Intersting tidbit

I learned last night that 1 bagel = 12 slices of bread. ACK!!!!!! I can't remember if it was in carbs or calories but man that has put me off bagels fro a long time now. Good thing too because at the volunteer appreciation breakfast at my kids school this morning they had the good ones.....the Einstien Bros. ones.......the ones I LOVE to eat whenever I can get them. But I was good and left them alone. Yay me! Back to cleaning :)

I'm back.......

Chicago (actually Schaumburg, IL) was a blast. I went for a children's ministry conference at Willow Creek Church (which is huge!!!!) with the group of ladies who run our kids programs at my church. We stopped for dinner on Tuesday evening and then went to an outlet mall to walk off dinner in Michigan City, IN. The first day (Wednesday) was awesome listening to all the speakers that they brought in for us. The music was AWESOME too, can't forget about how it felt like I was at a big concert front row. :) The last set was Glen Keane, Rick Dempsey and Aaron Reynolds. Glen and Rick work for Disney - Rick is in charge of maintaining voice talent for animated movies and Glen is an animator (30 yrs. now) who drew Ariel, Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, and Tarzan. His dad draws "The Family Circus". Aaron Reynolds wrote a book on his creative approach to children's ministry and is hilarious. Needless to say the story behind Ariel and Beast were worth being there and shed a whole new light on the movies that are coming from Disney. Rick had a huge hand in bringing Narnia to Disney. Then on Thursday we had breakout where we sat in different sessions and learned different things relevant to our area in children’s ministry. I got a broad overview but had some music ones too. It was fun but seeing as how my first session of the day (music and motions) taught us 6 songs that were high motion/movement songs I was sore, tired and sweaty by the time I got to my second session. Where I got to be a third grader in a typical Sunday session at Willow. I was falling asleep by the end of it - not because it was boring but because I needed to eat something and we had been rushed out of the hotel that morning so I missed breakfast. :( I ate lunch and was fine but moving around and up and down the many stairs there and such made my legs hurt all the way to Sunday morning. Friday was that small day with only two main sessions the last being Phil Vischer - of VeggieTales fame. I was super excited to hear him talk and to start reading his book. But I got a ton of exercise as we walked all over that place and if I would have thought about it I would have put on my pedometer to see how far I was walking each day.

But the biggest thing to come out of the conference was the fact that I hooked up with another Herbalife distributor that is local! For me that is huge and she is running weight loss challenges so I joined one because I hate being this big. I went to my first meeting last night and the first thing I learned was that my scale is actually about 6 lbs. less than the Dr. scale and what the WLC scale is. T<spanclass=correction id="">he WLCscale and my Dr. scale are in agreement on my weight - 258.6 lbs. ugh! So Sunday I got back on the wagon fulltime with Herbalife products and will be held accountable with the WLC to any gains as 1 lb = $1 in the pot and the biggest loser wins the pot at the end. This is what I needed to get on track but I didn't know of anyone in my area, let alone the fact that I could have started one scared the crap out of me. Who would take weight loss advice from someone who is overweight herself and not working on losing it? See my dilemma? But the big thing is that by doing this and starting to exercise</spanclass=correction> (yes starting I suck at everything and keeping with it........) will get me into better shape and maybe I can jump around on stage and actually sing the songs without losing my breath halfway through like I do now. :)

So here I am with this wonderful opportunity to learn about kid's ministry things and it could be that God had me go on that whole trip to give me a big kick in the butt on my weight loss. LOL The way things work sometimes amaze me. So Monday night was my weigh in but I think I am switching to the Wednesday meeting next week. Well its back to unoacking, cleaning and reading for me plus my walking video before lunch. Hope everyone has a great day in J-land. ~Hugs~Jen

 

Quick One.....

Morning everyone! Just wanted to pop on real quick after weighing in this morning to post.......that I've finally gone down! YAY!

Ok now I have to get back to packing, cleaning and getting kids ready for bus. Hope to post something Saturday before I have head out of town for my nieces b-day party (she's turning 1 Friday). Isn't she adorable!!!!

Later J-land friends!!!! Have a great week. ~Hugs~Jen

Hiatus....

I will be leaving tomorrow to head to Chicago. I got a call on Thursday about an opening with the kids worship team at the training seminar they are attending. I get to go from Tuesday to Friday night. I am sooooo looking forward to it. Everyone keeps telling me that it is a wonderful experience. But the big thing about this is that I could possibly get a position with the church - paid or unpaid - yay! But needless to say I won't be posting anything unless have acess to a computer and internet at some point in time over the next few days. If only my laptop was working again.......

On to the weight loss front. I am still holding at 249.4 lbs. I have picked up my 100 cal snacks for my trip and am trying this drink called Mona Vie that I got from a friend. Its made from the acai berry and about 18 other fruits. You drink 2-4 ozs a day and it gives you 5 servings of fruit. Which is good for me. I have the best intentions where fruit comes in - I buy it and the kids eat it first or I forget about it and it goes bad. So I'm trying it and we'll see how well it works.

Have a good week everyone. I have to get back to cleaning and packing. Good night J-land! ~Hugs~Jen

Happy Weight

Self.com had an article in February issue about your Happy weight. They now have a calculator on their site to figure out your happy weight. http://www.self.com/fitness/nutrition/calculators/happyWeight

According to their site with my new height (grrrrr) I'd be happy at 157.5 lbs. I'm thinking that would take me back down to skinny with big butt/thighs again as I was all through middle and high school. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or not. I figure 165 lbs is my happy weight and that is what I am shooting for.

Ok really now i am cleaning and exercising. :) ~Hugs~Jen

Detour in blogging :)

This morning weigh in was 249.4 >.< I thought what did I do different yesterday that would make me gain vs. staying put......made egg salad. And ate a big overflowing sandwich of it. Darn good foods and wanting to eat them when on a diet......

Has anyone heard about the man who lost weight eating baked beans? The article I found (original one) is here: http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,91251-1312594,00.html?f=rss This is the one I first read about the weight loss: http://www.thatsfit.com/2008/04/13/man-loses-140-pounds-on-baked-bean-diet/ Can you imagine eating 6 cans of baked beans a day and losing 140 lbs in 9 months? Interesting diet to say the least. The first article says that he isn't even breaking wind now that he stopped eating toast with his beans. What will they come up with next?

This morning is lovely. Its what I call a cabin morning. When I was growing up we always went up north to my grandparents cabin on Rice Lake in Lake Linden, MI for at least a week in the summer. My parents way of getting a break would be to send us up with my dad's parents and then come and get us and stay an extra week. Hmmmm maybe that's why I have no problem letting my in-laws take the girls for a week because we were sent away over the summer a lot. Interesting. Not that its a bad thing in either case - I love my girls but sometimes we just need a break from each other. Anyways, The weather would start out low in the 50s or 60s in the morning and would just smell great. How would it smell? I don't think I can describe it but I'll try......it would be crisp in the morning, a little on the cool side and you could smell the water even in the cabin with the windows open and little breeze. I guess its one of those things that gets burned into your brain. But later it would warm up and yes it does get hot up there - even in August. But the past two mornings have had that smell/feel to it that it was a cabin morning. Or at least for me it is. It's making me want to make the 13....well 14 from where I live now....hour drive up north to the trio of cabins (my aunt and uncle now have their own cabins up there too) and just relax for a week in the middle of nowhere and enjoy the weather, the lake, my family and being away from it all. Yes I just proved I am truely from Michigan by measuring distance in hours driven to get to your destination. :-D But convincing the hubby to make that trip again - prolly won't happen in this lifetime. It was too far up north for him - with nothing of interest around that is according to him. If I didn't need someone to drive over the bridge for me I'd prolly do it myself. I have this huge fear of open heights and the fact that one lane on the bridge is open grate freaks me out if I am driving. It also makes me no fun or a built in babysitter at amusement parks. I'll scan some cabin pics later to post so you all can see how beautiful it is up there.

Well I am going to attempt cleaning and then some exercise this morning. Hope everyone is well here in J-land. ~Hugs~Jen

Limbo

So I have noticed that my scale isn't moving......I'm not sure if this is good or bad - it's not going up but it's also not going down. Grrrrr

I'm stuck at 248.8 lbs it seems. Getting back into walking with the lunch ladies from school. Two of them are doing weight watchers and the other is working out at a gym with a trainer. I really have to get a handle on my eating. I'm doing good with moderation and sticking to one plate of food. I even use the smaller of the plates we have here. We have two sets - the one I bought before we married and the one the hubby brought home from Bill Knapp's (anyone remember them - looooooooooved their chocolate cake and cinnamon ice cream............oh bad me!!!!) when they replaced the dishes. Well the BK ones are smaller in size. So I use them to help curb how much I eat. I'm actually thinking of switching to one of the kids plates - LOL - for this purpose as they are even smaller. :)

Time for my morning yogurt cup and tea then off to the bank for field trip money that is due in today. Love my kids but man are they expensive sometimes! Hugs ~ Jen

My weekend.......

So Thursday was an adventure to say the least. Work went well and was totally fun looking forward to doing out together that night. I left work after finishing the cleaning and went to my friends house to make jewelry. I helped her take a $6 Walmart watch and bead new bands on it. I made myself two new bracelets. We talked and enjoyed each others company - it was just plain fun. Then I headed home because I needed to get there before the kids got off the bus. I took the most direct route which is of course all dirt. Well at some point I ran over a sharp enough rock or maybe the tires were just that worn but by the time I got home and got the kids off the bus 25 minutes later I had an almost flat tire. Drove home to get a closer look. AARRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

So I went in search of my electric air pump (not knowing at this point there was a leak) to get air in the tire and hit the store for some fix-a-flat stuff. It was of course dead - in the on position instead of recharge. >.< So I was left with the DIY bycicle pump. MAN my legs got a work out on that one! I got air in the tire and went back inside - well when I came out after the kids were finally ready to brave driving with me (finally choose their after school snack and picked out a book - LOL) it was almost flat again. So I got them in the car and started pumping again while talking to hubby on the phone and yelling at the kids to NOT bounce in the car while I was putting air in the tire (or after the air was in). I got 20psi in the 35psi tire - not bad considering hubby said I wouldn't get much in. :) Put the air pump in the front seat had hubby call Discount Tire to price tires (I'd looked on Walmart.com but they didn't answer phone when he called) and headed out. Stopped once about 1 minute away from home to check and put more air in. Drove to Walmart (DT was across road) parked and checked it again - it was good so I drove the rest of the way to DT. Got there, parked, went in and told hime tire model - looked out window and it was almost flat again. Talk about timing! I'm sure my little prayers were heard that we'd make it there WITHOUT ruining the rim and enough air in the tire to drive safely on it. :) This is my 4 flat tire in the past 3 years. And I have no spare because it fell out from under my van one day got some rock lodged into it on the dirt road and when I went to use it next was flat. First time was because my alignment was off and wore both front tires out until the both went flat on me one ngiht driving my boss home from work. Next time I backed into a stone porch (yeah I know - in my defense it was a house in the country and at night) and cut off the valve stem - then had to drive home on the tire - on the dirt road. LOL Then this time. So we got the tire replaced was told the smae thing about the alignment and that I'd need the other one replaced too but I could only do the one right now.

Left DT and went to my church for worship team practice and made it there only 6 minutes late!!! Awesome for me - LOL. finished that up found out what I needed to be doing Sunday. I have more responsibility as one of the over 18 members of the team and get to look after the under 18 crowd because they know I can be depended on. Got home, cleaned up fast, changed and ran out the door to meet at my friends house to head out for the night.

We went to a place called O'Callaghan's in Brighton. Nice place - it was live music night. The guy who was singing that night looked like Riff Raff from Rocky Horror Picture Show - Seriously he looked like this --> As long as we didn't look at him while he sung we were ok. LOL We had fun singing along and drinking. One of the ladies bought a round of shots - they tasted like kool-aid - you know its never good when you can't taste the alcohol because its gonna sneak up on you. Well with all my drama I'd never eaten dinner. There was another round of shots bought and I'd been working on my first beer. So I asked for a menu - otherwise I was done. All in all it was a great day/night and we now have things to laugh at that no one will understand.....well more now I should say. :)

Friday was work and then shopping. I picked up some 6 oz. cups of Light & Fit yogurt at Sam's nad the sample lady suggested freezing them for a summer treat. YUMMMM! Saturday was Ladies Luncheon at the church and then shopping. Sunday was church, keep the under 18ers in line, lunch, small group then home.

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Before I forget again.......

I have added a link on the lefthand side bottom of my links section. It is for the President's challenge. You can log your activity over the 8 week period - March 20 to May 15, 2008. Basically it's is a way to encourage you to to be active at least 30 minutes a day, 5 times a week. You get points for different activities that you enter and for the length you did the activities. This is a blurb from the site to give you more info on the program: "What began as a national youth fitness test has grown up. In a big way. Today, the President's Challenge takes staying active beyond the school gym, and into everyday life.

We've expanded the President's Challenge into a whole series of programs designed to help improve anyone's activity level. Young or old. It's about choosing to live healthier - and finding things you really like to do." I remember doing this challange back in 4th or 5th grade when it first started and I still have my certificate in with my school papers.

There are 2 levels - Active lifestyle (30 minutes a day, 5 days a week) or Presidential Champions - people who are already active at least 30 minutes a day and want to step it up. There are awards for completing the challenge. For Active Lifestyle you have to get 6 stars filled to get the award. For Presidential Champions its baised on points earned and then there are 3 award levels: Bronze, Silver & Gold.

You can join groups, which are set out by States. I thought it might be interesting to start a group for those of us in J-land who are doing the challenge. If you are interested let me know and I'll set it up and get you the info.

Back to knitting and then work. Later J-land. ~Hugs~Jen

Walking and memories

So I didn't end up going on the walk yesterday. I got to cleaning and got a lot done and then remembered that I needed to go to the store. I was snack mom for my middle daughter's troop yesterday. So that meant that I needed to get to the store and then to the school before they went to their meeting. I just made it there in time for them to be dismissing the kids - go me. Then I had to rush back home and get my oldest and youngest from the bus, get them snack, get their chores/homework done and figure out dinner. Hubby suggested us walking once he got home. I okayed it because I didn't in the afternoon. But Hubby had to pick up stuff for dinner and by the time he was home after I picked up the middle girl it was almost 6. Made dinner (chilli dogs mmmmmmmm), ate and he forgot about the walk because he was in his comfy clothes. So I'm walking this morning once I get the kids on the bus I'll walk the my Walking the Walk video because it's kinda cold outside and my allergies are acting up enough right now for me to not want to risk totally losing my scratchy voice that I do have. LOL!

Plans changed for today. Its work (yay money but ugh sweaty), then beading, then practice, then possible drinks with other lunch ladies. :) I am looking forward to tomorrow morning though........the New Kids On The Block are reuniting on the Today show! :D I know I'm totally dating myself by saying that I drooled over Donny in grade school and that I am forever greatful to a friend for inviting me to go with her to the concert at the Breslin Center in 6th grade.

Breakfast time now....making an Herbalife pie for later so I'm having yogurt this morning with an apple. Later J-land. ~Hugs~Jen

Something to nibble on................

So the diet is going S L O W L Y this morning. I'm not totally sure if this on the diet but I like to have vanilla yogurt and granola for breakfast. I love the Dannon Light & Fit. I get to eat a cup of it and mix in the raspberry and cream granola that I bought at the local Better Health store. But I am eating an apple with it. One of the perks of working in the school cafeteria.....we have a cart that if a child does not want their fruit, pudding/applesauce cup, milk, juice, etc. they can put it on the cart. Other kids can then take the items if they will eat them with their lunch that way nothing is going to waste. At the end of lunch if there is anything left we take it home, give the milks to the PE teacher or pitch it in the trash.

So I boiled some eggs earlier because I can eat them - whites only on this diet. Of course I forgot them. LOL good thing about that is that the water boils off before you burn anything! HAHA There is a reason I only boil eggs in my cheap pan - :D. So I'll have some eggs and salad for lunch here in a little while and then head out for my walk. Better remember to stretch first otherwise I'm going to get leg cramps.

Well I'm getting back to cleaning. I have my exercise playlist on Winamp right now so it will keep me motivated. Otherwise I'll sit here and play games online or head back to finishing the baby blanket that I am knitting for a friend. It needs to get done but I need a living room more than that needs to be done today. Besides tomorrow I will be running around doing other things so I won't really be able to work on it then. I am teaching a friend from church how to bead jewelry in the afternoon, then I have practice for worship team and possibly meeting with friends from work for $1 beers later. I know - I won't be drinking more than 2 because of all the calories I'll have to work off. But it's nice to get out with people every now and then. I've had the hardest time making friends since we moved here and sadly I finally started about 2 years ago. We've only lived in the area for 7 years now and in this house for almost 5! >.< Ok really now I'm off to clean the living room. Later my J-land friends. ~Hugs~Jen

 

Frustrated, fat & bored

Its been a while once again since I last blogged. Life just gets in the way sometimes. things are relatively good at the moment. holding at 249 lbs. for the last month or so. I was good over Easter and somehow managed to not gain a pound. :) I've been looking at what I eat and thinking "how the hell have I not hit 300 lbs yet??!?!?!!?!?" Its all about will power - I have none it seems. Kids Halloween candy (yeah I know its old now), Easter candy, anything chocolate within my reach or sweet - and I eat it. Its TOM this week and I have become uber-bitch it seems. I snap at the littlest things and wnat sweets like there is no tomorrow. I'm being good and mostly sticking with fruit, yogert, or my 100 calories candy bars. I just all out feel like crap today and its showing in everything I do.

As far as exercise goes its warmer here in Michigan and there is no longer any snow so I think I am going to get back to walking again. From my house to the kids bus stop its a quarter of a mile. I'm thinking of walking to there and then continuing on to the end of the walkway along the main road. It has to be at least 1.5 miles one way. I was walking 4 miles with a friend at the beginning of the school year. I'll have to see if she wants to start doing that again. I just have to fight the rain to get this done. Maybe I'll even break out my bike and ride some - yikes thats a scary thought.

Last my diet. HAHA thats a huge laugh right now. I have the gung-ho approach to everything I do and then once something causes a snag I stop dead in my tracks. I am an Independent Herbalife Distributor who never sells anything. I actually got into it for the discount on my own food items. Who knew sponsoring my MIL would cause her to be wonder sponsor, trainer, weight-loss person......she makes me sick sometimes but she has replaced her income from her full time job with the part time work she does. I on the other hand have had a total of 4 customers - one was my MIL, the other had such a bad detox period she was told by her Dr. that she should have never tried the stuff and the other two I think bought it because they wanted to help me but then ran out of money to continue. Me on the other hand I just plain can't afford it anymore. So I was looking at the Michael Thurmond 6-week body makeover diet. My boss/principal/friend has done this for the past year and she is looking HOTT. She gave us lunch ladies a copy of her diet so we can know what to eat as we all fall into the same category. I took the quiz thing online to be sure but I am. So I went out and bought some of the foods and now its back to willpower again. You basically end up eating 6 meals a day or every 2 or 2.5 hours. So I am starting this tomorrow and will walk in the afternoon and see how long the path really is.

We shall see how well I do this time. I want this weight gone. I can't stand looking at myself like this anymore. I hate buying clothes that fit only to grow out of them in a few months time because I have gained weight. If I'm going to buy new clothes it better be because i have lsot weight not gained it. I put a picture of me on my fridge from High School - back when I was about 170 lbs. My friend saw it and and said "thats you? wow you were pretty!" Notice the were in that sentance. The only upside I have had was my brother - the twig who finally weighs over 150 lbs. and prolly fits the size 36 pants that he has been wearing baggy forever. He said to me at Easter that I was fat - yeah I know not nice - but it was the "you can't weigh more than I do" comment that I really loved. Either he thinks I have always weighed less than him (HAHAHAHAHAHA never true) or he thinks that no matter what I look like that I am not almost 250 lbs.

Dinner time now. Nite everyone in Jland. ~Hugs~Jen