HAPPY 2012!!!

It's a new year and I'm ready to set some goals and conquer them! I've taken a long blogging break this fall, but I will be back with an update and my goals for this month in a couple days.  Happy New Year!!

Catching Up

Monday, September 12th I showed up for jury duty.  My first jury experience a few years ago involved sitting and WAITING in the jury pool room for an entire week while eight months pregnant.  Not wanting to relive that boring experience I was praying that they would call my name as groups of thirty plus headed out the door to various courtrooms.  After several groups I heard my name and went skipping out the door book bag in hand.  Just in the waiting and walking I made friends with a lovely lady willing to serve but fearing being sequestered since she takes care of a handicapped veteran son overnight.  I assured her that I couldn't believe that sort of thing happens that often.  Eight hours later, I was phoning my hubby to let him know I'd been assigned jury duty on a sequestered murder case.  I may have prayed a little too hard...but I was certainly not going to be bored this time!

What a week!  I wish I had pictures, but I didn't take my camera because I was afraid it wasn't allowed.  No phones, televisions, computers/internet or outside contact made me think they might not appreciate me snapping photos of every plate of food, or interesting characters in the courthouse, or my fellow jurors including the retired NFL ex-Patriot player and ex-roommate of Tom Brady, or our lovely top secret motel.  Security was pretty tight.  I had to beg to get a bailiff to accompany me to the treadmill one evening.  Boy did I ever need that treadmill.  They took really good care of us, and stuffed us with food.  Lunches and snacks all day long followed with dinner to nice restaurants (Half Shell and Carrabba's Italian Grill).  After all that sitting, the last thing I needed was food, really, but I wasn't alone in enjoying our feasts.  I don't know if it was freezing to death in the jury room kept at 55 degrees constantly, or listening so carefully your brain hurts, or trying to balance out the seriousness of the situation with some happiness in food, but something about the entire process made all of us look forward to eating breaks.  Maybe it was the mystery in what they would serve.  We couldn't talk about the horrific case until it was time to deliberate on the last day.  In a way that made the conversation lighter during our breaks. encouraging a little snacking by all to relive the stress.
It was a very short trial, and we found the defendant guilty.  The afternoon we deliberated I just kept shaking...reminded me of when I was in labor and I couldn't stop shaking.  The gravity of the situation was not lost on me, and even though I was sure in my decision (after a lot of prayer), it was such a sad time for everyone involved.  It left me thinking about how our choices affect so many people.  More people than we may ever know.  Our good choices, and my bad choices.  Obviously that defendant ended a life causing some of the deepest pain and consequences to many people.  It struck me that  even I was affected forever by his choice  by the graphic pictures, details, testimonies, and lives I witnessed changed forever.  

It is hard to believe I have been home a week now.  Our jury group became very close, and I volunteered to hostess a reunion in a few weeks.  It was a really nice group of people that I was blessed to serve with.  I hit the home turf running by hostessing my son's twelfth birthday party last Friday night.  Below are the yahoos that partied nearly all night. A sweet group of boys, but it nearly killed me staying up so late after my week.

Sunday my youngest got his first grade Bible in church.  I explained the process to him while I was combing his hair in the mirror earlier that morning, and I couldn't help expressing my sentiments that he is my last baby to get his first grade Bible.  He told me not to worry; saying I could "have a LATE baby."  I told him that I had news for him.....HE IS THE LATE BABY.  He tried to argue the math/spacing with me, but I think I finally broke through his denial and convinced him that it is the truth. It added a little humor to a moment I thought was slightly sad....he keeps me smiling that one.  He is the handsome one in the sea of first graders in the very back row in the red striped shirt.  MY LATE BABY: a first grader!

Soccer, school, and cross country filled up the rest of this week.  Below is my cross country girl.  The mom who ran with the coach and team all summer/fall looks like she has lost twenty pounds.  Maybe next year I'll try to jog along behind them!

How did my eating survive through this crazy month?  NOT WELL.  Or maybe you could say too well...in the wrong direction.  I came home from jury duty afraid to step on the scale.  I told myself after a couple of days I'd be ready.  NOPE.  I was never ready...finally made myself step on it this morning and my children thought that high pitched sound was our alarm going off.  It wasn't pretty.  Fall is always a dangerous time for me and food.  Really from now until January will be hard.  Anybody else find fall/winter harder?  I am trying to get a grip....I have several days left in September, and I still have that wedding to go to in October.

Tomorrow I am taking two of my daughters to visit my collage girl.  We are going to enjoy a girlie weekend full of movies, shopping and talking....oh and watching her induction into the National Society of Collegiate Scholars on Sunday.  Pray for my hubby while he holds down the fort AGAIN.  I am blessed to have him!  I hope to eat healthy all weekend, and give it my all next week at losing and blogging.  Have a wonderful fall weekend!

Back to Blogging Soon

Last week I was a little under the weather, and this week I am doing my civic duty at the courthouse.  My poor hubby is holding down the fort and managing all the sports activities while I am gone.  I can't wait to give a full update once I am back!

17 Day Reboot Completed!!

Good-bye August!  I had to post our school calendar just so you could see all our August birthdays.  Maybe it will make you a little more sympathetic to why I had a hard time getting with the program the first two weeks!  Honestly, I was falling into that trap of trying every morning, and failing by mid-day.  After two weeks of that I said ENOUGH.  That is where the reboot came in.  Motivated by the Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead movie, I decided to nix my cravings in the bud.  Guess what?  It worked!  It was hard.  On day four you can observe another birthday cake on the calendar.  That was the day I almost caved, and was wonderfully rescued by my hubby.  Honestly, I probably owe the success of the 17 day reboot to him.  He was really helpful and supportive.

Reboot Pros:
My cravings are GONE.  Today I finally feel energized, well, and roaring to tackle the remaining weight. I am eating tons of healthy veggies and fruit (something that goes away when unhealthy habits take over).  My little guys ASKED for spinach in their strawberry/banana smoothie today....WOW!  I feel very encouraged (instead of discouraged) after making my goal.  My skin is still glowing, and I am sleeping like a rock. I lost 15.5 pounds in just 17 days.  I know some will criticize me for that, but I needed to see that scale head south.

Reboot Cons:
Drinking juice did get old quickly.  Cleaning the juicer got old even quicker.  I think the thing I looked forward to the most was a day off from cleaning that juicer!  Preparation and cleaning also took a lot of time and energy.  That energy tended to make me not cook dinner for the family many of the nights.  Today I fixed that by greeting my girls by asking what they wanted for dinner.  Tuna noodle casserole is in the oven!  COST....need I say more?  There aren't any discounts on organic fresh veggies and fruits, and it takes a mountain of them to juice just four cups worth.  Exhaustion was my middle name.  I never hit that stride of magic energy.  I also babied myself and went very light on the exercise while concentrating on my nutrition.

It seems like my cons are longer than my pros, but it was a very needed and profitable reboot.  I ended it today with a breakfast berry smoothie with some rice protein powder added.  Lunch was half of this gorgeous vegan salad and half a banana.  I think I will eat the other half for dinner.

So hello September.  Today the boys helped me get our calendar on track.  Just look at that blank slate and all the possibilities imaginable for the month.

I have a few short goals for this month:
Lose 7 pounds.  Seven because that will bring me to minus 60 pounds; yep, that's right, today I am at minus 53 pounds.  I think when I get to minus 60 pounds I might feel brave enough to post actual numbers.

Exercise regularly.  I want to build back my exercise and do it consistently.

Journal?  I am not sure about this one.  I am feeling a little sick of the lesson plan journal form, and may just go back to the regular notebook.

I'm off to pull out that casserole and enjoy a family dinner.  Below is a picture of  the big guy helping the little guy; it makes me smile.  Shortly after I took it I had to send them to separate rooms, but camaraderie is refreshing around here even for a skinny minute!

 

Tea Time

TEAVANA is my new favorite store.  I love the colors on their wall of tins.  I could spend all day wafting every single tin.  I really like the taste and results (so far) of the tea also.  I do not like the hefty price tag, but what a girl won't do to get skinny be healthy.
What I am currently drinking:
Monkey Picked Oolong.  I really like the taste of this.  It is a mild tea.  It is supposed to be good for weight loss, digestion, skin, and teeth.  I started drinking it in July, and noticed a difference with the first cup.  It made me feel slightly warm, and very hungry within minutes of consuming it.  It also made me even more regular, if you know what I mean.  I really do think it keeps my metabolism running a little faster.  That said, it does not make me feel jittery or strange.  It also lowered my blood sugar levels immediately.  I really think part of the reason I maintained my weight in July was this tea.
Golden Monkey Black Tea and Yaun Dynasty Golden Tips Black Tea.  This is what they suggested for lowering my cholesterol.  It is a harsher tea...almost a little bitter.  I am mixing it with my oolong, but when it runs out I don't think I will get more.

I bought the Teavana Perfect Tea Maker.  It diffuses the tea and empties right into my cup.  I usually drink three 16 ounce mugs a day.  Straight up with nothing added.  I also reuse the same tea five times to stretch it as long as possible, and to help lesson the caffeine.

My reboot juicing is going well.  Today is day 15.  I am really looking forward to introducing solid veggies and fruits again on Thursday.  REALLY.  I do not know if I could EVER do this for 60 days.  I am consistently longing for an avocado, so I am guessing maybe this means my body would like a little healthy fat.  I will try to post a recap after my juice feast/reboot is over.  

Pictures

I was excited to take pictures, but I really don't like them.  Will I ever like pictures of myself again?  I do like having 50 pounds gone however, and I feel really motivated to knock out the rest.  Below are a few pictures from yesterday, and one comparison picture from February.

I added the close up above so I could show how my skin looks while juicing.  Below are two comparisons of me on February 11, 2011 when I had lost 12.5 pounds and yesterday at minus 50 pounds.

 
I had actually been on the Clean program for 10 days when that awful picture was taken.  I tried to locate one from January, but will have to keep digging.  As puffy as I am in that picture, I know it was even worse in January.  Unfortunately, I did a really good job of NOT standing in front of cameras.  Sadly, I took an entire weeks field trip to Chicago with my youngest daughter and her seventh grade class in January, and while there are lots of pictures,  I cannot find one of me with my daughter.  NOT ANYMORE.  I am so happy to be able to be present with my children and family instead of hiding from history.

Below is my fresh pineapple, mango, peach, apple, and spinach juice.  It was too good; a really refreshing and yummy breakfast today.

These pictures make me smile.  My beautiful senior and her creative shirt heading off to school today.

Below is an interview with Joe Cross who stars in the movie, Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead, and who founded the Join the Reboot website.

HAPPY DANCING HAPPENING HERE

Minus 50 pounds total on the scale this morning.  Smiling and jigging a jog around here!  I was thinking yesterday that these last 30 pounds are the fun pounds.  Those first 30 pounds were just NOT fun.  I had gone up and down in that range a lot these last five years, so you couldn't really tell I looked any different.  I know, it is not all about looks, but when I was working so hard looks would have been a great reward.  It really wasn't until around minus 40ish pounds that any kind soul noticed I'd done something different.  Doing the right thing, and making better choices was really a great daily reward in itself during that time, but it was not as exciting as getting close enough to see the very distant finish line.

These next 30 pounds are motivating and exciting because I just feel so much better, look so much better, and get to begin to enjoy the rewards of the weight loss like smaller and cuter clothes.  For the first time last week another mom commented that I certainly did not need to lose 30 more pounds.  Ahhh.  It made me smile.  With my first five babies I never needed to re-lose more than 25 pounds, so when I would complain about losing weight people would always say that polite thing of "you DO NOT need to lose 25 pounds.  Where?"  With 80 pounds to lose, and even when I got down to 60 or 70 pounds to lose, people would give me a pitiful look or say something like,"You can do it."  I know, I was the only one in denial about HOW BIG I really was, but somehow it still shocked me when they never argued even a tiny bit that I should be losing X amount of weight.  It was nice to hear someone sound genuinely surprised that I still have 30 more pounds to go because it affirmed my loss so far.  Just as I was in denial about how large I had gotten, I seem to be weirdly unsure about if what the scale says matches what I look like now.  So it was nice to hear that maybe it does.

I hope to in list my in house photographer Peter and take a few pictures to post of me at minus 50 pounds.

I am still juicing and starting day 11 today.  Look at the frothy thick top on that juice!  Again it is surprisingly thick.  I really feel very good.  The amazing thing about 10 days of only veggies and fruit is it really changes my cravings.  The Hershey's chocolate bar my son begged for in the store last night honestly did not phase me.   Fresh almonds however make me drool, and I am dreaming of an avocado on top of a crunchy veggie salad.

 He asked me to take this picture with him drinking from his cup.  I have so much help around here.

I'm off to juice with my juicing entourage.  I am thinking about getting a Vita Mix.  Any of you have one have any advice?  My boys who spent 3 hours mesmerized by the Costco Blend Tec man last weekend, and consequently could now go into business themselves, are insisting it is better.  I, having previously been enamored by the Costco Vita Mix man, am not convinced.  Either way, those cool headset microphones and amazingly thick smoothies that don't fall out of the upside down cup are convincing....I won't even get started on the sorbet or HOT soup.  It's a good thing we don't get out much!  I'm boogieing off to the kitchen; let the juicing begin.