De-Junking

This is what we did today. I had a list of things I wanted to get done & B had his. Unfortunately, his to-do list turned into my "have-to" do list because, sadly, his big dreams of de-junking the junk room meant I had to go through all of the stuff... it is after all, mine. So, I thought I'd catalog all of my stuff and keep it "continually before my face" so as not to forget what's there and what needs to be done. Plus, an added bonus... I realized something really great... IT'S ALMOST AUTUMN! I love autumn. The air gets cool, I can wear long sleeved t's, the leaves on our trees turn red. Plus, autumn means Halloween & Thanksgiving (and my Birthday!) I l-o-v-e, love pumpkin pie spice. Pumpkin pie too for that matter! So, the day wasn't a total loss. I have fun pictures of all of my fun things! Enjoy the Journey! *Please keep in mind this is just a small sampling of what is in the junk room. This is, in general, my AUTUMN collection only.

No. 4 {NEW}...finally!

Well, it took long enough, but a yesterday Mike Harris had the greatest blog. He had a quote from a 12 step program about being willing to go to any length to get what you want then you are ready to take certain steps. About being willing to let go of past behaviors and ideas. Then in his own comments he talked about not selling yourself short. That you could be the winner of this game as easily as anyone else. But it won't be easy. Do it right, do it with all you have, and don't let anyone tell you you can't get it done. I loved it. He was talking right to me. I can do this. I will have a new me. One who doesn't live at the mercy of my emotions showing "a little here and a little there!" So, here it is. No. 4 {NEW} a little random... I found some dresses that I liked online and blacked them out so I just had these great silhouettes. It was fun to try. Just trying a bunch of different things... Enjoy the journey!

First Day Craziness

I can't believe it... he's actually going to school. It was a hectic day for us all. We loved it. After school we picked him up and went to get McDonald's then when and ate with Dad. It was, after all, his special day {and don't you forget it!}. You can go into shock if you'd like, but I really wanted to get a jump start. I was just going to do another daily something, but decided that I needed to start putting together pages for our family yearbook. So...what do you think?

I know, I must be crazy! Seriously though. I feel like creating lately. Something has inspired me. Maybe it's all the change in the air. (Maybe it was the elf that cleaned my house the other day!)

Enjoying the journey

In That Place Again...

I hate this place. The one where the hole isn't deep enough and there are too many people/ things around... I feel like a pathetic loser in this place. As a side bonus, my house is a disaster and I am not nice. That makes me look like a pathetic loser too! However, I had an epiphany on my way home from the gym. It had a little to do with some things B said to me last night and a lot to do with past experiences. Things I have forgotten. Basically, though it isn't anything new or profound, it reached into my hole this morning. Here it is: FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT. I know, I know. Sounds like a bunch of B.S! The truth of it is that I can either be a pathetic loser just because I feel like one, or I can pretend like I've got life together and have at least some of the pressure off. Besides, in trying to fake like I have it together I'll be keeping my mind off the fact that i'm in this deep dark place again. Does that make any sense at all? So, the two questions I really had to ask myself this morning:

1. What does the greatest mom in the world do that makes her the greatest?
2. What does the greatest housekeeper in the world do that makes her the greatest?

Those are my two biggest questions for now. The two biggest changes that need to be made. My first official act as the most together woman of the day is to limit my computer time to 15 min to document this. I have four minutes left so I'll share one more thing. I put together this collage yesterday for my "daily something" that Ali has challenged. Things that I found inspiring and happy...

Enjoy the Journey!

New Ideals

Tonight on the BFL guestbook someone mentioned Mike Harris' blog from 7/27 about diet. I went back and read it... I still have this nagging in the back of my mind that I'm just not doing everything I could be doing to win this thing. Anyway, I found it to be enlightning. He listed the things we should be eating and what, in his very educated & seasoned opinion are the best choices in those groups. This is what he said: PROTEIN:

1. egg whites
2. whey protein
3. white fish
4. water packed tuna
5. turkey breast
6. chicken breast
7. no fat cottage cheese

CARBS:

1. rolled or steel cut oats
2. brown rice
3. yams
4. beans (i.e. pinto/black/garbanzo)
5. non-tropical fruits and berries (limit to 1 serving/day)

RAW GREEN VEGGIES: eat these with 4 of your meals/day

MYOPLEX/ MYOPLEX LITE SHAKES: 2 x daily.

I see areas of change to be made. My go to protein (besides the whey) is cottage cheese or cheese sticks. My go to carb is an apple or cut up peach (in the cottage cheese) and my go to veggie has been sauteed spinach the last few days... I realize that this is even more restrictive than what I have been doing, but... I really think it's got to be done. Only five more weeks + a few days left. It's got to be all I can do to get rid of this excess fat! Don't want to be left thinking, "I could've done more."

I tried a new recipe for dinner. It was pretty good considering...

AWESOME PANCAKES 2 servings Combine together in blender: 1/2 cup Oats(can be instant or regular), 6 egg whites, 1 cup low-fat cottage cheese, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 4 packets of Equal. Add cinnamon if desired. Cook in heated skillet coated with Pam, butter flavored, turning once. Unbelievably wonderful. Submitted to BFL website by: Jacque Bain

Actually, I did like them. I didn't put anything on them (still need to pick up some butter spray) and I did add the cinnamon. I put in 1/8 tsp but could've done more I think. What I liked most was that I was able to eat 4 pancakes! That just did a lot for my head I think!

Enjoy the Journey!

For Your Information

I added a few links to check out. I know I've talked a bit about hussman fitness. You can go there from here now. I also added a like to Calorie King. You can go there and look up food you want to know the calorie count for... I have been wondering about mushrooms so I went looking for a place to tell me more. FYI: 1/2 cup fresh mushroom pieces has 8 calories, no fat (actually .1g), 1/2 g fiber, 1 g protein, 111 g potassium. So, it's a good place to go for questions about calorie foods. For fun I added a link to Keri Smith's blog. She promotes guerrilla art. I'm still not entirely sure what that means exactly, but I think she draws on sidewalks/buildings etc. with chalk. On her site is a list of 100 things to do to get your creative juices flowing. I think it was a fun list over all. Today, at playgroup, my friend Victoria had a shirt she had altered. She wanted a new, funkier, shirt than anything she had in her closet so she pulled out the bleach and wrote something in German on the front of her brown t-shirt. I loved it! I told her I was going to have to make myself one. I have to say that Victoria is someone I need to hang around with more... Enjoy the Journey!

Inch By Inch

Here it is ladies...the official 6 week comparison. I'm still not conviced that visually there's a whole lot of change, but the numbers and my pants don't lie: week 1 to week 6

There may be a slight difference in the depth of the furrows. I can see a big change in my face. Here is the big change though...

1. Weight: from 195 to 180
2. Body fat: from 31.7% to 29.7%
3. across belly button: lost just over 2 1/2"
4. at true waist: lost nearly 2"
5. rear: nearly 1 1/2" lost
6. approx. 2" off each thigh
7. lost a little off each calf
8. biceps are growing

I am very excited. Still always questioning if I'm doing enough to win. I know, I know. I'm a winner regardless because I'll look awesome. We could really use that money to finish the house though. That's a worthy reason. Right?

Thanks for all of your support! YOU ROCK!

Enjoy the Journey