A Ladybug's Journey

I gained 3.2 lbs.  I'm retaining water and I had pasta with a thick vodka cream sauce and garlic rolls a few times this week.  I also have not been drinking the water that I have been the past few weeks.  While all these things have lead to a gain, I've decided that it's not a setback.  It's a learning experience. What did I learn? Vodka cream sauce pasta doesn't taste as good at the last bite, for the third meal, that it did at the first bite of the first meal.  Moderation.  If I want it, have it, but have it once, and maybe not a full plate of it.  The first garlic roll tastes better than the third.  Eat one, and move on. I need to drink water. Especially when I'm busy at work and the time is flying.  If I need to set an alarm, that's what I need to do. Most importantly, if i reach for my water, and it's gone, don't put off refilling it.  That's my biggest fault. I like sweets - so I need to do something to not crave them....

Spent the weekend in Disney after a long work week.  We drove up Friday night with Mom. Saturday started at Hollywood Studios with Starbucks in the park waiting for rope drop. After the mad dash was over we calmly made our way over to Toy Story Land, decided the insane line for Slinky Dog Dash was not worth it and rode Alien Flying Saucers - which was much more fun than I anticipated.  I thought the saucers just swung around their own circle but the actually move from one disk to another so you end up moving around the entire platform.  It was a blast and I would totally ride it again. We had a Fastpass+ for Star Tours, but since the standby line was so short, and our Fastpass+ time had not arrived, we rode it as standby and essentially just walked on.  It was neat to see a different scenario play out in front of us from the last time we rode - supposedly there are over 300 different combinations of scenes. After Star Tours we saw a showing of the...

A lot has changed in the past year. We moved from Oregon back to Florida.  I feel like a person split between two homes.  I love being back near my family, and I enjoy working in the location I'm in now, but, I miss the life I had, and the people who were in my life back in Oregon.  We haven't found our niche here. We did something we've always wanted to do - we became Disney Annual Passholders.  I love it.  We've already used our passes several times in the few months since we've gotten them and have two more trips planned in the next two months or so.  It feels great to be in a place in our lives that we can do something like this, when it seemed so far out of our reach a few years ago. Recently, this weekend actually, I also have learned that another family member has had bariatric surgery (several years ago)..  I'm going to be contacting his office this week to schedule an appointment as soon as they can see me, and my schedule permits, which...

Sunday was the 2nd week of TrackTown Fitness.  It was once again an amazing morning (not too sure how many more we will get) in an inspirational location.  I love getting out there on the beautiful track at Hayward Field and walking in the company of 200 other people, some walking, some running and some with a combo of both.  There are Olympians and the 2016 USA Track & Field Coach is the one leading our program.  I am truly lucky for this opportunity. TrackTown USA Thursday starts the Walktober challenge at work, where we will be challenged to walk 10,000 steps each day, with a prize at 100,000, 200,000, and 300,000 steps (10, 20 and 30 days).  I'm looking forward to the challenge.  I've already been trying to hit my 10,000 steps, but some days I let myself slack.  I'm hoping working towards this challenge will help me hit my goals on days I feel like slacking. Yesterday was the Super Harvest Moon.  Babe and I went out in ...

I did it.  I had a loss.  And a BIG loss at that.  I feel it is really a reflection of 2 weeks worth of work, not just one, however, it was an AMAZING loss!  I have now lost 5% of my highest weight and I'm 1 lb away from a 23 lb loss!!! I am totally going to go today what I always promised myself I never would.  I am going to celebrate a scale loss with a food reward.  However... before you start your lecture... It's going to be with the first salad I ever learned to love.  I'm going to lunch with some gals and I'm having salad.. and yes, maybe a breadstick or two. I worked hard this week, next week I will work harder.  My birthday gift to myself will be a loss, after pizza on my birthday.  I might weigh in Friday morning though, if I plan on drinking on Friday night.  We'll see, I might not drink.

Ok, I did have a strong start... then a not to strong decline... I finished a few weeks ago at my highest weight ever. 354.3 pounds.  I would like to point out that was 14.4 lbs ABOVE my January 1 weight.  14.4 lbs ABOVE the "I will never be back here" line. But, that's neither here no there. I'm back on the wagon. What changed? Nothing.  And everything. I cannot blame anyone, or any situation, other than myself. Was I lazy? Yes. Was I lacking support? Maybe. Was it easier to sit on the couch after work and eat whatever I want whenever I want? Yes.  Definately. But, life isn't easy.  Life shouldn't  be easy.  And I don't want it to be. Since I fell "off" the wagon we have adopted a puppy and a kitten.  Why?  Some say I'm wanting to have kids already, and they would be right. I don't want to be that  mom.  The one that doesn't play with her kids.  That doesn't chase them, encourage them to chase her...

I can't remember how many times I've said "today is the last time I start over". I can't remember how many times I've forgotten how bad it feels to start over. I can't remember how many tears I have shed over the scale, over the kitchen, and over myself. I've never before gained 18.8 lbs in 40 days. Do the math.  That's almost 1/2 a day.  Who does that?  What kind of life does that person live?  Not a happy one.  Maybe happy at times, but not in general. Yesterday was the worst I've ever felt about myself in my life.  I truly feel it was my lowest low.  I gave in to it, I let it consume me.  Then I listened to by husband, and one of my closest friends and it's time to move past it. It's time to start again, for the last time.  I wiped the slate clean - started a new account in my weight/food tracking app.  I don't want to see what I did before, I just want to move forward.  It doesn't matter what I did yesterday, last month or l...

Before you try something new, especially visiting a place you've never been to before, you should do a little research.  You should not assume, let's say, that all butte's are created equal.  If you do, you may find yourself sorely mistaken. Today we attempted one of our yearbook activities.  We visited Spencer's Butte.  I'd only heard about it by seeing a photo that my sister posted on my facebook page, that she originally saw on Reddit. Source I did not think to do anything other than look up it's location on google maps: Source Babe and I decided it would be a great afternoon adventure to visit Spencer Butte this afternoon.  Imagine my surprise when this is what I found: We started up the trail, however less than 5 minutes in (parking lot was still visible), the cold (thin?) air was hurting pretty bad, and the decision was made that we were not ready for this hike yet. We made the decision to try again in a month...

I usually dread going to the doctor - like the plague.  I think most people do, but for those who are overweight it's a unique kind of torture.  If it isn't bad enough feeling bad about yourself and your weight problems, you have a health care professional preaching about how much weight loss would improve your quality of life.  For some people hearing this once is enough to snap them out of it and they turn themselves around... this does not happen to most people. I've always been told about my family history, about my young age, about options (medical and otherwise), and I made excuses, and lied about what I had been trying, and eventually would just switch doctor's, or stop going all together for a while. Last May I decided to stop hiding from the doctor's and to start going whenever they told me to, however often they told me to.  I have a doctor that I officially 'belong' to, but I don't actually see him. In stead I see a nurse practitioner who ...

I'm (usually) one of those pinners who says "that's awesome!" and then never does anything with their pins.  I've tried a few recipes and saved a ton of stuff for later, but I just haven't gotten around to most of them. There was one pin in particular that really stuck with me.  I originally pinned it over a year ago: (Still looking for original source for pic) A few months ago I created my jars, and I've been using them since the start of January. It wasn't until last night though that I added the words and they were officially done. I also added a hidden motivator: As I loose weight there will be a 'hidden' message revealed through the back of the jar.  Can you read backwards to guess what it is? It's been great moving over a total of 19 stones from one jar to the other.  I can't wait until they even out, and then the Pounds Lost jar has the most stones in it!