My day in pictures

I started my day almost exactly as I normally do.....on the exercise bike. I will admit that since I didn't have anything pressing, that I read in bed until 7:30! I felt so decadent! (I'm usually on the bike by 5:30! I knocked out 10 miles in 30 minutes. And then called it quits knowing that I would be having a super busy day!
While getting dressed I realized that I hadn't done laundry in ....ohhh a long time. SO I did laundry and filled up my lines. It's GREAT having super long lines (well...except for the sag...but as you can see the straight tree limbs every 20 feet or so seem to work just perfectly!) 4 loads of laundry complete! (oh yeah, and the bed made also!)
Oh joy...the chipper revisited! I had almost forgotten how much fun I have with this thing! Yes, please take note of the sarcasm! It was slightly better today though, as we bought some earplugs since the last time I used the chipper! I chipped for about 5 hours! That entails walking to the piles of limbs, bending over to grab a limb, pull it free and drag it back to the chipper. Then I had to shove that sucker down the chute (or into the hopper, depending on the size of what I was chipping). Tiring after a while...let me tell you! Not to mention the injury sustained while using the chipper....more on that later.
As if the chipping wasn't enough. I then decided to work on painting the deck and the floor of the screened in porch! Oh yes, and the steps leading to the deck also of course! After painting I headed inside. I showered and folded all the laundry that I had just grabbed off the line. I took the time to actually fix a few things also. Don't ask me what came over me, I usually let things sit until the pile is so huge that I'd rather throw the stuff away! But, I sewed on three buttons today! WOo hooo.

I had just started to make dinner when mom and dad pulled into the driveway. Sorry, this is an old picture (from February of this year). I didn't think to snap a picture of them tonight! Mom and dad stayed for about an hour (while the potatoes cooked....and while I finished dinner). Dinner was grilled chicken (in the best marinade by this little company called FireCreek), mashed potatoes, green beans and for dessert cherries. After dinner I washed dishes again (dang we really need to get that dish washer in and running!) for the second time today!

So now I'm sore from my activity today! SO I'm just surfin' the net and in general loafing around. Oh yeah, and I'm in the middle of painting my nails...toes and fingers! LOL
OH yes....the big accident and injury from today. Once again, sorry for the older picture...it is from June 1st of this year. BUT, it has something very important in it. My sunglasses. I was wearing them today. I went to throw something into the hopper and my sunglasses fell off....into the chipper. I went to grab for them...but lets be realistic....I'm not going to dive into the hopper with blades swirling to get a pair of sunglasses! Oh yeah, they shattered into a billion pieces. Todd spread the newly formed mulch from the bag and he said he couldn't see anything remotely looking like plastic! ROFL So yes the injury was the glasses!

I'm hoping that my busy, active and productive day will help eradicate that stupid gain! I've been drinking like a mad woman today. At one point I KNOW I was super dehydrated. It was after my first gallon of water. I knew I was coming to the end of my outside work and I didn't feel like running inside to refill my mug. When I got in here....dang I about drained the 64 ounce jug as soon as it was filled! So I've been drinking steadily! Crossing my fingers!!!!!

Sunday morning check in

Got up this morning and went to step on the scale. I was feeling moderately ok with my weight. I was thinking that I would have maintained yesterday's weight. I exercised yesterday and I had stayed within my points range. But I digress. I stepped on the scales....179.8! What..that's 1.2 pounds up from yesterday! 2.2 pounds in TWO FRIGIN' days!

Ok, my rant is over!

I thought about it a bit while I sat on the exercise bike (well, I was sitting...but I was riding my heart out at the same time). I'm not going to let this beat me! My body is just totally balking about leaving this 180 mark. Thinking about it....I think I was right about this weight for a couple years....like 7th -10th grade. I've read somewhere that when your losing, your body gets to a certain weight that it 'recognizes' and it tries to stay there. Hmmmm....don't know about all that...but ok, we'll go with it. I will push through it! Looking on the bright side, I'm happy to say that for about 2 weeks now I've stayed BELOW that 180 mark. That is a first. During these long last 9 months...I would dip down below for 1-2 days...and then go right back above. SOOO I'm doing good.

My plan of attack. Continue onward. I exercised this morning. I had my healthy breakfast. I filled up my 64 ounce water jug. I'm planning on working outside all day (using the chipper and painting the floorboards of the screened in porch) so I'll be active. I've got to really focus on making sure I drink enough water. Because that's the last thing I want...to see a spike in my weight due to water retention!

Meanwhile, I saw this interesting push up program and I've decided to try it. It is supposed to train me to be able to do 100 push ups. (consecutively...haa haa haa). So anyway, last night I did my initial test. Uhhhhhmmm......do I have to say how many I did? Well...lets just put it this way...it may take me a few weeks just to make it past week one in the training program! Uhhh yeah, I couldn't even do ONE push up. Oh yeah, I could do it if I did it granny style...but proper form...on my toes....NOPE! I can lower myself down without smashing my face into the ground but lift myself back up? Not happening! So I'm going to continue 'trying'.....I guess the attempt and the slowly lowering of myself will help build the muscles that I need. We'll see. Maybe I should break down and do granny style push ups for a bit to build my muscles...hmmmmmmm. Well, I will conquer that also. AND it shows me that while I used to be doing a lot of strength training......I can see where I've fallen off the strength training bandwagon! NOT GOOD!

Saturday weight!

Well, could it be the pancakes? I did eat within my points last night. HOWEVER, I had pancakes...carb city. ANd I know that when I eat an over abundance of carbs that my weight responds thusly. The other factor...i was thirsty when I woke up. This usually tells me that I'm bordering on not having drank enough...and my weight is usually up on those days. SOOOOOO I wasn't shocked when I weighed in at 178.6. Exactly one pound up from yesterday. Disappointed...yeah, shocked no!



Rode the bike for about 45 minutes......roughly 13 miles. And here I am at work. Nothing else much to report! Boring thus far!

The cheat day must have worked!

Yes, I weighed myself this morning. Let me refresh your memory. Yesterday I was 179.4. I had held onto that weight since Tuesday morning. WELL...this morning I was 177.6!! Wooooo HOOOOO! I am back to my all time lowest weight that I have posted on my home scales! So the little cheat must have kicked my metabolism into overdrive or something. I don't care what did it...just keep hummin' baby!

How did I celebrate my great weight this morning? I got on the exercise bike and rode for 80 minutes. I wasn't aiming for super fast or super furious....my goal for today was time frame...do the best I could do, but not worried about breaking speed records or anything like that. I did 22.4 miles. Felt good. I was actually aiming to go longer..but my butt was sore and tired of sitting in that same position! tee hee hee. (and while I'm laughing, I'm dead serious). I then went to the kitchen and had breakfast and got ready for work.

Interesting thing I noticed today. Cereal really doesn't 'stick with me' for long. Ok...enough said about that subject.

I laid out my eating plan for today. It's already written in my journal. No I just need to follow my plan. So far so good. I just ate my lunch. And dinner shouldn't be an issue either as what we are having is what we are having. I'll actually have 2-3 points leftover so that i can have a ww ice cream bar or a 100 cal pack or a piece of fruit....something as a treat.

Ok....my panic for the day. I'm at work...and I LIVE for emails. There is not much else to do between customers. You wonder what my panic is???? Well, emails are not coming through to my hotmail account. I KNOW for a fact that Todd sent me an email at 10:27 AM....it's 12:11 and I still don't' have it! What other emails am I missing? Oh yes....full tailspin panic!

Baby binge

I didn't have a good day yesterday. I felt so ready to conquer the world yesterday morning when I wrote my entry. However, I got outside and started to work and my energy just drained out of my body. I pushed through it but I was feeling totally wiped out! (I finished 99% of the white painting, pulled up the indoor outdoor carpeting on the screened in porch and started working on re-screening the windows) I don't know why I just had no energy....but I don't like the feeling. I came in and I did push myself to get on the exercise bike. I did about 22 minutes....and just over 7 or 8 miles (I'm at work, don't have the exact mileage with me) before i just had to call it quits!

I had carefully calculated my points for the day. It was all good. UNTIL I came in for the day. And then I had a handful, or two; of pretzels (uhhh do I have to count the dip????...twas fat free dip at least), a weight watcher ice cream bar. I decided to make banana muffins for my husband...so down the hatch went some banana bread batter. Oh and after dinner I actually ate a baked muffin. What the heck????????? WAY over my pointage!

So, this morning my home weigh in routine began. I was very nervous. Hopeful that a 'cheat' or 'binge' day would actually help me by getting my metabolism moving. I know that when I first started losing weight (back a hundred and some pounds ago) that i would be vigilent about my eating for 6 days a week, but on the seventh I made it a cheat day. I ate what i wanted. Oddly enough, even on my cheat days I found myself eating healthier than I woul dhave previously...but they were still cheating as compared to my new way of eating. Well.....I started noticing that my weight would actually drop the day after my cheat day. Crazy eh? I don't do cheat days anymore...I find it's sometimes too difficult to bring myself back around to eating healthy. SO my 'cheats' are more or less the days taht I lose control.....like yesterday.

The scales....showed me at 179.4. That is the exact same that i weighed the last time (Tuesday morning) that i weighed myself at home! WHEW! Now I know that I've got to be really good...because my body will not hold that weight forever if i continue to have bad days. So far so good today! I did get up and ride. Rode for around 15 miles (once again....I know it's about 15...but I dont' know the exacts...it's all written down at home). So I feel as if I'm doing good today!

Weigh in Results

I didn't weigh myself this morning. I never weigh myself on Wednesday mornings. Mainly because I eat after my meeting....which is really late, which then skews my numbers. PLUS, I use my Tuesday night late meal as a bit of a free meal to indulge. I actually kept it within my points range last night..so I'm doing good!

BUT, I was able to hold it under 180 pounds last night! That is the first time I've ever done it for 2 weeks in a row! I was sweating bullets (and lots of sweat from the heat also....plain old sweat...none of this 'perspire' stuff) over that one! Hopefully my body will start losing again so I can get myself away from that 180 mark! BUT regardless...week one done of the 6 that I need to do in order to get lifetime status at the meetings!

The official reading.... 179.4. So technically I gained .4 last night. I can deal with that!

Crazy thing happened to me last night. After the meeting we went out to eat (feed corporate America, by eating at a chain....which we prefer not to do, but oh well) at the Longhorn Steakhouse. I got my normal meal there...a salad (no tomatoes because of the salmonella scare of course), my baked sweet potato and the brandied apples. Yes, I had a slice of bread also. It was all pretty tasty. SO anyway, I came home and I was on the computer. Todd came out to kiss my goodnight (or whatever) as he was going to play the xbox in the bedroom. He left and it was a couple minutes later that I felt a stinging sensation on my upper lip. I just kinda pushed it aside in my mind, thinking that his facial hair had just given me a little 'brush burn' or something. Nothing major. BUT, a few minutes later I could FEEL my lip swelling! Oh my word, my lip was HUGE. I looked hysterical! But even while I laughed I was panicked. I mean, was this some new allergy or what??? I wasn't staying out here by myself....thoughts were running through my head....if my lip swells up, what else may swell up??? No sir-ee. I went into the bedroom to be near Todd. It was just very crazy! I was nervous about falling asleep with my lip still getting bigger literally by the moment...but I ended up falling asleep. I don't know what else on my body may have swelled while I was asleep...but I will say this......this morning the swelling is almost gone in my lip...although the lip feels numb still. Utterly crazy!

Hopefully the weather will be sunny today (not raining) so that we can work outside!!!! Plus, I still need to ride or exercise today. I just didn't feel like doing it early this morning! :-)

revelations from the past few days

Yes, I've had a few revelations these last few days. I will expound on them below.



Number one: I was eating the other day and took a bite of my pineapple. I literally groaned and moaned in near ecstacy from the taste of this pineapple. From Pineapple??? Am I sick? I mean, I've done that from doughnuts, cakes, really tasty bread, pastas, you name it...but from a fruit???? Maybe I'm 'growing' inwardly from this experience.



Number Two: I'm always cold. I froze all winter. Todd complained constantly about sleeping next to a human icicle....one that wanted to cuddle up against him for warmth. Well, it's been a literal sauna around here lately...high humidity and 100 + degree temps. During the day, I leave my car windows up and the car locked (yeah, my husband tells me that it is crazy in a small town/village like this..but it is ingrained in my head). I get in the car and before where I'd be unable to breath from the heat, I've been finding myself leaving the windows up and NOT turning on the air. The warmth of that car is just delicious to me! Am I absolutely nuts??

I'm happy and proud to say that I did come up with a solution for the bedroom. I moved a few things around and thoroughly cleaned (Wednesday is my big cleaning day...but i decided to go for it this morning). I was a bit worried about Todd because his side of the bed.....well actually the space beside the bed is a bit cramped. BUT, you know what.....I moved it this way mainly to accomodate his wishes for the room. Well, he just called me here at work to tell me that he got home and and that he LOVES the bedroom the way it is. WHEW! I also cleaned both bathrooms, and the living room. Swept and mopped the kitchen floor and caught up the dishes in the kitchen. The only thing that didn't really get touched was the library...which doesn't get used all that much so it doesn't get dirty. Therefore, my cleaning is DONE for this week! WOO HOO. That will free up my day for tomorrow so that I can work outside.

Ohhh working outside. I'm a bit nervous. Yesterday morning I worked on painting the inside of the screened in porch (which has no screens at the moment as we are getting ready to rescreen the place). Well...I was happily painting (I'll be done painting it with maybe an hour more work) away. I finished and went in to shower and get ready for work. Well.....Todd decided to tell me about what he saw shortly after i went inside. A snake! ON MY PORCH...inside right next to where I was working! YIKES! Tomorrow I have to finish painting that porch...AND organize all the stuff that's on it in order to get it to storage.....so I can pull up the old indoor outdoor carpet and take care of the floors. (I'm leanign toward painting them......and not putting new carpet down). I dont' like snakies! If I get all my porch stuff done, I'll start working on chipping the next pile of wood that we cut a while back. At least we now have ear plugs for me. Before I was not using ear plugs and my ears literally hurt for a few days thereafter!

Reflections

This morning I've been answering emails and I started to respond to a friends email. Let me preface this by saying that my friend is struggling to lose weight and that she is married to noe of those people that struggle to actually gain weight and to maintain a healthy weight without losing. (makes it really rough for my friend as they ALWAYS have junk food in the house for him to try to gain weight) This friend was talking about how she was eating at Pizza Hut (ohhh I'm so jealous) with her family. SHe had her eating under control and things were going well. Her husband kept pushing her to eat..so she ended up overeating. I started to respond to her and decided to share my response in my blog.....I know I've commented on this in the past...but it's so apropos.



The thing of it is.....someone that does not have a problem with food really simply does not understand the problems and temptation that we face each and every day....heck, everytime we have to sit down to eat. It's just incomprehensible to them. ANd then you have the added fact that our society has been programmed to believe that offering food is a way to show love and give comfort. So those people that don't understand what you are going through in the first place are now trying to feed us because that is a surefire way to show the desired affection. For example....on Valentines day......what do our husbands do? They take us to dinner. Birthdays?????? Dinner out. Yeah, you'd have to eat anyway so you are just trading 'where' we are eating...but they it's the principle.....food is a way to treat...a way to reward...a way to show that the person is loved and appreciated.

Well...the weight this morning.....179.4. I just want to keep it under the 180 mark! I think from what Sherry told me that I can actually go to 182 and still be considered maintaining. I sure hope so!

Didn't exercise this morning as I like to take Tuesdays off. But I"m heading to the bedroom. The layout of the bedroom is just not working for us...so I"m going to see if there is something that I can do to change it!

4)@#)(*@$#)(&%T

"In the summer, body weight can go up by several pounds due to increased body water. This is accomplished through fluid-conserving hormones such as aldosterone, which allows the kidney to retain more fluid and reduces the amount of salt in sweat, a measure that also aids in water retention. The increase and stabilization of total body water can only be accomplished by continuing to exercise in hot weather and will not occur in people who spend most of their time indoors in air-conditioned environments."
Click here to read the complete article.

Why do I have that on my blog? Well, this morning I hopped on the scales with a smile on my face. I did everything right. I got a good deal of activity in yesterday. I ate healthy. I was on top of my game. SO when I looked down at the scales and saw that I was 180.4 I about croaked! That is one stinking pound up from yesterday! Disgusting and disturbing. I know that I drank a TON yesterday.....and I know that I wasn't in the bathroom eliminating that water yesterday. (of course I sweated like a pig at times). I'm trying to think back to see if I went any less? I thought that I was doing ok with my water. I drank about 2 1/2 jugs of water (each jug being 64 ounces). That's a ton of water. And no...I didn't force myself to drink it....I was drinking when I was thirsty or desired a drink. BUT, this morning I woke up with the dry mouth thing....which to me is an indicator that I'm a bit dehydrated.

Rode the bike this morning. 17.2 miles. I'm going to continue on, the weight will catch up with me. I'm just panicked because I have to keep it under a certain number in order to work toward my lifetime goal!

I refuse to be bothered!

Ok, so Todd and I are like kids taking pictures of ourselves by
holding the camera out and snapping it ourselves. It's just fun!

This morning my body let me sleep in a bit.....all the way to 6AM. THAT should not be 'sleeping in'. 6AM is freakin' early! But, since I've been waking up between 5 and 5:30...I'll take it! I went to the bathroom and hopped on the scales. .2 pounds up! What?? Yeppers, .2 pounds up...for being GOOD. For exercising. For doing it all correct! No matter though...I'm gonna win anyway. This will NOT get me down!

I hopped on the bike. I have a friend that was planning on doing a 1.5 hour bike ride. And I set a challenge for myself to ride 1.5 also. (albeit, my friend was doing it on road, with hills and in the heat....I was planning on doing it in the nice air conditioned house on my exercise bike!...but hey......it's all good). Well, I was about 30 minutes into my ride when Todd rolled out of bed. I had logged 9.36 miles in that 30 minutes though, I was on track for a stellar ride! He looked at me and asked if I wanted to go down to the canal around Harpers Ferry and walk. Well......of course I said yes. First, I love that area. But the added bonus was that I would get to play with my camera some more! So off we went. I got a few miles in walking though so it was not a total loss. After walking, we headed to the outdoor flea market that is in that area. Oh my word, by that time it was getting REALLY hot! Didn't find anything. Came home and made lunch. I tried a new recipe for Beef Burritos. TASTY! I'll put the recipe at the bottom of this entry. As soon as lunch was cleaned up, I headed to Hagerstown. I spent about an hour or so mowing up at mom and dad's (with a push mower of course). Mom and I ran to the mall...but other than that the rest of the day was uneventful! So I was active today!!!!

It's been so hot, I'm wondering if that is also affecting my weight. Could very well be. I've drank a ton of water today. My 64 ounce mug has been refilled twice...yep, I'm on my third mugful of water for today. Yeah, that's a lot more than normal...but remember, almost 10 miles on the bike, walking outside for a couple hours, an outdoor flea market, and an hour of mowing. Ohhh did I mention that it's like 95 out...with really high humidity????

Beef Burritos

1 lb hamburger or turkey (lean lean lean)

1 can fat free refried beans

1 package taco or burrito seasoning

1 cup cheddar cheese (I used fat free)

10 96% fat free whole wheat Tortillas (I used the misssion)

-Brown the beef or turkey, mix taco/burrito seasoning as directed on package. Mix in refried beans. Place 2-3 heaping teaspoons on each tortilla, add cheese; wrap. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

grocery shopping done!

I went to the grocery store today. I had to stock up on all my fruits and healthy foods for the week. I came home and right away set about washing the produce and cutting it up if it needed it (pineapple for one). I have learned that I'll be much more apt to eat the produce if it ready to eat in the fridge. Stuff like green peppers, onions and such that I use in cooking I do prepare as needed. However, if I plan on having salads for myself throughout the week, I will clean , chop and dice that as well. The first picture is some of the produce that I'll be eating this week. Looks yummy! The first picture is my produce that I fixed up for this week. If you notice, most of that first picture is fruit. Well, that is because I can and preserve a good deal. So I have lots of veggies from my garden from last year that I"m finishing off the preserved harvest. The second picture is one wall in my canning pantry from last year. YUMMY! Not the greatest of pictures but you can see some of the jars that are filled and ready to eat.

Tis freakin' hot here! I don't' want to do anything. The only dang thing I've done is go grocery shopping...oh yeah and I"m running laundry through the machines. I'm even too dang lazy to hang my clothes outside and today would be the PERFECT day to do so. OH well.

Not gonna go down without a fight!

Dang! I was up .2 pounds today....179.2! ARRGGGH I want to go DOWN and not up! I need to hold onto the 170's! I refuse to go back to the 180's. I'll only go kicking and screaming!!

So, what am I doing about it? Checking my efforts, keeping my eye on the goal and moving forward!

I rode the bike for 45 minutes this morning....just couldn't get my legs moving. Yep, it was at like 5:15 AM. I'm at work and I forget my actual mileage, but it was around 14 or 15 miles. I'll be on my own for all my meals (basically meaning that Todd and I are working totally opposite schedules and that I won't be making a communal meal for the two of us). I can USUALLY eat much healthier when I'm cooking for myself. Simply because I eat mostly fruits and veggies. Today even more than normal as I have no bread left...used the last for my toast this morning. Yep, I really need to get to the grocery store either today or tomorrow!

I am going to stay on the straight and narrow eating path though....no matter what the scales say. Because sticking with it will eventually catch up on the scales and show fabulous results!

Meanwhile, what the heck is the problem with me. For the last few months, I've awoken at 5 or 5:30 AM. This is totally not me! And it's not as if I'm going to bed earlier. I usually go to bed around 11PM. I'm getting an average of 6 -6.5 hours of sleep a night....so it's not too far off...but just a new phase in my life.

Gotta go through my closets again. The khaki's I'm wearing to work today are like HUGE on me. I'm having to hike them up every time I get up from my desk to walk somewhere! (yeah yeah yeah...I forgot to put on a belt!) I had that problem with a pair of shorts the other day...and some of my shirts are looking huge also. Tis' a good feeling!

Friday morning

Sorry to inundate everyone with pictures...I'm just messin' around...and liked this little old building. :-)

My weight. This morning I was at 179.0. Still under 180 pounds so I'm feeling ok. It has crept up 1.4 pounds these last few days...so I know that I need to grab the reins and pull it together now that the dust is settling after our last couple days.

SO, what is my plans to get my weight back down? Well, first and foremost, I have laid out my food plan for the day. I know what we will be eating and have planned my day so that my points are right on target for the day. (with 2-3 points leftoever for a bit of a snack later this evening). I drug myself out of bed at 5:30 and I rode the bike. I did a more hilly route on the good ol' exercise bike. I need to push myself outside in the morning and ride outside...I just hate to go out so early in the morning...on those back roads that are so narrow. And definitely not right now...becaus we still have tree limbs and debris on the road!

Diligence is the key. Staying focused and keeping my eye on the end result. Understanding that life pushed a little and I had not much control over it...but now that the control is back in my hands, knowing that I have to take that control and use it to my advantage.

I think that is one of the biggest lessons that I have learned on this journey. Realizing that life is not always going to play by the rules that will allow me to easily lose. There are going to be numerous bumps in the road. Some I will have no control over. Others I'll have very little control over. What I've learned is that I need to just roll with them. Accept them for what they are...do my best on them (or if it's a situation that I chose to do badly, accept it) and move onward. No guilt, no self pity, nothing. I did my best the last few days.....consequentially my weight is up a bit. So, no guilt, no pity...just plans for the future!

Settling down!

Here is a picture of a view up on my road. Would you believe that there were people that actually drove under the tree.....that was being suspended by power and phone lines??? Can we say freakin' nuts???
Here is a tree at the Antietam National Cemetery. This was actually outside the gates and I didnt' have the time to trapse through the whole cemetery. BUT, looking in it looks like they lost a bunch of trees! This tree was like many of the others around...the wind literally sheered off the top...and the weight of it falling split the base!
So, what do you do at home when you have no computer, no electricity, nothing??? I was laying on the couch reading and fell asleep. When I woke up my little Ethel Louise was sleeping on the arm of the sofa. My moving to grab the camera woke her up, but as you can see....just barely.

Things are settling down here. THe phones are still out. But the power is back on. The internet is working (cable), we have repositioned the satelite, which was pretty much ripped from it's moreings so we have tv. Uhhhmmm...what else. The yard is pretty much cleaned up. And I was able to stay within my points limits today! SO I'm back! I know that my weight may be up a bit tomorrow morning...but I'll be ok!

Crazy topsy turvy 24 hours

Well......surprisingly enough, we did make it to the gym. Felt good. I trucked it on the elliptical and then went to the treadmill to finish up my hour of cardio. I'd been on the treadmill for only a few minutes when Todd motioned for me to look at the tv. Yep, a big storm was bearing down on us. Wait, to be more specific, it was bearing down on southern Washington County where we live. We've had problems with a leak around our one door....the seal or something....when it rains really heavily.....we wanted to get home to check it since we had hoped it was fixed but we were not totally sure. So we grabbed out stuff and ran out the door. We hadn't gotten far when my cell phone rang. It was mom, she was calling to tell us that the storm was bad enough that there were tornado warnings. Mom, being a mother wanted us to come to her place and wait it out. We of course went on home. After all, our babies were in the house (not to mention the water/door issue). Well, it poured the whole way home. But it was just a pouring rain. UNTIL we got to our road. They had it blocked off....NOT a good sign. There were trees, power lines were down. It was a mess! We somehow made it home. Yes, the front door still had leaked a bit. BUT then lets be objective, 2.5 inches of rain in 20 minutes. The neighbor said that you couldn't see more than 5-10 feet because the rain was dropping that much. So, we spent the afternoon finding construction material that was blown from hither to yon. (oh yeah, we haven't found all of it yet) and using the chainsaws to cut down trees from the road, our driveway and our yard. I ate late, and i ate out for the second time that day....and then we went to mom and dad's to shower. (yes, the power is out...as are the phone lines...AGAIN...the phone lines on our road got hit with lightening last Friday night or Saturday....and we only got phone service restored on Tuesday night.....By Wednesday mid-afternoon...GONE again!).

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!

The good news just keeps piling on!

Woah doggie, the news just keeps getting better!

Last week I had blood work done. I hadn't heard anything back from them...so I called today. They pulled up my report. She was like, "yep, everything came back clean" Well, I had to ask a few questions. You see....I suffer from high cholesterol....my total cholesterol has always hovered around 250....even after I lost 50 pounds my cholesterol was still at 250. In general, anything over 200 is high.....anything from 180-200 is borderline. WELLLLLLLLLL.....my cholesterol is now...are you ready.......am I building suspense??? Anyway, my total cholesterol is now 162! That is almost one hundred points lower!! My HDL levels (the good cholesterol did go up a few points) but the bad LDL level dropped drastically!

I actually slept in this morning....didn't wake up until 6:30. How wonderful is that! I've been waking up at 5 or 5:30 for the last few weeks! I think what happened this morning....at 4 or 4:30 (can't remember which) I woke up to a cat coughing up a hairball (more on that incident a little later). I cleaned it up and crawled back in bed. I laid there for about a half hour or so...just day-dreaming, groggy...but not quite awake enough to get out of bed. Well...I fell back asleep. Woo hooo! I wasn't too worried about my bike ride though...because we are planning on going to the gym today. We'll see if it happens. I hope so! (that is the rainy weather plan.....I was going to push mow for umpteen hours...but it's a bit damp and wet out).

Hairball. I woke up to that ohh so terrible sound....Todd woke up at the same time. We both flipped on the lights on our nightstands and we both rose to a sitting position. I was apparently a second behind Todd in my movements. And as he threw the covers off, his hand flew out and whack...hit me square on the nose! OUCH! He's rather upset about it....I keep telling him that things like that happen and not to worry!

My weight this morning...home scale weight... 177.6!

And apparently I was the big loser this

past week in the Blog world summer biggest loser!

A reminder of how far I've come

Thought I would put a reminder on to show where I have come from! BLEECHHHH I never want to go back there!!!

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!

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