Sister update…

Tears, heartache, love, family, togetherness, suffering, doctors, nurses, hospitals, snow, ice, long day….and more….

Cindy has a long ways to go but in the end should start feeling human again. Should start to learn to take care of herself and be healthy.

Our trip was a long one this morning. It started out like this yesterday…

After driving in this for 140 miles we arrived…

Cindy is well taken care of at the UofM. She is in Cardiovascular ICU until probably tomorrow. Then a regular room until she’s released. It’ll be a while, sometime next week I’m expecting.

My sister, my little sister. Please pray for her, not only to heal from this but to finally learn that there are so many that love her that she needs to learn to take care of herself.

Thank you everyone, for all your prayers and words of comfort and support.

I get to host a give away…

Cool huh? A chance to win a gift code from CSN for $35.00 to use on anything you want too.

If I had a choice on what I’d get, well I’m really not sure. I’d like to get a shelf or stand or something to hold a TV for our bedroom. They have some really cool Flat Screen TV Stands but I’m not sure if we’ll be getting that big of a unit into our bedroom or something to hang off the wall.

I don’t know, what do you think you could use it on. Go to CSN Stores and see just what you’d like to do.

For my give away I can choose any rules, time limit or anything I’d like. So I’m going to start it now, go until the 14th of December and then pull a name from a hat and send some lucky winner the gift code information. If you find something right away, I bet you could have your very own Christmas gift sent to you before Christmas. The only rule is, leave me a comment. I won’t even make you follow me, some of us are following hundreds of other blogs already and one more just might be more then you can handle. Be sure to leave me an e-mail address with your comment. It makes getting a hold of you much easier.

And that is it. Easy pease!!!

Take care my friends and God Bless!!!

I did it, I did it…

189….189….I’m excited. I am officially out out of the 190’s and never again going to venture into them. So from Monday October 25 to today November 28th I’ve lost 11 lbs. Finally!!! For some on Allan’s challenge this is chump change, for others it’s the normal and for others if a bit more but like Allan says it’s not a race, it’s for us to learn to get healthy, happy and love ourselves. I’ll take it and keep working on this challenge. Interested in seeing what this is all about? Go check out Allan and his very unique blog. Want to see someone that has more will power then 99% of us? Want to learn how he’s doing it, how he’s teaching others? Check out his blog.

One more week of following the plan Allan has set for us and then next week, December 7th starts a whole new challenge for us. Something total different. I’m ready, I’m excited. It’ll be interesting to see what Allan has up his sleeve.

It’s a new week and I’m going to try a few new exercise, keep watching and documenting all my calories and drinking my water. This week will be a difficult one with my sister about to go under the knife and doctors so worried about her. About a daycare mom that had emergency surgery which means time off for her to recoup and no pay for me. A week full of challenges of all kind. But the Lord never promised life was easy, he just said he’d help us manage it. So it’s onward and upwards.

Take care and have a blessed week.

Allan’s Turkey…

Well really it was mine but I fixed it Allan’s way and you know what. It was tender, moist and perfect. There isn’t a piece left over now and usually it last at least a few days. We had it Thanksgiving Eve, left overs Thanksgiving, the other 1/2 for our daycare Thanksgiving dinner and tonight in a turkey wrap.

See what it looked like…

Our first meal…

with… mama and daddy…

 

Then our daycare meal…

The wraps were wonderful. I found some low carb wraps….steamed onions, peppers, tomatoes, the turkey and a couple red potatoes and just a hint of cheese and salsa. It’s hard to figure out exact calories but figured about 200 calories a piece (high side figuring). We all had two but we also didn’t have lunch so ate a early supper.

Thank you Allan for all your help learning to cook, bake in the healthy way.

Oh got something else Allan taught me, Sweet Potatoes. I took 3 tators, peeled them, diced them up, layered them in a casserole dish with just a tiny bit of butter and a tiny bit of maple syrup. Bake at 400* for 75 minutes. My daddy said they were the best sweet potatoes he’s ever had and my grandma makes awesome ones.

So guys, I’m learning. I’ve been asking Steve a bunch of questions tonight about exercise. You see, life has changed a bit here and with our finances not as strong as I had hoped I will not be able to join the gym until January or later. So I am working on trying to figure out some exercises that I can do through out the day. I don’t have an hour to just exercise so I’m trying to figure out a schedule for 10 minutes here and 10 minutes there. My back just can’t handle crunches right now so Steve suggested planks. So I did a search and found This great video to help me learn how to do them right. I also found some exercise ball exercises I can do. I went to about.com and just asked the question. I love about.com.

So there you have it. Tomorrow is my weigh in for Allan. Steve’s was on Friday and I was 190 lbs. That was 10 lbs for the month of November, thank you Ron, Steve, Allan and Charlie. Well thank you everyone, and I mean everyone. It would be so cool if tomorrow it would be 189 just to start the week out with an awesome weight but if not 190 is good and next week I’ll be in the 180’s.

Enjoy your weekend. Take care my friends. Also thank you so much for all your prayers for my sister and family. I have added a couple updates on my post about her if you’d like to check it out.

God Bless you all!!!

Prayers please….

My sister is in the hospital again. Her gall bladder is about to burst. It’s full of all the nasty stuff you could imagine. She’s been sick again for the past two weeks, off and on, and had an ultra sound last week and they told her about her gall bladder. Her platelets are so low they are afraid to operate. I don’t know anything else, I just know she needs your prayers.

Thank you guys. God Bless you all!!

Update: They took Cindy by ambulance to the cities to the UofM, Fairview hospital. Our surgeons up here just didn't want to risk such a tricky operation on Cindy and felt she could get the care and the expertise down there. The doctor my daddy talked to said that they can get, do, have anything Cindy needs in a 10 minute window so we are comfortable with her there. They are running tests galore on her to see just how to take care of this. I am not sure if I'm going to the cities this weekend or waiting for mid week when there is something she may need or want.
I will keep you posted and I so, and my family, apprecaite all the love and prayers headed our way.
Take care my friends, God Bless!!

Update #2: Cindy talked to her surgeon today. They will be taking her gall bladder on Monday. Since she is at such a high risk of infections or bleeding to death they are weighing all the options before just jumping right in. I am so happy she is at such a wonderful hospital. Oh we have a great one up here too but nothing compares to all the people in the cities that are there for such high risk people. I am taking mama and daddy down on Tuesday to see her. It will have been 5 days since they got to hug and hold their daughter and they need that. Me too since I love my sister so.
Thank you all for all your prayers and words of concern and support. You do not know just how much it is appreciated and loved. Thank you!
Take care everyone and God Bless!!

Just about…

I am almost, so close I can taste it, in the 180’s. Today’s weight is 190. That’s one hundred and ninety pounds. My BMI was 30.79. I’m just .79 from being obese, then I’ll just be fat. I can handle just being fat. That I will tackle next year. So this is my Hotties update. Well there’s more but this was the quick part. If you’re in a hurry you can go now, if not, well I’ll tell you a couple things I’ve learned this week.

First I did my exercises but no crunches. My back is really bothering me this week and since I have that darn degenerate disease in there I just didn’t push that part. I did do everything else though. I am still having problems with my left shoulder. Not sure what is happening there. I’ll go see the chiropractor next week and see what he has to say.

My meal planning sucks. Well putting it on paper does. I sorta plan my meals, buy the groceries and then go by the seat of my pants the whole week. I need a program that has a menu on it (the grid) then maybe I’d do it. Or maybe I’d think about it anyways.

For learning this week. I learned I can handle two Thanksgiving dinners and eating with-in my limit. I learned that 1/8 of a piece of pumpkin pie has more calories then eating a plate of turkey, potatoes, cranberries, black olives and a cup of skim milk. WOW!!! Also having 1/8 piece of lemon meringue pie without the crust is a much better choice but still over a hundred calories.  I learned I can be challenged and I can take that challenge but the horns and handle it.

Now it’s onward and upwards to Christmas and all that baking of cookies, fudge, puppy chow and more. I have 10 lbs to go, so that means I am going to look at different types of cookies to see what’s out there to make without tons of calories. Like this recipe I found last night:

Cocoa Meringue Drops

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
3 large egg whites
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 tablespoon powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 300°F. Line 2 heavy large baking sheets with foil or parchment paper. Sift 1/4 cup sugar, cocoa and salt into small bowl. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar in large bowl until soft peaks begin to form. Add remaining 1/4 cup sugar 1/2 tablespoon at a time and beat until medium-firm peaks form. Add cocoa mixture 1 tablespoon at a time and beat until meringue is stiff and glossy.

Drop meringue onto prepared baking sheets by rounded teaspoonfuls, spacing 1 inch apart. For chewy soft cookies, bake meringues 25 minutes. For drier, crisper cookies, bake meringues 40 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheets. Sift powdered sugar over cookies.

Serves: 40 - Nutrition Information Per Serving:

calories 14
total fat 0
sat fat 0
protein 0
fiber 0
sodium (mg) 8
carbs 3
ww pts 0

Do you have any good recipes to share? I also found a good banana bread recipe to try today with the daycare. I have 6 wee ones today and we are having our Thanksgiving dinner together. Not sure as of yet if it’s a turkey hot dish or turkey with dressing, taters and veggie. Gotta get an answer from them. Then at nap time Rachel and Abby are going to make the bread.

So take care everyone. I hope that you had a terrific Thanksgiving. Hopefully most of you have a 4 day weekend or if you have to work today, it’s Friday and it’ll be a great day. God Bless you all!!!

Turkey day dinner…..

Just to share what I ate check this out…

First plate: 249 calories… cherry tomatoes, cucumber, salad mix, carrot slivers, black olives, broccoli, fat free ranch/french dressing, pineapple and melon

Second plate: 294 calories… B.B.Q rib (one rib), chicken breast, ham, asparagus spears

Third plate: 193 calories…melon, pineapple, lemon meringue pie (1/16 size piece) plus no crust

A total of 736 calories. We ate at the casino and had the buffet. I didn’t over eat and now have enough calories to have some turkey (from our Thanksgiving dinner last night, which by the way came to 519 calories) in a pita bread with more tomatoes and lettuce. So that means I don’t have to starve the rest of the day. YEAH!!!

My mom in law was decent. Talked to me, not above me. She didn’t notice or say anything about the weight loss but she also didn’t pick me to death either so I’ll call that a great blessing. We got to gamble about $10.00 each (their gift to us). I lost all mine, Mike made $16.00 and Jim just pocketed his.

It really was a great time. They had the casino decorated for the holidays and I so loved all the trees with white lights on them. I’m thinking it’s getting really close to decking our halls.

So does this mean when I step on the scale tomorrow it’ll show a decrease? I sure do hope so because I’ve been drinking my water, eating the right size portions and no snacking unless something healthy. Oh I sure do hope so. It’s still worrisome though.

I hope that you all did well too. It’s hard, very hard because there was tons of things I would of love to have and I was going to say not miss but that’s a lie. Still to new at this not eating what I want so yes I missed the rolls and butter, yes I missed the mash potatoes and gravy, yes I missed that chocolate cream pie, carrot cake but my body will live.

Take care everyone and enjoy your day. God Bless!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

God didn’t promise life would be easy or have no challenges but he did promise us lots of love and blessings along the way. May you and yours have the most blessed Thanksgiving.

Thessalonians 5:18  "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God."

Philippians 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

Bible Trivia: Did you know that Psalms 107:1 and 1 Chronicles 16:34 are the same verse? KJV

1 Chronicles 16:34 “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.”

Psalm 107:1 "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever."

CNS/Store Review….

See these awesome shoes? I got these with the gift code CNS gave me to review one of their products. They are called Exersteps. They are terrific. They feel grand, the make my legs feel great and after working out with them you know you’ve worked out but not in the bad way. My muscles feel like they are getting a great work out. As you walk they propel you along. It’s really cool. CNS was a great store to order from. I have to be honest, I did order a heart rate monitor first from them but it didn’t work and after two weeks of working with it, I e-mailed them and they were so nice about trying to help me either replace it, fix it or just change my order. I’m glad I change my mind because these shoes are amazing.

If you are interested in looking at these here is the website.

If you haven’t taken the time yet to check out the CNS/Stores you’ve got to. With over 200 stores to pick from I think you’ll find exactly what you’re looking for.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving everyone. We are so bless to live in the world we do. Take care and God Bless you all!!

CRAP!!!

Just when I had it all planned out where I didn’t have to worry about anything at all things get changed and now I’ll have to try some will powers and that’s in really short supply right now.

Last night about midnight my MIL called my hubby and announced we are all going to the Casino for Thanksgiving dinner. A huge, eat all you want because someone else is paying for it, someone else fixed it, buffet.

It’s a good thing I have Allan’s serving size plate embedded in my brain. 1/2 veggies, 1/3 meat, 1/2 starches. It’s a good thing I love fresh veggies so I can fill a full plate with salad, broccoli, cubes, carrots and what not the first time around and then have a plate like Allan said. It’s really a good thing I like fresh fruit over dessert because I think if I can have melon instead of pie I will be okay. Plus water, lots and lots of water!!

CRAP!!! I had it all planned out. Jim was fixing the dinner with everything I picked up and he knows how hard I’ve been working so he wasn’t going to serve me, we were going to have buffet style and I could just get a bit of this and that and they could eat everything else. CRAP!!! Will power, I need will power!!! Please send me some will power!!!

My MIL hasn’t seen me for at least a good year. Will she notice I’ve worked hard and look good? Will she notice anything good or just the fact I’m older, fatter then when I got married, hair color different with a touch of gray, the wrinkles. Remember my MIL isn’t my favorite fan so really why do I care. I just do.

Oh well, Thanksgiving is a day of blessings so I will skip the worry and remember all that I have to be thankful for. I have been listing on my fridge a thankful list for the past 23 days. Now I didn’t put on there family, friends, house, car….that kind of things because…well we all are pretty blessed with that kind of stuff. I have put on there lots of different things. Like visitors, pork chops, early outs, morning with Jim, birthday parties, wood stove, thrift stores, customers, craft with the kids, telephones, sunshine, craft shows….lots more. I am truly blessed. Another one on my list is blogs. Blogging is amazing. You guys are amazing. Being able to share things, ask for help, get comments and ideas has truly been wonderful. So thankful is what I am and will be.

So instead of CRAP!!!! I’m going to say, thank you for taking us out for a wonderful dinner, thank you for taking the time to be with us.

I wish you all the most blessed Thanksgiving. I’m going to take a couple days off now and I’ll be back on Friday for my hotties update.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING MY FRIENDS!!!! You are the most awesome people. GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!!

Loss of words…

Here it is the start of another week and I don’t have anything to say. Or least very little.

I’m just trying to do what is best. I’m still drinking a gallon plus water, my calories are 1200-1300. I am exercising 30 minutes a day 5 days a week. Yep I cheated today and had a cup of butter pop-corn. Yep I cheated yesterday and had a peanut butter cookie. Because this is a life style change more then a diet I’m trying to learn portion control and calories without have to count them each time I eat. For now I still write down every single morsel that goes into my mouth. I don’t cheat because who am I cheating, no one reads my food journal but me so might as well look for patterns or ideas and such.

I’m boring right now and I’m sorry I don’t have anything really cool to share or tell you about. Just everything is status quo and trying really hard to become the best new me possible.

I can tell you about pita breads but I’m sure everyone knows about them even if it took me until this week to find then and eat them. Allan’s told me about them, Debbi mentions them, heck all of you do. I’m slow but I’m learning. The ones I got are Joseph's Oat Bran & Stone Ground Whole Wheat. I filled it with shredded lettuce, a tomato, steamed peppers, onions, carrots, broccoli and a tiny bit of chicken. It tasted wonderful, a bit hard to eat but wonderful.  All for 140 calories, 21 carbs, 3 fats and 9 proteins.

So there is what is happening right now. Not a huge much. I’m excited for Thanksgiving. Have you guys read Allan’s post on eating Thanksgiving dinner? If not go check it out. It makes it so easy to figure it out and not over do it. Heck you can even have a piece of pie. Go, read and see.

Take care everyone. Hopefully I’ll have some great results this week now that I got my behinder cooperating again. No more bloated, full of crap feeling. Prunes, God’s gift to my butt.

Have a great and blessed evening.

Gum….

Did you know that if you chew 2 pieces of sugarless gum, a total of 11 calories, for 1 hour you’ve used up those 11 calories. This means I can chew all the gum I want because I keep gum so long it’s a tire before I spit it out. Cool, it works so well when I’m hungry. And since hungry is just my fat getting lonely I’ll trick it into thinking it’s getting something good. Every little bit helps when it’s 10:00 pm and almost time to go to bed but at 9:00 pm my tummy says it’s hungry. Water in, gum chewing and soon I’ll be in bed and it won’t matter.

Just thought you might like to know this. Chew gum for an hour, counts as zero.

A new week, new challenges, new victories, new friends. Here’s hoping it’s the great week possible.

Take care my friends and God Bless!!!

2011 goals

I’ve been reading a bit here and there about people getting ready for the year 2011. They’ve been thinking ahead to what they want to do, what they want to accomplish, what they want to see. I haven’t gotten that far, I like to finish up this year first and then jump into next but that’s not good either, a plan is a good idea.

Last year I had my weigh loss goal of losing 40. I’m getting pretty close to that. I had a goal of being able to pass my Boy Scout physical and I did that. I had a goal of being able to get into a size 16 pair of jeans. I did that, even the non-stretchy ones. I wanted to be healthier then I was in 2009, I think I’ve hit that one right on the head. I wanted to make a new recipe each week, well I’ve done that some of the times but not all. I also had a stupid resolutions I didn’t keep, like folding those darn socks and undies when they come out of the dryer.

So what should I make for goals in 2011? I know now that I’m into the groove of losing weight I’d like to go a bit further. Like 165 lbs. That would be 15 more pounds. That would be the weight I got married at in 1980 at 18 and 1 day old. There are two dresses I would love to fit back into. One is my wedding dress. Now Jim and I didn’t get married like some normal people, we eloped so that big white wedding dress, well I didn’t have one. I had the most beautiful periwinkle dress I made. It has a small lace collar, just little itty bitty sleeves and a cute waist line. Then for our first Christmas Jim bought me a red dress with a tiny little belt. Wouldn’t it be cool to wear that for Christmas next year? Wouldn’t that bring back some memories. I think these would be perfect goals to shoot for. How about along the way I run a 5K? Or at least jog it? There’s one in the spring and one in the fall. I’m pretty sure the spring one will be out of my reach but how about the fall one?

Well these are just thoughts for now. Have you done any thinking about 2011? Any ideas what you’d like to accomplish?

I hope that you have the most blessed weekend. Take time to reflect, rejoice, rejuvenate and enjoy!! Take care my friends and God Bless!!

Hot 100 update….

It has been a weird week. I am drinking a gallon and a half of water a day. I am eating 1200-1400 calories a day. I am exercising most day. But I’m feeling like crap. I am tired, run down and just plain yucky feeling. My stomach feels like it wants to explode. I don’t know, a touch of something? Just a bit overworked? I don’t know. But today is our weigh in and weigh in I did and my numbers for the week are …….191 same as last week. I’m hoping that I feel better for Sunday’s weigh in for Allan.  I don’t normally weigh in both days but I’m hoping for a bigger or better result after a bit of relaxing this weekend.

So there you have it, my update. It’s just short and sweet this week. I’m sorry about that, I just need a break. A mini vacation. Some quiet time without kids or adults around (other then Jim and Mike that is). I’m excited for Thanksgiving to come. A day we go no where, stay home and play games, watch TV, Jim cooks, Mike cleans up and I do nothing but eat a bit and enjoy the guys. A day just made for being thankful for family. Love it!!!

I hope you all did awesome. Numbers are not everything, remember those NSV’s. Take care and have a blessed weekend.

Nothing to blog about…

I don’t think I’ve gone this long without writing something on my life style change blog for a very long time but there is nothing new, nothing happening other then working hard to lose my last 11 lbs for this year.

I’m exercising but not at the gym yet, have to wait until the last week of the month to go there. I have been doing my bathroom exercises, can’t think of anything else to call them though it sounds pretty weird. Each time I go pee I do 10 squats, 10 counter top push-ups, 10 bend over’s and I jog 60-90 seconds. I pee 7 times between 6am and 5pm, these are the times I exercise extra so it works out to about 35 minutes of extra exercise a day. I’m still doing my planks, crunches and weights, about every other day. So with it all a total of about 200 minutes a week of exercise.

I have been working on eating even healthier. Today I fixed up some chicken breast with peppers, onions, tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, garlic and seasonings. I use 4 teaspoons of this in my lunch salad which is salad mix and cucumbers. It looks like this…

 

I had helpers today while picking the chicken from the bones.

Well it’s getting close to this time…

Have you got your menu planned? Jim does our cooking, all of it for holiday (it’s his way of not having to go anywhere’s, he likes to stay home and if that means spending the morning in the kitchen cooking, well that’s where he is). I buy the ingredients and all so this year am putting lots of thought into what we all need to keep it healthy yet traditional for Jim.

Speaking of Jim. Remember when I told you he just doesn’t seem to care, doesn’t seem to support what I’ve been working so hard at doing? Well I think after 11 months of doing what I’m doing he’s finally getting it. I mean I know he’s loving the new body (that part has been oh so excellent). He’s loving that I bought a couple of pair of jeans that just don’t hang around. And this past Sunday for Allan’s weigh in we both stood on the Wii. I think he wasn’t really believing me about my weight, he could see a change but not really “see” it. I was so happy I didn’t magically gain a few pounds when I step on the scale and showed him. What was even better, he stepped on it too and was a bit shocked at what he saw for himself. Let’s just say, since sometime in May I started weighing less them him. COOL!!!! I have only weighed less then him the first couple years of our marriage.

Well I guess I had a bit to share after all. I’ll be back on Friday for my Hot 100 update. Until then take care my friends and have a great and blessed week.

Double Dog Dare Challenge Phase II….

So today’s weigh in was 191. So that’s 2 lbs down from last week, 9 pounds in the past 3 weeks. I will take that. Now it’s onwards up and upwards to week 4. Can I make it into the 180’s? Well I’ll give it my best shot.

Allan requested we post a profile pictures of ourselves. Well I had Mike take a couple for me and I just can’t choose, can you help me?

Those wrinkles, where in the world did they come from? I don’t see them when I’m looking, or at least not that many. How about those caterpillars, gotta go get them taken care of. Oh well, here’s what Allan wanted.

Now I have something else to show you.

 

Big difference I think. There is another picture I want to share but I’m saving it for my end of year comparison. I’m going to wear the same thing, sit the same way and look at Mike the same way and see just how much 40 lbs less can look like.

I learned something today. Have you heard of NSV? I have been reading it here and there the past week or so and for the life of me just couldn’t figure it out. Well I asked and you know what it is? It’s non-scale victory. You know, the jeans fitting just a bit lose, the smiles from others that would normal miss you, those types of things. We’ve all had them, where that darn scale hates you but your body doesn’t. Well now when you get or feel  or read about a NSV, you’ll know what it is.

Well it’s time to drink more water, pee some out and then head outside to put the chickens to bed, feed the fire and fix some dinner. Oh look see what happened here last night.

Winter is here. If this keeps up in another couple of weeks I can go cross country skiing. I’m ready.

Take care and have a blessed week. My week is full so I’m not positive what I’ll post or when but I will be here on Friday for my Hot 100 update and hopefully a time or two in-between.

Have a blessed week my friends. Keep up the great work.

Found this at my tracker…

This was kind of cool to see on my tracker place. It’s a bit off at the starting weight of 225 but then it still doesn’t matter because it’s going in the right direction. I can’t wait for it to read the green goal line. If you guys would like to try www.TickerFactory.com it’s really easy to set up and use. Heck if I could use it anyone can.

Just thought I’d share this with you.

I hope you’re having a great weekend. It’s cold and not my most favorite time of year but I live in Minnesota what can I expect. Soon it’ll be time to go cross country skiing, then I can handle winter much better. I so love my time in the woods and the time with Mike makes it even grander.

Take care and God Bless!!

Wood, wood and more wood…but….

Done, I am finally done putting up 12 cords of wood. Yes, I do 99% of it alone, no it doesn’t matter. I work from home and keep our house warm is my job. Keeping it cool in the summer is Jim’s, the $300.00 electric bill. I use to be the one to go out and cut it, split it and stack it. Now I’m lucky enough that people owe us money so they cut it, split it and deliver it by dump truck so all I have to do is stack it, cover it and then burn it up. It’s still tons of work stacking up 12 cords of wood. It is in four different huge piles.

Here…..

 

Here…..

here….

and here…

Here was today’s pile…going…going…stacked….

Now for all my married life except for 8 years of driving truck I have done this wood, not a problem just my job. Today I had fun doing it, you know why? I listened to my itouch with my work out music and it went by much easier then ever plus I jigged, I jumped, I danced and sang at the top of my lungs. Think of the calories I burned off. Why have I never done that before? I usually just count the pieces of wood I put away. 1,2,3,4…..199,200,201…300,301,302…500…well you get the idea.

There is no way for me to figure out the calories I burned but I know I put on my pedometer and walked 3.57 miles while stacking the wood, I worked at it for 1.5 hours today, 1.75 yesterday….30 minutes the day before that. I know that tonight I am sore, even my stomach muscles are sore and I did hurt my left shoulder stacking the wood way above my head but it’ll heal now that there’s no more wood left. Now it can snow, sleet or whatever the Lord has in store for us and we’ll be warm. I’ll have unlimited hot water, a heated garage and a heated workshop and a house that is a constant 70* no matter if it’s 30 above or 30 below.

Okay, enough for now. I hope that you have a warm safe house, a place to go in all types of weather, a place you can call your own. I am truly blessed to call my house a home.

Take care my friends. Have a blessed weekend.

Hot 100 update..

That means I need to weigh myself. I’m sorta scared to do that. For two weeks the scale has moved, and in a good direction too but will it for week three? So the score is …..191. Down 2 lbs. That means if all goes well and I stick to what I know I’m suppose to do I could be in the 180’s. The high side but hey I haven’t seen the 180’s since the 80’s.

Goals:

Exercising, well not the days or kind that I had planned but I did exercise, I did walk/jog, I did do the exercises each time I went pee. I didn’t work out with Jillian or Bob. I did do the squats, planks and crunches and I did play on the wii. So that was good. Plus I have been stacking wood every afternoon for about 45 minutes. I counted today how many pieces of wood, how many bend over's and how many reaches. I picked up and moved 325 pieces of wood. That’s got to count for something.

For my menu, again it’s not on paper but it’s planned out with the groceries I have here. I have made 3 dinners ahead, soup for at least 6 servings and there’s fresh squash to bake up, apples to make into muffins and bars. There’s salad goodies galore so we are set for next week.

So this is for Steve's Hot 100 We started this when there was 100 days left of this year. There is now 49 days left this year. Time is flying by way to fast.

Now it’s onwards and upwards to another wonderful, beautiful glorious week. I wish you all well. Take care and have a blessed, relaxing, rejuvenating weekend.

Thank you…

In just over two hours I had at least 13 of your comments with terrific advice. So I will be joining the gym the end of this month. I have to do it by the end of this month, they pro-rate and it’s already 1/3 of the way through this month and I still can get out and walk and exercise so I figured December is a great time to join. So to cut corners even more on a budget that is tight I’m thinking of disconnecting the house phone. We mainly use the cell phones anyway and those are paid for through my husbands business. Only thing is I don’t think my grandma will like that. I do have an 800 number on my cell so she can still use the house phone but when I sorta suggested it a while back it wasn’t taken kindly too. My mama’s another one that’s not thrilled but we’ll just see. Mike did say he’d help too. So it will work out and that means I will work out.

Today I was figuring out the next weeks menu and the more I follow along with everyone I find out that what I thought was great is just good. I have a long ways to go figuring out what really is good for a person and what’s not. It’s a struggle to make sure the calories are there and the carbs, fats and sugars aren’t. I know that once I get it, I’ll have it for a life time. I am far from the beginning like in January this year but it’s going to be a never ending process of figuring it all out. But then again, if I were to figure it all out then what fun would it be learning. So learning it is.

I got a bunch of purple tators the other day. I was talking about putting it into a soup and Allan told me to not waste them in there, to roast them in the oven for 30 minutes with olive oil and seasonings. Well that’s what they are doing right now and the smell, WOW the smell. It’s wonderful!! I am also making my batch of veggie beef soup for the next 6-10 meals. I love having a huge jar to scoop out of and I used just a small 6 oz steak in this huge batch so even though red meat is not suppose to be your friend, it’ll be less then an ounce in each bowl and the protein will be good for me. I just tasted it and it’s prefect. Want to see….?….

Here’s the the tators before and after baking….

 

Here’s my soup…it’s still hot…

So thank you everyone for answering my question this morning. I will just give it a shoot and see how it all works out. It sure can’t hurt me and since I’m just about 40 lbs lighter and I’m feeling better about myself just maybe it won’t bother me that there’s people there. I am wondering what it’s like at 5 am when they open up. I might have to give that a shot on days I don’t start daycare until 8:00. Just an idea.

Take care you all and have the most blessed afternoon!

Help….

Yesterday I went to our local health club. I wanted to check in and see if there was any possible way I could afford to join. To see our health club click here. You see with winter coming I have become a tad bit worried about not getting out and about to work out. Oh I know I can do the same as I did last winter and work out at home. I know it’s possible because I did but I don’t know if I can challenge myself as much with DVD’s and the Wii. So I went and talked to the ladies there and they have a plan that I think I can make happen. Possibly. They have a month by month plan so I don’t have to sign up for a full year especially when I know once it’s nice I’ll be outside again. There is a monthly charge of about $45.00 and a sign up fee of $12.00 that is usually $50.00 but they have a deal right now. Mike can also join me each time I go for $2.50 a visit until he’s 19 and then it’s $5.00 a visit.

What I need help with is, do you think I can challenge myself enough at home or is it better to join a health club for about 5 months. How do you guys do it? I work from 5am-6:30pm most days so the only time I’ll be able to go is 7:00-9:00 in the evenings. Can a person sleep after working out? I do have a few days off here and there that I can go during the day so will be sure I do that.

I don’t need to decide until after Thanksgiving so if you could give me tips, ideas, thoughts I would really appreciate it. Thank you!

Have a great day everyone. God Bless!!!

Cool, an award for losing 3.5% of me…

Yep, you got that right. Before starting Phase Two of the Double Dog Dare Challenge I lost 3.5% of my body fat and Allan has awarded me (and others) this cool award. I did that in two weeks. Can you imagine what the next two weeks can bring? I’m excited, really excited.

Now I wasn’t the only loser. Check out this chart and see who else did like I did and better.

Isn’t this cool? I love it and just think if we keep working with Allan and his challenge we all will achieve our goals or at least get somewhere we either haven’t ever been in our lives or something place we haven’t seen for years.

For my part of the 2nd phase I need to keep my calories below 1800 and drink 90-120 oz of water. So far so good there. I’ll be weighing in on Friday because I’m out of town both Saturday and Sunday. I would of liked the extra two days for my weekly weigh in but it’ll be okay.

So with all of that said and done, I want to thank Allan for taking us all by the hand, teaching us what it’s like to learn to think like a regular size person and to become the best person we can. THANK YOU ALLAN!!!

Take care you all. God Bless!!!

I have been…

Tracking my food and exercise intake for months now using www.myfitnesspal.com. This is an excellent way to keep track of stuff and it sure helps to plan ahead.

Today I was looking back today on the past 30 days and I have an average of 1200 calories a day. An average of 50 grams of sugar a day, I’m suppose to be at 20-40 so gotta work on getting this down. My carbs at 150 grams, my fats at 30 grams and my fiber about 23 grams. Everything is looking good except the sugar. My water was about 64- 70 oz a day, it’s now up to 128-130 oz.

Now my sugar. I do not add regular sugar to my eats. It is in my grape nuts, cream of wheat, dried fruit, milk, cucumber, tomato, my cottage cheese, salad dressing.  It’s in my apple, banana and orange. Juice too. I did have a piece of homemade candy today which worked out to an extra bunch but I don’t normal have candy. I hate the thought of eating grape nuts or my multi grain cream of wheat without dried fruit unless I can use fresh but I’m in Minnesota and that fresh fruit is not as fresh as I’d like. I’ll work on this though. I think I need to look at my milk too. It’ll be hard to bring all of that down to less then 1/2 of what it is now. But what good is watching my calories, drinking the water and exercise if I’m not in line all the way. I’ll re-evaluate my menu and work hard on this.

My average calories burn is about 350 a day but this site only gives you calories burned in cardio, not in strength training so I’m not to impressed with that part. I don’t exercise 7 days a week, just 4-5 days so that is why it’s an average for 30 total days.

How’s your menu? Do you calculate your grams each day? How’s your water intake? How’s your calories burned?

Well my friends, today is done, tomorrows a new day, a new challenge. Good luck to you all. God Bless!!

Phase two and a confession…

So what do you want to hear about first? My screw up or the fact it doesn’t matter because today starts Phase Two of Allan's Double Dog Dare Weight Loss Challenge.

Well to get it off my chest I’ll tell you just how bad I screwed up yesterday. Well does it matter, really? Nope because yep I fell off the train in Charlie's Train to Onderland. And if I were to eat like that on a regular basis I’d never be one of Steve's Hotties. But the way I felt last night and the headache I have this morning I can tell you that there is no way that pizza, Doritos's, chocolate covered pretzels and huge glasses of milk are going to enter this mouth for a long time. So one day’s screw up will take a few days to work off and out but I will do this.

So upwards and onwards to Allan's second phase. I am to eat 1815 calories a day at the max. Drink no less the 89 oz of water and up to 105 oz of water in order to hit 180 by December 8th. Now 180 is my goal weigh for the year 2010. Is it possible to make my goal before the year ends? Is it possible to be one of Steve's Hotties before the year ends? Will I forever be on Charlies's Train to Onderland? You know what? I have faith in me. I know that I can do this because of all of you. I can do this because I finally have figured out that this new life style change is possible, it is doable, it is something I want!!

I so want this for me. This would be the perfect Christmas present to give me. How about you? Would you settle for a great goal like that for Christmas? I know you would. So get on with all three of these wonderful life style change blogs. Allan, Steve and Charlie are all there with all their followers to help you reach the great potential that you know deep down in your heart that you can do.

Today is day one of Phase Two, I’m going to eat healthy, get some exercise (I don’t think as much as I should with the headache I have but maybe drinking all the water I need will help flush that darn thing away) and take care of myself.

Tomorrow is Watch Me Weight Wednesday with Angie I haven’t stopped by and entered her blog hop in a few weeks. I think tomorrow is the day to do this. To maybe get to introduce some of her blog hoppers to all of you. When you have a moment everyone, stop by and see all the great foods, ideas and people that Angie help out too.

Take care everyone. Have a super, terrific, wonderful and mostly blessed day.

Weekends..

You know something? I use to worry about weekends. I use to eat my way through the weekend. I use to have headaches you wouldn’t believe. I use to sleep 12 hours each day and also take a nap. I loved them but they were not good for me. Now they are different. I no longer get the headaches, I eat like a normal person, I sleep 7-8 hours and oh once in awhile I’ll take a nap but not all the time. I feel great. I really do. I even have my time of the month and it’s not a pleasant one but I’m not dying. You know what I think is doing all of this, oh it’s the weight I’ve lost, it’s the fact I know what to eat and not to eat but the big thing is the water. I have always been a water drinker but the past two weeks I have been drinking a gallon a day. I measure each day, I have a half gallon pitcher I fill up twice a day, sometimes even more and I think it’s all because of that. And just think, starting Tuesday we up our intake even more. I wonder how that will be? It can only be good.

I am finding each week to be exciting. To exercise just a bit harder, to eat a bit better, to drink a bit more, to take care of myself and love myself a bit more. It is amazing learning to love yourself again. To believe in yourself again. Today is day 309 for me, I did not know that 309 days of learning to take care of myself could feel this good.

I hope that no matter where you are in your journey to a better you that you know you too can do it. I have faith in you, I am proud of all that you’ve become and all that you’re going to become.

Take care my friends, have a great and exciting week. God Bless you all!!

Hot 100 update

It’s been a good week for me. I lost 2 lbs this week. I’m now at 193. Between Steve, Allan and Charlie. Can’t forget Ron too. I have gotten back on track and have learned that this is possible with a bit more dedication.

Part 1, the weight…good, it’s moving.

Part 2, the exercise…it was good but not on the schedule I figured out. I never looked at Jillian or Bob. I did crunch and planks twice this week. I did squats, stretching, counter top push ups and bend-over’s every day. I did the Wii twice and walk/jogging three times. I don’t keep track of time but adding it up in my head it’s about 180 minutes or so in exercise. So this is good.

Part 3, the menu…well it’s not on paper but I did figure out with what was in the cupboards what we are having for the week, just not what days. So this is so-so.

Well there you have it, my update. There’s 56 days left in this year. Still plenty of time to achieve what you have planned. Oh I may not get to my goal but it sure won’t be because I haven’t given it my all.

Thank you Steve for hosting this great challenge.

Tag your it…

Well first I’m it. Margene has tagged me with 4 questions I must answer and then I’m suppose to tag 4 others. So first my answers to her questions.

1. What was a single act of kindness you received that had a big impact on you? I once backed into a co-works car and I was so afraid she’d hate me for busting up her new Cherokee Wagon. She smiled, hugged me, let me cry and then didn’t say another word about the accident except to have me give her a ride to the repair shop. There’s been many others but this one stuck for 15 years.

2. If you could give someone some wisdom in just 5 words or less, what would it be? Love yourself!

3. What did you eat for breakfast this morning? 1 cup Grape nuts, `/2 cup raspberries, 1/2 cup milk and 1 tsp honey. My biggest meal of the day at 540 calories.

4. What is the current book you are reading or have read? Not a book reader right now, magazines hold my interested much better, especially since I read before bed and can only stay awake 15 minutes or so. Wood magazine, Eaglette, Woman’s Healthy, Healthy Cooking.

Now I get to ask 4 questions of my choice and they are ….

1. Why did you start blogging?

2. Is it hard to have many women as followers?

3. Do your wives help you write posts now and then?

4. Do your wives read your blogs?

And who gets to answer them…all guys…I know it’s suppose to be 4 but I have these 6 guys that actually think I’m worth reading on a regular basis.

1. Allan

2. Charlie

3. Steve

4. Cheeseboy

5. Ron

6. Jeff

This was fun. I hope you enjoyed my answers and then you have to go and see what the guys write. This I’ve got to read.

Take care everyone and have a blessed evening.

Double Dog Dare You Badge…

See what Allan awarded me for the first Phase of our Double Dog Dare Challenge.

Ain’t that cool!!??!! I thought is was. It means I actually did something I signed up to do. I learned something and completed it. Yea I know, only the first week but I did it.

There are 4 others that got this Badge of Challenge too…

PENNY
SUEELLEN
JESS
REBECKA

There will be more badges as the challenge goes one. This is so awesome guys. We are all doing wonderfully and I so love that I’ve gotten to meet and greet a bunch of you. Let’s keep it up, let’s keep this great friendship going.

Now it’s week two and I’m still working at it, working hard too. My calories are following along like they are suppose to, the water going in is coming out about as fast so there’s no oglies in my liver or bladder. I’m exercise like my goals says plus I’ve added some exercise while in the bathroom. Since I’m spending time in there much more then I use to I do 10 squats or 10 table top push ups or 10 bend over's or even 10 leg stretches when I’m doing doing my deed. So far it has added at least 50 of each a day. That’s gotta help some too.

Now Allan is talking about part two of our Challenge. It is a good thing that man is smart and does all the work of figuring things out. All we have to do it follow along and try to understand what he’s telling us. It’s also a great thing Allan is patient because I am sure at times I try those patience because I’m not the fastest learner.

Good luck everyone. Keep up the great work. And Thank you Allan for everything you have done to teach me, to help me, to get me to the place in life I want to be.

Have a great afternoon. God Bless you all!!!

Monthly update…

Well I didn’t do fantastic but I didn’t stand still either. Just things are going slower. But I will take it, maybe now that I’m starting back up on the strength exercising and a little less cardio the measurements will change more. Anyways….

I lost 5 lbs and 4.25” of fat. Not as great as the past few months. A total since I began January 2nd is 30 lbs gone and 47.50” of fat.

Everything is going in the right direction but it’s slow but for me this has been a life style change, not a diet so it’s something I will be able to life with for the rest of my life.

I have 15 more lbs to go and though I’d really like it by Jan 2, 2011 I am not going to flip out if it doesn’t happen. I may flip out if it does though. I am in the size I wanted to be except I want to be able to wear all 16’s not just the stretchy ones so will keep working on that.

With everyone’s help I know that I can do this. I want to thank everyone for their comments yesterday on my question. So I need to learn to breath through my nose. I don’t know about that, oh I know I will learn but that’s if I don’t die from lack of oxygen trying. How can my nose breath in as much as my mouth and make me be able to breath? I don’t know but you guys say it’s possible and you haven’t lead me wrong yet.

So I have new exercise plans. It’s winter here (or will be very soon) and that will mean no more 4-5 miles walks after work. I’m not to sure about the C25K thing because with winter coming unless I walk and jog in place I don’t know about that but I do plan on walking even in the snow just not anywhere near the mileage I was. So….

I am going to work out a plan where each type of exercise is done 3 days a week like ….Jillian or Bob Tuesdays, Thursday and Saturday. Crunches, squats and planks Monday, Wednesday and Friday and my stretches on the days I walk/jog. I also have my Wii but it’s hard for me to see that as a work out, I know it is but it’s more playing so I’ll keep up with that before I exercise, sorta like a warm up. I am going to make me out a schedule. If I see it each day I think it’ll be easier to do. I’m a visual person and anything to make remembering easier is good. Thank goodness for nap time because if I had to get up earlier then 5 in the morning or work out after 7 at night I don’t think any of this would happen. Just time for that routine to start back up.

Enough words, I know they get boring. I just have to write it down because it makes me feel more accountable, more put together, more ready to keep this happening.

Our holiday season is now upon us. Are you planning ahead so these family get togethers don’t send you into food coma’s, you don’t make is so the scale says tilt? I haven’t seen my mother-in-law for months, she hasn’t a clue I’m losing any weight. They always take us out for either Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner to the casino. I am hoping to be a hottie for that dinner. I want her to look at me and even though that woman wouldn’t say anything positive or nice I want to see the wheels turning in her head. I won’t set myself up though, I know better but it would still be cool if she noticed.

Take care my friends and you’ll get another total update on December 2nd, just one more before the yearly one. Here’s hoping and praying I can continue to use what I’ve learned and become the healthy hottie person I want to be.

God Bless you all!!

I have a question….

Last week I started the C25K program on my iTouch. Now before I go any further, I don’t run, I don’t sprint, I jog but I felt this was a good start to all of this. Also I have repeated day 1 twice and day 2 twice only because I can’t catch my breath after each 1 minute jogging. It does get easier about the 1/2 way point but it’s hard. It is extremely hard. I am trying really hard to do this but for me jogging is new, hard and a bit discouraging. Now that doesn’t mean I’m going to quit because I’m not. I am going to work at this for a long time, if that means week 1 for a month then that’s what it will be.

Now my question is, is there a secret when it comes to breathing?  Also after two days in a row of doing this my calves hurt. I do stretch before and after, is there another secret I need to know? Please help me. I really want to do this. Also with winter coming I can no longer get in 4-5 miles a night of walking for an hour so I had to do something so figured a 30 minute walk/jog would be an excellent way to go. I don’t have a treadmill so that means walking outside at 20* or so and sucking in that chilly air is a bit sharp too.

I need ideas, comments, help. Please.

Okay off to work on snack for the kids. Take care and God Bless!!!