I finally have a new photo

ack!  Remember that horrible pic of me on day 1?  I forgot how bad it was.  I felt cute on Friday, wearing size 16 jeans and a top that I haven't worn in 2 years, so I made Dave snap a quick pic of me.  & I was pretty impressed.  I have lost 21.8 pounds in 8 weeks, and I feel really good about things.
Yay!

PS:  I was looking back at some old blog posts and I saw one from like 2008 that mentioned the price of gas.  So, here is a note from March 2021: 

3-14-2012  gas is $4.23 per gallon.  my van took 16.59 gallons.  It cost $70.36 for a fill.  That is depressing.  

I found some old weight records

I like to imagine that I remember exactly what I used to weigh, and since I have been watching my weight since I was a teen, that is a lot of numbers to remember.  The truth is, I really have no idea what the actual numbers are.  There are some weights in the past that I can recall: I was down to 145 when Harry was 1.  When I got sick with my "brain thing" I weighed 155.  I don't know what I was when I got married, and I can't recall my heaviest.  (I ended up getting fatter *after* I had Dalin... whatever.)
My main goal right now is to get to my "fire" weight.  That would be where I was when the house burned down. I know that I have gained a ton since the fire, so I am looking forward to getting that off.  With that in mind, I found a few of my old WW weight records.  I should have taken pics of, or copied them off of the card that I had at WW when I was going there, but I never did, so I don't have that info.  But, I have these random cards, so in a effort to not lose these too, here are my past weight loss attempts:

12-29-08      190.6  (the day after my 26th birthday... a good time to start fresh)
 1-05-09       187.4
 1-12-09       186.0
 1-19-09       184.8
 1-26-09       183.6
 2-02-09       180.0
 2-09-09       179.6 (I had my big scrap retreat in big bear after this )
 2-23-09       177.2 (I went to Phoenix after this)
 3-02-09       177.8  (then we had the fire)
 3-23-09       173.6  (so, I was probably around 175 ish when we had the fire. )
 3-30-09       170.6  ( I quit eating after that, so this is my lowest until I started going back up.)
 4-20-09       175.4
 4-27-09       174.0 (& then I guess I just gave up???)
 9-14-09       187.8  (I think I should have stopped there and worked back down, right?)

                                   But no, I am not sure where the other weights are, but I found this sad record:

 4-11-11       205.0  I know that I had been going on and off in 2010,
 4-18-11       202.8     but obviously, whatever I was doing wasn't working.

However, I am pleased to announce that I am finding success with Medifast.  :) and I am happily working my way back down the scale.  I am looking forward to getting rid of my post-fire wardrobe.  I really can't wait to have all new cute clothes that fit and are not circus-tent-huge.  :)

7 weeks done! :)

I am really impressed with how simple this has been.  In the past 7 weeks I am down just about 20 pounds.  & I honestly can't believe what a difference 18+ pounds feels like!  For starters, I was trying to lift a bag of something off the floor.  It was wedged behind something and I asked the boys to help me.  When I got it, I noticed it was heavy.  It was 15 pounds.  Really?  15 pounds was seriously heavy.  I had been walking around with that for over 2 years.  Why???   & more importantly, why did I get this fat to begin with?  Why didn't I take care of this years ago???

I am feeling so much better about myself, and I am still a total fatty!  However, my size 18 jeans are getting lose and I can put them on and off without unbuttoning.  That's pretty cool.  

On Sunday I was able to wear this super-cute twill skirt I bought like 2 years ago. I got it online & when it came I could barely squeeze into.  I think I only  wore it like 1 time. :(   & this week I got to wear it & it looked so nice.  I have a feeling I may not be able to wear it many more times before I get to give it away.  

Dave and I have been talking a lot about this.  We are both really loving this!  (I totally thought he would hate this!  He has been so resistant to dieting in the past)  We have both declared that we are never gonna let this happen to us again.  Being obese is such a huge waste.  There were so many things I would never do because I am such a fatty.  My feet are no longer killing me.  My boobs are no longer smothering me.  (yeah, honestly, I always felt like I was gonna suffocate)  & I have lots and lots more energy.  

I am totally happy that Dave and I committed to do this plan for 6 full months.  I know that I can quit at any time, but I think because we both promised to stick with this, we are really going to go all the way!  (I am pretty sure I would have probably dropped out a few weeks ago.  That is how I have normally done it... diet for a whole month and then feel good & stop)

So, basically, I have completed 7 weeks, and I am feeling awesome and I am really really happy with the results.  :)  

(Oh, & Dave has lost over 40 pounds)

Happy Anniversary to our new and improved family

So, it is March.  Wow.  Yesterday was the 3 year anniversary of our house fire.  Crazy.

We have come a long way in the last 3 years.  We have made a ton of improvements in our family since the fire.  We even all got fatter.  (ok, so that isn't really positive thing) So now we are working on improving our health!  I am really excited that Dave and I are doing this weight loss thing.  I mean, really!
We have been working on this for more than 6 weeks and I am happy to report that things are still going great!  As of Thursday, March 8, I had lost 17.8 pounds.  & for those of you counting, that is like 3 pounds a week.  I will admit that I was having a really hard time during weeks 4-5.  I am not sure what my problem was.  I had good days and bad days, but mostly I was just really hungry.  (I still think it was pms)  However, I am totally over that and not only am I not starving, I feel full of energy.  I know that my friends who have been on Medifast kept saying "oohhh, I feel great and full of energy..." I kinda wasn't buying it.  But I totally feel it now.  (maybe I wasn't in ketosis the whole time, making me feel hungry? )  I am doing something right.

And now, I am feeling so good.  I know it hasn't even been 20 pounds.  and In the past, when I weighed 190 I would feel pretty bad about life.  Honestly, I was just living out of control.  I would "try" to lose weight, but as soon as someone would offer a delightful treat, I would give in and never go back.  Then maybe 7 pounds later I would "try" to lose weight again.  I finally stopped trying to look cute.  I quit wearing makeup.  (still not wearing it yet) I stopped wearing cute clothes.  I would buy ugly cheap clothes on purpose to hopefully shame myself into losing weight so they would end up too big, and I would have to get rid of them.  The sad thing is that I just cleaned out my closet and now I finally got to bag up all of my size 20's!  Yay!  Too bad I had these clothes for over 2 years.  Seriously... Why was I a size 20 for more than 2 years???

I am very optimistic about my new momentum.  I actually feel like I can go out and do stuff.  Like I spent this weekend working in the back yard. (I never ever do that!)  
So, life is good.  Happy Anniversary to our new and improved family!  <3

1 month down, 5 more to go

So, Dave got a new car.  He picked a 2012 Nissan Versa.  It was not my first choice, but the selling point was that the air conditioner was really powerful, and since he will be driving through the desert during the summer, and it was in the 80's when we were down there buying the car in February, we knew he would need something with a serious air conditioner.
Our weight loss is going well.  I am pretty sure I have the placebo.  & for some reason, I am especially hungry this weekend.  I'm not sure why.  I haven't felt like this at all until now.  I haven't started any exercise yet.  I'm still just taking it easy.

We went out for our first restaurant meal on Friday night after we bought the car. We went to Mimi's cafe with Dave's brother Doug and his fiance Christie.  We kept feeding Doug all the bread.  I ordered fish and veggies and Dave got something else and veggies.  It actually wasn't hard at all.

 Dave still has not received his food order.  I am very glad I did so we can share.  I think he was going to fax in our next order today, so hopefully he will get something soon.

He is going on a business trip tomorrow.  He booked a room with a fridge & microwave.  I think I'll send the small blender with him too.  Then on Thursday I am going down to San Diego with Denise to visit Cami, who is flying in from Japan for a conference.  That is going to involve a restaurant too, so I will just have find a salad or something like that.

Dave has lost 28 pounds as of today.  I am down a total of 12.  Dave feels bad that I am not losing as much as him, but I am just thrilled that I am even losing at all!  12 pounds in 1 month sounds great to me!

4 weeks done -> down 11 pounds!

Here we are starting week 5 and  we are doing great!  Dave has lost over 22 pounds and I am at 11 today!  We have gotten into the groove and this seems to be really simple.  I do have my moments when I walk by a banana on the counter, or when I put the kids leftovers away, that I want to just grab a nibble, like I always did, and then I remember what I am doing.  It kinda makes me happy, not feel deprived.  (does that sound strange?) 

One of my friends at work was REALLY successful with medifast a few years ago and gave me a HUGE HUGE supply of her leftovers.  It really came in handy, since Dave still hasn't gotten his food order.  (mine did, so we are ok.... and honestly, I think my friend gave us more than 20 boxes... so he is set!)  My clothes are looser, and if I had size 18 jeans I would totally be wearing them, but I don't ... somehow I skipped from size 16 to 20 when I was going up. 

Last week was a really rough emotional week for me.  Valentine's Day was very nice.  Dave brought me home an awesome bouquet of asparagus and arranged it in a cute vase.  It was pretty awesome.  He grilled Fillet Minion for us for dinner, and I broiled some shrimp, and he had lobster tail.  It was a freezing week and we actually had snow 2 days.  Jordan started swim team practice - in the snow!  But along with all of that really nice stuff, I was very very sad because my CTMH sisters' lost their 10 year old nephew in his battle with cancer.  It was really breaking my heart, and little Oliver Palmer was all I could think of last week.  Then to make it even more fun, Dave got transferred to a new store in La Quinta.  It is a HUGE drive for him, and this will mean HUGE changes on our budget right now.  Gas just went back up to $4 a gallon, and his F150 is not gonna be the commuter car we need, so reluctantly we need to go car shopping.  And soon.  And I really hate car shopping.  Buying a new car is a huge commitment.  What if we get the wrong car?  What if we pay way too much?  So, I was pretty much a wreck all week. 

However,  with all that stuff going on, I am really glad that I am on this Medifast plan.  It has helped me make safe eating choices.  I am pretty sure that I would have been stuffing myself last week if I hadn't had this to focus on.  Seeing that on the page looks a little funny to me.  But, that is how I gained so much weight to begin with.  Each time we faced some kind of crazy life thing, I would eat.  and eat.  And eat.  Wow.  This appetite study came at the perfect time in our lives.  ~ awesome!

We have narrowed our car search down to 2 (or 3) choices.  I think the 2012 Toyota Yaris would be fun.  Dave hates that idea, and the kids all think it is ugly.  So Dave is looking at the brand new 2012 chevy Sonic.  This is its debut year,  it gets great mileage, and the price is right.  He is also looking at a Ford Fiesta.  (honestly, I really don't want that)  It looks like a newer body design, so I guess it won't be too embarrassing.  (but how is the Yaris more embarrassing than a Fiesta???)

 Oh- I have been making the brownies and the chocolate chip soft bake in the waffle iron we borrowed from Elly... YUM!  They come out really nice!  This morning I added an extra TBL of water to my chocolate chip soft bake  (a total of 3 TLB's) and it came out so crunchy and nice.    And last night I baked some chicken breasts with some seasonings.  I chopped it into chunks and served it over a green salad.  It was a GREAT dinner!  

Two weeks down, 5.8 pounds gone. :)

I'm still going at it.  Today is my 15th day on medifast.  I am getting used to it and I even liked the oatmeal  this morning.  It is surprising to me that even though we only get 5 little tiny "meals" plus the lean and green each day, we are not constantly starving.  I was sure I would be starving all the time and miserable.  But I'm not.  Really.  I didn't even have a hard time at Uncle Arnold's Super Bowl party.  I brought my little tiny bag of BBQ crunches, and they served shrimp and the meat had the sauce on the side, and Don made his awesome salad.  We were really fine.  (ok, Dave did freak out a little when he saw the cream puffs, and did have 3 of them, one at a time. He chewed each one and spit it out in the trash.  Seriously gross, but it made him happy ) 

As for me, I have started setting a timer on my phone that goes off every 2  1/2 hours to tell me it is time to eat.  I know it sounds silly, but I really need it so I don't go too long without food.  Yes, I will get hungry if I go more than 3 hours, but more importantly, I want to stay in "fat-burning mode" and they say if I eat every few hours, it will keep me there.  It seems to be working, because since I started timing myself, I have gone down  4 pounds.  That's a grand total of 5.8 pounds in 2 weeks!  And for anyone wondering about Dave, he is doing awesome!  As of yesterday, he was down 18 pounds!!!  I am totally excited for him! 

Oh, & lean and green???  Last night I had the BEST!!!!  I defrosted some shrimp and tossed it in a bag with some salt and garlic and 2 tsp of olive oil.  Shook it around a bit and then put it on a baking sheet.  I broiled it for a few minutes until it was done, and served it over some steamed asparagus.  It truly was beautiful and delish!!!   Dessert  was a medifast chocolate brownie.  I microwaved it for 45 seconds and then popped it into the freezer till I was ready for it.  It was really a treat.  (Oh my goodness, am I really enjoying this???)