We had a great time. We actually went twice this week. We took lots of pictures, especially the 2nd day, when my husband was able to come with us. (He loves to take pictures.) I also got 5 or 6 autographs on my Superbowl Champs hat. We're going again next week, lol. Y'all probably think I'm nuts! We're probably just going to show up towards the end of practice to get more autographs. I got a new puppy in February right before the Superbowl and named him after the Saints kicker (Hartley). (We had just won the NFC Championship game and Hartley's winning field goal in overtime sent us to the Superbowl.) I got Hartley (the puppy) a little Superbowl Champs shirt and I'm trying to get Hartley (the kicker) to sign it. So far, no luck, but hopefully it will happen. But I'll gladly settle for Drew Brees too! I'll have to put up some pics from the practices.
Ok so I am probably boring everyone with the football talk. My week has been pretty bad as far as diet and exercise goes. I haven't exercised at all this week! I feel horrible about that. I think I need to find a new routine that's more exciting. My diet has also been hit or miss. No huge eating binges or anything, but I have went over my points quite a bit a few days this week. But somehow I haven't gained weight and even managed to lose a little bit. I really need to get back on track again. I just found out that my dance team starts practice again Sept. 11. I was surprised because that's a bit later than usual, but that is good because it gives me more time to lose weight. I've set a goal to be 178 by the first practice. I'm excited to go back; I miss dancing so much.
I've played around with the numbers a bit, and I realized that once I get to 177.4 lbs I will be 1/4 of the way to my goal weight of 125! Also at 175.4 lbs I will have lost 10% of my starting weight. So I have some big milestones coming up. I hope that will give me the motivation I need. I can't wait til I'm out of the 180s!!!
I had a really nice day on Sunday. We drove to Mississippi where my uncle lives to celebrate his 50th birthday. Now my aunt is one of those people that doesn't really have any tact. She isn't mean; in fact I like her a lot, but she kind of just blurts out whatever she's thinking without stopping to think if it hurts somebody's feelings or not. So I see them a few times a year. I saw them the summer after I got married and I had put on like twenty pounds (went from in the 160s to 180s) and she actually asked me if I was pregnant!! I felt horrible, and I just replied, "No! Just fat!" lol But she said she didn't mean to hurt my feelings. (On a side note, as soon as I got married everyone was asking when we're having kids. What's up with that? I got married when I was 22, it's not like I needed to have babies right away.) Anyway, so part of the reason I wanted to go to my uncle's party was to see if my aunt would notice if I lost weight. I haven't really been around someone who doesn't see me often since I've lost weight. I knew she would say whatever she thought. Well, as soon as I got out the car she was all over me telling me how she could tell I lost weight! It felt so good. I feel more confident about going back to my dance team this year now that I know that people can tell. Plus I still have a couple of weeks left before I go back.
I still haven't started exercising again yet! Bad, I know. But I happened to find this fitness place right in my little town called Your Body, My Business. It's only $35 a month and it's got tons of fitness classes, including Zumba! I don't know if you have ever heard of it, but from what I know it's aerobic using various forms of dancing from all over the world and it also incorporates weight somehow. Well, they have a beginner class tonight at 6. I'd love to go, but I tihink I'll have to wait until my next payday on Sept. 1st because I am short on funds at the moment. Unless I get my husband to pay....hmmm. But they have this beginner class every Tuesday so no big deal. But it's exciting because I really need to find some new exercise that I actually enjoy. Otherwise I'm afraid I won't keep this up for life. Oh! And this place also has those tests for your body fat and metabolism. I'd love to get that done and do it once a month or something and keep track.
That's it for now. I've attached some pictures of my dogs. They are my "babies". Hartley is the buff colored morkie (maltese and yorkie mix) and he is almost 9 months old. Belle is my 7 year old black toy poodle. They are Saints fans too!!
Everyone I know that has tried Zumba has loved it. And if you’re a dancer already, I’m sure it’ll be even better for you. Makes me wish I went to a “real” gym sometimes, so I could try one of those out. But with the free gym in the basement of my apartment building, it’s hard to want to pay!
I’m not surprised about everyone asking about kids… No one can let anyone just stand still and enjoy the moment these days! I make it a point not ask newly engaged couples if they’ve set a date yet because I think they should all just have time to soak up the experience of being engaged before getting wrapped up in planning. And on that note, I have been with my boyfriend for almost 7 years now and I think people have finally given up on asking when we are getting engaged. And I like it better that way!
This week has been great so far. I am already down two pounds since Tuesday. I haven't managed to lose 2 pounds a week since early July. Finally the scale is moving again. And I am so close to the 170s!
On another note, I am pursuing a big career change. Right now I work for my dad's business doing income taxes. Some might think it's the perfect job. I only work four months out of the year during tax season and I make $30,000. Then I basically have the rest of the year off to work somewhere else, go on vacation, whatever I want. But doing taxes was something I never wanted to do. I only did it because when I graduated college with a degree in psychology, I realized I had no idea what I wanted to do. Originally I was planning on going to grad school, but I realized I just enjoyed learning about psychology more than actually practicing it and researching it. So I ended up working for my dad. It's not a hard job, but it doesn't fit my personality at all. I hate numbers, I hate talking about money. People assume I am this person I'm not; like that I am super organized and always on top of my bills and great with money. I am soooo not that. I am more creative and decide things on the spur of the moment kind of person. Plus, during tax season I work 12 hour days and commute an hour one way to get to work. Good thing I don't have kids, because I would never see them. And my husband commutes even farther to work, so the point is if we had kids, which we want to in a couple of years, we basically wouldn't see them for four months. It would suck. Plus I just feel like I haven't accomplished anything in life because come on I work for my dad.
So I decided that I want to be a dog groomer. This week I am registering for grooming school. The school is 12 weeks, then I will work for my dad again this year. After that, in May, I will be looking for a job as a groomer somewhere to get experience. I will do this for 2 or 3 years, still doing taxes (because my dad needs the help) and getting more experience grooming. I will use the extra money I am earning to pay off some credit card debt I have from when I was young and stupid. Then hopefully by this time we will be ready to build a house. (We already have the land.) When we build it I will also incorporate a grooming salon in the plans. Then once it is finished I will quit doing taxes and start my own grooming business at home. I have always wanted to work from home. Yes, I will need to have sitters for my kids, but at least I won't miss those big moments like first words and first steps, because I will be right there.
What does all this have to do with losing weight? Well, right after I graduated college in December 2007 I got married (Feb 08) and moved 50 miles away. There was a lot of big changes all at once. I was kind of depressed because I was hardly seeing my friends anymore and because I had no idea what to do for a job. So I started packing on the pounds. I knew in my heart that I had to fix my life in order to lose weight and keep it off. Now I finally feel like maybe, hopefully, I am on the right path. The weight is coming off, I have a plan to change my career with short and long term goals, and I feel like having kids in 2 or 3 years can actually happen. It seems like everything is coming together nicely.
So sorry the for long post, but I am excited about my plans to be a groomer!
As a tax accountant myself, I know how awful busy season can be.... and I love what I do. If it's not what you love, I can't imagine how you drag yourself out of bed in the morning!! I'm excited to hear about the new plans, I'm always happy for someone who is brave enough to make a big change like that. "Do what you love and you'll never have to work a day in your life."
As a tax accountant myself, I know how awful busy season can be.... and I love what I do. If it's not what you love, I can't imagine how you drag yourself out of bed in the morning!! I'm excited to hear about the new plans, I'm always happy for someone who is brave enough to make a big change like that. "Do what you love and you'll never have to work a day in your life."
Thanks Laura! It really means a lot to me that you are happy for me, even though I have never met you, lol. I haven't told many people my plans yet (literally my parents, my husband, one friend, and whoever reads this diary know about it). I know my dad is upset about it, but he has told me from the start that if it's not something I love I shouldn't be doing it. I'm hoping he'll understand.
I have never, ever, reached out beyond my comfort zone in my entire life. I'm so scared but excited at the same time. I can't believe it's me making these changes. It's almost like I'm having an out-of-body experience, like I'm sitting back watching myself make these decisions and feel scared and proud.
So I haven't been on here as much lately because I have been ordering all my grooming supplies. I have been kind of slipping with the weightloss, just getting a little too comfortable. Just when I needed it most, I got a wake-up call today, literally a phone call.
The dance team leader called, just touching base with everyone to see if we're all coming back for the upcoming year, etc. She asked how I was doing with the weightloss, and I told her I've lost 15 pounds (I rounded a little ) Again, she was very nice about it, but we talked about how I need to lose more. I am guessing if I can get into the 150s by parade time (first parade is February 13, 2011) I will be good to go. That is very do-able. I did a quick calculation and I if I lose just 1 pound a week from now until Feb 13th, I would be 158. Hopefully I can lose 1.5 pounds a week and be 146. But anyway, I am hoping that once she's sees me on the 11th at our first practice she'll be more impressed. 15 pounds lost looks different on everybody, and like I mentioned before, it seems like people have really noticed. I have dropped at least one size to a 14 and I actually think I'm in between a 14 and a 12.
As soon as I got off the phone I jumped on the elliptical. I exercised for 45 minutes. That conversation with her really got to me because I haven't exercised all week. My new plan is to exercise every day instead of every other day. 45 minutes of cardio on the elliptical and then next day do 30 minutes on elliptical and full body workout with dumbbells. Keep switching that up every other day. Also I will mix in some FIRM exercise videos. I am just feeling all icky inside. I do NOT want to have to sit out on parades this year. I am tired of being on weight probation. I NEED TO DO THIS! Wish me luck.
Haaai thanks for stopping by wow you have done such a fantastic job at coming this far! And really the whole dog grooming thing, its kinda scary coz we ARE similiar. I have been grooming friends dogs casually and decided that when I get this job I'll go on the short course with my mother. She wants to convert our garage into a parlour and run a second business during the week for herself. (She is also self employed but the work is only done on fridays and the weekends leaving her bored the rest of the time). That is JUST TOO SCARY! and cool! ^^ Dancing must be so much fun I can imagine how great you will feel when you get to join in the parade! Really great work girl get in there! You've got me all motivated now! Time for a walk...
Hey! just stopping by to say your doing well and I am confident you can lose the weight in time for the parade if you stick to it!! 15 lbs is amazing!! I remember losing 15 lbs everyone notices! It's such a great feeling and very motivating. Keep it up! We can do this!!
Haaai thanks for stopping by wow you have done such a fantastic job at coming this far! And really the whole dog grooming thing, its kinda scary coz we ARE similiar. I have been grooming friends dogs casually and decided that when I get this job I'll go on the short course with my mother. She wants to convert our garage into a parlour and run a second business during the week for herself. (She is also self employed but the work is only done on fridays and the weekends leaving her bored the rest of the time). That is JUST TOO SCARY! and cool! ^^ Dancing must be so much fun I can imagine how great you will feel when you get to join in the parade! Really great work girl get in there! You've got me all motivated now! Time for a walk...
Thanks for posting! Awesome that you are in to dog grooming as well! I have no experience whatsoever, lol. But I really feel like I'll enjoy it. I am taking a 12 week online correspondence course because I have no schools in my area. They have DVD lessons and we have to groom different breeds for homework and take before and after pictures. Maybe if I run into a problem I can get your advice! Right now I am still waiting for the materials though, because I just signed up for the course a few days ago.
Hey! just stopping by to say your doing well and I am confident you can lose the weight in time for the parade if you stick to it!! 15 lbs is amazing!! I remember losing 15 lbs everyone notices! It's such a great feeling and very motivating. Keep it up! We can do this!!
Thanks for taking the time to post! I went and visited your diary too. Yes, 15 lbs does make a big difference. It really made me feel great once I realized other people can tell. I did take before pictures so eventually I will post them with some progress pics but I want to wait until I have a little more progress, lol.
This will be my 6th year on the dance team and I love it. I live close to New Orleans, where of course we have our big Mardi Gras parades and that's what we participate in. We do about 7 of them a year. I have been in these parades since I'm 7 in various groups (baton twirling, middle school and high school band, and then the dance team once I graduated high school) so I love Mardi Gras and just getting to be a part of it. It really means a lot to me to be on this team. Thanks everyone for your kind words, because even though I was feeling confident yesterday when I posted here, last night I was thinking about it too much and I was really upset. I know I can do this though.
OF COURSE YOU CAN DO IT! And btw, my grooming experience is as follows: bath them, dry them, SHAVE THEM. I just used hair clippers on my king charles cavalier and took everything off for the hot weather. We dont have the time to make him pwetty and I think he prefered it skinhead The regular dog walkers down the park noticed and a few decided to pay for my, er, skillz hehe. I'll be getting tips from YOU! So many ppl asked me for nice styles etc and I decided I liked the idea quite a bit and roped my mother into it Your going in the right direction, mentally, physically and careerally (ye I know I just made it up) rest assured!!! ^^
Yesterday was a weird day. My husband has been off all this week because work is slow (another reason I hate his job) so we have been gradually staying up later and later. So yesterday we slept until NOON! I had so much I wanted to get done, too.
So later I went and took the dogs out and realized I got two packages! One was from the dog grooming course. I got a really pretty book and 3 DVDs. Also got some nice laminated pictures of dog breeds with descriptions of blades needed. My second package was my shears! $99 and I got three pair with a nice leather case. I am still waiting on my toolkit that has the clippers, blades, etc. My table and dryer should be coming hopefully this coming week, and I have my AKC Complete Dog Book (think that's the name, lol) coming Wednesday. Am also waiting on two other books and my Groomer's Helper. I have read through the book and watched two of the three DVDs. I found out I can use my own dog for my first lesson! Still worried about getting other dogs but no one else seems to have had any problems finding them.
So between waking up late and getting involved with all my new grooming stuff, my eating was kind of forgotten. I ate "breakfast" which is my usual Chocolate Cheerios and 1% milk. I decided that since I am coming to the 170s and I know I will drop a WW point, I should reduce my cereal portion size. So I went from 1 1/2 cups of cereal to 1 1/4 and from 3/4 cup milk to 2/3. (My bowls are so big that before I started losing weight I was eating over 2 cups of cereal just by filling up the bowl! That will teach you to measure!) So that was 4 points. That is all I had until about 5:00 pm when my husband and I decided to do a WalMart run. So I know it was bad but I knew I had a ton of points left (I get 25 in a day) so I decided to go to Taco Bell. I got a supreme chalupa meal (which comes with 2 chalupas and a beef taco) and I saved the 2nd chalupa for today. Once I got home it was 8:00pm and I realized I had 10 points left! So I had a snack of reduced fat vanilla wafers and some milk. That was 5 points. So I finished the day with 5 points left.
I have been waiting to get out of the 180s forever. I got on the scale this morning and what did it say? 180.0 I am glad the scale is down because I have been up and down a pound or so all this week, but I am really hoping I can finally crack the 170s.
So this post turned out to be way longer than I planned. (They always do.) Hope everyone else is doing well!
You must have been so excited for the packages! Sounds like you're getting yourself all set up. Ugh, that supreme chalupa meal is what I always get at Taco Bell. I don't think I have ever saved a bite of it, though, so I admire your strength! Congrats on the 180.0!!! Bet you're looking forward to the next weigh-in now that you see how close you are to seeing that 7!
Yay the learning begins!!! Excellent At 180 you are so going to do it! Wow u ordered the real deal! Have fun getting stuck in and don't forget about us in the meantime lol!
179.4 as of this morning!! Whoo-hoo! Thanks so much guys for all of your kind words. It feels great to hit a new decade, but mainly I am so happy because I have been in the 180s or more since about summer of 2008. Why did it take me TWO YEARS to do something so easy?!? I'm so glad I've made this commitment to myself. I saw a video from last November of one of my dance performances (another type I do, called clogging) which I had never got around to watching. Well, it was a duet and my friend and I did great in it, but wow do I look fat. For the first time I realized how big I really was. Of course it doesn't help I had a size 4 person dancing right next to me in the exact same outfit!!!
So I thought of a name for my new grooming business, and y'all are the first to know (besides my husband)............Fur-de-lis Dog Grooming. It is a pun on fleur-de-lis, which are huge down here in Louisiana. (Plus, it is the symbol of the Saints!! ) What do y'all think? I have done some preliminary searching and so far it looks like it isn't being used. Still trying to sort out exactly what I need to do to get a business license and all that good stuff.
Don't worry I won't forget you guys!! The most important thing is my health and losing weight will always be my top priority!
I have been so busy! But it's a nice contrast to the last couple of summers which I spent sitting home feeling sorry for myself and stuffing my face. Tuesday & Wednesday I spent pretty much helping my mom pick out granite, tile, and paint because she is remodeling her kitchen. Also on Wednesday I got my hair done, which always is fun. No big changes, just my usual dye job and trimmed my bangs because I'm letting my hair grow. (I dye my hair a dark brown with a reddish tint to it. I'm naturally a very, very light brown.) Thursday was the first regular season Saints game so I want to my mom's to watch it with her. We won but they have a lot of issues they need to work out. Hopefully they can get it together before the next game. Friday I was tired from all the running around and no sleep from the past few days so I just kind of vegged out.
Yesterday (Saturday) was my first dance team practice of the year. On Friday I had went out and found a pair of black pants in the active wear section of Target that I really liked. They are a large and just a bit too tight in the lower stomach area, but they didn't have a extra large, only a 2X which was way too big. But I really like everything else about them, like how they are fitted on my legs but get bigger right before the knee so they don't hug my fat knees. So I went with the large, since the shirt I wear to practice is long enough to cover the problem areas, and hopefully soon they'll become looser.
So Saturday I woke up really early because practice starts at 8:45am and I live 45 minutes away. (really 9 but they tell us 8:45 because we all have problems getting there on time. ) As I put on the new pants and my dance team t-shirt, I spent about 5 minutes scrutinizing myself in the mirror and became a little upset and worried. I had told the owner of the team that I had lost 15 lbs over the phone. I was wondering what she was going to think when she saw me in person. Like would she think I looked like I lost 15 pounds? So I got there, we had practice. During the practice the team owner looked at me and gave me a thumbs-up discreetly with a smile, and I knew she was talking about my weight. Then after practice I was about to walk out the door, and she called me back, and no one else was around. She said she wanted to tell me I had done a good job with the weightloss and that I looked like I had lost more than 15 lbs, more like 20 or 25!! Boy, that felt great to hear! She said I probably only had another 20 lbs to lose before parades. I told her I want to lose somewhere between 25 pounds and 35 pounds before parades start.
Also, I have set up my grooming table and my cute little stool which the seat is purple with black pawprints. The bad news after we setup the dryer and tried to turn it on, it wouldn't turn on and I noticed a funny smell and it started smoking!! So that sucks. I was hoping to groom my dog today. I might still groom him using my hair dryer, but I know the drying is like the most important step, so I'm not sure what to do. I'm going to call the company in an hour when they're open. (It was too late to call last night.) I'm hoping they'll send me a new dryer instead of trying to fix this one. I mean, it cost $300, I think they should send me a new one!
Woww I bet that felt great hearing that from your coach!!! I love when people compliment me like that. Great job I am so happy for you! Keep doing what your doing!
Woww I bet that felt great hearing that from your coach!!! I love when people compliment me like that. Great job I am so happy for you! Keep doing what your doing!
Hi! Thanks for posting. Well, I live near New Orleans, Louisiana, where we are famous for our Mardi Gras parades. I am on a dance team which strictly performs in these parades. (Once in a while we have another type of performance, like last year we performed before the start of a basketball game.) So we practice every year from late August/early September to when the Mardi Gras parades start. (Mardi Gras day varies depending on when Easter is. It is either in February or March. The parades start about 2 weeks before Mardi Gras day.) We are in about 6 or 7 parades a year, and we learn about 14-18 different dances a year. We march and move forward while dancing in the parade, so there is a lot more emphasis on hand/arm/body movements than on footwork, although we have some of that too. The ages of the women vary from 16 to 40s. This will be my 6th year on the team, and it's so much fun! Hope this was a clear explanation!
My weight has been going up and down like crazy this week. It was pretty scary there for awhile. To give you an example of how up and down it's been: If you look at Tuesday the 7th and then this past Tuesday the 14th, I gained 1.4 lbs. Which sucks because that's my offical weigh-in day with WW. But from Friday the 10th to today (Friday the 17th), I have lost 1.4 lbs! The scale is insane. But the good news is I now weigh 177.8! So the scale is finally down. My goal for this week was to be at least 178.7 so I exceeded my goal!! Yay!
So my husband and I booked our vacation to Universal Studios Florida a couple of nights ago. We leave on the 29th, which is less than 2 weeks away!! I am really excited. First of all, you should know that my husband and I love theme parks. I love rollercoasters, and ride most of them (except the ones that are really, really high). But I love spinning and going upside down on rides. My husband, not so much, but he has gotten better over the years. We both are big Disney freaks, but we went there in Feb 08, May 08, and Jan 09 because we had an annual pass. Don't get me wrong, we'd go there 3 times a year every year if we could afford it. But Disney is building lots of new stuff right now, so we decided to not go back til at least 2012. And we haven't been to Universal for about 5 or 6 years. Most importantly, we are going to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!! I love the Potter series. I started reading it when I was 12 or 13 when my best friend found the first book in the library and told me how good it was. I love the movies too, and my husband likes them too. So I am super excited about getting to see all the places from the books!!!
The only thing I'm worried about is gaining weight on vacation. Initally we were going to try to stay at a hotel with a gym. We booked this package with Universal where we get the hotel and the tickets, plus early entrance to Islands of Adventure and a few other perks. So we had to choose from the hotels in the package. About a month ago the package included a pretty cheap hotel with a gym. But when we went to book it Wednesday night, it was gone! So we had to go with the cheapest hotel which doesn't have a gym. (The other options were like $150 to $200 more than the one we went with, and we are cheap. )
But I do have a plan. The parks close pretty early (around 6 or 7) because it's slow right now. So I am thinking we will eat dinner outside the park. Either I will find an Applebee's (which has some meals with Weight Watcher points) or Subway, or we might even pick up some bread and turkey from a Walmart and eat in the room since we have a fridge. Also, I will bring my cereal and go buy some 1% milk and eat my usual breakfast (except one day when we get a free breakfast as part of our package). So that leaves one potential bad themepark meal a day: lunch. But I know they have some healthy options and I will try my best to avoid the more tempting items. I know my biggest obstacle will be avoiding the ice cream carts. In the past when I would go to Disney I would have at least probably 2 ice creams a day, sometimes 4! I would just stop at every cart it seemed. That will be so hard.....but somehow I have to not eat them!
I do have one "freebie" meal planned....the first night we get there we are going to Downtown Disney (weird I know, since we're not actually going to the Disney parks) because my favorite restaurant ever is there: T-Rex. I don't know if any of you have been there because it's only been there since Jan 08, but basically the theming is like Rainforest Cafe except X 100 and it actually has great food. But the absolute best thing about the place is the desserts...of course I would think that! All of the desserts look good, but I've only had one there which the waiter said was the best of them all. It's like a giant ice cream sandwich cake. Just picture layers of ice cream sandwiches and chocolate cake in a giant block of a billion calories that probably 3 or 4 people could share. Last time my husband and I were only able to eat half. I know if I would have had access to a freezer I would have taken it to go. So I am debating about actually eating dinner there or just going for dessert. But the food is so good too....we'll see.
The good thing about that horrible meal I will have is that it's on the first night. So I have the rest of my trip to walk a lot and burn it off hopefully. I am hoping by trying to eat healthy for most of the trip and walking a lot in the parks I will not gain weight. ::crosses fingers::
By the way, I seriously just meant to type a paragraph or two and it turned into a novel! Why do I always do that?
I'll have to put up some pics from the practices.
