Catching Up....
I know it has been awhile since posted and I am sorry...bad blogger. So let's do this in a bullet-points:
1. Holidays - this year was one of the best we have had in awhile. We were surrounded by family and friends a lot this year. My niece, Nic and her finance, Rick from Montana were here for about a week. So great to see them twice in one year and in a matter of months too (they were here in October). They got engaged back in October and now are planning for a wedding this July in Michigan (where Rick is from). E and my thought was to fly to Michigan, but since seeing the cost of flights lately, we just might end up driving. My brother and family are planning to drive. It is about a 17 hour trip. We also got an opportunity to go over to our neighbors house and have dinner with them the Sunday between Xmas and New Years. E had been talking with the husband, but I had never met his wife. They are about 10-15 years younger than us, but we got along really well. We were there for 6 hours and the chatting was pretty much non-stop (no talk about kids either - though E mentioned we tried, but wasn't in the cards for us - it felt good for me that he took the "ball and ran with it" instead of me feeling like I need to explain). They purchased their home the same year our landlord purchase the one we live in. They just got married last year as well. She is a kindergraten teacher in a nearby town and he works at GE as an analyst. They rescued a pitbull named Gracie about a year ago and absolutely love her. We are planning to have them over to our house in another month or so.
2. Weight Loss - yes, I am back on Fitnesspal.com - started first week of Jan. I have to do this and get serious this time. I went to see my former boss two weeks ago to wish her well in her new job after being there for over 16 years...it was a shocked to see she decided to leave. But, what was more shocking was to see how amazing she looked. I hadn't seen her in a year since I left my old job and she had gone on a low-carb diet called the Dukan Diet and lost 70 lbs! OMG, she is half the person she was before and can I say again how amazing she looks! I literally couldn't stop staring at her. Now, we aren't talking really skinny thin here since she was about my size beforehand. She lost the weight in all the right places too (exactly where I would like to lose mine), the boobs, the waist/belly and the arms! She must be (though I didn't dare ask) a size 8 now. After seeing her, I immediately started to investigate about this Dukan Diet. After reading many posts on it, I decided to take some of the tips about low-carb eating and incorporate it in to my tracking of food with calories on fitnesspal.com. So, technically I am not doing the actual Dukan Diet (you have to purchase the book and there are 3-4 phases you have to follow - first couple of weeks sound really rough/strict) and I knew in my heart I wouldn't be able to do it. So, I am going it my way and purchasing low-carb foods and making low-carb recipes. I am happy to report my first actual loss for the month of January so far is 4 lbs. I am feeling great and just so excited about this small victory in a month's time. I think one of the things that will help me suceed this time, is I am planning out my meals better. If we decided to go out to eat, I go on-line and look at their menu ahead of time and pre-pick my food so I don't even look at the menu when we get to the restaurant. I am eating more fish and protein and haven't had bread at all. I find that I don't feel bloated like I used to either. I am slowly incorporating exercise into the mix, but not really pushing it like I used to. If I have the time to do it in the evening then I will, but not putting a lot of pressure on myself like I was before. The motto I have now is, take each day as it comes - this weight didn't come on me in a few months, it took years, so it will take time to come off as well. If I fall off the wagon one day, I just get right back on it the next day...not beating myself up - no guilt!
Recently take pics of me:
3. We have booked our summer vacation on Cape Cod for the last week in May again this year. We have rented a 3 bedroom/2 bath - 2,000 square foot home across from a lake. E's sister, brother-in-law and niece (16 year old) are going to come for the long Memorial weekend as well so we definitely need a bigger place. I spent a good couple months searching the vacation home rental market on the Cape to find the right place with our specific needs (including accepting our cats with no extra charge). The Cape is one of my favorite places to vacation and I am beyond thrilled that we get to do this again this year.
4. E's business is going strong even after the holiday season (which in previous years was very rare) that I am getting more and more excited about the possibility of owning our own home in this area in another 2 years. We will be filing our taxes in the next month with an accountant doing them this year due to the business and I am eager to see how much he grossed since last July (a half year) and how much we can claim for the business as well. We have been keeping every receipt and hoping a bunch of our monthly bills can get written off as well.
I know I have more to write about, but I wanted to get something up as promised. I will do another post soon.
1. Holidays - this year was one of the best we have had in awhile. We were surrounded by family and friends a lot this year. My niece, Nic and her finance, Rick from Montana were here for about a week. So great to see them twice in one year and in a matter of months too (they were here in October). They got engaged back in October and now are planning for a wedding this July in Michigan (where Rick is from). E and my thought was to fly to Michigan, but since seeing the cost of flights lately, we just might end up driving. My brother and family are planning to drive. It is about a 17 hour trip. We also got an opportunity to go over to our neighbors house and have dinner with them the Sunday between Xmas and New Years. E had been talking with the husband, but I had never met his wife. They are about 10-15 years younger than us, but we got along really well. We were there for 6 hours and the chatting was pretty much non-stop (no talk about kids either - though E mentioned we tried, but wasn't in the cards for us - it felt good for me that he took the "ball and ran with it" instead of me feeling like I need to explain). They purchased their home the same year our landlord purchase the one we live in. They just got married last year as well. She is a kindergraten teacher in a nearby town and he works at GE as an analyst. They rescued a pitbull named Gracie about a year ago and absolutely love her. We are planning to have them over to our house in another month or so.
2. Weight Loss - yes, I am back on Fitnesspal.com - started first week of Jan. I have to do this and get serious this time. I went to see my former boss two weeks ago to wish her well in her new job after being there for over 16 years...it was a shocked to see she decided to leave. But, what was more shocking was to see how amazing she looked. I hadn't seen her in a year since I left my old job and she had gone on a low-carb diet called the Dukan Diet and lost 70 lbs! OMG, she is half the person she was before and can I say again how amazing she looks! I literally couldn't stop staring at her. Now, we aren't talking really skinny thin here since she was about my size beforehand. She lost the weight in all the right places too (exactly where I would like to lose mine), the boobs, the waist/belly and the arms! She must be (though I didn't dare ask) a size 8 now. After seeing her, I immediately started to investigate about this Dukan Diet. After reading many posts on it, I decided to take some of the tips about low-carb eating and incorporate it in to my tracking of food with calories on fitnesspal.com. So, technically I am not doing the actual Dukan Diet (you have to purchase the book and there are 3-4 phases you have to follow - first couple of weeks sound really rough/strict) and I knew in my heart I wouldn't be able to do it. So, I am going it my way and purchasing low-carb foods and making low-carb recipes. I am happy to report my first actual loss for the month of January so far is 4 lbs. I am feeling great and just so excited about this small victory in a month's time. I think one of the things that will help me suceed this time, is I am planning out my meals better. If we decided to go out to eat, I go on-line and look at their menu ahead of time and pre-pick my food so I don't even look at the menu when we get to the restaurant. I am eating more fish and protein and haven't had bread at all. I find that I don't feel bloated like I used to either. I am slowly incorporating exercise into the mix, but not really pushing it like I used to. If I have the time to do it in the evening then I will, but not putting a lot of pressure on myself like I was before. The motto I have now is, take each day as it comes - this weight didn't come on me in a few months, it took years, so it will take time to come off as well. If I fall off the wagon one day, I just get right back on it the next day...not beating myself up - no guilt!
Recently take pics of me:
3. We have booked our summer vacation on Cape Cod for the last week in May again this year. We have rented a 3 bedroom/2 bath - 2,000 square foot home across from a lake. E's sister, brother-in-law and niece (16 year old) are going to come for the long Memorial weekend as well so we definitely need a bigger place. I spent a good couple months searching the vacation home rental market on the Cape to find the right place with our specific needs (including accepting our cats with no extra charge). The Cape is one of my favorite places to vacation and I am beyond thrilled that we get to do this again this year.
4. E's business is going strong even after the holiday season (which in previous years was very rare) that I am getting more and more excited about the possibility of owning our own home in this area in another 2 years. We will be filing our taxes in the next month with an accountant doing them this year due to the business and I am eager to see how much he grossed since last July (a half year) and how much we can claim for the business as well. We have been keeping every receipt and hoping a bunch of our monthly bills can get written off as well.
I know I have more to write about, but I wanted to get something up as promised. I will do another post soon.
Wow... so many things happening. I'm glad things are going well for you and E. Regarding the LC diet, I applaud your decision. I went LC a few years ago. I still find it difficult to say no when visiting someone or dining out, but at lease at home we went low carb and have not regrets. Good luck with your weight loss!
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