More Snakes

I don't know if this is a sign to quit while I'm ahead or what!

Saturday, we went on a 5.8 mile hike....we were so exhausted! My muscles still hurt! Anyways, as we were first heading up the trail, probably about 1/4 mile in, I saw something in the trail that I thought looked like a snake. It stopped me in my tracks and I grabbed my chest. It was really little though, so I told myself it was just a stick and that I could go head and walk over it. Just as I took a step closer, it wiggled itself on down the hill.....YUCK! I freaked a little, but kept going. It was tiny...

We made it all the way to the lake, spent about an hour eating lunch and fishing and then we headed back to the car. We hadn't made it very far back and I saw another snake....this time it wasn't little! It was probably 3+ feet long and fat! I freaked, but this time it was farther away so I tried to be strong. It didn't really work. I made it back to the car, but not without my mind playing tricks on me the whole way.

I'm not really sure what to think of this! We've been on 3 hikes where we have seen snakes. I really hate snakes. They scare the crap out of me. Really, I'm more scared of a snake than a bear. So, why is this happening to me? It's hard enough for me to want to exercise, but when the chance of me seeing a snake is mixed into it....well, lets just say it's bad!

So, snakes are trying to stop me from getting skinny. Well, I'm not going to let them! That's fair to me! I've been working really hard for almost 6 weeks and that's the longest I've stuck to anything in a long time!

Which brings me to my weight this week. It was looking promising, but today it was back up to where it was at the end of last week. I'm hoping that today and tomorrow and I can bring it back down, but I'm not going to count on it. I'm just going to hope that it happens and not be disappointed if it doesn't.

This week is also a measurement week....although, I don't think that will be very good either. I didn't stick to my new goal for the week because I was to sore to move yesterday so I didn't ride the bike. I did get up at 6 again this morning and ride the bike and use the ball. So, I feel good about that...still, I have a LONG way to go and I hate the thought of not seeing progress this early in! We'll just have to see how it goes. Keep on chugging along! I'll let you know how it goes on Wednesday!

Weekly Goals

So, I did it, I started over today. I woke up at 6 and exercised for an hour before anyone else had a chance to interfere. It was nice!

I think my problem is with setting weekly goals. Last week I set a goal to exercise every day! At least 20 min a day. It was only 7 days so it was easy for me to accomplish. However, this week I didn't set any goals. I just figured I'd keep up with it, but I didn't. I took two days off....I'm not making myself feel bad about that, I'm just going to change that!

From now on, I'm going to set easy to attain weekly goals. Since I already messed up this week, my goal is going to be shortened. For the next 4 days, I will hike once (hopefully tomorrow), then ride the bike on the remaining 3 days. I'm also going to add in 2 more ball workouts for the remaining 3 days.

I will continue to set weekly goals so that I can feel like I'm accomplishing something every week.

My first days of school are going to be challenging. It's going to be a stressful summer and typically during stressful times, I EAT whatever I can! So, I'll really have to be strong for those 6 weeks of school. Only 10 days until that starts. :)

Starting OVER!

So, yesterday I didn't have time to exercise. It was the first time I hadn't exercised in awhile. Today I didn't exercise because I just didn't want to. I guess depression has gotten to me! I'm going to get up tomorrow and exercise though! NO MATTER WHAT! I really want to be skinny and I've been doing good, just not the last two days....so, I'm taking the "tomorrow's another day" approach and starting over!

Hopefully, I can pull myself together tomorrow and get with it!!!! I have nothing to be depressed about and I'm not really depressed. I'm just really tired! I'm ready to go back to school, but I also want more time with my kids. I hate missing their WHOLE summer!

That's why I recommend going to school before you have kids.

My 20th Post!

So, this is my 20th post! It's a good one, but not quite as good as I'd hoped. I didn't reach my goal to be in the 60's......

Our darn scale!

It's like getting on the Biggest Loser scale, it bounces all around. The difference is, it will weigh you at one weight, you'll get back on and it'll weigh you at a different weight. So, we just take the number that came up most often.

The problem? Well, I got on the scale this morning and I weighed 268. I reweighed and weighed 270 (above my weekly goal). Weighed again, 270. So, I went back to bed! When I woke up again, I weighed 268.5, but when I got back on the scale I weighed 270.....I wrote down to 270. At least the high end of the scale was 270. I think that means less work for this week....not that I'll do less!

So, this week I lost 2 lbs....which I'm totally stoked about! I haven't lost more than a pound and a half in forever! So this is great! :)

Still, I wanted to reach my goal of being in the 60's. I was so close!!! No Worries! I Will Next Week!

Another weigh in...

Tomorrow I will weigh in for the sixth time (counting the initial weigh in). I am sort of looking forward to it. I'm going to bed early so that I can get plenty of sleep. I've found that I weigh more on days that I don't get enough sleep. I don't know if that has something do with water weight or what, but there is a definite difference.

I've kept the scale out this week. After last week, I wasn't willing to take any chances! I've been good though and only weighed once a day. This morning, I was still down 2 lbs from last week. I really want to be down at least another 1/2 a pound (definitely don't want to weigh more) by in the morning. If I lost 2.5 lbs or more, I will be in the 60's. YIPEE!

Oh, speaking of weigh in's, I have a funny story. Awhile ago on my usual Wednesday, I went to log my weight for the week and I accidentally put 1 something (like 172) instead of 2 something. The computer kept telling me to check my weight. I couldn't figure out what was wrong. It looked right to me....finally I figured it out! See, I told you I think of myself as skinny! :)

Snow Hiking

Friday was bad as you know, but Saturday went much better. We weighed Saturday morning, kind of as a check point and I had lost another 2 lbs. Yipee! Now, I have to keep it off until Wednesday!

We spent most of Saturday running errands. My daughter had a b-day party so we couldn't go hiking. That was a little discouraging. Instead, we cleaned out my car....it was much needed!

We did get a chance to go hiking on Sunday though. Saturday night we picked out where we wanted to go. We were planning a 6.6 mile hike with pretty big elevation gains in spurts. We decided we needed to leave the house at 9 on Sunday morning. So, I made cookies Saturday night (yummy oatmeal and peanut butter) so that we could have a energy boosting, yummy, snack on our hike. We also got fishing poles and our backpacks mostly ready that night.

The next morning we left town only 30 minutes behind schedule. It was about a 2 hour drive to the trail head. We filled out all the required permits and tags and deposited $5 into the fee box at the trail head. Then we handed the kids their whistles and headed up the trail. About 100 feet up the trail there was snow. It covered the trail, but it didn't go far so we decided to go ahead and keep moving...besides, we had just put our $5 in the box!

The trail was bare (just muddy) for most of the next quarter mile. Then, there was snow again, and a lot of it! We couldn't really tell where the trail led, but decided to keep going until we found the first 3 lakes which were only about a 1/2 mile from the trail head. We looked for signs of the original trail and tried to stay on path. I felt relieved when we found our first trail marker. Actually, there were two signs.

Then we traveled on in that direction and eventually found the first lake. Shortly after that there was another lake and then another. We decided to keep going until we got to one more lake, which in the summer has 6 camp sites around it. We made it to that lake with just a little more climbing, sliding, and falling. It had only taken us about an hour to travel one mile. By then, the kids were freezing (we weren't dressed for snow).

I had grabbed two pairs of gloves that I kept in my car before we left the trail head. I covered the babies (okay, he's 4, but he's my baby) little fingers and we continued on for a little while until we had no idea where the trail was. Then, we ate our cookies and started heading back. We all fell through the snow at one point or another, some more than others. I think I fell through more than anyone else, but based on my size, that's to be expected. I came out of it with only a couple bruises. No one else is complaining today. So, I guess they are good.

It took us 2 1/2 hours to walk 2 miles, with a few stops to look at sights, get unstuck, take pictures, cover up fingers, and eat cookies. Not exactly a record breaking time....maybe on the slowness factor. I am disappointed that we didn't reach our goal destination, but that wasn't because we physically gave up, we just lost the trail! We tried!

We took the kids to the damn to see the fish after that and went fishing after that. It was a wonderful SUNDAY! :)

Struggling again with the STRESS!

So, I've made it a month and really haven't struggled with my plan all that much. It's been easy for me to stick to my calorie goal and I've been exercising regularly, but today, I've hit a wall. I feel like giving up! I was thinking....baking cookies and eating the whole batch! That sounds great! OK, so I can't really make it through the whole batch, but I can give it my best!

The problem is, there is so much stress in my life! I try not to worry about money. It used to make me crazy, but now, for the most part, I know that there is nothing I can do about it at this second and so I can't stress about it! However, today is not one of those days! Today is payday, it's also the worst payday because all the money will go towards our mortgage. And we'll still have bills to pay. There's a good chance will still have some of our mortgage to pay.

When we bought our house, my husband had been receiving a raise of $1/hr every year. The year that we bought it, they gave him a $2/hr raise. They year after that though, he didn't receive a raise. Finally after a couple months and some persuading on my part, my husband asked for more money. They said they had given him extra the year before so we could have more money when we bought the house....so, there would be no raise that year. Well, his boss must have felt bad and pushed for him, because about a month later, he gave him a 75 cent/hour raise. Since then, the company started losing money and we haven't (or anyone else for that matter) received another raise. On top of that, his hours were cut in October and then again in January. So, making our house payment every month has been a bit of a challenge!

However, I think we have done pretty good! We've only been late once on our payment. Most of the time our credit cards are paid on time and we usually have bread in the drawer for sandwiches. :) So, I'm not sure what I'm complaining about. I guess I'm not! I'm lucky to have a house and 2 cars that run!

It's not just money, it's my family, it's his family, it's the kids school, it's my school, it's yard work, it's housework, it's kids fighting, it's my job, it's my weight, it's everything! I'm a stress-er. That's what I do! I could use a pedicure, but then, there's the money stress! :)

So, I guess I need to turn the music up, clean the house and move on!

But, I'm really tired, so maybe I'll try to take a nap and hopefully I'll wake up happy and ready to go again!

It's been one month!

Well, my one month mark didn't seem all that encouraging after today's weigh in. I only lost a 1/2 a pound this week. I think I'll keep the scale out!

We also took pictures last night.....however, I can't find them for the life of me! I swear, I did not sabotage them! I'll take more tonight to add to my photo journal.

Today I measured as well! That's where there was better news. I lost and inch and a half off of my hips, an inch off my bust, and a 1/2 an inch off of my thighs. Nothing off of my waist in the past two weeks, but that's more my fault than the diets I think!

So for the whole month, I lost 11.5 lbs and a total of 7 inches. I can't complain about that! ONE MONTH! Yeah! Okay, I feel a little better! :)

Now, this week, I'll keep the scale out, be better about riding the bike daily, and continue our weekend hike! Maybe I'll have more of a loss than a pound!

Oh, by the way...my hubby isn't keeping track of inches, but he has lost 12 pounds in one month! That's awesome! :)

More Important Things?!

So, I realize that there are more important things out there than weight. People all have their own issues and problems and no one else can truly understand those problems or how they feel about them. I also realize that my long list of problems and issues are WAY more advanced than weight loss!

However, this is my weight loss blog and I am using it to talk about my issues with weight loss. Not all my other issues! Although, I could start a blog about all of those things too! :) This is just the hardest thing for me to talk about with other people. So, blogging is my solution!

In no way does my weight loss tracking mean that I'm judgemental of other people. I don't really care how much or little other people weigh. I believe that a person's weight does not change who they are on the inside....and size doesn't matter! Neither does appearance of any kind for that matter. In fact, I think I am one of the least judgemental people I know!

Still, that doesn't stop people from thinking I'm judging them. I guess it's just the weight loss topic. I tend to think the same thing when people talk to me about weight loss or exercise. Maybe they aren't judging me either!

So, I guess I just wanted to put it out there that I know everyone has more important things going on and that's cool, so do I. I just need a place to chat about this without getting negative feedback. :)

2 days left before I face the scale again!

Well, it's been 5 days since I last weighed. I HATE not knowing what I weigh! I have no idea if I gained weight or lost. I will probably cry if I gained weight! I'm not looking forward to Wednesday morning. It's going to be even harder to look down!

PS~ I found where my hubby hid the scale on Saturday, but I didn't get it out to weigh!