Saturday, February 26, 2011

Happy Saturday!!!

Hello friends!!

Well, today was weigh in day and I told myself regardless of how much I gained I am taking the hit and moving on. I weighed the same when I returned from my trip and the day after was 1.5# less, and then it found me again and I am up 2.4#. On the bright side of it, I am still under 200 (198.6) and all in all, not too much damage was done . I am shaking it off, and moving forward. Its over, I'm forgiven, its done....

I have heard it in so many of the blogs lately how many of us are feeling stalled, discouraged, frustrated. I feel all of the above but when I sat at my WW meeting this morning, I saw a friend of mine from the hospital who joined in the fall and she is down 27# and looks amazing!! Our leader shared a quote that really hit home with me and I am gonna share it with you.
"When you KINDA do it, it KINDA works."
"When you REALLY do it, it REALLY works"
Simple but true. I have been KINDA working it lately and I need to step it up and REALLY do the program wholeheartedly. No more giving myself all the leash I have been giving myself. I find when I REALLY buckle down is when I REALLY see results. She talked about portion control and making 1 small change this week. I thought long and hard about what I think needs to be adjusted, and I think it is dinnertime. When I get home from work, I am famished and want to pick at everything in sight!! I have decided that tomorrow I am going to make a few different entrees for the week and measure them out into covered dishes and have them ready to go for when I get home. I also love to have a snack on the way home from work so I am going ot fill some snack baggies with something crunchy for the drive home so I wont be so ravenous. One of the members a few weeks back said she made a dip made with plain greek yogurt and she added some ranch seasoning and she has a very nice little veggie dip. I am definitely gonna try this and am gonna stock up on veggies for the week. I am NOT a huge fan of veggies so this has always been a hard area for me while trying ot lose weight. My sister said she is gonna make a veggie tray for herself and store it in her office fridge and snack on that mid afternoon instead of something carbohydrate-y.

Oh, and another member who lost 4.2# this week shared a really good thought too... She said
"So many things in my life are out of my control, but this is the one thing that I have control over." Very profound, don't you think?

So to all my sisters who are struggling, lets all shake it off, and push the restart button today!! WE CAN do this!!
Love & belief always...
Sherri

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Good afternoon to you all!!

Hello to all my bloggin buddies & Happy Thursday to you all!!

I can hardly believe that today is Feb 24th!! Tell me please, where is the time going??? My goodness...Lent is gonna be here in 2 weeks and Easter in 2 months!! On the upside of that, with Easter comes springtime!!! I am so dang tired of the snow and ready to have my car stay clean for more than a day.

So, as I look back over my weight loss progress since the new year, it has been a pretty slow process and I feel somewhat stuck in the 190s. January only brought a 2.8# loss and so far Feb has only been something like 1-2#s.....I truly have to go & look at my log. Anyways, I am getting really really tired of this being so slow in going and have decided to jumpstart my weightloss efforts by being absolutely DILIGENT in watching my sugars & carbs intake. I know many of you know that I have been doing the WW program since Dec 1st and it has been working well but for some reason, I am just feeling stalled, so I am going to try to get back on track with the BFC plan while still keeping track of the WW healthy guidelines. I want to be in the 180's by Easter....I would love to say the LOW 180s but I will take 189.8 if need be. It just gets me closer & closer to that 160 mark, and then ultimately 150. I am trying to take this in steps, not focusing on the big number but in attaining smaller goals in my journey. When I hit 189, my next short term goal will be 179 (OMG...havent been in the 170s for 18+years!!!!) and then 169, and then 160 (my first goal) and then  150, my ultimate goal! I plan to have this goal completed by m birthday in late Sept and I believe with every shred of my being that it IS going to be a reality!! I feel so focused and ready to move forward!! I feel like I am just lollygagging and I cant stand it anymore.

My favorite black jeans have gotten so big that while we were in church last week, every time I got up from sitting, I had to pull them up. I read an article in WW magazine about jeans and it said if you have to pull your jeans up all the time, if they are saggy in the butt and if you can put 2 fingers in at the waistband, it is time to buy a new pr of jeans.....so that is what I did on Tues. I got a 30% coupon for Kohls too, and found a really great pr of black jeans in a 16 that fit comfortably and look quite good. They are Lees and the cut is very slimming. They are kind of longer in length so I put them on with a cute pr of black boots with a heel and they really lengthen your torso and make me look much more slender. The only problem is, for some reason, they sit at the waist and not lower on the hips so they kind of accentuate the back fat...Uggh!!! My sister told me to wear them for about 2 hrs and they will stretch out so that is my plan and hopefully that will help. I also got an incredible bargain on a coat . Rosalie, you will love this.....I found this ADORABLE Apt 9 black short coat, originally marked $120. then on the 80% off rack so it was marked down to $24. and I used my 30% coupon so I got it for $16.80!!!! It is on the lighter side so it will be good to wear into spring too and it is so stylish!!! LOVE IT when I get a great bargain!!! I have been having to wear a 1X for the past few years and I am FINALLY wearing a regular XL from the Ladies (not womens) dept!! This coat was a regular XL and I was very excited about that!!! I am SOOOOO sick & tired of shopping in the womens section.....all the clothes there are so "Bubba" looking, like grandma-ish. I walk in the stores and look at all the cute stylish clothing and cant wait til I can breeze in and shop there. Still have to try it on & make sure it fits alright.

I was talking with one of the girls at work yesterday who is going to have lap band surgery in May . I was telling her about all the overweight ppl on the cruise and how sad it was and really made me think......I dont want to ever look like that!! I want to know what it feels like to be thin!! I wait with anticipation for the day when I can finally SEE my collarbones again!! I think that is such a beautiful thing on a woman when you can see the collarbones. I can feel mine now, but they are still in hiding. I want a flat tummy!!! She said to me, "but you have such a beautiful face". I told her that I want the body to go with it. I am tired of people saying that to me. I want to finally feel like I am the complete package, with a pretty face & body to match. Does that sound vain to you for wanting that? I have never known what its like to live in a thin body and for once in my life, I want to know what it feels like.

So thats my "thoughts du Sherri". I hope you are all having a great day today!! Keep the faith and keep on keepin on!!! Inch by inch, we are getting there!

Love & belief!
Sherri

Monday, February 21, 2011

                This is a picture of a picture, but the only way I could think of that I could post this.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Cruise pics

                                           My daughter Rachel and me overlooking Nassau, Bahamas!
                                                    This is the beach we "played" at!
                                                         Orient Beach, St. Maarten
                                                     My hubby & dtr playing in the waves!
                                                Me & hubby on Elegant night...
                                                 Not having a great hair day. :(
                                                    Hubby & dtr playing in the waves
                                                          Family photo in St. Maarten
                                         We sent this to our daughters for Valentines Day!
                                          It was amazing! 3 layer strawberry cake with coconut
                                           strawberry frosting!!
     
 Our Ship...The size of 3 football fields!!
This is just the front end! It was HUGE!


We also had some beautiful family portraits taken by a professional photographer but we couldnt get the dics unless we bought the entire pkg for $500. My scanner doesnt work so I have no way of posting it. It is a fabulous picture!! Wish I could find a way to share it. If you can think of some way to post it, let me know and I will do it. The water was so warm & crystal clear blue!! LOVE the Caribbean!!!

Im back!!!

Hello to all my BFC friends!!
OMG...I just looked and saw that I havent posted since Superbowl Sunday!! Holy cow!! Sorry to have been out of touch for so long. It has been busy for sure!

We just got back from our Caribbean Cruise and it was fantastic!! Warm sunshine and temps in the 80s-90s!!! Got a pretty nice tan going on now but got a really bad burn while in St. Maarten at the beach. The water was crystal clear blue and we were playing in the waves for about 3 hrs literally laying bac in the waves and they would carry us in to shore. SOOO much fun!!! Forgot to put sunscreen on my face and lipbalm w/spf on the lips and I got a horrible sunburn!! The shoulders are still recovering (bra straps REALLY hurt!!) and my lips are peeling. It was so bad with the lips though. The skin is so thin on them....shame on me for not protecting them better. They were swollen & so painful. Ive never had that happen to my lips, but the day at the beach was wonderful!!! I would go back there again in a heartbeat! I took lots of pics but for some reason my adapter isnt being recognized by my computer so I cant download them. :( Gotta have hubby figure that out. Once I do, I will post some pics for you all to see.

The food was very good, but not as great as I remember from past cruises. I tried to make good choices, always having a good breakfast, a very light lunch and a good dinner yet still enjoyed myself with a dessert most nights and we had ice cream too pretty much every day in the afternoon. When I got on the scale this morning  I was shocked to see that  I LOST a pound!!!!! I think I got on and off about 10x to see if it was true! Had my daughter weigh herself too and by golly, I think its correct! I weighed myself last night when I got home to check on the damage done and to my surprise, at 8pm at night, after eating a slice of pizza at the airport (pickins were slim...it wad that or chinese food...yuck!) I weighed the same, and this morning, a pound less. I am thinking once the false belly fat is eliminated, it may turn out to be more. I am never real regular when I go away, so its good to be back home for that reason.  I have to say, it was so sad to see so many overweight people on the ship. Really made me think and refocus on what I want. I know one thing...I DONT want to look like many of the people I saw on that boat. I can only imagine what the staff members must think when they see  people grazing constantly and so much obesity when they are all so thin. Our waiter Hari was from Indonesia and he said that they work long days, 10-12 hrs a day and they only eat to quiet their stomachs. They dont just eat to eat because its there. They eat to live, NOT live to eat like us americans do. That would be why we are an obese nation.

So yes, its back to business again and I am happy to be home. We left in a blizzard and when we arrived in FL it was cold....then we got to Nassau and it was still cold. I thought to myself, "I hope this trip isnt a bust with bad weather" but once we got to St. Thomas on Mon, it was hot, sunny and in the mid 80s and from there on out, it was nice weather.

I have missed you all but it was nice to get away from the phone and everyday chaos.I am going grocery shopping today and we are on our 4th load of laundry today. Later tonight, I plan to catch up on everyones blogs and what you have been up to.

Have a wonderful day today!!!

Hugs to all my blogger buds!!
Sherri

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Superbowl Post

Hello Friends!

Happy Superbowl Sunday! I hope you all are ready for the big game tonite. I only watch it for the commercials but I love all the pregame hype too....oh and Howie Long!!! Oh yeah I could gaze at that yummy eye candy for hours!!! (sigh) Told my hubby if Howie ever comes lookin for me, I will have no choice but to leave with him!!We laugh about it, but if Howie did knock on my door, after I woke up from passing out I think I would jump into his arms & run away with him!! And the great part is, Howies a big guy so I know I could jump into his arms & he could carry me. Cant promise he wouldnt get a hernia though but hey, Im a nurse, I would take care of him!!.....lol....being a stinker here! hee hee! I do puffy heart Howie!!! (ok, Im done, I promise!!) I love Matthew McConaughey too but I wont go there now. Perhaps that will be another post! lol.

So as promised, I said I was going to post some things that my weight watcher leader Pam shared with us yesterday. She is an amazing lady who I just  love!! She cares so much about everyone and her main goal is our success. She is the epitome of a Leader!! Ok, but back to my topic. So Pam shared some things with us about staying on Track for Superbowl. She had some key points that I thought were noteworthy. Heres what I remember....

#1~ Know your plan book! How can you possible be successful if you dont know your game plan ! She said "Do you think that the guys who play in the Superbowl go in on Superbowl Sunday without memorizing their plan book?" No way!! You need to know your game plan inside & out so that you can execute what you need to do to be a winner! I really liked this thought. How can you be successful if you dont know what youre doing?

#2~ Engage in Positive Self talk~ She said "do you think that the football players go into the game thinking "man, theyre gonna cream us today". NO WAY!! They go in thinking "We are gonna cream them and win!" You too must have positive self talk. Dont focus on the negative, only the positive. And be sure to have your cheerleaders too! (thats all of us for each other!! :) ) Love this too!! How many times have we said not so nice things to ourselves? "You look fat" or "I hate the way I look" etc etc. Focus your energy on saying positive encouraging words to yourself daily. What you think about you bring about....so think positive and surround yourself with positive encouraging people who will love & support you" (the last part was my thoughts. Gotta throw my 2 cents in ya know!)

#3~ Dont get discouraged & throw in the towel. Ups & downs are going to happen and if youve had a bad week or a bad day, forgive yourself and move on because what happens when you give up?? You never reach your goal.

The rest of the things she talked about, geez, I forget what she wrote, but the whole meeting was really good and exactly what I needed to hear. So many times we try so hard and the scale doesnt reflect our efforts. It is in continuing to stay in the game that we will find our true victory!!

So my friends, keep your eyes on the prize and never give up!! OUR superbowl rings await us in the shape of smaller bodies, smaller clothing, better or restored health, improved self esteem & self worth but I think most of all to realize that the journey was worth every sacrifice  made, every drop of sweat that was shed and every minute was time well spent on my road to a better me! WE ARE WORTH IT!!!!

Happy Sunday!! Have a great day!!
Love & Belief always
Sherri

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Weigh in Day! Sat Feb 5, 2010

Hello to all my friends!

Well, today was weigh in day and I am pleased as punch to announce yet another pound has left my body! I am 196 exactly. So I am hoping by Friday that I will weigh in at 195 (or less) before I leave for my cruise. I believe I can do it! So the official totals are:
17.2# lost according to WW from when I restarted Dec 1, 2010
22.5# lost according to my scale since March 2010 (my highest weight ever!)
So I am pretty happy about it. I would love to be like one of those people on the biggest loser who drop double digits each week, but I dont have 8hrs a day to devote to exercise. Heck, I am barely devoting an hr to exercise each week! I know that if I would just get the exercise component going again, my weight loss would speed up. Whats wrong with me that I am not exercising? So my goal for this week is to do some type of activity each day for at least 15 mins. I have a bike, a treadmill and an elliptical and lots of exercise DVDs so I am hoping by Friday I will be sweetly surprised. My plan for the cruise is to walk the upper decks track each morning. They have a gym too so if my tendonitis isnt too bad, I will maybe go there too for a bit but I dont want to be miserable and in pain so I am thinking walking will be the way to go. I am going to go to the mall today & see what Lady Footlocker has in the ways of sneakers. I know alot of you have the Sketchers shapeups and I am tempted to get them...HOWEVER....I am clumsy and it looks like you have to walk heel to toe to get all the benefits and with my achilles tendonitis, sometimes, alot of times actually, I cant walk heel to toe. So Im thinking a good pair of Reeboks.

So we leave in 7 days....I can hardly believe it is so close! I need to go through my tubs of summer clothing this weekend and figure out what I want to take. I always seem to overpack...havent perfected traveling light yet! Kasey has asked where we are cruising to...we are going to Nassau the Bahamas, St. Thomas & St. Maarten. Only 3 ports this cruise so we can enjoy it. I have been on cruises with 4-5 ports of call and you feel like all you are doing is running, running, running! I have 2 good books to dive into (cant wait!!!) and I just wanna soak up the rays & relax & forget about the snow back home. Please say a prayer that all goes ok. I am nervous because we fly out on the day our ship leaves. I wish we would have come in the night before so we have some wiggle room in case of bad weather. We are connecting in Philadelphia which is nothing short of a disaster if you have ever hubbed there! As you can imagine, I didnt book the flight...hubby did!! Philly ALWAYS has issues and there are always too many planes booked for the same gate and you are left stuck on the tarmack. Our weather up here is very cold and very unpredictable so please pray for us next Sat morning that all goes well and we get on that boat by 4pm. It is also my daughters 15th birthday and they are going to have a special dessert for her at dinner.

So, I was thinking about things to write about on my blog this morning and I had a really interesting chat on Facebook last night with a friend of mine who grew up in my neighborhood when I was a kid. We reconnected after MANY years and it has been fun catching up and we have been chatting once a week. So we were chatting last night and he says to me "Sherri, I need your help" I said "Whats wrong, are you ok?" He replies with "no". So Im thinking OMG, maybe he has cancer or something and thats why hes reconnecting with me after all these years....and I started to feel anxious and nervous as to what conversation would follow. So then he says "I have cardiovascular disease (hes 45) and I smoke and I need to quit" Ok, I know, this is sad to say, but I was relieved it wasnt cancer but cardiovascular disease is no better by any means. He told me that he has tried numberous times to quit and has failed. I asked him "Whats your "why"? Why do you want to quit? You have to have a reason... a driving force when you want to accomplish a goal and if you dont have a reason, you will never attain that goal because you have nothing to look forward to. I told him that when you have no goal, no reason, you are like a ship floating at sea with no sight of a lighthouse or land. I have been that floating ship many, many times and it is just finally this year, that I have found my purpose, my reason and my why and it is why I know in my heart that I will get there and reach that 150 mark. I told him that I am losing weight this year and am planning to be at or very near my goal weight of 50# lost by my bday in late Sept. I want to feel better, look younger, and be able to grab a size 10 off the rack at a store, look at it, and walk right to the register & buy it, without ever blinking an eye and putting it on. THATS what I want!! Perhaps it is all in vanity...I dunno and I really dont care. I have put so many people ahead of me for so many yrs that its time that I am moving up to the front burner!! Anyways, we had a very inspiring conversation and he said to me "its that simple, isnt it?" I told him that there is nothing easy about quitting smoking but that I know if he puts his mind to it, makes in NON NEGOTIABLE,  he can do it! So I got a FB message that he had his last cigarette at 8:47pm last night and hasnt had one since. I dont smoke but i used to in my 20s and they are very powerful and hard to kick but it can be done...I am living proof and you couldnt pay me to pick one up again. YUCK! So in closing, in having this conversation with my friend, I realized that there has been a change inside of me this time. This is a NON NEGOTIABLE GOAL for me and even though my weight has been coming off in trickles, I refuse to give up until I see that 150 staring back at me!!! Mark my words, it IS gonna happen!!! So wahts YOUR "why"? Is it non negotiable??? If not, you need to make it that...come hell or highwater, you are gonna work hard to make it happen! I love Ambers comment on one of her older blog posts about how she did a fist pump in the air and said she was gonna be Jorges best client to lose 50#. I am fist pumping right now and telling you all....I am gonna be 50# less this year by my birthday!! Whoot Whoot!!

Ok, I will stop now....Im rambling again!! And you come back to read my posts again...brave souls you all are!! lol. I hope you are all doing great!!  Be sure to leave YOUR "WHY" in the comments section here and lets all support each other to make our dreams come true in 2011!!

Happy Saturday my friends!!
Love & belief!
Sherri
p.s  Tomorrow will be my Superbowl Post! Got some good thoughts to share from my WW meeting today! So stay tuned..... :)

Friday, February 4, 2011

Lazy Friday!

Hello to all my BFC sistas!!!

Geez, I havent posted in a few days....I am so sorry! Its been a busy week here and here I sit, its Friday and I still have a zillion things to do but I am still in my jammies, no shower, no makeup on. Wouldnt it be great to just have a mask that you could slip on in the morning & off at bedtime?? YOu could have a perfect polished face 24/7 if you wanted to ? I think it would be so much fun to have my hair & makeup done by a professional!! Amber is so lucky to have that royal treatment from the RR show!! We are all jealous girl...but after all of your hard work, you are soooo deserving of that pampering!! Just got the hair cut & color touch up last night for the cruise next week so I am almost good to go. Getting my nails done on Tues and then a pedicure on Friday. I am a firm believer in NEVER EVER walking in sandals with bare toes!! Toes are gross enough as it is, so gotta get them cleaned up and polished and flip flop ready!!

So, I walk into my beauty shop last night and my beautician looks at me and says "OMG...you are getting so skinny!" Now, by no means am I getting any where near skinny but I believe that you can finally start to tell that some weight is coming off of me. That was so nice to hear that compliment and I am so anxious to get another 10# off & get into the darned 180s!! I am so tired of this "trickle effect" thats happening with me but I will be patient and continue to keep doing what I am doing. Slowly but surely, it is coming off....Its just gonna take a while with me. I hear so many of the BFC sisters talking about their thyroids. I am also in that group of hypothyroid folks....I was diagnosed at age 21 and everyone in my family has it except my dad. It stinks to have thyroid disease because it does make losing so much harder BUT at least there is medicine to supplement. My sister uses it as a crutch that it is the root of all of her problems....I on the other hand, just deal with it, take my little pill every day and keep on keepin on. Its never gonna be easy and I will be fighting til my last breath to keep my weight under control. There are people who have worse health problems and this is just a little bump in the road that I have to deal with. My best friend who lost her husband in Dec is now in 2nd stage congestive heart failure. She gained 30# of water weight in a very short period of time and was near hospitalization last week. She just turned 44 yesterday and is plagued by so many health problems stemming from her sarcoidosis....kidney problems, heart problems,liver problems, chronic pain issues, depression.... I look at her and all of her numerous health problems that she battles daily, and am thankful that all I have is a little hypothyroidism.

So anyways, I am still following WW plan with a BFC twist! I am keeping within the guidelines on 15/6 as well as staying within my points target. I feel like if I dont watch both, I could really go overboard so it is just keeping me in check. It hasnt been difficult to do, just a little extra tracking.  Not sure what the scale will say tomorrow at weigh in. I realize that getting into the 180s by the cruise next week is not gonna happen but Im hoping to hit 195 by next Sat. Now that I am in ONDERLAND, I dont ever want to go back to the 200s ever again. That is a very unhappy place to visit for me and I will never ever go back!!!

I have been going through my clothes to pick out things to wear. I really wanted to get a new cocktail dress but there is NOTHING out there that tickles my fancy so I am going to wear my same old black dress that I have had for 5 yrs and dress slacks and my cobolt blue sequined sweater for the 2nd dress up night. I think I will hit Charming Charlie for some new jewelry to go with it. Oh...and get this!!! I wore my black cocktail dress in July to a Seminar for our awards night. I remember really having to suck it in to get it zipped and it was tight and uncomfortable. I put it on this morning and it zipped without a problem, didnt even have to suck it in, and it fits soooo much nicer and is so much more comfortably now!! It is a size 16. I was an 18(probably could have worn a 20) in July so there is a definite change going on in me, inside AND out!!

Well, I have rambled on & on here so I will wrap it up. Gotta get all those errands done before the day gets away from me. Its cold here, in the 20s but the sun is out and it is actually a pretty day in Erie, PA!!

Have a great Friday and a great weekend gals!!
Love & Belief always!!
Sherri