Christmas Dress Countdown Challenge: Week 7

Christmas Dress Countdown Challenge: Week 7

Initial: 189

Week 1: 187.3 (-1.7)

Week 2: 186.9 (-.4)

Week 3: 185.0 (-1.9)

Week 4: 187.3 (+2.3)

Week 5: 186.5 (-.08)

Week 6: 185.5 (-1)

Week 7: 186.5 (+1)

Dang temptations and Halloween parties and goodies.  Enough said.

Christmas Dress Countdown Challenge: Week 6

Initial: 189

Week 1: 187.3 (-1.7)

Week 2: 186.9 (-.4)

Week 3: 185.0 (-1.9)

Week 4: 187.3 (+2.3)

Week 5: 186.5 (-.08)

Week 6: 185.5 (-1)

This week was another really busy week.  I was challenged by reader Michele to not have any desserts this week.  I did great the first five days, and only okay the last two days.  I had to make some spiced almonds for a church outing and I had several here and there, but for the majority of the week I refrained from candy, desserts and all things wonderfully sweet. 

I am going to do my best to do it again this week.  I have been super busy with some church assignments so all of my spare time has been consumed. 

This is the first week since starting my weight loss where I only got in two days of exercise. I usually get 4-6 work outs in.  This week will be equally busy, but I will do my best to get a few more in.

Sorry for the lack of posting and commenting for this challenge.  My priorities have been else where.  I am still trekking along and not giving up.  Just super busy with lots of things going on, so blogging falls low on the list.

Have a fabulous week!

Christmas Dress Countdown Challenge: Week 5

Initial: 189

Week 1: 187.3 (-1.7)

Week 2: 186.9 (-.4)

Week 3: 185.0 (-1.9)

Week 4: 187.3 (+2.3)

Week 5: 186.5 (-.08)

It has been a crazy busy week.  I began tracking my food again this week and for what ever reason I have been retaining water like crazy.  Finally yesterday the bloat started going down. 

I weigh in on Saturdays and I weighed 186.5.  Happy it is headed back down again.

My eating was good for most of the week and water was good too.  I also got in five workouts (two of them at 6:30am, and I am not a morning person!!).

Tonight we celebrated my sisters 40^th birthday with a dessert bar and I over indulged.  I am going to have to work out extra hard this week!

Christmas Dress Countdown Challenge: Week 4

Initial: 189

Week 1: 187.3 (-1.7)

Week 2: 186.9 (-.4)

Week 3: 185.0 (-1.9)

Week 4: 187.3 (+2.3)

So here we are another week passed.  Last week I squeaked by with a loss, this week, not so lucky.  I weighed in this morning at 187.3.

I am back to where I started four weeks ago at the beginning of this challenge.  It is like I have forgotten that I am trying to get somewhere with weight loss. 

This week wasn’t so good.  After last weeks chocolate fest at my in-laws, and not the best eating choices this week, it makes perfect sense that I had a gain.  I know it will go down.  I know what it will take, re-committing.

I haven’t tracked for two weeks.  The first week went fine (until chocolate fest), and this week it all caught up with me.  I only was able to work out three times this week and that also has also taken a toll on me.  For me to lose I need to work out between 5-6 times a week.

So today as a new day I am looking forward again.  I am back to tracking and going to try to fit in 5+ work outs this week.

I hope you are all doing well.  Have a great week.

Persistence and the CPA

My husband has a degree in accounting.  He is an auditor right now, and his ultimate goal is to not be an auditor and maybe go into fraud investigation.  On this journey he has been working towards becoming a CPA, Certified Public Accountant.  To become a CPA you have to take four grueling exams.  After you pass one section, you have 18 months to pass the remaining three sections.  It is said that the CPA is worst than the BAR for attorneys.

The short of the story is, my husband didn’t take the CPA immediately following graduation from college and has been taking and re-taking these exams for many years (4+). He has been slaving away at these exams our whole marriage.  It has been our ball and chain.  All of our time has revolved around studying and the next test date.

He passed three sections then lost credit on one section, so he had to re-take it.  On that re-take round he missed the mark by one point. And the one he hadn’t passed yet, he missed it by one point as well. This was not the first time he was a point away from passing, success was just hanging on a string in front of us.  Frustrating!!! 

We decided this year, that this last testing window was it.  He was going to take the last two exams one more time and we were calling it quits.  The end.  Enough is enough.   We handed it over to the Lord and stated we have given it our best shot, year after year and now if it doesn’t happen we know it isn’t meant to be!

We have spent thousand’s (between $8,000-10,000 the hubs doesn’t want me to add it up!) on testing fees and our lives can no longer revolve around this exam.

Well, after a lot of work and sacrifices in many areas of life he DID IT!  My husband finally passed the CPA exam!  I am sooo grateful to be closing this chapter of our lives.  We are now seeking a new job and have high hopes he will find something that is a better fit for him.

Since this is my weight loss blog, I will liken it to weight loss.  Persistence.  You must never lose hope of your goal, even when it doesn’t seem possible or even something worth working for any longer.  There are angels out there cheering you on.  Allow them to help you keep your head lifted.

I always believed my husband could pass the CPA exam, I just never dreamt it would be so challenging.  It doesn’t seem real yet, but I am so proud of him for being persistent.

May we keep our visions straight and keep plugging away!!

Chocolate Fest and a Sleep Number Bed

Over the weekend the hubs, kids and I all went to the in-laws for a little staycation.  They have a spare sleep number bed that we wanted to try out to see if it would help us get better sleep.  I spent several weeks, several years ago at a friend’s that had a sleep number bed and all I remember is being uncomfortable and rolling onto my friends side of the bed, due to different number preferences.  Not the best rest. I found the same this time around.

We stayed at the in-laws for three nights.  First night: lots of waking up and adjusting the number.  Second night: not too bad, slept well but was probably so tired from my lack of rest the first night.  Third night: uncomfortable and sore.  I felt just like I had woken up in my own bed.

We decided not to make the switch, at least not for now.  There is no reason to change  out one bed that you wake up achy in, to another bed that leaves you achy.  We were going to buy a memory foam bed a month or so ago, but instead we had a different impulse buy, which drained our funds… a mini-van.  Yeah, now I am a mini-van mom. 

While staying with the in-laws I went crazy on chocolate.  My mother-in-law has got junk food all over the place and I took the Liberty to help myself.  She even has a fridge in the garage full of chocolate.  I have never opened it though!  When ever I am at their house I am weak, so many temptations.

I made sure I chugged a ton of water while inhaling the cocoa.  Before I got to their place I was bloated, and the whole stay I was even more bloated!  I could hardly stand to keep my jeans buttoned up! I gained a like four pounds over the weekend (so much for my loss!).  Thank goodness the scales are declining again.  I will be lucky if I actually have a loss this week, we will see once Saturday rolls around. Yikes!

So back to life on the home front.  Things are busy between the kids and church, but I will continue to move forward.

I have tried to comment on several blogs and I am not able to again.  I have no idea why.  Just know I am out there reading several of your blogs.  Keep on trekking along!

Rambling Battles in my Head

I have wanted to get back into running for a long time.  I used to run, or should I say jog 5k’s several times a week.  I did this for several years.  Since having my two little ones, I have not been able to run with out pain in my neck, shoulders and back.  This is a pain I have had for several years, but it is getting progressively worst, even with help of a chiropractor. Kind of driving me crazy!

I started back to a chiropractor six months ago and I have seen improvement, but every time I run my neck gets all messed up, almost to the point of screaming pain.  Tomorrow I have another appointment and I am tempted to go running right before just so I can get another run in, then get adjusted.  But the best thing would be to find something else to challenge myself to enjoy.  I have tried the elliptical, it is alright but my heart is just not there.  I get bored.  Even with my ipod and a magazine.  I do like cycling, but not so much on a stationary bike.  For what ever reason, that irritates my neck as well.  

I feel at odds.  I feel like when I run, I really can drop pounds.  I have minimized my running the past couple months, so I wouldn’t be in such pain and the scale is much slower.  I like the challenge of running.  It isn’t easy for me and my heart rate gets up real quick.  I like to see how far, and how fast I can go in 45 minutes. But my pain in the neck is just that, a PAIN in the neck!  So, now I am on a quest to find my new favorite challenge. 

Enough of the whining.  Moving forward.

What really gives you an awesome burn?? Please do share.

(something that doesn’t involve running or jumping)

Christmas Dress Countdown Challenge: Week 3

Initial: 189

Week 1: 187.3 (-1.7)

Week 2: 186.9 (-.4)

Week 3: 185.0 (-1.9)

Things are moving along this week.  I did not track, it was my little experiment.  I tried to eat as I would if I were tracking, being moderate.  I exercised four times at the gym and got in an additional walk.

I choose not to track my food, to get my mind off of food.  I have found when I am tracking I am constantly thinking about food.  I think it makes me more hungry.  I didn’t skimp on calories, so it is surprising I did lose weight at all.

One of the other reasons I didn’t want to track is I wanted to really focus on listening to what my body needs.  A few weeks ago I had all sorts of labs done at the doctor, cause for the last little while I have been feeling off.  The only thing that we have found deficient is my iron.  It has been running a little bit low.  It makes sense, I feel like it has been more than my blood sugar.

This week when I felt like things were getting low I made myself a green smoothie (water, milk, spinach, strawberries and protein powder). I guess that is another reason I didn’t want to count calories.  They aren’t the lowest calorie snack (266 calories), but they help me level out.  And hey, I still lost weight!  I am not going to worry about how many calories are in my green smoothies.  They help me keep my energy up and keep me from snacking too much between meals.

So here we are venturing off into the next week.  I will post some updates about my book a little later this week. I am at my in-laws for the weekend so things have been on hold.

Have a great week. Let's rock week 4!