My Life as of Recently

Lots has been going on recently and summer break is finally here. I'll start with the weight loss stuff first and then get into what has been going on in my life. I started using Lose It! to track my food and exercise. I don't have a smart phone, so I use it on my computer. I like the program and I have a couple of family members using it, so it is nice to have some support. I spent two weeks maintaining and trying to get back on track. This past week I know that I have been eating too much and don't even want to step on the scale. Now that I am not working, I'm going to come up with a plan for the summer for weight loss and exercise. In fact, that is one of the things on my to-do list today.

Like I said, lots has been going on recently. We (my St. Joe friends) had a going away party for two of my friends that are moving to Detroit. It wasn't all that long ago that we had a going away party for one of my friends in this group that moved to Knoxville. Even though I didn't live close enough to Lafayette to be there all the time to do stuff, it was nice knowing that in an hour and a half I could be there and see everyone. One got a master's degree and the other a PhD, so I am proud of them for their achievements and first jobs with those degrees.

This is most of our group my freshman year at St. Joe.
 

Here is a pic of us from our group that graduated the same year. Notice how I'm the only BA in the group with the white tassel.

Another exciting thing (at least in the life of a homeowner) is that we got our 70's brown gutters and soffits replaces with some nice white new ones. It is the first thing that we dropped a pretty penny on for the house, but it makes such a difference. I still would like to paint the shutters and sides of the house that are still 70's brown (maybe a nice gray to tie in with the color of the roof), but to be honest, the brown shutters aren't bothering me so much since the white gutters/soffit are up.

The house when we got it.

The house now (please ignore the fact that I need to edge the yard and do some weeding - I'm injured and have bad allergies).

I had a great school year at work and it came to a whirlwind end like usual. This year is the first year that I had students from kindergarten all the way through fourth grade. After five years, you do have an attachment to the students. I was emotional on the last day of school due to that and some of the other changes that will be happening at work. Heck, even seeing my classroom emptied out felt kind of sad. I know that this is no excuse, but it did play a role in why I haven't done as well this past week in the weight loss department.

On last Thursday, my last day at work (teacher work day), we were able to leave early. On the way home, I found some garage sales to check out. I love a good garage sale, because you never know what kind of goodies you can find for a good price. I only ended up buying stuff at one of them, but it was a great find for me. I found a bunch of jeans, shorts, and capris in my current size and most of them were 25 or 50 cents. I also got two t-shirts and a nice pair of size 12 jeans (for that someday in the future when I'm a 12). I spent around $5.75 for all of this stuff:

After that fun, I loaded up all my stuff that I was taking to the garage sale that my mom, sister, and I were having at my mom's house. My mom and sister had furniture and appliances to sell along with their smaller stuff. All I had was smaller household items and a few odd and end items. I helped my sister set up and price this stuff, so it was ready to go on Friday morning. I hope that next year I have lost so much weight that I have a mini clothing store at the garage sale.

This weekend I have done a few things around the house and started my homework for next week. I'm taking two summer classes- Intro to Mental Health Counseling and Counseling Diverse and Multicultural clients. I'm liking the multicultural book so far (two chapters in), but I've always liked learning about culture. Music is an aspect of culture and that is what I teach. I always though it would be cool to be an enthnomusicologist or get a master's in music history.

I know that you are all jealous of my summer reading!

As for around the house, I mowed the front lawn (really regret- my allergies are still killing me two days later), did some dishes, did some laundry, and started grooming the dogs. I also got most of my sickly plants into the ground now. They have been sitting outside in their containers for two weeks now. I'm lucky that they didn't die, but I'm hoping that they turn around now that I have them in the ground.

 

My husband has done a much better job with his garden. This is a whopper strawberry.

 

I'll close this really long post with some total randomness. The doxies like to lie on this sunken in spot in the futon. Lilly is small enough her whole body fits into this spot that we call "the groove." I just caught her napping there and she looks so cute.

Weight Loss Plan for May 20 - May 24

I've found myself having a hard time getting back on track after not doing so well in March and April. It isn't like I don't know what to do, but it is hard to make yourself want to do everything after going through such a stressful time as I did at the end of April. The stressors seem to be gone and I've given myself some time just relax (watch TV and only kind of eat on plan). The result has been a few more pounds added onto what I already gained back. It also doesn't help that I feel like I have a sinus infection due to my allergies and I'm still wearing the boot. I am trying to not let this stuff get me down and just do what I can to get back on track this Monday. I may have fallen off the "weight loss wagon" yet again, but I can't give up on trying again.

I'm also going to try logging what I eat on an actual website instead of just pictures here. My sister has been using Lose It! and likes it a lot, so I'm going to start using it on Monday to track food and exercise. Anyway, here are my plans...

Here is my plan to get back on track:

• meal plan for the week and prepare as much as possible on the weekends
• pick a workout that I can do regardless of the boot and actually do it
• mentally prepare myself to keep on going this time around

My meals for this week will be...

• Breakfast: egg whites, oatmeal, and fruit bites

• Snack: protein granola bar

• Snack: light string cheese and baby carrots

Little note here: I've stopped buying prepackaged fruits/veggies and just make my own baggies by splitting up a big bag of veggies/fruit. It is much cheaper.

• Lunch: peanut butter and jelly sandwich (whole wheat sandwich thin, sugar free jelly, natural peanut butter), applesauce, and WhoNu cookies

• Snack: light string cheese and some green pepper strips

• Dinner: turkey burger (whole wheat bun, a little ketchup, mustard, and one slice of cheese) and sweet potato fries

• Snack: Choice of popcorn, ice cream bar, "healthier" cupcake (cake mix + diet pop)

My workout for the week...

• Try to move a little bit everyday without hurting my Achilles tendon
• Try the Tower 2000 again (only doing upper body and ab exercises)
• Move during commercial breaks during The Voice (either do Tower exercises or something simple with arms and abs)
• Do some housework (cleaning/organizing) or yard work (pulling weeds, preparing garden)

My mental preparation...

• Review my goals
• Review my rewards
• Review my reasons for wanting to lose weight
• Make a plan on what to do if major life stressors interfere with weight loss plan