Week 7, I think.

I haven't blogged and I haven't really exercised. Only once this week. I know, I know. I haven't given up and tossed this aside. I've been having problems with my left shoulder/arm. I went to the doctor last week and the doctor thought that I had a pinched nerve or a pulled muscle and recommended physical therapy. I went to my first PT appointment last Thursday. After going through the evaluation which brought me to tears, it has been decided that I am having some rotator cuff issues along with a frozen shoulder. My PT appointments are on Tuesday's and Thursday's, right after work. I'll be going for at least a month of two. If no improvement after a month, I get sent for an MRI.

I'm not wimpy, I can handle a high tolerance to certain pains, other pain not so much. Again I was brought to tears during my exercises yesterday, as well as when the PT stretched me out afterwards. I kept telling myself that I know I'm going to have to go through a great deal of pain before this feels better and I am 100%. Not a very comfortable night sleeping and was in a lot of discomfort this morning and during the day. In less than 24 hours I'll be going through this again. The ice pack and the recliner have become my best friends. I'm not whining, well maybe a little, but I keep thinking back to the surgery and months of PT my husband had, I can do this.

So hang in there, I'll be back around. The 3 of us will be back around. Dan suggested the walking video, but not doing the arm movements. Yes, that is what we will do.

I have not and nor will I give up. Honestly exercise makes me feel better! Not exercising makes me feel crappy.

Thanks for stopping by!

This is my blog, my thoughts, my words, my feelings.

Getting My Kicks with the Start of Week Six!

Today was just one of those days. Apparently when I got dressed for work, I put on my cranky pants. No real reason for being cranky, well not that I knew of. I just feel off today. School was delayed, so I got to sleep in 40 minutes longer, but I really didn't sleep well. Went to bed later, my left arm/shoulder hurts really bad and that wakes me up and I had a cup of coffee around 7:30 last night. Usually I can drink a whole pot and it doesn't bother me, last night...it did.

So today is the beginning of Week 6. I have 5 weeks of exercise behind me. I'm a little frustrated, I have yet to see a result of exercising 5 days a week. I know, I know, every little bit helps. When someone as large as me is trying to become a smaller version, results aren't quick to see. This weekend was a crap food weekend. I did not over indulge, I just didn't eat real great. Today I made sure I was more aware of what I was shoveling in. I have tonight's dinner left overs for tomorrow's lunch. My big meal will be at noon. Hubby will have left overs for tomorrow's dinner and Danny and I will have a sandwich. I've found that I really like eating a bigger meal at noon, then something light at dinner time. Now that Dan is home every night for dinner, I feel that I must make a real meal... In honesty, he could care less. I could make him toast and pour him a bowl of cereal and he'd be happy.  So now that I have this exercise thing down, I have to work on my food, what I eat and the portions. I also have to increase my water. Rome wasn't built in a day and it took 46 years for me to reach this horrible, disgusting size, everything will mesh and it will slowly come off.

While dinner was in the oven, I walked away those pounds with Leslie. I was a loner today. My guys didn't join in. Dan's knee was bothering him, he sat on the couch with the heating pad, Danny sat on the other couch dozing on and off. At first I felt a little slighted, then irritated, then I just decided eff it, I'm exercising. I put myself into my own little bubble and pretended they weren't even in the room with me. I zoned. When I was finished, both of them told me what a great job I did and they both promised to join me tomorrow without my asking. I love that we as a family do this, but I am doing this for me. I can not depend on someone to do it with me. I am responsible for me. I could have very easily said screw it today because no one else was going to exercise, but I didn't. I can not do that.

Tomorrow is going to be a crazy Tuesday. The delay call from the school came. I know I can sleep in until 6:00. I have a doctor's appt. after work. I'm finally going to have my left arm and shoulder checked out. This has been going on far too long. For the past 2 weeks it keeps getting harder and harder to sleep. I've noticed a decrease in my strength and over the weekend pain was traveling down into my wrist and fingers. It sucks getting old, I feel like I'm falling apart.

I took a picture after walking this afternoon, not the best quality, I used Danny's iPod. I had that nice shimmery glean.... my fat was crying, red face and messy hair.  And I felt great afterwards. This is the real me.

For those of you who are still following my journey, thank you. Please become a follower. Share my blog with your friends. It would be so incredibly wonderful to have a little support network out there. We can all help one another to become healthier versions of ourselves!

This is my blog, my thoughts, my words, my feelings.

A Family That Exercises Together...

Wow! I can not believe today is Day 5 of Week 5. We as a family exercised together for 5 days this week! I am proud of my family. It's a tiny step, but we as a family took that step. A step in the right direction. 

It was 5:30 and I mentioned exercise... hmmm what to do. The idea of Richard Simmons was a tossed out suggestion, but to my surprise, Danny suggested a walking video. This was the first time he has ever suggested any form of exercise. There was no way I was going to say no. Danny and I started the Leslie Sansone Walk Away the Pounds. Dan did his shoulder exercises, then joined us in walking at the 1/2 mile mark. Although it was only a 1 mile walk, it was 1 mile we wouldn't have walked if we didn't do it.

Maybe this spring I'll be able to keep up with Miss Lisbeth walking around town. I won't have the OMG you're killing me feeling, I can't keep up. However, when the time comes and Miss Lisbeth is on Full Speed Ahead, if needed, I will speak up and ask her to shift it down a notch :)

I know males have the tendency to lose weight quicker, their bodies shape up faster... I can not let this discourage me.

I am just so over the top happy that we as a family did some form of exercise for 5 days. I can not wait for Week 6 to begin on Monday. WE have set our sails in the right direction and are becoming a healthier version of us! YAY!!!

We are expecting a snow storm tomorrow. Although I like taking the weekends off from exercise, I know the 3 of us will be outside shoveling snow in the driveway.

Have a great weekend! Keep warm and safe wherever you may be!

This is my blog, my thoughts, my words, my feelings.

Tuesday, Not a good day. Week 5

Today is Tuesday. It hasn't been a good day. My day began at 3:00 a.m. when I woke up in pain. My left hip. I have no idea what happened or what I did, but it hurt and it hurt bad. I took 3 ibuprofen and went back to bed. There was no comfortable position. Out to the living room I went. Reclining in the chair didn't make the pain any better. I went back to into my bed. At least it was warm under the comforter. 2 more ibuprofen at 6:45 and the heating pad. At 7:10, Danny and I were off...

Got to work at 8:00, boss man wasn't in yet, he arrived by 8:15, was cranky, stayed 20 minutes and went home. Best thing ever. I found a comfortable position, laying 1/2 way over my desk. Unfortunately I could not spend my day that way. Whenever I got a chance, I laid across my desk. It seemed to relieve some of the pain, maybe stretching it out, I don't know. I pushed myself to walk out in the warehouse a little more than usual, I figured if I didn't move, it would get worse. When I got home I hit the recliner with the heating pad and fell asleep for an hour.

After dinner and clean up, it was a little after 7:00, I had to exercise. I didn't want to exercise because of my hip, but I forced myself to and I did it. The 3 of us exercised. Danny not completely, but I wasn't in the mood to push tonight. Dan started out by doing his shoulder exercises. About 1/2 way into the video, I turned to my right and Dan was doing the video with me. A little wave of emotion came over me.

Last night while I was getting my shower, Dan came in for our usual chat. We do that. Basically it is the only place where we can have a discussion without Danny being there. He told me that he is glad to be home with us, but even more than that, he is so happy that I started exercising. He was encouraging, "You're going to notice a difference, not in 2 weeks, maybe not in 8, but if you keep doing this like you are, you will see your results."

Dan is amazed at what kind of exercise videos are found on the Internet. He thought that I did videos on the TV and played the Wii. I have no set program, whatever I feel like doing that day, I do. I don't want to get bored, I don't want to get into the same routine. I don't want to get to the point that I don't want to do this anymore.

At first I wasn't fond of the idea of sharing my exercise, but after tonight, I think I'm going to like it. Dan's range of motion isn't 100% from his surgery and mine isn't either because of my size. But watching him do it to the best of his ability was the exact little push I needed to complete my program to the best of my ability.

If you are still reading this, please let me know you were here. Become a follower too. I won't mind in the least bit.

"A body in motion, stays in motion."

This is my blog... my thoughts.... my words.... my feelings.

Stayin' Alive with Week Number 5

 Wow!!! Today is the beginning of Week 5 for me. In all honesty, I did not exercise as much as I should have last week and I noticed a difference, but I didn't quit!!! I got back on it today.

Exercising now has come to a whole new level. My husband is working a different shift now. He will be home with us every evening. We get to have dinner together every day. I missed the family dinners with the 3 of us when he was on afternoon shift. This shift will take some getting used to, but I/we absolutely love that he is home with us.

Last Friday, Dan and I were talking and he was asking about exercising and asked if Danny and I did it on Thursday, I didn't lie, I told him that we didn't. He told me that now that he is going to be home he is going to push me into doing it. Push me? Those 2 words felt like hot embers. No one is going to push me. Like I said from the very beginning, this is all on me. I'm not making promises. I have always been the type of person that if I feel I'm being forced into doing something, I just won't do it. I stop... completely. So I looked at him and said, "I don't need pushed." Then he corrected himself, he asked if he could exercise with me. I said sure.

I gave Dan a little fair warning beforehand, he asked if we were going to dance. I didn't feel like dancing today... wasn't sure if I felt like walking, but I discovered these Launchpad Exercise Videos on youtube and love them. The one I did today was Stage 2, Episode 1. Dan didn't do the video with me, but he did his shoulder exercises that he was slacked on since PT finished up a couple of weeks ago. I have to admit that I was a little nervous having him in the living room with me while I was exercising, why??? He's my husband... we've been together forever. Anyway, I did my exercise video, he did his exercises, he finished before me and did join in at the end. Danny came upstairs and did a few leg lifts. A few minutes into my video, I didn't even know Dan was there. I focused and focuses on myself. He had encouraging words a long the way, that was a nice little boost. Danny also encouraged.

After exercise I finished getting dinner ready. I used the crock pot today. Venison roast with carrots and I made homemade mashed potatoes. We all sat down for a family dinner and it was yummy. It felt nice, it felt good. Kitchen is all cleaned up and as soon as I am done with my blog, we will have a few more hours together, as a family.

I love the above picture of Tess. She is my plus size super hero. She is absolutely gorgeous! I wish I had 1/10th of the confidence she has. Beauty isn't a size and I wish people would understand that. Sadly they do not. Weight is only a number, I do not want to be a number, I haven't gotten on the scale. I will when I have a doctors appointment at the end of March. I have a vision, a vision of a size I want to be.

As I am finishing my blog, thinking about my Monday, I've had a great Monday. It was bitter, nasty cold. Boss man was cranky as hell, but I'm here, I'm happy. I exercised, my spirits lifted, my guys are home and I'm content.

This is my blog, my thoughts, my words, my feelings.

Berries, Berries and More Berries

My second day into Week 4. I'm still amazed at myself.

Not a lot to blog about today. It was a crazy day. Left the house at 7:10 a.m. and didn't get home until 5:15 p.m. I stopped at Aldi on my way home, that was my first stop... They had fresh berries on sale. I've been craving fresh fruit, summer fruit... I got my berry fix today for sure. Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and Dried Cranberries for my salad. I also bought fresh veggies to make a nice salad. I would have been fine with salad and fresh fruit, but I still would have had to make something for Danny for dinner. I also bought a take-n-bake pizza.

While the pizza was baking, I was preparing my salads, I also made my lunch for tomorrow, which is the same thing I had for dinner tonight.

Healthy food is pretty food. All of the pretty colors, the more color, the better for you it is. I believe it also satisfies your pallet too. I ate my salad first, for my dressing I used a Cranberry Pear Balsamic Vinegar mixed with a Basil infused evoo. OH MY! Delish! A much better, heart healthy dressing and so tasty! Normally I would have went for a 3rd piece of pizza, but I had a hard time trying to finish my 2nd piece. I'm proud of myself for eating healthy (except for pizza) tonight and eating until I was satisfied, not stuffed.

It's too late to exercise tonight, I'll never be able to fall asleep. I feel bad about not doing anything, but I did get a few good walks in today. Parking further away from the stores I went to today and walking the whole way around the inside of the stores. Also at work, I did quite a few upper body exercises while at my desk and when my boss wasn't there. Although I would like to do more, I just can't. I need my sleep.

I won't be able to blog tomorrow, my 4 favorite littles are coming over for a visit. We're going to have a blast. 

Enjoy your night!

Thanks for stopping by!

This is my blog, my thoughts, my words, my feelings.

I Exercised Today, Did You? Week 4

Week 4!!! Wowzers! I'm just starting into my 4th week. I'm not one to pat myself on the back, but I am patting myself on the back!

Last week was hard. Too many bad work days, too many body aches. I slacked and will be the first to admit it. I know I exercised on Thursday, but I honestly do not remember what I did.

Friday was the Garth Brooks concert. I didn't exercise, I indulged! A little too much. Didn't eat the right food and drank a little too much.... O.k., I drank A LOT!!! I paid for it dearly on Saturday as I was worse than a slug's slug. No excuses, but it sure was a fun girl's night out. Something that we all needed.

Today at work, my work buddy looked at me and said, "Sharon, you look like you've lost 5 or 10 pounds." I looked at him and told him he was full of shit and walked back into my office. I kept thinking about that all day... I really don't feel like, I don't think I look like I have. There is no way possible. I'm not doing enough to lose that much. Finally at the end of the day I had to ask him if he was serious or just joking. He is quite the kidder. I made it perfectly clear that if he was messing with me that I was o.k. with it. He said, "No, I wasn't joking. You look like you have lost weight. Sharon when people our size (he is chubby too) lose weight and it is noticed, it is a nice thing to hear. We need to hear it." I thanked him.

Well that was the morale boost I needed. I got home from work, didn't take my 30/45 minute nap, got dinner in the oven and went into my Pinterest Boards. I did a 27 minute chair work out. It was fun, didn't seem like it took 27 minutes, I could feel it, but I enjoyed it. That's right, I just said I enjoyed exercising. Tomorrow is one of my crazy days. I'll fit something in, somehow. I'm looking forward to it.

And just a little dinner note, I roasted a 1/2 of a turkey breast, but first I melted a little "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Light" and added Frank's Wing Sauce to it. Danny got out his injector and injected the turkey breast. OMG!!! Delicious! You must try it!

One positive thing that I have noticed, my feet haven't looked like sausages for about 2 weeks now. I ordered a pair of boots on line before Christmas. The right one fit, the left was tight and I couldn't get the zipper zipped the whole way. The boots are low, ankle length/height. Well I tried them over the weekend. The right one fit, I knew it would. I put the left one on, it's a little tight because my left foot is a little wider than my right, BUT.....   the zipper zipped the whole way up and it was not tight on my ankle!!!! I'll be wearing my new boots this week!

As for the blog, I don't think I'm going to write it every day, maybe 2 or 3 times a week. Just want to put that out there, don't want you to think I have given up. Sometimes it is hard to write every night. If you are still hanging in here with me and following along on my journey, I thank you from the bottom of my heart!

This is my blog, my thoughts, my words and my feelings.

Wednesday - Week 3

Well what can I say about today? It was an extremely difficult day at work. A mistake I made, which, usually wouldn't be that big of a deal, but it was with a company that we are having problems with and everything is snowballing with them. My boss heard me when I told the office manager that the mistake was my fault and I know I'm going to get my ass reamed for it. Rightfully so. The reaming wasn't too bad, but the ignorance that followed the rest of the day was uncalled for. I am a sensitive soul. I should have grew a pair today, but I didn't it. Instead, I went through my entire stash of emergency chocolate. Yep, I did! I have  had a stash of seven (7) Hershey Dark Chocolate Squares. I love dark chocolate, oh hell who am I kidding? I LOVE CHOCOLATE...ALL CHOCOLATE. Anyway, 3 of these squares is a serving size, so in reality I hate 2 + servings, which sounds a lot better than 7 squares. I felt like a bloated, stuck pig afterwards and was so mad at myself. Did it really give me comfort and help me get through the day? Not really. Was it worth it? Not really. The only good thing that came out of me eating my emergency chocolate stash is that it is gone and should a crappy day at work come again, I'll have to grow a pair since I have no chocolate to eat.

Today was just hard. I woke up achy. My knees hurt really bad. Well everything hurt really bad. Parts of my body that I didn't even know existed hurt. Danny and I stood outside in the cold yesterday for almost an hour, (it was worth it.) I pedaled for exercise last night, I didn't move as much at work today, tied to my desk and the change of weather, sunny and 44 degrees at 2:30, then the temps dropped, are still dropping and it's snowing like a beotch. Barometric pressure change.  Oh and the fact that I am extremely overweight and so out of shape. I would say that my aches and pains today are from that even though I would like to blame it on my other excuses...

No energy, feeling sorry for myself, crappy day... as much as I hurt when I got home, I did not want and I repeat did not want to exercise. That's it, I'm done I thought to myself. I made it 2-1/2 weeks into my journey, I'm calling it quits. Well something made me get my huge ass out of the chair and I popped in Richard Simmons. It was like magic, even though I hurt, I smiled. I exercised. Richard encouraged me. At the end of the video, Richard Simmons told me he was proud. I thanked him out loud. Yes I know he is not really in my living room.Yes, I know he really isn't talking to me. But for the length of the video, I believe he is here with me and I believe that yes, he wants to help me, he wants to help me with my journey and he believes in me.

One of the signs that I am trying to recognize is the feeling of be satisfied versus the feeling of being full...over stuffed. I've been doing really well. Until dinner tonight. We had burgers, yes, burgers are at least a once a week meal. We had burgers, fries (which I counted) and I had a big salad with lots of black olives. Yes, I LOVE BLACK OLIVES! I will eat black olives until I get the OMG I feel like I'm going to puke feeling. Anyway, I ate one burger on a bun, fries and salad. I felt satisfied, but wanted (did not need) the other burger... I ate it, without a bun. Then I felt overstuffed. I should have just got up from the table. I should have saved the other burger for my lunch tomorrow.

One of these days, everything is going to mesh together. Everything that I am doing and trying to do is going to work. I will see results. I will feel healthy, I will feel good and I will have a better feeling about myself. Also, I will have a smaller sized, really cute new outfit for my niece's wedding in October.

I'm going to pop some ibuprofen, soak in a really hot shower and settle in for the night with my Donnie, I mean Danny. It's our Wahlburgers night. Danny loves calling me Alma and I call him Donnie. Silly little sentiments between a mom and son. My son is my world.

This is my blog, my thoughts, my feelings, my words.

Monday, Monday Week 3

Oh it's Monday. I didn't blog on Friday. I just didn't feel like it, so I didn't. I had high hopes for Friday. Friday was my 10th day of exercise. My day was planned out, I would be home alone from 7:10 a.m. until at least 9:30. A whole list of exercises to do, fun things. Well school had a 2 hour delay, that meant me driving Danny to school leaving here at 9:00... o.k., well I'll just do my exercises when Dan leaves for work. Nope, I took a nap. Danny got home from school at 3:00... I was still a slug. Worse than a slug. Finally around 5:00 I decided I better do something, anything. I found a Tai Chi video. Not much, but at least I moved... a little bit.

I also ate a couple of cookies on Friday. Yep, that's right, cookies... On Saturday when I went to the grocery store I was hungry and it was lunch time, I stopped at the hot food case and bought 2 chicken tenders and a small container of mac-n-cheese...yummmm..... until it caused me to sit in the bathroom more times than I would have liked to on a Saturday afternoon. Sorry TMI. Sunday, Super Bowl Sunday. Yes, Danny and I had pizza and wings, also had some nachos. Wasn't the best food, but I didn't over do like I normally would. Feeling like a slug again today.

Around 4:30 I decided I had best do something. I try to exercise before dinner. And trust me dinner tonight wasn't difficult. Condensed soup in a can and a few peanut butter crackers. Wasn't much, but it did fill me and Danny up. It's cold outside and was a source of comfort. Anyway, back to my exercise story. I went into my Pinterest Boards and picked this for my work out. (Just click on work out.) Danny was downstairs doing his thing and I figured I would just do mine, by myself. I started into it. Coordination isn't one of my finer qualities, I was doing the best I could. Around the 19 minute mark I started having problems. Couldn't keep up, coordination was worse, I have no rhythm. I was watching the women doing it, all plus size and they weren't having any problems, why was I? Danny came upstairs a few minutes later, right as I was entering into my misery... my self pity party. He joined me in moving, he was just moving around the living room, then he put his arm around me when we were doing the leg kicks, just like the Rockettes, right....  Then it came time to do the routine over again, from the beginning, it was faster, more advanced. I was having problems keeping up. I said I can't do this, apparently out loud and Danny tells me I'm doing great, "Do what you can Mom." I would pick up where I could... then it came time again to do the routine  from the beginning, I followed until I couldn't follow anymore. I started crying, who starts crying in the middle of a work out? Me, that's who. Again I said out loud, "I can't do this, I just can't do this." Danny rubbed my shoulder and said, "Mom you're doing great, just keep moving. It's o.k. if you can't keep up. You don't have to do the whole thing. Just keep moving." Then he hugged me and told me it's o.k. I did the cool down, then off to the kitchen I went to start dinner. That's when my pity party started rockin'. I cried and cried. Crying is something I do best. I cry when I'm mad, sad, happy, hear a song on the radio, think of a memory, read a children's book. I even cry while watching the Walking Dead. I kept thinking about the work out, not sure why this one was so difficult for me and why I couldn't keep up. Then my mind goes off and I get mad at myself. Mad because I'm like this, mad because I can't move as well as others. Mad because I'm a gigantic, fat, unattractive, (insert Sharon Peters, Chuck Geiger, the Macher brothers and Danny Johnston's comments that I can hear every single day in my head) beached whale. You name it, I was feeling it and I was thinking it and I was mad and sad and most of all disappointed in myself.

Well, (insert heavy sigh here) tomorrow is another day. My track record for getting to another day has been 100%. As soon as I wake up tomorrow morning, this day will be behind me. I just have to keep on climbing. It's not a race and it's not how fast I reach the top, getting there is what matters the most, no matter how long it takes.

Again, I would just like to mention that I'm not writing and sharing this blog for attention. This is part of my therapy for myself. For those that have been reading it and have commented, on here, on fb or in actual conversation, thank you. Thank you for your words of encouragement. If you would like to be a follower, please do. You can do it through Google over on the right side.

This is my blog, my words, my thoughts, my feelings.

The 9th Day

hmmm..... Day 9. Not too much to say today. Originally today was going to be one of those crazy days, but due to the weather, the 6:30 meeting at school was canceled. I was doing a happy dance when I received that text. I didn't want to go back out after I got home from work.

The past few days I have been dragging, so incredibly tired. So hungry and so wanting chocolate. Which when I experience all 3 of those symptoms at the same time, it would mean my period was due.... I'm sure hoping not because I haven't had one for almost a year. It will be one full year in February. Going through the "change" isn't exactly great, it means I'm getting older, my body is changing, it is harder to lose weight, not to mention the hot flashes. I hate those hot flashes. I go to bed cold, wake up in the middle of the night, toss the covers off because I feel like I'm in the middle of the Sahara Desert, only to wake up again because I'm back to freezing. I am very happy that my husband no longer covers me up when he sees I do not have any on. He realizes the covers are off for a reason.

I was in no hurry to prepare dinner, which was left overs from yesterday... no big deal. I knew I wanted to exercise before dinner, but couldn't make up my mind on what to do. I noticed a VHS tape sticking out of the VCR. I couldn't tell you the last time the VCR was used, probably years. I didn't even know if it still worked. I had no clue which tape was in there, but figured it was some sort of exercise video, I have a crap load of VHS exercise videos. I pushed in the tape, the VCR still worked and I waited... it was Richard Simmons! Richard Simmons Blast Off (click on Blast Off and it will take you to the youtube version.) It is 20 minutes long. A perfect quick work out. It got my heart going and I even broke out in a small sweat. There is just something about Richard Simmons... while doing the tape, (I have no coordination, no rhythm, no nothing) I felt as though Richard was talking to me, encouraging me the whole way. Danny wanted nothing to do with exercise tonight and that wasn't happening. There was no way he was going to sit on his butt playing on his iPod while I was exercising in front of him. So if he wanted to play on his iPod, he had to pedal. Just like yesterday. He pedaled for 20 minutes, the length of the video. After the video, I went into my Pinterest Work Out board and pulled up a 10 minute Yoga video. I was relaxed.

I'm not sure if it was Richard Simmons and me Blasting Off, moving more tonight or the 10 minutes of Yoga, but I feel like I'm in a good place right now. I'm happy. I feel happy. I am in a good mood. I'm not cranky, I feel refreshed.

Tomorrow morning Dan has an early PT appointment and is taking Danny to school. I'll be exercising earlier, by 7:30 a.m. I'm already trying to decide what I want to do tomorrow morning. I don't know if I want to Zumba, Dance or Sweat to the Oldies... decisions, decisions.

And how about this, instead of every one trying to tear each other down, why don't we try to help build each other up? The world would be a much better place.

This is my blog, my words, my thoughts, my feelings.

Day 8

Day 8 and I'm still sticking with it. Long day at work, then a trip to WalMart. Had to park at the top of the parking lot, walk down, walked the whole through the store, then back up the parking. That counts as exercise, right? I didn't count it. As my soup was cooking, I pedaled for 25 minutes watching The Pioneer Woman. Watching a food/cooking show while exercising... ahahahaha

Dinner tonight was homemade Chicken Rice Soup, brown rice, celery, carrots and I added spinach to it. Danny doesn't eat fruit or vegetables! Well unless applesauce, french fries and corn count... nope, don't think so. He loves my wedding soup. It has celery, carrots and spinach, so why not? He loved the Chicken Rice Soup and got in a serving of veggies with no complaining. We also had a whole grain Italian Flat Bread wrap. Buffalo Chicken Breast and a slice of Provolone cheese. I added tomatoes and pickles to mine, Delish!

After dinner, Danny wanted to sit on his butt and watch his iPod. That was fine by me, BUT! he had to pedal while he was doing it. For 25 minutes. He did it, again no complaints.

Wednesday's are our veg in front of the tv night, so while I'm watching, I'm going to pedal again. I may as well multi task while watching tv.

Tomorrow is a screwed up afternoon/evening. I'll fit in exercise time somehow.

Day 8 of my journey... a long journey.

Have a great night! Remember, we can all do this! Be positive!

This is my blog, my words, my thoughts, my feelings.

Still here at Day 7

Hello..... Are you all still with me? Sorry that my blog posts have been extremely dull and boring. I just seem to be in a little funk.

How was every one's day today? Mine was long and boring. We had absolutely no orders at work. None. That meant for a very long day me trying to find fill in tasks to help the time go by. And of course those fill in tasks do not require much thinking... so that allowed me to go off and think about a lot of deep rooted issues. 

I know there is no quick fix for being fat. There is no magic wand nor potion that can be waved or swallowed that can make this go away. I am not happy with myself. I don't like being this way. Why am I like this? I thought back on my life today, starting at a very early age. I can remember family members saying how much I looked like my Grandma. My grandma wasn't small, but she wasn't huge like me. Is that why I am this way? I think when you are told something over and over again, you become it.  You believe it and you can't change. I remember being tormented on the school bus at age 6. (It started at 6 because my big brother was no longer on the elementary bus.) I was fine when I would get picked up at the bottom of the drive way. But as soon as the bus made that right hand turn onto Dultilh Road, my heart would begin to race. For 2 years I had to endure Sharon Peters and her bullying. I was continually called "Sea Cow, Sea Whale, Sea Horse." On days that I wore dresses she would say to me, "Your legs are so fat, I can't believe you wear dresses." And the other days, I was just called fat, fatty or fatso. The comments just didn't come from her, they came from others too. Then there was the one day in 5th grade. I'll never forget where I was in the classroom, our teacher was talking to us about our favorite subjects and when it was our turn, we could say what our favorite subject was and why. Well my bff was before me, she told her favorite subject and it was my turn. I didn't get to speak, Mr. Federkeil (our teacher) spoke up and said, "Sharon's favorite subject is lunch. We all know that's her favorite subject." The whole entire class busted out laughing except for my bff. Years and years this would happen. When I moved in with Dan, I made flower beds on each side of the driveway, I took pride in those flowers and faithfully every night weeded and watered. Until the neighbor's asshole grown son was taking a walk and moo'd like a cow each time he walked by. I even got it from my boss a couple of years ago when the summer Olympics were going on. He suggested that because of my size I should take up weight lifting because one of the female heavy lifters and I were quite similar. "You and her are the same size. You would be perfect for it." He even went as far as walking by my desk carrying a no parking sign telling me that I could use it to practice with. So many times I would be told that I had such a pretty face, but it always sounded so pitiful. I knew the next sentence they weren't saying, "You have such a pretty face, but look at the rest of you."

Does all of this play a part in how I am? Maybe. Maybe not. I don't know. Years of hearing it, I guess you just start living it. Should I go to therapy? I dunno. I've always thought that if I could meet Richard Simmons I wouldn't be like this anymore.

Did I want to exercise today? No, not really. Did I? Yes I did. Today was one of my messed up days. Had to stop at the grocery store after work. Those Little Debbie snack cakes near the register looked really good and I could feel myself being drawn to them, no, I did not. I didn't buy them. Home for a little bit, I did a 27 minute workout. I enjoyed it, but I didn't break a sweat. It was a new one, so now I know I can do that one in addition to something else. Then I left to pick Danny up at school, home by 5:15, dinner started. While dinner was cooking I did a 4 minute Zumba dance, then back into the kitchen. We ate, I cleaned up and vegged. Tomorrow will be a normal day. Well, I know I'm going to have to stop at WalMart, which I dread. Danny needs something. I already know what we are having for dinner, so I'm one step ahead. Tomorrow I will put a little more effort into my moving. I want to make my sweat cry.

For dinner tonight, we had sausage hero sandwiches. The recipe called for turkey sausage, Uncle Charley's regular sweet Italian was on sale. It had 32% less fat than regular sausage. I compared the fat content on both, and they were the same, 10 grams. I bought the Uncle Charley's. The recipe came from my WW Cook It Quick Cookbook. I have the pics posted below.

I apologize for how long this post is. I didn't mean to go on and on. Just a lot running through my mind. Trying to figure out how I am going to get this to click in my head. How I am going to make myself a smaller, healthier me.

This is my blog, my words, my thoughts, my feelings.

Week 2!!!

So I took the weekend off. No blogging, no exercise. Hmmmm.... Although the thought of no exercise on the weekend was nice at first, I really noticed it yesterday. My mood changed, I was sluggish. I despise exercise. I hate to sweat. But I keep reminding myself that sweat is my fat crying and that's a good thing! After noticing the difference, exercise will be a part of my weekend routine now.

I didn't eat bad over the weekend. I did enjoy a few adult beverages. Yes, those are added into accountability.

This week is going to be a messed up. School activities, a meeting one evening. It will be hard to fit what I would like into my schedule and plan accordingly. 

The exercise after work was shoveling the driveway. Snow is pretty, but it's not so pretty when you're shoveling it. Danny and I shoveled for 40 minutes and only got 1/2 of the driveway done. I'm o.k. with that.

Yesterday I dug out one of my Weight Watcher Cookbooks, the Cook It Quick one. Most meals are in 30 minutes or less. Each recipe I came across that I knew Danny would like too, I added a sticky tab. One evening this week, I will write out my grocery list and go shopping at the end of the week.

For dinner tonight we had oven fried pork chops, green beans and a Lipton Pasta side dish. Our portions were controlled and a few little changes in preparation that Danny didn't notice and honestly there was no difference in taste. I didn't dip the chops in egg before the light flour mixture, I just moistened them with water. When I made the pasta side dish, I didn't add the butter/margarine. Small things... not big things...

And that's about it... sorry for not having an exciting blog entry tonight. I'm tired and dragging.

Have a great night!

Thank you so much stopping by. Become a follower if you like.

Keeping my east coast friends in my prayers as they are experiencing the storm of the century, Juno.

This is my blog, my thoughts, my words, my feelings.

Day 5!!!!!

Wholly Sh*t!!! Did I just type Day 5??? I started this journey on Monday. Did I think I would still be on it by Friday? Honestly, not really. Am I happy? You betcha!!!

Friday's are my day off. Danny was in school and Dan left for PT around 8:15. I had a couple of hours to myself. Oh what to do, what to do? I opened my Pinterest Boards and picked my poison. I exercised for a full hour! 60 minutes!!! I did 3 different activities. (Just click on the hi-lighted word and that will take you the activity.

First off I did 20 minutes of Upper Body Strengthening with my stretchy bands. 

Then I did 30 minutes of Beginning Dance. It says 30 minutes, but it is more like 35. About 22 minutes in I thought I was going to die! I slowed down a little, then uh oh! My coffee kicked in, I had to take a pee break! Yes, a pee break! Who has to go pee during exercise? Me! That's who. That only took about 90 seconds, came back and clicked right where I left off. I was dragging by the end, but the last song took me by total surprise. One of my disco favs!!! Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive." I was into it! Singing along, a little inspiration boost.

After my dance I was sweating putty balls, but really felt like doing more. So I went into my workout board and picked a Beginner's Yoga video. It was 10 minutes long. Do not be alarmed, it says that it is Yoga for cancer patients, no I do not have cancer. I was just searching for beginner yoga. I found that I really enjoyed my 10 minutes of Yoga.

Nothing much happened throughout the rest of the day. Food was boring... cereal for breakfast, chicken breast sandwich for lunch and a ham/egg and cheese sandwich for dinner. I know, 2 sandwiches in one day, not good. I didn't eat much, but I'm not the least bit hungry. Got to get a little more water in.

Danny is gathering the Wii remotes and putting the one back together. Our exercise tonight is playing Wii sports. I thought we would do something fun. I'm going to kick some 13 year old butt tonight!

Tomorrow my mom is bringing her pup down. We're doggie sitting. I had planned on exercising 5 days a week with the weekends off, right now I'm already thinking about what I can do tomorrow.

The best part about today is that I made it to Day 5!!! I did 5 days. Although I am still achy and I have a long way to go, I feel great! I'm proud of myself! Little steps turn into big steps!!!

I may take a blogging break until Monday. We'll see. Have a great weekend! Thank you so much for stopping by! I love, love, love your comments on here and fb. Thank you so much for the words of encouragement. We can all do this! All we have to do is try! I'll be here for you!

This is my blog, my words, my thoughts, my feelings.

Day 4 - Sigh

Today was my Friursday. Work was extremely busy, the day went fast. The routine after work was a little tossed up because Danny stayed after school and I had to pick him up at 5:00. I wanted to get some form of exercise in and went to youtube. I did a quick 10 minute upper body strengthening video. It was pretty easy, but I could feel it. My upper body strength is about nil. I have a lot of pain in my neck and shoulders. Slow and steady, right?

Dinner was...well.... not exactly what I had wanted. Quick, easy and so bad for you. Frozen fish and seasoned fries. I made sure we ate the serving size on both the fish and fries.... it's now 8:30 and I'm starving. Crap food does not fill you up. We had one hamburger bun left and Danny asked if he could put his fish on it to make a sandwich. I said he could, but he had a tiny meltdown when he asked if he could have a piece of bread for another piece of fish. I said no. He didn't like the answer. But he survived.

While Danny finished his homework, I popped in Leslie Sansone's One Mile Walk, and walked away those pounds. Well maybe I walked away an ounce or two, no where near pounds yet.

I'm going to switch it up tomorrow. Exercise in the morning. I'm off on Friday's. I would like to try a few different exercises and a little more intense. Tomorrow evening, I'm hoping Danny and I can have a little fun and play the Wii.

I apologize for this being so boring, but I'm in a boring mood today. Nothing exciting.... But I did do some form of exercise for 4 days in a row! Woo Hoo!

This photo popped up on my fb wall, they are in a Plus Size Magazine. I looked at these ladies and was wowed! They are curvy, they are gorgeous! They are a size I would like to be.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope I didn't put you to sleep.

Please become a follower of my blog. I'd love to have followers.

This is my blog, my words, my thoughts, my feelings.

Hump Day! aka Day Three

So are all of you bored yet? Bored with my blog. It's o.k., you don't have to read it. I'm doing it for me. A therapy of sorts.

Today was Day 3 and started out in the usual way, as soon as my feet touched the bedroom carpet I moaned and groaned about exercise today...

Snowy drive to work, it sucked. Got to work, I.T. guy was there, system was down. Airfreight came yesterday.... 3 huge crates, only 2 of them were ours. In the third crate, hydraulic hoses, filled to the brim. Not the elevator roller guides... On the phone with our freight forwarder, within an hour our crate was delivered, the wrong one picked up. Great! Now came the endless emails... endless invoice scans....blah, blah, blah..... It was almost 11:00 by the time we were up and running again.

Last night I had already decided that Danny and I were going to do the One Mile Walk Away the Pounds DVD by Leslie Sansone. Love her! Did it faithfully every day years ago. Danny had lots of homework and I didn't want dinner to interrupt him, so I did a little Zumba, I also pinned a couple of Zumba videos to my Pinterest board. Got dinner going and as that was cooking, I did Denise Austin's 10 minute upper body strengthening video. We ate dinner, cleaned up and walked our one mile walk.

Ugh.....................  I used to do it faithfully. I used to do it without anything hurting. Today I thought I was going to die. My back hurt, my legs hurt. How did this happen? Why did I let this happen to me? I can change it. It took a while to get here.... it will take a while to go back. Am I willing to take the time? Yes, yes I am. I don't like being sad. I don't like how I am. I don't like how I feel. I want to set a good example for my son. I want to live. Yes, LIVE.

I remember the first diet I was put on at the age of 8 years old. My mom made me drink grapefruit juice, unsweetened before every meal. If I had toast for breakfast or a sandwich for lunch, one piece of bread was toasted and cut through the center with a piece of string or a very sharp knife. It was then 2 paper thin pieces of crumbled bread. At 13 I was taken to a local doctor who prescribed diet pills. Yep, Speed! I was on speed at age 13. It was great, lost a lot of weight. Also made a little pocket change too, because well...  you know...

I won't put Danny on a diet so to speak. I will not go on a diet so to speak. I've been on so many, I've read so many things, I have at least 4 different versions of Weight Watchers. Common sense, put less in, do not deprive. Weigh and measure when you can, make smarter choices. This is only Day 3, I've made little changes with Danny, he hasn't noticed them much. Yesterday's dinner, Venison Cheeseburgers. We eat 2 burgers, they are small, but last night, we only ate one bun. the other burger on the plate. He wanted a snack last night, I made him look at the serving size and he counted out 9 tortilla chips. Today at dinner we had chicken and pasta. I measured the pasta. I showed Danny that the serving size of pasta is one cup, he was surprised at the amount, but also realized it was less than what he usually eats. I did let him have a small second of pasta and didn't think twice about the chicken because it is protein. I usually have pretzels for a snack at work mid morning, usually 9:30. Not this morning, this morning I had celery sticks with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter. I measured it! One of these days this is all going to mesh together, these little changes are going to become big changes.

Danny's first goal, to fit into his Pink Floyd t-shirt he got at Christmas. It's pretty tight. But he has a goal. My goal, more energy and having my wedding bands fit again.

For the first time, Danny put his hand on my shoulder tonight and said, "I'm in this with you Mom. We're going to do it." Proud parent moment. I managed to hold back the tears...until now.

We're just going to keep on climbing. You can listen to The Climb right here. Just click on here.

If you're still hanging in here with me. Thank you! Don't be shy, become a follower. You can do that over on the right side.

This is my blog, my words, my thoughts, my feelings.

I'm Still Here - Day 2

Well I'm still here! This morning while I was trying to get my fat ass butt out of bed, I said to myself, "Ugh... you have to exercise today." I went on my morning routine. Bathroom, put coffee on, make up, hair, get dressed... out to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for Danny and me. I can not lie, we did have Cinnamon Toast Crunch, BUT! I measured it. Danny didn't even notice. Anyway, I started working on gathering my lunch and snack for the day. I grabbed the bag of pretzels. Normally I grab a huge handful or just open the baggie and dump the pretzels into it. Not today, I looked at the serving size and it was 41 pretzel sticks. I opened the baggie and counted out 41 pretzel sticks. Lunch today was leftovers from last night's dinner, pork roast. I didn't weigh my roast, but it was 3 small pieces, maybe a total of 5 ounces of protein and a small baked potato. I really wanted lunch to be "clean" and as in "clean" I mean non processed food, but I did pour 1 tablespoon of gravy over my roast and a small amount of "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" on my baked potato. For the sweet part of my lunch, I added a Clementine and small apple.

All day at work I kept thinking about my journey ahead and just exactly how did I get here? Like I've said, I've always been a big girl. Always.... Is it genetic? I don't know. Is it because of different things that have happened in my life, I try to hide from it by eating and being lazy. I don't know. I'm sure it is a lot of things. I tried to be my own Psychotherapist, but then I realized that I don't have the big bucks to pay myself, so I stopped that and starting thinking about what exercise I was going to do after work. I also started thinking about food. Healthy eating is expensive. Very expensive. Money is tight, it's cheaper to eat unhealthy. I decided to make due with what we have until I can go to the store and buy a few healthier choices.  

Now I'm home and dragging. I forgot to mention that my sinuses are killing me and my left cheek was all swollen... I took a 30 minute nap, then it was time for Danny's homework and me getting dinner ready. Well, he had a ton of homework and I didn't want him to stop to eat dinner in the middle of it, so I went on youtube and found 2 Zumba Videos to. (I wasn't going to do Zumba today because my face hurt.) Anyway, 2 somewhat short videos and you can find them here and here. Maybe a total of 10 minutes. GUESS WHAT??? 10 minutes of Zumba, I was rearing to go. I had energy!!! Dinner was cooked and served, while dinner was cooking, Danny and I made our lunches for tomorrow. After dinner, I cleaned up immediately. That never happens!!! 

It was going on 6:00 and it was exercise time. For me AND Danny. I wanted to use our weights, so I went back to  youtube and found a video. You can watch the video right here. First off, we do not have the weights to become buff. I just want to strengthen and tone a little. I searched every where for my little hand held weights...they're only 1 pound each... could only find one! I have two, but only one was visible. Of course I didn't search in Danny's Abyss and the reason I didn't is because quite frankly, it scares me! In the beginning of the video it says that water bottles could be used, my wheels started turning and I remembered I had water ball weights in the drawer of the Buffet! Yep, in the Buffet! Kind of ironic...  Anyway, these are my water ball weights:

As I did the youtube video, Danny used his weights. Nothing major, just two dumb bells, with the weight going from 5 to 15 pounds. He didn't follow the video, but lifted nonetheless. One thing he made sure he did was give his mom words of encouragement. My 10 minute video (then I extended and extra 5 minutes) was going to be the death of me! Good Geez! I am so out of shape. Talk about sweat!

And now that this is a novel, another day in my journey, a boring blog post, I thought I'd post an after pic of me. After my strengthening video, glistening, red face, sweat droplet on my forehead, looking ever so attractive! (Please do not be scared for what you are about to see and remove small children from the room.)

I did not start this blog to gain attention. I'm trying to help myself and do it in ways that I never thought of before hoping it will keep me on track and succeed, if even in the least little bit. I have received so many comments on the blog and on facebook and I would like to thank each and every one of you! Your encouragement, thoughts and ideas mean the world to me!

And I'll leave you with this:

Stayed tuned for Day 3!

My disclaimer:  This is my blog, my words, my thoughts.

You Have To Start Somewhere - Day 1

Well this is it. My new Blog. I hope I can keep up with this blog, as my other blog has been extremely neglected. 

I would like this blog to be about my journey. My journey to become a healthier me. I'm not making promises to myself or anyone else. I've just reached a point in my life... I am unhappy. Recently I've discovered that I hold the key for my happiness. Yep, that's right, me! Who woulda thunk?

So many things are happening in 2015. My niece is having a baby in July. My other niece is getting married in October and most of all I have a 13 year old son. I want to live and not exist anymore. I want to be here... for a very long time!

Last week on a local fb for sale site, a girl was selling her Zumba Wii games. Well today we met and I am the proud owner of Zumba Fitness Join the Party. The first step in my journey.

At 5:05 p.m., the box was opened, the instructions read, new batteries installed in the Wii remote, a little help from my son with the belt and I was ready to go. I opted for the "Easy" level. 20 minutes!!! Yes 20 minutes!!! 5 minutes into I was feeling it. My legs hurt, my back hurt... in between the dances you're supposed to drink water, I didn't know. Danny quickly filled a water glass. Although he did not Zumba with me today, he cheered me on. I would hear his voice behind me telling me I was doing great, good job Mom, you're doing it Mom. Just when I thought I couldn't Zumba anymore, I was on the cool down phase. I was thrilled, excited, elated, overjoyed and most of all, I was proud of myself. A big gulp of water and a high five from Danny I was already thinking about what I want to do for Day 2.

I'm not going to give my weight. It's only a number, it's not important. I may give it one day, I just don't know. I'll get some pics posted this weekend. Every month I'll post a new one.

My first goal is to gain more energy, my second is to lose weight so my wedding bands fit again.

I've always been a big girl. I've lost weight, I've gained weight. I'm a foodie, I love food. When my sister and I attended Weight Watchers together, members would talk about the foods they were addicted to, candy, salt, chips etc... Terri and I would just look at each other and say "We love all food." I know I can do this. I know I will never be a skinny person. I just want to be a smaller me. A smaller, healthier me. 

And as much as I do not care for Miley Cyrus, I will admit that I love her song "The Climb" and it is my inspiration song. 

Please let me know you were here. I am open to comments and suggestions. I prefer no negativity. If we can help each other, be an inspiration for each other, share a recipe or two. Fantastic!

This is my blog, my words, my thoughts, my feelings.