All is well...

It is that time again...time to tell you that I am surviving the bad weather and I still have power...Everyone has eaten and is now watching TV....

My meals consisted of a Vita top muffin and cherries for breakfast,  Lunch was a avocado, tomato, and a vita top muffin...taking advantage of the toaster while I have power...once it goes I am a straight Kashi girl.  Dinner was some low fat teriakyi chicken....and a tomato.  Using up the veggies. 

Meanwhile...I was making food for the family throughtout the day....sandwiches for lunch....Eggs and toast for C for Dinner and F finally had the smoked Pork Hock that we brought back from Germany...Dishes have been cleared and put in the dishwasher to run later if we still have power. 

We are all fine and happy..I am more worried about my trip getting cancelled...I really want and need to spend time with my family!!  Yoga was cancelled today which is throwing my body for a loop even though I tried to do some at home..but it is hard to find your center with an 8 year old bugging you...

Tak to you later...and take care.

So far so good...

Today was stressful....F had to go to work...C had to stay home....and I had to work!!!  These three things together leads to a bored child that wants to know when I have muted my conference call so that she can talk and watch TV with sound.  Not to mention, the Mommy can you make me (fill in the blank)  Meanwhile, I had a pretty good food day.  I am saving my Kashi Bars for if we do not have power.  

Breakfast was a avocado and tomato salad.   Lunch was Vita top muffin and cherries.  Dinner was a turkey breast, grilled zucchini, asparagus and avocado and some grapes for dessert. 

It was sunny and warm all day...so why was C home with me?  Argh!!

I am having some water rentention this week, of course it is that time.  I know because I can feel the swelling in my foot. 

Ok...I promise as long as I have the capability I will blog and let you know how we are doing and how I am surviving...

Take care and talk to you later..

How do you plan for eating healthy in a hurricane?

We are under watches and warnings for the wonderful hurricane, so what is someone who eats healthy to do?  My previous hurrican shooping included lots of junk foods that stay good forever....this time it involved stocking up on fruits and vegetables that I could enjoy eating raw and kashi bars that are my old stand by and some very lean lunch meat for protein.  I also picked up peanut butter, jelly, and bread for C and some granola bars for F. 

Yoga was fabulous oday, but here again the possible hurricane is affecting my life since yoga classes will be cancelled if it should come our way.  ARGH.... 

Today was a good food day...Breakfast was a tomato and avocado salad.  Lunch was cherries and vitatop cranberry oat muffin.  Dinner was teriakyi chicken and vegetables with a tomato for desert.

I will still be working since my job still goes on even though I may or may not be in the middle of a hurricane. 

So that said Blogging will be dependent on having power and internet....if you do not hear from me please do not worry, I will be fine.  Eating healthy and getting through this my goal right now and I will blog as long as I can and will return to the blog as soon as I can to let you know how it went.

Talk to you later...Take care.

Is it too much to ask for a drama free life?

So usually I try to keep the family drama off my blog, but occassionally the stress is too much and I have to share.   After much making sure that everything would work perfectly, C's activity schedule was set and while it is exhausting to look at sometimes, it allows her to do the activites that she loves and be competitive in both.  Then soccer has to throw a wrench in things by suddenly throwing a horrible coach into the mix and now it is all up in the air again...this stresses me out!!  I do not want to disappoint C but this coach is unacceptable to the point that I will not let her play.  That is so hard for me to say....this coupled with my work stress is making it hard to resist that doughnuts that I bought for F and C this morning.  I knwo why do I do this to myself.

I weighed in this morning and lost 3.5 pounds bringing the 157.5 pounds total...

This is a work from home week, but I am expecting a stress filled week.  F goes back to school.  C's schedule is up in the air.  C and I fly to Portland, OR on Fridayto go see family. 

But when it is all said and done I love my life....

Talk to you later...take care!!

I have got to learn how to take a compliment

I suck at taking a compliment about how I look.  For one, I am not used to it yet and second I don't really believe it or I take it the wrong way.,....

Here is how the day of compliments began....I go to the hotel lobby to catch my cab for work and the valet from the hotel opened the cab door for me and as I am getting in made a point of telling how good I looked and then said "don't lose much more you look great right now."   I thanked him, but the whole cab ride to work I am thinking, is he blind I need to lose at least 70 more. I know, I know not the way to think right!!

Then I was in a meeting at work and a co-worker I have not seen in months comes up to me after the meeting and tells me how she saw my name on the agenda and was looking around for me.  When I started talking she said she was shocked...I did not even look like the same person anymore.  I am thinking there are still some days when I do not see the difference. 

 Then I was outside and ran into someone else that I had not seen in months and she asked "did you have the surgery to lose the weight?"  You look so great....I told her no that I changed my relationship with food and exercise and made the life changes...Her response "are you sure?"  I am thinking"no I forgot that I went under the knife and had a majority of my stoomach taken away.....ARGH!!  Like I am going to lie about how I lost my weight!! 

The day ended withone of the admins at work,who is always telling me how good I look, asked me what my total was up to and I told her 154 and she started telling that I am an inspiration to her to make the changes too and who should walk up and she is elling what an inspiration I am....the Director of my department that I have not really had any interaction with and the director asks, "Why is she inspiring" so the the admin starts telling her my story and the director says, "Wow that is inspiring, but that is really quick to lose that much weight."  I was thinking it is not like I am starving myself or exercising until I vomit the weight is just coming off...


So that is my story....I need to learn to just say thanks and take them for compliments...RIGHT??

I did talk to guy at lunch at my work that does yoga and is trying out studios near our office and he promised to tell me if he found a good studio.

I had a banana blueberry muffin nonfat and sugar free muffin for breakfast.  A salad for lunch. Dinner was a weight watcher microwave meal because I do not feel like going out and since I was at the grocery store I picked up a tomato and some cherries to have for dessert.

Tomorrow is a travel day..and I can not wait to be home. 

Talk to you later....take care...

Please dont't call me that....

I had the experience today of someone saying that I was "skinny" and I thought in my head, "please do not call me that!!"  Why, you may ask would I feel like that?  Well  I am far from skinny, I have another 70 pounds to lose and when you say I am skinny now, it just seems very insincere and makes me think the other things that you do not really mean the other things that you are saying as well. 

I know that they were trying to make me feel good about myself, but it had the opposite effect.

Breakfast was a non fat no sugar mixed berry oat bran muffin.  I got taken out to lunch today by the fir that recruited me for my current contract...I had a salad with seared tuna.  Dinner was grilled vegetables and a tomato.

I can not believe how much I miss my organized Yoga classes when I am in LA....It is amazing how much they relax and invigorate me at the same time.

Talk to you later.

Seems like last week was just a fluke!!

I weighed in this morning and lost 3.5 pounds raising the total to 154 pounds lost!!!  It felt good to see it go down this week, because I was really afraid that I was hitting a plateau!  Plateaus suck because it can take awhile to get your body back into the losing trend and being stuck is never fun. 

Life is getting busier with C's activties and F getting ready to go back to work, I have to find a way in between the competitive dance and the semi-competitive soccer season that are both starting, not to mention school and tests that need to be studied for and little girl that needs a full time chauffeur to make time to go to Yoga and get what I need to stay on track.  F is fabulous at helping out, bu he can only do so much when the semester starts as he is busy, teaching, preparing tests, grading tests, offering study sessions, and getting ready for his tenure review.  But finding time for myself to get my exercise, can NOT be the thing that gets flung to the backburner in favor of them, because I need to exercise!!!

Well I have finished the morning soccer practice, buying of the last additional items for the soccer season, and grocery shopping,   Now it is time to finish the laundry and hang with the family,

Talk to you later...Take Care!!!

From "Unpretty"' to "New Attitude" Much better lookiing for the inner beauty and strength

Earlier today I was really down on myself and feeling really unpretty!!  So I have shared before that I have alot of loose skin from the 150+ pounds that I have lost.  Even with clothes on it is noticeable.  I was expecting it and tried to prepare myself but when looking in the mirror and seeing the sagging loose skin is very hard to stomach.  Most of it is located in the my upper and lower abdomen, though my thighs and arms have some too...I was handling it, I keep telling myself that after I lose another 80 pounds  I will go see a plastics guy and start making the plans for removal and until then I can cover it and hide the worse of it. Then, I realized the other night that I have a little bit of loose skin on my face. I freaked, it is not terribly noticeable right now, but I keep worrying that it will be.  I do not like looking at my body in the mirror at all...I do not feel like I am getting a fabulous body from all my hard work.. I wanted to do all this hard work and get the reward of this fabulous body, but instead I am doing this hard work and instead of beauty I am getting strength...and then I thought about that...

Strength instead of beauty...is that really the worse thing that can happen???  I mean would it have been better if I lost the weight and looked fabulous, no loose skin or flaws left from the years of abuse that I heaped upon my body, but instead I did not get the strength that I am getting from pushing my body to do more than it has ever done.  I could have found the way to lose the weight that did not result in me totally changing my relationship with food and been back to eating horribly after I lost the weight and learned nothing. 

Instead I have gained the inner strength that comes from knowing that I did this  purely through hard work and Exercise.  I have learned that my relationship with food was very unhealthy and changed how I view food...It is not a comfort item, but instead is the fuel that I use to do the activties that I enjoy.  I have learned that I can take a body that was so out of shape that walking up a flight of stairs caused me to be out of breath and changed it into a body that do yoga and enjoy every second of it.   I am can alk all over the place and not feel tired and grumpy.  I have changed my innerself and that part of my body is strong and beautiful....so okay the outer portion in not sexy and gorgeous right now, but there are ways to fix that and when I am ready I will find a way to have it done and in the mean time I will continue to strengthen that inner part...

I have a new position that I am struggling with in my Yoga class, it is the Side Plank...ARGH...I am going to get this move I swear I will....

Breakfast was a Kashi Bar....Lunch was cucumbers and tomatoes and a Kashi Bar.  Dinner was chicken and vegetables. 

Talk to you  later!!!  Take care...

Never let yourself get so tired you literally can fall asleep standing up...

I say this because I did this on the Monday to Tuesday time period....It is amazing how sometimes you can not turn off your mind an keep going over everything that frustrates you and trying to figure out how to change things and it keeps you from sleeping.  I spent Tuesday being exhausted, but I had work and life must go on.  After work, I took C t dance and then went to Yoga and found the inner peace that I get there.  Then I left yoga and it was back to pick C up and on the way I found myself going over things and getting frustrated again.  In this state of exhaustion, it is amazing how thngs that typically do not bother can rub you the totally wrong way.  When I finally got home and had my dinner and got C to bed.  I was so frustrated again that I felt like I was going to long on the couch...the next thing I remember it was 4:00 in the morning and I woke up on the couch.

Lack of sleep is not good for the metabolism because your body does not know how long you are planning on depriving it of this much needed function.  I need to really work on making sure I sleep.

Food today was a Vitatop muffin and avocado for breakfast.  Lunch was a Kashi bar, a tomato, and cherries.  Dinner was chicken and veggies...I know boring but I love it!!


Talk to you later. 

I need my relaxation to last longer

I stayed up all night, I just could not sleep so around 7:00 am I had breakfast which was cherries and a Kashi bar.   I took C to school at 8:00 am and then stopped at the grocery store and picked up an avocado and tomatoes and that was my lunch.  I was suppose to wake F up when I got home but I was distracted by the conference calls that I had this morning, so sadly he missed a Dr's appointment.  I spent the rest of the day working.  I picked C up at the aftercare program with her dance bag and then it was on the road to dance.  One she was settled in, I headed out and went to Yoga.  I did the full bow again today.  Yeah for me..

Then clas was over, so it ws back to dance class and I see C sitting on the floor watching Ballet..It seems that she hurt her knee.  Argh!!! I gave her some motrin and we will see how it feels in morning.   So it is 9:00 pm, and I need to eat dinner..

But when it is all said and done, I really do love my life and those who cause me frustration.  I just need to let it go and realize that I can not change other people...

Talk to you later....since it is time eat!!

Sorry life has been busy...

So lets start with my hard news...I gained half a pound this week...I have no clue why, I ate healthy and exercised.  So I am taking it as a blip on the screen and seeing how I do next week. 

Life has been busy, but I have been making sure to take time for myself..  I went to Yoga yesterday and had a great time. 

I have been eating healthy, lots of fruits and veggies.   I find that I really enjoy eating healthy is really quite easy when I am home.  I love the reactions that I have been getting a C's school.   I think I shocked her teacher from last year when she saw me today.   I have lost a whole person after all...I can not believe that I have hit the 2/3's mark in my weight loss.  I have about 70 pounds left to go and I have lost 151...OMG this is so amazing. 

I had a vita-top muffin for breakfast and lunch was a Kashi bar and some cherries. 

I have no idea about dinner yet, but I will figure it out.

Talk to you later.

It is expensive to eat healthy and EARTHQUAKE!!!

I know I have said this before but it really is expensive to eat healthy!!!  I had a  black cherry peach no fat no sugar blue corn muffing this morning. I had basically back to back meetings this morning, but during the one short break that I had...my desk began to shake and the floor began to quake and it lasted for a short while....I asked what was THAT??  It was an earthquake my co-workers said quite non chalantly.  REALLY??!!! I do not like that feeling at all!!! I tried to just calm down..and luckily I had another meeting to go to in order to distract me. 

We went out as a group to lunch to celebrate my co-worker S's Birthday.  We went to a new restaurant about 2 blocks from our office.  It was a gorgeous restaurant.  I ordered the Roasted Asparagus for $9 and a small Salad for another $11 dollars and with my Diet coke my lunch total was $26 dollars.  Meanwhile some of my co-workers got mice hamburgers or the Farro, lentil, Mushroom burger with fries or a salad for around the same price.  As I sat there munching my 5 spears of Asparagus and my salad I could not help thinking we are paying the same price and they are getting twice as much food.  Is my lettuce and asapargus really that much more expensive???  The craziest part is that I could have bought food for C, F, and I at McDonald's for the same amount of money....That is just crazy to me.

Dinner was a cereal bar, a tomato, and some cherries.  I am so glad that I can afford to buy fresh fruits and vegetables. 

Well...here is praying that I do not feel anymore shaking and quaking tonight!!

Talk to you later!!! Take Care..

Another work day and total exhaustion!!

I was so totally exhausted yesterday that I fell asleep very early last night and then woke up at 2:00 in the morning and could not fall back to sleep.  ARGH!!! I was tired all day today!  It was a pretty good food day.  I had a Bosenberry peach scone this morning, I had a salad with grilled chicken without the cheese or croutons for lunch.  I offered to go pick up lunch just so I could get a walk in and get some fresh air.  For dinner I had a tomato, a frozen weight watcher frozen meal, and some cherries for dessert. 

I love the compliments that I get about how good I look, but I am still having those days when I look in the mirror and I see the flaws.  Mainly it is the loose skin that I know will never allow my stomach to look flat, until I have it removed.  So for now it is a matter of wearing clothes that hide those flaws.  On the other hand I proud of those flaws!!  Yes I have loose skin but it is better than skin stretched tightly by fat.  I have energy and the ability to move and stretch my body better than I have ever done in the past!!  I am stronger and happier with my body. I proud of that loose skin because it is a testament to my hard work!!!

Well I will talk to you later!!! Take care.

Horrible travel day...and the impact.

So today started like my typical travel monday, which means being at the airport ot 5:30 in the morning.  Because of this I end up not sleeping the night before because I am busy doing laundry, organizing my family's schedule and of course packing.  I get to the airport and the check in person tells me that my flight has been delayed by 45 minutes.  I was not oncerned, but whe 45 minutes turned in to 90 minutes, turned in to 2 hours, turned into 3 hours, turned into 4 hours....I was exhausted and grumpy and trying not to fall asleep by myself in a busy airport.  The airline offered food vouchers but there was nothing for me to eat there anyway, so I had one of the Kashi bars in my bag at around 7:30.  We finally took off at 11:30 and I fell asleep as soon as I felt the plane take off.  I had another Kashi bar when I woke up right as were getting ready to land in LA arounf 1:30 PT.   I got to work around 3:00 pm...what a waste of day.. I worked for three hours and then off to the hotel.  I did not want to order food tonight but could not face having another Kashi bar, so I walked across the street to the grocery store and pick up a tomato, an avocado, and frozen Weight Watcher meal and Cherries for dessert. 

I hate putting a lot of calories at the end of  the day, but I was hungry.  I am now chilling out and relaxing.

I am exhausted now but I am trying to stay up a couple of hours so that I can allow my Metabolism to burn through some of those calories before sleeping.

Talk to you later...and I hoe your day was better than mine.

Perfect way to spend my sunday evening

I had a fabulous Sunday, not because I went out to a nice restaurant or because I went shopping, but because I had a pretty relaxing day with my family.  I had a Kashi bar and a nectarine for breakfast.  Lunch was some cucumber and tomato salad.  Dinner was chicken and veggies and an avocado.  

I spent the morning watching the olympics.  I think I am finally starting to understand Water Polo.  Not sure if that is a good thing but I have watched enough games.  That was followed by volleyball, eqestarian, and beach volleyball.   At 4:30, I headed out for a Yoga class.  I had a great time and felt so good at the end of the class.  It prepared me for a week in LA and reminded me that I have a routine that I can do in the hotel room.  Once I finished Yoga, it was off to do a little grocery shopping and then home to watch the Saints play.  I am taping the Olympics to watch after the game is over. 

I have a couple more things to do and of course a few more clothes to wash before I am ready to pack.  I am predicting that I will be up all night and then sleep on the plane as usual.   I  have alot to get done this week. 

I am a little sad because C starts school on Thursday and I will not be there, but it is the fact of my life that I can not always be in town for these things.  I will be there for the first full week though and that will give me an opportunity to meet her teacher. 

I am going to spend time with my husband and enjoy my evening...

Talk to later..take care!!

Weigh in results.

I lost a pound this week...and if that was all I knew I might have been frustrated but luckily they have that fancy scale that shows how much is Fat, Water, and Muscle mass.  I gained a pound of muscle this week and also had a pound more of fluid.  I knew I was retaining fluid so I am expecting that it will all even out next week.  My total 9 month total weight loss in 151 pounds.  I could never have imagined 9 months ago that I would be over 150 pounds lighter!!  I am a size 18 on the bottom and a size 12/14 on the top.  I have lost a whole person and gained a new me.  The new me likes to exercise and move! 

Today is another busy weekend with a birthday party and some more shopping to do for C's school that starts next week. 

I will try and blog again later tonight.

Talk to you later and take care.

I did a Full Bow!!!

I went to my fifth yoga class in five days.  I had one of those moments tonight that I can use to prove to myself that I am stronger and better for going on this weight loss journey and the impact that yoga has had on my body.  When I started Yoga I could not do a Half  Bow.  That is where you are laying on the floor you bend your leg and reach back with your hand and grab your ankle.  A couple of months ago I was finally able to do the half bow, but the Full Bow NO WAY!! Well tonight, I did the half bow and when it was time to try the full bow and reached back and what happened....My hand met my ankle and I suddenly I was in FULL BOW!!!  We held it for a little while as I shouted in my head, I DID IT!!!  MY BODY HAS GAINED THE ABLITY TO DO IT!!!   So just in case you have no clue what I am talking about and can not visualize it...This is what it looks like!!

I am sure that I did not look as effortless as person looks, but I did it and I held it!!!


Earlier in the day, I stopped by C's school to pick up the AfterCare registration form for this school  year and when the school secretary that also runs the after care program came out of her office, she saw me and her mouth dropped open and she said "C's Mom????"  I said "Yeah"   She came around the counter to hug me and tell me how great I look.    She then asked me how I did it...  I love sharing my story!!  I promised to send her the link to my blog, so I can not forget to do that!!!

So Food today was a Vita-Top Blueberry Oat muffin and some tomato.  Lunch was another Vita-Top and some cherries.  Dinner came after yoga and was some chicken and vegetable and some cucumber. 


I am watching the Olympics right now so I am going to end this blog and watch these athletes excel!!

Talk to you later!! Take Care!

Day 4 of the Yoga challenge.

So after the migraine hit last night, I was not sure that I was going to be up for Yoga today.  Then I had the day from hell, with work all piling up and my head was hurting.  I only took a break to run and pick up C from Theater Camp.  I had 2 hours before we had to leave for Soccer camp and it just could not make my fingers fly fast enough!! I kept trying to hurry, but I was touching things that if they were messed up would cause major issues. Luckily F was home and offered to take C to soccer camp and encouraged me tojust go to yoga. 

I finished my time sensitive work with 20 minutes to go until Yoga would start and I decided I needed to go, so I packed myself into the car and drove very fast to Yoga studio and got there just as class was scheduled to start.   I took a deep breath and decided that I was going to have a good class and I did.  I loved it!!! I felt so strong.  I am getting better every time I go to class!!

Food today was a little boring!!  A vitatop muffin for breakfast.  A kashi bar and a nectarine for lunch.  Chicken and Veggies for dinner.


My song inspiration today came in the form of a Phillip Phillips song...I did not really like him on American Idol he just seemed so bland to me, but his song "Home" had lyrics that spoke to me and reminded me that it is all about how you look at things and the decisions that you make in your life....and the Lyric is......."Settle Down..It'll all be clear. Don't pay no mind to the demons, They fill you with fear. The trouble it might drag you down.  If you get lost, you can always be found.  Just know you are not alone!"   I know I am not alone in the journey, because I have all of my friends supporting me and helping me along the way!! So I thank all of you!!!

Talk to you later and take care!!!