Chicago Keeps Giving!

Chicago keeps giving AND feeding my addiction!

Yesterday's trip to the mailbox packed one very welcome little surprise. Sifting through the mail I caught sight of this envelope.




At first glance I thought it was an invitation I'm expecting... then I noticed it was sent from Chicago. Figuring it was somehow related to BOOBs, I set it at the bottom of the pile... save the best for last and all.

So, after sorting all of the CRAPOLA, I settled in with my little envelope. Turning it over, I saw it was from the Coach store... the one that I visited with Maria... the one where I indulged in some fabulous new sunglasses and a ring set. Opening it I found this...

One handwritten note, in which the associate actually remembered details about our visit (not just the merchandise logged into their computer system) AND one $50 gift card to use at a Coach retail store here!!!! OMG, this is seriously the best piece of mail I have received in a VERY long time!!! Now I have an excuse to visit the Coach store and shop a little more!

Maria allowed me to go smell the air in the Coach store... I fed my addiction... I fed the addiction of a certain Coach lover that we all know & love... and now Coach is feeding my addiction. Its a big circle of Coach love I tell ya! :)

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Today was pretty good for food and activity.

Ten miles on the wuss bike at the gym. Then, I came home and mowed the backyard... which took forever. Mowing the yard is to me what taking a bath is to some kids... I hate the idea, but once I get started I actually enjoy it. Needless to say, it had been way too long since I last tackled it and the grass was TALL. Even using the self-propelled feature (I usually don't use it), there were sections of grass that were very hard to push through. Then there's the monster tree out there that has decided to give birth to triplets if not more. It was a workout in itself!

Between the gym and the backyard workout I had this yummy salad for lunch.

Spinach, spicy sprouts, peas, mushrooms, tomatoes (from my backyard), shrimp & feta with Caesar spritz for dressing. YUMMY!!!!

I also spent time cutting chicken breasts into three and four ounce portions... so no excuses for not eating lean protein for quite some time... 12 pounds worth should last awhile... especially when The Boy One is still refusing to eat chicken because it comes from chicken. :)

Two NSVs today... one health related and one life related. Health related: I forgot my post-workout snack when I went to the gym today & I managed to resist the call (errr smell) of Starbucks when I was done. Life related: I made today about me, The Boy One and my home... it felt strange, but good in a way too! The yard is mostly done, we had good food together and enjoyed movie time together before he went to bed. He loves the Home Alone movies & I love to watch him be amused by them. It was a good evening.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Victoria Secret, Shaving & Jeans in 15

That's the deal I struck with a friend of mine tonight... new jeans for both of us when we each lose 15 pounds. This was his pronouncement tonight... his way of pacing his spending since the jeans he's eyeing are over $300. Seriously, who buys jeans for $300???? Let's just say he shops at Nordstrom while I spend my time in Ross, lol. Anyway, it seemed like a good idea and I agreed to it... cuz let me tell you all right now I did plenty of shopping on my vacation. No joke - I had to go to Ross & buy another suitcase to come home. Thank goodness I flew Southwest so I could check a second bag without paying.

Margatini Night was lots of fun. Our favorite bartender wasn't there, but the chick didn't do too bad with our drinks. I think the waiter had a serious crush on my BFF and we took full advantage... pretty sure he was blushing under that dark skin of his, lol. Then there was the guy sitting across from us that had statue of liberty hair, high water pants & socks pulled up to his knees. Oh and I can't forget the waitress flitting around the restaurant that had her hair done to look like a Holly Hobbie doll. It all combined for a much needed giggle for both of us.

The time has come... to share the story of my most recent visit to Victoria Secret. Let me start by saying that I'm standing there digging through the baskets of discounted bras & across the table from me is this very uncomfortable looking guy with his wife/girlfriend. The woman and I are both loading up on the pretty colored bras in our respective sizes. She then starts pulling out some neutral, beige ones. He looks at them, frowns and says something about those not being nearly as sexy as the colored ones. Without even thinking, I look up and say to him... "bras aren't always about sex appeal for the guy; girls need them for function too ya know." The poor guy (who I have little sympathy for) turned about six shade of red, lol.

After gathering my arm load of possibilities I headed to the fitting room... which was an experience in itself. Eight bras all in my supposed size... the first one was so tight I would have been lucky to squeeze one of the girls into the darn thing! It was so darn tight, I literally felt like the life was being squeezed out of me... I swear it was really mismarked, some one's idea of a joke or I was being secretly video taped. Bras 2-5 all had enough extra room for me to grow into (no thank you). Number six turned out to be pure perfection... good fit, a smidge of wiggle room, no spillage and flaming red! I didn't bother trying the last two. Now what to do with the flaming red bra?!? Well go out and find matching panties of course, lol.

The best part of the Victoria Secret experience... I managed to totally avoid the over helpful sales girl that wanted to come in there and feel me up. Pretty sure I can happily live the rest of my life without the sales girl coming to adjust things for me. That ranks right up there with my "love" of female OB docs... would so rather have a guy digging around down there (sorry if that's TMI)... is that weird?

And since my post is spiraling toward the gutter... I just as well share this too... an NSV of sorts.

There I was in the bathroom - shortly before my trip - shaving the whootananny region. SIDE NOTE: Is it bad that I now think of Draz and her "powder" experiment every time I'm doing this? Anyway... I realized as I was shaving... OMG, I can see everything now!!!! I don't know when that happened... but wow in an oh um sorta way, lol! 50 pounds ago, 40 pounds ago, 30 pounds ago... I had to use a mirror when I was shaving if I wanted to see everything... so this is HUGE.

Enough gutter talk... next up is a vacation report. For now though, I must go fall into bed...

The Weekend Experience

After all of the struggles over the past few weeks, I am relieved to report that I had a very successful holiday weekend! I have to start with my BIG NSV because I am so excited about it!!!

For the first time in 13 years, I got to go on my very favorite carnival ride... The Ring of Fire.

Three or four summers ago, I remember looking at it longingly - knowing there was no way I could squeeze my wide hips in there with another person (and they require two riders). When I was in high school, it was a tight fit for me and my then BFF... so there was NO chance that I'd fit after packing on an extra 60 pounds from my high school weight.

When the carnival was here in the spring this year, I knew I was small enough to fit once again... but there was no freakin Ring of Fire. Driving to town Thursday night, I saw it sitting there in all its glory and was giddy with excitement. The next task was finding a victim to accompany me... enter my friend Melissa... who just happened to come stay the weekend. We got to the carnival and the darn thing was closed for some unknown reason! I was so bummed... I could have cried. We let the kids do their thing and toward the end of the evening it was reopened and I got to ride... FINALLY! Not only did I fit... I fit with room to spare!!!!! It was amazing!!!!

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Saturday was a busy day. My friend, Melissa, was here with her oldest son and three year old niece. We took the kids to one of the local parks/forts and had a blast walking all over. I couldn't find my pedometer (a sure sign that I've been away from my normal routine for way too long), but I think we probably walked about three miles all together. Plus, every time we came to a staircase, I went up and down them a couple times each while waiting on the kids. The kids were pretty worn out by the end of the day... burned some extra calories carrying the three year old around at various points. It was also pretty cool, we happened to run into an old friend and his kids there... I used to babysit them when they were little, but hadn't seen them in years. We packed along sack lunches for the day... mine was filled with a whole wheat bagel thin spread with laughing cow cheese, a pine nut mix with dried cranberries, and a 100 calorie pack of cookies... satisfying and a perfect amount for a busy, on-the-go afternoon. Plus, I was pleased with myself for not caving in to the temptation of fast food...

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Food was a better experience in general this weekend... despite the "crap food friends," lol. I ended up doing a lot of cooking... and for the most part there was no complaining. Food items included homemade chicken taquitos (about 225 calories for two of them) and a breakfast scramble with turkey kielbasa, onion, garlic and tomato. Seriously, I don't think they even realized they were eating healthy foods. Thank God for Hungry Girl recipes. :)

At my Mom's yesterday, we managed to have a pretty healthy 4th of July meal too. We had grilled kabobs, fruit salad with a yogurt dressing and corn bread. The corn bread was my splurge and it was soooooo yummy... it didn't even need butter.

They do the community fireworks right by her house, so we got to watch from her front yard... super nice to be able to avoid the crowds. The last two years I have been gone on the 4th, so it was lots of fun to watch The Boy One watching the fireworks. He used to be scared to death of them, but this year he was jumping up and down excited and hollering "BRAVO" at the top of his lungs between each burst.

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Monday has proven to be a most relaxing day. I finally finished planting my flowers for the back patio and the veggies are all in pots too. In the afternoon, I was in the car, on the way to the gym, and the weather was soooooo nice I couldn't stand the thought of being cooped up indoors. So... I went to one of the beaches in town and walked. It was a pretty short walk - about a mile - because I was sans-sunscreen... but I walked down on the rocky beach which is a way more intense workout for the legs than the boardwalk portion. It felt good to get out there. If the weatherman is right, we are headed for a stretch of awesome weather... which makes me itch for all the different beaches and trails... I can't wait! I'll just have to dash into the gym for some weight training. I just installed RunKeeper on my NEW phone, so that will be fun to use too!

Drazil says I must report on my trip to Victoria Secret... among other things... so I shall try to oblige her in my next post. Also, I know I have some awards that I've been terribly remiss in responding too... thank you so much for them... they mean more than you know...

Keeping my fingers crossed for a happy scale day...

How It All Fits...

Okay friends, I got an email yesterday questioning why I talk about so many things completely unrelated to weight loss/healthy lifestyle on my blog when that's what its supposed to be about. Here's the answer:

In my opinion (take it as you will), everything in our lives contributes to the struggles we face when it comes to living a healthy lifestyle and/or losing weight. Stress caused by jobs, spouses, children, friends, finances - whatever - it contributes... so its relevant. And my adventures in shopping, jewelry making, gardening - to name a few - those are things that distract me from obsessing over food/fitness... so they too are relevant.

Saturday, I might as well confess now turned into a bit of a "shopping frenzy."

I got up bright & early to go order my furniture.... and ended up purchasing something else entirely. They were having a super good sale & I was able to get a sofa, chair and ottoman for the price of just the sofa from the other set. One more chair and the seating area for the room will be complete. Everything gets delivered Wednesday & I'm super excited.

Next stop, the jewelry counter... where yes, I cancelled the layaway. When she pulled them out for me to look at (to be sure), I knew I was doing the right thing. It will mean so much more to get them when I'm finally where I wanna be.

I used part of the money they refunded to get this little beauty...

Do you get the idea I love all things Coach by now? LOL. Seriously though, I chose this little beauty for a few reasons. First, I've been wishing for a pink watch for awhile now (though it seemed frivolous to spend the money for something that would only go with a handful of outfits). Second, it is bangle style & prior to losing 50 pounds it NEVER would have fit on my wrist (even with the extender piece). Reason number three, it has silver hearts... which will serve as a reminder to love myself enough every day to make good choices for my body. The last key factor was the price - we know I love a good bargain. The suggested retail on it was right around $400 & after all of their good discounts for the holiday weekend, I got it for $150! There are a few advantages to being able to shop on base. :)

Before I was done for the day, I had also purchased one Vitamix blender, one Kitchenaid Chef's Chopper (which will fill in til I replace my food processor) and a new DS game for the boy one. The chopper was a display model that they replaced for a non-dusty one (and sold the "old" one at way less than half price). Well, the blender is on layaway & he used his birthday money for most of the game... but still it was a BIG shopping day.

Food victories of the weekend - I resisted Krispy Kreme donuts that were being sold outside of Walmart as a fundraiser & I made it through the snack aisle of the commissary without caving in. Oh, and my friend DiAnne made these scrumptious peanut butter cookies last night...

3 1/2 dozen of them! I admit I ate four of them last night and have had my share today. But, I also took a dozen to the people at the furniture store & there are still at least another dozen left... so I'm not literally inhaling them. I swear to you these are the best peanut butter cookies on the planet... the fact that there are any left at all is a miracle.

Here is my big dinner treat tonight... and its actually healthy, lol.

Copper River Salmon.... YUMMY! At $20/lb I just got a small piece... but it was like heaven & I savored every morsel.

Hope everyone is enjoying their holiday weekend... and please take a minute (or more) to remember the meaning of Memorial Day...

Weekend Rollercoaster

This weekend seems to have had it all...



Quiet relaxation.


Hysterical laughter.



Tears of sadness.



Tense arguments filled with hurtful words.


Goofy chats.



Productive discussions.





Saturday was mostly about fun... we went to some yard sales & had friends over for dinner. We found new chair cushions for the patio furniture & I got a new plant for the backyard; so looking forward to sitting out there and enjoying the view this summer. I skipped out on working, thank goodness for the ultra flexible schedule right now.



Sunday was a day of productivity. I actually convinced The Husband to do some last minute things that I needed (or thought I needed) his help with... pictures hung, desk moved from the garage to the office, large bags of potting soil hauled to the backyard, etc. We went to the furniture store on base to look at living room stuff... just so I have an idea of what he likes when I go shopping for it (which had better be soon considering we've been using "lovely" folding chairs for living room furniture since the beginning of the month, lol). They are supposed to be having a big sale over Memorial Day... so hopefully I can find something good. I even managed to work for a couple hours in the evening... aren't ya proud of me? lol



Food and exercise still seem to elude me... but I'm okay with it being that way til he leaves. My body did a workout of sorts today... between moving furniture & working on the yard... so I guess that counts for something, right? I love Chris' idea of a "Deployment Challenge" and have been brainstorming on it all day.



My two favorite things about the weekend...




This dress... a size 12!!!!!

I picked it up at Ross a couple of months ago... it was a little clingy (aka tight)... but now it fits perfect. Also, I'm discovering a really odd reality... I'm beginning to like pictures of myself... this is totally foreign to me. I have always HATED to have my picture taken.

My second favorite thing about the weekend... I got The Husband an early Father's Day gift. Not just a gift... but a one of a kind, artist's original drawing of the aircraft he has spent his whole Navy career working on. Better still, this drawing depicts an aircraft of the actual squadron he is attached to right now (and has spent well over half of his career with). The artist was at the festival we went to at the end of last month, and had the drawing displayed there, but we couldn't afford it then. Not that we could really afford it now with all of the other expenses leading to deployment, but I called the artist when I got my paycheck on Wednesday and made arrangements to purchase it anyway. Its just one of those things that I felt like he was meant to have... I don't know how to explain it. He complained a little about me spending the money on it, but I could tell he was really pleased because I kept catching him staring at it. Needless to say, its one of the pictures he hung up today.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Its All Over...

Kids group at Church that is... and only til the Fall... but for this year its over. Wednesday night was the awards for the year... which got me to thinking about last year's awards night.

Throughout the year, I put in my weekly appearance and did my stuff with the kids... but there were a lot of parents and other people that I didn't really see on a weekly basis. So awards night rolled around and I got up on stage to help hand out awards like I do most every year. The most amazing thing happened afterwards... person after person came up to me and commented on how good I looked and/or asked how much weight I'd lost! It was the first time I was really aware that the change was noticeable. I went home that night feeling a little like the "belle of the ball." It was such an amazing feeling to have so many people recognize the change!

Initially, I believed that night gave me great motivation to continue toward my goal. After spending the last year fairly stagnant... flirting with the same five pound range and still 40-50 pounds from goal... I wonder if maybe what that night really gave me was a false sense of achievement. Maybe its just total coincidence that I've been more or less maintaining since that night... but the timing is ironic to say the least.

I knew this year wouldn't provide that kind of experience because - well - there hasn't been much change in the last 12 months. But for the first time in the 14 years I've been doing kids group, I had almost ZERO anxiousness over walking up to the stage! For the first time in several years, I even - willingly - took the microphone and spoke for a brief moment.

A few weeks ago, one of the girls was telling me that I needed a hair cut - duh, my last hair cut was in November 2008 - so I obliged her (even took her advice on the cut) and made a quick trip to a new salon in town yesterday, resulting in this....

Can I just say that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it when I get my hair flat ironed!!! Its hard to explain, but it gives me such a feeling of confidence and sleekness... almost like when you put on a pair of jeans that makes you look 10 pounds lighter. When I look in the mirror - with my hair straight - I feel like a totally different person.

As expected, I got tons of compliments on my hair... not so much otherwise... which is fine (its what I was anticipating)... but ya know what... it truly gives me a new sense of motivation... because I want that "belle of the ball" feeling again!

NSVs & The Next Challenge

Here I am! Thought I'd better hurry up and post before someone sent out a search party, lol. A few people have emailed me to see if I'm okay because I haven't posted... and yes, I am okay... just super busy. New job, the boy one's birthday, last minute details before The Husband leaves on deployment, end of the year events for kids group... I think I need an IV drip of caffeine to get through the next couple weeks. :-)

We took the boy one here for his birthday...

The Great Wolf Lodge. It was lots of fun for all of us and a major NSV for me. First, I have to share that thanks to a fellow blogger I was sporting an awesome new swimsuit... in a size MEDIUM!!!! Holy crapola I don't know when the last time I wore a medium swimsuit was... or if I ever did to be honest. Besides the suit, I actually felt comfortable going down all of the slides & there was no concern about exceeding the weight limits when I went on a tube with The Husband... which was an awesome feeling!

A quick note about a couple of other recent NSVs... these probably would've been posts of their own if I wasn't soooo dang busy the last couple weeks.

When I was at the bank getting change for the yard sale I ran into a friend I hadn't seen in a couple years. She told me that she'd seen me at the festival in town a few weeks ago. I asked why she hadn't said hello & her response was "I wasn't sure it was you, you look amazing!" Crazy I tell ya... I don't feel like I look that much different that a friend wouldn't be sure if it was me or not.

Then the very next day, at the yard sale, my new friend Lisa (I met her at the job training) and I were discussing my son. I commented that he was going to be twelve in a few days. She looked at me all surprised and said "Wait, how old are you? You don't look old enough to have a kid that age." When I told her I was 33, she said that she would have guessed I was closer to 25!!!

These little victories all mean so much right now when I'm struggling to eat well & haven't seen the inside of the gym in days... too many days.

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Now for the next challenge...

I don't know if I've really mentioned this on my blog, but I'm going to the BOOBS gathering in Chicago in September. Someone had to keep Drazil from being the only band-less one there, lol.

I googled the distance between Seattle & Chicago, depending on the source I got numbers anywhere from 1727-2049 miles. Most sites said it was 1727-1749 miles, so I'm going to go with 1750 miles for this challenge. What is the challenge?

To move my tush (and the rest of me) 1750 miles between now & the Chicago trip! Miles will be combined for all of the cardio equipment at the gym... plus if I'm out walking, hiking or beach walking I'll be sure to have my pedometer so I can count that too. Yes, its a long term challenge... so naturally I will have short term things going on along the way too.

As for May goals, I mentioned in my last post that my only goal for the month was to make healthy choices in restaurants this month. The reason for this is just how crazy things are right now and I don't feel like I can handle the stress of overwhelming myself with a laundry list of goals/rewards til The Husband is on his way. One thing that is always true of the cycle leading up to deployment is that he wants to eat at all of the restaurants he will miss when he's away... so I KNOW that restaurants are going to be one of the biggest challenges this month.

On another note, my first real paycheck since I was pregnant with the boy one (yes the one who just turned 12) went into my bank account tonight... pondering what I should do with the part of it I've designated for "play." I have some ideas... but curiosity makes me ask...

What would you do with it???

Ladies (and Seth)... Another Record Bites the Dust

A few weeks ago, I reported that I had lost my mind and had done 210 floors on the StairMaster. Self reflection as I was typing that post uncovered the fact that I had taken Midol before heading to the gym... therefore, my body had no idea what I was really doing to it. During that session, I did 10 or 15 minute blocks with a minute or two break in between to recover.

Well tonight that record fell!

No pre-workout painkillers!!

No "recovery" periods!!!

New record is....

302 FLOORS!!!!!!!!

302 floors of continuous motion.

Do you realize that is equivalent to walking (or climbing) over six miles straight uphill with NOOOOOO breaks???

If you're wondering, I burned over 1200 calories during this bout of insanity. Floors to 250-290 were really brutal. I slowed it down to a cool down pace for the last 12 floors. Honestly, when I pressed stop on that machine I was elated that it was over and that I had broken the 300 floor mark... and crazy as it sounds, I felt like I could have kept climbing.

Now the question remains, will I be able to move when I wake up in the morning?

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On another note, I made a discovery when I was getting dressed this morning. There is definition in my lower abs that I have NEVER seen before. I can't even pinch fat in that particular spot!!! After making this little discovery, I must have stood in front of the mirror staring for a good five minutes... I just couldn't believe it. All of those core sets for the Challenge must have done what their designed to do. Now, I'm ultra motivated to keep up with the core sets, even though that part of the Challenge is done.

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With less than a week left to go in the Challenge, its time to start thinking about how I will challenge and push myself when its over. I'm tossing some ideas around in my head... and will share soon.

What do you do to push yourself in your workouts? What motivates you to keep going when you'd pay money to stop?

Just When I Was Ready to Give Up...

It finally happened!

For weeks, I've been trying to get the Hip Abduction/Adduction Machine to lock in the first position... but my thunder thighs were objecting to being squeezed in there & I had to settle for locking it on number 2.

Today, I sat down and squeezed it as far in as I could, fully expecting it to lock on number 2... BUT OMG, IT LOCKED ON NUMBER 1!!!!!

There maybe hope for these thunder thighs of mine yet!





In other news from the gym, I was on the StairMaster climbing away when this super skinny chick climbed onto the one next to me & started practically running up the thing. A year ago, this would have made me get off the machine immediately. I was completely intimidated if someone small got an a machine next to me - especially the StairMaster. Today, I stayed on the machine for the rest of the time I had left & even took my time getting off of it. As I was climbing back up to clean the machine, the skinny chick turns to me and says, "You do pretty well for a big girl!" Ok, is that supposed to be a compliment? I assume it was... but really did she have to add the "big girl" part to the end?

What kind of crazy things have people said to you at the gym? How did you react?

Here in the Real World...

No returns necessary (at least not today).

At the beginning of December I found these cute Tinker Bell pjs at Walmart. I know, I know I'm not a fan of Walmart clothes... but their pjs are a different story alltogether & besides Alana (the little girl I babysit LOVES Tinker Bell). Anyway, I got them home & they were way too small. They've been sitting on the dresser, needing to be returned ever since. I picked them up today & thought to myself I wonder...

And the answer was YES! They do indeed fit now... still a little snug... but no return needed on this wonderful day!

The Best Laid Plans fall victim....

I had a serious craving for Mexican food... and I learned a long time ago if its a true craving you just as well get it out of your system and move on. God only knows how many calories I've ended up eating trying to "cure" a craving to no avail.

So I had these lucious Fajita Nachos.... But I did order the half order and scraped off most of the sour cream. And.... look at this... I left a good portion of the chips on my plate!

That's serious progress for me... especially when there was still half a bowl of salsa on the table... and I have a HUGE weakness for chips & salsa.

My son is just finishing his therapy sessions for the day... I'm off to feed him dinner & then conquer another day of Around the World... wish me luck!!! :)

Outfit in the Window & Scale Day

Before we get to talking about the outfit... today was scale day. I was a little anxious stepping on the scale, not quite a livin on a prayer moment though. My food choices were fairly decent throughout the week, but there were a few times when I probably ate more than I needed & then there was the yummy lunch out with Erika on Saturday. Plus my friend George is due to arrive any moment now & we all know the lovely things he can do to your body. The results: -1.6 lbs! I'm totally satisfied with that & feel like I'm getting back into the groove of things. Another five pounds & I'll be back to where I was when I fell off the wagon. Its exciting to be that close to that number again... but nerve wracking too. I swear its like I get to a certain point & do something to sabotage myself for some unknown reason. Not this time though, I'm determined!

Do you ever feel like you're your own worst enemy when it comes to reaching your goals?

In case I've failed to mention it at some point, I LOVE shopping. Some people would call it a passion... The Husband probably refers to it as a curse when he's shooting the breeze with his buddies and complaining about it to my mother-in-law. Anyhow, until the last couple years shopping was probably the most physically active thing I did on a regular basis... sad I know. The thing is I feel like I'm good at shopping... I mean I've gotten really skilled at finding bargains for just about anything I want; its rare that I pay full price for anything. Also, not news to you I'm sure (but to the skinny people of the world perhaps), you've got to be pretty savvy in the shopping department if you're gonna find anything resembling cute clothes to fit a chubbo body like mine was (is).

To set the stage for shopping opportunities on the island: We have Kmart, Walmart, the NEX (on base) and a few specialty stores. The Husband will tell you (and I can hardly argue anymore), I can be more than a wee bit picky when it comes to my clothes. While I won't refuse to buy something just because its at Kmart or Walmart, the chances of me finding something that I like (and fits well) is slim to none. Needless to say, clothes shopping for me meant a 40 minute drive to the nearest mall. Then one blessed day I was driving down our narrow little main street & spotted a sign in the window at Maurices advertising their new plus size section.

Cute clothes, reasonable prices, no 40 minute drive... I was hooked! My first visit there, I needed nearly the biggest size they had in plus; but somehow I was okay with that because hey the clothes were cute. Walking in I'd always look to the right (the regular sizes) & think "I wish," as I turned to the left (the plus sizes). The ladies that work in this store are fantastic, very supportive & encouraging! When I started losing, they immediately noticed & each time I visit the store for smaller jeans they celebrate with me. We've had this goal for several months now, that one day I'd be able to walk in the store & buy the outfit in the window from the right side of the store.

This past Saturday it finally happened!!! I can't tell you how thrilling it was for me. Not only was I able to buy the outfit in the window from the right side of the store... I didn't have to buy it in the biggest size. No XXL, No XL... just LARGE! They were having a decent sale, buy one get one 1/2 off, but of course this outfit wasn't included in the sale. But you know something... I bought it anyway... what can I say? Sometimes a a girls just gotta have the outfit in the window!

Now the questions, tights or no tights? Flats or sandals?

Forget the Alliance, Its a Conspiracy!

Let me just preface this by saying, I honestly do love my mom and The Husband (but geeeeezzzz)....

A conspiracy that many other husbands are apparently secret members of... and my Mother, of all people, seems to have joined up with them & The Scale! How could I say such a thing about my dear, sweet Mother??? This is how...

I pick her up on the way to kids group tonight. She needs to get her medicine at the pharmacy, but hasn't had dinner yet. She needs something to eat. So... drum roll please... she exits the pharmacy with a bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos! Sitting next to me in the car, she pops the bag open & I can immediately smell the chips. All the way across town, I hear "crunch, crunch, crunch" and "oooooo these are so good." But NSV for me, I resisted... wasn't even particularly tempted. Not sure if it was because I really had no interest or because I was so disgusted by the idea of calling that dinner. Either way, I'm so glad I didn't have any of them.

Keep in mind, this is far from the only incident such as this. It seems like every time I go there, she wants to get McDonalds or Burger King... and then gets offended when I refuse to go. Once in a while, I will plan my meals so we can do it... but she would have us doing it every week if she had her way. She's also the one that has to buy chips, crackers & cheese spreads nearly every time I take her grocery shopping... then complains she doesn't have enough money to buy chicken breasts or other lean proteins. Sometimes I think the stress she adds to my life is enough to qualify her as part of the conspiracy, lol.

For those of you that so sweetly suggested I talk to The Husband about his role in the alliance (now known as the conspiracy)... I attempted it this morning... and the basic response I got was "you know I eat really healthy now." OMG! Is he serious????

Another tidbit of "proof" of his membership in the conspiracy: he has started making comments about me not needing to lose very much more weight & how he doesn't like women who are too skinny... so verbal manipulation... and once again IS HE SERIOUS??? I still have a good amount of weight to lose, which I think is pretty obvious. Its gonna be a LONG time before I'm in danger of being TOO skinny. Really, I think its making him feel insecure or something?!?

Oh and let's not forget that he is the one that was eating my "convenience" food, leaving me in a lurch... though the basket has helped squash that part of his agenda.

I have some ideas for how I'm going to continue squashing his participation in the conspiracy... I'll share those tomorrow. In the meantime, I think this conspiracy needs a name. Any ideas?

The Danger Zone - Conquered

At one of our local grocery stores, there is a corner I refer to as "The Danger Zone." Perhaps, you have one in your local grocery store as well - its the bakery corner. I'm not sure what propelled me in the direction of that corner tonight, but I found myself right smack in the middle of it. Surrounded by some of my favorite "treats." Donuts with chocolate frosting (and sprinkles), yummy strawberry shortcake, cherry filled turnovers, french bread, jalapeno cheddar bagels. As if all of that isn't enough to put you a carb-coma, they recently relocated all of the snack crackers to this corner as well. Standing in the middle of "The Danger Zone" I could feel my mouth watering as I thought about how yummy any one of those treats would be. BUT, as I was walking to the donut case, I STOPPED myself. After all, I had just come from the gym & I thought "Why spoil a good workout with a sugary treat?" Then I looked at the bagel - large bagel covered in cheese & jalapenos. Seriously, I LOVE these bagels. BUT, once again I STOPPED myself. I have some little hundred calorie whole wheat bagels here and popped one of those in the toaster, which was a tasty little snack with a thin layer of veggie cream cheese. So, for this one time, on this particular evening, I conquered "The Danger Zone." What happens next time remains to be seen...

1,000+ in 90 Minutes!

No, not 1,000 calories consumed in 90 minutes lol. Today is the first time in my year at the gym that I can verify I burned over 1,000 calories in a single workout. According to my heart rate monitor, for a 90 minute session, I typically burn 800-900 calories. Today I kicked up the intensity a notch and was rewarded. :)



I'm curious to know how many calories others burn in a "typical" workout.