Reflecting on 2012

Well we are coming to the end of 2012. This year has been a eventful one that is for sure. And even though I didn't do as well on the weight loss front as I wanted to I still call it a success. I am still down 26-27 pounds. It fluctuates a little, but I have kept it off so I am super happy about that. I drink A LOT more water than I used too. YAY me! I am going to put my family on a new way of eating to start the new year. I have broadened my horizon to include them because I can't do it by myself, and I love them and want them to be healthy so they can stick around. I will blog about the new eating plan later... I still refuse to say the "D" word. Any word that has the word die in it can not be good.

This blog is going to be about reflecting. I have learned a lot about who I am this year. What I want out of life and the people I want in my life. I lost friends (and I use that term loosely) this year. I made new friends, but best of all I reconnected with  for lack of better words estranged friends (and that was totally my fault) and old friends that I had not talked to in years. Had to swallow my pride on a couple of the re-connections, but it was so worth it. Melissa, Brandi and Michelle each bring joy to my life. They love me for me (as most of you do, and I don't blame you LOL), respect my beliefs and encourage me no matter what. And I hope  will be doing the same for them. I have wasted too much of my life not being a good friend and just going along with whatever.

  I have also learned to appreciate health. This year has been so difficult watching my Mom suffer through illness and pain. But we made it through, and we are stronger because of it. It made me appreciate her too. Before when she had issues it was usually surgical and was fixed, she got well and we went on. Not this time, the fall, the pain, the high calcium level. Whoa baby that shiz was not fun at all. I know I had some bad mojo directed  my way (see above paragraph re: lost friends) but my God is much bigger that the crap they sent my way, and with His help, like I said we made it. So put that in your juice box and suck it!

  Fam(ily), a word we often take for granted. But it mean so much. Fam(ily) is much more than relatives, fam(ily) is love, comfort, support, encouragement and so much more. Fam(ily) doesn't have to be blood either. Some of my closest fam(ily) isn't even blood relation. Cherish your fam(ily) people.

Frederico, Freddy, Ha Ha, sweetie, Jr. Alfredo. Funny how many names my hubby goes by :) I cannot begin to tell you how lucky I am this man is in my life. He puts up with so much of my crap, my mood swings, my changing interests, my temper, but enough about me LOL. He is my rock. And this year we will be married for 10 years. I don't feel like the past 10 have been appreciative enough of him. So the new year will be a fresh start on that too.

 Lauren Kay Ann Marie Frazier Miles Leija... that kid could be a movie stars kid with all those names. She is the best thing I have ever done in my entire life. She is not your typical teen, well scratch that 98% of the time she is not your typical teen. She loves her Mommy , Dad and Nana a lot and does not mind telling us (I'm her favorite, shhhhh just don't tell the others). That kid has a big heart, but keeps it guarded most of the time. She is kind, beautiful, smart and giving. Le sigh I just adore her. :)

 My New Beginnings family... I like that, New Beginnings. That is what I got when we all started going to church there. We come in all shapes, sizes and colors, but we are family. I have posted on Facebook many times that ANYONE is welcome there. You may think I am kidding, but you walk through our door and you get greeted with pure, unconditional love. And hugs LOTS and LOTS of hugs. You know I am pretty sure Jesus was a hugger, he just had to be.  I am so grateful of the knowledge I have gained about myself and the Lord, from New Beginnings. I love you guys, yeah you know who you are.

And last but certainly not least, I am thankful for a forgiving God. Who believes in second chances for sinners like me. I am thankful that because He is forgiving, that I have learned to be forgiving too, of the wrong doings of others and most of all the wrong doings of myself.

 Enough reflecting for now, just wanted you to know if you have read this, you are a blessing to me. And I don't mean that lightly. Thank you for being in my life. :)

Hellooooo

OMGosh What a year it has been!! I really didn't do so well blogging. But I did pretty good on the weight loss front. Down 27 pounds since I started. Not a lot and still a long ways to go but its a start.

Something new!!

Good morning and happy St. Patty's day friends!! I haven't been able to post much, but that doesn't mean I have not been working hard!! Starting something new to aid in my weight loss next week! And I am VERY excited about it!!  I have lost 16 pounds since my adventure started Jan. 1st and I am very proud of that. But I have reached a plateau and think I need a little assistance. I am still a water drinker and have not even touched any type of soda in 77 days!! I am really glad too that the weather is getting warmer so I can get my hiney moving outside. SO keep watching I will be spilling my new plan next week!! May the luck of the Irish be with you today!!

The shrinking woman!!

I have a very long way to go but I have got a good start going!!

Come on and have a look at how I did this week :)

This week has been GREAT!!  Aside from this silly cough I have, I feel pretty spiffy! So I guess I won't make you guys wait any longer... I lost 5 pounds this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That makes 7 pounds since I started my journey! WOOOOOHOOOO and you know what? It has been remarkably easy.

For breakfast I have been having my green smoothie 5 times a week and we have Huevos A la Mexicana from Bobby's twice a week  (for those that don't know what Bobby's is, OMG the best Mexican food around!!) Gloria is nice to us and instead of a yummy tortilla she puts it in a to go container.  I have my new addiction Almonds for mid-morning snack. Lunch is usually a lean cuisine or weight watchers meal and a salad, or I have also mad myself some pretty fantastic salads, with turkey, sharp cheddar, boiled egg and avocado. Mid-afternoon, I have half a small apple or orange and some cheese or peanut butter.  Dinner I eat whatever I fix for the family, but we are making much better choices, I just eat only one serving.

And the water, oh the water. I am a chick that went from maybe and I'm being generous maybe drinking 1 oz a day to 80 something and more ounces a day! Yes me a water-aholic!! That is pretty much all I drink now, who would have thunk it! LOL


I planned on adding some fitness in this week, but I have had the crud and have been coughing my head off. So I plan to add it in this week. So that's it for this week. I will be checking in with fun stuff during the week, but the big posts will be on Sunday's. Have a great week my friends and remember "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels!"

Posting

I will be posting my blog once a week on Sunday. Just didn't want you guys to think I flaked out on ya! I have had a great week and so far a really good weight loss. Hope you all check in Sunday and find out how I am doing!!

A little less Mickey!

Drum roll please................................

Buh bye!!!

I lost 2 pounds woooo to the hooooo!!  I was bummed a little at first, but then I though 2 pounds is 2 pounds less, 2 pounds closer to my goal. And 2 pounds I don't have to haul around. Then a friend of my told me slow and steady wins the race ( thanks Allison). So I am gearing up for a new week to kick some more fat butt, with a cute water bottle in hand!

Some days are a struggle :/

I am glad most of the day is over. Today was a bit of a struggle. Got all my water in, just wished a teeny tiny part of it was a Dr. Pepper sigh. Mama said there would be days like this. So instead of crumbling and having a ice cold refreshing Dr. Pepper sigh... I decided to change my snacks up a little, thinking if I distracted my taste buds they wouldn't miss the above mentioned nectar of the Gods. So this afternoon instead of a Kashi granola bar, I had an apple and cheddar cheese. Not A DP but, hey it was pretty dang good. So I managed to make it through the day. Whew :) Looking forward to a busy weekend hope you all have a safe and blessed one :)!!

WOOHOOO!!

Well folks, I weighed on Sunday. I will share the weight when I reach my goal hehe. I am going to weigh again this weekend. But lo and behold, my fat rolls are smaller, I know sounds silly but I carry them around every day and sure can tell. And sorry Freddy, but my bra is looser haha! 

And my water envy is getting less. I am actually looking forward to drinking it, kind of making a ritual out of it. I start the day with a bottle of water, then about 10 I go to our office kitchen. I get 2 bottles of water out, pour 2 glasses and squeeze half a lime in each. I take each glass plus what is left in the bottle and give one to a fabulous co-worker and take the other to my desk. I have my mid morning snack then (usually unsalted almonds) and have my agua! I do the same minus the lime and sub the a granola bar for the almonds mid afternoon. I have noticed I don't get the mid afternoon tiredness and have not been hungry all week. I am averaging 64 oz of water a day!! Be jealous yes be very jealous with water envy! 

Next week I am adding in exercise!! SO don't be afraid if you feel the ground shake a little LOL! Just kidding gotta have a sense of humor when your nick name used to be Pork Chop...long story, but had nothing to do with my weight! I will be posting before picture soon too. Sure can't wait for the after.

MMM-MMM good!

GREEN SMOOTHIE

BEFORE

                                                                            AFTER

Don't let the strange color fool you, these are amazing!! The recipe is on a previous post :)

The high price of eating junk.

This past weekend, my husband and a couple of our friends were discussing this life change we are making. And the subject of how expensive it is to eat healthy came up. Well that got me to thinking, is it really that expensive to eat healthier. Yes its cheaper to grab a burger and fries than to get a salad with grilled chicken. But in the long run when you break it down its not, so let me break it down ( I feel like I should be rapping this blog and scratching records hehe).  Eat unhealthy day after day, develop lets say high cholesterol, lab test to check cholesterol... without insurance probably a couple hundred dollars. Have to be put on something for cholesterol without insurance probably about $100.00 maybe more. Even if you have insurance your still going to be paying co-pays and co-insurance. Then heaven forbid your bad food choices have done damage and you have to have an angiogram to check for blockage in your heart. Oh heck we all know that is not going to be cheap... and if there is blockage, either stents or bypass surgery. So that's looking at thousands of dollars. And this is just one of the many, many, many problems that can arise from eating poorly. But hey we saved 2-3 dollars eating that burger and fries!!
So we took our bi-weekly grocery shopping trip to San Angelo yesterday. (86 miles one way) We call it "goin' to town" *with a Texas accent*.  And we did pretty good on the choices we made. We have cut out all types of soda diet or other. Our water intake has been increased 100% (or at least mine has, Freddy has always been pretty good with that). Had the infamous Green Smoothie too this morning, I even shared half the concoction with my co-worker. And I highly recommend it, they taste wonderful, look ehh not so wonderful, unless your a fan of Shrek green! So we are off to a great start, hope you all are too!!

Water envy !

Good New Year's evening my friends!! As the day winds down, I have already implemented the start of my changes for a smaller me :) My family and I went out to lunch today, I made a smart choice off the menu, then when my meal came I asked for a to go box. I think I puzzled a few LOL. I put half of my meal in the to go box. Out of sight out of mind. It worked great! Now I have dinner too, for the price of one meal. WOOHOO!

Ok so I named this post water envy. Oh water, you and I have a love/hate  dislike relationship. My body loves you (and needs you), but my taste buds strongly dislike you (I don't like the word hate). And when my hands look like a little 80 year old ladies, because of not enough adequate fluid intake I know for sure my body needs you! I have to admit, there are days that the only water I drink is a cup in the morning with my pills, yeah that's not good. I was once told that if I got cut I would probably bleed Dr. Pepper. And today was no different I  longed to order a Dr. Pepper or a sweet tea, but the words that passed my lips were, "I would like a water, with lemon ". I know a little thing to most, but a big step for me. And the reason I say water envy, is because I am jealous of  you folks that carry your cute little BPA free water bottles and sip and refill during the day. By the end of the this adventure, I will be a water junkie with a cute BPA free water
bottle!! And I have to add the wise words of my little friend Nikolas "Water is good"!!!