A New Decade

I've officially done it! Okay, I've barely done it. But I'm here in the 130s. With the Easter weekend and all the candy that goes along with it, the fact that I didn't gain weight is a victory in itself! (I agree with Anna that Easter candy is the best.) I'm not sure what I'm going to do with all those Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs that are calling my name. I'd feed 'em to my kids, but they're all on a sugar high already. I have been known to throw away perfectly good sweets, but Reese's candy? Not sure I can do that...

Goodness, I didn't mean to go on such a tangent about candy. I guess that just shows what's on my mind right now. But the scale was kind to me this morning and made those 140s go away. I don't plan to see them again. As most of you know, I'm an every-day weigher. Yes, perhaps I should attend a support group for my habit, but for now I will embrace it. This is how I know that during last week I dipped down to 139 for a day but was up again for a few days. So now the second time I'm down I won't go up again. I've seen this pattern before and will hope my time of the month doesn't interfere with it. I'm (barely) in the 130s to stay! Unless I can get to the 120s...

Previous weight: 140.4

Current weight: 139.8

Tentative pounds to go: 12.8

Here's some photos of Saturday's events. It was a beautiful cool, sunny day. What you don't see is all the candy I stole from my kids' buckets. Hee hee!

St. Patrick's Day in Overdrive?

My kids are off track this week and next, so St. Patrick's Day today was a fun one. We had green whole wheat waffles for breakfast and the kids gobbled 'em up. For dinner, instead of the traditional corned beef and cabbage, we had mini green turkey meatloaves (besides all the green veggies we added, ground turkey really takes on food coloring well LOL), spinach salad, peas, green jell-o, and green punch. It was a st. Patrick's day feast.

But Autumn is the one that caught the St. Patrick's Day Spirit (if there is such thing). She wore as much green as a person can wear without doing something permanent. Hee hee! This is what she came up with:

7%: check!

I do realize the throwdown is over, but I have to acknowledge my accomplishments anyway. (Did you notice the alliteration there?) I suppose I'll continue to report in until I reach my goal just to keep myself accountable. There were lots of times when I wanted to indulge but didn't because of you guys! So thanks for your continued support!

Previous weight: 141.6
Current weight: 140.4

7%: GONE!

Like I've stated in previous posts, I don't know what my ultimate goal is, but I do think I want to lose ABOUT 10 more pounds. However, for organizational purposes, I'm going to say my goal is to get to 127 pounds. That gives me 13 more pounds to drop. But this is subject to change anytime.

In other news, I ran OUTSIDE on Saturday. It felt amazing! It wasn't the first time I went outside this winter. I ran around our neighborhood a couple Saturdays ago, but there was still a lot of snow around and it was cold, so I didn't stay out very long. But this time the weather was beautiful--sunny and cold--perfect for running. I took off my sweatshirt after about 20 minutes, but still had on a long-sleeved shirt. I ran the trail by our house; I had run this trail while training for the marathon, but didn't know exactly how long it was. Turns out I ran 6.3 miles. It felt great! I was a little sore the next morning, but nothing crippling. My body's just not used to running on the pavement! It helped that I had Trevor's ipod and also that I was 20 or 30 yards behind two other women and I wanted to find out if I knew them so we could chat. I finally caught up with them and I didn't know them and didn't want to crash their party, so I kept on alone. By that time it was too late to shorten my run, so I pushed all the way around the loop.

Also, I found a swimsuit last week! I took my MIL to our brand new Ross. She didn't find what she was looking for, but I found two suits that I love. One was a one-piece Liz Claiborne for $25 and the other was a tankini in a Hawaiian-type print for $19. I wanted both but decided on the tankini and I love it! The kids have been begging me to take them swimming to the nearby indoor public pool while they're off track this week and next. We'll probably hit the pool soon; it'll be a blast!

By the way, in my last post I mentioned trying on a size 6 and having it fit. As a clarification, I DO NOT wear a size 6. Some fit, but as I discovered recently, not all do. And now I'm even questioning if those shorts were really a 6 or perhaps I made a mistake and grabbed the 8. But you know what? It doesn't matter! Size 6, size 8, it's all smaller than I've been in recorded history, so who cares? All I know is I'm happy...

Weight Loss Update

Just like a Weight Watchers meeting, I'm here for my weekly weight loss progress report. This morning's official stats are the following:

Previous weight: 143
Current weight: 141.6

Pounds to go for 7%: 0.8

I suppose the 7% is moot now, but I still want to report because I'm sooo close!

I tried on some size 6 shorts at Target today and THEY FIT! They weren't even tight or anything! Wow! And I was brave and tried on a few swimsuits. It wasn't too painful, actually. (The lighting must be more flattering in my Target, KariAnn. Maybe you should try on swimsuits there!) But coming from where I came, I appreciate just being able to wear a size medium and have it fit. The main problem for me was that there wasn't enough support where I need it (thanks to having kids or maybe just age)--at the bust. Oh well. I'll continue the search. Where's a good place to get modest swimsuits that don't cost an arm and a leg? I will need one for Bear Lake, after all. And hey, maybe I'll even take my new bod and my kids swimming more often!

Me? Skinny?

I was at the R.S. Birthday Dinner on Tuesday night. The dinner was Hawaiian haystacks (rice, creamy chicken sauce, and toppings). I was trying to stay within my calories so my plate looked pretty sparse. A couple of the ladies at the buffet table were talking about the amount of food they'd taken and pointed out my plate saying, "That's why Julie's so skinny!" Well, first of all, I don't eat like that all the time. Second, I've NEVER been called skinny by anyone, really. That's just not a word I associate with myself (and for good reason). But man, it felt good! So even though they aren't reading this blog (let me know if you are!), thank you to the sisters who made my day!

Before

This hideous before pic was taken in June 2006. It should have been deleted a long time ago, but I suppose I'm glad I have it now. {sigh}

Midway through

You asked for it, you got it...

Throwdown Update

Whew--I'm glad that week's over! Trevor hurt his back and was laid up all weekend, so I was on my own to help my MIL move into her new digs. Luckily, the big things were already in and she doesn't have a lot of other stuff. On Saturday Autumn was a big help and Eli was my big "helper" yesterday. Trevor did take the afternoon off yesterday and hooked up her TV and helped with what he could. There's just a few loose ends to tie up today and it'll be done! She loves it and I'm happy for her. Trevor put some video on his YouTube channel if anyone's interested.

So on to the report. I think I might be getting the hang of this. I'm really trying hard to eat right. I LOVE cake and it was hard for me to stay away from that disgusting rat cake. It looked yucky but it tasted good. We brought home about half of it from the banquet, and I pawned off as much of it as I could onto the kids, then I chucked what the left--the whole head. The banquet was so well done with lots of yummy food, but there was NO diet-friendly food. I thought there would at least be some veggies I could rely on, but the only veggies on the Chinese New Year menu was ramen-noodle "chow mein" that had a few rare carrot shreds in it. I ate sauteed chicken chunks, a little bit of white rice, and the rest of Eli's chicken nuggets.

I can definitely tell a difference in my body, but I've only had 2 people say they've noticed I've lost weight. So I'm just not sure how noticeable it is, although one lady at Church yesterday came up to me and said I looked so young and at first glance she thought I was a cousin visiting our family. That was a nice compliment, although I did have my hair done a little bit differently that day.

I had Autumn take a full-body pic of me this morning before she raced off to school, but it's not so flattering. I'll probably post again tonight when I can get Trevor to take a pic of my good side. (If, indeed, I can find one.)

Previous weight: 144.2
Current weight: 143.0

Pounds left for 7%: 2.2

I don't have an Ultimate Goal. I guess I should say I don't know what my Ultimate Goal is. I'm in uncharted territory right now. I feel like Colombus! I haven't been this weight for about 12 years, if my memory is correct. I think I weighed 140 on my mission and I thought I was fat. I got sick at the beginning and lost about 7 pounds but when I got better I went right back up to 140. So I guess what I'm saying is that I'll know I've found the West Indies when I get there!