Bree - 23 January 2007 03:59 PM

My new favorite food is peanut butter and banana sandwich. Great power lunch. I’ve never had one before today—thought is was weird.

Don’t you mean a “Peanut Butter and ‘nana Sandwich?” Elvis would be proud!

Didn’t elvis have them fried?

He did. They fry everything here in the South. I’ve seen a deep fried Twinkie, and a deep fried bacon cheeseburger. I didn’t try either, was afraid I’d die on the spot.

But I was thinking of Elvis while I was eating it. 

Bree - 23 January 2007 03:59 PM

]I have a hard time with the idea of looking good. That’s what I was shooting for, now it scares me. Why is that?

Hey Bree - I can’t answer your question, but I can sympathise.  My work situation means that I don’t see a lot of the people I work with for six months at a time.  So when I work out, the change is really dramatic to them (since they haven’t seen me in a while) and a lot of people comment on it.  I want to look better, but it always weirds me out when anyone outside of my closest circle of three or four people says something.  And the extra male attention is a little scary.  No more safety layer between me and them…

Change is scary.  But we have each other for support, and I’m sure we’ll learn to like our new lives.

Laura

Thanks, Laura. I am definitely scared of the change. There was a point between the before and now that I wasn’t completely invisible, but not sought out either. That was the place I wanted for attention, but not for health. I’m still not where I want to be, but it’s rapidly approaching. I need to prepare. I was about average in my high school, so being above now is weird. We had no overweight kids in my class, and most were very pretty.

That life thing is trying to get in the way again. Had to beat it upside the head to get my workout in today. The youngest daughter was home sick. She didn’t want me to do anything that didn’t involve waiting on her. But I waited out her neediness and got Tae Bo done. Now the kids are in bed and sleeping, and I’m going to try yoga again. I could use the peace and stretching before bed.

I’ve found my calorie sweet spot. It’s right at 1500. That’s been my upper limit for a while, but I’ve been a couple hundred below most of the time. Well, I went a few above, then right at and I lost more weight! I was losing before, but slower. I know what Scott says, but didn’t think I was in that category. Probably because at that time I was eating 1500 - 1600 calories daily. I feel so foolish. I’ve even given the advice to others. It’s always hardest to see in ourselves what is so obvious.

I love the visual of you hitting life upside the head! Girl, nothing is standing in the way of any goal you set for yourself. What a great example for the girls. When I was talking to my Dad yesterday he was saying how Hillary was imprinting the way I’m living life today. I told him about our yoga block tug of war and he laughed. He thinks having her grow up seeing me exercise and going with me jogging will lead her to a life long love of healhy living. That’s what your little ones are getting. They will remember doing Tae Bo with Mom when they’re teens and laugh with remembered joy.

I so wish we lived closer because we do so many of the same things. I just had to have my wedding ring sized down 2 sizes also. LOL I was shopping with Hillie in Bath and Body Works motioned with my hand and off the ring went into the air. Luckily we found it and I went right to a jewelry shop to get it sized.

Pretty cool finding that sweet spot. It is all such a process trying to figure out what works. Since I’m on Weight Watchers I am not even sure how many calories my point total equals in a day. I’m figuring it must be around 1700-1800 calories a day. I think Scott had done a podcast on how many calories you need to sustain your body. I’ll have to go back and try to tind it.

Keep pushing. You’re doing GREAT!!!

Life has been crazy the last few days. Nothing big, just lots of little stuff. The elliptical here at home broke, so we got a new one. This one is monstrous compared to the old one. It also has the HR monitor and programs. DH is doing it right now and whenever it ups the resistance, he grumbles. I’m laughing, but am very proud of him.

We also got a Wii today. That’s a lot of fun. The kids got a little frustrated, but they’ll get used to it too. DH about cried when he saw the Wii after deciding on the elliptical. He’s been saying we’d get one as soon as we saw one. That was an expensive trip to Wal-Mart. But it’s worth it if it gets the family moving more.

Wore a new skirt ot church today and got a ton of compliments. I was called skinny, and so many people told me how great I looked. The skirt is a size 8 and it did look good. Last year the same skirt in a 14 wouldn’t have zipped up. (I had a similar one in that size, and it didn’t zip.) I’m a bit elated right now.

Last night we had friends over and played games until 1 am. I also blew the diet and had wine and cheese. The scale reflected that this morning (up over a pound from yesterday), but I’m still down from last week. I also know I’m retaining some water (feet are swollen). So it’ll go back to normal soon. We played a new cranium game called pop 5. I laughed so hard my abs were killing me. It was so much fun.

Sounds like a wonderful weekend.  What is life if we can’t indulge on occasion.  You know what it takes to get back on track to enjoy those times and make up for it during the week.  Drink lots of water to flush out that excess sodium and you’ll be back on track in no time. 

Games with friends are so much fun.  I really miss my old friends in Florida where someone would declare game night for no reason except to have fun.  I’ll have to come up with something similar here.

Paula

Bree that sounds like sooo much fun
Like Paula says, what is life if we can’t splurge every once in a while…

you know what do though!

Nice to hear about all your compliments too....very nice to hear!

It’s fun to hear of your success, and also when you struggle, as it shows us all how we can deal with the everyday things that happen in our lives

It’s great to be a part of MTM with you!

Thanks Tom.

I’ve made a big decision. I’m giving away all my size 10 things. They are too big, my 8s fit very well and they no longer look good on me. The reason it’s so hard to do is because that’s my security blanket. I’m at the point where if I screw up for more than 2 days I gain enough to make my clothes not fit. But I can do it. I may be up a pound or 2, but my clothes still fit very well. I need to give that up. Because my clothes would still fit very well if I were up 5 to 10 pounds if I keep my 10s.

Here’s me jumping into the zone. Thanks for holding a spot for me Tom.

I have had a shirt that I love, but it never looked good on me. It was thin and tight, showing every flaw underneath. I often put the shirt on, only to see what it looks like and take it off, feeling sad. There have been many times I almost gave it away, but something made me keep it. I am wearing that shirt right now. Today was the day it was there for. I took pictures with my computer (go Macs), and posted them on my flickr page, here’s the link

http://www.flickr.com/photos/70797419@N00/

I cannot express the gratitude of all of you for getting me to this point. You are my rock. Even if we’ve never spoken on each other’s threads, you have helped me get here. I still have some ground to cover, some things to tighten up, but I’m happy with where I am right now. It’s all bonus from here. Huge thanks to all of you who have encouraged me and allowed me to share your journey with you. I feel like I’m writing an acceptance speech, but I kind of am. I accept myself.

Wow...you look great!!!

You have been such an inspiration for us...in fact I’m going on record now that once it warms up here I’m going to try the couch to 5k podcast!  (Maybe for the next 100 day challenge!) I listened to a few minutes of the podcast and i was ready to run already...I’ve never seen myself as a runner before but your my proof it can be done!

Congratulations on getting that shirt to fit.  Khrystyne is right, you look great.

Bree,

You look fabulous!  Good going on giving away the too-big clothes.  You deserve to have your closet filled with clothes that fit you and that you love.  Not haunting reminders of what used to be.

Thank you for inspiring me!

Judy

Hey Bree-

I just went over and checked your pictures.  Holy Moly!!! Or… should I say.... hubba hubba.

Good job!

Other than your website picture I only remember seeing your “before” shot.  What a huge difference.  And… look at the smile on your hubby’s face.

We’ve exchanged a few emails over time but I don’t know that I’ve ever thanked you for being a part of MTM.  You are truly inspiring to so many folks - including me!

THANK YOU.