I am thankful this week and this is why.......

So this week I had another 1 lb loss, and I am thankful for that! This week was Dustin's 32nd birthday. I love my husband sooooooooo much and he is supportive of all the ventures I go on. So, on the 21st when I was getting ready for his birthday I decided I would break tradition this year and go to safeway and get him an individual piece of cake so I wouldn't have to eat any. After telling one of my co-workers this plan she said "you can't buy him a peice of cake it's tradition that you make him one!" After feeling the guilt trip of how I love my husband so much and I should bake him a homemade cake with love, I went to the store and bought the ingredients to make him a delicious birthday cake. He loved it and ate about a third of the pan of cake. I thought to myself you can stay away from the cake for a day while he's at work. I had an insurance class that I was attending the next day and if any of you have ever been to a sales meeting you know that they put all sorts of candy (valentines day candy, the best!) in front with your name tag and they think that all this candy is suppose to halp you stay awake and pay attention. The only thing it did for me is think about how I was not going to give into the temptaion of the candy through the whole meeting. I hope nobody asks me to recap that meeting, because I'm pretty sure I could only rattle out every type of candy that was sitting in front of me. Next, came lunch, pizza.......awesome (sarcastic). Who planned this meeting? So I tried to find the two smallest slices of pizza and ate those, even though I wanted to take a box back to my seat and pig out. Then came the clincher, we got done early, around 2:15, and I made my way home feeling good about all the temptation I had bypassed. I walked into my house and there it was......... the biggest enemy of all........ the birthday cake from hell. A girl can only take so much. I pulled out a fork and set up shop in front of that badboy. I ate about a third of that pan of cake and felt a little ill. After drinking a gallon of water to help flush the sugar through my viens, I looked at the damage I had done to that cake and vowed that I am going to have to find another tradition for my beloved husband. Any suggestions?
Anyway, that is why I am thankful for my 1 lb loss, which now makes me 264 lbs. After this weeks craziness I am thankful to have lost anything. I realize everyone has weak moments and as long as you try again the next day you can move past them. Progress not perfection!

My Freakin Awesome Cat!

This is my cat kitty. As most of you know I am not a cat lover....... until now. My cat is hilarious! As I speak she is trying to get in my laptop case so that she has a place to hide. When I was studying for my licensing exams I had to use the laptop to take on-line practice tests. I would have the laptop on all day and it would get really warm. One day when I was taking a break and I walked away for about 10 minutes, then I started to hear little dings and that sounded like someone was touching the keyboard keys. I ran into my room to see kitty wanting to sit on the warm laptop (she also sits on the dryer when I am drying laundrey.) I had to try and be really still when I took the photo's because I was laughing my head off!!! She is such a sweet cat and she even suffers through me cradling her in my arms like she's my child. We love her so much!

So this is the first picture, I don't think I will post a pictue every week, probably once a month. The balck is slimming I think.......hmmmmmm?

I am not on the biggest loser!

Okay, so I don't know how many of you watch the biggest loser, but it is one of my favorite shows. When I got on the scale this morning I have to keep reminding myself that I am not on biggest loser, I REPEAT, I AM NOT ON BIGGEST LOSER. looking down at the scale this morning and seeing the number 265 I was thinking I am SO getting voted off the show, and then I remind myself with my little chant that I am not on the biggest loser! Where is my 20 lb. loss? OH, that's right I am my own personal trainer and I only have an hour to work out everyday not 8.
Now, to anyone who is reading this it may sound like I'm having a struggle and sounding negative, but I promise you I am still positive. I am in this for the long haul and realize that it is a lifestyle change and not a diet. When I told Dustin that I only lost a pound he said that I should lie and put 2 pounds on the blog because it wouldn't be lieing if you hadn't taken your daily shadoobie. TMI, I know!!!! But this blog is all about honesty and if I gained I would put I gained. Besides, 1 lb. is still success. Slowly but shirley I will get there.

Successes:
1. Went to the gym 4 times and worked my booty off @ 4:30 in the morning, it still amazes me everytime my alarm clock goes off.
2. 1 lb. loss!
3. My pants do feel a little looser. It could be in my head, but it makes me feel good anyway!

Top 3 albums to listen to at the gym:
1. Paramore, Riot
2. Britney Spears, Circus (Normally I wouldn't listen to her but it is a guilty pleasure!)
3. Muse, any album, they rock!

Best dinner this week: Turkey meatloaf, yummy!

What a Great First Week!!!!

So I just want to say that I am so blessed with such a supportive family and great friends. I loved to read all the great comments and they really helped gear me up!

This week was great! My weight this week is 266! Five pounds down! Wow, that's a lot of exclamation points. One of the great things about eating the foods that fuel is your craving level. After 3 days of eating fruits and vegetables, exercising, and drinking plenty of water, it was easier to say no to the cravings that snuck up. Working out was a challenge, on Monday when I walked out of my house @4:45 it was 3 degrees!

I found some great recipe's online on cooks.com. My recipe of the week is easy sweet and sour chicken:

6 chicken breasts
8 oz. apricot preserves
1 bottle Russian dressing
1 pkg. dry onion soup mix

Mix together the last 3 ingredients. Place chicken in casserole and pour over chicken. Cook, covered at 350 degrees for 2 hours.

Serve it over brown rice and it is amazing! It is also low in fat.

I will post a picture as soon as I get a new cord for my camera.

Okay, so on to different things, because this blog is not just for weight loss, but also for things that are going on in me and Dustin's life. So I finally finished all of my licensing with Statefarm and this week I am proud to say that I did my own auto application all by myself!!! I know this doesn't really make sense to everyone, but the application is a real process that takes getting use to and it takes some time to be able to do one yourself. This job has been a learning process from the beginning since it is unlike any other job I've ever had. Everyday it feels like I learn something new and making mistakes has been something that I have to take in stride. I am used to knowing my job and correcting other people's mistakes and now I'm at the bottom trying to learn a lot of information. I'm staying positive it will not always be like this. Even my worst days in insurance is better than retail.

I forgot the most important part!!! My current weight as of Sunday January 4th is (deep breath) 271 lbs. My all time high. This is going to be hard but great year!

Bring in the new year with a blog!

Holy cow, who new starting a blog would only take less than five minutes! Now if I could only figure out how to get my pictures on it. My computer is ancient by the way.

So I figure that with a new year, it was a good time to get into blogging. The new year brings in a lot of those pesky new years resolutions, and yes, I will be with everyone tomorrow morning at the gym to work off the holiday food. My goal is to be one of the gym goers that actually keeps going in February. That is one of the reasons I have started this blog because I want to try and track my journey this coming year. This year is going to start out like every year, I make a goal to lose weight and I'm going to do really well for the first 16 pounds. But then I get stressed or I get lazy and don't plan, or I go on vacation and indulge, because that is what you are suppose to do on vaca.......right? Not this year. This is where this new blog comes in. My new years resolution is to document my weight loss, and not just in a private journal so only I can see. I want to be held accountable for my actions and I want everyone who visits my blog to know my successes and my not so successes (no matter how embarrassing!). Most of all, I need support. I will update this blog every sunday and let you know where I am. Yes, I will be letting you know exactly how much I weigh. Comments are greatly appreciated and words of encouragment are needed. I will also post a picture of myself every week to track the weight loss (don't worry I will be fully clothed!).

So what does everyone think? Sound like a plan? I hope that I can count on everyones support and I hope everyone is having a great start to their new year!