Follow up

The hubby took our dog to the vet yesterday, she has been limping around for about a week and a half and it hasn't been getting any better so we decided to take her in. She is an older dog (a Rottie) and has some lumps and bumps on her which the vet says are normal as a dog gets older. But one of these lumps is on her hind leg, right where the leg joint joins the hip bone, this lump is what we think is causing her to limp around. My biggest worry is that because she is walking funny and seems to be favoring her other leg that she may affect her hip joints and in a large breed dog that could mean hip dysplasia!? My other fear is that the vet is going to recommend to remove this lump and do a biopsy, I'm afraid they will find out it is cancer!?

So the vet recommends for our dog to "take it easy" for 10 days, this means NO WALKING!! :O For 10 days!! At first I thought this was an excellent idea - a 10 day vacation for me! ;) But then I forgot how she stares me down after supper and won't leave me alone until she gets to go outside! grrrr It's frustrating, having her stare at me with a slight whine! We also got some anti-inflammatory pills for her, they are like horse pills (huge), she needs to also take these for 10 days - with food, of course! Oh - and they weighed her .... she lost another 5lbs! Now she is 85lbs!! Right where she should be!

Weigh in Wednesday

I feel good today, maybe I woke up on the right side of the bed for a change!? ;) Although I have been very tired lately and almost slept in this morning. I think it is the change in weather, it is starting to get darker earlier and the temperature in the evenings drops to sub-zero temps! Winter is coming and this year I will have to buy a winter jacket. Previous years I have been able to just wear a sweater because I had my own built in insulation, he he, but this year I don't have much insulation left! I would love to get a winter jacket that didn't make me look like a fluff ball with arms and legs! Of course I saw some really nice jackets at Costco last week but we went there the other night and they were all gone! Typical Costco .... if you see something you want there you have to buy it right away cause it might not be there when you go back!

This weeks weigh in was surprisingly really good!?

Week 53 =168.8lbs

(-2.2lbs)

I was pleasantly surprised when I stepped on the scale this morning. I am back in the 16_'s where I would like to be. Not too much planned for this week, this weekend is a long weekend and I would like to get some stuff done around the house before my b-day party. I think we are going shopping tonight to buy a new shed so we can rip down the old one. I think we will also buy all the supplies needed to side the garage?! I plan on going out to St.Albert on Saturday, I need to go to my scrapbook suppliers house and pick up a prize I won and I also want to pick up more supplies to get me through the winter. I think the next album I am going to do is "our house" album. That's about all ... for now! ;)

Another pic update

Before and after ......

The human resources lady that used to work for us took pictures of everyone and put them on a board for all the stores to post. The new human resources lady just asked me if she could post it on Facebook (she started a group for our company) I said I wanted to see it first knowing that it was before my weight loss. Here is my before pic (taken about 1yr ago)- needless to say I told her no! I will post my own pic on the Facebook group! Can you see a difference~?

weekend review

The weekend turned out to be pretty good, Friday was the street legals at the track with a record breaking 207 cars! It was a very busy night and ended around 11:30pm. Saturday was the NAPD diesel truck "black-out" which was very stinky and smokey. After their race there was a junior rental that I decided to stick around and watch. I ended up staying a little longer then expected and felt a little bad cause my hubby had left hours before me. I had visions of him sitting at home alone waiting for me so I decided to leave around 11pm to go see him but when I got home there was a note saying that he decided to go out carousing so it was me that was left home alone to wait for him! :( Sunday was a regular race day but got rained out so we were home fairly early. There are no races on the long weekend (except Friday street legals) so everyone is going to Drayton Valley to race. I have never been to another race track besides ours so I think it would be neat to go watch but it would be even nicer if we had a car to race! I also was hoping to get some stuff done around the house so I doubt we will go?!

The weather has been horrible lately, feels like winter is coming fast!? Hopefully it will get nice again before the white stuff falls! ? I would like to have a nice Halloween this year. It was nice a few years ago when it didn't snow until Christmas - it would be nice if that happened again but I don't think it will!? Not too much else is new with me, no big plans this week except maybe clean the house a bit. We have been so busy lately that the house has been neglected and now you can write your name in the dust! Time to do some fall cleaning!

TGIF!

I went for coffee yesterday with an old friend I found on Facebook, it was so nice to catch up with her and hear all the latest gossip. She always was a good gossiper and seemed to know a little about everyone. If you wanted to know the scoop on anyone she usually would have something to say about them!? I'm not sure how she got all her info but it was always fun to hear the dirt - he he. She really hasn't changed much, besides the fact that she is married now. We talked for about 2 hours and then I headed home, it was fun seeing her again and hopefully we will do it again soon!

I also picked up my rings yesterday from getting sized, I missed my rings greatly and it feels so good to be able to wear them again! I was also looking around at the jewelers when I was there ... just to see what they had, but boy were their prices expensive!! I think they try to trick you cause they had these huge price tags on their rings and after you look at one you like they say it's on sale for this outrageous price (like half off) so you feel better about spending only $2500 as opposed to $5000 for a ring! :O Which I don't think I would ever spend $2500 on a ring but after he gave me the "sale" price it didn't feel so bad to spend that much on a ring. Where if he just told me the sale price right away I would have just walked away! I don't think there really is a sale I think they just raise the prices so you feel like you are getting this big deal that you just can't resist cause it's on "sale"?? Make sense ?

There are races this weekend but I don't want to stay out at the track, I think we will come home every night. Tonight is the boring street legals, tomorrow is a diesel "blackout" (which will be stinky and smokey), then Sunday is the regular weekend races. After this weekend we should have three weekends off from racing!!! I am hoping to get LOTS done around the house on the long weekend, hopefully building a new shed and siding the garage! And the third weekend in September is my big 3-0 birthday bash at our house so I need to get things organized for that. We also are suppose to start a new season of bowling soon too, Sept 6th I think!?! We play 5 pin every Thursday night (9pm - 11ish), it usually makes for a rough Friday but it's fun and gets us out in the winter.

Weigh in Wednesday

Today is my one year anniversary on my weight loss journey!! It's hard to believe that I started a whole year ago! ? It doesn't feel like I have been trying to loose weight for a entire year and I feel like I was successful at it too! ;) One year ago today I weighed in at 251.8lbs, it was quite the wake up call, I honestly had no idea that I weighed that much and when I looked at myself in the mirror I always told myself that I didn't look that big and that I must carry my weight well!?! I think this is just what I told myself to make myself feel better, when in fact I look back now at old pictures and think "holy sh*t - I was big"!! I feel like I will continue to be on this journey for the rest of my life and hopefully it will get easier as I go along but I don't want it to feel too easy or I might slip back into my old ways and slowly put the weight back on! I still need to weigh in every week (for now) and I still need to do a mental check on how much water, fruit, veggies and dairy I have had for the day. I'm not saying that I am going to be super strict about my diet but rather I need to still make good decisions when it comes to eating out. I will still take the dog for her walks and I want to go back to bowling this winter. So for this weeks weigh in:

Week 52 = 171.0lbs

(-0.4lbs)

I have lost -80.8lbs after one year and even though I am not at my original goal I am happy with where I am at. I went from being in a plus size 22 to a regular size 9!!! Which I don't ever remember being, even though I'm sure it's because of vanity sizing now a days but it's still a size 9!! ;) I feel like I have more self confidence then I have ever had and I actually feel like people are looking at me and not just some fat lady. I definitely think that I owe a little credit to my friends and family, without their support I don't think I would have carried on with the diet as long as I have. My hubby was especially patient and now reaps the benefits of a skinnier me!! ;) The other day I came home from work to find a movie on the counter (Barnyard - it's a cartoon) and when I went to put my lunch bag away I found another move (Flushed away - another cartoon) that he had bought for me..... one "just because" and the other for my one year anniversary on the diet! He also bought himself a movie (Wild hogs - with John Travolta and Tim Alan) we watched it last night, it was really good! We also had nachos and popcorn - my two weaknesses but as you can see I still lost -0.4lbs so I must have been smart about portion size!?

So I would just like to thank my family and friends for never making me feel like I needed to loose weight but supporting me while I did. They accepted me the way I was and I'm sure they will continue to love me the way I am. I love you guys/ gals and thank you for never looking at me funny when I brought my own food to gatherngs !! :)

Weekend Review

Well the weekend was good, I was so happy when Friday ended and the weekend was about to begin! No more babysitting the drivers or helping the "ass man" do his job! Hubby picked me up at 4:30 on Friday and we headed straight out to Robb, only stopping at the local truck stop for a quick bite to eat. The drive out was very nice especially when we turned off highway 16 and started heading down the secondary highway. We were so close to the mountains that you could almost see them and the pine trees seemed to take over towering above the highway. It was a really pretty drive into the town and when we finally got there we only had to drive around for about 5 minutes before we found family! They directed us to the school where my in laws were camped and we made ourselves at home! It was very foggy almost the entire time we were out there and was very cold and damp for the middle of August. We played a couple games of boccie and sat by the fire for a bit before heading to bed. The next day was the wedding and we helped set up the tent for the ceremony, everything was very classy for a outdoor country wedding. The reception was also a very good time I tried to dance quite a bit to help work off dinner. We stayed for most of the gift opening and headed home at 12:30. On the way home we stopped at my Dad's to pick up the dog and have a quick visit. My brother and SIL were there with their kids so we go to had a visit with them as well. We finally got home at 4:30!! It felt so nice to be home, even though family made us feel more then welcome when we were there it was still a good feeling to have a shower and relax on the couch! ;)

busy ...

After work today we need to go out to St.Albert to drop my dog off at my Dads so he can babysit her while we are out of town at the wedding. I'm a little worried about this, only because lately her legs have been bothering her. Last night she was limping a lot and her hind legs would shake if she would stand on them too long. This morning there is no change, she limped her way into the living room to have oatmeal with my hubby. She is getting old, 11yrs, and I am a little worried that since she is a Rottie she may have hip dispalsia (sp?), which is apparently very common in Rottie's. Hopefully it is just sore bones from all the rain we have had lately but I hate leaving her when she isn't feeling very well. It's like leaving your baby with a sitter when they have a cold! ?

Only one and a half more days till my boss is back and it seems like each day is getting harder and harder. I think I definitely have the more stressful of jobs here and honestly don't think I get paid enough to "baby sit" the so called "assistant manager", I think I am going to ask for a raise when my boss gets back and hopefully I will be backed up by our salesman to tell him how much I did!

Weigh in Wednesday

I can't help but feel slightly disappointed with my weigh in this week, maybe it's because TOM is coming, maybe it's a little bit of guilt for indulging too much? My shopping trip last night wasn't half as much fun as it was the last time I went!? Nothing seemed to fit right and I had to keep getting larger sizes!!!! :o And the sales people working at the store were no help at all so I had to keep getting re-dressed to go grab different sizes! I wish she would have asked me how I was doing and then I could have asked her to get me a larger size! I did end up finding some new clothes - dress pants with a very light brown pin strip in them, a dress shirt that is crushed suede and two new casual tops that will be good for cooler weather! ;) Never again will I go shopping when it is the week that TOM is coming! @$%&^@

So I should have know better then to sneak a peak at the scale earlier this week, it made my expectations for today too high! Not that my weigh in today was horrible, it's just that 3 days ago I weighed in at less then what I weighed in today so I feel like I got robbed those pounds? I can't think of anything I did differently from 3 days ago till today? Well - actually that is kinda a lie .... we did have tomato and bacon sandwiches for supper the other night and of course I only had one sandwich.... with a side of extra bacon! :o he he Well I'm sure you all want to know just how bad it was and what all my commotion is about -- honestly it's not bad... I still lost .... just not as much as I had hoped for!

Week 51 = 171.4lbs

(-0.6lbs)

See it's not that bad .... I still lost, and I am happy about it - I just should have never snuck that peak! And if you noticed, next week will be my one year anniversary!!! I can hardly believe it - it went by so fast! I feel like this is the longest journey I have ever been on and will be on for the rest of my life! I wish that I was like one of those girls that doesn't even have a clue on what a calorie is, they can eat what ever their little hearts desire and still be thin!? How do they do it!? And why did they get blessed with a high metabolism and not me!? Why do I have to watch my diet for the rest of my life?! I wonder if it's because I wasn't a very active kid? Maybe they were in tons of sports which trained their metabolism early?! I sure hope my kids don't have to watch their diet as much as me and are blessed with my hubbies metabolism! ;)

A little busy lately ....

I am counting down the days until my boss returns, I have 4 more - including today! I can hardly wait till he gets back, I hate dispatching! I feel like I have to babysit them (the drivers) all the time and the one time I don't go in the back to check off what parts they brought back is the one time that parts are missing or get delivered to places that weren't billed for them! ? It's not like these drivers are new, they have been working with us since we opened our door two years ago, they should know how to do their job by now with me telling them! And to top things off the guy that is suppose to be the assistant manager has all of a sudden denied the position and claims that he is not the 'ass man' and that he merely just has a key to get into the building! ? Which leaves me doing all the paper work and cashing out! Yesterday was a super bad day - I was totally stressed by the time I had to go home! I am hoping that the missing parts from yesterday will turn up sometime today and I'm hoping that the guy that also answers the phone helps a little more. He is much to old to be working and I feel that he should be retired already. Everyday I have to tell him how to do his job, it's like he forgets from the day before - maybe the beginnings of altzimers!? Anyway - he should take more days off, it would be less stressful for me! I'm going to give my boss a hug when he gets back and if he expects me to do this next time I will definitely be needing a raise! :P

I'm going shopping tonight, we have a wedding this weekend out of town (close to the mountains), I'm expecting it to be cold so I need a warmer outfit then the one I wore to the wedding last month plus I just want new cloths! I'm not sure if I want a pant suit or dress, but whatever I decide to get tonight will also be my outfit for the track banquet in October. I'll have to see what's on sale!? I am also going to bring my rings with me to get sized, I miss my rings - especially my wedding band and can hardly wait to be able to wear them again! The track is finishing off the race that got rained out last week so I will be home alone tonight. :(

a big myth??

I remember before I started dieting everyone would tell you to make sure and drink 6-8 glasses of water! I always kind of thought that this was just a myth to help fill you up so you didn't eat as much!~? I tried not to drink too much water, I feel like I pee enough as it is and didn't really need help in that department! If anything I thought I would probably get more exercise from having to walk to the bathroom every hour! he he I am now a huge believer in making sure to get my 6-8 glasses of good ole H2O! As you probably already know I let loose a bit in Edson and ended up gaining +4lbs over the weekend (I blame the booze) LOL ;) But since Wednesday weigh in I have been back on track with my water intake and have drinking it like crazy! I am happy to say that this morning I snuck a peak at the scale and jumped on to see if I was doing any better, well I am back down to 169.4 (unofficial), yeah! I find it so odd that by just making sure to drink your water your weight can fluctuate that much!? I haven't changed my diet, in fact I feel like I am eating more now then I ever have and yet I am down 2.6lbs in 2 days! The only answer is that it was all water weight!?

We are suppose to be working at the race tack tonight but it is raining outside! So if it doesn't clear up by 4:00 this afternoon they will probably cancel the race, not that I would be too upset about that - it's just a street legal! ;) The rest of the weekend is suppose to be nice, it is the "bike drags" this weekend at the track and I think I will work it this time. I told them at the beginning of the year that I didn't want to do the bike's but I guess the lady doing my job at the last one sucked so they are kinda hoping that I will work this one, even though I have never really said I would and they have never really asked me if I would!? I'm not sure if we will work at the track full time next year or not, we didn't get anything done this year around the house! We had planned to do so much this year - finish or start the basement, side the garage, build new sheds, install the new sky light, finish the patio door .... the list goes on! We didn't get one of those things done and I think we will be lucky if we get the garage sided by my birthday party!

Well that's all for me today ..... gotta get to work now! ;) Have a good weekend!

Not so nice out ...

Well I made it through another busy day at work and haven't been fired yet! ;) Only one call from the boss about my cash out and some missing invoices but that's all! :) It wasn't very nice out yesterday but I still took the dog for her walk after supper, I feel like I have to get back on track. After our walk I decided to make cookies. A few months ago I bought some cookie dough from my niece who was selling it as a fundraiser for dance. It is pre-mixed cookie dough and all you have to do is scoop it onto the pan and throw into the oven! Super simple -- but because it has been so hot out lately I have been putting off baking cookies. They turned out pretty good and made quite a few, I still have one more tub of dough to make - maybe in a few weeks!?

The races also got rained out last night which means we will probably have to finish them off on the next race weekend. This weekend is the "bike drags" but the weather doesn't look too promising - I think it will get rained out too!?

I stayed up much too late last night reading Harry Potter, not the new book but The Chamber of Secrets. I have watched the movies and really enjoyed them and I always heard people talk about the books and how good they are so I thought I would give the books a try. I'm glad I did, it has been a long time since I've read a book that I actually enjoyed! I can't wait to start reading the next book, which I have already bought. I have a coffee date tonight with my best est bud and a girl I haven't seen in about 10 years ? We found each other again on Facebook and decided we need to met for coffee to reminisce on the old times! ;) It should be tons of fun but hopefully I won't stay up late again, I really need to catch up on my sleep! :o

Weigh in Wednesday

Week 50 = 172.0lbs

(+4lbs!!!!!)

I hate how it seems so hard to loose the weight but yet one "fun" weekend can set you back weeks of hard work! Although I am not entirely disappointed about this gain, it was all in fun - one weekend of fun. I will get back on track with my water and veggies and in no time will be back in the 16_'s. It just amazes me at how easy it would be to gain it all back, if you weren't watching the scale every week by the end of the month you could be almost 20lbs up at this rate! ? Which is exactly why I plan on weighing myself every week even on maintenance, at least for the first 6 months till I know I am on track.

There is a big race at the track tonight but I'm not going! I would have had to take this afternoon off work and probably tomorrow morning too and I was not about to do that! It is a big night race with 8 jet cars, the show probably won't be over till midnight and by the time you fight the crowd to get out of he parking lot it would be close to 1am by the time I got home! Another busy day today at work - I have stock orders to pick, returns to write up and the phone won't stop ringing! So I best be going ..... back to work! ;)

Weekend Review

It was a very good, long weekend - starting with Friday and the drive out to Edson after work! I was able to sneak out a little early from work and picked up my Dad, then headed home to load up the car and get the dog. We were all loaded up and hit the road at about 5:40pm but me being an idiot I ended up taking the scenic way to get out of town, it took us an hour just to get to Spruce Grove! Which is normally about a 30min drive! he he We finally found a place to have supper and made it out to Edson by 9:30!! (Normally it is about a two hour drive to get to Edson - took me 4hrs!!) :O Needless to say we missed their first game, which they lost.

Now since my memory is terrible I can't recall which game we won but we did end up winning one of the four games we played! It was a really close game, every game is on a hour and a half deadline so after the hour and a half of playing was over we were tied with the other team. We had to play two more innings in order to break the tie, which we did and won the game! Our games were spaced out nice, which was kinda good but also bad... with the delay between games a lot of our players just kept drinking, they would start in the morning with either Baileys in their coffee or a beer and just keep going until they crashed (usually around 2am)! The only problem that I had with them drinking so much was that they were almost too drunk to play! But the weekend was about having a good time and I'm sure everyone did!

I ended up bringing a lot of my own food, I wouldn't say that I was letting loose with what I ate but I also didn't worry about having a hand full of chips or potato salad with supper. I did still take the dog for her walks at night and I tried to eat extra fruit and yogurt when I started feeling hungry. I wish I would have played this year, I am in better shape this year then I have been in previous years and I think I could have done really good! ? Although my calves are sore and I feel as if I did play ball? Maybe it's just sympathy pains for the team! ? he he I guess we will see tomorrow just how "bad" of a weekend I had, diet wise.

My boss is on holiday's for the next two weeks so I am in charge of doing all the work that he normally does, so I may not have as much time to post as I normally do. I'm hoping to be able to post a little everyday still but don't hold your breath! I may be too busy! ? ;)

Fun Friday :)

Hubby left yesterday to go to the ball tournament so I was home alone! I decided to dye my hair since I was home alone! he he It turned out pretty good, I think!? I bought this kit at Shopper's that was on sale for $20, it was a streak kit. I was thinking of going blonde but of course I chickened out and bought the kit that was a little more what I'm used to. I had to do a complete dye job first, which came out as a mahogany color. Then I tried to do streaks but it was kinda hard to do them by myself, they turned out quite orange - more red then I thought they would be!? I was hoping they would be a little lighter but I think it looks OK. It took almost an hour to dye and streak my hair, hubby doesn't know that I did it so we will see how long it takes for him to notice tonight! ? ;)

After work today I have to go pick up my Dad from his job, go home and pick up the dog and all our stuff (clothes/ food), stop for dinner and then we will be on the highway headed to Edson! It should take us about two hours to get there, just in time to see the teams first game! I'm so looking forward to this weekend, it should be tons of fun and relaxing for me (since I'm not playing). I'm kinda dreading the drive on the highway, the roads always seem to be worse on long weekends, everyone is in such a hurry and drive like idiots! Hopefully since we are leaving so late we won't run into any moron drivers! ;)

Hope you have a great weekend! Here is a little bit of trivia for you....

Calories burnt from doing only 20 minutes of:

ACTIVITY CALORIES
Leisurely walk 80
Dancing 120
Cycling 160
Running 90
Aerobics 140
Weights 140
Cleaning 50
Driving 35
Swimming 100
Tennis 120
Rowing 200
Golf 45
Circuit Training 260
Skipping 100
Gardening 160
Skiing 130

You can also check out THIS website to see how many calories are burnt doing other activities! :)

Weigh in Wednesday!

Week 49=168lbs

(-1.8lbs)

I feel like I am loosing more weight now than I did when I was actually trying!? I have been adding more protein/ dairy everyday and if I feel like having a snack I usually don't think twice about it. I am still trying to eat healthy and instead of having a cookie for a snack I would probably have a salad or apple. I was pleasantly surprised when I stepped on the scale this morning, I was hoping to see a 169 but was amazed at the 168!! I received my last NS order yesterday and too my disappointment there was only my 80lb bear in the box~!! I was so hoping they would feel pity on me and send my goal bear, seeing's how I wanted this to be my last order. I could call them and ask for them to send the rest of my bears out since I am so close to goal and probably won't be ordering anymore NS food but I kinda feel like I'm cheating if I do that?! I haven't really earned my goal bear yet or my 90lb bear and it may take me another 3 months to get to that point. I think I will just wait a bit and maybe in 2-3 months I will just put a ala carte order in and hopefully they will send my bears then (when I've earned them)!? If I ever do? :P

When I was at the farmer's market on the weekend I bought this soup (lentil soup) that all you have too do is add 10 cups of water to it and whala! So I decided to make it a few days ago, what I didn't know when I bought the bag of beans and seasoning is that it recommends to cook the soup on the stove for 2 hours!! Well with this heat wave we have been having I was not about to turn my stove on for 2 hours just to heat up the house. So instead they had instructions to cook it in a slow cooker for 6-8 hours! So this is how I cooked it, it turned out pretty good, I added extra carrots and onions to it. It turned out like split pea soup, next time I think I will add more protein like some chicken or ham!? It made enough soup for 6 days lunch, not bad for $6.00!