flattering. I'll pair it with a nice little black cardigan, my black patent-leather clutch (Stacy: "A nice clutch") and an awesome pair of bad-ass shoes that I bought to go with the dress. Should be dressy enough for the gala, and I can also tone it down with my turquoise cardigan (the one I'm wearing in my profile picture) and a more casual pair of black sandals for our big work reception, which is a week from today. Oh...wanna see the dress?!?

I am loving the mix of colors in it!

And here are the bad-ass shoes - with them, I'm almost 5'5"!

I'm hoping to have a decent picture taken in this outfit - if I can get one, I'll post it.

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Thanks to everyone for your comments about my work whine. I feel so validated in my displeasure over working on Saturdays! I'm looking to see what else is out there - so far, nothing (we live in a pretty small town), but hopefully in the near future I can make a change. Any case, my frustration level has toned down quite a bit. Could it be the result of simply deciding to make a change? I just want you all to know how much I appreciate what you had to say - thank you again!