Starting over…again…

So you know what I’ve learned from June to August? That I’m not to smart. Nope, not even close. I thought since I had learned how to lose weight, how to exercise, how to fix food, what to eat and what not too that I could handle maintenance with no problems at all. How wrong I was, how very wrong I was. I didn’t bother stepping on the scale, I quit logging my food and I really slowed down on my exercise. Mostly because summer is busy and “I knew what I was doing”. Well I did say I’m not healthy wealthy and wise, I did say I’m learning. So with all of that I am starting over, again.

Starting September 1st I am back to losing, exercising and logging my food and learning. I have my membership back for the gym so the exercise part will take care of itself because I know that I can’t afford the $45.00 a month membership but if I go 12 times a month my insurance pays $25.00 of that and that leaves me the rest I can handle. So a minimum of 3 times a week I’ll be at the gym. I also talked to Kim and Brenda and both said they’d help me with Joss so I could even go during the day once in awhile on the days I drive bus in the evenings. So no excuses there. Food wise, well with Allan’s help I’ll get back to eating the right stuff to lose the weight I’ve gained back plus I’ve set a new goal for myself. Because I’ve also joined Mir with a quest to fit into the perfect Christmas dress I need to get into the 150’s. Now that means I need to lose 10 lbs a month (guessing how much I gained back yet?). I haven’t made into my wedding dress comfortable either so maybe if I do this I can fit into both. Now that would be a cool Christmas gift to Jim, wearing two of the dresses he bought me 30+ years ago. Oh I know that sounds weird for anyone that buys new things or wants new things but you know styles come back and I have always hoped to wear them again.

So today I am getting organized. Yesterday after my bus stuff I went grocery shopping and picked up a few things just for me to eat. I’ll log back into my fitnesspal and reset that to the beginning. I’ll set up a gadget to remind me every day that I have work today and I’ll get my frame of mind back to where it needs to be.

I don’t have to weigh in with Mir until the 11th so I’m going to take this time to try and lose a bit of what I’ve gained back so I don’t have to share my horrible maintenance that didn’t work. I know it’ll still be high, did you know you can gain back an amazing amount of weight when you don’t think about things? I worked so hard to lose my 60 lbs and now I have to redo some of that and a bit more to get into the 150’s. It’ll happen, I know it will because I did it before and I can do it again. I have a poem that helps me through the tough days and there will be tons of those ahead because I’m going to start missing all the goodies I’ve been eating and enjoying but the poems says:

Just for today, I will stay on my diet;
Just for today, I will answer the call;
Just for today, I will drink all my water;
Just for today, I will give it my all!!

So today I’ll prepare. Today is also day 2 of my 5K in 100 days, hopefully it quits raining but no matter what I’m walking. I told Brad I will do this, I will be accountable, I will learn to run and enjoy it. I WILL!!! The same with losing the weight, I WILL!!!

I hope all is well with you all. I hope that life is treating you fairly and wonderfully and that you are learning something new each and everyday. Take care my friends. Blessing to you all!!

Camping and more…

First off, I’m sorry it’s taken me this long to post the pictures of mama and my camping trip. We both ended up sick with some kind of virus that is making us dizzy, nauseated and tired. I’m doing better, not grand but better but mama is still not up to par. She’s able to keep food down now so that’s a big plus and hopefully she’s better soon. Me I have to be better since there’s daycare and today bus orientation and tomorrow daycare and then a sleep over with the kids. And I’m hoping a family camping trip this coming weekend too. So no matter what I feel like I am going to smile and enjoy life, just a bit dizzy and tired.

So here’s some pictures of our camping trip. Daddy came for supper on Saturday evening and Mike spent part of the time with us, part of the time working and part of the time biking (both dirt biking and mountain biking). It was a great trip, the weather was beautiful and we had a blast, minus the getting sick.

 

 

 
I have been studying and more getting ready for my test. There is so much to learn and remember.

 

I picked green beans and got them blanched and frozen. Got 6 more qt bags.  

Now it’s onwards to the tomatoes. I need to pick them tomorrow (it’s raining now so hopefully it quits and dries up a little bit) and then get to work making spaghetti sauce. I need to pick up some hamburger to make a complete sauce.

So there you have my week so far. Never dull here. I have some exercise and diet stuff to talk about in the next post and some new goals and ideas. All starting September 1st.

I hope all is well with you and that life is treating you grandly. I’m off to make Mike some crescent rolls, a treat because he’s just so excited he has an interview tomorrow and he can’t sit still so figured a good supper, a great night sleep, a shower and shave and he’ll be ready to face the interview. Here’s hoping and praying he gets a full time, good for him, exciting job.

Take care my friend. Blessing to you all!!

Slimmer this Summer Challenge….Last post…

So this is the last post for Debbi’s Slimmer this Summer Challenge. My goals were: *Crunches, planks, bicycle crunches and leg lifts. Two times a week for a minimum of 20 minutes. *To run a 5k in 24 minutes October 1st by using C25K. Well I didn’t follow my goals very well. At least not in the way I had written but I did do some toning up, I did do some walking/running. So all was not lost. I did stick with it, that was a plus.I just changed some of the ways I did these exercises which if you click on those words you can read what I mean. I was so proud of so many of you that did so well, that lost so much weight, that keep up with the challenge. Heck even just working on the challenge and working on goals was great.
So now for me this challenge is over and I have a new one that starts tomorrow. Brad's learn to run in 100 days and I am ready. I have got to get back to real exercise, get back to my weight loss because …….here’s the honesty part because for me that is all I believe in…I have gained back a bunch of weight since I started maintenance . So as you can tell I’m no good at maintenance. Which will also bring me to Mir's CHRISTMAS DRESS COUNTDOWN CHALLENGE 2011 which starts September 11th. I can do this, I can lose the weight I need too and I can learn to run and love it and I can fit into two dresses that I’ve wanted to since I started losing this weight. And eventually I can learn to maintain, I have too otherwise the rest of my life will be losing weight instead of working on living life.

So there you have it, one challenge did and done and two new ones to start. YEAH!!! I do so much better when I have a challenge that is for exercise and for weight loss.
I hope you all have had a successful Slimmer this Summer challenge. It’s hard to commit for a long period of time but with all the support, the idea’s, the suggestions, the recipes, the love, the challenge itself and the fact that really all of this is for me, not Jim, not Mike, not anyone else but me, the perfect reason to become who I want to be. A healthier, slimmer, a more able me.
Take care my friends and have a blessed week. I have a post in the works telling you about my camping weekend with mama. It was great, the weather was beautiful, the only down side…. we both came home with the flu. YUCK!!
Blessings my friends.

Camping with mama….and….

We are packing today so I can take my mama camping. I try and do it every year but last year got away from me and I didn’t get to but I am making sure she gets to go this year. We are going to Portsmouth campground in our Cuyuna Country Recreational area. Mike will join us off and on I’m sure to check in on us and eat but otherwise I think the guys are all staying home. It’ll be fun for mama and I. I’m planning on taking her fishing, resting, garage saling and maybe even up north to Cross Lake for a big craft sale. We went shopping last night for groceries and this weekend will not be a diet friendly one. Oh not candy and chips and such, but there will be steak and potatoes and corn on the cob and also Brats and beans. It’ll be excellent and fun.

It has been another very busy week here. I did my behind the wheel 2 days. I’m doing just fine, in fact the instructor says instead of the usual 8-10 driving days I just need one more day with her and then one with the bus garage supervisor. Then comes the big test in Brainerd. Just like a car driving test but lots more safety stuff.

I’ve been working in my garden and now have my first batch of spaghetti sauce done. I sent a 3 gallon bucket of tomatoes home with Brenda today.

Slowly but surely they are turning. My beans are just about done, same for the cucumbers. The corn is doing great and my peppers have a few more started but think pretty close to done there. And the weeds, I’ve been busy doing this and that and those weeds have decided to take hold and grow. Each time I’m in there I pick weeds but I think they have invited all their friends to grow there. Soon I’ll weed whack them all if they get to much further ahead of me.

I invited Terri over for a visit the other evening. It was time to just sit and talk. I lite the candles, put out some treats and ice-water and waited for her to come. It was light when I did this part but by time she left it was dark and the candles and lights looked so awesome and inviting.

Yesterday I took Rachel, Abby and Anton thrift store shopping. It’s Rachel and Abby’s mom’s birthday and they love looking for something special for her. Crosby is a great town to go Antiquing in and the found her a few really cool things. I then took them out for lunch at Heartland cafe and then swimming. It was a long day (I started the day at 5 am with bus driving, then the kids all day then shopping with mama and packing so really a long day) but the kids had a great time and it is so fun taking them places. They are respectful, gracious and great shoppers.

 

And last but not least, I found this plaque at one of the shops and I think I’m going to do some version of it for me. I love it and while the kids were swimming yesterday I was thinking this.

I hope you all have an amazing, awesome, beautiful, fun filled, relaxing, rejuvenating, and most blessed weekend. The girls are going to a Twins game, we are going camping, Mike is going mountain bike and dirt bike riding and Jim is having a peaceful weekend. It’ll be totally awesome!!

Take care my friends. Blessings to you all!!

Busy….

The kids and I went to visit my grandma yesterday, she fell and broke her wrist. She worries me but just keeps on going and going and going. After we visited for a long time we picked some apples from two different trees. I haven’t a clue as to what kinds but one is a tart, firm apples and the other is a sweet, soft apples. I came home and picked rhubarb and made this. Apple/rhubarb sauce. Mike says it’s the best yet!!

 

             

Then I picked peppers, lots and lots of peppers. I am getting ready to make spaghetti sauce. I so love picking produce from my plants and this year it’s a bit more rewarding because these are the plants that I started from seeds back in February.

 

The kids gave the dogs a bath. Abby and I gave scout a bath in the wash tub but Wilbur is to big for there so they went into the bath tub. Wilbur so hate taking a bath. He whines and cries and after it’s all over he just stares at me with that “I hate you” look. Scout stands outside the bathtub and cries for him. It’s really pathetic if you ask me but they smelled so bad. So very bad!!!

I don’t take very good pictures of my jewelry. I still need to make a light box but I did promise you pictures. Out of what’s here the necklace is gone, both pink zipper pulls, the pinecone zipper pull and the two wiggly looking bookmarks. So it really was a good show. I have two orders for elastic badge holder for a sweet woman that works at Fairview. She bought one last year and made a special trip to come up last weekend to order another one, she had lost our business card.

Tonight I had late daycare but both Mike and Scott (my nephew) were in bad moods so instead of listening or looking like they would kill a tiger I took them out tubing. Really we don’t have anything expensive like a tube but we tried an inner tube which didn’t work to well but you know what did? A snow sled. We tied a rope on it and off they boys went.

  

See what my healthy club is offering now? Now no excuse to not make it to exercise. I can get up a bit early and get done for the day. I like that.

 

So there you have it. the past couple of days. It’s evening now, the sunset is awesome and I am going to relax and just see what’s on TV. Tomorrow I have my first behind the wheel of a bus training. Wish me luck.

 

 

Good night my friends. Take care and God Bless!!!

Week 12, Slimmer this Summer challenge update…

As you all know we are getting so close to the end of this challenge. Only this week left to make a great change for the summer. I have to admit I haven’t followed my exercise plan like I wanted to but I also have to admit I have done tons and tons of other stuff, just in different ways.

My goals were these: *Crunches, planks, bicycle crunches and leg lifts. Two times a week for a minimum of 20 minutes. *To run a 5k in 24 minutes October 1st by using C25K.

Crunches, well I didn’t do them like intended, I’d do the gardening instead. Crunch down to pick those weeds, crunch down to pick the beans, cucumbers, peas, kohlrabi, more weeds. I work in the garden 3-4 times a week and lots more then 20 minutes a time so I’ll count this as a plus. Planks, I have been doing them but not as often as I should. I can do a plank correctly now for 2 minutes and am working on the next minute. bicycle crunches, nope not at all, leg lifts, yep the kids and I play car on the floor and it’s like of like leg lifts when they are airplaning around. I have not done the C25K program at all. I have been walking, jogging and a tiny bit of running but if I’m going to be able to run the full 5K in October I had better get going. I do have a plan though because on the 29th I will be starting Brad 5K in 100 days and I’m starting back up at our health center the 1st of September so that will help me get back on track.

So not bad, not great but good. I’ll take the exercise I’m getting and maintaining my weight loss with no gains and learning to keep it all straight. It’s not easy but this time of year with all the fresh fruits and veggies it’s not hard either.

So there’s my update for Debbi’s Slimmer this Summer Challenge. I hope you all have done well on your challenge but even just trying your best is okay too. As long as you didn’t give up, as long as you gave it your best, as long as you lost a little, exercised a bit and kept with it, that is what counts. Trying to get healthy and happy, that’s what any of these challenges are about.

Take care my friends and have a blessed and awesome week.

Craft show…and a birthday…

I have got to tell you that Crosby is an awesome small town. The community events that are always going on are terrific. Today was Heritage days and there was not just the craft show, there was an old car show, snowmobile, airplane, fire trucks and so much more. The firemen were doing their stuff for a kids disease and there were mountain bike stuff and scuba diving stuff happening. The turn out was amazing and wonderful and the weather was beautiful (until tonight when a huge storm came through and tore up trees, wrecked my canopy and umbrella and I’m not to sure since it was dark I think my corn and sunflowers are hurting but anyways). Here’s a look at our set up and the show. I didn’t download what I made yet but will to share later on.

 

My partner Brenda and part of our jewelry.

 

This is looking one way from our booth….and the other way.

Wilbur came with us too and this is what he did most of the day between walks and visiting with everyone he could.

Our sale was good, not great but mind you our area is really depressed but we made about $120.00 and I made a little extra with my sewing creations. The people were wonderful and were having a great time. All in all a blessed day.

I went to a surprise birthday party last night for Kim. She turned 40 last week and we had an terrific time. Dancing and friends and music and a wine cooler or two. The perfect party.

 

The birthday girl and her hubby. Happy birthday Kim. I am so lucky to have you as my friend.

I hope you all had a great day. Tomorrow is shopping day and then I’m not positive, a relaxing afternoon would be awesome.