The Inevitable...

WEIGHT LOSS POST!!!

Folks, you had to know it was bound to happen. It's probably the most posted topic I have, unfortunately. So here's where it's at...stagnant, that's where. No progress. It isn't that I don't want to lose, and it isn't that I don't want to try. It just doesn't happen. And what do you know, there's Oprah's Weight Watchers commercial again just as I'm posting/thinking about fatness, flab, and unfabulousness. Anyway, back to the topic at hand. I don't want this blog to be a weight loss blog. It's just my life and the things that I think, see, do, love, hate, desire, laugh at, create, etc. It's me. So yes, there will be weight updates. However, I won't bore you continually with weekly, or even regular, posts about my size. I've remained in the 170-175 range since my boob job. It isn't where I want to be, definitely not where I am comfortable, but it is what it is. Don't get me wrong, I will be continuing to work on it, and I will let you know how it's going...just not as the primary focus of this forum. And there's Oprah again, going on about her tacos and pasta. Thanks Oprah.

Plexus Slim update

When I began my Plexus journey, I had not decided how I would do my updates...weekly, every other week, yada yada yada. I am thinking now, that in order to be less redundant and have fewer posts about being fat, I am going to just do a monthly check-in. The little form that I have to record my data will be handy for that. It will be super easy to just upload a photo of my data sheet each month.

My feelings about my progress so far are eh. The first week, I was super stoked about it. I lost a pound a day in the first four days. The second week I lost another pound. The third week I was down another two and a half pounds. The crazy thing is, that third week was Christmas week and I was still losing! Since that week, I have gained. Not hardly enough to notice (fluctuating just over a pound and a half for the last two weeks), but I do notice because it is keeping me just above the 170 mark. I love breaking those 'ten' barriers, and this one seems ever-elusive. I hear and see so many success stories and pictures of weight loss photos, mostly at 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and a year intervals. Maybe I am not giving myself enough time, but I am getting frustrated at my 5 week progress data. My cousin lost 30 pounds in 3 months (and is still losing), the teacher across the hall is losing (and doesn't need to); and I'm down a whopping 7 lbs and a few inches in 5 weeks. Maybe it was because I lost so much the first week and then it just stopped. Both of those friends have not increased their exercise at all, but it looks like I have to. Boo. I know, I know. I need to anyway because it is good for me and I feel better when I do. So, this week...that's where I will be in all of my 'free time.' Yay.

Plexus Slim Week 1

Plexus Slim...so easy! Everyone that I know that has tried it, has done exceptionally well with it. Like losing 35+ pounds in three to six months time! That well. It took me six months to lose 20 pounds. Since I have such a hard time losing weight, I decided to give it a go. I really enjoy it. There's nothing to it! I pour a powder packet into a glass of water each morning. Thirty minutes later I take an accelerator pill with breakfast. My breakfast of choice is a piece of buttered toast. With lunch, I take a second accelerator. My eating habits had gotten to the point that I was hungry all of the time. I had begun having all kinds of cravings, even for sweets (which I normally don't like). Now, I have zero cravings and very little appetite. Part of that could be that with the Plexus product you are to drink half of your body weight in ounces of water. And I am trying to do that. It's the hardest part of the plan. So. Not. Easy.

It has just been six days, but I want my weigh-in/measurement day to be on Sundays, so I am reporting a day early. My cousin, who sells Plexus products, sent me some information before I decided to try it out. That information packet had this little measurement guide. I love it because it has a figure on it to show where to measure, which I have always had trouble doing. I usually give up on measuring and just fixate on the scales. With Plexus Slim, I have decided that I am going to only weigh in on measurement day. That's gonna be hard to do. Because I. really. do. fixate. on. the. number. on. the. scale. Soooo, with no further ado...

A New Journey

Two years ago, I jumped on a bandwagon that I really could've done without. It did me no good whatsoever and cost a few hundred dollars. Of course, it was a 'fad' diet...Body by Vi. One of those shake things. I didn't lose any more than I would've by just normal dieting. The first couple of weeks, the shakes were actually yummy. I found my favorite add-ons were coffee, peanut butter, cinnamon, or banana *sometimes even random combinations.* After a few weeks of twice a day shakes...mixing the drink, putting it in the blender, cleaning the blender, having all the ingredients at work...those yummy shakes began to take on a strange taste to me. More of an after-taste than a taste. I began to dread them. My stomach eventually turned at the thought of them. Needless to say, I didn't last very long on that diet. I still have three one-month supply packages of the shake mix in the cabinet. When I decided to do the Vi shakes, I did it as a favor to a co-worker. She had begun selling them and she and her sister both were having some success with the diet. I didn't research it much and just kind of impulsively dived in.

This time is different. I am jumping in to a new 'fad' diet...one that I have looked into. One that I have watched people have very visible success with. My cousin is selling it, several friends are selling it...several people that I know have lost 30 - 50 pounds in 3 to 6 month time frames. Get this...with.no.exercise. What is it you ask? Well, it is Plexus Slim. I am excited about trying it out. It came in the mail over the weekend. I started it today.

I am so tired of fighting the weight battle. I realize that I will struggle all of my life with it, especially with the way I love food! It's just so disheartening and hard on the confidence level when I don't feel like I look good...or when I just don't feel good in general. When I weigh more, my back hurts and my clothes make me feel pinned in and squishy. I hate to jiggle.

Last year, I had actually managed to lose 20 pounds just through diet and exercise. I was so proud of myself! I was at the lowest weight than I have been at in 3 years. But then I got a boob job plus a touch of liposuction. They said not to step on the scales for 6 weeks after surgery. Did I listen? NOPE. I weighed the next day. Just having the surgery put 17 pounds right back on me. They said it was water weight and fluid retention from the surgery, specifically the lipo. Except I am 6 months out and still carrying that 17 pounds. I have to wonder how much the implants actually increased my weight...supposed to only be 3 pounds. But for real, those 17 pounds...will.not.come.off. I really want to know what 'the girls' look like on me; without the extra padding!!!

So now, here I am again, ready to fight the battle...but this time I would really like to win the war.

The Devil You Say

The devil is alive and well...right inside these little boxes.

Uninspired with Inspiration

Normally, I am fairly easy to inspire or motivate to do something. Not so lately. I am in a funk. There are so many things that I need to do; would love to do...but I can't seem to get the energy to do them. Some of the problem is the weather, I am sure. I require sunlight, and lots of it. My body and psyche need the precious  serotonin to help fight off the tendrils of depression that tickle at the edges of all aspects of my life. Yes, I have medication for that...but it only treats the surface symptoms, so every little bit of help I can get, I'll take. It has been very dreary around here lately. Rain, sleet, or snow 4 days out of every week for the past six weeks or so. The rest of the problem...who knows.

So what is it that I want to do? What should be inspiring me to create and grow and sparkle? Well let's see...

Crafting with these awesome, bright colors
that are patiently waiting for me in my craft room.

Breaking through the plateau that I have hit with
my weight loss. Twenty pounds, and no more will
come off...gonna hafta hit the gym! :-(

My garden...currently referred to as 'The Swamp'
Potatoes and onions are beginning to sprout, and
it is so wet down there that I can't even go look!

A clean house! Spring break was for spring cleaning, and now
we have room for more stuff!

Lefty getting to go to prom with her boy bestie.
He's a senior, she's a sophmore...he better be good!
Oh, and prom means...school's almost out!!!

On the upside, sort of, I stayed home from school today due to pink eye. Don't judge, it's a hazard of the job. Kinder teachers come into contact with more goo and bodily fluids than I care to think about. Apparently I came into contact with conjunctivitis. Gross. ANYWHO, while home, I actually felt like doing things. Not fun things, mind you. I worked. The master bathroom is sparkling clean, all laundry is done and put away, 'pit stop' surfaces are cleared off and dusted, the carpets are clean, and all of the household garbage is empty. I even had time to work on my coupon collecting. So maybe, just maybe, this weekend, I might feel like digging into that abyss of a craft room that is bursting at the seams with beautiful blingy things begging for me to use them. I'll be sure and show you what I manage to come up with.

Nearing the End

The end of Spring Break 2013. It has been a busy one!

• Doctor visits. One on Tuesday, for me...I'm not sick, I will fill you in on that one in June. Today was one for Lefty. She has these weird 'bumps' on her legs...apparently they are due to some sort of auto-immune issue that she is having bloodwork done to determine the exact cause. Doc thinks they are harmless. God, I hope so.

•  Gardening (when it hasn't been precipitating winter weather)

Planting seeds in my seed starter kit. There's a lot of seeds in there.

Found 5 onion sprouts coming up already!!! 

• Spring cleaning. We managed to get the kids to cull 9 bags and 4 boxes of crap to get rid of out of their rooms. Can you say Hoarders? It was just a matter of time before someone had us put on the show for an intervention.

• Couponing!!! I have saved $101.15 this week using coupons, and I only bought items that were non-perishable and that we would have bought anyway. Nothing in excess and nothing that we don't normally use already.
• It was also important to me to keep working at my path to weight loss. I have been eating frozen diet meals for lunch, and thankfully they are yum! None are more than 320 calories, which is awesome, and I am always full after.

The rest of my break will be spent working on school stuff, finishing up the cleaning (we fired the cleaning lady...will post about that later, gator), hitting up a talent show that Lefty has insisted on doing, and trying to just chill a bit. Hopefully, I will manage to get some blog-surfing in too!

The Most Offensive Phrase EVER.

It has no 'ugly' words. It is only said to/about women and girls. It is supposedly meant as a compliment. It hurts like hell. It is the worst thing you could ever say to me. EVER.

"She has such a pretty face."

Damn that's harsh. You've heard it. You may have said it. I am ashamed to say that I have. Even as a fat girl. It's just one of those things. You may truly think you are giving someone a compliment...but even the best of intentions can go horribly awry. This is one of them.  

Yes, it makes me angry when I hear it. However, I guess it is better to be pretty somewhere, rather than to be ugly everywhere. Unfortunately, everyone knows that this little jab encased in a false compliment, is always followed by a 'but.' And no, it ISN'T the same type of 'butt' that follows me everywhere I go. I call her J'Lo, and she jiggles like jell-o. It IS the kind of 'but' that means, "I said something semi-nice, so that I could follow it up with something excessively snarky."

You know, I didn't even like that little saying when I was skinny. Now that I am 'unskinny,' it really sucks. However, as you can tell from my 'See Me Shrink' page, (if you can tell it's top from it's bottom), I am making progress. And lots of it! Look at this 'pretty face.'

taken Christmas Day 2012

Guarantee you noticed how round that face is, and how wide the ass is. Yes, there are pretty features on the face. The rest is a tub o' lard. But look at the 'prettier' face now.

taken February 2, 2013

I see cheekbones again!!! And NO double chin!!! Notice the shoulders getting a bit more narrow!!! Now check out the littler big picture...

taken February 24, 2013
(please ignore the dirty laundry, we had all the kids that weekend...laundry hits the back burner)

In the words of Dr. Sheldon Cooper, "Bazinga!!!" Nothing is nearly as wide as it was. Cheekbones are more prominent, pants are almost falling off (I did have to buy new ones), oh, and I see a jawline!!!

Hot Damn!

Who is definitely becoming more than 'such a pretty face?'

THIS GIRL, THAT'S WHO!

Shopping, Spa Day, and Hogs...Oh My!

This evening wraps up what was a four and half day weekend for me. It was lovely!

Thursday:

• half-day at work, setting up Valentine's Day activities for kinders
• enjoyed my wild kinders as they showered me with gifts and cards
• last pep rally performance for the year for Boo, East/West game to close season

pep rally theme: kiss the pig. poor little piggie

Friday:

• re-check at doctor with Lefty for her migraines and back injury
• great report! We don't go back for a year, unless she has trouble.
• lunch with Lefty and a sweet friend...we had...PASTA!!!
• three hour nap (don't judge, my aunt was visiting)

Saturday:

• Hubs and I snuck away for a couple of days
• shopping...jeans two sizes smaller and new bras because the ta-tas are shrinking fast
• dinner at Texas Land and Cattle...usually love this place, but a bit disappointing this time
• a quick run into Charming Charlie; why didn't I think of a color coded accessory store???
• movies at the Malco to see...

(gonna hafta read it again. not sure if I was impressed or not)

Sunday:

• took a drive through some pretty neighborhoods in Bentonville and Fayetteville. Love it in NWA.
• lunch at Red Robin...yummmmmm (hear me singing that?)
• on to Baum Stadium for opening weekend of Razorback Baseball!!!

couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day

Tailgating at its finest...take a closer look below.

Read some scripture (it was Sunday, after all) and grab a beer.

Say a prayer...

and call those Hogs!!!

is there anything more awesome than this???

Wooooo Pig Sooiiee!!!

Monday:

• took Boo to an appointment
• SPA DAY!!! I'm a ginger (redhead) again!!!

before

during

after

How was your weekend? If it was half as blessed as mine, then it must've been fantastical!!!

Several Updates!!!

First off, I am so not self-disciplined. I wish I were. Then I could get things done like a machine, whether it was school work, house work, or LOSING WEIGHT! I wasn't able to truly do the Body by Vi all week. During the summer months, my schedule is virtually non-existent, and in order to do a shake diet, I think scheduling is a must. Of course, I could just be making excuses again! I actually gained weight this first week. One pound was lost by Tuesday, but today's weigh-in showed that I had gained that pound back plus one more. No bueno. I believe that I will just count calories until school starts. It seemed that I had more luck with that anyway. Once I am back into the routine of school time, I can start the shakes. I did make it to the gym three or four days this week. Next week I will have to go more! Unfortunately, I am pretty sure that Monday will be out of the question because I will have this little guy all day (have you ever seen a little boy as totally cute as this?!?!).

Photo courtesy of BNBauman Photography

In other not-so-good news, it has been so dry here. There have been several fires close to home...more closer to my school than my home, but there was a hayfield fire about 25 miles away that destroyed almost 600 acres. 150 homes were evacuated and it took over two days to contain it. Scary business.

15 minutes or so from my school...

25 minutes or so from my home...photo courtesy of the Arkansas Forestry Commission

The fire in the above photo caused our water company to empty its lines in attempt to fight it before calling in other avenues of water support. Due in part to that and the fact that it has not rained more than ten drops (which happened today) in my area of town since early May, the water company has implemented a mandatory restriction of unnecessary water use. Included in this restriction is ANY AND ALL outside watering unless it is for the purpose of providing sustenance to animals and pets. In other words...don't water the vegetable garden or the decorative landscaping or the yard that you have invested countless dollars in maintaining for the last ten years. Needless to say, all of our gardening and green stuff is turning yellow brown dead. I have been doing my best to pick what I can as soon as I can to salvage as many veggies as possible.

Canned a jar of pickled jalepeno peppers! YUMMY GOODNESS!

The first of nine of these guys :-)

A billion zucchini it seemed, but I think they are done now.

And picked 12 of these beauties today, with 15 more ready in a day or two. Salsa, anyone???

We need rain...badly...but I can't wait to put next year's garden out and see what happens!!! I have already drawn out a 'blueprint' for how I want it to look! Always (never) prepared.