Hi hi my wonderful weight-loss friends.  Welcome to another Monday.  How was my week?  I can’t even remember.

For starts, I’ve been working two part-time jobs and they both kept me very busy last week.  I worked, I worked some more, and then I worked at home.  Meal planning has been a disaster.  Well it’s hard to say it’s been a disaster when it just simply hasn’t happened.  I wish I could afford to hire a nutritionist or someone to just tell me what to eat every day.  Oh, and it has to be food that my family likes, too.  :/  Right, cuz that’s going to happen….

Exercising was not a disaster, but don’t ask me what I did.  I can’t remember.  I didn’t do something every day, and I’m not sure how many days I did something, but it doesn’t feel like a complete loss or anything.  Saturday I worked again.  Sunday we went to my Dad’s house and then I did fitness yoga at the YMCA, which was awesome, difficult, enjoyable, and sweaty.  Today started out with some various forms of cardio at the gym and then  I cleaned like a mad woman in preparation for who-knows-how-much-I-work-this-week.  You don’t even want to know what all I did today; you’d get tired and worn out just reading it.  Luckily, my sweet husband went to the grocery and I took a short nap.

So in short: eating is bad, exercise is okay.  I lost a pound, and my thighs shrunk a little.  There are not enough hours in my day right now for me to do everything that I want to do.  It’s a little frustrating, but I’m sure that I’ll sort it all out in due time.  For now I will just keep doing the best I can.  As the weather improves, I will end up spending more time outside with the dogs and that will be good for me.  Tomorrow I plan to walk the neighborhood.

I am planning on attending the Mamavation Show on Mingle Media TV at 10:00 pm EST.  Last week I went to bed at 9:40 due to exhaustion.  No way do I want to miss two weeks in a row!  See you there, and have a strong week.

Also, I want to give a shout out to Katie and Lisa.  You ladies are totally rocking it.  You are amazing, and inspiring.  This is the final week, so make it a good one!!!

Brace yourself for a totally disorganized post.  Well I weighed in sometime last week and I was down a pound so at least I am heading in the right direction again.  I haven’t weighed in again recently.  Nor have I taken measurements.  I am planning on doing both tomorrow morning when I head to the gym.

My schedule has been completely hectic lately.  So getting to the gym was a real challenge last week.  This Sunday I started a fitness yoga class at the YMCA.  It was really tough and I am sore today, but I enjoyed the workout.  It’s 6 or 7 weeks, I think.  My yoga poses are feeling stronger, and I’m so glad for that.  In particular, my downward dog is significantly improved, my shoulders are so much stronger.

I’ve been needing to take some calcium on a regular basis.  That is still not going great, but a huge shout out to Tina for helping me remember.  Thanks Sista!

Meal planning is still a disaster.  This is a result of poor budget planning.

I feel blah right now at this very moment.  Earlier today was exciting because yet another pair of my business/casual slacks for my teacher sub job are too large.  I think they are all too large.  So just an hour or so ago I got out my old clothes that used to fit and they STILL DON’T FIT.  So now I have NOTHING that fits.  GRR.  It makes me want to try harder while at the same time makes me want to stuff my face.  I’m so irritated.  Drinking hot tea instead.

I’ll report my weight and inches tomorrow.

So I am going to try to remember my calcium better, meal plan better, and make it to the gym more times this week than I did last week.

How are YOU doing?

Memory.  It’s something we might take for granted.  You remember what you had for breakfast.  You remember how to tie your shoes.  You may think you’d NEVER forget the name of your spouse, your child, your parents.  Until the unthinkable happens, you are struck by a disease like no other.  It starts out simple, why did you walk into this room?  Well we all have moments like that sometimes.  No big deal.  Next thing you know, you can’t remember your destination as you are driving down the road.  Oh that’s right, you need to go to the grocery store.  Wait, the groceries are already in the car; you must be driving home?

You visit a doctor, then you’re diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.  Your memory continues to fade, and then eventually your brain even forgets how to operate your organs.

I have first hand experience with this disease.  My grandfather was diagnosed with it many years ago, I was rather young and did not fully understand the disease.  Although my Mom warned me, it still hurt when Grandpa didn’t know who I was anymore.  We still had some good laughs and he never stopped watching The Weather Channel, but time went on and he ended up in a nursing home.

Here I am, 17 years old, asking my grandmother, who lives in Texas, to attend my high school commencement ceremony.  She is faced with a difficult decision.  Her only granddaughter’s high school graduation?  Or a warning from the nurses that her husband is literally on his death bed.  He will likely die while she’s visiting us.  She responds to the nurses, “Jim has been dead for a long time.  My granddaughter is still alive.  I’m going to Indiana.”

With her living so far away, we didn’t get to see each other very often.  Twice a year, in a good year.  Naturally, I was thrilled that she came, and understood as best a teenager can the sacrifice that she made.  Although it didn’t hit fully until the night we came home from my ceremony.  May 28, 1997 there was a message on the machine (old days, you know?).  James Arthur Severns left this world that day.

That is why, on September 25, 2010 I am participating in my 2nd annual Memory Walk.  I’m asking for your support.  Not just for me, but for other kids, so that their grandparents can be around both physically AND mentally to watch their grandchildren graduate from high school.  I’m asking for your support so that we can all be so lucky to remember the name of the person we married until death do us part, to never forget our children’s names, and to spare other families the pain of watching a loved die…not once, but twice.  That is what Alzheimer’s does, it kills twice.

You can click the link above, or the badge to the right to donate any time.  Donations can be done via debit/credit card online, or use the downloadable PDF form to mail in your donation.

Remember that every donation counts.  Even $5.00 can help and will be greatly appreciated.

Today’s blog is written in loving memory of James Arthur Severns, my beloved grandfather, and to my beautiful grandmother Thelma Nadine Severns who took the very best care of him until the very end.  May your loving light shine down from Heaven upon those who loved you so dearly…

Wow.  Two months have now passed since I was introduced to this wonderful online community of moms and moms-to-be.  Hard to believe, time just goes so fast these days.

It’s been a week for me.  Let me tell ya.  I’m up way too many pounds, back to 180, not at all happy about that.  The reasons are varied from stress and lack of sleep to giving in to my cravings.  I’ve got a handle on things now, though.  Back on track.  Portions and exercise frequency are back to where they need to be.  Thank goodness.  Another big success for me this week is that I feel like I am supporting my sistas better again.

The quest for weight loss evidence is never ending, and although this week did not yield any loss, there were things I noticed.  Muscle definition.  My deltoids, triceps, and trapezius are all now clearly separate muscles rather than just a blob of tissue.  The muscles in my legs are also becoming much more clearly defined.  This will look very neat come lake season.

This coming week, I am faced with a minor setback.  Yesterday while cleaning our newly acquired used refrigerator for use in the garage, a stabbing pain surfaced in my ankle.  In July of 2007 this ankle was severely injured while we were on our boat.  The doctors said I had a 2nd degree sprain with minor tearing of ligaments and tendons in BOTH joints of my ankle.  After being off of it for an entire month, then enduring 9 weeks of physical therapy 3 times a week, they still told me it would never be the same.  Although I haven’t been in physical therapy for my ankle since then, I still do some of the exercises weekly at home.  I thought this had passed.  However, I still apparently run a high risk for re-injury.  So, sadly, cardio will be a challenge for me for a few days.  Upper body strength training, pilates, and abs it is!!

Hope to you see all you lovelies Monday night for the Mamavation show!!  Catch it at 10 pm EST on the Mingle Media TV Network.

So far the calorie counting is as much of a PITA as I thought it would be.  So very grateful to SparkPeople for making that easier for me.  If you haven’t yet, you can find me under the username angelasue1979.

Currently for the day, I am actually under calories.  After this post is complete, there will be fruit and yogurt in the blender.  Through enough research, I know that being under calories is not good for my body, especially when I burn over 400 at the gym when I go.

I just want to share really quick, this is the dessert that I made for Valentine’s Day.

That is a brownie made from scratch, still warm from the oven, with a scoop of natural vanilla bean ice cream, warm macerated strawberries (with Agave Nectar for sweetness) and a drizzle of dark chocolate syrup.  It was fabulous.  No wonder I gained 4 pounds, right?  Hahaha.

Every day I am trying to come up with new ideas for nurturing my new lifestyle, and a new one came up today.  I would really love to start a garden.  Wouldn’t it be nice to have daily access to fresh picked vegetables and fresh herbs for cooking?  Why yes it would.  So the Fort Wayne Home and Garden Show is next weekend, and I really want to go.  With any luck, there will be some available education to help me get started.  So far, I know I want basil, oregano, cilantro, parsley, mint, cucumbers, grape or cherry tomatoes, and slicing tomatoes.  Wish me luck, I will likely need it.

Happy Thursday.

There’s so much on my mind right now.  I’m disappointed in myself, frustrated, and yet understand how I got to this point.  Over the last two weeks, I’ve been drinking a little more alcohol when I had been drinking NONE.  My sleep patterns have been completely disturbed (but all better now).  Due to my sleep being off, my cravings were out of control.  Also due to the sleep problems I have not been exercising appropriately.  Over the last 2 weeks I have gained back 4 to 5 pounds.  ARGH!! Really?!?

Plan:

There has to be a plan, right?

Calories: For ever, I have avoided the PITA of tracking calories.  I don’t want to.  I don’t want to sit and calculate and measure every single thing I eat. Seriously.  Who has time for that?  Well I need to do it.  This is finally realized.  I put a program on my phone so that I can write down my food each day in the most convenient of places.  As I track it, I will follow someone else’s idea of entering it at the end of the day.  Right now I am just going to use SparkPeople although someone suggested fitday.com I am already on enough websites.  So I did it today.  For the first time.  I am on target, although on the higher end of my range for today.  So I know to do better tomorrow and to stick to water and tea for the rest of the day.

Exercise: I am getting back to the gym more regularly again.  I don’t think there’s been a week that I went less than 3 times, but I feel much better when I go 5 or 6.  So it is time to work on that time management problem of mine again, the puppy is doing well.  He doesn’t need me quite so much now, I think.

It’s been very inspiring watching so many of my #Mamavation Sistas losing 30 pounds in a few months where it’s taken me nearly a year.  Realizing that I am not 100 pounds overweight, obviously I won’t lose weight quite like that.  There is always room for improvement.  Summer and bathing suit season is creeping ever closer and I really want to wow my summer friends.  Yes, of course I also want to do this for myself.  Lately it feels like I’ve only been putting in 50% of my available effort, and it’s time for 100% of me.  I deserve it.  I need it.

March 1st, I WILL be down to 173.  Currently back up to 180.  I can do this.  I will do this.  And I realize now that I need to track my calories for a while until I REALLY know what I’m doing with food.

**Edit: time flies.  I did not realize March 1st is so close.  Upon reevaluation I will give myself until March 9th, which is my one year SparkPeople Anniversary!  Or maybe another week after that.

Hey girls, I’m sorry about not getting my post up in time, and not making it to the show last night.  My parents have been going through a rough spot and my Mom really needed me yesterday.  So I spent the entire evening with her, trying to be a good daughter.  Family first.

Now on to my internet family!  It’s just been crazy here for me.  Crazy.  I didn’t weigh in when I went to the gym yesterday and I’m unsure if I am going to make it today.  With the introduction of a needy puppy, my house is a disaster and as soon as I am done with my cup of coffee and this blog post, I am going to clean.  All day.  Until my son’s doctor appointment at 3.  And then I shall return home and clean some more.  Also, the puppy is getting a bath today.

I feel like I’m slipping.  My portion control is worse.  My general eating habits are slipping a bit.  Making time to exercise is not a priority.  I’m still doing it, but not as frequently.  I started a new part-time job.  Oh, and did I mention that we got a puppy?  Ha!

So … I need to refocus.  I really really need to refocus.  And after I get the house clean today, then I will work on my focus for the rest of the week.  Also, I will plan ahead and make some rice so I can have a Tasty Bite for lunch.  Very healthy.

You should know, it’s not that I quit.  There’s no quitting here.  Everything I want, my goals and dreams, are still there.  Throughout the day I am thinking about what I can do to better myself.  Old habits haven’t returned, nor have old foods.  It’s just portion control, and did I really need to eat that many pita chips?  Did I really eat enough vegetables today?  Did I commit to my exercise plan for the week?  Not so much.

Refocus. But I love the new puppy!!!

Here’s hoping my Sistas will forgive me for my lack of involvement lately.  I still love you all and think about you a LOT.  Quitely I am rooting for you in my head all day while I chase this around the house….

Yummy hedgehog.

This is our newest family member, a purebred Vizsla puppy named Kava.  He is 14 weeks old and was surrendered by his owners to the city shelter because of his crazy puppy energy.

Sitting in the sun

Now.. we also have a Weimaraner who is 2 years old, and she is named Kona.  The great thing for us is that the Vizsla and the Weimaraner are remarkably similar breeds.  Kona joined our home when she was only 8 weeks old, so we are very familiar with their puppy energy.

Kava close-up

If you’ve ever had a puppy you know how much time they require.  If you’ve never had a puppy, you’ll just have to trust me.  Haha.  He’s adjusting to our home very well.

Kava laying with big sis Kona

As as you can see, he loves his big sister.  Kona and Kava are both Hawaiian names.  And yes, I love taking pictures of my dogs.  There are more pictures on the photos page if you want to see.  There is one of my son cuddling with Kava before school one day last week.  Too cute.

So my Sistas, now you know why I’ve been lurking.  Yes, I’ve been lurking, watching twitter, but not often able to sit long enough to message a lot.  Luckily we had puppy preschool this morning and Kava is VERY tired.  But know that I’m here, know that I miss you.  And also know that if you need me, send me a message and I will make time for you.  I promise.  As soon as Kava lets me, I will back with you in the full swing of things!

Keep moving.  Stay strong.  Drink you water.  Eat smart.

XOXO

Wouldn’t it be nice if there was some kind of magical pill for weight loss that actually worked and didn’t have any nasty side effects?  Reality check, there isn’t.  So how does one go about losing weight then?

Your local branch of the YMCA is an excellent place to start.  They really do have all the tools needed to get you started on your road to a healthier lifestyle.

My YMCA has absolutely everything I need.  Health and wellness education, nutrition education, loads of treadmills, elliptical trainers, step machines, strength machines, and free weights are just a few of the things that are readily available for me.  It’s almost sad to say that I have only taken advantage of a small fraction of the resources available to me at my YMCA.

What have I done at my Y?  So far I have taken advantage of the wellness center (where the cardio and weight machines are located), used the pool, attended fitness classes that are free to members, and signed up for a yoga class.

The friendly staff in the wellness center give all new members detailed, guided tours of the facility and show you how to use each machine.   They answer any questions that I might have when I am working out.  And if you want to pay a little extra, you can even use a personal trainer at the Y.  I hope to be able to this someday.

So when it’s all said and done, I have lost nearly 30 pounds in 11 months and the majority of that has been done with the help of my YMCA.  Naturally I have to control my diet at home, but most of my exercising as has been done at the Y.  This week is registration, so yoga class here I come!

Thanks again to the YMCA of Great Fort Wayne for making my weight loss goals more achievable.

**I was not paid or compensated in any way to write this blog article.  The opinions expressed are solely my own.

Hey everyone!! I hope you have all had a good week!! My post isn’t going to be very organized tonight because I just don’t have a lot of time!! Why? We got a new puppy!! He’s a little Hungarian Vizsla, and he’s absolutely adorable.  We now have a nice pair, female Weimaraner name Kona and male Vizsla name Kava (rhymes with lava).

Over the past week, I have worked out less due to working, puppy, appointments, etc.  Oh, and the big football game didn’t help either.  Although I did not spend as much time sweating, I did still manage to eat pretty good and lose another pound.  Only four more pounds to go to reach my mini-goal. Soon enough, I won’t be labeled “obese” any more by anything.  This is really exciting to think about.

My Heart Rate Monitor Training is actually showing some signs of progress already!  This is also very exciting for me.  When I first got my HRM and did the built-in fitness test (vo2) I had a Polar rating of 31 which is in the “fair” category for my age.  It has improved to a 33 already, up 2 points in two and a half weeks.  I’m still considered “fair” but progress is progress either way you look at it!

So this week I am planning to spend more time working out, continuing to eat well, maybe a little better.  Oh, I have been having some real problems with getting my water in these last few days, so I REALLY need to work on that. Really.

I also need to commit a little more time to my Sistas.  You girls are awesome, and I’m still here.  Time management is difficult, especially with a little puppy in the house.

Happy Mamavation Monday, everyone!!