I’m Maryfran, a down to earth, open and honest writer who has had incredible success with weight loss (150 pounds) and also a regain. I’m currently on a weight loss journey and working to lose my weight. I write a little about everything....life is so interconnected and all encompassing! Belief is the key to success in life and how I came up with my name for my sites! Believe!
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Crazy topsy turvy 24 hours
They haven't' declared it a tornado yet (it would have been a week one if it was.....mostly trees and power line damage....although a few houses and buildings sustained some damage. Whatever it was.....it was powerful.
So, my weight was up a bit today....only about a pound. It could be water. It could be the fact that I ate really late last night. Who knows. I had no choice but to eat a big breakfast out this morning. (well...we don't' have many choices of restaurants locally to Sharpsburg......not unless we want to drive a gazillion miles). I also couldn't exercise this morning. I didn't want to get all hot and sweaty. I already feel grungy enough without having water at our house (no power equals no water in the country). Luckily, right as I left the house this morning to come to work, the power flickered back on! WOO HOOOO!
I'm not going to worry about my weight. It just means that I will have to be super diligent from here on out to make sure that I stay on track to have my first successful week of maintenance. I WILL DO IT!
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
The good news just keeps piling on!
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
A reminder of how far I've come
weigh in results
Above is a picture of my 64 ounce water jug. I actually have two of these. This one and a blue tinted one that is more clear. I carry one of these jugs around with me pretty much everywhere. In fact, it is becoming my 'trademark'. One day I was working at the drive through but happened to step away from my desk. One of my co-workers greeted the customer. Well, when I walked back and talked to the customer this person was like, "I wondered where you were...I saw your mug but you weren't here" OH my......I'm known for my water jug!
A picture of me in my size TEN dress. WOo hooo!!! Size ten. I am still in shock that me, the girl that at my highest weighed in at about 315 pounds is wearing a size ten!!!!
Well, enough on that. I was so super nervous when I stepped onto the scale at my meeting tonight. I lost a whopping 8.2 pounds! 8.2 pounds in ONE week! Oh my word! How in the heck-er-oonie did I do that? That puts me at 179...which is under the doctor set goal weight for myself! So, I officially made it to my weight watchers goal! 6 weeks of maintaining that weight (or under) and I'll be at lifetime! Woo hooo! I"ll have to see if I can get a picture of my goal charm thingy that I got tonight!!!
Beauty


I was actually not standing between two trees....but ON one tree that formed a big "V"! (Todd didn't get that part in the picture)
The other picture is one of Lockhouse and lock 37. It's from the east, looking west with obviously the lock in the foreground and the lockhouse in the distance.
Ohhh, what a beautiful morning, ohhh what a beautiful day! Ok, I'll stop singing now....not because I don't' want to scare you...but because I don't know the rest of the words to that song! Tee hee hee.
My morning. Woke up as usual (darn...I wish I my body would let me sleep in) at around 5AM. I laid in bed for a bit and then decided to push myself and exercise. Got a ride in and was feelin' good! I had breakfast, put some dishes away and had checked my email by the time Todd rolled out here. He asked if I wanted to go for a walk. OF course! We went down to lock 3 on the C & O Canal (Chesapeake and Ohio) . What a grand day for walking. Todd was comfortable in shorts. Me, the one that is always cold felt great in jeans, a tee shirt and a sweatshirt! Got to play a bit with my camera...nothing spectacular. But fun none-the-less.....and we are always adding to our collection of canal pics so it was all good.
My weight this morning. OHhh yes....my weight. I dropped another one. Yep, I'm down to 178.6. Now this is SERIOUSLY the lowest I have ever been as an adult!!! I remember once in school (either 8th grade or my freshman year of high school) being weighed and being 178! WOO HOOOO! SOOOO it's looking good for my weigh in tonight! I may just make it to goal!
Monday, June 02, 2008
Hello arthritis
Dear Mr. Arthur-itis,
Thank you for visiting me today to remind me what I used to deal with on a regular basis. I have been wondering where you went. I was honestly hoping that you had moved on to your next victim. However, I realize that that is not how you operate and that I will have to suffer through your occasional visits. I am happy to realize how much I was able to negate the devastating effects that you had on my body simply by losing weight and adding physical fitness into my life. I'm sure you remember how I used to sit and rub my knees during the day, or how I would cry in bed at try to move so that the constant ache was eased. Ohhhh the sound of my knees creaking and popping......all but a distant memory, except for these little reminders. I hear people talk about how their doctors told them to exercise in order to ease arthritis they in turn and say, "that's crazy, because moving hurts". Oh my how sad that makes me. You see, the doctors are dead on correct....it doesn't eliminate, but it sure help! I can now go months with no issues, where as before pain was a daily occurrence.
Please Mr. Arther-itis, please feel free to leave and not come back! I won't miss you at all.
MaryFran
More weight gone!
A friend and I were talking this morning via email. She remarked on my exercise. (I had mentioned that I had gotten a ride out of the way early this morning....this morning twas a shorter ride at 7.47 miles...yesterday was longer..and she was commenting on both). She was like, 100 pounds ago would you have ever thought you would be doing this. I had to answer and say, "yes, I was still somewhat active" (thank goodness I never let myself go that far). BUT the difference was that a 5 mile ride would have knocked me flat for the rest of the day. I'd be exhausted and just worn out. NOW, I get up and ride double, and triple that (sometimes even quadruple), I get off the bike and I'm rarin' to go. Today I was cleaning the house and listening to music...and literally dancing around. ME...jumping and dancing???? It is a testament to my physical health. Amazing!
Sunday, June 01, 2008
a few more pics
Sunday Surprise



I woke up at 5:30 or so. I laid in bed until 6 and then hit that exercise bike. Did 14.2 miles. Todd did tell me that we would be doing some walking today......and to take the cameras. (batteries are all charged and ready to go) SO I'll get some more exercise in there also! :-) Well, I've breakfasted, and answered my emails. I think I'm gonna go lay in bed with my snoozin' husband and read a while! Sounds like a good plan to me!
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Just playin' around tonight
A picture of my baby Ethel!
Is this what smells so wonderful in my yard? I was out there sniffing trying to track it down!
A corn planter that is half buried by weeds on the edge of our property.What I did ante up the points for......the new Weight Watchers chocolate Chip cookies. They weren't all that bad. Yeah, I'd prefer my homemade ones (or mom's...but that's the same as mine). BUT, then I end up with a big bowl of cookie dough staring me in the face...and then a whole batch of cookies to contend with. These are individually wrapped and it wasn't all that bad. I won't mind working on that box.....managed carefully and eaten over the next few weeks!
I woke up this morning at around 5AM (5:02 to be exact). I didn't want to move! SO, I just laid in bed, snuggling under the covers until about 5:40. Felt good to be a bum! Side note of funniness. As I was laying there I moved a little bit. Todd was laying next to me (obviously) and he rolled over practically on top of me and held me down and whispered "Do not fidget or move". Well, I couldn't because he was holding me down. I just lay there and he relaxed after a few.......I didn't fidget for a while...lol. I have no clue what he was dreaming about...but I received my instructions. Anyway, at around 5:40 I got out of bed, went to the bathroom (that's when I weighed myself...woo hooo), grabbed my headphones off my desk and onto the exercise bike I hopped. I rode for about 30 minute......yep, watched the next episode of my the biggest loser while riding. I was off the bike, in and out of the shower and ready for work at 7AM. I was productive with that time. I did a few dishes (I had forgotten my containers from my lunch box last night when I did dishes....and I cleaned a few things out of the refridge), I updated my coupon book, finished my grocery list, and organized some files of recipes. Oh yeah, exciting morning. Now here I am at work.
Todd's plans for today did get cancelled. I think we are going to go see the new Indiana Jones movie. I've heard conflicting things about it....that it's neat to see the characters from the previous movies...but the plot is a little lame. Hmmm who knows. I think we'll see it regardless. I want to walk through the mall and go into the camera store. I've been pondering a new camera for a while....I'm thinking I'm gonna go for it! (Todd's given his ok). And I'll probably get my groceries while in town. I want to run into Sam's Club also.
Candy and bad for me stuff at the movies. The popcorn I can resist from buying. The hard part will be if Todd wants it. Because if he is sitting beside me nibbling.....eii yii yii...that is when I'll find it hard to resist! BUT I will. I do not want to undo my great weight from this morning! If I can hold that weight, it will put me 4.8 pounds from being at goal at my meetings! Woah...I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that I may get to lifetime SOON!
Uhhh yeah, I guess the camera will be my goal/lifetime reward. :-)
Friday, May 30, 2008
Heart Rate Information
So, I found this today...and blatantly stole it from a friend, Thanks Tom if you read this!
Maximum Heart Rate
The simple formula and one most commonly used is:
220 - your age = MHR
In may case that would be:220 - 35 = 185
However, the scientific community uses your weight and some other unknowns to get a more accurate MHR. Let's see how close the two are.
Formula: 210 - 1/2 age - (0.11 Xs personal weight + 4) = MHR
Using the same guinea pig again (me)
210 - 17.5 - (0.11 X 185 + 4) = MHR
192.5 - (20.35 + 4) = MHR
192.5 - 24.35 = MHR
168.15 = MHR
Hmmmm.........that is actually close to what my 85% goal is when I calculate and figure out the zone that I should be working using age and resting heart rate.
Which to use???? Which to use???? I don't' like decisions!
OK, one last thing that I'm going to add here...something else I have ripped off from Tom....these question and answer segments! They just about made me roll! Funny because that kinda parallel the thinking that made me fat in the first place! Anything to rationalize my weight and why I was doing such unhealthy things to my body! Regardless...read and enjoy the way out there thinking!
Maybe I should call these (not so) Healthy Tips!
Question: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?
Answer: You must understand logical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay & corn. And these are? That's right, vegetables! So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass (green leafy vegetables). And pork chop can give you 100% of your RDA of vegetable products.
Question: I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life; is this true?
Answer: Your heart is only good for so many beats and that's it...don't waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that's like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap!
Woo hoooo it's Friday!
The library.
The living room.
Me in the kitchen.Thursday, May 29, 2008
Thursday and a headache..what a day
The rules:1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself.
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post and list their names, linking to them.
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.
I"m not going to tag anyone, but if you are reading this and want to participate, your more then welcome!
Five Things About Me:
1. I have four cats. Lucy, Ethel, Desi and Jody (Jody was already named when I got her, I refer to her as Jod-i-fred to keep the I Love Lucy theme)
2. I tend to jump from job to job. I get bored with what I'm doing and that means it's time to change 'careers'. (Right now I'm a bank teller.....far cry from my college degree in elementary education.)
3. I'm a city girl that is slowly becoming accustomed to the life as a country girl. Amazingly, I"m finding that I love certain aspects.
4. I'm really really really afraid of mice and bats. (and other creepy crawlies)
5. I love to cook and try new recipes!
Well, there you have it.
I'm really really struggling tonight. I just can't seem to get enough food into my body! What's up with this. I want to keep eating. I know that there is no way that I can truely be hungry, yet I want to continue eating. I've eaten pretzels and some almonds! OH yeah and a piece of chocolate......just a little piece. It makes no sense. I just got good news that puts me REALLY close to making goal with weight watchers. YOu'd think that that would totally cause me to jump up and down with excitement and buckle down to get there! It's having the opposite affect. I just want to eat more! This is NOT good!!!!! I'm refusing to eat any more tonight!!!!! I'm just not going to do it!!!
So what's up with this? Is there any rhyme or reason to this? Am I afraid of reaching that magical goal? WHAT WHAT WHAT???
Todd had the bikes our and ready when I got home. I walked in the door and he was like, "lets go." I asked him how he felt......he said he was still feeling pretty bad but he wanted to go. SO go we did. WELL, after we were out on the bikes, he admitted that he didn't eat lunch....because he was afraid it would make him sick and he then wouldn't be able to ride. So not only was he feeling sick to his stomach...but he was weak from not eating! OK, I love my husband but wherein the world was his mind?????? He made it about 2.5 miles before we had to turn around. SO I got in about 5 miles. I came home and set about to ride the exercise bike to make up the difference. Well, as I've mentioned, I utilize the laptop to watch videos on Youtube while I ride. FOr some reason the interenet was really sluggish....or youtube was sluggish...somthing was sluggish. I couldn't watch my video. Well, that just blew my mind and I ended up going about 2 miles more before quiting. It is neat to see how motivated I am to watch that show...motivated to ride like a demon while I'm watching.
Exercise and onion rings?
Got my water all ready this morning. (Took my vitamins also) and what did I do? I walked out the door without it! I'm like totally lost without my water jug! Yeah, I'll be able to continue using it when I get home. HOWEVER, here at work, I'm forced to use the styrofoam cups that we have beside the water cooler. At least we have them....BUT, I like my water jug?
Ok, I'm done whining about the water now! I'll move on to my weight. Well, wait, I didn't step on the scales this morning, so nothing to say about that.
And a recipe for those of you out there that loves to try new things......Baked Onion Rings.
One big sweet vidalia onion
flour
egg white (or egg substitute)
seasoned bread crumbs
Spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray and preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Place the flour, egg whites and bread crumbs in three separate bowls. Peel and slice the onion, separating the slices into individual rings. Dip each ring first in the flour, then the egg mixture and finally the bread crumbs. Making sure to coat it thoroughly. Place breaded ring flat on the baking sheet. Repeat with each ring. Bake 20 minutes or until onion rings are crispy and cooked through.
I usually do one onion for my husband and I. It gives us plenty with some left over. The amounts of flour, egg white and bread crumbs varies with the size of the onion. I usually just start with what I think looks good...and add to as I need. :-)
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
A gain
I have been doing really good with my healthy habit challenge of remembering my multi-vitamin. I was a bit worried because I"ve been trying to take it as soon as I wake up in the morning....however today I waited until I came home from having my bloodwork done. BUT, I remembered! :-)
I've been busy today. I woke up at around 5:30. I started cleaning the house. At maybe 7 or so I was almost done so I sat down and answered a few emails and such. At 8 I headed off to get my bloodwork done. BY nine I was back home. I changed my clothes and headed outside. Or technically out to the screened in porch. I painted until about 1 or 2 (stopping for lunch of course). I then took the garbage from inside OUT. Pulled the garbage from the cans, put new bags in the cans, gathered some construction garbage and bagged it up...and drug the bags to the roadside. I came back in from that and Todd looked at me and was like, "Your a machine". hopped on the exercise bike and logged some mileage/time on there before finally heading to the shower. :-) Todd and I then relaxed and played a little xbox together. LIke I said..busy day. Pretty soon I have to start breading onions for some baked onion rings. Mom and dad are coming to dinner tonight. I'm having grilled chicken (it's been marinating since last night), baked onion rings, and corn. MOm is bringing a salad and some fruit. A nice healthy meal.
Last night I was a bit bothered. I was chit chatting with the receptionist at my meeting and she was fine. AND then I gave her my doctors note. OH my word....she turned cool and snippy. What the heck? THey dont' get paid on commision do they? LOL Oh well..I don't really care.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
A new goal to work towards!
Number one: after visiting the doctor the ick arrived. A week early, uninvited..but oh well. So that will account for a few of those ten pounds that's I've gained in the last 2 weeks...ok maybe 2 of them.
Number two: I am having the bloodwork done. I'll be going tomorrow mornign first thing as this is a fasting type of bloodwork. So I won't have the results from that for a few. I'm having my cholesterol checked, my thyroid checked, something called a metabolic panel..and one other test that escapes my memory. I'll go tomorrow to have the blood work taken.
Number 3: When I told the doctor that I was frustrated about working to reach a goal..and not moving, The doctor asked me what my goal was. I looked at him and was like, "I have no clue" I've never been this weight as an adult...so I'm just working toward the recommended goal for weight watchers (which is based off of the BMI) I told him "I was wondering what you recommend as I have never been on the thin side as an adult" He did some kind of calculations on the paper and looked at me and said, "As a 35 year old female, being 5'8" tall you should weigh..." Are you ready? Betweeen 160 and 180! I looked at him in shock. Because as I've mentioned on mroe than one occaision, 160 is pretty much the high end for my height...NOT the low end. I told him that. His words were,"and not to be rude, but you are not 20 years old anymore" He did say that it woudln't be impossible for me to get under that mark...but realistically I should be aiming for between 160 and 180. HOLY crapola! I told him what weight watchers was having me shoot for. He shook his head in amazement. YES...he wrote me a note to give to weight watchers so that i can to adjust my goals to match my doctors recommendation.
I will still have to get myself past that 180 barrier. But hopefully just knowing I'm right there....next to the 'goal' will ease the tension and maybe I'll pop through that barrier. And yes, between you and me, I still think it woudl be a total lark to make it to 150. :-)
The doctor, who is a big guy himself (and whom I actually haven't seen for a while, since I don't go to the doctor all that often, and the last two times I've had to see someone else in the office) just sat there in amazement...kept asking me all sorts of questions about how I did it. Actually told me that I dont' have much of a saggy skin problem. I laughed and told him that I 'hid' it well! LOL
Todd had gone with me....and the doctor noticed Todd's weight loss also.
On the way home Todd looked at me and was like, "I will do whatever needs to be done to help you get there". He went on to say that he would be doing it because it would benefit me...but it would also really be benefiting him...to help kick start him to lose more. So hopefully things will start to work. :-)
Monday, May 26, 2008
Tired and burnt!!!!!!
Uhhh needless to say, I didn't get my bike ride in today.
What did I get in today? I got in my vitamins! WOO HOOOO!
Something else I got today....a sunburn! My face is quite pink.....and my shoulders are really red! In fact, I'm wearing a sweatshirt (yeah, I"m always cold....) and the weight of the sweatshirt against my burnt skin is hurting me! Eii yii yiii. NOT good. I so need to watch the sun!
After the painting, I came in and made dinner. I had prepared some stuff in order to make a sorbet to go with dinner. OH my word, was that stuff GOOD. I've gotta look up the points....it can't be all that bad. IT's mostly fruit...with a little sugar, lemon juice and water. Put into the ice cream maker. YUMMY! I made a raspberry sorbet. Tasty tasty tasty!
Meanwhile, I'm utterly wiped out!
Emotions raging
Saturday was a crazy day. I was up early, my eating patterns were all screwed up. I was on the go from sunup to sun down and then some. Just crazy. And my eating got a little whacked out from all that....and maybe a bit of emotions. Then yesterday I was determined to be sooo strong. I did good through breakfast, and lunch and even dinner. But after dinner I went to the sofa to lay down. (I waas utterly exhausted yesterday. I went to my mom's in the afternoonand I could barely put a string of words together to make a coherent sentence.....it was bad enough that she called to make sure I was ok later that evening). Well, I laid on that sofa and the emotions kicked in......and before I knew it I had started eating! Dang stupid move I know! If it's any 'consolation', I'm paying for it this morning with a stomach ache.
Todd has to work a few days. He booked it, not even paying attention to the fact that it was to be memorial day. It's not a big deal to me. I am goign to get out there with the push mower and mow away. I did it all last year as the old riding mower was/is out of commission and we just never got around to getting a new riding mower until this spring when we actually moved over here. It will be four hours of pushign that beaast around the yard. (did I mention that my mower is old.....dad gave it to me....he hated it because it is like really heavy. I love it....it was FREE....music to my ears). Todd gets off around 2. The plan is to go for a bike ride together somewhere on the canal this afternoon. I can't wait! It should be fun. I'm just hoping that my stomach clears up so i can do all this. (If I have any extra time....I'll work on the painting on the screened in porch)
On to a good note. I have remembered my healthy habit for the challenge every day thus far. I almost didn't get it on one day....but thank you for the reminder!!!!!!
Saturday, May 24, 2008
I fell apart!
Ok....healthy habit challenge. Forgot to take my multi-vitamins this morning. I will do that when I get home. Gotta remember...gotta remember...gotta remember. Vitamin, vitamin, vitamin, vitamin vitamin, vitamin. They say if you repeat something over and over, it will stick.......vitamin, vitamin, vitamin. Heck, I don't think that's working. I give up. I'll just have to hope to remember it at home! :-)
I woke up at 5:15 this morning. I laid in bed for a few...and realized taht i was awake...wide awake. I SHOULD have gotten out of bed and exercised. The thought to actualy do it did cross my mind. HOWEVER, I laid in bed and read through an old journal of mine. Not exactly conducive to my health.
WEll......maybe more conducive then I had previously mentioned. I kow that I'm struggling with some emotional eating things. I've bene a bit down lately...and I just want to eat away the issues. I intrinsically know that eating is not the solution....but it's so much easier to fall into that old comforting routine. The reason I'm going back and rereading the journals......trying to get a handle on some of these emotions and feelings that are causing me to feel down...which causes me to eat...which causes me to feel more down. It's a vicious cycle.
I'm also wondering if the stress of these emotions are not negatively affecting my weight loss efforts. They say that cortisol is a hormone that is stress related...which negatively affects a persons metabolism and all that! Just a thought.
Oh interesting. The bag pipe group that is in the parade every year is setting up right outside my window. They said that last year that they actually practised in our parking lot.....under our drive through canopy. How interesting. I'll have 'tunes' to work by! :-)
Friday, May 23, 2008
Crazy day!
I woke up early this morning, and rode my bike this morning. Knocked 9.71 miles out. Felt good! Then here at work, I took a half hour break and walked about a mile and a half all around town. So I feel pretty good about that.
Lunch. Well, yes, they ordered it for us as a treat. And yes, I actually did order 'regular' food. I got a turkey and cheese pannini. It was scrumptious! I'll admit it. I used to always order sandwhiches when we went out to eat. I so rarely do anymore. A sandwhich out uses ups sooo many points....breaks the bank so to speak. So it was an absolute treat. I didn't eat the chips that came with it. OK, I'll admit, I did have a taste. But you know what....they weren't all that great....so I wasn't even tempted. I had brought along grapes and cherries today, so I had my cherries with my sandwich. I'll have my grapes as a snack sometime mid-afternoon. I've already planned out my evening food....and I've got it all under control!
Tomorrow is the day of our local parade. My branch (job) is riding in the parade. Should be interesting....lol The guy that is driving us down the parade route is plannign on having a cooler with water for us to drink. So what does dumb me say? "oh my...maybe I should bake something so that we have something to nibble on also!" What in the world? Am I insane???? Because not only do I not NEED something to nibble on while we ride in the parade.....I do NOT need to have the tempation of the baking in my house! Oh well....I may bake something and just chew my gum the whole time so that the unconcious action of putting food into my mouth will not derail me!
It's been a crazy day of highs and lows for me. Things were good when I got off the bike. They took a huge nose dive during a serious conversation with Todd. I got myself under control at work. And then things went belly up crazy. I had two customers at the drive through BEFORE we even opened....not to mention the rush I had right after we opened. We had 3 classes of first graders come in for a tour. They came in and have been working on removing some old lock boxes out of our vault (takes a while to do apparently as they have been doing here now for at least three hours.). Oh yes, and our downstairs bathroom here at work has been acting funny. The plumber has been here since about 9AM...it's 1:39 right now. He's been snaking it, they have had the sanitation department here snakign it past the pump into the city sewer lines. It's absolutely nutty. We are having to go next door to ask to use the restroom. Crazy. Everyone here is in a decent mood...so we've been laughing and carrying on about the 'poop' issues that we are having. I didn't know they could snake the lines for so long!!! I'm ready for some peace and quiet! My time at work is "MaryFran's" personal time. LOL It's my time to write my blog, read a book and all this stuff (between customers of course). This noise is infringing upon my peace. LOL My...what a rough job I have...tee hee hee
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Proud of me!
The manager at work yesterday told me that they are ordering out for us tomorrow to thank us for our long work hours this week. So I'll be eating lunch here. I will have a little control. But I kinda panicked about the fact that I normally a lighter meal for lunch, I'll be eating heavier than normal and Still have to go home and cook for Todd. BUT, I finally came up with a solution. Todd is wanting me to cook some sausage that he got. I had offered to make pancakes ...but realized that we are almost out of syrup (note to self...put syrup on grocery list). He was like, No problem, you can do eggs and toast. SOOOOO since I'm not a big fan of meat....and well, eggs also. I'll be able to make his (which I'll enjoy doing for him) and then eat what I want. Sounds like a perfect plan to me. Crisis averted!
Rode the exercise bike for about 40 minutes this morning. Didn't feel like I was doing well. Clocked about 12.7 miles. So I guess I didn't do all that badly. But I definitely feel as if I could have done better. I was almost tempted to stay on and watch the next episode of my show...but then I remembered the kitchen that needed my attention (I wanted to move the microwave to a different location...where it was was just KILLING the counter space in a place that I need it most!) and some other chores completed around the house before coming to work.
ARRGGGHHH the stupid mower saga. Well, it was the chipper that was giving us problems way back when we got the two stupid machines 2 months ago. Well...after like 3 or 4 swap outs, the chipper problem is solved. I've been using the mower about once a week.....and last time clatter clatter clatter clatter, every time I lifted the blade. Todd went out the other day to check it out.....he heard the noise and saw smoke, so he turned it off. This morning, since I'm the one that has used it the most, I went out to look. Oh my word, it was smoking great big puffs of black smoke! I drove it a bit around the yard...the power is like non-existent...I could barely make it move on the flat areas...much less the sloping parts of the yard. And it clattered and clanked something fierce...with the blade up or down! DANG! What it is with our luck! This is a stinking new lawn mower! LUCKILY it is warrantied through an extended service plan for 3 years......all except stupid stuff that the operator could do to damage it and general maintenance stuff. :-) I always panic though when they come under a service plan....because oh my word...what if it's something stupid I did and I end up having to pay for the service call!!! Not to mention that the grass is growing up around my arm pits from all this blasted rain! (yeah yeah, I know...come mid summer I'll be begging for rain.....) OH yeah, and did I tell you that i ran over a part on our old mower rendering it useless until it's fixed??????? STRESS city! Take deep breathes MaryFran. Breathing in......breathing out!
Day two of the healthy habit challenge! I almost forgot to take my vitamins...but I did remember and the multi and the calcium are down the hatch! Heading into day three strong! :-)
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
The eventual death of a scale
What do I watch on youtube. I'm working my way through the Austrailian, season 1 The biggest loser...which are all on youtube I will NOT let myself watch any episode unless I'm on the bike and peddling to beat the band. There have been one or two days where I'm dying to see the next episode so I keep biking. :-) every fifth workout is an hour long episode....so it changes up the routine a bit. PLUS, I'm riding and Bob and Jillian are there pushing the contestants on to work harder and it does cause me to dig a little deeper while riding. To go a bit further. To try harder. So I guess it's good for me!
So anyway, very proud of myself for pushing through it and still getting on the exercise bike! I've done good thus far today with my eating. All is under control. I am planning on having spaghetti tonight for dinner...but one, I have the points for it. And two I'm going to make sure i actually measure out my pasta!
My last words for this entry. I'm not gonna do. No indeed, I'm not gonna do it. Tomorrow I will NOT step on those scales.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Skipped Meeting
Something else happened. Tuesday morning I put on my work clothes. I'm wearing another shirt that I've had for a while and that is a bit loose. Todd looked at me and was like, "Damn, in the last month you have become really curvy and your shape is becoming more defined." He was like, is it the clothes you are wearing? I could honestly look at him and say..NOPE, these are clothes that I've been wearing for a year or so!
SO, even though I've not been losing weight, at least it's showing somewhere! The problem, we are a society that is based upon concrete things. A weight, a number on the scale, those are concrete. Something I can announce and it's all good. It's harder to measure, loose clothing, or the occaisional compliment. Yet, it's those things, the compliments the loose clothing, the reduced inches....THOSE are the things that really matter. I need to focus less on the scale and more on the physical changes in my body. OK, ok, ok, easier said then done. Especially since I'm trying get to that magical goal weight!
As for the scales. Do I weigh? Or do I not weigh throughout this week? It really is a dilema for me. I know that to weigh in every day keeps me on track and focused. However, when the scales just do stupid things its so frustrating. Oh well, I'll just play it by ear.
Just recently I read on someones blog (sorry, I can't for the life of me remember whom or even where) about a movie called Touching the Void. It struck a chord because this person mentioned a bit about the story (a mountain climber gets hurt and has to climb down with a broken leg....beating incredible odds). SHe mentioned that this guy did it by focusing on one object and reaching that object. I do this when I'm pushing myself either biking or jogging, so it really struck me. SOOOO I rushed to netflix and put it at the top of my list. It came today. Watched it....INCREDIBLE story! Yes, his focusing on the next goal and setting a time limit to help him remain focused is just amazing. HOWEVER, he knew he had to do something....beat incredible odds...no matter the cost. He ignored the pain. (as best he could) He overcame his fatalistic attitude. And he just did it. My word.....can't that be compared to weight loss. To most people to lose weight is to beat incredible odds. It hurts, physically, mentally and emotionally. And it's so easy to adopt a fatalistic attitude (yeah read my last few posts). The end is worth it. I started this because I knew that my weight was going to kill me. That makes me no different than the main character in the movie....he knew he had to do something or die. Same place I'm at mentally. Or where I was at when I started this journey. Because I knew that I had to do something because my weight was slowly killing me!
That reminds me of something that I read that was written by Lance Armstrong (the biker that battled cancer and came back to win the tour de france many times over. He said taht while training after cancer, the pain of training paled in comparison to the pain of battling cancer. He had stared death in the face and intense training had NOTHING on it.
Beating the odds is truely mental.
I faced the scales and what did I get????
I haven't weighed myself yet this morning. I have tried to stay away from the scales for the last few days. It was actually becoming counter-productive. It was dragging me down. I"m really worried about what the results may be. I haven't been crazy out of control, however I know that I haven't eaten as WELL as I Could have. I know that the eating not quite as well as I could have has stemmed from two things. Number one, I weighed myself one day and the scales just jumped up with no cause....I fought the urge to become all fatalistic and just say screw it all. and Number two...I'm still down about a situation in my life. So I"m fighting emotional eating! Lovely! Ohhh and something else that is making my weight a bit skewed and off kilter I"m sure (or will be when I hop on the scales)...my body is all whacked out.....things are not being eliminated regularly.....and that can seriously affect weight. OH well.....we take the good and we take the bad. (dang, can I just keep singing the Facts of LIfe theme song? Remember that show???)
Well, TOdd and I were going to go for a walk this morning. HOwever, it's raining. AGAIN. I know I know I know. Come the middle of summer we will be BEGGING for rain, and I'll be writing stuff like, "If it would just rain!" I'm never happy..tee hee hee. OH yeah, and the cold. This is the coldest May. We are literally what...two weeks? from June and it's dang cold out there! What's up with this????? I want warm weather. I'm so tired of being cold. I'm cold all the time. 60 degree weather makes me cold. Heck, I"m cold in my house, I"m cold outside. I"m just dang cold! The hot weather has seemed to be the only time that my appendages (fingers and toes especially) are not icicles! That is the only negative about losing weight that I have found. (I lost weight and now I"m ALWAYS cold. I've talked to a few other people that have also experienced this phenominan) Anyway, that long ramble to say that I guess I"ll have to ride the exercise bike.
OK, I just did it. I went to weigh myself. I didn't want to leave myself hanging about my weight (tee hee hee) Last Teusday I weighed in at 180.8 on my home scales. ~which equated to 179.8 on the weight watchers scales~~ This morning......183.8. That is a three pound gain! THREE FREAKIN POUNDS! What is it about the 180 pound barrier. I can get myself to 180 point...briefly...and then my weight just pops back up. Absolutely devastating to my morale.
Which brings me to my next subject. I have been debating about going to my meeting tonight. My first debate was because of all the hours that I"m working this week....it's a crazy week at work. MF do overtime? RARE RARE RARE...but not this week! we are talking like LOTS of hours extra..first to get me to a fulltime status (I only work part time normally) and then tons more to push me into the overtime bracket. Means a nice paycheck...but it means that MF's life is crazy. I"m used to having all sorts of time to do things around the house and to help my husband. ANd it does take time to log the mileage that I"ve been putting up on my exercise log. SO I debated about going from that standpoint....timewise. BUT the main thing is the weight. I honestly don't want to go....I'm disgusted.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Struggling
I'm not sure what the scales will hold for me tomorrow! I am going to weigh myself tomorrow regardless. I'll admit that if it's really bad I may not go to my weight watcher meeting. I know that is bad. REally bad. If it's somewhat close, I'll probably go. Oh heck, I need to face up to it either way. I guess it will depend on my mood tomorrow.
Got up this morning. And before I even left the bed I had decided that I would ride the exercise bike in the morning and then peddle to work. SO I did a more leisurly ride on the exercise bike ....just 6.61 miles. And yes, I did follow through and ride to work. Dang it was cold and windy! Luckily I had planned ahead and wore pants, a teeshirt and a sweatshirt! Changed into work clothes when I arrived at work and then back into my riding clothes at the end of the day. All was good! :-)
Nothing else exciting happening here. Oh wait...yes....our NEW lawn mower is making funky noises!!!!! What the heck....are we cursed? At least we bought the extended warranty...but still....waiting for it to get fixed the grass will grow up around my ears!
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Friday victory!
Today looking at my eating I have to look at it relatively. I don't feel as if I've been bad. Especially when I look at what I would have 'previously' before this new lifestyle would have eaten. We went out to Hoss's. I ate probably more than I normally do now...but soooo much better than previously. OK...I just wrote it down in my journal. With my dinner....I am actually only 1 point over for today. That's not bad! And knowing that I didnt blow my whole day, will make it that much easier for me to not eat poorly tonight and snack away! I was actually proud of myself. I had picked up a piece of garlic bread to eat. It looked sooooo good...all buttery and toasty. BUT, when I tasted it..they had put too much garlic on it......it wasnt bad..but it didn't taste good. I ate a bite..and put it aside and didn't touch it again. Likewise, I had gotten some applesauce for my dessert (off the salad bar). I tasted it...and it tasted like crap. (OK, it also wasn't bad...but I'm used to my own homemade applesauec..and nothing compares to homemade/home canned applesauce). I took one bite and decided that even though it was a fruit...it wasn't worth it! I put that aside.
Todd and I walked through the mall after lunch. I bought two more skirts today. They are really cute. I can't wait to wear them. :-) Theywere on sale at JcPenney's....but one get one for a dollar. Not too bad. So I basically got them about $15 a piece. They are adorable. I actually saw them last week when I was shopping with mom...but I Couldn't find them when we first walked through the store. I saw them on the way out of hte mall (we had parked outside of Penney's)...but by that time I had spent my money and I was tired. I didn't feel like trying anything else on! I'll admit...I went into the mall with the thought of getting the skirt today. And I went ahead and just got two....I'd be a fool to pay full price for one and ignore the second one that I could get for a buck! :-) Straight up size 12! It seems as if I'm a solid size 12. WOO HOOO!
Ohhh yeah, then we walked by B MOss. I saw the most adorable sundress in the window. It was a white background with red flowers all over it. ABSOLUTELY adorable. I went in to try it on. They had a size 10 and a size 14. The 14 was too big...the 10 was too small. It was 50% off also. Shucks! Oh well...that still woul dhave been $40. And I haven't even worn this last sundress that I bought! LOL
Todd and I went into the dreaded yucky walmart. Got a few things in there....and hightailed it out of there as quickly as possible. After walmart we headed to Martins to get our groceries. Nope, I don't do groceries at walmart. I won't lie and say that I"ve never done it...but we go mostly organic and natural. In our area, Martins is pretty much the best mainstream grocery store for buying that kind of product. Groceries bought, we came home...I put everything away, cleaned my produce/fruit (this week it's bananas, apples, grapes, cherries, and strawberries...yummy) and whipped up a batch of watergate salad for Todd. I sat around a bit talking to todd....adn now here I am. YEp, my day has just been super exciting hasn't it? Woo hooo. It was nice to get out though.
I really should get on the exercise bike tonight. But I think I'm going to skip it tonight. I've ridden like a demon this week. I will get back on tomorrow...without fail! :-)
Emotionally, I'm feeling really blue. Nothing too much about my weight. Yeah, I'm disgusted that my weight is flucuating...but I'm not too worried about it...I'm going to muscle through the 180 wall that is before me. It's just life in general. HOnestly I'll also admit that my mind is stuck and dwelling on a problem that I face in my daily life. ANd that just sucks the joy from me. I know it happens...and I know that just recognizing it should make it easier to shake these feelings from me......but it's so much easier said than done.
Even though I'm blue and down though...I refuse to let it suck my self confidence again!!!!
Friday, May 16, 2008
The excuse for my weight issues!!!

Come on 10AM...so I can go to work!

Thursday, May 15, 2008
Thursday evening check in
We had pancakes for dinner tonight. I had a huge portion. However, I'm not too worried. I had the points for them. AND, knowing that I was going to have pancakes tonight, I watched my carb intake today. NO toast for me. :-)
Tomorrow is a pot luck at work. I am a bit worried. I was goign to forgo it totally. I mean, I was goign to take something...just not eat. And the teller supervisor had a fit saying things like, "You ARE going to eat" and stuff like that. SHe was like, "You can have a little of everything" The problem being...I know me..I can't just stop with a 'little' of everything. That is the problem. If I start, I will not be able to stop. SOOOOOO to appease everyone, I'm taking a fruit tray and a fruit dip. As long as I stay away from the fruit dip, I"ll be ok! I plan on having ONE serving of fruit dip. :-) I am losing weight. There is NO way I want to mess that up! NO way! It's taken me soooo long to get the weight going down.
Just a thought!
It's all about rebuilding a self image. I need to take a look at my achievments and feel a sense of accomplishment in them. I need to be the girl that CAN and I need to be the girl that DOES! NOt the girl that quits because it's hard. I need to change my perspective!
That just totally hit me.....That is something that just hit me within the last few weeks. SO to hear it coming at me (from the biggest loser austrailian season 1...episode 31) was a good reminder that I'm on track.
Meanwhile, my weight is going down a bit! WOO HOOO! I actually rode the bike this morning. 18.3 miles! INstead of doing two separate rides...I just did a long one! :-) THus far this week, two days in; my mileage is at 37.62 miles! Awesome!
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
A day off well spent....now I"m well spent
Dinner...what the heck. I made scalloped potatoes. I've made this recipe a million ga-jillion times. ANd I was soooo hungry. SO when it was time to eat and I served them up....ick...they were still hard. Ok, they weren't hard...they just weren't totally soft. What's up with that. They were in the oven the full length of time...actually even longer than should be. ARRGGHHH OH well...everything else was tasty.
Hopefully my day of activity will show pleasant results on the scales tomorrow! This morning, I was only down .2 pounds from my yesterday morning home weight (yesterday was 180.6.....today was 180.4) I can't wait until I actually see the 170's on my home scales also! THen I will KNOW that I"m there.
Talking to Todd about my reward that I set for myself for the 170's. It was to go away on a day trip. I still want to do it. But we have soooo much dang work around the house here. And we have a self imposed deadline to get it done. SO all our time off gets sucked into these projects. I'm going to reward my self with the clothes taht I bought on Sunday. And give myself a little shopping trip every 5 pounds as a reward. :-) ONce we get some of these projects off our plates, then I"ll revisit the idea of going on a day trip! We'll see. The car stero is still my 164 goal though!
I'm planning on making pancakes and canadian bacon for a meal tomorrow. That sounds SOO Good to me. MY mouth is watering just thinkign about it. Yes, I'll eat healthy the rest of the day to compensate for it! AND exercise to beat the band. I"m actually hoping to get two rides in tomorrow. I watch the biggest loser austrailian season one while riding on the indoor bike currently. Tomorrow should be a normal 30 minute episode. And that would put me in line for an hour long episode on Friday. HOWEVER, with my work...it would be best for me to do a shorter ride on Friday. SOOO I"m going to try to ride twice tomorrow 1.5 hours. :-) We'll see. Honestly, like normal, I"ll be happy with one ride :-)
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Tuesday update
SOOOOOO now that I have wasted all this time......lets cut to the chase. My most unrealistic (yet still plausible with a long stretch of my imagination...hopes and dresams) was for me to make it to the 170's. I thought that after the icing incident that it was shot. This morning I kinda hoped, but I didn't want to think about it too overly much. Well, tonight I weighed in at 179.8. I squeeked into the 170's! I made it. Now I've just got to STAY here! I can do it! And I will do it! These last two weeks have been collosal weeks of weight loss for me. I know and fully expect my weight loss to slow down a bit. I'm ok with that...as long as it remains going down nice and steady! This also puts me at 15 pounds from my weight watchers goal!!! Woo hooo! I'm rolling now! :-)




