Think Thin Thursday...What Happened?

Okay, I told you all I'd update you with my weight-loss progress on Thursdays. Well, there really hasn't been any significant progress in this area. It is now after April 1st and I've been on this current weight loss journey for exactly one year. When I started out, I had sincerely hoped to get to my goal weight by that time...I still have a long "weigh" to go.





On top of all that, I'm pretty sure the universe is against me. Not only has my treadmill quit working, and we seem to be stuck in a never-ending Winter season here in MN...but now my electronic scale died!! Maybe it just needs a new battery, but I just replaced it. Perhaps the one I replaced it with was also dead? I don't know, but for the last two weeks, my weight on that scale has read: ron. I have NO idea what that means.

I'm not giving up, and as I've said before, I'm happy to still be 35 lbs or so lighter than I was a year ago...but I'll resume with the "Think Thin Thursday thing as soon as I get my scale fixed. I do have an old fashioned scale, that weighs about 5 lbs less than the electronic one...but at least it will let me know if I'm gaining or losing...for my own information. I'm hanging in there.

Think Thin Thursdays~ Weekly Weigh-In #3

Well, I had really no significant change in weight this week. I may have lost .4 lbs. That's about it. I suppose maintaining isn't all bad when I consider everything I had going on over the past week. First there was LNO, and then I just had to have me a cream cheese danish on Saturday morning, since I was selling them. Saturday night at the CC, we had pizza for dinner. I tried to cut a few calories by having the chicken pizza...but I may have eaten a bit too much.

I'm going to set a goal to lose at least two pounds in the next week. I'd like to get out and go for a walk again...if the weather cooperates. It was really nice and warm here last week, even reaching 60 degrees one day. The only problem is, with all the snow meltage...that just created mud on our dirt roads...not what I'd like to walk in. The countdown is on now to my one year weight loss journey. I'd really like to at least get back to where I was. Wish me luck!

Think Thin Thursday ~ Weekly Weigh-in # 2

Okay folks, last week I started linking up with a group of bloggers that are doing "Think Thin Thursday." I didn't follow any strict diet, just tried to eat the things I know I should, and stay away from the foods that I know will get me in trouble. I have learned through Weight Watcher's and through my own personal experience that I need to eat more fiber and less fat, because that works for me. This is really what the whole WW point system is based on, and years ago they had a "fat and fiber" plan that was the precursor to the whole point system.

My goal for the week was to take off 2lbs. For not writing anything down, and I didn't do too bad this week. I did take back off about a pound and a half. I say back off because I was once very near the -40 lb mark. That was before the holidays. I am now have 35.6 pounds gone, with another 69 lbs to go. I'll keep on keepin' on.

Bridgette over at the Not-so-blog has a new task for us this week:

Go to the website of your favorite Fast Food restaurant and tell me a healthy alternative sold there. What do you order if you HAVE to eat out?

I wouldn't exactly call McDonald's my "favorite" fast food place, (especially the one in our town), but we do eat there pretty much every Wednesday night after Awana and Youth Group at church. My husband and I always order their Grilled chicken Southwest Salads. Calorie-wise, it comes to 420 calories with the dressing. If you are on Weight Watcher's, or following the point system, they're worth 6 pts, and the Southwest dressing adds another 3. I have bottled water to drink, so that's a 9 point meal...which isn't bad.

Think Thin Thursday ~ First Weekly Weigh-in of 2009

Now you know the reason my little froggy friend hasn't moved in the last 3 months. I really HATE to make him move backwards, but I've decided to just put him where he belongs, and work really hard at making him hop forward from now on. Let's just say I've gained about 4.6 lbs since the last time I updated my ticker in December and go from there.

As I stated in my post last night, my new goal is to have at least 40 lbs off by the end of the month. If I can even lose 2 lbs. per week, I'll be able to get there. Eventually, I'd like to start going back to WW, but that is not in the budget right now, so hopefully I can get my motivation here for awhile.

Bridget from The Not-so-Blog has a "Task of the Week" for her Think Thin Thursday followers. This week's task of the week is: Find me an inspirational quote! Here's mine:

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13 (NK JV)

Think Thin Thursdays

Okay, this is it. I have 45 days to go before my one year "blogoversery". Do you know what that means? In less than one month, (April 1) I will celebrate a year on this weight loss journey of mine. I did okay the first 6 months, losing almost 40 pounds. I never did quite make it to that mark, and then somewhere around the end of August, I got STUCK there.

My original goal was to lose 100 lbs in a year, even though I thought that was probably not exactly realistic. Eventually, I was thinking more along the lines of 50 lbs for a one year goal. At least I'd be halfway there! Now, the reality of the situation is this... I put on about 5 lbs over the holidays...and took it off...and put it back on...and took it off. I can't seem to get back to where I was! Now Ill just be happy if I can at least get to the 40lb-off mark in one year's time! So that is my new goal.

Anyway, I've decided to do my weigh-in here at home, on Thursdays. I was hoping that my idea to do a "Think Thin Thursday" was original...it wasn't. That's okay, I'll just join the rest of the crowd and do my weekly weigh in every Thursday mornings at 8:00AM. That's 8 hours away folks...wish me luck! Cheer me on, so I can finish out the year strong, okay? Some of the ladies acutally take pictures of the number on their scale. I'm not that brave yet. Maybe when I finally reach "One-derland", but not yet.

Weekly Weigh In ~ A Leap in the RIGHT Direction!

Well, I didn't quite lose the 5 lbs that I had put back on over the past few weeks this week, but I got close. I lost 4.2 lbs, which made me feel a bit better about things. I just ate ONE of CJ's cookies though. How could I resist? They were just so beeeeautiful!

Hopefully, I can do a good job of maintaining over Christmas and New Year's. I got a couple of new weight loss books in the mail today too, they look very intriguing to me. I'm hoping they will be something I can incorporate into my weight loss plan and then maybe I'll be motivated enough to get off of this plateau that I've been on for awhile. Look for my review of these books in January. I received an extra set of books to give away to one of my lucky readers at that time too!

Slip Sliding Away...In The WRONG Direction!

Yes, the roads are icy after the rain/snow mix we just got, but thankfully, this is NOT a story about sliding into the ditch. The truth is, I had been going down that slippery slope of gaining a few pounds back again, over the past 4 weeks.

I went back to Weight Watcher's tonight to "face the music"and weighed in. I knew I had gained a few pounds, but I kept hoping I'd be able to take those pounds back off, before I went and officially weighed in again. Unfortunately, HOPING doesn't do much for weight loss, believe it or not. You actually have to WORK at it. I weighed myself at home, and was less than thrilled to find out that I'd gained somewhere in the vicinity of 5 lbs! I weighed in at WW, and their scale concurred. Exactly 5 pounds.

I have no one to blame but myself. I know what I'm supposed to be doing, and what I'm NOT supposed to be doing, but I haven't been doing those things. You know, like NOT eating anything and everything that looks good (and there's a lot of that kind of thing around this time of year), and writing down EVERYTHING I eat, and um...actually counting my points and keeping track of them. You know, basic Weight Watcher's stuff.

The good new is, 1) I went back tonight and stayed for the meeting, and 2) Weight Watchers just unveiled a BRAND NEW PROGRAM called last week, unbeknownst to me, since I had been MIA from the meetings for the past 3 weeks. The new program is called, "Momentum". Hopefully, that will be enough to get me motivated to get back on track, so I can lose this extra 5 lbs...and get me started in back in the right direction at the start of a brand new year. And as our leader put it tonight, I'll have a jump on all of those people that will start on January 1st, because they've made a new year's resolution.

Week Whatever Weigh-In ~ In A HOLDING Pattern

Again. I guess maybe I've been practicing my maintenance lately for when I actually get to my goal weight. I have been kind of on a plateau for quite a while here. In fact, I haven't gone to WW for two weeks, but the scale was EXACTLY the same as last time. That means I am STILL .6 lbs away from the 40 lb. mark. I was really hopeful this time, because my home scale said I was exactly 40 lbs lighter, but their scales obviously don't weigh exactly the same as mine does. Oh well, I'll just keep plugging away at it. I'd really like to break that 40 lb mark before Thanksgiving week, so I'll try really hard this week and probably weigh in next Monday again.

Now that things have settled down around here, maybe I can be better about writing down everything I put in my mouth. That oughta help. And maybe I should just stay home all next weekend, that seems to be when I do the most damage to the scales.

Week 30 Weigh-In ~ A "Moving" Experience

Well, I decided to go weigh in tonight even though I had decided to weigh in every other week. I had gotten on my home scale and was encouraged. It appeared I was actually down close to 40 lbs total. I was down CLOSE to 40lbs! To be exact, after losing 1.8 lbs this week, I'm down a total of 39.4!!! I just can't seem to break that 40 mark, but then it took me a LONG time to get over the 20 lb and 30 lb marks too, for some reason.

Honestly, I have no idea why I lost anything at all this week. Let's see, I had McDonald's, DQ, Pizza Hut, Halloween candy...a rootbeer float at church...and probably more that I shouldn't have. I'm pretty sure it has to do with moving and staying up all night last night to get it done.

My hubby and I had to get everything out of the house and garage before today. We had some wonderful help during the day on Sunday. Ruth and her hubby Dan are still here, so they were a big help, (especially to Ray with all of his stuff), and then, after church, our friends Lisa and Donnie called and asked what they could do to help. After we'd all had our lunch, I called her and they, (along with three of their older kids), met us at the old house. Not only did they help us with getting things packed up, but when we delivered the refrigerator they were buying from us to their house, they invited all 5 of us in to join the 8 of them for a wonderful dinner of pot roast and potatoes and corn, before bringing a load out here to the farm and helping us unpack it. You can't beat that, can you? Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! You were a real blessing, all of you.

At about 10:00 last night, Ray and I decided to go back to the house alone. I really wanted Molly to go to bed, and figured the other two were awfully tired anyway, after all the moving they'd already done for us the past two days. So they might as well stay here with her and go to bed too. We were hoping to get everything in one load. Yeah, right. It didn't seem like I had much left in the house, but I'm pretty sure it was a full van-load. We were both driving vehicles, each with a trailer in tow, but we still didn't have enough room for what was left. We brought that load back and went back for another. By then, all that was left was the garage stuff...but if you know Ray...that's a LOT of stuff.

I lost track of how many trips we made after that, but by the time we got back to the farm the 2nd or 3rd time, it was going on 5am! We were both exhausted and my body hurt so bad I could hardly move. Ray was running on empty by then too, but he told me to go in and go to bed and he'd make ONE more trip. He did, and he pulled in the driveway at about 7:00 AM! He never did go to bed, he and the kids went off to work. I went back to sleep for a few hours after they and Molly left. He's now sleeping in his favorite place, (sitting up on the couch), and I'm pretty sure I won't get him to move until morning. But we're officially here.

Week 29 Weigh In ~ On Again...Off Again...Back and Forth

Well, we WERE online for a little while last night. Molly and I went to town so I could go to WW and then we went over to the other house to pack up some of the odds and ends still left over there. Ray and his crew met us over there and got it all in the van for me. We came home, and the cordless phones all read, "no line" and there were no lights on the "thingy" or the "do-ja-ma-hicky"! So much for reporting on my weight loss like I had promised. I did lose 3 lbs, which sounds pretty good, but the last time I weighed in, I was up 2.6! So all in all I'm a 1/4th of a lb closer to my goal weight, if that makes any sense.

Anyway, I called the phone company this morning (with my cell phone of course), and they said they would put out a trouble ticket. I gave them my cell no. and assumed someone would call be before they came out. WRONG! I decided to make a trip to the other house just before noon today, I had been there all of 10 minutes when I get a call from the repairman. He's sitting in my driveway...at the farm. So I run all the way back here with an empty vehicle. It's a good thing the gas prices have come down a bit. We're using an awful lot of gas with all these trips back and forth. We have until this weekend to get everything out of there, and we're doing okay but it's still going to take a few more trips. Last night's van-load was all of the Christmas/Easter decorations that were stored under the steps at the other house.

Ray and his DD Ruth and SIL Dan are making some progress sorting through the main garage, but there is still a small garage in back that is STUFFED with who-knows-what that needs to be sorted through. We're getting there though. I have most of my pictures on the wall here, and still have several boxes to unpack and find homes for the contents of on this end, but that can wait as long as we can get through the house.

Ruth and Dan are looking for a small apt of their own, but until they do, they're hanging out here and helping Ray out at work. Hopefully they will be able to find something right in town so that they can ride to work with him or eventually find jobs within walking distance, since they are without a vehicle at the moment too. I'm grateful for all of their help with the moving, but I'd prefer not to have 5 of us living in a one bathroom house for too long. The landlord didn't want a lot of people here either, because of concern about the septic system not being able to handle it. When we told him we had 7 kids, he wanted to know how many of them would be living here. We told him just 1, but the others would be visiting from time to time and he was okay with that.

If any of you in the local area know of an apt for rent, or possible job opportunities...or a cheap vehicle for Ruth and Dan, please contact me and I'll pass it along. Thanks.

Week 26 Weigh-In ~ When is a + NOT a Plus?

Just a quick note to let y'all know how I did this week. Not great. I was really hoping to have lost 2.6 lbs to make it to an even 40 lbs off, but alas it was not to be. I've been back on WW (that's WeightWatcher's not Wordless Wednesday), for just about 6 months now, and that woulda been cool. I actually had a bit of a gain...if you can call it that. The scale said I was + .2 That's only 1/5 lb.If you think about it. But it's not like I've actually been "behaving" lately, so it's my own fault. We've just had too many things going on and what with relatives visiting from out of town and family parties etc...Well, you know. But then, I can always find excuses...I just gotta get back to the basics and start writing down what I'm eating and try to find some time to get walks in. I haven't been doing any of that lately. Tonight, after weigh-in, Ray's kids took us out to the Olive Garden for our anniversary which it will be in about 3 minutes. I'm going to go find our wedding pic and post tomorrow.

Week 24 Weigh-In ~ A Pretty Good Week

I was debating whether or not to weigh in last night at all, since I'm considering doing the every other week thing now to save money...but in the end, I bit the bullet and went and weighed in. The week had gone better than I thought, even with eating an entire order of Applebee's honey bbq'd wings last Friday night, I ended up losing 1.8 lbs for the week. That makes a total of 37.4 lbs gone so far.

We have been having fun visiting with my cousin and her husband, and went to a family get-together at my Aunt and Uncle's house on Sunday night. Tonight will be their last night in this area, so we're going to my parents' house tonight to see them one more time. I'll try to post some pics of us as soon as we have a 'puter that works better than this one does. I'm taking two computers to my son in a few minutes...hopefully he can make one that works out of the two. Catch y'all later...

Week 23 Weigh-In ~One Third of the Way There!

I decided to skip a week last week, since I would have had to go elsewhere to weigh in because of the Monday holiday. I also didn't think my weight had changed much in either direction that week, so it didn't make sense to spend money driving to another town just to find out nothing much had changed. Also, as a lifetime member, I really only have to weigh in once per month so as not to pay for skipped meetings. Just for the sake of saving a few bucks, I may not weigh in weekly from here on out. I know it helps me, so I'll probably try to weigh in at least every other week.

I got myself another gold star last night, having lost 2.4 lbs over the past two weeks for a grand total of 35.6 lbs gone!!! Hallelujah! I was really hoping to be about halfway done by the end of this month, (which will be 6 mos. back on program), but I guess I'll settle for being a little over 1/3 of the way there. After all, I didn't put on over a hundred pounds in a year, so I shouldn't expect to take it off in a year, right. I'll just keep plugging away at it. I honestly haven't been trying all that hard lately either. Just think what I could do if I actually tried.

In other news, I had hoped to blog this week about rejoining the workforce after 8 years at home, but that was not meant to be. I had applied for a full time cake decorator postition, but was not the one chosen in the end. I was told it was a difficult decision though, and that they would keep my app on file in case something else opens up. Hopefully it will soon.

Week 21 Weigh-In ~ Moving Forward Again

I did it! I took off the 1.2 lbs I put on last week, plus an0ther 2 lbs for this week. Hopefully, I can get past this plateau and keep going down again. I had really wanted to have 50 lbs off by the end of September, which would be 6 months on the program...but that's not looking very realistic anymore. My next goal is to be in "onederland" by Christmas. That would be cool.

Week 20 Weigh-In ~Two Steps Forward, Three Steps Back

Well, considering we've been camping for 3 days, and I've been away from my bathroom scale...I suppose gaining 1.2 lbs isn't all that bad. At least I still have my 30 lbs off, since I was down exactly 31.2 a week ago. I didn't stay for the meeting last night, because my hubby had to go play a church softball tournament game (or 2 depending on whether they won or not) and we were down to only one vehicle. I'm going to have to get down to business this week, and get back to losing at a faster rate. Basically, what I've been doing lately is called "maintaining", and that's okay for awhile. I think our bodies need to adjust to weight losses every so often, but I've maintained long enough...I want to lose again...so I guess I'll have to work harder.

Week 18 Weigh-In ~ Keeping The Status Quo

Here I am at the library again...just a quick note b4 they kick me off of this 'puter...The good news is, I didn't gain anything this week. The bad news is...I didn't lose anything either. Not an ounce, I stayed exactly the same. But I'm okay with that, I realize that after a few good weeks, there's nothing wrong with maintaining for a week or so. Hopefully, we'll get our home pc up and running again soon...I have lots of pics on my camera to upload. Have a good week!

Week 16 Weigh In ~ Missed It by THAT Much!

I was really hoping to have 30 lbs off by this week, but I don't. I lost 2.2 lbs this week for a total of...(drum roll please)...29 lbs gone!!! I'll take it. Now if I can just keep it up and lose a few more this week. One thing that did happen with this weeks weigh in, was that the second digit of my weight dropped to the next lower digit. I'm pretty sure that means I lose another point. You pretty much lose a point with every 1o lbs you lose.

To figure out how many points you are allowed per day, one of the criteria is the first two digits of your starting weight. From there, they add points for different things ~ like being a certain age, (younger than I am), being male (obviously not me), or being over 6 ft tall, (nope, not me either). You are also allowed extra points for the activity level in your daily routine. When I started out the program, I could have a total of 30 pts per day. By contrast, my hubby, who was 300 lbs, happens to be male, is over 6 ft tall and works quite hard at times was allowed a whopping 44 points per day. That's a LOT of points, but we figured he had been eating a LOT MORE pre-Weight Watchers.

I'm very proud of him, he's probably lost somewhere around 35 lbs, so he's lost a few points too... I think I'm right around 27 now myself. It's all good, I think my stomach has shrunk too, so it's not like I feel hungry at the end of the day...and if I do, I can always munch on veggies...they're what we like to call "pointless".

Week #15 weigh-in ~ Hangin' in there...

Considering the busy week I had, I was really afraid I'd gained a pound or two...or more. It wasn't that bad...I only gained .4 lb. That's not even half a pound. With Ladie's Night Out on Friday night, (where one of our favorite activities is EATING), company all weekend, and a family potluck picnic on Sunday...it got kinda hard to keep track of my points. Actually, I probably quit counting all together long about Thursday. Oh well, I did get my "clapping hands" charm with the number 16 on it tonight, because it was my 16th meeting. However, I'm counting it as week 15 weigh-in because, that's how many weeks I've been on the program.

I'll get back on program this week and try to get some walking in. I don't think I got any of that in last week either. It will come off...it will come off...it will come off. I think that's why they call it will power.

Week 14 Weigh-in ~ Back on "Target"

Yippee! I did it! I had originally wanted to get to my "target weight" by my birthday, and I was within a pound of that goal the last 2 weeks. This week, I lost 2.2 lbs., which puts me a little past my goal. I received my 10% key chain, so I now have something to put my 25 lb charm on. This is what the key chain looks like:

I'm not sure if it was because I was chasing Shelby around this weekend, or exactly why I did so well this week, but I'll take it. I have been trying to get some walking in each week, and probably did that a couple of times last week too. The only thing is, I have to get up early and do it before it gets to hot. I've found that I look forward to walking more when I borrow a "book on cd" from the library, but it in my personal cd player, and listen to a story while I walk. This works whether I do my walking outside, or inside on the treadmill. My hubby just fixed the AC last night, (thank you, Honey!), so now I can walk indoors if the weather is not nice outdoors. The trick is, to only let myself listen to the story while I'm walking or doing some other unpleasant task-like washing the dishes, or scrubbing the kitchen floor-which also gains me "activity points".

I'm thinking that the rest of the Summer should be pretty much smooth sailing as far as staying on program. The grad parties are done, the camping weekend is over, I survived my birthday and 4th of July weekend. I'm sure there will be other occasions to accidentally overindulge, but for the most part, I'm safe.

Week 13 Weigh-in ~ Maintaining???

Well, all things considered, I think I did pretty good. With camping all weekend and then the big birthday party, I did have a bit of a gain this week...I was up a whole .2 lb! I don't really call that much of a gain, it's actually like 3 oz. That could just be th difference in scales, or maybe if I'd gone to the bathroom one more time??? The only reason it bothered me at all was that I had really wanted to get to my target weight by my birthday, and I was sooo close. I'm still within a pound though...and I still have 25+ lbs off, so I can live with that.

The only problem is...after going out last night, I prolly have a little more to take off...and then there's the whole July 4th weekend coming up... Oh well, there will always be some challenges I guess. I should be getting my 16 week charm in a couple of weeks, and I'll be happy if I have the key chain to put it on by then. I'll just keep plugging along here, and someday...I'll get to my ultimate goal.
I DID wear the size 16 jeans last night though...and they actually fit pretty good! Gotta love S-T-R-E-T-C-H Denim!!!

Great news!!! There were several people that gave me cash for my birthday, to go toward my digital camera fund...Ray put in the rest and bought me a really nice one last night!!! Woohoo! I'm still trying to figure it out, so I'll have to post some pics of my 0ther presents later today.