Thursday, October 27, 2011

Good morning!

Good Morning to all my dear friends!

I was excited to see that I have 40 followers now...yay! Guess I better start writing more often and share some inspiring stuff now.

Life has been good but so busy & I just feel exhausted these days! I've been so tired lately & not sure why. Perhaps the fact that its getting dark earlier could be factoring into the equation. My WW leader Pam suggested a product that she uses (and sells) called "greens". It is from the "It Works" product line and it is the nutritional equivalent of 8 servings of fruits & vegetables. She said it has really helped her in the energy dept. I read the ingredients & there is nothing in it that would interfere with what I currently take medication wise,  it looks like all natural ingredients, so I decided to give it a try. Pam is like the energizer bunny & will work a full day as a teacher, then either teaches a WW class in the evening or goes to jazzercise. I want that kind of energy....I'm only 45 & shes 58. You add this powder to a bottle of water or to any drink of your choice & use it 2x day. I will keep you posted on how I feel. My order is on its way & I am anxious to start taking it. Not sure if it has any sugar in it for my BFC buddies, but I can check on that too if you are interested in knowing.

I am feeling really great lately & I think its because of the almost 42# that are gone from my body. It is amazing to me how much better I feel about myself. I LOVE the fact that I no longer have to wear anything from the Women's Dept and I no longer have a "W" after my size. Its a good feeling to go clothes shopping and I cant wait until I will be sporting a size 12...and then a 10, and maybe, just maybe even an 8!!! Its really a stretch to think of being in an 8 but Rosalie & Amber did it so why cant I??? My ultimate goal was 150 but I think I want to go a bit lower than that. Right now, I am focused on 150 and when I get there, I plan to evaluate where I am size wise & go from there. 150 is the upper end of my goal weight & I would like to have some wiggle room. I was talking with my hubby last night & we were discussing my upcoming surgery next fall to have my scar removed/tummy tuck. He said he supports me 100% in whatever I decide to do. I told him I want to know what it feels like to live in a thin body because I have never known that feeling. I think that's why I don't want to stop at 150. I'm short, only about 5'4 1/2" so I don't have height on my side. It will be interesting to see what I look like when I lose these next 27#.

Yesterday at work, one of my co workers brought in these heavenly cookies that she makes. They are almond flavored with a raspberry jam in the center & a glaze drizzled on top. There was one left & she asked me if I wanted it...I told her no thanks. She made the comment that I have great will power. I told her that losing weight is more important to me than that cookie. That is a change in thinking for me & it has taken me a long time to get to this point in my life because before, I would have eaten it without thinking about it whether I was on a diet or not. Progress, for sure!

Well girls, I'm done rambling. Thanks for listening!

((Hugs)) to all!!
Sherri

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Happy Sunday!! Oct 23,2011

Hello to all my friends!

Did you think I fell off the face of the earth again? Well, I didnt but my computer did! Seems the old system decided to crash on us and we had to buy a whole new hard drive. Needless to say, hubby has been trying to transfer all the files from the old system & it has been nothing short of big ones! OMG, yesterday he was so grumpy because he spent hrs on the phone trying to get things straightened out. Not fun! Anyways, Im back & I have missed you all!!!! I feel like I have been so out of the loop not being here. I promise to try to get myself up to speed with all of your blogs.

Well, yesterday was weigh in day and I am happy to say that I am down again. Nothing earth shattering, only .8# BUT it is going down and my weight was 177.4 yesterday. Gotta tell you girls, I havent weighed this little in such a long time...I would say easily about 14 yrs. Crazy crazy stuff but I couldnt be happier! Looks like I need to retire my jeans again & start wearing the 14s more regularly. I have had numerous commnets that they are way too big on me, but man, are they comfortable!!! The size 14 Levis are a perfect fit but after wearing them all day, they fell a little snug & I would rather be comfy. Anyways, Christopher & Banks was having their friends & family sale where the entire store is 50% off. I went through my closet & packed up all the clothes that no longer fit me and gave them (3 big bags overflowing) to mys sister Rose but now I am left with a very limited wardrobe. 3 pr of jeans & about 15 tops. Thats it, so I decided to invest in a new pr of dress slacks & I love Christopher & Banks brand. They fit me great & are comfy to boot. Bought a nice pr of black dress slacks in a size 14 and a really cute sweater w/ a blouse attached. ...so cute!! I contemplated getting the slacks in a size 12 also but opted to just get 1 pr for now. I wish I would lose  faster, but Im a "slow & steady" kind of girl & its alright with me. Shopping for clothing is becoming fun again &  I cant wait til I can shop at Talbots again. LOVE their clothes!!! SO classy!

Hope all is well with you girls! Its beautiful & sunny here so I am headed out for a walk now. I have a pot of chicken & brown rice soup on the stove for dinner...yummy!

Miss you all!
((HUGS))
Sherri

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Good morning! Thursday Oct 13,2011

Good morning friends!

Lots to do today so just a quick post here this morning. My week of vacation is flying by and I haven't accomplished anywhere near what I wanted to get done this week. Gotta get my tail in gear!!

Hubby and I went up to Niagara Falls, Canada yesterday on a day trip to celebrate our 18th anniversary (which is this coming Sunday Oct 16th). It was rainy & cool & we cut our trip short (only spent 4.5 hrs there) because it really started raining. We played a bit at the casinos & donated about $80. arrgh! I really don't enjoy gambling because I cant get over the thought that I could use the money toward groceries or something like that but oh well, it was fun playing video blackjack & we know when to say when & leave. WE got home about 4:30, picked up the girls & took them to Olive Garden for dinner. My oldest had a really hard time with the menu as she is super picky. My youngest was in her glory with all the menu choices. They are like day & night in so many ways. Anyways, I had soup & salad & it was delish! I had the zuppa tuscono (1 cup) and they brought me the lower calorie salad dressing on my salad & 1 1/2 breadsticks(I love to dip it in my soup!) . I couldn't finish it all and I stayed within my points allowance for the day which was great. The scale is looking good this week so fingers crossed, it will keep on going down. I have been exercising daily (except for yest but we walked alot) & I think that really does make a difference. I want to go to jazzercise but I am a bit intimidated by it all & Im afraid I wont be coordinated enough to do the moves. I never took a dance class before in my life & it looks very "dancy" to me. I will wait for my sister to go with me to the trail class. Until then, looks like its gonna be walking & my exercise tapes for the rest of the week.

                                              Here are a few pics from our trip to the Falls.

                                                                 Me & the hubs....



                                           

I have noticed my face & upper body are really getting alot thinner. Have a great rest of the week &" keep on keepin on" girls! We are getting there!

P.s on a side note~ I want to order some of the Natures Hollow sugar free jams but not sure what flavors are the best. If you use them, would you please chime in & tell me what flavors are your favorite?? Thanks! We cant buy them in the stores up here in PA so I have to order them online. I trust all of my "buds" taste buds! :)

((Sherri))

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Sorry I havent been posting lately....

Good evening friends!

Wow! What a week! I am exhausted! I feel like since Friday, my life has been a blur. I will get you all up to snuff with me if you are interested. I worked 4 days this past week & it seems like i go to work, come home, cook supper & then pack my lunch for the next day & start all over again. But I am off this entire upcoming week and I am rather excited about it! I have so much to do around the house so I am hoping to make some headway with getting some fall cleaning done. The weather has been fantastic...sunny & beautiful every day & they are forecasting great weather up until Thurs. YAY!

So OK, last week...it was crazy! We had a party with the girls from work at one of the girls cottages on the lake. I live in Erie, PA and we are blessed to have beautiful Lake Erie and a beautiful peninsula that is 14 miles long that has beaches, walking trails and it is truly one of my most favorite places to visit. So peaceful & serene & a great place to clear your head. So anyways, it was a sleepover & many of the girls from work were going to do that. I opted to just go for dinner & stay to chat for a while. I left around 10pm. The girls I work with are very close knit and they do alot together. I have worked there about 1 1/2 yrs and although they are such a  great warm & fuzzy group of nurses, I still just don't feel like I am completely a part of the inner circle. But don't get me wrong, I love them all & love to spend time with them. So we watched the sun set (it was spectacular!) and then went in for dinner. OMG! It was soooo good! Fresh breaded perch from lake erie that one of the gals hubbies caught, homemade macaroni & cheese, a shrimp & rice casserole, salad, fresh fruit, wine....it was delish! Then Saturday was weigh in day but I opted not to get on the scale this week because I did indulge at the girls night out party the night before. I didn't want to miss out on enjoying the wonderful food so I opted to pass p the scale this week. So I stayed for the WW meeting then my sister got free tickets to a huge annual event at our convention center called "For Women Only" and OMG, did we have a blast!!! We were there for over 4 hrs and we were tasting wine slushies, all kinds of yummy foods & there were over 160 vendors from tupperware to health clubs to you name it. We decided that we needed to walk off the calories we consumed so we did 2.5 miles that evening. I tell ya girls, my sister is one of my bestest buddies! We have so much fun together!! So then this morning, 3:30am I wake up to use the bathroom & then cant fall back to sleep. arrgh! I was up til 6:30 am tossing & turning! The alarm went off at 7am & hubby said "are you getting up for church"? I told him to go to the early mass & that I would take the girls to a later mass so I could sleep a little longer. Why is it that darned alarm always goes off when you fall back to sleep?! So we went to mass then came home & changed & off & running again to a double header softball game for my daughters high school fall ball team. Got home at 5pm, threw some food down the hatch & off & running again @ 5:30pm to take my daughter to a friends for a sleepover & then to walk with my sister again. We are taking advantage of the beautiful weather & walking as much as possible & as much as our feet will allow us to. So far, so good! :)

So here I sit, almost 10pm and I finally have time to blog. Weight wise, I feel great. The scale didn't say anything new, it was up just a smidge this morning but I'm not getting excited over it. I had a great on plan day & the exercise component has been an added bonus in that I do feel so much better. my sister & I are going to try out Jazzercize. They had a vendor booth at the women's expo & they are offering unlimited classes until the end of the year for $50. They do 30 mins of cardio & 30 mins of strength training. We are gonna give it a whirl. My ww leader does it and she loves it! We need to do something over the winter & I think this will be a good fit. I was going to go back to the gym but I still just cant seem to come to terms with paying that $125 enrollment fee. they had a booth at the expo and it said if you join this weekend they would waive the enrollment fee. I thought, wow, that's a prayer answered but after talking to one of the staff, when he found out I was a former member, he said I would be exempt from the discount. I gotta tell ya, that just pissed me off! This gym is so unwelcoming to rejoining members that I just don't think that I want to give them my business anymore. I say shame on them for being that way! I told him I had to quit for medical reasons & he said that they frown upon people who quit their memberships. Can you believe it???!!

Holy cow, did I just ramble or what!!?? Sorry girls! So that's whats happening here. My goals for the week are to eat clean and exercise every day. I am hoping for a nice loss on the scale this coming week. I feel hopeful!

I hope you are all doing great!
((HUGS)) to all.....

Sherri

Saturday, October 1, 2011

I have FINALLY arrived in a NEW DECADE!!!!!

Good evening to all my "peeps"!

Hope your week went well. Mine did and I am pleased as punch to tell you all that I have FINALLY OFFICIALLY arrived in the 170s according to WW scale as of today Oct 1st!!!!!! I feel like I have been fighting to get into this decade but my weight on my scale this morning (no clothing) was 178.5 and on WW scale (w/ clothing) I weighed in at 179.8. It was kinda funny because all the staff were huddled around my computer this morning because they know how hard I have been trying and what a struggle it has been to break through this LONG plateau in the 180s. I will tell you girls though, I will NEVER revisit my old weight again!! I had my friend Melissa take some new pics of me today and I can most definitely tell a difference, especially in my face, legs & belly areas. For some reason, the computer distorts my photos a bit & they look worse than they are because when I print them out, they look normal & much better. Not sure why that is, but I will post the new pics for you all to see.

As we embark on a new month and are getting very close to the start of the holidays and then the end of this year, I have been reflecting on where I have been this year and how proud I am of myself for sticking to this plan for over 9 months. Only when we "hang in there for the win" do we get to reap the rewards of our perseverance & hard work. In years past, I have never had the patience to hang in there for the win. I wanted the weight off "now" and it was never fast enough for my liking, so I would just quit after losing about 10# (or less)and then found myself gaining all of it back & then some & before I knew it, I was staring at a number on my scale that brought me to tears....218.5!! Dear Lord, I will never forget that day! It was last March 2010. I can remember asking myself "how did you allow this to happen to yourself?" I lost about 5# then decided to get serious last December and although it has had its ups & downs, it has been worth it!! It has become a NON NEGOTIABLE area of my life and I am bound and determined to finish this through this time!!! Period!!!

So even though I fell a little short of my Sept goal of losing 5# ( I lost 3.4# in Sept) a new month is here and once again, my goal for the month is to lose 5 more pounds. I'm just gonna continue to do my best & keep plugging away!

After I stepped off the scale this morning at WW, I said to myself now I am only 10# away from being in the 160s! the 160s!!!! I haven't seen those numbers since 1993!!! My BMI also changed today. I went from being OBESE to being OVERWEIGHT. My BMI is 29.8 now. Pretty exciting considering that it was 36 when I started this journey.

So that's my "thoughts du Sherri" today. Thanks for listening to me babble. Sorry I wasn't on the blogs much this week. I worked every day since Monday and man was I exhausted when I got home. I found myself crawling into bed at 9:30 pretty much every night.

Wishing you all a great start to this brand new month!!! Its a new beginning !!!

       
                                      
                                              This is me at about 218.5#....YIKES!!!!
                             
                                                     Oct 1, 2011    179.8#   Down 38.7#
                                              
Hugs!
Sherri