Update on weight loss

Thanks for the encouragement from the last post about the scale. I am happy to report that as of Saturday I have now met my goal and I weighed again this morning and have lost 4 pounds this week. So now I am below my goal. I have set another one and hope to lose another 10 pounds by September 29th.

I ordered some new sweaters for fall and winter and they were a size I haven't worn in over 15 years! I once heard Joyce Meyer say "Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels" and that is so true. I am not thin yet, but I am working hard and I am on my way. It feels nice to put on old clothes that were so tight before and now they hang off of me. It also feels good when the neighbors see me out walking and stop me and remark on the difference they see in me. I am so thankful to the wonderful ob/gyn that God allowed me to meet and be cared for by him. He is a wonderful person and I can never thank him enough. Thanks Dr. Cardenas!

With each time I weigh on the scale and the numbers are good, I know that we are one step closer to the blessing that God had promised me before Scottie and I married. I am saying my positive affirmations daily and visualize holding my child. God's blessings are so wonderful and I must say, are so far always worth the weight(pun intended) and whatever we may have to endure to get them. It is hard to say no to the popcorn and pretzels, pizza, you name it, but to see the numbers go down on the scale and the clothes fall off, yes, it makes it all worth it.

Be blessed by God today and encouraged. Know this~ nothing will happen that you and God can't handle and through all things let christ lead and guide you. Read Phil 4:13 when you can. So powerful.

graphic is from www.countryclipart.com

Monday Musings

Labor Day~
I remember when I was a girl, we used to go to the labor day parade in town and then go grab some BBQ sandwiches and chips and ice cold cokes and head to grandma's house. The women would work in the house and visit with mammy and the kids would play games outdoors and wear ourselves out. Oh, to be young again! :) This was our yearly tradition...seemed to me like summer didn't come to an end until we done this. Now that I am older, we never go to the parades and we grill out at home. What are your plans for today?

Monday~ Go buy new grill at Home Depot. My old one collapsed. Grill some burgers,chicken,hotdogs and fresh corn and make a huge salad. Spend some time resting and then work on some more planning. Hope to get some sewing done today. Maybe make plans to start a quilt for a christmas gift, sew some skirts, make my new curtains and get ready to paint. Watch some of the NCIS marathon on USA network.
The rest of the week~ work on cats testing some more and get it mailed off and begin new homeschool work. Do some sewing. Prepare two rooms for painting.

On the table this week ~ I am thinking of leftovers from today, and then some crockpot meals this week. Maybe serve up a fresh salad each day with dinner. No bread baking this week. BBQ porkchops and grilled Italian chicken sound like a plan for end of the week.

On my nightstand~ I am reading a really good page turner called "Don't tell a soul" by David Rosenfelt. He is a new author to me. Maybe I can get it finished this week.

Weekly Projects~ Painting and getting things organized to get back into our routines. Seems like life flows smoother when we are back on a semi schedule.


Anyone want to share their plans for the week?




graphic from www.countryclipart.com

Stress Free Sunday

Sunday is a day of rest, or at least it should be. I know there are some Sundays that you just can't relax because life and family happens,no matter what day of the week it is. I usually try to make sure that I get one day that I can relax and my wonderful husband helps ensure that. If my son is home on Sundays, then he will usually take him out for the day and give me the day to myself. I am a voracious book reader and usually reading is planned for somewhere in my day. My dear hubby knows this and usually asks me what I am reading for the day. There is usually a pile of books on the nightstand, by my recliner, and in the bathroom. You get the idea. Just recently we took my son to the oral surgeon for teeth removal for braces, and I forgot to bring a book! Scottie was shocked! So was I! We ended up being there for almost 2 hours, simply waiting to be seen. I kept wishing I had brought my book. Don't you hate that?

I am rattling on again. So yesterday was my rest day, but since we are gearing up to start our official school day tomorrow, I needed to do brainwork. Work on the computer, do some paper planning, and of course get back on track with meal planning. I seem to let that go alot in the summer. We just take it day by day,since I never know when we are trotting off to the pool. Well, when I got finished with all the planning, meals,and dishes, I decided it was time for my weekly retreat. Here is where the picture comes into play. This is my garden tub. I love it! I light a few candles, turn on some classical or piano instrumentals in the background and grab my teacup and book and head to the tub. Remember the old commercials about Calgon,take my away? That is what happens. I get closed off in my own little world and no one bothers me. I get peace and quiet and reading and coffee( yes, that is actually coffee in the tea cup~I don't like tea). I stayed in there for an hour last night and sometimes it has been as long as two. The guys were home last night, doing their own thing, and never even missed me.

Sundays~ such a joy to behold in so many different ways. Peace and comfort. Rest. Good Books. Great coffee. Pretty China teacups. Who could ask for more?

My scale is not my friend today

Well, today was it. My five week goal date to lose 25 pounds. Did I make it? No. I am a mere 2 pounds off. AAAAggggg!!!! How aggravating this is. I struggle so hard with losing weight. I am not sure why I did not meet my goal, only to think that last Sunday (8/16) I indulged in 4 slices of pepperoni pizza. I tortured myself all week long in exercise to burn off those slices. So could it be that? Who knows. I walked a total of more than 7 miles on Saturday and 6 on Sunday in addition to the exercise I do during the rest of the week. I think my body is rebelling. I will not let it. So I didn't meet my goal this week, but I will keep pressing on. I will not give up. This is when I usually do and gain ALL the weight back. I know it will come off and I didn't put it on overnight.

My ob-gyn who put me on this diet also holds weight loss meetings for women and I have been attending these for over a year. These are the no/low carb diet plans that are very helpful for some to lose weight. I did okay for the first 6 months and then hit a plateau. I know I still have time to reach my goal with him, but for me personally, I wanted to be under a certain number by today.

So what's next? Well, I will keep plugging on and keep at it. I feel a little down today. The disappointment for something you have worked so hard to achieve and not see it there hurts so bad.

Okay~so on a more positive note~ I took my cup of coffee outside to my sanctuary(aka swing)and I was contemplating this whole diet thing when I heard a little buzz by my head and saw Ms. Tippy spring to action. I got to see my hummingbird friend fly in for breakfast. Hummingbirds are so beautiful. One of God's amazing creatures. He looked all grey and black from the front and when he flew around I could see the pretty pink and green on his back side. This was kinda like a little kiss from God that he knows my struggles and He is here for me. Just a little reminder to let me know I am doing ok.

Homeschool Planning

Well,it's that time again. I began clearing out the old homeschool items from last year today and am getting us ready for the new year. Most of the schools in our area went back the first week of August, but for us that is way too soon! We are still enjoying days by the pool and just lazing around and enjoying what is left of summer. Fall(my favorite time of year)will be here before we know it. I like to stretch out our summer break for as long as I can.

So, we are trying something new this year. Before,we always used Abeka curriculum and unit studies for History since this is my son's favorite subject. This year,however,God had us go a totally new direction with our studies. We are starting to do Switched On Schoolhouse on the computer. I think this will be a really good thing for me since I won't have near the amount of paperwork to do. My son thinks this will be good for him so he doesn't have to do as much writing. I am excited to do something else new this year. The pic with the yellow is a book about recycling and doing what we can for the environment and the other pack is a fabric pack for making a quilt. How do these two go together you ask? Well, last week I went to an Educator's reception and they challenged us to make a school quilt block for a contest. You know me, being a quilter and quilt lover,how could I say no? :)

Since you can choose any subject I chose to do a science/environment block about recycling and the earth. Isn't that cool? This is why I love homeschooling...so many fun things to do and interesting projects. Not to mention the freedom to study what we want, where we want,when we want.....oh I could go on,but I think you get the point.

Hope everyone's school year is off to a great start...or going to be.

The New Diet Plan

The day before my 35th birthday this year, I decided to try a new diet plan. I had been on the no-carb plan for about a year and was not seeing any weight loss results. I am very diligent in my exercise,to the point of hurting myself,and knew this was not the reason for not losing weight.

So, since my main reason for losing weight is to try to have a baby, my ob-gyn suggested a new plan called Medifast. At first I was very hesitant to try this, I was thinking it was like Nutrisystem and I had done that before and not had any weight loss. But, I decided to try anyway. Now I am glad I did.

I have now been on the program for 4 weeks and have lost 18 pounds. This may not sound like much to you, but to me, it is outstanding! I am very happy with my results so far. My goal is 25 pounds. My 5th week is coming up soon and we will reevalute my progress and goals. I say "we" because I have a health coach and this person is the person that helps you along the way. Kinda like the buddy system.

So, what is medifast? It is a prepackaged meal program that you eat 5 of these meals per day and one lean and green. What is lean and green? Exactly what it says it is...you choose one lean protein from the list of choices and three servings of vegetables that you like and that is your regular meal for the day. Nothing hard about it. You fix this meal yourself and measure everything out and enjoy. The great thing about the lean and green is that you can eat it at anytime of day you want. So, if you have plans to eat out for lunch, you can go out and eat and make the healthy choices,then eat the other medifast meals for the rest of the day. The program even allows you to have snacks when you feel extra hungry or just need a crunch. Examples of it would be cucumbers, celery, string cheese, sugar free jello and sugar free popsicles,and even pickles. The plan is very doable. It seems like you are eating so often (at least every 3 hours)that you really don't have time to feel hungry. I really do like the program. If you find yourself in a slump, I would recommend it.

Kindness of neighbors

I was out mowing and working in my yard one day and I glanced up and saw my neighbor drive by and I waved and went back to what I was doing. Next thing I know, she comes walking over to me, loaded down with this fresh peaches and cream corn. The best in corn there is! I thanked her and then began to get to work on shucking the corn and getting it ready for the freezer.

I can't eat any starchy veggies right now because of my new diet program, but my mouth waters because in the winter when I can have them again, I already dream of this corn lathered in butter and salt. Not to diet friendly, huh? ;)

The pic of silver is the corn all cleaned and ready for the winter. Good way to stock the freezer for winter....and be blessed as well.

My First Garden

After doing so much reading and research on living a more simple life and what we can do to be more self sufficient, I decided I wanted to try and grow my own salad veggies. This is a picture of my little cherry tomatoes and they are quite prolific! We are growing them in pots because the soil in this area is mostly rock and clay and not the ideal conditions for a good garden.

There are some areas I may try to use next year for an in the ground garden. So far this year we are growing cukes, cherry tomatoes, tree tomatoes, bell peppers, and green beans. I also decided to try my hand at strawberries...and it succeded. At first it produced a few berries and they were swiped by something...squirrel, birds, nosey cat, I am not sure what. But now the bush has expanded in leaves and runners and is blooming more now than ever before. I love strawberries..they are by far my most favorite fruit.

So if I had a chance to redo what I planted this year, I would definitely add more of each thing. I was kinda shy about what I planted. You know, the whole What-if-it-all-dies-thinking? I did not want to be out to much money in case it did not do well. We tried the start from seed method and everything grew really well at first and then as soon as I tried to transplant them outdoors, they all died. Go figure. So I went to Lowe's and Home Depot and bought starter plants. Not doing to bad for a first timer.

Ms. Tippy

Meet Ms. Tippy, everyone! She has got to be the nosiest cat in the country! She is the "boss" around my house. I am sure there are alot of you that feel the same way about your pets. She follows me around the yard when I am playing in my flower bed or just sitting on my swing.

My cat chats with me. Yes, she does~ I can ask her something and she will "respond" with a meow that is like a low growl when she doesn't like what I say. My husband thinks it is the funniest thing. Any of your cats chat with you?

This is the swing my dear hubby bought me on my birthday 2 years ago. I love it! It was handmade for me by a friend my hubby works with and if you look to the left, you can see the man even added cup holders for me. On the top of the swing is two hooks to hold hanging baskets of flowers. I spend alot of time out here, especially when the weather is cool like the past two days. It only reached the middle 70's here in the SE of US and that is unheard of for July. Normally when you walk out the door at 8am you are drenched in sweat within 5 minutes. So, I took the day to just relax and swing and read.

As you can see, I was accompanied with two of my favorite things....books and coffee. The blue jacket you see on the swing is my old favorite and if you maybe look close, you can see the coffee stains on it and the zipper pull is gone so I improvise and use a safety pin to pull it up with. This would be the one I refer to on the front of my blog about not being able to part with a favorite sweater. ;)

Well, I went out to look at my cukes this morning and I am not sure they will survive the storm damage we had last week. They are looking mighty puny... Any suggestions?