Becoming a Butterfly

 This was a clematis vine at my parents place.

This is the sunset we saw in Beaufort!

 This was one of many shots we got of the seagulls on the Ferry ride!

  This was from the boat ride to the island

  This is me and my husband…

You can click on them to make them larger!

Boy, it feels good to be home again!  I had so much fun, my parents were there for part of the time…and we got to be together.  

I love getting away, but I am so happy to be back in my own house.  Finally got some sleep while I was there…but need to go to bed now and get some more.

Learned a couple of things about how to travel when you are trying to lose weight…

• Take food with you for backup.  I took ziplock with some of my favorite staples.  Cereal, pretzels, baked corn chips…etc.  Also took my fat free sour cream, cream cheese, milk…etc.
• Take more than you think you will need….It is hard to share your food–that you measured, put in ziplocks and brought to get you through a 3 day vacation that turns into a 5 day vacation–with your skinny husband: )
• Check out the menu before you go into a restaurant.  Don’t assume.  Started to order a salad…and asked what lowfat dressings they had…and they had NONE???  I am going to buy my own individual packs and keep them with me from now on!  Also wanted a baked potato with my shrimp and they did not have them…just mashed or fried.  Not good!
• Take your scale with you!  I know, I know, do not weigh everyday…but I have to.  And I felt more secure having my scale with me.
• Write down everything you have…even if it is bad.  Better to be honest, than to pretend it never happened.
• Pack food for the road.  This morning, before we headed home.  I made some sandwiches…and snacks that were ok for me to eat, so we didn’t have to stop for fast food junk.
• Read magazines with weight loss stories in them!  My mom was getting rid of old magazines and there were some great articles with testimonies and pictures of amazing weight losses.  It was encouraging…and kept me on track!
• Walk as much as possible.  I even walked in the rain one day, because I wanted to make sure I got it in.  It was kind of fun, a frog hopped across the road in front me at one point.
• Find some way to get online….I was desperate to reconnect with everyone.  I still haven’t read all the blogs…maybe tomorrow…after I get my dryer fixed…the element seems to have died…and we have all this laundry to do…yikes!  That makes me think of the next one.
• Don’t leave your dryer running when you leave for a trip…your element may die on you….and then you will have a bunch of laundry and no way to dry it when you get home: )

I am sure there is more….but I am really running out of steam now…so until later!

It is so good to be on-line and back with all my buddies!!!!

Today is my birthday…yeah! 

I am sitting outside a Holiday Inn…that we are NOT staying at…sneaking their wireless…I am a desperate woman…

Went to Cape Lookout Lighthouse and saw the ponies on Shackleford banks from the boat. 

Had dinner in Beaufort on a deck over looking the dock.  Watched the sun set, while my husband and I had dinner…I ate a salad and boiled shrimp plus a couple of lagers (do not tell the research Drs. at UNC…it will be our little secret: )  Just kidding I will confess it…if I have to!

I am holding at 240…so…we will see what the scales say tomorrow: )  fingers, toes and eyes crossed…hope the damage hasn’t been too bad!

 Been doing ok…Realizing how much I need you all.  How addicted I am to this site and….how crazy it can be when you are not at home…trying to control your food and exercise.

Look forward to being plugged back in soon!

Miss you!

He was one of them right?

I am soooo tired.   I don’t know when was the last time I got 8 hours in a row.  Wow…that would be nice.  It sure would make me feel more like exercising and eating right.  

Being married is an adjustment…I am still not used to having someone else in my bed…and in Aug…it will be one year.  I am a super light sleeper and my husband seems to be a very loud one…or so it seems to me: )

ok…enough whining….

Just wanted to let everyone know that I am off for a short mini-vaca with my husband and parents.  We will be on the coast of NC.    My mom and dad have a little place on the waterway…anyway…. 

Anxious about the food…my mom…the original food pusher in the family…has already told me we are having hamburgers and hotdogs today for dinner.  I went to the store last night and armed myself with some low fat dogs, light buns, skim milk, and other necessities to win this battle against my well meaning, but totally unaware mom.

Also worried about even less sleep.  There is only one room good for sleep and my parents get that one…so we will be up with the sun…yeah 

And as far as exercise…I plan to walk on the beach as much as possible!!!

I will have limited access to the website…so I will be MIA!  I will be taking my laptop….but I don’t know how much time I will get on-line.

Should be back online on Weds…God willing and the creek don’t rise.  (inside joke:  My parent’s place is on south creek rd…ok…not funny…but did I mention that I was sleep deprived??? hmmmm?)

Blessings!!!!  That pic…is so how I feel right now…where’s the coffee!!!????

I have started carrying my camera with me when I walk.  I am an artist…but not painting right now.  Feel like I am in transition…so I am just really getting into photography.  I bought myself a nice digital SLR a couple of years ago…it was a big purchase for me…but, I am so glad I did it! 

I enjoy having it with me when I walk, because you never know what you will see.  I always walk around a little “lake” in my town and the things that inspire me…just in that little park…are too many to count. 

Just wanted to share, for those who might be artsy…and looking for a way to spice up their walking…this is something I have found that really helps me look forward to my photography ”adventure”! 

Here are just some of the photos I have gotten along the way–if you click on them you can see them up close!

Hope you enjoy them!

These were 3 separate squirrels…cute huh?  My son had a pet one…so it makes me think of him!

This one was from the 5k day!

rose.JPG

Ok…

People are jumping on board the Christmas Challenge train!

The link to this blog will explain   A real New Year’s Resolution to be ready for Christmas?

Here are the basics:

• We will check in the last day of the month until Dec. 31st 2008! 

• If you are interested, send me an email, and go to the forum and let us know (pounds to lose, starting weight and individual goals!)

• Come up with your own slogan!  We have gotten some gooooood ones!  Check them out on the forum!

• It’s open to anyone, any group, any time…we just ask that you be committed for the whole 7 months…so it will be fair to everyone!   The more the Merrier Christmas!

• I think that is it!  If I forgot something or got something wrong…let me know!

from the forum today:

I am really gettin’ into the Christmas Spirit…I feel a song comin’ on…

Jiggle belly Jiggle belly…jig-g-lin no more. I will lose these extra pounds and kick them out the door…hey!

Surprise!  Look what just came in the mail for me! 

Some of you may remember my blog about seeing this in a window in the mall.  It stopped me dead in my tracks…and I went into the store and tried not to show my excitement, or drooling, to the sales clerk.  I had just been blogging about being a butterfly that God’s light would shine through to reflect His glory…the day before…and then I saw this.

I wanted it…I mean in a bad way.  But decided, when I found out how much it cost, to delay my gratification…and to just wait and make it a goal/gift once I had lost 50lbs.

This past weekend, my husband and I had a rough weekend.  Experienced a bump in the road so to speak.  He lost his job unexpectedly in December, and started a new career (against my counsel)…and it is not going well.  He is at a loss of what to do next…and so it is making it harder for him to do anything.  

I was a single mom for so many years, and the thought of having to support a man…well…let’s just say…I don’t want to.   All the years of providing for myself and my son has left me very tired.   I waited so many years for my husband to come.  I was celibate, waiting on God’s choice for me.  His will.  I dreamed of the man that would “provide” for me.    When my husband came into my life, I heard the Lord say, this is your husband.  So I know, he is God’s choice for me.

But in my frustration with him…(in combination with my TOM) I threatened to leave him and pushed him away.   I was mean…  And mad. 

Since then we have talked, made up and things are much better.  Well, he told me today, it was during this rocky time, that he ordered this for me…for my birthday next week, but it came early…and he went ahead and gave it to me.

I cried.  He cried.  It was so sweet.  He looked at me and said, “I want to take care of you.  I love you.”  I believe him.

I believe God has a purpose for everything…and I think He is saying something to me through this.  So many people here keep telling me that I am already a beautiful butterfly…so…that’s what I think God is saying.  That even though I am not perfect on the outside…yet…  He already sees me that way!  

But there is more…

I should show the same grace to my husband, even though he isn’t successful right now, doesn’t mean he won’t be one day.    I should show him more respect and see him as God sees him too!   Encourage him…that in God…and in my eyes…he is already perfect!

I weight myself everyday and for those that don’t know…I HAVE to…because I am part of a research project.

Last week I was upset to see the scale go up…because TOM came and was causing me trouble.

But TOM is really going down…he maybe down for the count. 

So today, I am excited because the scale, now my friend, gave me my newest reading of…241 and I got my first white star…  So that is 8 lbs since I started the reseach project on May 5th. 

I also have a feature on my scale that tells me my body fat level as well as my water content.  When I started this whole process…April 18th…my body fat was reading 51%…now it says 45%.  My water used to say 27.5 and now it is 38.0. 

That is good news!!!! 

I think that I read that the more muscle you have the more water your body has…so, it is good that they are both moving in the right direction.

So what is my conclusion….

The scale is not friend nor foe.  It is just an instrument that helps you be aware of what is going on within your body.  Attaching emotion to it is dangerous, therefore do not let it rule your emotions!  Only use it to help you monitor yourself…as you love yourself into healthier habits!  If you are commited to being healthy and you do the stuff…the weight loss will come!

I am thinking…I always freak out about losing weight for Christmas…or decide to do lose weight as a New Year’s resolution… I mean…that is…until about Jan 14th…

so…my question and thought is…how about a reverse challenge…a with a new kindov resolution? 

What I mean is…why don’t we stop waiting until then to get serious…and just do it now, slow steady and healthy…so we can enjoy the holidays!?

According to this website, we have 7 months (http://www.7is7.com/otto/countdown.html)  or so before Jan 1st 2009! 

That is :

224 days

5379 hours

322773 minutes

19366436 seconds

is that a long time…or not?  forever…or just right around the corner?

I see it is a long term challenge/goal…one that will require you have to have a REAL New Year’s RESOLUTION to make it there! 

Imagine Christmas with less of you to share with your family!  The compliments, the freedom, shopping, dressing up, the gift it would be to yourself…

It could be one of the best Christmas presents you ever gave or got!

Ok, so who is in…?

This is going to be a quickie…Josh (a man:  ) said they are okay…so here I go.

I know it is supposed to be Hi Ho…but with the way the scales are going…I thought High Low might be more appropriate.

Today is my first day at my new job.  They called Monday and asked me to come in for training!  I am excited to be working again.  It doesn’t pay very well, but the opportunity is wonderful.  My town just built a Cultural Arts Center and I would eventually love to work full time there.

TOM was putting up a good fight especially with his friends water retention and bloating…but he is going down…along with my weight!   Today….drum roll please…the scales are saying 242.8 and that is 7 lbs down since I started on May 5th with the weight loss research project!  Yeah!  And 3 since the last weigh in on Sunday.   Gotta love that!

Thanks again to everyone that was so encouraging.  I was in a bad place…and frustrated! 

I love to do cryptograms….one of my many addictions…and the last one I did said, “The only courage that matters is the kind that gets you from one moment to the next.   Thanks for being mine!

Have a Great DAY!!!