The Bandwagon Broke

So, no, I didn't fall off of it Liz!

I'm still actively trying to lose weight, in case you're wondering. However, this past summer has been a killer for me to try to stick to anything. For 3 months, I did mostly nothing.

But the good news is that I didn't put it back on.

The month of May was just plain nutso. We have our annual Vacation Bible School at the end of May (when all the kids get out of school around here), so the entire month I'm running like a chicken with my head cut off. I appear to eat, sleep, and breathe VBS. As much as I try to plan ahead, there always seems to be some glitches that last month of preparing. And as the designated "Project Leader" for the 10-12 year olds, the glitches have dire consequences at times.

Eating in May is always an afterthought.

Then June brought some more VBS (we work into the first full week of June), and a surprise trip to Florida for 10 days. This present from some close friends was given to me 3 days after VBS ended, and 5 days before I had to leave. I barely had the chance to touch down from May before I had to take off in June. My trip was AWESOME, but I totally didn't worry about what I ate when I was at someone else's house!

Then July started up, and I was going to "buckle down" and rev up my diet again. And I did. But unfortunately, on July 9th a close family friend passed away suddenly. That man was like a grandfather to my children and it was a very hard time. We spent a lot of time mourning with this "Alabama family," and food was always an afterthought. We just picked on whatever was close by---usually things brought over by church family. Even when I was cooking myself, I was just doing whatever I could throw together. I was walking in a dream state a lot of the time.

By the time I started feeling somewhat normal again, I was working hard to put together a bridal shower for another close family friend. This time, it was a young lady who we have "adopted" as our own. Chris and I have called her "our oldest daughter" for years. She would come stay at our house for her parent's out-of-town trips, and we just clicked when she was with us. Just another part of the crew. We love her like she truly is ours, and I wanted to put as much as humanly possible into her shower. It was a labor of love for me because with Chris in school, there wasn't much else I could give her. Again, food was a second thought. If it was close by and edible, I probably ate it. Especially if I didn't have to cook it.

SO...

In spite of all this, I didn't really gain any significant weight. I mostly fluctuated within 5 pounds. It must have been all the stress and go-go-go.

***

As of August, I was back on the trail. I was in the wedding for aforementioned "oldest daughter," and the last thing I wanted was to look like a beached whale next to her on stage. So I lost my next 5 pounds the month of August, in time for the wedding on the 29th.

I'm going strong again now. I took off last week, to take a much needed breather, but today I'm working to get another 5 off for September. I'm finding that I'm having a hard time with exercizing, however. The kids started school again in July, and their video school has taken over my Wii spot. By the time they're done doing school for the day, I'm already showered and not very excited about working up a sweat. I guess I'm going to have to work out something that works with this new schedule.

And hopefully, by the end of September, I should be halfway to my goal. It doesn't seem as though I'll make my goal by New Year's like I had hoped, but I'm ok with that.




Sometimes, life throws cherry pies in your face. And I dare say, your best bet is to lick off the filling and keep your face to the wind.

Wii Be Fit

Oh yes, we're getting somewhere here.

I'm now down 22 pounds!

And with this new toy, I'm sure to lose more. My Mom and Dad got me the new Wii Fit for Mother's Day. It just came out today, and since I had some things to get at the store anyhow, well....I er, just picked up the Wii Fit while I was there...

(Ok, so what if I HAVE been counting down the days?)

Anyhow. Can you say cool? This thing is so neat! It can figure out how much you weigh, your BMI, your center of balance---just by standing on the "balance board" that comes with it. There are 4 different modes of "play:" Strength Training, Yoga, Balance Training, and Aerobics. I already LOVE the Basic Step game, and some of those Yoga poses are TOUGH! You do this initial set-up test to see what your strengths and weaknesses are, what your "Wii Fit age" is (mine is only 35...woohoo!), and set up a goal. So far, it will only let me get out of the "Overweight" category into the "Normal" category, but that's fine. Hey, at least I'm not in the "Obese" category anymore!!

The more you use Wii Fit, the more games you unlock. It keeps track of how long you've been working out (very nice feature), so in various increments it will open up another option to try.

I even liked the fact that it makes your Mii character look as slim or chunky as you really are. No, seriously, this is helpful! I'm pretty sure the character slims up as you do! I mean, comon', that's pretty motivating! Not only will my clothes fit better, but now my digital self will be looking better too---HA!

Here's a short intro video that can SHOW you what I'm talking about:

Oh, and by the way, that soccer ball heading game? Yeah, it may not actually hurt your head, but those cleats flying at you.....it's not easy, and I pretty much stink at that game. LOL.

The Challenge

One of my close friends and I are in the middle of an all-out war. It's not pretty. Only one party will win, and the other will lose badly. Very badly.

I intend to be the winning party.

***

To those who know me, and those who have read this blog for awhile, it's an obvious fact that I am overweight. To those who don't know this (especially since I don't post my picture on this site), let's just spell it out for you:

Can you say 60 POUNDS?

Yeah. Seriously.

Well, there it is, out there for everybody. No hiding it, no shrinking behind the 6 kids I birthed in 10 years. Just the plain awful truth. 60 irritating pounds that my heart could live without (as opposed to dying WITH).

But why is it that 60 pounds feels so.....uh......yummy? Like a nice fat slice of double chocolate cake? I mean, I even feel that way to OTHER people I'm sure. Squishy. Kinda like how my Grandmother felt back when she was alive. Mmmmmmm.

Well.....back when she hadn't died of a heart problem.



ok.......welll then.....

***

The Challenge is this:

My friend Jeremy (who just happens to ALSO be overweight--but I'm not telling how much he has to lose. HE can tell y'all! Comon' Jer! It's like they do in AA!) decided that we needed to lose weight again. I say "again" because the last time we had a challenge like this, he was trying to get married, and he took the baton and totally RAN with it. In other words, he blew me out of the water and I still owe him a nice dinner for winning. But I digress.....

Anyhow, the Challenge. So we both need to lose weight, and whoever loses the most by Dec 31st gets a big, fat whompum prize from the loser. Which would be him. Cuz I'm NOT losing this time. The stakes are really too high. I need to lose it, I'm done having kids. No more excuses for me.

But, since it became painfully obvious that he loses weight faster and in larger quantities than I, we decided that we should go by a percentage. Whoever loses the higher PERCENTAGE wins the Challenge. He would like to lose a higher percentage than I, but I don't think he's gonna pull it off. Frankly, I just think I'm the bigger loser in general. I just have more will power.

Oh, not to mention, I want to beat him VERY BADLY.

***

One way I intend to win this Challenge is to keep myself accountable to those around me. I really don't care if EVERYBODY knows I'm losing weight and calls me on it constantly. In fact, I signed up for an online log, so I write down everything I'm eating and how many Weight Watcher points the stuff is (see, cuz I'm doing Weight Watchers, for now). As of right now, I get 27 points a day, and 35 extra points a week.

Here's my log so far for today:

I think I'm gonna try to stick this on my sidebar so you can click on it whenever you want, whether I post or not. I'm also putting a ticker up there to show how much I've lost. Talk about accountability! Feel free to check up on me as often as you like. Oh, and comment. Talk smack all you want. I need the push.

I need to WIN.

***

Feel free to join me on my little adventure to winning! Just let me know what you're doing, and maybe you can even put a ticker on your site too. We're not talking New Year's resolutions here people! We're talking LIFESTYLE changes! Working out and everything! No more couch potatoes! No more super sizing! No more Reese's Peanut Butter Cups!




OHHHHHHH!



.....it's getting painful already.....