Happy Birthday to My Mom!! (Day 173)

What a Fun & Exhausting Weekend!!

Footnotes Quartet sang at Bookman's -- for two hours! we received payment AND Bookman's Credit ... which is way fun! We had a blast, and thanks to so many friends and family who showed up!!

Mom & Step-dad came down for the weekend... a little getaway (and a few degrees cooler here than in Phoenix area) for her birthday...

And the chorus had a Farewell Party ~ Luau Karaoke! to say goodbye to some people who will definitely be leaving big HOLES in the chorus!

As an experiement... here 's a video of some of the party... it is dark, but you get the idea.

On my scale ~ I see a new number!! VERY exciting!!

I wore my shorts today... also very exciting!!

I am now in a new position at work, a promotion has come my way! I'm excited to be learning new things and perhaps being a supervisor/manager is in my future...?!

Feeling very grateful and extremely blessed. ♥

Day 167

Walked 3.17 miles this morning... YAY!

Happy 13th Anniversary to me and himself ♥

74 lbs down!

A re-evaluation of my goal weight reveals that realistically, 167 as a goal is too little. Without any fat - just lean muscle, bones & organs, I weigh 145. The Body Scan at Medifast says to be in the "normal" range -- I only have 74.9 lbs to go... which means... I'm halfway there!

WOOT!!

Day 160

I think I might be turning into an early riser.

Of course, having the sun starting to come up when I get out of bed helps... so we'll see what happens when the days get shorter.

Happy 70th Birthday to my dad. He Rocks. ♥ Love you so very much.

Day 159

Not too much different going on... did another selfish thing to another friend... shorter time in the beat-myself-up hole... but long enough.  Ack.  Avoiding that feeling is why I try to be perfect.  Damn this human-ness that prevents me from perfection!

I'm down 2 lbs this morning... yesterday's eating was without a lot of veggies... 3 stalks of celery, to be exact... and lots of walking around singing in the heat of the Tucson Downtown between 6pm and 8pm, which... I have to say... the heat didn't bother me AT ALL.

For anyone who knows me, this is a huge thing.  Yes, it was warm. I had water, I wore appropriate clothing. 70 lbs ago I would have died.  If for no other reason, just being able to live comfortably in the desert heat has been such a HUGE blessing result of losing the extra insulation layer that is certainly NOT needed in the desert...  so I'm saying it again --- I'm thrilled with this weight loss!!

Ha. Seems obvious, but I don't know if I've put it in those terms yet.

My wedding ring I can now maneuver off my finger with just my fingers... I hope that makes sense... I can wriggle it off my finger up and down the ring finger and it is so cool to have that little reminder of how much weight is gone.  I even was able to wear it on the middle finger AND the ring finger of my right hand... which never has happened before.  I still have 'fat' fingers... genetics from dad, I'm afraid... but this finger thing is a big deal in my world.

Apparently enough to warrant a blog post (*LOL*).
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My craft room has furniture and crafts in it! The desk my computer will go on is set up, the peg-board wall and IKEA hanging wire thing-a-ma-jig is now installed... two Expedit units are put together, and shelves are up!  It is so fun to be in the process of moving, organizing, sorting and putting together my creative space!!!  This is where a lot of my energy is going... how to decorate it, how to have it set up to function the best, etc... I'm so happy and thrilled... and my hubby has outdone himself with getting the last little things done so quickly.  I think he saw how his office will soon be ALL his faster... which I'm sure has helped inspire him.  Whatever the reasons... He ROCKS!!

I'll post pictures soon...
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I just want to say... this may seem random, but whatever ;-)

Everyone can sing. (Not everyone has to listen, however...).  Everyone SHOULD sing... even if only for yourself, in the shower or whatever.  And people who "judge" people and tell them not to sing shut down an entire side of expression of self.  Some people are better singers than others... just like some people can do math faster, and other people have baking skills, and others have talent carving wood. 

“Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.” ~ Henry Van Dyke

 The other thought I have is that I'm really really tired of hearing people say, "I'm not creative."  Perhaps you're not artistic... but everyone has creativity in some form or another.  The definition of creative is when you can think of another use for something than for what the item was originally intended.  Anytime you've used your shoe to nail something into wall is a time you're being creative.  As I'm thinking of ways to decorate my Creative Studio Space (as it is also a music room, not just crafts), I am reminded of this creative vs artistic debate.

I'm sort of artistic, but I need to practice to be better... there are naturally artistic people out there, and then there are people who have a bent that direction, but just need to work at it more.  The same quote above works for those who think they have no artistic talent, either... if you want something you have to put effort toward it... and if something doesn't come easily... that doesn't mean you shouldn't put a little time toward it and see what happens.

Off the somewhat rambling Soapbox. Perhaps a more in-depth look at this topic will be done later... lots of things that have a deadline to be done today.

Thanks for reading.

Off to work on promoting the upcoming Chorus Show (November 12, 2012) to senior audiences!

Day 152 ~ the day after my first 5K walk...! and 70 Lbs GONE

Yay ... I did it... I was absolutely dead last, but YAY ME!!!

On Saturday it was the 5 month anniversary of being on Medifast -- I was at the MF Clinic and have lost 70 lbs and 90.75 inches. My bp was 124/71... no meds. WOOT!!  Since last month when I was measured, I've lost 4 inches around my waist... I think another contributing factor to that great loss is the fact that I'm wearing a 2X pretty comfortably in tops now (WOOT WOOT!) and 1X 18/20 on the bottoms.  I even bought a pair of shorts that are a size 20 -- and they're 93% cotton and 3% stretchy, but they ZIP and they SNAP!! 

No, still not going to be tucking anything in anytime soon... but a size 2X top over them works well!

I've put my progress picture front-side on Facebook, and will get to the side views etc... for the progress page as soon as I can.  Here, however, is me and my escort at the finish line of the 5K from last night (my time was 1:12).

It was 102 yesterday, I had on my neck-cool thing, drank 3 bottles of water before, during and after, and hopped in the (still quite cold) pool at home for about 15 minutes to seriously cool down.  Today I'm feeling like I did something yesterday, but feel good.  Re-hydrating a lot... my lips feel dry!

I also had the craft class yesterday... and my buddy and I did IKEA in under 40 minutes!! WOOT  WOOT!! I know that the lack of the Lean & Green before walking, the fact that I woke up at 4:27am and drove 4 hours, then spent time teaching crafts, and then, finally... getting to the walk had something to do with my energy levels ... (ya think?!) *LOL*

See the flower? that's gonna be a theme for my 5K walk/run/walk experience(s)....

Day 148

Woefully behind... out 3 nights a week with chorus stuff. The job is going well. Medifast was awesome last week, this week a bit slower... my George Foreman Grill broke tonight... not happy! Have made delish shish-ka-bobs with chicken and veggies on the grill ~yum~!

Getting up more regularly early... walking semi-regularly... must get to sleep now.  Not sure when real posting will happen again...

Still very very grateful and thankful and feeling GREAT!  I'm so blessed.

Day 141 ~ Give Blood

Seriously. If you are eligible, and you are able, give blood.  It is something almost everyone can do to help during disasters such as the tornadoes, flooding and whatever is coming next.

Because there is always something next.

Day 138 ~ Down 8.8 lbs!

I'm now 270 lbs.  68 lbs are gone. My bp was 114/61 (yay!).

The craft class went well... I'm knackered... hopefully I'll have some time to post more this week.

Day 131 ~ I avoided the cheesecake

Today I scrapbooked for the first time in awhile... saw a scrapper friend I've not seen since losing 60 lbs, and won the "Grand Prize" of a $50 Gift Certificate worth of Creative Memories products.

I have had a good day.

I feel beaten and sad. I'm still feeling bad over something I did two weeks ago, and now small little things are annoying me.

I've walked 7 miles this week (YAY!).

I had a successful week of training for a new job ~ I'm now employed by the American Red Cross as a Telerecruiter for Blood Services... I've learned a lot about Regulations, Blood facts, and Consent Decrees. Well, not a lot about Consent Decrees, but a little.

My quartet had a fabulous weekend singing around town for Mother's Day Harmony-Grams, and now we're booked at a local bookstore in June to sing for *money!!* Woot Woot!!!!  And one of the hair salons we sang in was impressed enough to ask for a business card and hopefully some community opportunities will come from that.

My point: things are good. Writing this short list of good things helped REMIND me that I'm blessed. I'm still so thankful for losing weight, and Medifast, and my cute hubby... so these useless feelings need to say adios & sayonara!

Hrmph.

Day 124 ~ How Am I Doing It Exactly....?

I received a text message this morning from a dear friend asking me how I have lost all this weight... today I weighed in (on my scale) at 269.  That is 61 lbs gone! This week I've walked only 3.5 miles... compared to last week's 10+ miles that is not so hot... this morning's walk was 2.28 miles in 47 minutes ~ and I felt great! What was supposed to be a 2-day break became a 5 days in 7 break. I want to be careful not to let this happen again.  My goal is to walk a 15 - 17 minute mile, getting 3 miles in under 50 minutes.

But back to my friend's question: How I've lost the weight.  She doesn't live in North America... but I sent her the Medifast Quick Start Guide, which is an excellent overview with details of what leans and greens are allowed.

I eat 5 MediFast Meal Replacements a day. Sometimes I have an extra shake, or an extra bar. It depends on the day. I'm a lot less hungry now than I was when I started 4 months ago.

I drink 64+ ounces of water a day.  I try to get 32 oz in before I eat my MF breakfast.

I incorporate 5 TB of ground flaxseeds in my diet almost every day.  At least 1 TB every day (delicious in the MF Oatmeal AND it totally helps to thicken it up!)

I have an "Optional" snack just about every day... either celery with peanut butter, a pickle slice (or two), MF Soy Parmesan mini rice cake things, or MF crackers with Laughing Cow or WW cheese triangles.  Some days I have one or two string cheeses in addition to the snack. 

April was a big old plateau month... I wasn't exercising, and now with the walking, the scale has started moving back down.

I know I have more condiments than I should. As I get closer to my goal weight, this will probably have to change. Right now I have about 1 1/2 TB of half-n-half in my coffee, with 1 1/2 tsp of sugar free chocolate syrup (Torani). I don't measure or really count the olive oil I put on my veggies before roasting... I saw on Jamie Oliver's show to 'count to 2' while pouring Olive Oil... that works for me. And I don't always use it up. The only spices I'm concerned with are the ones that have a high sodium content... and of course, salt itself.

That is a beginning of how I'm doing it... I've not updated the food log page in ages, but it does give a pretty detailed description of what I was eating and when for the first 3 months.

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245 lbs will be my halfway point. That is 24 lbs away. Seriously, can't remember being that weight... it sounds really bizarre, but the last weight I remember is 282 (passed that mark!), and before that... 155!! I must've been really unconscious for a long time gaining that much weight :-(

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Yesterday I finally bought new trousers! Size 1X (18-20W). They are stretchy knit elastic-waist pants from Catherines... nothing binding... and they're just a titch tighter than I like... but I figure they need to last for another 3 months! I have a pair of 2X capris that don't fit yet -- they're linen-like and not stretchy... and while I can put them on.... I wouldn't wear them out in public, afraid I'd split them somewhere embarrassing if I moved too much *ha!* 

In other words, I know I'm not really a size 18-20 yet, but going down to the 1X is a BIG FAT HAIRY DEAL for me right now!! *Happy Dancin' Here!!* 

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This week has been hell emotionally. I did a stupid thing, and made a mistake. I own it. I did it. I'm horribly sorry and contrite. I shouldn't have done what I did at the time I did it, and I could have done it differently. 


The week has been a horrible, sad, depressing gray week of feeling terrible about something I cannot fix or change, as it was my own deed that put me there.

Being human and not perfect ~ it really is a sucky sucky thing sometimes.  I hardly slept this week, and that was one reason I wasn't able to get up early enough to get a walk in. I hope that time will be the healer it has the reputation for, and now that I've forgiven myself for being human and making a mistake, that I will be forgiven.

But I didn't eat off plan, and I didn't overeat. I'm still losing weight. And that is still my first priority.
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