MPM 2

Monday: Steak and chicken kebabs on the grill with peppers and onions, zuchinni on the grill, quinoa with white beans and salsa, and fruit.

Tuesday: Leftover meat in soft taco shells with cheddar cheese, black bean/onion/pepper stir fry, fruit.

Wednesday: FFYS

Thursday: Pasta

Friday: Something take-out with Gaga and Papa! (Our go-to take-out meals are Mediterranean Breeze, Subway, or Vocelli's Pizza....we'll see if we change it up this weekend or not!)

Saturday: BBQ food with family and friends

Sunday: Leftovers and poolside food. :)

AUNT RITA ROCKS

Dear Aunt Rita,

I am the worst niece ever! You are so wonderful to send me cards, gifts, money, and wonderful messages and I don't reply. And the guilt is eating me alive!!!

I love you and Uncle David and I can't wait until you come visit me in November.

Thank you for the gifts and notes and kindness. You are such a special person and so thoughtful.

I am going to try harder to show it!!!!

Love,
Jane

ps. I will let you win at spoons at Thanksgiving.
pps. Here is a picture of Charlotte in her Austin t-shirt.

Birthday Fun!

Big Cheese from Henry:

 Char shooting her water gun:

 Owen and Charlotte in the sprinkler:

 Getting ready for her cake!:

 Blowing out the candles:

 Yummy!:

 Opening gifts, one scrap at a time!:

CHEESE:

Birthday Girl

Fun with squirt guns!

Excuses

Last night's weight watchers meeting was all about exercise. It was a good topic, and the meeting was pretty good, but the participants were very lack-luster in their feelings for exercise. I did earn *2* of the 5K charms pictured above, since I ran a 10K on Sunday. :) That was cool.

The meeting got me thinking about exercise and the excuses I give myself to NOT exercise. Some of the excuses our group listed were: too tired, too lazy, too busy, too embarassed, too rainy/hot/humid/cold, too yucky, and too painful. This morning I set my alarm to start Jillian's 30 Day Shred and definitely hit the snooze button two times and had to really motivate myself to get out of bed. I didn't want to, I was making excuses in my mind, I was trying to justify doing the video later, I was trying to say "but it's Charlotte's birthday" and "I need sleep" and even "What if I can't do the moves?"

There were two monumental thoughts that got my fat ass out of bed:

1. I want to be at my goal weight MORE than I want a few extra minutes of sleep. I want to be at my goal weight MORE than I want that extra cookie. I want to be at my goal weight MORE than sitting on my butt not exercising.

2. I am worth it.

It's time to stop making excuses and really buckle down. It's almost summer and it's only 5 months until my birthday. 5 months to lose 24 pounds. Time to get it done. There is a time to eat that special cookie, there is a time to eat that extra cupcake, drink that extra beer (or 2 or 4). But that time is not EVERY time. Balance, exercise, and confidence. I can do this!

30 Day Shred

Level 1 started today. Here are my measurements:
Biceps: 13 1/2 in
Waist: 35 1/2
Hips: 41 1/2
We'll see what happens. I know I'll be sore later today - Jillian is pretty rough! :)

Wednesday Weigh-In

Loss: -1.0
Total Loss: -42.6
Feeling: Motivated!

Henny boo and Me

After the 10k on Sunday.

Something new....Meal Plan Mondays!

I know, it's Tuesday. But I have decided on another way this blog can help keep me accountable for my continued weight loss success....and that is with Meal Plan Mondays. Every week that I PLAN my food intake, go shopping for the week ahead, and follow my plan, I do well. Every week that I DON'T plan my meals, I end up suggesting take-out, eating on the run, and foraging for whatever crap is in the fridge each night. I even sometimes end up eating from the vending machine at work. GROSS! So, maybe sharing my plan for the week will help hold me accountable, tell Todd what we are having for dinner if we forget to speak that day, and give someone else some ideas about things they haven't tried yet.....

So, here we go, our first....

Monday: Last night we had big salads with feta, craisins, lettuce, cukes, green pepper and low-fat dressing. And wine.

Tuesday: FFYS (for future reference, this means "Fend For Your Self")

Wednesday: PB

Thursday: Hot dogs, polenta "fries", zuchinni on the grill, black beans (for Charlotte's birthday!), and fruit. And cupcakes!

Friday: Soft tacos, refried beans, quinoa, chips and salsa, and leftover cupcakes.

Saturday: Kebabs on the grill.

Sunday: Out and about.

Hello, 10k.

Just finished the Ashburn 10K with my friend Karen. She pushed me and I'm so glad she did! Here are my uber-official results:

79  31/41     284 Jane Waldrop          31 Ashburn VA       66:41 66:32 10:43

Heyoooooo! I beat my last 10K time by nearly 10 minutes. That's crazy! 10:43 pace? THAT'S CRAZY.

A little Monday motivation...

I forgot to put up my Wednesday weigh-in last week. Oooops! I was up 0.4 pounds. Still at a total weight loss of 42 pounds. I need some motivation this morning so I did a google image search of "42 pounds" and here's what I found.

40 pounds of marijuana:

 A 42 pound bunny:

 A 40 pound cabbage:

 A 42 pound fish:

 Didn't find this one on google, but in my own pictures.....a 42 pound child:

Just keep running.....

I just signed up for the Ashburn Village 10K. I also have the Girls on the Run race this weekend. I am a running fool! Or just a fool. The pollen is killing me, my knees are hurting, and I really need to add strength training back into the mix but feel like there's no time for that nonsense.

Happy Mother's Day!

I am so thankful for my wonderful children and husband who got me some chocolate-covered strawberries and some yummy cupcakes for Mother's Day today! :)
I am thankful for my wonderful Mom who took me on a wonderful trip to Paris and has always instilled in me the importance of travel, being a democrat, and always taking the higher ground. Love you!

I am thankful for my mother-in-law who beats me at Words with Friends, outfits our children, and shares wine with me! :)

I am thankful for all the Moms in my life that have directly or indirectly had an impact on my life. What would the world be without MOTHERS? Love to you all!

And if that didn't melt your heart, then you are cold and heartless. But these pictures will:

OBL

I have this weird, creepy feeling about the news about bin Ladin. I don't know how to express my creeped-out-ness because on one hand, I believe he should have been stopped but on the other I am dismayed at the celebration in the streets over his death. I found this quote on a blog I read regularly:

While it's necessary to stop terrorists, sometimes with violence, it is barbarous to gloat over the execution of an enemy. I find the chanting crowds cheering over the corpse disturbing, and the triumphal tone of our leaders is misplaced. We killed hundreds of thousands of civilians and threw away trillions of dollars, and our trophy is the bloody corpse of one old man? There's no victory in that.

I thought he did a good job summing up my thoughts. Too bad I can't put my own thoughts so eloquently.