Quote for the day:

"At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us." - Albert Schweitzer - culled from a Sparkpeople email

With that said, I'd like to thank all of you who HAVE inspired me, even if it was unknowingly. Its so hard to get through plateaus without getting so down on yourself, but just knowing how many others out there are going through the same thing really helps (even if they DO get out of theirs before I do...lol). Keep passing your "spark" on, you never know who you might help.

An update to the below post...

Just wanted to add...I dropped my cals yesterday to try and kickstart myself, and it worked! I hit 40.4 lbs lost this morning at 289.6 lbs. I'm really hoping it keeps going for awhile, it seems I lose almost 10 lbs really fast and then plateau at the 10 lbs for forever and THAT is very frustrating!

But YAY, I'm happy!

Could use some motivation

Some SERIOUS motivation...yeah I've been working out every day, and I like the way I feel after doing it. And I've been eating decent, keeping to my calories. But this week I'm having a serious problem with feeling it. Feeling ANYTHING. I'm on a plateau and its getting frustrating. I HATE this. My body does NOT want to go to 40 lbs lost. It just won't do it! Of course it doesn't help that finances are so WAY tight right now, you could bounce a quarter off of them...if I HAD a quarter. Thats why I haven't posted as much on here. I wish I could be excited about the way all my clothes are loose, or that I truly am down a full size, that shopping is easier, but I just can't be right now. This doesn't count all the other stresses going on right now that I can't talk about on here. I need a hug.

We're going to the circus tonite which in retrospect I probably should not have bought tickets for last week, but oh well. Hopefully, we'll have fun, I know D will love it and thats all that matters.

I hate Bob

So...Friday night and last night, I decided to do the Biggest Loser Cardio Max workout, starring Bob from Biggest Loser. Yeah, I hate him. I really do. lol My screaming thighs hate him too. Thats all I have to say about that.

Amazing...

Its been kind of neat to see my body adapt this week. When I first got the treadmill and ellip on Sunday, I barely made 10 minutes on the tm and 2.5 minutes on the ellip. I'm still at 2.5 on the ellip, but its already easier. And on Monday, I did two sets of 12 minutes on the tm, then more and more as the week has gone. Last night I did 30 minutes straight at slightly higher a speed than that measly 10 minutes on Sunday evening! And yes I was sweating buckets, but I probably could have gone longer.

Its just amazing to me how quickly I'm ramping it up as I keep trying and trying some more. And I'm loving it!

Week July 21st - July 28th goals

**Update** I totally missed the elliptical goals for the week, although I'm rockin the treadmill and exceeding them! Time to think of some more challenges...**Update**

No food goals in particular, I want to focus on my new exercise equipment.

So:

Monday: 2 sets of 10 minutes each on treadmill, 2.5 minutes on elliptical
Tuesday: 1 set of 10 minutes on treadmill, but no ellip due to Tuesday strength training from Sparkpeople
Wednesday: 2 sets of 10 minutes each on treadmill, 2.5 minutes on elliptical
Thursday: 1 set of 10 minutes treadmill, and same as Tuesday
Friday: 1 set of 15 minutes treadmill, 3 minutes elliptical
Saturday: 1 set of 15 minutes treadmill, 3 minutes elliptical
Sunday: 1 set of 15 minutes treadmill, 3 minutes elliptical

I wrote this out in hand too, so I can check it off as I go (I'll also edit this post to make it bold when I do it). I'm tryna think of a good reward if I complete the goals this whole week. Maybe a new shirt?? We'll see.

Keeping in mind this is JUST for the treadmill and elliptical. I'm going to keep doing any swimming that we get a chance to do in addition to this. And any of this can be done either in the morning or evening.

The awesomeness that is friends

I got the BIGGEST surprise ever today! I had no idea, although I had suspicions that SOMETHING was up. I'm so excited! A bunch of friends all got together and...got me a treadmill and an elliptical!! I'm still just overwhelmed at the generosity. I mean, I never can imagine that people would do something that generous for me. And it just astounds me. Yeah, when I was first alone, I cried. lol I do TRULY appreciate it and I am truly blessed to have such awesome people in my life and supporting me in this weight loss.

I had a huge preconception of starting off doing an HOUR...lol yeah ok...I did 10 minutes on the treadmill and was sweatin like a punk. And then...2.5 minutes on the ellip...WOO. And my thighs are BURNING. So preconception is GONE...hahaha, and I'm developing a plan of action to get up to that. Definitely gotta work up to it, but I'm so crazy excited to have the chance to DO IT! The Walk Away dvds were such a great tool to get me started, but I'm ready to ramp it up more, and its so hard when D needs to get to bed early. GREAT JOB, LADIES, you made a great birthday even better!!!

I call this look "Permagrin"...lol

Me on the elliptical

The treadmill!

3 quick recipes

I just wanted to share these three staples in our house. We eat a lot of chicken, but the pork is a nice change!

1. Italian Chicken - easy version
Saute your chicken breast in the skillet but instead of using butter or oil, use some Kraft Light Done Right Zesty Italian dressing, its AWESOME!!!

2. Salsa Chicken
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put chicken breast in casserole dish, pour a jar of your favorite salsa over it, and bake at 350 for about an hour. This dish is YUMMY served over rice!

3. Porkchops ala George
Let thin porkchops sit in some Worcestershire sauce for abit, then toss on the George Foreman grill with a sprinkle of Tony Chachere's seasoning, more if you feel adventurous!

Finding your motivation

The hardest part in this weightloss journey, is finding motivation to keep going. For me, it is ever changing. Sure, I want to lose weight to be active and healthy for my son, and to be able to do whatever I want to do with no limitations. But in the heat of wanting to eat or not exercise, those aren't quite always enough for me.

But how do you find the motivation that WORKS consistently? Well, first of all, what works for some might not work for others. I've found that some people thrive on competition with others, while some, end up more discouraged due to it. I range in the middle of that. But what I've
found works the most for me, is having a loyal following. lol By that, I mean that knowing there are other women going through this, and knowing they are checking out Beth and I's Losin blog, is whats keeping me on the straight and narrow. I feel like if I fail at this, I will let them down too, and perhaps cause THEM to fail. And I don't want to be held responsible for that. But its working for me.

Keep plugging along at this, and you'll find what motivates you the most.

Thoughtful Thursday

Today I turn 29 years old. I want to say how excited I am that I don't have to turn 29 weighing 300+ lbs. I can not TELL YOU how ecstatic that makes me. I don't have a clue when I was last under 300...it doesn't even matter now. But I'm so emotional over that tonite, I have no idea if I'll get any sleep. I wanna laugh, I wanna cry, its like leaving the last few years behind me, starting a whole new chapter of my life, and becoming the me I so badly want to be. I'd like to thank all of you who are in this journey with me, I couldn't do it without you, (*cough* Beth and Melissa and Kristin and Teresa and everyone else that has supported me, THAT MEANS YOU GUYS *cough* I'm really just crazy proud of all of us for doing this and rocking it OUT!!)

Random Wednesday

I'm finding out today the joys of lactic acid. I did a messload of crunches, etc yesterday, and my muscles are swollen. And I gained 2 lbs overnight. I'm not worried, that should drop back down soon, but still, its annoying. All that work to gain 2 lbs? Anyway, I'm nice and sore from it, but I still got up this morning to do a 2 Mile Walk Away dvd. And then I downed some ibuprofen at work. lol So now I feel REALLY good! I think we're gonna go walk at the track this evening, wish us luck!!

A slight change in format

I started this blog to really be about anything I wanted to talk about. But well...lately, all I wanna talk about, is health-related. So I'm officially making this a health/diet blog. It won't be to keep track of my weight loss since Beth and I already have that, but it will be to show articles that I find interesting, recipes (some that I make with pics, and some that I find that I like), and other information that I come across in this journey to get healthy! So sit back and enjoy, comment if you see fit or like something, but most of all, I hope that some of this information is useful to you at some point!

I'm so DONE

With splenda! TWICE in the past week, I've inadvertently consumed ice cream with it in there, and had some nasty side effects. I know I've had it in the past in smaller doses, and had no problems. Can a reaction get worse?

Its nearly impossible nowadays to be on a diet and NOT have anything with Splenda...its in freakin everything! SO what to do??

Did you ever imagine...

when you were little about what your life would be like when you became an adult? I'm sure we all did, but I wonder how many people are actually close to what they imagined? Or how many people are so far from it that they can't stand it. Thats where I'm at. I grew up with a broke single mom. She did not raise me, hard to raise someone when you're never home and your child is alone. Thats why I say it like that, that I grew up with her. And all my life, I wanted better. I
wanted to be completely in love with whatever vocation I was in, be madly in love and married, have children, and be financially secure enough to not have to ever worry. Well, I got ONE of those things. And my world revolves around my sweet boy.

At this point in my life, I'm nowhere NEAR what I've dreamed about though, and that frustrates the heck out of me! I think I need to start working on a gameplan to get there, but I honestly have no idea where to begin. It seems that everything I want to do requires time and resources that I just don't have access to. I would love to get my business off the ground, but again, that takes resources. I need a building and capital to get it up and running. And I see neither of those coming. I have a fulltime job and a child. That doesn't leave a lot. I'm basically at the same spot that my mom was in. Only I'm home at night with my son, and I would never leave him home alone to go be with ANY man. But this cycle that I see is worrying me. How do you get out of this trap? How do you get to a point where you can do what you love to do AND fulfill your commitments? I pray all the time for this and its not getting easier. :( Maybe someday. I know the desperation to not be in the cycle is there. Thats gotta count for something right?

Sorry for the vent, I'm just feeling mopey today due to some financial troubles and I'm crazy frustrated that I can NOT seem to get things together every month to actually get some money in savings so this doesn't happen.

Say WHAT??!! Wednesday...

Today is Sayyyy WHAT??!!! Wednesday...we'll start with this link:

http://www.ij.org/first_amendment/tx_computer_repair/6_26_08pr.html

It talks about a law that was enacted last year that was worded so incorrectly, that it basically now requires computer repairers to get a Private Investigators license. Sayyyyyyyy WHAT??! Check it out and let me know what YOU think...

Update from the Losin Together blog!

I would like to introduce...the NEW Losin Together crew...as of 7-5-2008 (pics taken today), with a total of 60.2 lbs lost, its updated Beth and Brandie pics!!!

Out of the mouths of babes

So...D is starting to pick up on my sarcasm, although he doesn't quite "get" it yet. The other day, we had some friends over at the house, and one of the little boys wandered in while I was changing D's pullup. And promptly sneezed on D. He goes "Brian sneezed on my leg! Thats so nice of him..." lol crazy kid...

Is customer service gone?

Today I went to CVS to pick up D's prescription which I had refilled online last night. I pull up, told her D's name, and she said, "that name isn't in our system, you must not have filled it here", without even bothering to ASK if I had had it filled there before. I said calmly "I was just here a month ago and I work right down the street. THIS is where I filled it." She hems and haws, goes back to the computer, asks me how to spell his name again, what his date of birth was. Then says, "theres only one with that last name here and it was filled in April for a female". Ok, then something is wrong right? You would think she would look it up by date of birth. Nope.

For the next 3 minutes she continued to tell me I was at the wrong CVS. I continued to insist that this is the CVS that I frequent since its right down the street from work. No luck. FINALLY, on a whim, I said, "try putting a space in the last name, sometimes they enter it wrong" (it does NOT have a space on his Medicaid card). She puts that in, and I could tell immediately she had found it. However instead of saying "oh I apologize, it WAS entered wrong", she shut the window without saying a word, went and got the prescription, came back, had me sign the sheet, handed it to me and said in a VERY ugly tone: "Next time, make sure you tell them theres a space in there" and shut the window. Ummmm HELLO???? How is it MY fault?? Geezzzz...I know he's on medicaid, but thats no need to be ugly. I so wanted to flip her off.

When did it become ok?

I gotta know, when did it become ok to let someone writhe on the floor dying and not do anything about it?

I'm referring to this article: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,375221,00.html
Its about a lady sitting in an ER for 24 hours, who fell out of her chair, was convulsing on the floor and died. And noone helped her. Other people were in there, it was a psych ward if I understand it correctly, and a guard peeked his head around to look but then ignored it too. If it weren't for a video, we never would have known what all happened. The article says that they lied too. For instance, it was noted that at one point she went to the bathroom...then said she was sitting quietly and blood pressure was normally, when that exact time was when she was writhing on the floor. How awful is that?!

There have been similar reports lately, about people injured on the street and no one coming to their aid. And I have to wonder why we, as a society, allow this to happen. Do we really think that "oh, someone else already called for help so I don't need to" or are we really that blinded to it? I can't honestly say what I would do if someone were getting beaten or injured in front of me, because I've never been in that situation. I like to think, that I would do something about it. And I'm pretty sure I'd try my hardest to stop whomever was hurting them. But I know for certain that if I saw someone already injured or writhing on the ground, I would absolutely make sure they got the help they needed and not ignore the issue. I wonder what goes through people's minds afterward. Do they even regret it? Do they wonder "what if"? Does it even faze people anymore? Am I alone in being bothered by this?

Quote for the day:

"But no matter what, the people who never challenge you have no expectations of you. You may consider them friends but they will never help you grow." (written by a gentleman named Bruce on a Single Parents yahoo group I'm on - gotta give him props for this brilliance!)

Lets think on this one a minute. IMO, this is too true. Your REAL friends should encourage you to be the best YOU can be, not put you down, not show jealousy when you do become the best you can be, or try to sabotage that effort by not being supportive. Maybe I'm interpreting this wrong, but thats how I see it. A real friend, while they might be a smidge envious of your success compared to their own, will root you on, will pick you up when you fall, will care to ask how things are going no matter how they feel about it. But also, they will be upfront with you if they see you taking a wrong direction, gently (or not so gently, lol) nudge you back in line, because they care. If they didn't care, they wouldn't do any of that. They might ask how its going, or mildly inquire about things, but they will never challenge your thinking, your viewpoint, challenge you to analyze things you never thought of. Those are the kind of friends I want to keep around me. Those who do challenge me to be a better person. Thats the kind of friend I strive to be. I fail at it sometimes, but I try.

I want to share a moment with one of my closest friends. There was a decision I was wanting to make (which really would be pretty much against what I believe the Bible tells us), and she told me something along the lines of that she'd still be my friend, but would definitely be disappointed in me if I did it. And I've never forgotten that. I always come back to that if I even think about it, because she cared enough to be real with me and not tiptoe around it. She let her expectations be known and I consider that a testimony of a real friend.

Let me know how YOU interpret the quote and insight you have is always welcome...