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Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Ah Yea!

Down another 1/2 pound today...or really a pound from my initial post yesterday!  Tomorrow (hopefully!!!) I will dip down into new numbers!  That will mean that I've dropped over 10 pounds.  This is fun!

I just had lunch and it was grilled chicken strips and 10 grape tomatoes.  I used Everyday Seasonings from Trader Joes and some sea salt.  Have I mentioned how much I love sea salt?  That stuff is GOOD!

It's day 14 and I have 10 days left.  Not sure if 5 more pounds is doable in that time period but it sounds like a great goal to me.  Today I just put on the maid of honor dress that I wore in my best friend's wedding...in 1996!  Yes!  Again, the damage done by my twins is evident to me but it's funny how clothes tend to hide all of that.

I can't believe it's been 2 weeks now!  I have 7 more days on the drops and then 3 without.  Day 25 I will venture into an unknown world...that of 1200-1500 calories and EVERYTHING except sugar and starch.  Okay so I know that rules MANY things out but I can do it after the past 2 weeks!!!  I can do anything.

Update:  So I might have had a few bites of organic mac and cheese today.  It just looked so yummy and oh, how I've missed cheese and pasta.  It was SOOO good and even if I don't lose tomorrow it will have been worth it.  Yum, it tasted good.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

You Take the Good, You Take the Bad

You take it all and there you have...the Facts of Life, the facts of life...
Okay, now that song will be in my brain all day.  Where did that come from anyway?  My friend ran into "Blair" at a local Starbucks a few months ago.  She was in town for the Women of Faith conference.  What a star siting.

So, why am I humming the Facts of Life tune?  Hmm...well, the scale went up today.  Yes, up.

Bitter is all I have to say about that.  I'm trying to live by the first lines of my inspired 80's sitcom by taking the bad with the good. Seriously.  I'm down 9 pounds.  I should be over the moon.  (Sticking with absurd phrases, just for fun).  Really.  That should be a happy thing.

I'm looking over yesterday and trying to figure out what would have brought me up.  I promise, I didn't cheat.  I wanted to.  My mom brought Oreos AND those awesome store bought icing cookies.  I wanted an oreo more than I wanted my left arm but I resisted.  It really wasn't that hard to walk away.

I have a few theories on my 1/2 pound gain.  First, I have the crappiest scale on the planet.  It could be lying to me.  Second, I forgot my HCG drops at 2PM yesterday.  I was knee deep in First Grade VBS.  Third, it could be my cheat from 3 days ago catching up with me.  I really have no idea.  I'm not concerned and so far I'm not really phased by the "gain".  It appears to be a 1/2 pound on my scale but in reality it could be .02ish.

Time to roll with the punches and pop this circus tent.

UPDATE:  Weighed myself again at 9:30am EST and I was down a 1/2 pound.  That would put me at yesterday morning's weight.  That means no gain or loss. Weird.  My scale stinks.

Monday, June 28, 2010

It's Good News My Friends!

I'm down another 1/2 pound under yesterday's total!  That's 9.5 pounds GONE!!!  Weird.  11 days and 9.5 pounds.  I'm happy to report that I'm now down 1.5 from my pre Little Dude weight and only up 1.5 from my pre twins weight!  Yep, 3 more days (hopefully!) and I'll be at my pre baby weight.  I'm hoping to go down 4-5 pounds beyond that so I'd be at a total loss of 16 pounds in 24 days.  We'll see what my body does over the next 12 days.  Apparently the closer you get to the goal, the harder it is to shed the pounds so I really have no idea what to expect but 6 pounds in 12 days seems fairly realistic considering my adventure thus far.  I'd really like to have a few pounds cushion as it might be easy to gain a few coming off of this.  Also, I have the option to stay on this for as many as 40 days.  I can't BEGIN to imagine that amount of time on this but it's allowed.  I guess I could push it a few extra days if need be.  Oh, that's asking a lot.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

So far So good!

We visited my high school friend's church.  He did an AMAZING job preaching and I so wish we could be there every week.  It's just a little too far away to make our home church but I was mega impressed.

Anyway, the best part was it was Kid Jam Sunday (or something of the sorts) and they had a bouncy house, face painting, cotton candy, snow cones and HUGE bubbles.  My kids had a blast and afterward they offered Chipotle to the adults!  Whoohoo! I was pumped because I cracked open my tortilla (oh, it looked good!) and dug out the chicken, lettuce and tomato.  It was super yummy and I wasn't tempted to eat the other awesome stuff in it.  I did freeze the rest and will (maybe) be able to enjoy it in a few weeks.  We'll see how it survives the freeze!  Still down in my weight and living up to protocol.  Take that temptation!

Wonders Never Cease (Day 11)

So I weighed myself this morning and wonder of wonders, 1/2 pound gone anyway!  What?  I can't believe it.  Now that I've cracked I have a new resolve to get back up and run again.  Well, not literally run.  I don't have the energy for that.  In fact they don't encourage any exercise during this phase other than maybe a 30 minute walk if you're up for it.  Without carbs and sugars the energy levels are low and I'd hate to waste the little I have.

Today it's water and coffee for me this morning.  We're visiting a friend's church that is having a kids' morning with sugar and donuts followed by Chipotle!  This is my kind of church!  I might allow myself a little bit (3.5 ounces) of Chipotle chicken but that's it.  No rice, beans or tortilla!  We're finishing out this 21 day thing flying high and doing it right.  Hopefully I don't crack again but you know what, I really enjoyed those english muffins and cookies!

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Cheaters Never Prosper

This morning I was quite optimistic about this whole HCG protocol thing after reaching a weight I hadn't seen since before Little Dude.  Well, the day got harder.  And harder.  I cheated.  I really couldn't help it.

I made the kids pumpkin pancakes for dinner.  Not a temptation for me.  I don't like pancakes and I really don't like pumpkin pancakes.  When they had each eaten their allotted pancakes they asked for chocolate chip pancakes.  Yep.  That did me in.  First a bite, then another.  Somehow the pancake disappeared before my eyes.  It was sooo good I don't even have words. 

And then I decided that if I'm going to cheat I'm gonna do it right.  I then ate 2 english muffins (with lots of butter) and 2 chips ahoy cookies. 

I'm not sure what went wrong today because previous to this I was only tempted one other time and I was able to get past it.  Not tonight.  Night 10 and whoosh.  This is hard.

I plan to get back up on the horse tomorrow and do it all again.  Looking forward to Day 11.

It's Day 10!

I am loving my scale lately.  Haven't been able to say that in a while.  My numbers went down a whole pound last night!  I'm down 8.5 in 9 full days!  This is Fun!

Friday, June 25, 2010

It's Day 9!

Day 8 and I'm down another 1/2 pound!  I'm in utter amazement.  I saw it happen for my friend but you know how it is.  You always figure things work for other people but of course not for you.  Well, it worked for me.  Better yet, I went shopping this morning while the banschees were in VBS and I tried on several dresses and tshirts.  Get this...I had to go back and get smalls in all the dresses and shirts!  I always pick up the medium to start with an then go from there but never (at least not since Little Dude) have I had to go back for smaller sizes in everything I've tried on!  That definitely makes today easier as I think about NOT eating Chick Fila that was graciously donated to our evening Vacation Bible School.  Oh, how I love Chick Fila!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Mother of the Year Award Goes to...

Not me.  Not by a long shot. These kids have been in rare form all week and with my patience dwindling with each passing pound, they are on thin ice. 

After a new bottle of extra virgin olive oil got spilled (and broken) all over my travertine kitchen floor and Pillow Pets were cut/shred into pieces all over my lower level (all happened yesterday...the kids were down in the lower level while I was cleaning up the glass from the olive oil.  Guess they got bored b/c they went to town)
There was also a total fit thrown at VBS 2 nights ago by an unnamed 6 year old.  Really, haven't we outgrown this already? 

Today within seconds Boy Wondertwin spilled an entire glass of iced tea all over my wool rug and Girl Wondertwin was caught doing flips on my couch.  That was it.  I went to GWT's bedroom and emptied the contents of her shelf organizer.  Within seconds there were 8 million toys all over her bedroom floor.  She was in shock.  Next I went to Boy Wondertwin's room and followed suit, choosing the toy box to empty everywhere.  He screamed, cried, kicked and had a conniption.

I'm not proud of myself but I'm REALLY sick of cleaning up their (unnecessary) messes constantly.  It's all I do.  I put up with their fits and clean their messes.  I understand that it comes with the territory but really.  They are 6.  Isn't it time to grow up just a little?  Learn a little personal responsibility?

Wonder of Wonders.  Little Dude has been a total angel since the twins started their madness.

7 in 7!!

Good news to report!  More loss.  I really can't believe it and wouldn't if it wasn't happening to me.  I had resigned myself to a certain body type (Boo genetics!!!) but there really are ways to transform and sculpt the body. The great thing is all the work I've put in over the past 2 years at the gym is paying off.  There really are muscles under there and they might even be visible one of these days.  I still have 14 full days on this regimen so we'll see where it takes me.  I've heard that the weight loss slows a lot after day 7.  Average weight loss in the first 7 days is 8-10 pounds.  After that it's 1/4-1/2 pound per day.  I think I began my slowing process around day 5 which got kind of discouraging.

I'm so curious to see what my body will do from here.  How low can I go?  I guess I'll find out because I have to stay on the protocol for 21 full days!  We're in for a long ride blog world.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

You know you want to know what I ate today...

Here we go...

Breakfast: water, tea
Lunch: chicken salad.  Now, before you get too excited, I'm including the recipe below.  It was so-so.  The bummer was I had to eat it in Panera while my friend ate a Caesar salad and her kids ate BAGELS. Oh, those bagels looked good.  Honestly though, I really didn't want those things.  This HCG stuff is magic.

Snack: 2 Melba Toasts

Dinner:  While watching everyone at VBS eat Hot Dogs and chips I ate 1 orange (which I couldn't finish and had to share with Little Dude) and 1 cup of spinach with shredded chicken on top.  That salad was actually really good.  That could have something to do with all the sea salt I put on top of it!  Hmm.  It WAS good though.  One thing I'm learning through this is ANYTHING is good with sea salt.

So, I was going to have 2 melba toasts for snack but after i tried on my dress from 1998 I decided to forgo the 2 melba toasts.  We'll see what the scale has to say about that decision.

Crunchy Sweet Apple Chicken Salad

Tammy Skye's The Ultimate HCG Dieter Gourmet Cookbook
100 grams chicken cooked and diced
1 apple diced
3 stalks celery diced
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
Dash of nutmeg
Dash of cardamom
Dash of salt
Stevia to taste
Wedge of lemon
Mix ingredients together, sprinkle with stevia and cinnamon. Chill for 20
minutes. Serve with a wedge of lemon and enjoy.

Are you sitting down BLOGWORLD?

I just zipped up the dress that I wore to my rehearsal dinner 12 years ago!  I was 24 years old then and a size 4 or 6.  This dress FITS and I'd actually wear it out in public.  I can't believe it.

Obviously my body is quite different now (hello, twin pregnancy!!!) than it was then but it fits!  It's just crazy amazing what 6 pounds can do.  I'm now where I was when I was first pregnant with Little Dude.

Let's see if we can flash all the way back to 1998!  I do have one foreseeable hitch in my plan.  When I had the twins irreparable damage was done, namely the rib expander otherwise known as Baby B as well as ripped muscles in my stomach making it so my white stomach will never see the light of day again.

Have you seen those palate expanders that pre-teens have to wear before they get braces?  You know, you used to have to use a key to turn it and it literally expanded the roof of your mouth to make room for all of your teeth?  That is what my daughter did to me during the 30 some weeks she spent in my tummy.  Holy Moly that KILLED!  I was BEGGING the doctor to put me out of my misery.  Finally he gave me permission to try one of those Therma Care Heat wraps...as long as it was on my ribs and not near her head.  So far no brain damage for Girl Wondertwin but wow, was that CRAZY painful.  I don't miss those days.  As a result my rib cage is a good bit larger than it had been which makes clothes difficult sometimes.

Anyway blogworld, just wanted to share my good news with you.

Darn Scale

I might have the cruddiest scale on the planet.  I've known this for a really long time.  Every time I set it in a different part of the house it tells me a different weight.  Generally I put it in the place that gives me the most favorable response of course.  This time I had hubby (who weighs himself at the gym often...in public, oh the horror!) find the place that was the most accurate as opposed to the most flattering.

Anyway this dang scale is telling me that I've lost 5.5 pounds in 6 days.  And no, I haven't moved it to make my numbers look better.

Last night I saw my friend's mom at Vacation Bible School.  The mom told my friend, "Wow, there is really something different about KP.  She looks so nice tonight."  My friend responded, "Oh, she got her hair cut today."  The mom said, "Oh, that must be it".

I'm going to pretend she noticed my 5.5 lost pounds.  (And even my hubby didn't notice the haircut!)

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

It's Like Eden Around Here

Why isn't anyone wearing any clothes?  At what age should boy/girl twins stop sharing EVERYTHING?  I just heard my daughter say to her twin, "No, I don't want that Xylophone Silly Band back...it was just wrapped around your penis".  Never thought I'd ever hear those words or any combination close.

The funny thing is that there is no shame.  My trio can run around with no clothes in front of each other...maybe the entire neighborhood for all I know and they feel no embarrassment.  The Garden of Eden is alive and well in our home, among the kids only of course. Women try on 14 outfits before they go to a party but kids can be naked and care less.  I miss those carefree kid days but goodness.  Maybe I need to be more careful with my naked boys and girl.  I don't blame her...I wouldn't want that Silly Band back either!

Big News Blogworld...

There was no sign of tummy this morning...um, well, when I was laying down anyway.  Ever since I had the twins there was always a small bump near my belly button.  It was just a little "hill" so to speak but I couldn't understand how I could have a pooch while laying down.  Come on gravity, what are you here for anyway?

So this morning when I woke up my stomach was flat. Not like how I want it but progress people.

Once I stood up it was a different story but hey, I'll take what I can get.  I'm only 6 days in so I'm happy.  Well, almost.  Today I didn't lose.  Boo.  It's hard to know for sure since I have the cruddiest scale on the planet.  It was advised to get a scale that measures by .2 pounds so you can REALLY see your progress.  Hubby is really pushing this one so maybe he'll buy me a scale today.  I could have lost as much as .4 without the scale recording it so I'm going to give myself the benefit of the doubt.  Surely I didn't go through a day on 500 calories without losing SOMETHING.  It goes to show how important it is to follow the protocol though (and to a T).  I messed up yesterday by eating WAY too late and that might have made a difference as well.  Hopefully we see progress today.  Hopefully.

Monday, June 21, 2010

It's Day 5! 16 Days to Go!

Sorry about the delayed post.  It's VBS week which means we are out the door early.  Not too early for my daily weigh in though.  I lost another pound yesterday for a total weight loss of 5 pounds in 4 days!  Whoo Hoo!  I'm really in utter shock every day as I see the number on the scale.  My body is starting to feel a little (just a tiny bit) different and that feels good too!

Today was harder since I was on the go all day.  Thankfully I had some prepared protein and veggies so I packed that to eat on the go.  I had shredded chicken with 2 melba toasts and 5 cherry tomatoes for lunch just before I picked up the kids from VBS. After some fun with friends at the park I came home and ate a cucumber and tomato.  The swim meet came right after that.  I was there for 4-7:30 and had to book it to our evening VBS (yes...we're doing 2 VBSchools this week...ugh!).  I finally got home at 8:30 and shoved a very small burger in my mouth.  That was the hungriest I have been yet and it was because I didn't eat according to protocol.  They aren't kidding when they advise to follow this thing to a tee.

It's 9:15pm now and I'm sitting here still hungry.  I really shouldn't have waited this long to eat.  I've learned my lesson.  It's now time for the drops though and that will take care of the hunger.  Amazing how this stuff works. 

I'll update in the morning if I have time!

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Spillin' the Beans

Okay people.  If I hadn't posted about my latest craze I wouldn't even know that I had any readers. I have heard from so many people (albeit privately) inquiring as to my latest antics.  I'm glad you're curious but a comment on the blog here and there wouldn't kill anyone. =)

So here it goes.  Out of fear that someone would decide to try this out without the original protocol, I'm coming out and will explain what I'm doing.

2 months ago a friend shared with me that she is doing what is called the HCG Protocol.  Over the next 6 weeks she lost 20 pounds.  Her friend she did the protocol with lost 27 pounds.  It all depends on your body, how true you are to the diet and how long you stay on it.  While they stayed on for 40 days I only plan to do this for 21.  I'm not interested in losing 20 pounds and I'm not sure I could do it.  More power to them though.  I won't go into specifics here because you can read www.diyhcg.com for almost anything you'd want to know regarding HCG. 

In a nutshell, HCG is a hormone that is found in pregnant women.  It is THE hormone that got me through my twin pregnancy.  From week #6 I was sicker than sick.  There aren't even words.  So sick that my doctor prescribed Zofran (a very expensive drug that was created for those who were enduring Chemo.  It is supposed to settle nausea and keep the patient from throwing up).  It did very little for me during my pregnancy days.  Zofran was/is the strongest anti-nausea drug on the market and let's just say I spent a lot of my pregnancy in the bathroom...up until I had the twins at 33 weeks.

So, how did I have 2 babies weighing in at 5 pounds 1 ounces and 5 pounds 10 ounces if I couldn't keep anything down?  That's what I wondered too.  Now I know.  It's HCG.  It allows the body to provide nutrients to a fetus whether or not the mother is eating the things the baby needs.  There were many days during my pregnancy that the only thing I could possibly think of eating was mashed potatoes and gravy from KFC.  That makes me sick to my stomach just thinking about it now.

I owe it all to HCG.  It allowed my twins a healthy pregnancy while it ate away at any stored fat that I had.  After I had the twins I saw my legs for the very first time.  They looked like toothpicks.  The pregnancy had eaten away at my fat reserves.  One of the only benefits to my twin pregnancy...besides the twins of course.

This HCG protocol allows a person to eat very little while feeling full and satisfied.  The body lives on fat reserves instead of what is coming in which explains the rapid weight loss.  There you go.  That's the gist.  See the above mentioned website for details regarding the protocol.  It is controversial to say the least and I'm not recommending it to anyone.  My blog updates are simply a personal journal to track my progress and vent vent vent.  I'd love to hear from you though.  Are you aware of this protocol?  Do you know anyone who has done it?  Can't wait to share many of the things I'm learning about myself regarding food, cravings and self control.  Stay tuned.

Not the Yummiest Thing on the Planet

So, you're supposed to have 2 different kinds of protein in a day.  I started lunch with grilled talapia and asparagus with 5 grape size tomatoes.  This was so delish...I don't even have words. Fab is all I can say.  Unfortunately I was thinking about dinner and didn't sufficiently thaw which left me with a 1/2 can of tuna for dinner.  I'm pretty sure I shouldn't have had 2 kinds of fish in one day.  Hope that doesn't mess me up.

And...I cheated just a tad.  I picked up a free brisket sandwich for hubby for Father's Day and just had to take a bite.  It would be legal to eat 3.5 ounces of brisket (cooked at home) but this was Hoggy's and YUM!  It was greasy.  Hope that tiny bite didn't set me back a day.  Like I've mentioned, this protocol is mega strict and there's no messing around with a bite here and there.  Even oils from lotion can keep you from losing that day.  My girlfriend put neosporin on her son's lips and didn't lose an ounce that day.  Yikes.  We'll see what my tiny bite of brisket did (plus all that grease on my fingers!)

So, without anything yummy thawed I was left with the tuna and some pickles. If I was allowed mayonaise I would have been quite happy but boo.  No mayo allowed. 

Off to eat my 2 pieces of melba toast and maybe a few strawberries.  Getting wild!

Temptation

Just a quick post...those Graeters (the best ice cream EVER...even Oprah and Harry Connick Jt agree) ads on Facebook are killing me.  There is a HUGE double chocolate chip ice cream scoop on a pretzel, chocolate dipped cone just to the side of my Facebook.  Go away.  I can't handle it!

It's weird though.  If it was right in front of my I wouldn't take a bite.  It's not like I'm hungry for it.  It's more that I CAN'T have it.  I'm not good at denying myself.

Off to make an iced coffee with chocolate stevia drops. Maybe some vanilla drops too if I decide to get crazy.

The Bane of My Existence

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/109858/man-behind-the-bandz?mod=family-kids_parents

Beginning of Day 4

After 72 hours of this craziness I've lost 4 pounds.  4 pounds in 3 days.  Outside of pregnancy I've never seen 4 pounds lost in a month let alone in 3 days.  Keep in mind I've never dieted.  So far this protocol is doing it's job and I'm doing mine.  It really hasn't been painful.

I messed up last night though.  Since you can only have tea, water and coffee on this thing, I've been loading on stevia packed caffeine.  Last night I was up til 4AM.  Ugh!  Sleep is a major part of this as well.  It's essential that the body has 8 hours to fully recover from the day.  (Hmm...good luck, right?)  My body is not a fan of caffeine and therefore I'll be switching to de-caf.  Good idea but the problem with that is even decaf tea has a little bit in it. I'm just going to have to cut out everything but water after 4PM.

Besides surviving on 4 hours of sleep and eating 500 calories, it's Father's Day and time to pamper the father in my family!  Happy Father's Day to All and I will be providing details regarding this protocol in future blog posts.  Have a great day!

Saturday, June 19, 2010

End of Day 3

Do I've survived 72 straight hours...hey wait...80 hours really since I stopped my binge at 10pm-ish.

So, wanna know what I ate today???  Hmm...it won't take long to list.

3.5 ounces of steak
4 glasses of tea with stevia
4 glasses of water
1 cup of coffee with stevia, chocolate & vanilla stevia drops
1 large tomato with sea salt
4 pieces of asparagus (pieces??? uh...stalks?)
1-2 strawberries
3.5 ounces of tilapia
More water.

Yep.  That was my day.  We'll see what the scale has to say tomorrow.

Today was my toughest of the 3.  Not sure why.  I was very tired.  I think it could be because I took a very long walk last night.  90 minutes!  I didn't mean to walk that long but a friend and I are big talkers and we just talked and walked.  It goes against this particular protocol to exercise very hard.  30 minute walks are encouraged.  Pretty sure 90 minutes can do more damage than good...as evidenced today.  I'm done with big workouts although I do plan to get some exercise.  Light weight lifting and grocery shopping. I think I can handle that.  Speaking of grocery shopping, GREAT deals tonight at Target, Walgreens and Meijer.  Those are posted at www.4our2cents.com when I get a chance.

It's Day 3

Okay, so yesterday I said it was day 4 and technically I guess it was but the first 2 days were gorging days. Yes, you read that right.  A protocol that includes gorging.  You're saying SIGN ME UP, right? =)

Well, it wasn't near as much fun as one would expect.  Honestly it was disgusting.  I came off a weekend away where I ate nothing but steak and Tex Mex.  That part was quite yummy.  So I returned on Monday to my 2 days of gorging.  Tuesday and Wednesday.  Those days I ate Taco Bell, Wendy's, the greasiest thing I could find from our local pub and a whole pint (in one sitting!) of my favorite ice cream.  It started out YUM but half way through I was forcing myself to get it down.  That's a lot of double chocolate chip.

So after 2 days of total gorge, I jumped in with 2 feet and today is technically day 3 (not counting 2 gorge days) and I'm down 3 pounds!  Ah yea!  I'm pretty psyched about 3 pounds in 2 days since it took me 2 years to shed 6 pounds at the gym.  If you are interested in this protocol let me know and I'll message you privately.  I've already heard from a few blog friends so stop by and say hi!

Friday, June 18, 2010

Holla!

Okay, so it's mid way through Day 4 and I'm down 2 pounds.  Not bad.  Even better, I'm not hungry.

I have to confess though.  I cooked organic macaroni and cheese for my son's lunch and I sooo badly wanted a bite.  Okay, not just a bite.  The entire pot.  I decided though that if I was going to cheat it wouldn't be on mac and cheese.  Chocolate cake?  That's another story.

Feeling good and looking forward to the next 19 days!

Thursday, June 17, 2010

It has Begun

I've gone back and forth about posting this for a while but I've decided accountability breeds success so here we go.

A good friend started a radical diet a while ago and she has seen radical success.  She's down 20 pounds and her friend (who did it at the same time) lost 27 pounds.  I don't know the specifics of where she started or ended but I'll tell you this.  She looks good. 

I've never been on a diet in my life.  My mom dieted off and on for 40 plus years and it's just not my style.  I rarely see a lot of success in others' diets and until I had my 3rd child I didn't have a lot of motivation.  Recovering from that pregnancy at age 32 was not as easy as I thought it would be.  After being on a serious exercise regimen for 2 straight years (exercising at least 1 hour per day/3-6 days per week) I noticed a lot of muscle building (and tighter physique) but very little weight loss.

Then I noticed a radical difference in my friend who is now 20 pounds lighter.  Why not try it, right?  I can't (shouldn't) lose 20 pounds so 20 is not my goal but I am interested to see how my body will respond to this strict protocol.  I struggled with whether or not to post this here.  I'm pretty private about things like this but I realized 2 things.  1.  Accountability is a good thing.  2.  I need to process. 

I'm a total verbal processor (thus, the blog) and if I don't talk/write it out, I'm in trouble.  That and my husband is going to get really sick of hearing it. =)  So, for his sake, here it goes, blogworld.

For the sake of privacy, let's just say I'm starting at X and I'll continue to post progress as it occurs in real time!  Wish me luck.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Silly Bandz Update

Trendy trends.  There a part of life.  Remember friendship pins?  Cabbage Patch dolls? Jelly bracelets and shoes?  Painters pants and parachute pants?  These trends are so fun as a kid but not so much when you're the mom.  These Silly Bandz are trying to kill me.

After being introduced to these little jobbers at school, my kids have brought them home and been obsessed ever since.  I'll take a picture for a visual representation but I'll tell you now, my daughter has them going all the way up one arm and down the other.  I did not buy one of these for her.  Most she swindled off of her friends and 24 of them she purchased with her $5 she got for dog sitting.

Are your kids fighting over these silly things too?  The good thing (I guess...because I'm always the the optimistic kind of girl) is that the kids are building their negotiation skills.  I don't know what that says about Girl Wondertwin's future ability to succeed in business but hey, as long as mom survives the Silly Bandz trend, they can't hurt anyone right?  I just wish I had come up with them. That dude better invest that money well.  Any bets on how long this trend will last?

Monday, June 14, 2010

The Yellow Rose of Texas



It was Flower Girl weekend.  My daughter was asked to play "Flower Girl" in a wedding of a friend of the family...in Texas.  So, hubby, Girl Wondertwin and I flew to the Lone Star State for a jam-packed, fun-filled weekend of Tex Mex, steak and flowers.  GWT looked like the belle of the ball and the family was thrilled that we came in for the festivities.

I don't know if I've made this known but I'm not a formalities kind of girl.  I don't do well with weddings and receptions etc.  Maybe I'm just not comfortable in heels and dresses that hold it all in way too tightly.  I don't know but this weekend I tried hard to get past the formalities and to enjoy it all.  I know GWT didn't have a problem being the center of attention...and she might even have a little crush on the Groom!  Ha!

Back to the daily grind (and less humidity thank goodness...you should see my hair!).

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Good thing you know me in Blogworld...

Because I'm a terrible phone person.  I've noticed people are one or the other.  Phone or Virtual.  I am all about the virtual.  Not sure when I made my way from the chatty teenager with a phone surgically attached to my ear to a computer toting fool but it happened.  I DREAD the phone.  For 12 plus years I had a cell and generally had NO CLUE where it was most of the time.  I still have a hard time tracking it from time to time but now that it connects to the virtual world (Smart Phone...not always the smartest though I am finding out) I'm WAY better at finding it.

If you know me in the real world you probably hate this about me.  I understand. Fully.  When you want to talk to someone you WANT TO TALK TO THEM, not their voicemail.  But here's a message to you phone people out there.  There are BETTER (read: more efficient) forms of communication out there.  Hello...TWITTER, EMAIL, FACEBOOK, TEXT.  I'm not asking a lot.  Communicate with me in one of these forms and you will hear from me prontito.  Call me?  Don't expect a return call.  You'll get a text within seconds I can almost guarantee...or at least a returned email faster than Lightening McQueen can say "KaPow-KaChow"!

Seriously phone people...let's take a step into the 21st century.  Not that the phone isn't a essential tool in today's society but it's not the only one in your box.  Work with us virtual people...I'm really phone inept and especially if you call during Glee...I'm NOT going to answer nor will I return your call that evening. Sorry.  I just don't roll like that.  And really.  Pretend we're back in the dormitory days and leave a note on my door if you're that computer illiterate.  Even my mom can text.

So Blogworld, which one are You?

Another One Bites the Dust

Could it have really happened?  Did we really just survive another school year?  Yippee!  I feel like a kid again as my kids finish their Kindergarten year!  Blessings of blessings!  It's over. 

I was thrilled to put my kids on the bus this year.  A little nostalgic over everything we had been through together throughout their first 5 years of life but so thrilled for them to move on in life and learn, grow and make friends.  Well, all of those things happened this year and it's finally time to celebrate and enjoy the  Summer.

I did not anticipate how stressful this school year would be logistically.  I'm so done driving people places and racing from one thing to the next.  From what I hear this has only just begun but I'm thankful half-day Kindergarten is over. Per state regulations Little Dude will be full day.  Even though this is Ventalicious I won't go into my opinions on that one.  Let's just say I prefer my kids to be home with me as long as possible but if anyone has to do full day Kinder it should be Little Dude.  He should be ready by then...and I will be too.

Now I'm off to make my Summer Bucket List.  What's on yours?

Monday, June 7, 2010

A Social Experiment

There is this random person who is now friends with many of my high school Facebook friends.  She may be real.  I'll give her the benefit of the doubt but it made me think.

What if I made up some random name.  How about Jenny Smith?  And then I selected a group of friends.  High school, college...it could be in a totally different state.  My experiment would be to select this specific group, specifically high school because it would probably be the largest collection of "friends in common".

So let's say I choose "Anytown High School in Anytown, USA".  Let's say class of 1990.  Maybe I would try to find the class president or the star quarterback.  Someone with a lot of friends.  I would then start requesting friendships.  How easy would it be to nudge my way into that social circle?  A freakshow (not me because this is purely for interpersonal communication studies of course) could probably get herself invited to the class reunions and she would have enough information from Facebook to hang with the class.  How many people would realize that they don't really know Jenny Smith or that there never was a Jenny Smith? 

I wonder as I see high school friends becoming Facebook friends with randoms on Facebook.  Although unlikely, it's kind of scary what kind of damage could be done via Facebook.  Good thing Jenny Smith isn't a freakshow.

Oh the Places You'll Go


Do you ever look around and wonder how you got to where you are?  That's a big question on some level...a level I'm not going to but it's also pretty basic.  Take this weekend.

We were gifted with Memorial Tournament passes (Golf).  With the passes included a hospitality tent and a sky box.  A timeout (or whatever that is in golf language) was called for weather including lightening.  We booked it back to the hospitality house and found ourselves with Vijay Singh, KJ Choi, Hendrik Swenson and 3 other famous golfers.  They stayed around for quite a while until a large 12 passenger van arrived to take them back to the clubhouse.  It was kind of crazy to see the "behind the scenes" of a golf tournament. It all looks quite glamorous from the television as you're watching Tiger prance around the course but in the background not so much.

Quite funny though watching these 6 golfers, 6 caddies and their clubs all cram into a 12 passenger van.  Guess it's not all wine and roses.