The Shrink-a-Versary Extravaganza Challenge begins

Can I just tell you I'm SO excited about this challenge. SO excited because the Sisterhood has been around for almost a year and it makes my heart so happy to think of all the wonderful people I've met in shrinkdom! I've forged strong bonds with people who are so amazing and inspiring and just downright freaking awesome!! Without them, my life would not be as full as it is at this very moment.

So on to the good stuff!

My goal for this challenge is very conservative. The reason is that I've continuously set lofty goals for myself, and time after time, I fall short of meeting them. For once, I want to meet my goal and feel that victory!!! So my goal is to lose 5 pounds over the next 7 weeks. I feel good about that goal and I feel like I can achieve it.

As far as my EA Sports Active 5K challenge training goes, it's been kind of hit and miss. Illness and rainy weather have tried their best to derail my efforts, but I'm staying the course. I might not be running the entire Sisterhood 5K come Sunday, November 8th, but dagnabbit, I'm going to give it my all. I'm going to push myself to make it as far as I can before keeling over on the side of the road and passing out!

Today's Shrink-a-Versary Extravaganza starting weigh-in: 142 (up .8 from last week, if you're keeping track!)

You should seriously consider popping over to the Sisterhood and checking things out! We're an awesomely cool bunch of people with a goal of being fit and healthy!!

Good luck to all of you who've joined our fantastic challenge! I hope you find the kind of fulfillment I have at the Sisterhood!!

A new challenge

Tomorrow, over at the Sisterhood, we're starting a brand-new-super-duper-exciting challenge called the Shrink-a-Versary Extravaganza. Did I mention it's going to be exciting? And challenging? Okay, good. So the reason I'm telling you this is because I want you to come over and join us! Even if you don't need to shrink! Even if you just want to get in better shape and hang out with pretty much the coolest group of chics (and guy) on this here internets.

See you tomorrow. Over here. K? Bye!

Shrink for Good Parade of Cans

Get a load of my cans!


Our last challenge at the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans revolved around Weight Watchers' Lose for Good campaign. We named our challenge (most appropriately) Shrink for Good! The premise was for every pound lost, we would donate a pound of non-perishable items to our local food banks. In conjunction with this, Weight Watchers committed to donating $1 million to help fight childhood hunger.

Let's just say we're all shrinkers and our local food banks are growing, for good.

Personally, I only lost 3.6 pounds during our challenge, but I did commit to donating 100 pounds of food, no matter how much I lost.

This is a picture of 50 pounds of my donation. Yes, I sat down with a calculator and tallied up all the ounces after figuring out my scales wouldn't cooperate and weigh my stuff for me! This 50 pounds is also representative of all the weight I've lost since I started this journey 3 1/2 years (and a baby!) ago. WOW.

I will be stopping at the grocery store tonight to pick up the rest of my food donation, and I'll be dropping it all off later this week, so come back and check out the rest of my cans, m'kay?

And if you feel so inclined, sift through your pantry today and pull out some cans for YOUR local food bank. Somewhere there's a child who might be so grateful you took the time.

OH! I almost forgot!!

Last week: 142.6
This week: 141.2
Loss: 1.4 pounds WOOT!!!!

Shrinking Days of Summer - Final Weigh-in

Today is the final weigh-in for the Shrinking Days of Summer Challenge over at the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans! That's a mouthful!

I am happy to report that I've finally broken through my stagnation! I lost a total of 6.2 pounds over the last 7 weeks. Now that might not sound like much to some people, but trust me, at this point, it HUGE for me. I have a little under 13 pounds to go until I hit my goal! Every pound is so much harder at this stage, so I feel like I've had a huge victory here!

Want to know what I'm afraid of? Gaining those 6.2 pounds back while I'm at Blogher. I've already decided that I'm going to let loose and enjoy myself. I'm not going to obsess about my weight. I want to enjoy myself. Now, you might be thinking that I have the wrong mindset here. After all, this is not a diet, but a way of life. And you're right, except that sometimes it's okay to indulge. There will be times, like this, when I'm faced with an unbelievable opportunity to enjoy myself, and by gosh, I'm gonna live it up. I know what I'm getting myself into, I'm fully prepared to work extra hard to undo the damage over the next couple of weeks. It's called damage control, folks, and we'll all have to do it at some time.

I know that when I reach my goal weight, my body is not going to magically stay that number forever. I will always have to stay on top of my eating and exercise. I will always be watching that number, and the minute I see it start to creep up, I'll buckle down and make sure it doesn't spiral out of control. Because I will never, ever weigh 193 pounds again. Heck, I'll never weigh 150 pounds again. EVER.

Can I just tell you that I feel amazing? I do. So amazing. It's wonderful to put on a pair of pants from my closet and realize that they are too big. I enjoyed shopping for Blogher and realizing that I've gone down another size, and the new size is not tight!

Here are my numbers:
Challenge Start Weight: 148.8
Today's Weight: 142.6
Total Loss: 6.2 lbs.

Over and out for now, friends. I've got so much to do before my trip! If you're going to Blogher, let me know! I'd love to try and meet up with you :)

Weigh-in Wednesday

It's week 5 for the Shrinking Days of Summer Challenge over at the Sisterhood, and I'm proud to say that I'm down again. Really down. More down than I've been in the past 10 years! Woohooo!!

Challenge Start: 148.8
Last week: 145
This week: 143.6

I've lost over 5 pounds on this challenge and I'm super stoked. I feel like I've finally had a break through. I've been thinking about what I've done differently, and to be honest, I've completely quit counting points. I've been semi-tracking calories, but mostly, I've just been watching what I eat. I feel like I've finally figured out what I need to eat and what I don't need to eat. Getting in my 5 servings of fruit and vegetables everyday and making sure to keep up with my water has been key. I'm trying to get into the swing of working out everyday again, as well.

So here's to another great week of shrinking, Sisters!!

p.s. WAY TO GO TEAM RED!! All of you did great this week, and I'm so proud of you!

Shrinking Days of Summer Challenge

Today is weigh in day over at the Sisterhood!! I'm proud to report a loss this week. Yes, I lost weight while I was on vacation. WOOHOOOOOO! I can honestly say that I tried hard. I didn't drink any margaritas, I only had one dessert, which was shared with my family, a few MGD 64s, and I stayed away from fried foods (with the exception of one dinner). I am so proud of myself. I'm sure that all the walking, sweating, chasing my kids, and swimming helped out some, too.

I love to eat, and I love to eat at fun new places on vacation. This was so hard for me, but I kept thinking about my goal and wanting to get there and how I was sick of spinning my freaking wheels. So I did it. I rose above my desire to eat anything and everything.

Last week: 146.4

This week: 145

Change: -1.4

Yay ME!!

Go Team RED!!

Shrinking Days of Summer Challenge - Week 1

My friend April pretty much summed up exactly how I feel this week. I am so very close to finally reaching my goal!! The goal I set 3.5 years ago. Yes, it's been that long, and no it hasn't really taken that long. I had a baby somewhere in that span of years! I have 16 pounds to go. SIXTEEN. Less than 20!

These last few months have been so tough, though. SO TOUGH. Tough than I ever thought it would be. I've bascially yo-yo my way slowly down to where I am today. A good loss one week, a gain the next, nothing the week after that, and so on. It.is.so.frustrating that it hurts sometimes, and I've had thoughts of just giving up and staying where I am. I don't look bad, afterall. That's just not good enough, though. I want to cross the finish line, and I want to look hot. I want to feel the wonderful sense of accomplishment which comes along with reaching a goal I fought hard for. I want some fanfare, dammit!

Did I mention that over at the Sisterhood we've teamed up? Biggest Loser style? And it's on. We are competing and I'm so excited. I feel like this is just what I needed to get my butt in gear. And can you imagine the fanfar when I cross the finish line? In first place. With.......

TEAM RED?

Yeah, I said it! Go Team Red! Go Team Red! Go Team Red!

Because if I keep having losses like this, I'll reach my goal soon and hopefully help Team Red take it all!

Last week: 148.8

This week: 146

Change: -2.8

WOOHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Shrinking Days of Summer - Weigh In #1

OmyholygoodnessI'msobusyIdon'thavetimetodoanything!!!

Did you get all of that? Seriously! My BFF in the whole wide world, Lisa, is here visiting this week with her brood of 3 and we're going non-stop! Swimming in the river, scrapbooking, playing, drinking, etc. Lots of good times.

We're starting a brand new challenge over at the Sisterhood today, and this time we're doing it a little different! We have teams and let tell you how awesome the turnout is. There are 17 teams and and I have no doubt we'll end up with 20 before it's all said and done!

I'm on Team RED, and we've already decided that we're going to win this whole thing!!

My fabulous teammates are:

Becca

Nancy

Melissa

Lisa B.

Arianne

Okay, so down to the dirty numbers!

My starting weight for the challenge is: 148.8

Yes, that's up from 2 weeks ago, but that's what happens when you've got alot going on and aren't really committed. That's all changing right now!! I'm certainly in this to win it, and I will not let my fabulous team down! GO RED!!!!

Weigh In Wednesday

Today is the last weigh in for the Shrink Into Summer Challenge over at the Sisterhood. Are you sitting on the edge of your seat and biting your nails in anticipation of my weight loss revelation?! Well, sit back and get those nasty fingernails out of your mouth. I did not lose. As a matter of fact, I GAINED.

*crickets chirping*

Do you want to buy me a drink? Please.

Challenge start weight: 146.6
This week: 149.2
Change: +2.6 lbs.

That's right, I gained 2.6 pounds during this challenge.

Let's break it down. The first weigh in, I gained. Second, I lost. Third, I gained. Well, you get the picture, right. Somewhere in there I did the 30 Day Shred and then went out of town for week. I lost my motivation and found it. Several times.

Overall, I feel much better about myself today. Much better. I am working out. I did the 30 Day Shred. I am doing it again. I can see a difference in my body. I might not be lighter, but I feel so much stronger. I am fully committed to losing the last 19.2 pounds. Heck, I've already lost 43 pounds, so I know I can do it. I just need to stay on track.

I was talking to Lisa last night and I came to the conclusion that I might be a little bored with Weight Watchers. Heck, I've been doing it off and on for years. It just donesn't feel challenging anymore. It's boring, and when I get bored I lose interest. Doesn't everyone? So I'm thinking about trying something different. Maybe I'll just get old fashioned and count calories? Maybe I'll try the South Beach Diet. I'm not sure. I know that I have 2 weeks until the next challenge starts, so I can figure something out. I do know that I'll continue Shredding and working out everyday. I've never felt better. My body is firmer, less jiggly. Less jiggly is good. Very good.

p.s. Why did Weight Watchers change their site AGAIN? Is it so we won't get bored? I think it would be great if the damn pages would load to I can enter my weight and look at my chart. Whatevs.

Lots of rambling tonight

BJ was no treat to potty train. We finally got over that hurdle when he was, oh, 3 1/2. But we never got over the night time pottying hurdle. Until about 2 months ago, I had him in pull ups at night. And then Brian and I decided that maybe they were more of crutch for him. That maybe he wasn't motivated to get up and go to the bathroom at night since he was basically wearing a diaper. So we gave them up. And I think we've had, oh, maybe 5 dry nights since. Okay, maybe a few more, but not many. I'm not really sure where to go from here.

Our game plan has been to limit beverage intake after dinner to a minimum (almost NOTHING), and to take him to the bathroom before we head to bed, usually around 11:30 or so. We also praised him heavily on dry mornings and never (well not intentionally at least) did we get angry at him for being wet. That seemed to be working pretty good until about 2 weeks ago. Now he is wetting the bed every night. Sometimes more than once. And on Monday night a record THREE times. What is going on?

I've done tons of research and discovered that, enuresis, as it's called, is more common in boys and usually continues until age 5. That made me feel a little better. But not much. Seriously, I am so sick of washing multiple loads of laundry everyday that smell like urine. Not to mention getting up several times a night with both kids to either feed or change sheets and clothes. (Don't even get me started on Mia's sudden need to wake up every 3 1/2 hours at night to eat after she'd been sleep 7 hours straight for weeks.)

So do you have any advice?

Switching gears now. Tonight BJ puked in his bed and all over himself and then writhed in pain on the bathroom floor for an hour. So now I realize that changing sheets that smell like urine is much more enjoyable than pukey (we had sloppy joes for dinner if that tells you anything) sheets. So that officially makes three sets of sheets washed today.

Can I get a little sympathy?

Switching gears again. So last week we spent 4 glorious days at the Mo' Fo's house. I got to hang with my BFF Amanda too. Love them both. BJ and Sophie got along good, for the most part, always acting like brother and sister. Sam did not hit Mia once, which is big for him! AND, I got lots of scrapbooking done. Plus Lisa gave me the wonderful opportunity to order MORE scrapbooking supplies. Love that!!

After we left Austin, we headed to Houston to meet Brian for the weekend. We had a great time shopping, eating and just having fun as a family.

When we got home on Monday night, we were all exhausted and so ready to be home. When I got up on Tuesday and stepped on the scale, which was completely the wrong thing to do since I'd eaten out about 137 times over the past week, it told me in big, bright numbers that I'd gained 6 pounds. Six pounds in one week. Yep. I wanted to throw that b#$% @ss scale down the hill in front of my house. Lisa, don't ever make deep butter cake AND banana nut bread when I come again. Also, next time, just discourage me from eating at all. It's so hard to be around someone who's pregnant because they are terrible influences when it comes to eating.

I gained 24 pounds while I was pregnant with Mia. At my six week postpartum appointment, I'd drop 21 of those pounds. Since then I've gained back 9 of those pounds. Damnit. I'm breastfeeding a chowhound. I should NOT be gaining weight!!

Tomorrow I have a eleventy-million things to do and since BJ barfed tonight (really I do feel terrible for him), I have to keep him home from mother's day out, which means I will get exactly zero things done. Such is life.