Talking....and Walking.....and Talking.....and Walking......

I met my friend, Renee, at Shawnee Mission Park again this Wednesday for a walk. We decided to go the asphalt path this time. Last week my new shoes were a big DUST ball from the trails that we hiked!! We had been walking on the path for quite awhile when we decided to look at my pedometer and see how long we had been walking. We had been at it for just over an hour! Just a chatting away.....solving all of the worlds problems. We turned around and headed back. By the time we got back to our car, we both had pretty achy hips!!

We walked 7.4 Miles!!!! We weren't extremely speedy, but according to my pedometer, we walked over 13,000 steps!

Felt good to get in that long of a walk!

Breakfast

Peanut Butter Greek Yogurt!




Breakfast Number Two!

Turkey Burger topped with Eggs, Queso Cheese, Avocado and Salsa!





It's a Double Stack Burger!



Snack





Dinner





Snack





Snack





Snack

Almonds



Refresh...I can eat 26 points a day.
I can earn Activity Points by doing exercise, and eat them if I choose.
I have an allowance of 49 points that I can dip into if I chose.
I should drink a minimum of 6 (8 oz) glasses of water each day.

The food I ate and it's PPV

Breakfast = Plain Nonfat Greek Yogurt, 1 Truvia, 2 T. PB2 (3)
Breakfast Number Two = 2 (4 oz) Turkey Burger Patties, 5 Egg Whites, 1 Laughing Cow Frisco Queso and Chipolte Cheese Wedge, 1/4 Smashed Avocado, Salsa (9)
Snack = Whey Protein Shake with Ground Flax and Frozen Strawberries (3)
Dinner = gazillions of Veggies, Rotisserie Chicken Breast, Salsa, 1 T. light Sour Cream (7)
Snack = Banana, 1 T. Better n' Peanut Butter (1)
Snack = Whey Protein Shake with Frozen Raspberries and Chia Seeds (3)
Snack = 18 Almonds (3)

Total = 29

Today's Exercise = Walked 7.4 Miles

How many glasses of water I drank today = 12
Activity Points Earned Today = 9
Activity Points Earned This Week = 15
Remaining points from my 49 Points Allowance = 0
ALCOHOL consumption = zero




"love the life you live, live the life you love"

I Applied!!!!

Simply APPLYING for a job as a Weight Watchers Leader has been a goal of mine for at least three years now. (You have to be within 10 pounds of your goal weight) When I started my blog over two years ago, I decided it might be a useful tool for other WW members to read that might be frustrated with losing weight slowly. At times I felt very alone in my S L O W weight loss, but when I would listen to other members at my meeting going through some of the same struggles, I knew I wasn't alone. I thought perhaps other Weight Watcher members could find comfort in reading my blog and knowing they weren't the only one experiencing weight loss struggles.

I sat down at my vintage laptop and got started. I would have done the whole thing from my iPad, but my Resume was somewhere on my computer, so I had no choice! From beginning to end, and by this I literally mean.....

Turning on the computer.....wait.....wait....wait.....
Connecting to the Internet......wait.....wait.....wait....
Opening Yahoo Email......wait.....wait.....wait....
Attach document.....wait.....wait.....wait....wait.....FAIL
Try again.....wait.....wait....wait.....FAIL
Don't attach.....copy and paste.....send

One and a half HOURS later.......Success!

I will be purchasing my new Computer on Thursday!!



This is the first time in the job market that I have applied for a job with a large company by submitting my résumé online. It feels odd to have no Face-to-Face contact at all, but I did receive an email back saying that they had received my application, so I suppose now.....I keep losing weight (6 pounds to go!) and cross my fingers that I hear from someone!!!





Yesterday I met with the trainer for my weekly workout. He gets big kudos for helping me break through the 160 mark last week by increasing my protein!! It is unfortunately apparent that my shoulder will NOT be ready for Bootcamp though at the end of our 8 week session. That sucks. But at least I will have a good 8 weeks worth of workouts and I will have the guidance that I was looking for in a workout. My shoulder is certainly stronger than it was when I first met with him 5 weeks ago!

We discussed my weigh in last week, and I said I would be happy if I stayed the same at this weeks weigh in since it was such a drastic loss. He thinks if I stick to his plan, I will still lose. We'll see?

Breakfast




Snack......this tasted JUST like a Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie!!

I added 1 serving of PB2 Chocolate Powder and 1 Packet of Truvia. YUM.




Must repeat!!




Lunch





Dinner




Snack




Refresh...I can eat 26 points a day.
I can earn Activity Points by doing exercise, and eat them if I choose.
I have an allowance of 49 points that I can dip into if I chose.
I should drink a minimum of 6 (8 oz) glasses of water each day.

The food I ate and it's PPV

Breakfast = 1 Egg, 4 Egg Whites, Cheese, Salsa, Coffee with Milk (5)
Snack = 1/2 C Oatmeal with 1 T. PB2 Chocolate (5)
Lunch = Panera Grilled Chicken (extra chicken) Salad with 1 T. Dressing (12)
Dinner = Grilled Chicken, Cucumbers, Carrots (4)
Snack = Whey Protein Shake with Chia Seeds and frozen Blueberries (3)

Total = 29

Today's Exercise =

Walked 4 Miles, Trainer session

How many glasses of water I drank today = 12
Activity Points Earned Today = 6
Activity Points Earned This Week = 6
Remaining points from my 49 Points Allowance = 0
ALCOHOL consumption = none




"love the life you live, live the life you love"

It's NOT just sleepwear!

I'm the first one to admit that I don't keep up real well with the trends in clothing, or really any other trends for that matter. I can be a little lame and totally out of the loop as to what's current. I like trendy, I just don't always know what trendy is. Sometimes, I just want my cargo pants and my tank top, and my $1 flip flops, so thats what I wear. I'm totally a tank top girl. Yoga pants are a favorite too! It can be a workout day or no workout day, doesn't matter. I like to dress for comfort. I try not to be a complete slob, and I try to look put together. But I admit, comfort usually comes first. Oh, and a bargain. I've just never been one to spend much on clothes, or on much else. I'm admittedly.....cheap.

When I saw the cute Tank Dress at Target (I am mostly unaware that other stores exist), I was so excited. Cute, Comfy, Cheap! Its a TANK TOP....and a dress!!! Then I realized I was in the Sleepwear Department. Then I realized I didn't care. So I bought it.

I only share with you all that I have now stooped to wearing sleepwear outside of the house.....because after coming in from Dallas, I went to meet my husband for lunch. (In my nightgown!!! Can you think of anything more comfortable to travel in??? Me neither!!!) While standing outside, waiting for Mike, a perfectly normal looking, business dressed, man, smiles at me and says.....

"I like your dress!"

Those of you that know me, know that I often snort when I unexpectedly laugh. Well, I snorted and said "Thank you.", but I really wanted to tell him what a deal I got, and that I was wearing a nightgown!!!

L O S E R ! ! ! !

I plan to wear it often!!





Breakfast

Un Pictured Starbucks at the airport

Lunch

Un Pictured Caesar Salad when I met Mike for lunch

Snack



Snack

Un Pictured Chobani Blueberry Greek Yogurt, Almonds, Turkey


Dinner




Refresh...I can eat 26 points a day.
I can earn Activity Points by doing exercise, and eat them if I choose.
I have an allowance of 49 points that I can dip into if I chose.
I should drink a minimum of 6 (8 oz) glasses of water each day.

The food I ate and it's PPV

Breakfast = Starbucks Nonfat Latte (3)
Lunch = Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad (7)
Snack = Whey Protein Shake with 1 t. Chia Seeds and frozen Blueberries (3)
Snack = Almonds, Turkey, Greek Yogurt (6)
Dinner = Sunset Grill's San Diego Grilled Chicken Salad with an Extra 1/2 Chicken Breast, avocado, cheese and topped with Salsa (15)

Total = 34

Today's Exercise = Mow, Trim, Pull Weeds for 90 Minutes
(Not what I had planned, but it needed to be done and then the day just got away from me.....Urg)

How many glasses of water I drank today = 12
Activity Points Earned Today = 6
Activity Points Earned This Week = 6
Remaining points from my 49 Points Allowance = 1
ALCOHOL consumption = none





"love the life you live, live the life you love"

Friend Makin' Monday's

I'm sharing Kenlie's Friend Makin' Monday's!






Check out Kenlie's Website HERE, and read what some of the other Bloggers have to say!



Let’s Talk About TV

1. Share your current “Must-See” TV shows.

Mad Men, Scandal, The Good Wife.......


2. Do you prefer reality shows or sitcoms?

I don't think I have a preference?


3. Who is your favorite talk show host?

I never thought I would love anyone as much as Johnny Carson....

until ELLEN!!


4. Which network(s) do you turn to for news?

I'm not a big news girl, but usually the TV is on ABC.


5. Do you have Tivo or DVR?

DVR? Isn't TiVo a Rapper?


6. Have you ever started watching a show simply because you heard so much about it on social media?

Yes, and I was disgusted with it.


7. List any TV series that you own on DVD.

Sex and The City
Friends


8. Do you have a subscription to Netflix, Hulu, etc?

No, but I have a prescription for Nexium?

9. If you could star in a TV show that already exists, which one would you choose?

Mad Men! Don Drapper needs me!


10. If you could bring back one TV show that is no longer on the air, which one would you choose?

Thirty Something. I LOVED THAT SHOW!

And........

The Carol Burnett show!! So many laughs!!


Thanks Kenlie

"love the life you live, live the life you love"

Routine is HARD while away.......

Things were going really well most of my time in Dallas. I was drinking my water and making good choices and planning. We did not get in the morning walks I had planned for us, but I so wish I would have turned on my GPS pedometer on my phone, because we did some MAJOR walking while shopping!!

Well, there were a few places where we were forced to take the escalator, like at the Walmart with the underground parking garage. Seriously!!!! There is an escalator for your CART so you can easily take your purchases to your car! Tess and I were amazed!! Yip, we made a super big deal out of it too!

Check this out!!

Line it up just right.......





The green sign above cautions you to first remove your child!!




Then, ya just LET GO!!





Soooooo easily entertained........

Breakfast





Lunch




Snack....

Brown Rice Sushi with a nice Pinot Grigio to go with it!

We HAD to celebrate the newly decorated apartment with a nice wine and an appetizer!!





It's soooo cozy!!
(We shopped for HOURS for that green TRAY!!!)





Dinner....We went to dinner with Tess' friends, Elly and Jenna. The weather outside was awesome! The atmosphere in Uptown was superb!




The dinner destination??

Taco Diner.

It was soooo cute! Uptown certainly has a Kansas City Plaza feel to it, only I was one of the oldest ones there. Definitely a younger crowd.

:)





I ordered Two shrimp tacos from the Two Taco page of the Menu. What I was served was the Fried Shrimp Taco Dinner with Four Taco's!

I skipped the rice, and ate three of the Taco's. they were very small, but they were certainly fried. Um, yes. They were magnificent!






I'm not crazy about the numbers below, so Monday when I am back in KC, it's a good hard workout and lots of Protein. Expecting (and hoping) to maintain this Friday.



Refresh...I can eat 26 points a day.
I can earn Activity Points by doing exercise, and eat them if I choose.
I have an allowance of 49 points that I can dip into if I chose.
I should drink a minimum of 6 (8 oz) glasses of water each day.

The food I ate and it's PPV

Breakfast = Eggs, Cheese, Starbucks (7)
Lunch = Whole Foods Salad Bar (7)
Snack = Sushi, Wine (20)
Dinner = Shrimp Taco's (13)

Total = 47

Today's Exercise = shopping.....again.

How many glasses of water I drank today = 8
Activity Points Earned Today = 0
Activity Points Earned This Week = 0
Remaining points from my 49 Points Allowance = 9
ALCOHOL consumption = 2 Glasses of Wine.

Okay, I've had my fun enjoying a few cocktails with my 21 Year Old Daughter, but now it's back to "No Drinking", because it was totally working for me!!





"love the life you live, live the life you love"

A Day of Errands....Just Like Old Times

Tess and I believe we used to run more errands than any one else.....ever. It seemed like we spent 90% of our free time.....running errands. Well, we were back at it yesterday. We made a Hobby Lobby list, a Salvation Army list, a Walmart list, a Target list, and a "Lets go to IKEA because we've never been" list!





Holy Cow! That place was insane! First of all, everyone that lives in Dallas and all of its surrounding suburbs was there! Including us!! They give you a map as soon as you walk in the door! It was crazy, but we did get some fun cheap finds......

I LOVE the tree!!




Most of what is on the Bookcase came from Ikea, Hobby Lobby and Target!






Today we are hanging curtains and picking up the AWESOME 4'x4' brown leather ottoman Tess bought yesterday at Homegoods! Super cute!

She found two great Bar Stools yesterday on Craigslist for $10 each!! HOLLA!!





Breakfast




Then we packed a cooler to put in the car for snacking......




Turkey and berries, and down in there somewhere is a sliced apple.
It was perfect to have and we did eat it all.




We stopped for dinner much earlier than we did on Friday. We sat outside at this cute little place called Ozona!

There were lots of great options on the menu to chose from. I decided on the Blackened Salmon Tacos topped with cabbage, on corn tortillas.

DELISH!!

And I ordered a beer, but I actually didn't even finish it. Those first few cold drinks really tasted good though! I think I let it get warm on purpose.





I drank water ALL day long, which makes errand running difficult, because I was constantly looking for a bathroom! We got up much later than we had planned, so we did not get in our planned walk, and honestly, I'm not real certain that is going to happen today either. Too much on our ERRAND LIST!!


Refresh...I can eat 26 points a day.
I can earn Activity Points by doing exercise, and eat them if I choose.
I have an allowance of 49 points that I can dip into if I chose.
I should drink a minimum of 6 (8 oz) glasses of water each day.

The food I ate and it's PPV

Breakfast = 1 Egg, 4 Egg Whites, Cheese, Berries (4)
Snack = Greek Yogurt, Starbucks nonfat Latte (7)
Lunch = Turkey, Berries (2)
Dinner = Salmon Tacos, Guac, Beer (21) (Trying to Over Estimate)

Total = 34

Today's Exercise = shopping???? :)

How many glasses of water I drank today = 12
Activity Points Earned Today = 0
Activity Points Earned This Week = 0
Remaining points from my 49 Points Allowance = 30
ALCOHOL consumption = 3/4 of a Beer


I gotta go! We've gots lots to do today!





"love the life you live, live the life you love"

Back To Dallas!

When I went to visit Tess a couple of weeks ago, we had a great time playing, but we spent very little time at her apartment. As I was leaving, I realized I felt sad that she had nothing hung on the walls, nada, zilch, zero....and really, the only obvious items in the living room were the TV (and THAT'S really recent) and the Sofa and Love Seat (actually just got THOSE too!) so.......I said...

"I should come back in two weeks and we can hang curtains and decorate this place!"

She screamed "Okay!!!"

I can hardly wait to get my hands on some nails and a hammer!!! Look out neighbors!!

So that's the plan. Friday night flight, Saturday morning shopping, then grocery shopping so we can cook all weekend.....and decorate! Maybe on Sunday......Brunch out?? Then home Monday morning.

Breakfast




Snack





Lunch




Snack

I had 6 almonds. You know what they look like.

On the plane, I had a Protein Bar, not knowing if dinner would happen or not.

Then Dinner did happen......at 10:30 pm. Urg.






Refresh...I can eat 26 points a day.
I can earn Activity Points by doing exercise, and eat them if I choose.
I have an allowance of 49 points that I can dip into if I chose.
I should drink a minimum of 6 (8 oz) glasses of water each day.

The food I ate and it's PPV

Breakfast = Starbucks Latte, 1 Egg, 4 Egg Whites, 1 tsp Coconut Oil, Cheese, Salsa (8)
Snack = Whey Protein Shake with 1 tsp Ground Flaxseed, Strawberries (3)
Lunch = Salad....Veggies, Chicken, Olive Oil, Berries (8)
Snack = almonds (1)
Snack = Cliff Bar (7)
Dinner = Mixed Greens, avocado, tomatoes, bacon, very little goat cheese, very little dressing (10)

Total = 37

Today's Exercise = Scheduled Day Off

How many glasses of water I drank today = 10
Activity Points Earned Today = 0
Activity Points Earned This Week = 0
Remaining points from my 49 Points Allowance = 38
ALCOHOL consumption = none




"love the life you live, live the life you love"

BIG CELEBRATION'S TODAY!!

I lost....

Another five pounds.

I hit the 50 pound mark. I have lost 50.8 pounds.

I reached my goal of 160, but actually went below that!!

The little stars at the bottom of the picture below, show my progress! I LOVE those little stars!

Today weight?

156.6





So, increasing my protein DID help me break through my plateau! I'm so pumped right now, it's kind of ridiculous! I weighed yesterday morning with happy results, but I tried not to get my hopes up for this mornings weigh in since the last few weeks have been so up and down on a daily basis. But I know I have been working hard and I have been consistent, and I was assuming my body was just trying to adjust to getting below that 160 point. I have to admit, I am nervous about a small gain next week, but mentally prepared to continue to work hard, and not get frustrated with the scale.

:)

Here are the two new awards I get to add to my WW Key Chain.

1. 50 Pound Award
2. Goal Award (I had mixed emotions on accepting this today)






I set my goal, along with my Physician, at 160 pounds, a LONG time ago. I wanted recognition today at the meeting for reaching that goal since I have been working towards it for almost four years. I am going to keep working towards 150, and eventually I will need to officially change my goal weight with Weight Watcher's, but this week, I just want to gloat a bit!

Here is my chart, and I am back much closer to my GOAL line now!
I have 6.6 more pounds to lose, and six weeks to do it in.






I haven't posted a picture in a while of miles walked, so here's that too! Right on schedule!

I have walked 151 miles since June 1st.





Some Fun Facts For Me In The One Fifties!!

1. I haven't seen this weight since High School, and I'm 46 years old.

2. I can now apply for the WW Leader position. I have to weigh 150 (because I am 5'5") to be a leader, but I can apply for the job if I have less than 10 pounds to lose!! I need to officially check all this out, but it will be the first thing I do NEXT week!

3. New Mac Computer! I really would like to take my blog to the next level, but my dying computer has prevented that, and there is only so much I can do from the iPad, but I would love to have weekly meal ideas, lots of recipes and exercise ideas. So I told myself (and my husband), when I officially got below 160, I would buy a new computer. YAHOO! YIPEE!! WHOO WHOO!!
(Mike, you do remember this conversation right? You were kinda snoring, but I think you nodded in agreement.)

4. Size 10. I went shopping on Wednesday, just to try clothes on for fun. I ONLY grabbed size 10's off the rack, NO 12's. Everything fit!! Then I got brave and tried on a size 8, just to see how tight they would be. They zipped! So, while in the dressing room, I did a few squats, lunges, stretches, sat down, stood up, squatted again.......and BOUGHT THEM!!





Look guys!!





My butts still wide, but pretty sure they'll fit perfect after a little more stretching.....then NO WASHING!!! See? I got this size 8 thing all figured out!!





I'm friggin ECSTATIC!!





So you can see, getting into the 150's means a whole bunch of really cool stuff!!!!!


Breakfast

Oatmeal, Nut Butter, Almonds




Snack

I made my 5 egg whites with 1 tsp of Coconut Oil, topped them with Salsa, and left off my usual slice of cheese. Not nearly as tasty and as texturally satisfying, but sufficient, and I couldn't taste the Coconut Oil like I thought that I might. So I guess I'll keep it!

:)





Lunch

Turkey Burger Patties, Cheese, Salsa, Smashed Avocado, Veggies




Snack/Dinner






Refresh...I can eat 26 points a day.
I can earn Activity Points by doing exercise, and eat them if I choose.
I have an allowance of 49 points that I can dip into if I chose.
I should drink a minimum of 6 (8 oz) glasses of water each day.

The food I ate and it's PPV

Breakfast = 1/2 C. Oatmeal, 1 T Better n' Peanut Butter, 22 Almonds, Coffee with steamed Milk (10)
Snack = 5 Egg Whites, 1 t. Coconut Oil, Salsa (3)
Lunch = 6 oz Turkey Burger, 1 Cheese Slice, 1/4 Avocado, Salsa, Cucumbers, Carrots (9)
Snack = Whey Protein Shake with Frozen Strawberries (3)
Dinner = Never Happened

Total = 25

Today's Exercise.......

Walked 4 Miles
Lunges, Squats and Other Stuff (6 exercises, 3 Sets of 12 for each)

How many glasses of water I drank today = 15
Activity Points Earned Today = 6
Activity Points Earned This Week = 39
Remaining points from my 49 Points Allowance = 29
ALCOHOL consumption = zero

Feeling pretty damn awesome today!

I'm celebrating with a bottle of WINE!



Oh, everybody calm down. Just kiddin.






"love the life you live, live the life you love"