Had a good day today all things considered. Work was as usual and then my daughter had a performance tonight (she’s on a clogging team) and those are always so much fun! It helped get our minds off the stressful parts of life and back on what really matters – family.

I need to mention something regarding my food choices for this upcoming week. Since it will be a couple of weeks (at least) before my husband either receives his first unemployment check or finds another job, we’ve decided to “pantry shop” this next week. Basically we will not eat out or buy any groceries except for the essentials (bread, eggs, milk). Of course, the problem with this is I hadn’t really stocked our cabinets with a lot of “healthy stuff” yet. I’ve just been going every week and getting what I would need for the week, so I really don’t have a lot of healthy food on hand at this point.

So, unless something changes, here is our dinner menu for the next week:

Saturday 10/31 – Spaghetti and meat sauce
Sunday – Eggs and Pancakes
Monday – Hot Dogs and French Fries
Tuesday – Hamburger Helper
Wednesday – Ramen
Thursday – Italian Sausage and potatoes
Friday – Hamburger Helper

Yeah, not the healthiest of choices, eh? So, I’m gonna have to be real creative this next week to watch my calorie and fat intake. I DO have some ground turkey in the freezer, so for spaghetti tomorrow I will make my sauce with that instead of beef. When we have “breakfast” for dinner on Sunday I will make my eggs without yolks and have sugarfree syrup. Our french fries on Monday will be baked and not fried, etc. etc. The only thing I’m not sure of at this point is how I will get my fruit and veggies for the week. We’re gonna go tomorrow and pick up the few essentials we need like bread and milk, maybe I will look to see if any fruit is on sale or something.

I didn’t walk at all today, so to meet my goal I have to somehow get 6 more miles in between tomorrow and Sunday. Hopefully I do it. It felt really good to meet all my goals last week and I’d like very much to continue that streak.

I also want to give a heartfelt “thank you” to everyone for your well wishes and prayers in light of my husband losing his job. He applied for unemployment today and will start sending his resume out on Monday. We are holding on to the notion that this door closed so another one would open…you know the whole “blessing in disguise” thing and just wait to see what kind of blessing this will turn into. So thank you, your support means the world to me!

Two days ago, my husband called me and said he now had health insurance at work that he could add me to. The premium was high (and honestly more than we could afford), but we agreed to do it because of some issues I’ve had over the last couple of years that have gone untreated because we could not afford to pay out of pocket. I was SO friggen happy because anyone who knows me can tell you how important it was to me to finally be able to make an appointment with a doctor to get tested, diagnosed, and hopefully treated. I was waiting to say anything about it on here until all the paperwork had gone through and I received my health card. You know, the whole “I’ll believe it when I see it” approach.

As it turns out, I was right to be paranoid. My husband got laid off today. That’s 2 days after they receive his paperwork to add me on insurance. 6 days ago his boss called a meeting and told all the employees that the company was still doing good considering the economy downturn. 6 months ago my husband he got a $2/hr raise (One of only a few who did). And yet, today he got let go? TWO DAYS after he added me on his health insurance.

I’m convinced that’s the reason they let him go because his company pays half of the premiums for it’s employees and spouses…and all of the foremans will tell you that my husband is the hardest working employee they have…so it’s the only thing that makes sense. When the two insurance agents were there the other day talking to him about our options they kept telling him he’d be better off getting an individual policy for me because it’d be cheaper that way. (Of course, they didn’t know I was uninsurable). I thought it suspicious then as to why the agents would try to convince my husband NOT to buy their product.

Anyway, I might be wrong and it has nothing to do with the fact that he added me on his insurance, and even if I’m not wrong, there’s nothing we can do about it. It is what it is. We’ll be ok. I mean, I had to take a 25% paycut a while back just to keep my job, so we’ve made a lot of budget adjustments since then in preparation in case anything worse happened, such as this. So, we’ll be ok, but would be grateful for all the prayers/thoughts/good wishes anyone’s willing to offer.

By the way, he’s an electrician, so if there’s anyone local (Lee County, Fl) who knows or hears of any openings, please let me know.

I’ll admit when I came home from work I wanted nothing more than to drive through Dairy Queen and just dive into as much ice cream as I could possibly eat. I didn’t though. and I really, really, really, really, really wanted to. So that was a huge victory for me today.

When I started this a month ago I had high hopes that I would stay committed…that I would really see this thing through for once in my life. So far, so good.

I’ve weighed myself everyday.
I’ve taken pictures of myself everyday (only post them weekly though).
I’ve logged my food and fitness everyday.

I’ve stayed committed everyday.

Some goals I’ve missed, some I’ve reached, and others I did better than even I thought I could.

It’s a pretty good feeling and one I don’t want to lose anytime soon. To be frank, I feel like at any moment I could just drive through Burger King and go back to my old ways, so I have to constantly be aware so I don’t get caught off guard. That’s mostly the reason why I’ve been weighing myself everyday…doing that keeps it on my mind and the more it’s on my mind the less distracted I will be. I’ve tried (unsuccessfully) so many times to lose weight…I want this time to be different and the only person who can make that happen is me.

I had the most amazing evening tonight with a dear friend. Someone I’ve not seen in years and only recently reconnected with. You may recall when I posted that a friend asked if I wanted to go walking with her. Well, we finally did so tonight. Honestly, we did more talking, laughing, and reconnecting than walking, but it was so, so awesome. I was nervous beforehand because it had been so many years since we’ve seen each other (too many), but honestly, once we started talking and all…it was as if we had never skipped a beat. I love her dearly and am so thankful to have her back in my life! (…not to mention she has the most adorable daughter…)

So that was a fantabulous way to end my first month on this journey…I’m looking forward to many more months as productive as this one!

9 Minutes.

That’s 540 seconds.

That’s .15 of an hour.

A lot can happen in 9 Minutes.

Such as………………..

dun…Dun…DUN…..

ME being on the Spawn of Satan for NINE WHOLE MINUTES! I couldn’t believe it!

Normally, my routine is treadmill first, and then I get on the elliptical and go as long as I can (which before tonight was 4 minutes). However, tonight, for whatever reason, I got on the elliptical first and I guess that made all the difference because before I knew it four minutes had passed…then 5…6….7…8….ARE YOU KIDDING ME? NINE whole minutes? I was like “oh yeah, I SO can DO this!” What a rush! So from now on, it’s elliptical first baby! Man, I love a good challenge.

I felt so invigorated afterwards, that I got on the treadmill and walked my fastest pace yet – 3.2 mph. !!! Seriously!!

So, yeah, I had a GREAT night at the gym tonight…which really makes up for Monday’s fiasco. Which, not to sound like Martha Stewart or anything, but it’s a good thing. A very good thing!

And then I came home and watched The Biggest Loser. And I cried. And I cried some more. And I cried even more. Bawled is more like it. Marisa asked me “what’s wrong, Mom?” and then she laughed when I told her I was crying because of a *tv show* but that was seriously one of the saddest episodes EVER…and tonight it was MORE than just a tv show. It gave me so much hope that I, too, can accomplish all my goals and LIVE LIFE to the fullest. Abby is so inspirational…she has endured so much pain and she’s finally got herself back. She’s finally living again. WOW. For those who don’t know, she lost her husband and both of her children all at once in a car accident. Her story made me want to just hug my girls a little longer tonight when I told them good night. You just never know what tomorrow holds and in an instant it could all be gone like it was for Abby.

That’s all I’ve got for tonight…

Today marks day 28 of my journey…and the end of Week 4. I’ve officially lost another 1.6 pounds for a total of 13.2 pounds so far. See the rest of my progress by clicking here.

Not bad at all, I say! Especially considering that I have felt very bloated the past few days. [Sometimes it sucks to be a woman.]

I haven’t really noticed any visible difference in my body yet. I know, I know, be patient, Josie! It’s just that I know what the scale is telling me, but a little bit of visual confirmation would go a long way in motivating me further. Know what I mean?

Now for my Hot 100 Update –

As I previously mentioned, I’m not “officially” part of this challenge, because I got in too late, so this is just for fun.

My goals for last week were:

• No carbonated beverages. period. Success!
• Minimum of 5 hours of gym per week. Success!
• Walk at least 12 miles for the week. Success! (walked 12.25)
• Last 3 minutes on the Elliptical. Success! (Lasted 4!)
• Cook dinner at least once per week. Success! (Mmmmmm)

I can’t tell you how excited I am to be able to post all successes for the week! I’m going to up next week’s goals a tad. I want to last 5 minutes on the elliptical…and I’m going to up my walking to 13 miles for next week. I really had to work hard to get my 12 in for this week, so 13 is going to be a big challenge for me.

The Hot 100 Challenge is hosted by Steve and you can read more about it here.

Speaking of Steve, I really need to thank him for his Motivation for Monday video this morning. If you haven’t seen it, please do…I had a rather discouraging time at the gym this morning and when I watched his message I truly felt like it was targeted specifically for me, although I knew it wasn’t. So thank you once again Steve, for some much needed encouragement at 6 AM this morning!

Now onto something that looks like it’s going to become a weekly tradition on my blog…where I make a list of things corresponding to whatever # week I’m on. Since I’m on week 4, I figured I’d post 4 things you probably don’t know about me!

1. I design and draw houses for a living.

Yep, after years of waitressing, cooking, and managerial jobs at restaurants, I decided to go back to school and get my engineering degree in 1999. I graduated in ‘02 and was able to kiss foodservice goodbye. I’ve been at my current firm for almost 6 years, but with the same people for 7. I love my job and hope to someday be a fully licensed engineer myself…with a side goal of becoming a pilot. I have bad memories of my ex-step-father telling me I was too fat to ever fly a plane. He used to mock me and say that I wouldn’t get far because I’d want to stop at every McDonalds I saw. So, yeah, getting my pilot’s license is a huge goal of mine – if for no other reason than to say “I did it”.

2. I’m a little OCD when it comes to organizing certain things.

I keep all my greeting cards, souvenirs, and any other kind of memorabilia you can think of, labelled and stored in chronological order in bankers boxes. I also have every photograph I own (digital and printed) in chronological order, labelled and stored neatly as well. Ok, maybe I’m more than a little OCD about it. You can ask me to pull out the Christmas cards I got in 1989 and I could go right to them in about 5 seconds. Yeah, someday I’ll have to share some pics of just how freakishly organized I can be. It doesn’t help that I’m a collector, so I have more things to organize than the average person. LOL

3. I’m VERY clumsy and uncoordinated.

My nickname as a kid was “clutz” because I’d walk into stuff all the time. I’m still this way as an adult. I have to be conscious of my surroundings at all times. When I’m on the treadmill I’m so afraid I’m gonna misstep and fall flat on my face like those guys you see on youtube that I find myself holding onto the bars just for balance even when I don’t “want” to.

4. I LOVE music.

I love all kinds too…everything from classic rock to 80’s to country to jazz to classical to alternative to soul to rap to praise music to metal. It’s a true passion of mine, and has been for as long as I can remember. Currently in my playlist? Some Dave Matthews Band (I ♥ them), a little bit of Sam Cooke, some Ray LaMontagne, Cyndi Lauper, some Skillet, Merle Haggard, and some Widespread Panic. Eclectic enough?

So there ya have it…4 things you probably didn’t know about me!

I know this post was long, but before I close, I wanted to fill you in on my sister’s progress. She lasted just over 50 hours before the judge said she had stopped for a split second. She got really far and I’m so proud of her for going as long as she did! SHE ROCKS….literally! Thanks to everyone who wished her well!

I thought I would share some non-weight related stuff!

My sister is currently rocking, in a rocking chair and has been for over 29 hours now. It’s all part of an event held by a local Toyota dealership, where the longest rocker will win a 2010 Toyota Matrix and the charity they are rocking for will win a 2010 Toyota Sienna. Click here if you’d like to see live streaming video of her and the others who are left still rocking away. My sister is in the picture below and she’s pretty determined to win that car. She has lost over 60 pounds this year and was part of my inspiration to start this journey…I hope she wins. The charity she is rocking for is PACE, whose mission is to provide girls and young women an opportunity for a better future through education, counseling, training, and advocacy. GO CHRISTINA!!!

Another non-weight related event – Last night we went to a Haunted Walk at the Calusa Nature Center. It really was scary, too! My girls kept grabbing their dad’s shirt every time someone would jump out at them. My oldest tried climbing IN his shirt at one point. Anyway, I thought I’d share a few pictures from last night:

This might look like just a ballerina, but when it’s pitch black and this practically all white dancer comes out of nowhere and gets right up in your face all the while dancing and being completely silent? Yeah, she was FREAKY!

This creature was over 10 feet tall and freaked me out the most just because he was sooo tall…it was so dark you couldn’t see anything and all these creatures just “appeared”…note my family over to the right scared silly.

Here’s a less scary one of my girls being…girls:

And here’s one of me and my husband before the walk began while it was still light out.

I really do hate having my picture taken, and seeing myself in them, but I just remind myself that this is still a ‘”before” picture and I’m working on the “after” ones.

One more thing before I call it a night…and this IS weight-loss related. I cooked dinner tonight! I made potatoes with carrots, chives, and garlic:

and broiled steak (of which I only ate 1/2 piece), and (white) corn on the cob:

So with that, the weekend is over and I’m off to go get ready for the new week. I’m looking forward to weigh-in tomorrow as it marks Day 28 and the end of Week 4 of this journey. I hope everyone in the bloggerhood had a great weekend…I’ll visit your blogs in the A.M.

You may recall that I recently posted that I wanted to try out some new foods. Well, I tried something new last night! Yep, we went to Perkins last night and I was in the mood to try something new…I looked at the salmon and I just wasn’t brave enough to order that quite yet, so I opted for the Grilled Tilapia w/ lemon pepper seasoning. I was so nervous too, my girls were making fun of me. “Mom, it’s just food” heh. Easy for them to say! I just kept having flashbacks from the last time I tried a seafood that I had never eaten before…

It was 1998, I was on my first date with my boyfriend (whom I later married), Darren. He took me to a seafood restaurant called “Schooner or Later”. It was a neat restaurant located in Goldsboro, NC that was literally shaped like a boat. When you walked in, you really thought you were on a boat. Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s there anymore. I wish I had gotten a picture.

I wanted to try something ‘new’ so I ordered the Cajun Crawfish. I figured, “hey, I like shrimp, SURELY I would like crawfish!” UM. NO. I about fell out when our server brought my dish and there were creatures on my plate. Blech! I couldn’t get over how they looked (nevermind the process you have to go through to get the meat out of them) to enjoy them. I felt extremely bad for Darren. Here it was our first date and I about threw up right there in the middle of the restaurant. He urged me to order something different (how sweet) so I ordered shrimp and all was good. We boxed the vile creatures up and took them back to our boss who ate the hell out of them, so at least they didn’t go to waste. (For the record, I’m not a vegetarian by any means so I have no problem eating meat or seafood, but it just can’t LOOK like a creature when it comes to me. I have never eaten lobster for this very reason. Yes, I’m weird.)

So yeah, that’s all I kept thinking about last night after I ordered the Tilapia was “Dear God don’t let it look anything like the crawfish did”….Well, it didn’t…it actually looked pretty darned good! So, I pushed through my silly fear and just took a bite. Scrumptious! It was really good. I’m learning that I really like that lemon pepper seasoning too. (Note to self: start using that at home)

So yeah, I tried something new that was low calorie and tasted awesome…can’t get any better than that. Maybe next time I’ll be brave enough to try the salmon.

Or, maybe not.

In other news, I went to the gym this morning while my family slept and got a great workout in. I’ve logged just over 8 miles for the week which means I’m close to making my 12 mile goal. We’re going to a haunted walk tonight, so hopefully between that and whatever I walk tomorrow I’ll reach my goal. OH!!! Speaking of goals, I posted this on my fitness log, but I don’t think I told you yet! I’ve gotten up to FOUR MINUTES on the Spawn of Satan! (er…Elliptical). FOUR WHOLE MINUTES without having to stop. I know that seems like nothing to a lot of you, but when I first got on that thing I could barely do a minute. My Hot 100 goal for this week was to hit 3 minutes, so I’ve reached that. Maybe I’ll up it next week to five. So, I’m doing good on the goals this week, although I still need to cook a meal. Maybe tonight.

Hope you’re all having a great Saturday!

UPDATE:

Thanks to Google Maps Street View, I found that the restaurant, Schooner or Later IS still there. Here’s a screenshot of what it looks like, mast and all. Blurry, but hopefully you get the idea.

I haven’t really been eating out at lunch which is a huge change for me because I used to eat fast food everyday. I’ve been just bringing a Healthy Choice meal, or making a sandwich, or bringing something leftover from the night before. Today I wanted something different so I decided to go to Jason’s Deli and get their salad bar.

MMmm. I’ve never been a salad girl. Perhaps that’s why I was never successful at losing weight because I always (mistakenly) thought there’d have to be lots and lots of salad consumed. For some reason though, today I wanted one. It was just lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, cucumber and egg whites. (Can you see where I scraped all the yolk out of them? Go me! lol) I had a small amount of low sodium ranch (about 2 tblsp?) with it.

I’m full and yet I don’t feel “weighed down” and ready for a nap like I used to after chowing down on 2 burgers and large fry from Burger King (my old daily routine).

This is going to sound funny, but I’m so grateful to myself for finally making the decision to do this.

And I’m grateful to all of you for supporting me along my way.

Walked about a mile last night with my family and got 2 miles in this morning at the gym and I feel good great. My breathing is a lot better and the coughing is all but gone, thankfully!

Gotta go for now, just wanted to share a little James Brown this mornin’.

I was nervous about how the scale would read today with me being sick and having done no exercise now for 5 days, so I was pleasantly surprised to see I had lost another 2.8 pounds for a total of 11.6 pounds so far. See the rest of my progress by clicking here.

Since I’m on week 3, I figured I’d post 3 of the things that I’ve been researching and trying to learn more about:

1. Healthy Holiday Foods

The past few years we’ve hosted Thanksgiving dinner at our home, which works out really well for our family. My menu usually consists of Turkey and ham (yes, both), a big ole pot of mashed taters, green bean casserole, corn, dinner rolls, cranberry sauce, macaroni and cheese (for the youngins), and lots of dessert (pies, sweet potato casserole, etc). This year’s going to be different, for obvious reasons. I’m lucky, in that I’m not the only one trying to lose weight. Both my mom and sister are on board with eating healthier, so I don’t have to worry about running everyone off with healthy cooking. So I’m looking for any and all ideas for  substitutions and menu ideas to eat a healthy, balanced Thanksgiving dinner. One biggie is how do you do it without butter? We usually just constantly keep slopping tons of butter on the turkey while it cooks. Our mashed potatoes are full of butter. Our corn is soaked in butter. What kind of butter do you use, or if you don’t use butter, how do you baste your turkey? My green bean casserole is SO good…I make it with cream of potato soup instead of mushroom, but this year I’m not so sure what to do. Maybe I should just make fresh green beans without anything? So, please share your ideas with me, I will SO appreciate it.

2. Organized Walks

A friend of mine told me about a local walk that’s held in my town every year called the Turkey Trot. So I looked into doing it this year. It’s a 5k walk (which I learned is 3.1 miles) and is held on Thanksgiving morning and the proceeds go to help equip the local emergency room with pediatric equipment. The fee is  $20 to register. I’m thinking about doing it, but need to clear it with my family first because it would likely affect what time we have dinner. Anyways, I haven’t walked that long yet at once, so I’ll have to work on that to be ready for it, but it’s got me interested now in seeing what other walks might be going on in my area. I’ve always wanted to do a Race for the Cure….maybe now I can. Do you know of any websites to find local walks/races? or even statewide?

3. Interval Timers

I’m looking to buy an interval timer and would love some suggestions. Any recommendations?

So there ya have it…the 3 things I’m trying to learn more about this week. Don’t feel obligated to answer any of my questions, but it won’t go unappreciated if you do!

Now onto Week 4!