Today is my third wedding anniversary. My husband and I had a small beach wedding (6 people, including us) so in lieu of a huge reception we just went to Olive Garden for dinner afterwards.

This was us at the Olive Garden right after our wedding 3 years ago today:

I LOVE Olive Garden and it’s one of my favorite restaurants. Since then we started a new tradition by having dinner at Olive Garden every year on our anniversary.

This tradition, however, posed a real problem for us this year due to lack of funds and my new outlook on healthy eating. It’s been bothering me for a few weeks now knowing that we wouldn’t be able to go this year. I’m very tradition oriented so the idea of breaking this new tradition of ours didn’t settle well with me…but priorities are priorities and sometimes being practical has to come before being sentimental.

So, we decided instead of going to Olive Garden, we would bring Olive Garden to us.

First, I made a nice little banner to hang in our dining room:

My husband prepared a nice salad (shown w/ 1 tbsp low fat ranch dressing):

and cooked this “delizioso” spaghetti with meat sauce and breadsticks.

No, it wasn’t the healthiest of meals with all the carbs ya know, but it could have been a lot worse (and would have been had we gone out). I feel this was a nice compromise! It just means that I’ll need to put in some extra exercise this week to work it off. That’s cool with me – it was worth it!

Needless to say I am very happy with how the evening went! The meal was great and I wasn’t tempted with bottomless oil drenched salad and breadsticks. Not to mention it really was a lot of fun to “pretend” like we were out at a restaurant! We even got our wedding wine glasses out – the same ones in the picture above from 3 yrs ago: (Filled with iced tea, of course!)

Cheers!

Another good week on the scale (and off)! I weighed in at 233.6, which is a 1.2 pound loss for the week! This brings my total weight loss since 9/28 to 22.4 pounds! See the rest of my progress by clicking here. I have also updated my photo page with today’s picture.

Oh yeah!!! I’m doin’ another happy dance here! I mean, are you kidding me?!? I lost weight during Thanksgiving week! I’m really kinda speechless at the moment!

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. Sucess!
• Complete Week 1 Days 1-3 of C25K training. Still haven’t started.
• Walk at least 5 miles for the week. Success!Walked 5.4!
• Bring my lunch everyday to work. Sucess!
• Cook dinner at least once this week. Success! Thanksgiving helped with this!
• Don’t buy any holiday decorationsSucess!
• Stay committed on Thanksgiving.Huge Sucess!

As you can see I’ve had a pretty fantastic week – I just need to get started on that C25K and I’ll be set.

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

To wrap my Week 9 post up, here are the first 9 songs that came up in my shuffle right now:

1. I told you so by Randy Travis
2. Don’t stop believin’ by Journey
3. Spaceman by Dave Matthews Band
4. Seven Mile Breakdown by Taylor Hicks
5. By God by Disciple
6. Kashmir by Led Zeppelin
7. I’ve got a woman by Ray Charles
8. Thief by Third Day
9. Between Jennings and Jones by Jamey Johnson

So, what’s in YOUR playlist? (She asks in her best Capital One voice)

Ok, I was pretty much in awe when I read that Diane had given me an award. I know, I know, I was so surprised! I’m completely honored and grateful that she would think of me in this way.

Thank you Diane – it totally made my day!

My eating was good today although I did have one last piece of Cherry pie leftover from Thanksgiving. I’m sad it’s gone because it was so darned good, but happy that I won’t be tempted anymore with it!

I didn’t technically “work out” today, but we spent the better part of today doing yardwork and setting up our outside Christmas decorations. Surely all that reaching, carrying, and squatting burned at least some calories, huh? My legs and back are sore, but that might be just due to my age…or something like that. We didn’t get completely finished with the outside yet, we still have to put the lights on the house, but I thought I’d share what we’ve gotten done so far:

Sorry the pic is so blurry, that’s my camera for ya – it looks better in person.

I really enjoyed the last few days spending time with my family and getting into the Christmas spirit, so I’m sad that tomorrow is back to work. It was nice while it lasted. I’ll also be headed back to the gym in the morning for my “last chance workout” before I weigh in tomorrow. Hope you all had a great weekend too!

Before I start, I wanted to mention this great giveaway over on 266’s Blog. For every comment she receives on that post, and every link back, she will donate $1 to help those less fortunate this year. What an awesome concept and I was honored to ‘help’ in my small way.

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I can not believe I’ve been doing this for an entire 2 months now. This is officially the longest I’ve ever lasted on any “diet” before (although this is much more than a “diet”). So, let’s recap:

Have I weighed myself everyday? Check!
Have I taken pictures of myself everyday & posted them every Monday? Check!
Have I logged my food and fitness everyday? Check!

Most of all, I’m still very much committed to seeing this through!

Month 1 Starting Weight: 256.0
Month 1 Ending Weight: 244.8
Month 1 Loss: 11.2 Pounds

Month 2 Starting Weight: 244.8
Month 2 Ending Weight: 233.8
Month 2 Loss: 11 Pounds

In the past month, I’ve:

• participated in my first official 5k race
• noticed that my clothes are starting to fit a little looser
• received an unsolicited compliment (awkward as it may have been)
• started to see a physical difference in my before & during pictures
• lasted NINE minutes on the elliptical
• still not had ANY soda
• survived TWO food related holidays without any major setbacks

I’m feeling pretty accomplished at the moment, but it would be dishonest of me to only share the positives without mentioning the negatives I’ve had over the last month as well. My husband lost his job and I fell and tore my bicep. I had a tough time getting back into my exercise routine after the injury. I went from going to the gym every other day to not going at all and once I stopped it was difficult to start again. This resulted in my first (and hopefully only gain) of 1.4 pounds that week. What matters to me, however, is how quickly I recovered after that. At my next weigh-in I was down more than 4 pounds.

So, I’m taking the good with the bad and trying to learn from it all. I may have stopped exercising after I fell, but I didn’t emotionally eat after my husband lost his job. I may have had a few too many pieces of Halloween candy, but I totally OWNED Thanksgiving and survived without my weakness: mashed potatoes. I may have had a week where I gained (1.4 lbs) but I also had a week where I lost an incredible 4.3.

This journey may be a bumpy ride with ups and downs  along the way, but that’s O.K. as long as I don’t lose sight of my destination. Thanks for enjoying the ride with me!

Before I give details on today, I need to sorta describe how yesterday went other than the Turkey Trot I already wrote about.

Thanksgiving went almost as planned. For appetizers, my husband cooked fried wontons of which I had one. I also put out trays of fresh fruit and veggies instead of the cookies and chocolates I’ve done in years prior:

For dinner, my plan was to make mashed cauliflower for me to eat in lieu of mashed taters (my weakness), but they didn’t quite turn out right – at all. I don’t have a blender or food processor, I have just an old fashioned hand mixer and it didn’t really mash the cauliflower that well. And then after it sat for a few minutes the milk I had added was building around the edges, like it was extracting from what I did mash. So I had to toss them and go to plan B – STRAWBERRIES! (Still can’t believe I even had a Plan B!) But, yes, strawberries! My dinner consisted of turkey breast, sauteed green beans, (1) dinner roll, and a buttload of fresh strawberries. I am pleased to report that not-one-single-bite of mashed potatoes entered my mouth! Not even a “taste” while I was making them; I had asked my husband to taste instead. This was a huge victory for me – I am still in disbelief that I went an entire Thanksgiving without potatoes and survived. Whoda thunk it??

Now for dessert I had three choices – My cousin brought a homemade pumpkin pie, there was a cherry pie from the Publix deli, and an apple crisp that I made from scratch. I chose to have a half piece of cherry pie and a serving of the apple crisp. MMMmmm…let me tell you about the crisp. When I first posted my Thanksgiving Menu, Diane from Fit to the Finish offered to share her Apple Crisp recipe with me. Since it was something I had never made before, I made it last week as a “trial run” and, well, it didn’t turn out that good at all. I knew it had to be something *I* was doing wrong because I’m not that good in the kitchen…so I asked Diane and she suggested I put some water over the apples. So, as I was making it yesterday I was nervous it wouldn’t turn out again, but OMG it DID turn out WONDERFULLY! It was so yummy and everyone who had some loved it! So, thank you Diane for sharing the recipe! I took pictures of all the food, but those pictures are on my sister’s camera so I don’t have access to them right now.

Anyway, after dinner we all played Charades (which was hilarious – especially me acting out “Beyonce” ). Later in the evening my husband surprised me by wheeling out our Christmas tree and decorations from the garage. We usually start putting it all out the day after Thanksgiving, but he knows how much I love it and started bringing it all out for me last night. Here are my girls and husband in the process of putting ornaments on the tree:

and, I caught one of our cats (Lu Lu) mid-yawn laying under the tree:

I love this time of year! I always get so sentimental and nostalgic as we pull the ornaments out…most of the ornaments we have “mean” something to us – whether it’s one my girls made or one that was given to us.

I hope you are having a great weekend (whether you celebrate the holiday or not). I’ve been so busy, so I apologize for not commenting on blogs the past day or so…if I don’t make it to your blog tonight, I will tomorrow. G’night!

Well, well well! What a day!

Woke up bright and early (5 AM) for the Turkey Trot this morning. My husband scrambled me some eggs and my sister brought me over a scrambled egg & ham whole wheat wrap. (yum!) So I was fueled and ready to go. Got to the race and picked up my packet which included this commemorative t-shirt:

Then they gave me my “number” to attach to my shirt and the “D-tag” timing chip for my shoe:

The walk itself went very smooth! It was probably around 70 degrees and had an ever so slight drizzle which was great because it kept me cooled off. As we walked, people would come out of their houses and stand in the driveway to watch and cheer us on. That was really neat! I passed the first mile at 18:20, the second mile at 37:05, and the Finish Line at 56:57:

All in all I had a great time and got a pretty good feel for how these type of events go. The bottomline is I finished and I didn’t finish last, so I would count this as a SUCCESS! My post-walk thoughts:

• There were A LOT of people there – over 1000 participants – and this is their 30th year of doing this. It’s a pretty big deal so I wonder how could I have went all my life without ever hearing/knowing about it???
• I’ve made a new goal for myself that I will not just participate next year, but I will run it!
• Ouch, I really, really need a new pair of shoes.
• I couldn’t help but look around and compare myself w/everyone else. I’m pretty sure I was the largest gal there, but I didn’t let that slow me down.
• My pace was around a 19 min. mile, which is 3 minutes faster than what my normal routine is on the treadmill (22 min. pace)!
• I was proud of my sister who completed the walk (and ran a lot of the way!) in about 45 minutes! By the way, here is a picture of me, my sister, and Mr. Turkey himself just after I finished:

She’s lost about 60 pounds this year, by the way!!! (and if you look to the right of the picture, there’s my two daughters who were incredibly supportive of me doing this even though it meant them getting up at 5 AM on a non-school day!)

So, after the trot we came home and started working on Thanksgiving Dinner (which was also a MAJOR success for me, but I’ll write more about that tomorrow when I’m not so wiped!). I am feeling very blessed tonight to have spent the day with family, friends, fitness, and good food ~ and I hope the same goes for you!

I’m real excited about walking in the 5k Turkey Trot tomorrow. Tomorrow! I know for most people “walking” a 5k wouldn’t be that big of deal, but for me it is and there are a few reasons why:

1. It’s a 5k. That’s 3.1 miles. Not marathon distance, but considering the farthest I’ve walked at once is 2.5 miles, walking the 3.1 will be an accomplishment for an out-of-shape me!

2. If I weren’t walking the Turkey Trot, I most likely wouldn’t get any exercise on Thursday. So it’s a great way to get some cardio in prior to Thanksgiving dinner.

3. I have two companions that will be walking with me tomorrow; My friend who initially told me about the walk, and my sister whom I invited to come with us. My husband and girls will be there too, watching from the sideline…so it most likely won’t “feel” like exercise.

4. I’ve never participated in an organized walk or race of any kind. However, I’ve been wanting to for a long time…So, this will be a good ‘first’ for me and hopefully the first of many to come!

So, yes, I’m excited!

If you haven’t already, I want to encourage you to be a part of “Tweetsgiving” this year. You can read more about it at Miz Fit’s or on the Tweetsgiving site. It’s a “global celebration that aims to change the world through the power of gratitude.” Cool, eh? You’re encouraged to tweet, blog, fb, youtube, etc. what you’re grateful for. You can donate too if you wish. Pretty neat movement if you ask me!

And lastly, tomorrow being Thanksgiving and all, I wanted to wish anyone reading this a very happy Thankgiving. It’s so easy to get caught up in the stresses of everyday life that I tend to lose sight of what really matters – my friends and family. They’re the ones who are there to pick me up when I fall, give me a shoulder to cry on, and set me straight when I’m on the wrong path. So even if things don’t look so bright right now and you feel like the world is caving in, I’d encourage you to seek out those people that matter most to you and remember that it does get better! That’s what I love about Thanksgiving because it’s like a big ole reset button for me. I can be stressed and worried as all get out, but spending the day with family just focusing on all the blessings we do have always helps me get my perspective back.

Don’t let the thorns in life keep you from enjoying the roses!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

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. Sucess!
• Complete Week 1 Days 1-3 of C25K training. Still haven’t started.
• Walk at least 5 miles for the week. Walked 1.
• No more Halloween Candy. Sucess!
• Bring my lunch everyday to work. Sucess!
• Cook dinner at least once this week. No, but I did make an Apple Crisp from scratch.

I’m going to add a couple of new goals for next week – to not buy ANY holiday decorations at all. I love Christmas (!) and everything associated with it so I have a tendency to go overboard and when I see something “cute” or whatever I just buy it whether we need it or not. We have plenty – more than enough – so any more would be just excess, ya know? I guess “all things in moderation” applies to more than just food. So, no holiday decor shopping for me. The other goal I am adding is that I stay committed on Thanksgiving (and after). I have the menu planned out and a plan in my head…Now I just need to stick to it!

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

Here’s me on Day 1:

and here’s me tonight, Day 56:

Click here to see the rest of my photos.

I’m baaaaack….

Yup, I went to the gym today for a little over an hour. Walked on the treadmill for about 45 minutes at 3 mph and I did 8 minutes on the Spawn of Satan. Had a great workout and I am sure feeling it tonight! Plan on going again in the morning before work. I’m mad at myself for slacking in the workout dept. for the last couple of weeks. I think I just needed to find my motivation, and I did…today. It was a good Monday and if you know me, you know I don’t say that often! I hope you had a great day as well.

Another good week on the scale! I weighed in at 234.8, which is a 1.7 loss for the week. This brings my total weight loss since 9/28 to 21.2 pounds! (See the rest of my progress by clicking here.)

Very happy that I saw another loss this week! I just want to run down the streets screaming “It’s working, it’s really working!” and I’m banging my head on the wall wondering why oh why didn’t I start this sooner?!

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, my list for week 8 will be 8 of the things I’m most thankful for.

1. My Faith. There’s nothing straight and narrow about my Spiritual journey…it’s a jagged road with all sorts of turns, dead-ends, and intersections…but at least I’m still on the road…and I’m thankful for where it might lead next.
2. My Husband. He is the rock of our family and I love him dearly. Our story is one of love, forgiveness, and reconciliation. He is a great husband, and wonderful father, and a beautiful human being and I’m blessed to have him in my life.
3. My Children. I have two daughters ages 13 and 10. They have inspired me in so many ways – it is because of them that I chose to go college and got my degree at 28. It is because of them that I am committed to lose this weight – so they will have their mother around for a long time. It is because of them that I know what true unconditional love is – They mean the world to me and I am incredibly blessed to have them in my life.
4. My Family. My mom was a single mom for most of my childhood and worked her butt off for me and my two sisters. I love her and my sisters and am thankful for all they have done for me throughout the years. I am also thankful for my extended family – many of whom I’ve just reconnected with this year on facebook.
5. My Health. I know it was just a matter of time before I was diagnosed with diabetes (probably was; just not diagnosed). Or worse, heart disease, so I’m thankful that I have decided to change my life and *hopefully* I did it in time to prevent those illnesses from having the stronghold in my life that they have on family members.
6. My Job. In this economy, and especially in my field of work, I go to work everyday thinking it could be my last. Not a day goes by that I’m not acutely aware of just how lucky I am to still be employed.
7. My Friends. I don’t have many, but the ones I have mean the world to me and I would do anything for. I am most thankful for having the opportunity to reconnect with Lynne, a dear friend that prior to last month I hadn’t seen in years. It was like “coming home”.
8. You. Yes, You. The weight-loss blogging community is unlike anything I ever could have imagined. Like I said yesterday, I am truly humbled by the graciousness I’ve found within this blogging community and sincerely thank you all for motivating and encouraging me to stay committed. It means the world to me…so thank YOU.

I’ll post my Hot 100 Update and Week 8 Photos tonight.

I had some great news today! I won this awesome set of Measure Up Bowls from Cara!

I couldn’t believe it and was totally stoked – these will get put to some serious use, that’s for sure. These are bowls with the measuring amts marked on the inside so you know how much you’re eating. (What a great idea!) So a big thank you to Cara for running the contest, and a thank you to the random generator thing for randomly choosing me!

I also wanted to thank everyone who commented on my last entry and shared your own motivations and “a-ha! moments”. When I started this blog I had no expectations that anyone would read it, let alone respond and contribute their own thoughts. I am truly humbled by the graciousness I’ve found within this blogging community and sincerely thank you all for motivating and encouraging me to stay committed. It means the world to me.

Not much new to report as the weekend closes. Still slacking a little in the exercise dept., but my eating has been great. I think I mentioned that I am registered for the Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot? It’s a 5k and I’m really looking forward to it. I’ll be walking the entire thing with a friend, but maybe next year I’ll be able to run it. So, I guess that’s a new goal for me, to be able to run in next year’s Turkey Trot. Well, I’m off to bed – I have a date with the Gym in the morning.