Man, I officially suck at this blogging thing.

Welp, I am having a hard time getting over here to blog. Just feeling busy. Not even taking that many pictures. Well, I have some on my camera phone to share. Cute ones. TIME FOR SOME BULLET POINT UPDATES. GO!
- The boys and girl had a Mother's Day show this week. All of their classmates sang/danced. My 3 children (who have a music teacher for a mother) did nothing. Afterwards, I said to Charlotte, "I liked your song" and she said "I didn't sing. I put my fingers in my mouth." Yep. I have the video to prove it. Luckily for us, she has been singing the songs on endless repeat since then.
- I threw up again. It was awful. And I am hoping this does not turn into a routine, considering I went 18 years and now am on track to throw up again in September of 2013.
- Boys have been playing soccer and they are doing awesome. Todd and I are coaching, and have been having a fun time. Go Cheetahs!
- Charby's birthday is coming up in 3 weeks!
- There are 26 days of school left! WOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!
- I weighed in last week after not weighing in for 2.5 months and I was down 0.2! Holla!
- Some pictures:
Me and Katie at the Legwarmers Concert - a fun 80's band that we saw a few weeks ago - super fun:

 Owen, posing:

 Charlotte....um....posing:

 Henry, at the Urgent Care getting his staple (he bumped his head):

 Calvin, after finding out he still has testicles. He feels bad for lying to us all these years:

Laughing in the car

This morning driving to school I laughed out loud twice - once when the newscaster said, "These are three words that NO ONE wants to ever hear: Birth Control Recall!" And then again when the other newscaster said, "If you need more information about your growing belly, go to this link." Ah, I love it when we can insert a little humor into our mundane lives.

No wednesday weigh-in last night because I am switching my weigh-in day to Mondays. It won't be as alliterative, but maybe I can think of a new title. Wuh-Monday Weigh-in. Hm.

I joined a choir called Voce and I am going to combine the fun of singing with my weigh-in day so I don't have to have 2 nights away per week. I am going to miss my leader, Becky, but maybe this new meeting day and time and leader will give me new inspiration to lose that final 17 pounds.

Wednesday weigh-in

Loss: -0.4
Total loss: -50.6
Feeling: relieved. A loss is a loss. And after the amount i drank and ate this past weekend, I call that a victory.

Wednesday weigh-in returns!!!

Loss: -0.8
Total loss: -50.2
Feeling: rejuvenated!

"working out sucks"

So there's this book out that I've been reading after reading about it on jack sh*ts blog called "working out sucks" by Brian zehetner. It has been ok for the first few chapters, typical reasons why you should exercise more, yada yada yada. Then I got to a really good part where the author made 3 suggestions to help people make and meet their goals: 1. Imagination- the author suggests we make a list of things we imagine for ourselves, what we want to do with our lives, where and how we want to live, what we want to do in our jobs and with our family, and what makes us happiest. 2. Create your vision statement based on what you imagine for yourself. And 3. Set your goals to get you there.

So that's what I'm going to do. Make a list of all the things I want out of life and figure out how to get there. The author suggests you work on step 1 for 2 weeks by journaling every night. This will give me an excuse to use the many half-empty journals lying around my bed. Can't wait!

Ps. If you use escarole in your ww soup instead of cabbage and Swiss chard like the recipe says,your fridge will stink. That is all.

My fridge is full, my house is quiet, I'm planning a triumphant comeback!!!

I just made a huge pot of 1 point weight watchers veggie soup, put it into 4 lunch containers and 3 dinner containers. I did the same with salad. I measured 1 tbs of parmesan cheese into ziplock baggies for each bowl of soup, put a tbs of salad dressing into little containers for my salads, and got 4 fat free yoplaits and some vita muffins for the week. IT'S DETOX TIME, BABY.

The dogs and I took a long walk today, I went to target, I got some new shoes, I browsed wegmans, I straightened my hair, I cleaned a few cabinets and the fridge, I watched "Men who stare at Goats," and I am about to go to choir practice. Busy as a bee. I mostly can't believe I didn't lay on my butt all day and nap. Good for me.

Need to get it together!!!

After the race, I ate a lot. So I skipped my weigh-ins here and there. So now I am 2 weeks out and I finally went to ww last wednesday....and gained 2.8! Sheesh! So I of course did what any sensible loser would do and ate whatever I wanted during Thanksgiving and the days after, drank a lot of alcohol, and didn't really exercise! Woo! Way to go, me! :)

One thing I did do well was a Turkey Trot on the morning of Thanksgiving, though! Todd and I ran the Lansdowne Turkey Trot 5K and I beat 30 minutes. I was excited - 29:12 is the fastest I've ever run a 5K. Yay, me!

So now it's time to refocus and not get sucked into the "I'll start over after the new year" trap of the holidays. I CAN lose weight over the holidays! It's GO TIME.

And here's a cute picture of Charlotte reading a book to one of her new babies from Mamere. :)

How I blog if I am sitting at my desk with no blogger access...

Wednesday Weigh-in and Aloha!!

Loss: -2.6
Total loss: -53
Feeling: Surprised.

We got back from Hawaii on Monday. I wasn't expecting to lose that much weight, but knew that we had walked a TON while there. I had also gained the week prior, so I knew some of that would come off. So, there ya go.

I have so much to tell you about our trip to Hawaii but I can't find the time to upload pictures and tell you all about it. I will. In time. Be patient, little ones.

I am a slacker!

Loss this week: -0.6
Total loss: -52.2
Feeling: Complacent...a bad place to be!

weigh-in wednesday

Loss: -0.4
Total loss: -53
Feeling: Hungry! I am eating fat free frozen yogurt with a chocolate cookie right now....

Oh, do I have a blog here?

Sorry, peeps. I forgot about my blog!
Recap time.
- I gained a pound a half at ww! I was pissed!
- It was jersey day at school on Friday and I dressed Charlotte as a white trash jersey girl. Right?

-Yesterday the kids were playing "backpack" (a fun game that consists of filling your backpack with a bunch of shit from the floor/shelves and then forgetting you put it in there a few hours later and throwing a massive temper tantrum because you want whatever it was) and we had to take another white trash picture of Charlotte, which led to each of the boys taking a picture of the other boy. Yay, Saturdays!

- Ran 6 miles today and it was good!

-We had our first "SNOW" day on Friday. Because of the massive rain and flooding, we had no school on Friday. Best day ever!!!

- That about sums it up.

Wednesday Weigh-In 2 days late!

Ack! Time has gotten away from me this week with work starting back up....but I did go to WW on Wednesday....
Loss: -2.6
Total Loss: -52.6
Feeling: Yay!

I actually RAN to ww on Wednesday. It is 5 miles from my work to ww, and I left my car at work and ran there. That could explain how I lost 2.6 pounds....I might have been a bit dehydrated. It was a hard run once I got of the trail because it was VERY hilly. I had to walk the last 1/2 mile, but that's OK. I will try it again when someone can pick my sorry butt up after the meeting.

This week I ran 4 miles Tuesday, 5 miles Wednesday, and 3 miles yesterday. My legs are sore! I have to do 3 tomorrow and 7 on Sunday - my longest run yet! We'll see what happens....

Wednesday Weigh-In: The streak ends

Loss: +1.6
Total loss: -50
Feeling: Not surprised....

Wednesday Weigh In

Loss: -0.4
Total loss: 51.6
Feeling: Surprised.

Weird food week this week...ate a lot of random and not healthy stuff. But I did run 19 miles this week! I think this losing streak has got to stop soon.....

PS. My 1 year weight watchers anniversary is tomorrow!!!!

Wednesday Weigh In and WINNER

Scene: Weight Watchers Meeting Room, 5:30 PM. Enter Jane.

Jane: Hi Leader Becky! I was so sad when you weren't here last week, so I thought I would eat like a fatass this week, gain back some and celebrate hitting 50 pounds again next week!

Leader Becky: ha ha ha, Jane! I am so proud of you....ramble ramble....

Jane gets on scale. Leader Becky still rambling

Leader Becky:  Listen to me! I am just talking about everything and look! You lost a pound!

Jane: What!? HA HA HA HA HA. So, let's see. This means....you can eat whatever the hell you want and STILL lose weight!!!

Leader Becky:  More rambling, ha ha ha ha, good job! I don't even remember what you looked like 50 pounds ago! Wow!

And....scene.

Loss: -1.0
Total Loss: -51.2
Feeling: Excitement, hottness, and a little bit of dread about next week! This can't keep going!!!

The winner of my book giveaway is Anna! Here is her comment:

Anna said...
-0.8 Hanay. :) So proud of your continued progress. <3 Anna

Anna, I will bring the books over to your new house as soon as I finish reading them. Hee hee.

A GIVEAWAY!!!!!!! Books!!!!!

I am super excited to host my first giveaway!!!!

I thought it would be a fun way to 1. get rid of donate some great books to someone that wants to read them 2. create a little mystery about my next weigh-in and 3. demonstrate how going "off-plan" can affect your weight. :)

So, I have two books for the winner of this giveaway. The first one is Vince Flynn's latest "American Assassin". This is a Todd book and he recommends it highly. "4 stars. 5 if you have read the rest of the series." He describes it as CIA super secret commando Jack Bauer-esque. The second one is a Jane book - the latest by Jennifer Weiner. Her stories are about women, relationships, friendships, and love! This one is about donating your eggs, friendships and family dynamics. Click the books to read their descriptions at Amazon.

So, what do you have to do to win these awesome books!???

You have to be the closest guesser to what my weight gain (or loss) will be on Wednesday!!!

Here are the rules:

1. You must comment on this blog, listing what you think my weight gain/loss will be on Wednesday night. (For example, you could write "I think you will be +4.6" or "I think you'll be -0.4". If you are anonymous, don't forget to write your name.)

2. You have to have your comment in by Wednesday at 5:00 PM EST.

3. Whoever is closest without going over wins the books!  (In the event of a tie, we'll have to have a run-off. I'll think of something interesting. Or, I'll just give the books to the person I like more. That's fair, right?)

Here is what I have eaten this week along with the points breakdown for ww. Each day I am alotted 29 points. I am also alotted 49 "extra" points to use however I want.

Thursday - yogurt/granola/banana, coffee, turkey wrap, hummus/carrots/pretzels, goldfish, a lot of food at a tastefully simply party. I gave myself 40 points for the whole day. (11 points over)

Friday - yogurt/granola/banana, coffee, cheetos, turkey wrap, hummus/carrots/pretzels, snacky stuff, pizza and beer for dinner. I gave myself 45 points for Friday. (16 points over)

Saturday - yogurt/granola, coffee, turkey wrap, carrots, cookies, pretzels, taco bell crunch wrap supreme (no meat), some taco bell chips, dr. pepper, beer. 47 points. (18 points over)

Sunday - usual breakfast, frozen pizza for lunch, salad for dinner, some bites of pita, ice cream for dessert. 42 points (13 points over)

Monday - usual breakfast, hummus and pretzels/carrots, cheez-its, grilled chicken, corn on the cob, salad, strawberries, 1/2 a light beer, 1 ff fudge pop. 29 points

Activity points earned so far: 18

Total weekly extra points left: -12 (that means I used all 49 points PLUS 18 activity points.

I still have Tuesday and Wednesday to "fix" myself. I plan on not going over my 29 points the next 2 days, and I plan on earning back the 12 points I am over for the week. So I will hopefully end up even (points-wise).

Now you know EVERYTHING. Go forth, and guess!

Remember when I lost 50 pounds?

I have been eating so badly this week that I am fully expecting to gain back the .2 (and then some) that is keeping me above my 50 pound loss! Save me!!!!

I lost 50 pounds with Weight Watchers!

Reaching a 50 pound loss on Wednesday night was very anti-climactic! My regular leader wasn't there, my friends weren't there, and only a few of the "regulars" were in attendance. So, it was a very blah celebration. I left the meeting skipping, very excited, but without my regular celebratory group. It has taken a few days to sink in. But now I am starting to think, "HOLY SHIT I LOST 50 POUNDS ON WEIGHT WATCHERS."

So, what made this work for me?

1. Over the past few months, a definite mindset change occured. I know the plan works. I have to trust it and follow it. If I don't follow the plan, I only have myself to blame. It takes a lot to stop making other excuses and realize the real problem is ME and the choices I make.

2. There will always be bad days, weeks, months, hours. One of the biggest problems with people on diets is the thought that "oh, I had a bad morning, so screw the rest of the day" or "I know i won't lose weight this week, so I'll just forget the diet for now." There is always going to be a party, or a barbecue, or a 12-pack of light beer in the fridge, or a chocolate cake, or a pack of oreos from a neighbor.....and we are most of the time going to screw up now and then. But that's OK. It's taken a while for me to accept this. You make a mistake? IT'S OK. We are human. Start over right now!

3. Friends and family. A good support system is necessary. Avoid the negative people. Avoid the people who badmouth Weight Watchers! Share your successes and your challenges with them. Help them help you!

What now?
I am still 16 pounds from goal weight. I wanted to make it by my birthday....which is 2 months away. I know this is DO-able...but not probable. If I look at my weight loss lately, we are looking at a pound or less each week. To lose 16 pounds in 8 weeks I need to lose 2 pounds a week...and this is with a beach trip and a TRIP TO HAWAII all before my birthday. Hm. I am going to try - no giving up! - but I am going to be realistic.

The Half Marathon I signed up for in November. I have an internal panic attack almost daily about this.

Another before and after. The first picture is the day we brought Char home from the hospital. OK, I know, I had just a baby, but good lord. The second picture is from just now. :)

Weigh-in Wednesday

Loss: -0.8
Total loss: -50.2
Feeling: Awesome!!!!!

I finally hit the 50 pound mark! I missed the entire meeting, but got there just in time to weigh in, turn around and share my celebration, get my little keyring for my keychain, and boogie out the door. Yippee!!!