My Journey

Thursday, December 29, 2011

10 Things Thursday Utah Style

1. Still in Utah, but leave tomorrow. (sad face)

2. As I was flying out to Utah last week a tooth I have been needing to get repaired, totally flaired (sp?) up leaving my whole left side of my face swollen and me in A LOT of pain. I almost had to go to the ER to get antibiotics through IV, but found some killer antibiotics Jake's uncle had and he let me use em up. Not the ideal way to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but I am feel a lot better now. Root canal and abscess draining on Monday. Yay!

3. I have been bad and good on my diet. I have made time to go workout and haven't been eating too unhealthy for meals,but my snacking really sucks! I have maintained though this week and I am pretty happy about it!

4. I know you guys are dying for Skinny Santa results, but I am still waiting for one or two...i think. If I don't get anymore weigh in's then I will just post with what I got and we will be sad some people didn't hold up their end of the bargain. Look for a post Saturday or Sunday!

5. Jake and I went for an overnighter in Salt Lake and stayed at this cool hotel. They had a goldfish delivered to your room! And funky leopard print bath robes! lol. Only $100/night on expedia!


6. I got to spend time shopping with Zoey yesterday. We stopped for ice cream after she saw the shop with the big ice cream cone and yelled "ike weem own!!!!"



7. I'm doing nothing for new years and contemplating "missing my flight" so I could stay an extra day.

8. I love this boy and his Christmas jammies!!


9. I really like loseit.com. I got my sis in law and my mom on board. I am dance84s@msn.com if anyone wants to friend me on loseit.com

10.  Date night with Jake tonight. Korean food. Not my favorite, but he is my favorite and it's his favorite food so it all works out!

Monday, December 26, 2011

SKINNY SANTA HUNT DOWN

I am hunting down a few more final weights so I can post the winner of the challenge! Don't be a wuss. Email me. No one will point and laugh if you didn't lose a million pounds, or even one, or gained!

I will try to get everything wrapped up by Friday. I am busy with my babies and hubby this week, but will make time to announce the winner.

Hope Christmas was grand for everyone (who says grand....really?!) Mine was perfect and will post about it soon.

Time for girlie movies with my 17 year old sister in law! (we went to Zumba today and she is addicted to Loseit.com now too) She of course is skinny, drop dead gorgeous captain of varsity cheer squad and doesn't need to loose a pound but loves fitness and eating well. We both got scales for Christmas and sat in the hallway for an hour reading manuals on them and weighing ourselves in various flooring around the house! lol. She wants to go to Zumba everyday this week! (and make sugar cookies sometime) lol. Love her!

Saturday, December 24, 2011

6 Month Bandiversary

Thought I would take a quick second to post on my 6 month anniversary from my surgery. I'm sitting at the airport and it's not as crazy as I thought it was going to be on Christmas Eve. I managed to check my bag and get through security in 30 min. Everyone is being friendly ( except for the ladies working at McDonald's...they are all sorts of frazzled by the demand of egg mcmuffin's and hash browns on Christmas Eve morning. They keep yelling at people where the lines starts and that they only have "one person doing drinks".... pretty much the slowest teenage boy in Baltimore) Everyone else is in a pretty good mood.

I am feeling festive myself, sporting my red flats, black leggings, mini skirt, red shirt and jingle bell necklace! I am basically the ONLY one in Christmas colors. Weird.

Yesterday I let myself have a few cookies. 3 of them. They were worth it. I still managed only 1399 calories and found time to get to the gym! This morning I had a muscle milk on me and they took it away at Security. I almost cried!  But I got scrambled eggs at McDonald's, so I feel like it's a decent start to the Holiday eating.

I saw a 162.8 this morning....for a nano second. The other 5 times I got on the scale were 163, 164. Well.... today I am going with the 162.8 cause it's Christmas Eve and my 6 month Bandiversary and cause I want to Damn it! That is just about 50 pounds and I am thrilled with that!

Starting weight: 212
Today's weight: 162.8
:o)

Well off to find my flight and get to my hubby and babies!
Merry Christmas! Hope everyone has a great holiday!

Friday, December 23, 2011

Weekly Weigh In: Week 26 & FINAL Skinny Santa Weigh In


Weight: 163.2    Loss 2.2 lbs

Ah... not .2 lbs, but 2.2 lbs! Much better. I was getting so sick of the numbers 165! It's been weeks since I've lost anything significant. I have to laugh though cause I ended up eating 2 cookies and not working out yesterday (even though I was moving boxes up and down stairs for hours) and saw the biggest loss I have had in weeks overnight. Ironic.
I feel so skinny and pretty today! Yay! I also feel sick. Been pushing myself so much lately to get stuff packed and painted around the house. My body pretty much wants me to stay in bed all day today. mmmmm.... not gonna happen though.

As for Skinny Santa.... here are my stats.

Starting weight: 168.4 lbs
Ending Weight: 163.2 lbs
Loss: 5.2 lbs
% loss: 3.09 %

I used this calculator to figure it out.  Check out the  % weight loss calculator I will be using to see who won the challenge! Thanks all you girls who tried really hard during this challenge. It helped me keep my game face on!

Will post the winner soon so stay tuned!

Merry Christmas Friends! And lay off the cookies!!


Thursday, December 22, 2011

10 Things Thursday

1. I went to another spin class taught by Cutie Pie fitness instructor. When I walked in, he exclaimed " Stacey is back!". I blushed.

2. My butt was not ready for round 2 of cycling. It wasn't until I sat down on the bike that I almost leaped up in pain. OWWW. But I have to brave through it cause I couldn't just leave. Oh man. It was a long 30 min!

3. Went to a friend's dance class. In her email she said it was an advanced dance class. So I show up in my Uggs cause I plan to dance bare foot, just to find out it was a dance aerobics class. I was the dumb face without sneakers doing the class in her bare feet. People were confused!!

4. Found the Lose It website and app. It's loseit.com and I am sure some of you guys use it to food and exercise, but I just discovered it and REALLY like it. I like that I can use it with my phone and computer and they sync pretty quickly. They advertise for a WIFI scale that will send your weight right to the computer. Fancy.

5. I have been doing an experiment this week.....tracking all my food, eating 1000 calories, and working out to see what the scale does. When I get back from my trip to Utah I will do another experiment, tracking all my food, eating a bit more and working out 3 times a week. Just wondering if I would get the same result without being so anal.

6. Christmas should be called Cookiemas, because I swear there are cookies everywhere I go! Everyone is baking! This is my first Christmas EVER not making Christmas cookies for "friends and family" (and then eating them all myself) and it feels pretty good. I am losing weight the week before Christmas. I don't think I have ever done that either!

7. I am a packing/cleaning/painting/throwingmyhusbandsjunkaway queen. I am so proud of myself for getting this house together myself. I lift heavy things, paint, do lawn work, take out the trash, move things from my basement to the car and to the storage unit (like rugs and cribs etc..) all by myself. I got married so someone could do this all for me but here I am doing it myself. I am woman...hear me roar!!

8. My worst behave student that I kick out of class on a weekly basis, and pretty much hated me a few weeks ago has now announced to the class that "I'm his girl" and "is going to marry" and "would I go with him to senior week" so he could "buy me a seafood dinner?". lol. Oh teenagers.

9. I leave for Utah on Saturday. Haven't ever traveled on Christmas Eve. Flight leaves at 8:50am. What should I expect? Maddness that early? Get there 2 hours early?

10. Skinny Santa ends tomorrow. Didn't do as well as I wanted, but still managed to lose a few pounds! Can't wait to see how everyone else did!

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Andrea was my Secret Bandit!!

Thank you Andrea for all my fun stuff through the Secret Bandit months! Love the last package. Here is a pic of what I got! The bag is too cute.


Thanks again! This was fun!!!

Monday, December 19, 2011

McDreamy makes me more McSweaty

Today I wanted to workout, but I didn't wanna "workout"....as in really put forth THAT much effort! I got a groupon for 10 fitness classes at a gym 5 min from my house, and figured I would go to the cycling class.

I strategically went at 7:10 knowing the class was supposed to start at 7:00 so I wouldn't have to do 1 hour. Like I said, I was feeling lazy. But I got there and they hadn't even started. I walked up to the door and going out of the door was this gorgeous blonde. Our eyes connected. He smiled. Cute.

I start getting the bike out (I literally had to drag it across the room and find a spot on the floor for it). It's kind of a ghetto gym, but whatever...sweating is sweating right?! I decide I am going to pee, so I find my way to the bathroom.

I get back.....cute boy is standing there smiling at me and introduced himself....aka my cycling instructor!

Crap. Now I am going to actually have to put forth effort, cause I can't be lazy chubby butt in front of the McDreamy instructor...especially with 5 other people in the room. And why did I pick today to wear my baggy fat pants and ugly t-shirt to work out? I could have at least looked like I have stepped into a gym once in my life instead of "I just woke up from a nap, the quickly painted the basement for 30 min and then was forced at gun point to workout" which is totally the truth...well the 1st half.

The class gets started and I get on my bike and can barely reach the peddles. I get off and try to adjust the thingey ma-bob. It doesn't budge. Try new angle....no luck. So I am standing there like a dingle-bat forcing all my weight into the dumb seat. McDreamy appears and ends up wheeling me a whole new bike. Geez.

He manages to stare at me the whole class (either because he is horrified by my appearance, or because he thinks I might break this bike or because I was who he saw when he looked straight, or he's not at all cause I'm not wearing my glasses.) I of course am SWEATING my cellulite off cause I am trying to be the best spinner in the class, while looking like this is totally effortless. Neither were true. He did manage to call out "Stacey, move your hands to this part of the handle". Doh!!

In the end the class was great. I got an awesome workout, and the instructor (I need to go look up his name) even chatted with me after class telling me I should come on Wednesday to his other spin class and that I should call ahead to reserve a bike. Flirting? Or nice guy? I will pretend flirting cause I need a self esteem booster!!

Wish I could take all your ladies to the class with me and gossip about it afterward, but this will have to do!

This is the last week for SKINNY SANTA! Final weigh in need to be posted on FRIDAY please! If everyone gets them in on Friday then I can post it Fri night!

Ok. Past my bedtime!! Night Girls

Friday, December 16, 2011

Weekly Weigh In: Week 25 & Skinny Santa

Weight: 165.4     Loss: .2 lbs

Can I vent? I just erased 3 sentences that I started typing, cause I don't even know what I am feeling, but it's not warm fuzzies. Last weekend I worked a high school conference where they fed us 3 square meals a day.....like big meals. I ate all 3 meals (smaller than normal of course) but I had pancakes and syrup at breakfast, and 2 pieces of quiche and a piece of fried chicken at lunch, beef stew for dinner with curly fries, some soda, starburst, chips, a few pieces of candy all in a days work. I ate like this for 2 1/2 days and didn't work out once during those 2 days and when I got on the scale at 4pm in the afternoon when I returned (not first thing in the morning on an empty stomach) I had gained NO WEIGHT! Awesome! But..... not awesome cause when I am eating 1000-1400 calories a day AND working out this week, I loose .2lbs (point-2-pounds.... not 2 pounds, cause that would be cooler!)!

What is going on here?! I know there are no real answers, but it's just frustrating, putting forth real effort, recording your food, taking time to exercise and to see almost the same results as not giving a crap.

Yesterday I had a muscle milk, 3/4 tuna sandwich, 1 small dove choc, 1 serving TGIF skillet meal, glass of milk and worked out. This has been about the same all week. I went to dinner with my girlfriends on Tuesday night. I got a kids grilled chicken with broccoil and side of angel hair with alfredo and only ate half of that (pretty sure they think I have an eating disorder now since I took 40 min just to eat 1/2 kids meal!), along with my muscle milk in the morning and 1/2 lean cuisine for lunch and 1 cookie.

Anyhoo.. I'm just annoyed. My band is pretty tight. I eat SOO slow, and have super small meals (aka 1/2 lean cuisine). I never feel hungry either. Any thought anyone? I'm not throwing anything up cause I am being super cautious, but feel like it's bound to happen.

So...my Skinny Santa Ladies...today is our last weigh in before our FINAL WEIGH IN next week! Can't wait to see who I am sending my gift card too. (Did I just admit defeat?!) sad.

I can say this.... if it wasn't for my weekly weigh ins and challenges and goals and my lab band, I would be eating myself through entire packages of cookies "cause" it's Christmas". There haven't been many years where I have been able to say that I maintained and even lost a few pounds during the Holiday season, so in that aspect..... Good for Me!

Happy Last Shopping Weekend Before Christmas!!!!

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Monday Madness (Literally) and Tuesday Just Sucks

 
made one similar to this!

Soooo grumpy!
It all started yesterday when my favorite class were a bunch of jerk faces that wouldn't stop talking! So I gave them a pop quiz, and then even then they wouldn't shut up, so I had to change seats. One kid was like "are you in a bad mood today?" Uh...well now I am!! I hate being the mean teacher. "Hate hate hate. Hate hate hate. Loathe Entirely!" (name that movie!)


Then..... I worked all day on these desserts for a faculty meeting. Brownie pops, chocolate chip cookies, gingersnaps, magic bars and a christmas fruit tree. Because I was so busy baking, my breakfast and lunch were a taste of cookie dough here, half a cookie there....repeat, repeat, repeat. So, I was already dehydrated and malnurished and grumpy going into the faculty meeting, but then no one said thank you. I know I shouldn't have expected it but I could have really used it at the moment!

The faculty meeting ran over (by 6 min, but dude..... those are MY 6 minutes) and I just went and burried myself under my blankets the second I got home! I did wake up in a bit of panic, and rushed myself out the door to Zumba, but trust me, I considered staying in bed all night!

Today just sucks too. My students are freaking annoying me!! Only 1 month to go and I can be with my little ones in Utah. And where is the snow December?! I need some serious snow days or delays right about now. This time 2 years ago we had like 10 days off consecutively from bad weather! Oh that was glorious!

My scale isn't moving either. I haven't been really concentrating on my food, and my exercise was minimal last week. I haven't been circling the drive thru, but I also haven't been counting calories, water, protein, or sugar. Some days I might barely have 1000 calories (like yesterday even though I snacked on some baked goods) and some days I am closer to 1800 calories. My weight loss up until the last 10 pounds has been really easy, not having to think about it and seeing good numbers on the scale. Now it seems like I have reached a point to where I have to pay attention, can't cheat AT ALL and need to work out daily. Boo.

My size 13 stretch skinny jeans are pretty big on me now, and I tried on an 11 last time at Target and fit into them fairly easily (great in legs, a bit tight around my stomach). I wouldn't say I'm an 11, but I am getting there.

I still have such a long way to go... 15 lbs to my 1st goal, and 35 lbs to my final goal. I got to know a chaperone over the weekend, who became my instant bussom buddy! We haven't stopped texting yet! She is a size 4(I guessed she was an 8 and I think she was slightly insulted!) . She looks really healthy though, and I would never think....wow...she is soooo thin. My sister on the other hand is a size 4 and looks unhealthy skinny. They are both about the same height. Weird how different bodies carry weight differently. I wonder how I would look as a size 4? Healthy or unhealthy?

If I can loose an average of 1.5 lbs a week (6 lbs a month), I can be at 130 by June...my 1 year bandiversary!

Well, hoping I can have a better day today. Going to workout and then out to dinner with some girlfriend and then maybe hit the mall and do some painting? A bit much for an evening? Oh well. Gotta get it all in before I am stuck home again with little ones! Did I mention I spent 3 hours at Target the other night?!





Saturday, December 10, 2011

Trip 1 to Utah!

My weekend trip to Utah was perfect last weekend! The flights were on time (early even) and I even managed the whole row to myself on one of the flights! Dream come true except I was too excited to sleep.

Seeing Jake was wonderful!!!! I love my husband. He is addicting to be around. We sped off to the hotel in a speedy but legal like fashion. He had flowers, candles, sparkling cider, strawberries, carmel, chocolate sauce and whipped cream there when I walked in. lol. He even put together a mix of songs to get our groove on to! Needless to say, we had a fun night (and we might have even run out mid night for a burrito at our fav mexican place)! The strawberries and whipped cream made for good breakfast, but that's it my friends!!

I was so giddy to see the kids the next morning! I just hugged and kissed them to death.  I couldn't believe how grown up Logan looked! He took a second to warm up to me, Zoey too. It was like they didn't believe I was REALLY there. We had so much fun though, playing and celebrating Logan's birthday.

The only bad thing is being with Jake I just eat like crap!! Why is that? Popcorn and soda at the movies, a soft taco inbetween lunch a dinner. I would even think of doing it in Baltimore. I have to figure out where those choices are coming from and get a hold on it before I move out there.

Here are some pics from the weekend. For the first time in a long time I didn't shy away from taking pics with Jake or the kids! ..... 2 weeks before we are reunited again!!

love this little blonde boy!

only pictures of zoey we got were ones in action....typical

playing at kangeroo zoo

my cute hubby, oh and me

Hurry and distract him before he realize what a lame crown he is wearing!!

Logan loves ice cream comes.... hence the cake i made

Jake and I had fun making the rainbow cake!



Tomorrow I will do my weigh in. I have been working at a High School Middle School Multicultural Conference all weekend. If it weren't for my super tight band (and the catwheels me and the chaperones were doing at the dance last night),the scale would have been scarier. Hoping in the morning to have a more accurate number. Between being in Utah last thurs-mon and at my conference thurs to late afternoon today.... it's not gonna be pretty. Oh well. It's been a great 2 weekends! So thankful my band keeps me in check while I am mentally worlds away from it all!!

night!

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Final Secret Bandit Info

This month in the final Secret Bandit Info!!! Try to get your gifts out early! Make them awesome! And don't forget to reveal who you are to your girl!


This was fun ladies!!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Weekly Weigh: Week 23 (early) & Skinny Santa & 10 Things Thurs

Weight: 165.5  Loss: 2 lbs


1. Yay! I lost 2 pounds and it's not even Friday! This is me this morning.... not a morning person, but today I am.... cause....

2. I am flying to Utah today to see Jake and the kids!!!!!!!! If I can't just get through 3rd period today (cocky SOB senior boys!) I will be smooth sailing

3. Went for a spray tan yesterday. OMG. Crazy experience. The place had this machine which I think they put together with duct tape and some sheet metal. The thing sprayed me like a squirt gun in like 2 places (back of my neck and my boobs). And it wasn't brown or clear tanning liquid...it was green!! And apparently I had to rub it in myself and when I did it made me look GREY! Seriously!! I was freaking out. The girl was like "I wonder why it's green!" What do you mean you wonder why it's green!?! I basically wiped it all off and now I am my nice pastey white for my trip. Oh well.

4. Having a great hair day! Thank goodness!!

5. I successfully made 80 cupcakes without totally blowing my diet!!! I had students help me and I just stayed really focused. It was a true victory!

6. To rent out my house or sell my house? That is question! To rent a house in Utah or buy a house in Utah? That is the other question!

7. I asked Jake what he would do if my flight was delayed or I missed my connecting flight.... his answer "I would kill myself". Sweet but disturbing!

8. Went to a group fitness class called "Stepalicious" thinking it was a step aerobics class, but it was a dance aerobics meets bootcamp type thing. Kicked my butt!! The instructor was insane and I got to booty shake and she really pushed me to my top limits. It was awesome!

9. I think some of my students are crushing on me. That hasn't happened in years!


10. I'm 15 pounds away from my 1st goal of 150! Hopefully by my 6 month mark?! I am really worried about my belly fat. I have so much of it. I still have 35 pounds to go before I am in the healthy weight land. I am really hoping my stomach will tighten up!  If not, then after my 3rd baby I will save for a tummy tuck!

Have a great weekend!! Will post pics when I get back!