God's little rewards

Well you all know that I'm trying to lose a little weight. And a friend of mine, Kristine, has a private weight loss blog that I've been participating in. We have weekly challenges and then also daily challenges to earn extra points. It's so much fun!! Last week the challenge was no sweets! No easy task for this sugary, sweet girl, let me tell you!

The weekend before the no sweets week, I had been at a Beth Moore simulcast and she made mention of her famous Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake. (Around here, we leave off the Texas and just enjoy ourselves some good ol' chocolate sheet cake.) So I was thinking about that chocolate sheet cake, which just so happens to be one of my FAVORITE desserts and lo and behold, here comes Monday with birthday treats in the teacher's lounge workroom. And what do you suppose was sitting on the lounge table? Why, yes. It was a chocolate sheet cake. And it was just calling out my name. But I resisted temptation that day and the rest of the week and had no sweets.
And what a stressful week it was. I sure could've used some chocolate.

Now comes the good part. The rewards part. On Monday afternoon, my next door neighbor brought over a chocolate sheet cake! Oh it was so yummy. And so needed! Then the very next day, Nate's nurse brought over another chocolate sheet cake.

So I like to think that because I was so good and resisted all the sweet temptations last week, God wanted to reward me with a little bit of chocolate. Or a whole lot of chocolate! Whatever the case, God is good!!

8 weeks, 8 pounds!!

I just finished my biggest loser challenge and lost 8 pounds!
And I'm not finished yet.
I'd like to lose another 7. It's getting harder but I'm going to keep at it.

So all you bloggers out there who wish they could lose weight, remember, YOU CAN!!
There is no quick fix for weight loss.
It's taken me 17 months to lose 30 pounds.
Set small, achievable goals. Start living a healthier lifestyle. And get some girl friends to keep you accountable.

P.S. I was able to wear a pair of pants today that I haven't worn in 2 years.
And they were still in style (at least I thought so)!!

back on the wagon

When I stepped on the scale last week and saw that number rise higher than it had been in over 6 months, not to mention the fact that I'd gained 5 pounds since school got out, I knew it was time to get my butt in gear!

So yesterday I started a "biggest loser" challenge.

It's an online challenge. Remember how I said a lot of my friends live in my computer? Well, I have this whole group of friends on pregnancy.org. We all have April babies (or were at least due in April 08). It's so fun to experience pregnancy, delivery and motherhood with women who are at the exact same stage as you. I mean who else really cares about your daily food cravings, baby poop, weight gain, weight loss, breastfeeding, sleep issues and all the other glorious things that come along with a new baby?

So we have an April '08 biggest loser team. We get points for following a food plan, exercising, drinking lots of water, eating breakfast, posting points and providing support for our team.

I decided that I didn't want to "diet" so I'm going to try to watch my portions and eat more fruits and veggies and exercise. Notice how I didn't say exercise more. I just need to exercise. Period.

This morning I went to the zoo with my mom, Alli and Delaney and walked all over that zoo pushing a stroller or holding Delaney. Then this evening I decided to walk to Walmart to return our Redbox movie rather than drive the 5 minutes down the street. I really have to make a conscious effort to NOT be lazy!

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In other news, Jeremy's much anticipated dreaded tonsillectomy is tomorrow morning. Please keep him (and me) in your thoughts and prayers. He is really nervous about it. He doesn't do well with needles or blood. And I'm not always the most sympathetic wife around. I'll let you know tomorrow (Wednesday) how it goes.