Another loss this week, but I was sick so not sure it's really reflective of weight loss

I lost 3.8 pounds this week for a total of 28.8 pounds.  I did very good at the beginning of the week, then the stomach bug hit our house hard and I was sick and did not eat anything for 2 days and very little the third day.  I  know that some of this is just weightloss from being sick.  I am so worried that next week I will have a gain, just because some of this was not true weight loss.  

I will just have to really stay on track this week and make it worth the while.  

 Each week when I move my pounds lost marbles over, I always think, I sure will be glad when I can't see the bottom of the jar.  It is getting closer and closer.  Maybe by the time April rolls around, the entire bottom of my jar will be full of marbles.  It is the little things.  

I still have such a long way to go, but I am really starting to tell a difference in the way my clothes hang.  I started singing with Dwayne's quartet recently and they wanted to make a few pictures.  I can actually tell a difference - and yes, my other foot is in there, it was a little bit wet and my shoe was getting stuck in the mud :0(

My First Weight Watchers Reward

This is me and Casper...............I have been doing Weight Watchers now into my 3rd month.  I had made my first goal to be 25 pounds.  When I reached my goal, I would go horse back riding.  I wanted to ride without having to worry about the weight limit to ride.  Today was the day.  I loved it!!!

I rode Casper and Dwayne rode Ole Joe.  it was fun 

it was a trail ride.  The lady behind me in the green, it was her birthday.  we were nearing the barn and her horse, Tucker, got spooked and she got kicked off.  Of course the rest of our horses got spooked too, but we managed to pull those reins tight ange hang on.  

It was so fun!!!  My saddle even fit into their saddle ok...ha!

We will for sure do this again.

It Is the Little Things That Motivate Us

I got another little charm for my WW key ring.  I had a 5% charm and now a 25 pound charm.  I am so excited to "see this".  I am a visual person, so the marble jars are really helpful to me.  I love this reward.

Down 25 pounds total!!!!

I am really starting to feel a difference in some of my clothes.  I know I have such a long way to go and I still have that mindset of ""if I lose more weight" instead of "when I lose more weight".  I love my WW leader.  Her name is Susan.  I have also become friends with a couple of ladies - Suzie and Sherry.  We are in the same boat and it is nice to have the support.

Here is to another great week!!!

Week 7 - down 2.6 pounds - YEA!!!

Looking at the calendar to see when we can go horse back riding.  Dwayne is singing with SHQ for the next 3 Saturdays.  Who knows, maybe I will go on a Thursday by myself.  I just want to reward myself, although I am a little bit scared.

Dallas is 8 months old

Dallas is getting to be such a big boy.  He has his two bottom teeth and boy can he bite your finger.  He is really sucking his thumb now.  We are trying to break him, but he loves it.  He still goes to KinderCare.  He is moving up to the creeper room, although he is not really creeping yet.  He will try to sit up.  I am sort of scared because of our hard floors.  I lay a quilt down, but it is still not very soft when he falls over.  He HATES tummy time!!!  He eats good, but he has started getting up during the night again to eat.  Sarah has started feeding him food before bed so he will sleep a bit longer.  He weighs 20 pounds!!!!  He is a very happy baby.  I love him bunches.

the little thumb sucker!!!  He is very sweet, and our orthodontist will appreciate this one day.

Joey + Rory

http://gaither.com/videos/joeyrory-hymns

The above is a link to their last video of Hymns and What's Important to Them.  What an honor it has been to follow their journey.  Prayers for them as Joey's life draws to a close.

Week 6 - Down 2.4 pounds

This is really happening!!!  So excited.

Austin is one of my biggest encouragers in this weightloss journey.  Every time he stops by to visit, he goes to my room to look at my jars to see my progress.  It is funny, gives a whole new meaning to "Mom is losing her marbles!!!!!"

As I took Dallas to bed last night, he was sound asleep and boy was he heavy.  I thought my goodness, he is getting so big!!!!  Today I weighed him and he weighed 20.2 pounds.  That is essentially how much weight I have lost.  I was carrying that around every minute of every day.  How much easier will it be to get around without the extra weight.  I am praying that I can stay on track and stay committed to getting healthier.

20.2 pound baby

20.6 pounds lost since joining Weight Watchers

Down 18.2 pounds...........I am proud of that number on the scale

It is obviously WAY to early to be posting another picture of myself because when you are so large, 18 pounds is practically invisible to see, but I can see the number on the scale and my clothes fit a bit better, so that is good enough for me.

Herding Cats............again! Trying to get ready for church with 3 little boys is tough

Going to see the Crabb Family Revival

We got VIP tickets and went to the Meet & Greet

Adam is now singing with the Gaither Vocal Band

and Jason.......................

I always loved the original Crabb Family sound.  Love those songs.  

Jason can play for sure.

Jason is working on his solo career and doing great as always, Adam is singing with the GVB and it has been a great opportunity for him.  Kelley is singing with her husband and their group is the Bowling Family with their girls.  I really like Mike's baritone voice.  Adam is pastoring a church in Hendersonville, TN called Restoring Hope.  Terah sings there at the church with the praise team.

It was really a great night of music, memories and fun.

Week 5 - I lost 4 pounds :o)

Yea...........it feels SOoooo Good!!!

Grandparents Day at Oak Elementary School

Today was Grandparent's Day at Oak.  Thankfully, Dwayne and I were both able to go.  It seemed like such a fun thing, then laying in bed last night, it dawned on me that I was gonna be there with a bunch of OLD PEOPLE!!!!  I am WAY to young to be a grandmother.  I guess I am in good company, ha!!!

This is the one who started it all....because of him, I became a Mimi.

Noah has shortened PeePaw to just "Peep" these days............they are best buds.  Noah loves Spy Kids, so Dwayne "activated him" before he went to school today.  I don't even know what that means, but they love to play.

100's Day at school is the 100th day of the school year.  He has 100 pins on his shirt.  Hopefully, today will NOT be the day he learnes how to open safety pins.

Noah and his friend Ethan............Ethan had 100 dots on his shirt.

Noah and Lucas...........Lucas had 100 stickers on his shirt.....well, he started out with 100, but they were falling off.  Noah was so sweet picking them up and helping him try to get them to stick.

The Beach is my Happy Place

Dwayne had this made for me..............I LOVE it, and I love that he knows my heart.

I sang with Servants Heart Quartet

Jimmy was sick this weekend and so I filled in singing alto/tenor for they guys.  We sang at Peterson Lake Baptist Church out in Collierville and also at Lakeland First Baptist Church.  

Fun with Dallas

He is teething, so he is a "Juicy Baby" these days.

Loving his new mittens and hat.

These boys all love their Peepaw

There's  a new sheriff in town.

Week 4 - Lost 14.2 pounds so far

It has been hard at times, but I am hanging in there and tracking every bite.  Going to the gym more, am in the Dr. Coopwood walking challenge at work.  Slow and Steady!!!  I watch Biggest Loser and it gives me inspiration and also frustration that they lose so much more so quickly.  At least I am trying.  

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

6 TBSP milk chocolate chips

1 1/2 TBSP white chocolate chips

2 cups strawberries (about 16)

2 teaspoons water

in bowl microwave milk chocolate chips and 1 tsp water for 1-1 1/2 minutes and stir until smooth, may need to add a tad more water. dip strawberries half way up to stem.

In another bowl, microwave white chocolate chips with 1 teaspoon water, stirring until smooth. may need to add more water because this should be really thin. Dip fork in white chocolate and drizzle over strawberries.

Chill and serve.

Great for Valentines.

2 cups of strawberries was about 16 or so, so according to the recipe builder, it is 1 smart point per berry.

Planning my first weightloss reward

Growing up, we lived out in the country and we had horses. We lived down an old dirt road, had a garden, played outside from sun up till sun down and we rode horses. Our first was a Shetland pony, then as my sister and I got too tall for the pony, we got a couple of quarter horses and a Tennessee walking horse. I have loved horses my whole life, but as I put on more and more weight, I was afraid I weighed too much to ride, and also it was harder and harder to get up on the horse, putting so much weight in the stirrup....in fact, the last time I remember riding was on a deacon's retreat and Bo Bradley and Robert Hemphill had to help boost me up on the horse.

Well, there is a farm near our home that has trail rides and you can rent their horses. They are beautiful. There is a weight limit to ride. I want to be well under the weight limit in case they pull out a rusty ole scale, I would die of embarrassment if I was over the limit.

Soooooo............I cannot wait until I reach that first personal goal and reward myself with going horse back riding.

Going to see Tim Hawkins tonight - Ready to LAUGH!!!!

Week 3 - 12.6 Pounds Down - Total

Yea, it was a good week!!!

Still craving sweets more than I want to admit.  I am definitely a carbohydrate addict.  I never met a cupcake I didn't like.  But keeping on keeping on.

Dallas is ready for church

Sarah laughs at me..........she is more of a jeans and camo kind of girl.  Me, when Dallas is with me, I am more of a mint green and baby blue, plaid, seersucker, white socks and cardigan kind of mimi.  He doesn't care, he just smiles.

Senior Fitness

Ok, so the picture is a tiny bit deceiving.  I DID go to the Senior Fitness class today, but I am certainly NOT flexible.  I am really not even a senior, although I do have an AARP card - from my husband of course, but I needed something a little more low impact because of my weight.

It was a really big class.  I decided to get in the front so I could see the girl teaching and the  different moves.  The problem with that is that I am very uncoordinated and out of shape, therefore, I felt very self conscious about people "looking at me".  I did have to rest every 10 minutes or so, but each person had a chair if they needed it.  After 30 minutes of aerobics, we did some stretching and weights.  It was better.  It is still hard when you are lugging all of this extra weight.  I think about it each time I bring in 2 twelve packs of diet coke from the car to the house, how much more weight am I carrying around each and every day that I can't put down???  I will never forget when Oprah lost all of that weight doing Opti-fast (my momma did it too at the same time).  She pulled a wagon out on stage full of fat to symbolize the weight she had lost.  It made an impact on me.

I did learn a couple of things..........bring water!  and it is OK to sit down if you need to, just don't stop.

Thanks for the ladies and man that came by to encourage me that even if I sit down, to not give up.....rest a couple of minutes and try again.

Week 2 - Total of 10 pounds down!!!

I was so nervous and frustrated this week. We were out of town last weekend and even though I stayed within my points, I ate alot of rich things and did not walk as much. There were days that I got really frustrated. I felt like I was STARVING, but really what I was doing was craving. I LOVE sweets! I could eat them all of the time, day - noon - and night!. I need to find some foods to help curb that sweet tooth.

Anyway, I was very proud when I had lost 3.8 pounds for a total of 10 pounds. It is amazing how that little star makes you feel.

My first goal reward is to be able to go horseback riding. I can't wait! Hopefully in February.

Fried Rice Fake Out

1 head cauliflower (chopped finely to resemble rice)

1 carrot shredded

1/2 small onion diced

1 clove garlic diced

2 TBSP peas

1/4 c. Egg Beaters

1 TBSP lite soy sauce

Pam spray

4 oz. ground turkey browned

I sprayed a large skillet with pam, sauteed onions and softened the carrots, added cauliflower and about half a cup of water to keep it from sticking.  Stir for 5-10 min until cauliflower is tender.  Mix in turkey and peas.  In a separate skillet, scramble the egg beaters,  add to cauliflower mixture.  Toss in soy sauce.

1/2 skillet is 4 Smart Points. 

Dallas 7 month pictures

This picture is so cute.........he loves to say "Hey!!!"........he got his two bottom teeth this week........we don't like it!  He is growing so much.  I want him to stay a baby just a little bit longer.  He is such a sweet boy.

Jersey Boys - Merry Christmas to me from Dwayne

Dwayne surprised me this Christmas with a whole weekend planned for us.  We are going to Jackson, Mississippi.  He made reservations at the Hilton Hotel, tickets for us to see Jersey Boys - my favorite!!!!  And dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse - his favorite!!!  I can't wait.

Why can't I really look like my Bitmoji

OK.............so first of all the dang blogspot autocorrected the title to BIGmoji............what the mess?  Anyway, I wish I looked like her.........so for today I pretend.  I guess Skipper will pretend too.

Diet Coke Chicken

today I made this, they serve it in a local restaurant here and shared the recipe.

I was making it for my family so I used 2 pks of Chicken tenderloins.

Chicken tenderloins, browned

1/2 cup ketchup

1 tbsp Worchestershire sauce

1 can diet coke

In large skillet brown chicken using Pam Olive oil spray, salt and pepper. comvine wet ingredients in a bowl and pour over chicken. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes stirring occasionally, making sure when the liquid cooks out it does not stick. YUMMY!!! Sorta gives it a BBQ flavor.

Again, I counted the chicken tenders I ate and ketchup as my points. I really need to figure out the recipe builder.

Week 1 - Lost 6.2 pounds

I guess you could say I had a good first week.  I still have a long way to go, but it is one day at a time, one foot in front of the other.  This week I just focused on planning, tracking, food prep and having the right kinds of things in the house.

I was really hungry for sweets, so I ate bananas and peanut butter a few times, but they cost lots of points, so will need to use that sparingly.  I ate mini marshmallows a couple of times.  I did find that I do better if I eat more protein.

There were a couple of days that we had events....New Years dinner at Mrs. Conlees is a challenge, she is a great cook.  Then we had Christmas with daddy and marilyn.  They had BBQ and key lime pie.  One slice of Edwards key lime pie is 25 points.....needless to say I had a sliver.  I had a stressful, drama filled night once this week, and was proud that I did not turn to food.  I had a nice icy diet coke, a nice hot bath and went to bed (who cares if it was 8:30 p.m. - I did not eat).

Anyway, it is on to a new week.  This week will have its own challenges because we are going to Jackson, Mississippi to see Jersey Boys (what a sweet Christmas present).  Dwayne has made reservations at Ruth's Christ steakhouse before the theatre that night.  I gotta be ready with my weekly points.  Then keep my fingers crossed for my next weigh in.

My WW leader on Sunday's is Carrie.  She has lost over 150 pounds. She is so great.  I really think I am going to like her.