ready2bskinE

Just wondering how many of you are planning on getting this vaccine? It worries me, because I work part time in a day care, where if it’s going around, you’re gonna catch it there. I don’t want to bring it home, since I have a 2 year old and a 3 year old of my own who do NOT go to day care, and really don’t have any exposure at all to other kids unless I take them to Sunday School.  So I’m wondering if I should get the vaccine, and if I should get it for my kids. Is it a weakened or a dead virus?  I just don’t want to risk them getting super-sick!  Plus it makes me nervous, because I’m not sure how safe the vaccination is.  Just wanting to hear some other people’s thoughts on this subject….

Today is Day 3 of my new start.  :D  I decided to zig zag my calories this week, along with my new, improved workout plan and “half plate method” I’m doing this week. Hopefully that will help shake things up and burn some extra fat.  Have I mentioned my half plate method that I’m trying this week?  I just decided that no matter what meal it is, breakfast, dinner, whatever, half of my plate will be full of fruits and/or veggies. Then the other half can be eggs, wheat toast, chicken, potatoes, whatever.  Can’t fit a ton of mashed potatoes on a plate that is loaded with veggies and some chicken, so I’m hoping this method will help me #1 watch my portion control and #2 keep my calories in check.  Just something I’m trying out.

 Yesterday shopping with my family was AWESOME! Everybody went: my mom, dad, and 17 year old brother, my two kids, and my husband. It was so much fun!  :D  I love shopping with all of them.  The kids are MAJORLY entertained with that many people they love surrounding them, and no one gets frustrated because there are so many adults that we actually compete for the kids attention, rather than getting irritated with them when they won’t be still.  We were ALL worn out by the end of the day.

 And I got some new clothes!!!!  WooooHOoooo! Finally, some clothes that FIT!  Pretty much everything in my closet was getting too big. Some of it was ridiculously big!  (But I was wearing it anyway, which *I think* speaks to what a low-maintenance woman I am! LOL)  No, it’s just that, my husband was like, “You ALWAYS want new clothes!”  And I DO NOT! I just think, that since I’m down to a SIX, it’s time to retire the size TEN jeans!! I mean, what woman wants to wear a ten when she’s a six?  Any hands??  LOL   So I’m pretty excited!  I tried a pair of size seven jeans that I just KNEW would look awesome on me. They were so cute, and ON SALE, but….. I needed a size FIVE in them, and they didn’t have any. (You know, they just put the random left-overs on sale, so you don’t always get lucky.)  But I wasn’t upset!! I was on cloud nine that I needed a size five in them!!  :D   (Mind you, I do NOT wear a five in everything. The jeans I wore yesterday were 7s and they fit just fine.  So… you never know.)   ;)    Anyway, I didn’t mean to go on and on bragging about my clothes size. It’s just that it’s been A LONG time since I’ve been able to squeeze into clothes that size.  It’s exciting!

I had a green salad (with fat free dressing on the SIDE) and a grilled chicken sandwich for lunch and shared a small order of fries with my two kids, then we went to a deli for dinner and I had a bowl of chicken soup and 1/2 a turkey sandwich with grapes.  I think I was probably within my calorie limit for the day, since I didn’t have any snacks or anything.  Oh, we watched a movie when we got home to unwind, and I ate a whole bag of light popcorn myself, but that’s only like 50 calories or something.  So, all in all, it was a great day!

Went grocery shopping today, and got lots of fresh fruit and veggies, so that I can keep up with my 1/2 plate method this week.  Made the kids put lots of the stuff they grabbed back, so thanks to being the MEAN MOMMY I won’t have to stare at cookies, chips (well, I let them get Pizza Pringles, but trust me, I will NOT have a hard time resisting THOSE) cake or brownie mixes, cookie dough, or ice cream.  (Yes, they took each of those things down and tried to put them in my basket, and they’re THREE and ONE!  I’m seriously thinking I should start leaving them at home when I go….  I’d save money, be more relaxed, AND have less temptation to just say OK! to the junk food.  But I guess that’s a subject for another time…. LOL)

One other thing I’ve decided to try, is having a Slim Fast shake and fruit or veggies for dinner. (With my bigger meals being breakfast and lunch, so I can eat more when I actually need the energy, and less when I’m winding down for the day.)  I did Slim Fast when I started out, and I really liked it. It helped me lose weight, and I think the fact that it has actual nutritional value with not many calories might make it the perfect thing for the late dinners I’ve been having.  That will mean I don’t have to cook dinner for myself, so I can eat when I get home from work, and THEN cook for my family. Or while I cook for my family.  But I won’t be eating an hour and a half before bed time anymore.  Just a thought…. I did buy the Slim Fast, but I’m not sure yet if it’s going to be dinner for this week.

OK, my kid is begging for some soup. Made her put the treats back, but I let her get the Shrek chicken soup she begged for.  (btw, they’ll put a cartoon characters face on ANYTHING if they think it’ll sell a few more, won’t they??)  Hope everyone’s winding up their weekend right and looking forward to a great week!

 So I’ve been reading all over, how so many Buddy Slimmers are in need of motivation. I’ve come up with a Summer Survivor idea that I know will help me, and I think can help lots of other people here, too.  I’m planning for it to run from the first official day of summer, to the last day of summer: June 21- September 21. Each of us can accomplish a LOT in three months, and I think that in a competitive atmosphere, there will be even more drive to get results, so…. imagine yourself 20 lbs lighter at the end of summer, or if you don’t have that far to go, imagine yourself with 10-20% less body fat. Hey, if you’re not a professional body builder, then even if you’re close to your goal weight, you probably have some body fat that could stand to come off.  :D  I know I’m in that boat. My weight tracker SAYS I have 10 more lbs to go, but trust me, there is a LOT more work I need to do than just lose 10 lbs. to be able to call myself “in shape”.  So that’s what I want to focus on in this challenge: Getting us all closer to where we need to be.

I was thinking about having two teams: one who wants to focus on losing weight, especially for people who are still quite a ways from their goal weights; then another team, who instead of focusing solely on weight, will focus more on body fat or inches lost. If there’s anyone out there like me, who will most likely reach their goal weight during this challenge (If the work is put in!) then we’ll still have a ways to go before our bodies actually look the way we REALLY want them to. And along those lines, I was thinking that the winner from each team for a given week, will be that team’s captain for the next week. As sort-of a prize, but also to keep the motivation going. I think that having a different person keeping up the dialog each week will keep it fresh and keep any one person from feeling like they’re carrying the team’s “cheerleading.”  And then, instead of eliminating anyone, the bottom person for each week will be competing for a different title. We all know how it is to have a crappy week; it can either derail your progress, or serve as a stepping stone for kicking it up a notch. Well, for anyone who falls to the bottom and finds they’re way back to losing a significant amount, that person will be competing for the “Comeback Queen” title for the challenge. 

I want to have different challenges each week, one focusing on the diet aspect of getting in shape, and another focusing on the exercise aspect.  Both are very important; most people will be unable to reach their ultimate goals focusing solely on either one or the other. So we’ll be working on all of it, together. 

I ‘m going to try to have a forum thread up and running by tomorrow. I hope to see a lot of you there. 

Anyway, Thursday was Day 6 without a binge. Today will make a whole week!!  :D  I’m excited about that, but it’s hardly a milestone. Two months will be big… I don’t think I’ve ever in my life gone two months without a binge. Maybe not an all day binge, but even when I was skinny, I had mini-binges…. like 4 or 5 bowls of cereal in a row, or 3 huge bowls of ice cream in a row; you know, enough to make me sick in more ways than one. So, one week down, 7 more to go! 

I already blew my personal exercise goal. I wanted to workout for 21 straight days, but yesterday was SUPER hectic. Ran errands all day, with the plan of working out when I got home from work. Unfortunately, when we got home from errands, my baby was BURNING UP. Checked her temp, and it was 102.7. For those that don’t know, they recommend taking a baby to the hospital at 103. So then she starts shivering, and her hands and lips turn purplish, and all she says is “I’m cold… I’m cold!!” over and over. Of course I freaked out, called her dr, called in to work because I couldn’t leave my baby, not even with my mother, with her feeling like that. By the time I actually got to speak with a nurse (the office took a message and had her get back to me!) she was back to her normal color, and the fever had gone down to 101.7. So of course, I didn’t take the time to workout yesterday. Instead, I held her and monitored her all day and throughout the night.  Happy to say today, that the fever just broke this morning, and I’m certain she’ll be fine. You know how moms are… we just freak out over the slightest little illness. LMAO

But anyway, I’m back on track today. Now that I know for sure she’ll be fine, I’m planning a nice long run after work. Well, as long as my lungs will let me.

Ever notice how a lunch-hour jog quells your afternoon munchies? A sculpting class works too, says a study published in the American Journal of Physiology. Three groups of people fasted for 10 hours, then either ran, strength-trained, or rested. When they rated their hunger afterward, both the lifters and the runners reported far fewer hunger pangs. “When you’re active, your body diverts some blood flow from the stomach to the working muscles, which can reduce hunger,” says David Stensel, Ph.D., a senior lecturer in exercise physiology at the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences at Loughborough University in England. So start hitting the weights to stop hitting the vending machine!

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Another study asked people to walk away when they were craving chocolate, literally! A group of 20 woman were asked to take a 15 minute walk instead of giving in to their chocolate craving. Afterwards, most reported the cravings were gone, and they were not tempted to eat the chocolate even when asked to open a candy bar, for up to 30 minutes after the walk.

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I noticed that I don’t eat as much throughout the day when I take a morning walk, nor do I crave a second helping of dinner when I exercise directly after work. Hmmmm…. I think there really is something to that study!  Monday was day 4 on my no-binge streak. I was concerned yesterday about my lack of appetite, but I managed to eat a decent dinner (spinach salad, pan-fried chicken breast -used a tiny bit of extra virgin olive oil- and steamed broccoli and cauliflower with 1/2 a baked potato) AND I had a good breakfast this morning (1 scrambled egg, piece of whole wheat toast with a slice of cheese, and a 4oz cup of yogurt) so…. I guess I’m back on track with that.

Unfortunately, every single muscle in my entire body is sore right now! Well, I’m sure there are a few I didn’t get to yesterday, but it’s hard to feel where they might be over all the aching. Lower body especially. My calves are so sore I can’t even walk without feeling pangs every step of the way. Maybe I over-did it….  Think I’ll keep the exercise today to a brisk walk after work and the CoreMax routine. There it is! My abs are the one muscle group blissfully pain-free. I’ll take care of that today though. LOL 

Before I forget, let me get to my family issues…. Y’all it’s my mother in law! She is NUTS!! The backstory (I’ll keep it short) is that she’s NEVER been there for my husband, though she likes to pretend she’s done so much for him. The fact of the matter is, I couldn’t name one thing she’s ever done for me, my kids, or my husband, even if you hard-pressed me. Unless Christmas presents count…. even if she doesn’t bother to watch the kids open them. *sigh*  I guess if a good deed could be done for show, she *might* do it. For us, that is. Now, when it comes to my husband’s sister, or more accurately, her kids, my mother in law is all over it. Well, this past Christmas, her husband got sick of her ways (she’s an alcoholic in denial about it) and kicked her out. Long story short, she met some guy, dated him for a week or two, then moved from Arkansas to eastern Tennessee with him.  Nuts, right? I mean, who does that? So anyway, my sister in law called last night to let my husband know that their mom had come to visit. Actually, she drove through our town, right past our house, to get to my sister in law and my nephews, picked them up, then drove back through here and past our house a second time to take them to stay with her at her mother’s house.  She never even called or anything.  Keep in mind, I’ve never said one cross word to this lady; in fact, I’ve been nothing if not OVERLY nice. I really WANTED her to love me and my kids, and I did everything in my power to try to make that happen. The fact that she doesn’t love me, I can live with. The fact that she doesn’t give a sh*t about my kids really pisses me off.  The part of me that wants to tell her off is growing by the minute (and trust me guys, I’m very non-confrontational, so the fact that I’m actually considering calling her and going off on her is a very unsettling thing for me.)  I’m not sure if it would be better for me to go ahead and get this off my chest, and just be done with her, or just ignore it and her and leave the possibility open that maybe she’ll decide to have something to do with my kids in the future. That’s what I’ve been doing so far, thinking that she’ll come around eventually. After all, these girls are GORGEOUS, funny, and above-average smart, and they’re HER grand kids! But every single time she does something to slight them, I get more and more angry, and I’m almost to the point that I don’t care anymore if they EVER have a relationship. Most of all, I’m just thankful that MY mother MORE than makes up for her with all the attention and love she gives my kids.

Just wondering, what would YOU do in this situation? Ignore her, or tell her off?

I don’t usually blog about my personal issues; if that led you buddyslimmers to believe I don’t have them, sorry!! LOL  I DO!! 

First a little background: My sister has been MAD at me for several weeks now, stemming from my adamant refusal to provide “clean” urine for her boyfriend’s pre-employment drug screen, and my subsequent rant on how they need to GROW UP, get jobs and a place to live and STOP burdening everyone else with their problems. **Honestly, if you smoke pot but need a job, but on your big boy underwear and STOP so you can pass a FRIGGIN drug screen!!  I don’t care what you do in your spare time, but don’t come to ME to fix it when you run outta money!** (He didn’t get the job ANYWAY; couldn’t pass the background check.)  So…. My mom disconnected my sister’s phone; it was on her plan through work, and my sis REFUSED to pay her portion of the bill (no doubt to keep her and her loser BF with gas and pot money).  When sis went and got her OWN phone, she called everyone in the family to give them her new number, EXCEPT me and mom. Apparently, us telling her the TRUTH earned us top spots on her sh*t list. 

So here’s what happened…. My husband ran to store for a few items I needed last night, and my 2-yr old wanted to go with him. No problem. They went and had a good time at the store, and my daughter fell asleep in her car seat on the way home. Coming up on the last red light before my street, my hubby notices a truck swerving in and out of traffic. Well, this truck happens to match the exact description of the one tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum have been driving around. The truck comes to a stop inches from the bumper of my new car. When they take off from the red light, jerk-off speeds up beside my hubby and swerves over into his lane, like he was TRYING to hit him. More like, trying to intimidate him. Obviously with a baby asleep in the backseat, there’s not much he could do, other than swerve into the shoulder to avoid a collision. Had my daughter been safe and sound at home, there’s no doubt in my mind hubby would have swerved right back into him. Sure maybe both cars would have been wrecked, but we would have just paid our insurance deductible and gone on about our business. Those who don’t pay their bills, don’t have insurance, and therefore would have screwed themselves out of a truck. **That would have been funny!**

Anyway, hubby comes home, tells me all about what happened. I call my brother to get my sister’s number. At this point, I’m not 100% SURE it was them, so I’m hoping maybe she’ll answer and say she’s at work or something. No answer. So I leave a message describing what happened, and wondering what she’s doing? No call-back. I call again, this time I’m pissed. I basically wondered how I could tell her that her NIECE was put in danger by some MORON, and whether or not that moron was her boyfriend, how could she not care so much that she wouldn’t even return my phone call??

The only response from her: this text message to my dad and brother– Who gave Shaina my number??

WTF??!!  Y’all, what’s wrong with this girl? Am I justified in being PISSED here? I just want to basically call her, yell and cuss at her, tell her what a WORTHLESS family member she’s become. I REALLY want to slap the SH*T out of her boyfriend!! Or pistol-whip him or something. LOL  Never done that before, but it looks like it would hurt.    I’m really at a loss as to how to handle this situation. On one hand, I would *LOVE* for her to be my friend, the good, loving sister she USED to be, and I’d love to be that for her, too. But at the same time, I don’t like the person she’s become, callous and un-caring. I want to talk to her, but I know right now I’d be irrational and MEAN. (Sure, she deserves it, but I know myself, and I’d regret my meanness later.)

I don’t know what to do about her!!! (This was mainly a vent, but please feel free to share your opinions or advice!)