15 down and counting.....

Wow!  I have lost 15 lbs. since the first of January!  So excited!  Can't wait until I am able to get my Advocare 24 day program!  Right now I am taking that Mega T Green Tea supplements and I can literally FEEL myself getting thinner every day...  it's awesome.  As for diet, yesterday for breakfast I had a yogurt, coffee, and my T.  For lunch I had a salad, water and my T.  For dinner I had boneless, skinless chicken breast cooked on the grill and watermelon.  For exercise, I did some bicep curls, tricep curls, leg lifts, walking, and taking care of an 8 month old baby for 3 hours.  I've started tracking my fitness and nutrition on SparkPeople.com.  It's a free fitness and nutrition site that I adore!  I didn't know until yesterday that I could connect it with my Facebook (thank you, Becky, for letting me know).  GREAT NEWS on the nature front......   I've finally started getting some birds eating at my feeder!!!  No hummingbirds yet, but I'm still praying for them, and both of my hummingbird feeders are bright red so it's only a matter of time.  Ok, so til tomorrow then.....

Loving my life right about now...

Now that I am getting "back to myself", I am really loving life!  The weather has been very cooperative, and so I have planted all of my marigold seeds, as well as some pansies and violas.  My morning glories are about an inch high.  As for my diet, today I had Special K cereal w/banana and ff milk.  For lunch, I had New York strip steak (1/4 of a whole one) on a whole wheat bun.  Loads and Loads of water.  And with both meals I took 1 Mega T green tea capsule.  My scale is still not working, despite replacing the battery so I don't know for sure how much weight I've lost, but I can see it and feel it.  It got too late for dinner, and I was not hungry anyways so I didn't have any.  Til tomorrow then....

Another beautiful day!

Yesterday, I spent all day outside planting my new flowers and doing yard work.  Very good for the arm and leg muscles.  Lots of water all day. For breakfast I had Special K w/ff milk.  No lunch.  For dinner I had a salad with chicken and grape tomatoes on it, very little dressing.  And that was it for the day.  Today, I started taking Mega T green tea dietary supplements.  A friend of mine lost 20 lbs in one month on them, without changing her diet or exercise habits much.  I am going to be taking them IN ADDITION to changing my daily exercise habits, so we'll see what will happen.  I bought hand weights yesterday and worked out my biceps and triceps quite a bit.  I did 100 (on each side) leg lifts... thigh muscles were screaming!  Of course, I had to do them 25 at a time, with about a minute pause in between the 4 sets.  Also did 25 (core very weak still so unable to do more than that) front leg lifts, that works out the lower abdomen and the core muscles.  At the end of the month, when I have the money, I will be buying an exercise ball (replacing my office chair with that for extra workout, even while I sit), Perfect Sit-up Machine (saw that at Walmart), an elliptical machine, Advocare 24-day program, and the Zumba Body Transformation series.  I am serious about getting this weight off of me.  Oh yeah, and a bike to ride outside.  Also, those tennis shoes that tone while you walk.  Find out that I have lost 10 lbs. since leaving my ex, so that would be since the 2nd week of January... about a month, or a little over a month.  Feeling extremely motivated.  To top of the day yesterday, I got a phone call from a very dear friend, whom I miss very much.  Life is good.......

Still sick....

Still sick today, although feeling a little better.  Watched Biggest Loser last night and felt horrible about being lazy lately, and then knowing I could do nothing about it because of how sick I am.  Back at it tomorrow.  As for diet, the only thing I've had in the past 2 days is a couple packs of Ramen noodles, as soup was all I could stomach.

Sick lately....

Been sick with flu lately.  Body aches (and not the good kind from exercise, but the bad kind from flu)... Thought I'd check in, but now I'm going back to bed.  Gonna have Jillian Michaels kick this crap out of me tomorrow whether it's gone or not!

Here she is...

Haven't written in a week...

Hello, I'm back!  Literally, but not figuratively (meaning my figure!).  I have the "old me" back, as far as my attitude and personality.  Now I just need to shed this extra person that has settled herself over top of my real body.  I sound like I'm talking about a pod person or something, I know, but that's really what it feels like.  So, the remainder of my blogs will consist of holding myself accountable for the calories I take in and the calories that I expend.  Of course, there will be some gardening tidbits along the way!  I'll be writing again tonight, tallying the day's totals.

Well, darn it....

Good thing I'm not all that hungry today, because I'm eating my words!!  Steelers lost :(   Good game, Packers.  Hung outside, waiting to see some hummingbirds at my feeder, but they aren't around yet.  So, I'll hang out there again tomorrow, waiting and hoping.  Oh, and I lost 2 more lbs.  YAY, me!

GO STEELERS!!!

No time to write today.  Steelers are about to win the Super Bowl (again).  Please don't make me eat my words, Steelers!!!!  lol.....

Ok hummingbirds, now you can eat....

Very excited today as I put my hummingbird feeder out.  I was having my morning coffee, patiently awaiting the arrival of my new "guests" when the rain that God has been promising us for the last three days finally arrived.  My morning glories have started to emerge from the ground around the tree.  They will be an extra treat for the hummingbirds when they are in full bloom.  I expect they'll grow all the way up the tree, just like they did last year.  The hummingbirds love to suck the nectar from morning glory blooms.  I think this year, I'll put in one of those mist spraying bird baths also.  Was able to wake up earlier..... 8 am to be exact! YAY, me!  So, in honor of the new hummingbird feeder, I leave you with this image......

Ok, bump in the road notwithstanding... back on track

Rough night last night, as all who are keeping up with my blog already know.  But, today is a new day and I'm facing it with a smile!  I worked out in the garden area today.  Can't call it a garden yet, as it is just in the planning and building stages.  I've got the newspaper laid out to kill the grass and weeds, right where I want my vegetables to grow.  Later on tonight I'll be going to Walmart and buying my topsoil and additives to throw on top of that.  Muscles are definitely feeling the burn from moving all of the bricks that I used to hold the newspaper down, as well as pushing the wheelbarrow around and raking up last years leaves.  Starting to see some green in my brown grass finally.  Spring is emerging!  I think it's absolutely miraculous that I can say that already, when so many of my Northern friends are snowed in. . . .  Sorry, guys!  I am thinking warm and wonderful thoughts of you all, if that helps in the least bit.  I'm hoping that you all will be thinking cooling thoughts of me come June and July when your weather is beautiful and mine is scorching!!!  As for diet and exercise, my Special K Challenge is still ongoing... and the yard work speaks for itself with the exercise portion of my self-renewal.  Although yard work is a natural way to exercise, I still need to add some "formal" cardio to that, to get my metabolism racing.  I must admit, today I actually woke up at 8:30 am fully intending on popping in my Jillian Michaels DVD.  Alas, I went back to sleep instead.  In this case, I'm reminded of the "road to ... is filled with good intentions."  So, I admonish myself and resolve to get up earlier tomorrow.  'Til then, here is some pretty color for you Northerners.... (my Ipheon bulbs, when they are in full bloom)

Just when you think that part is over with....

Why is it when I'm doing good, the person who brought me down the most decides to burst my bubble??  What part of "NEVER CALL ME AGAIN" is unclear?  I didn't leave any doubt in that sentence whatsoever.  No, "well, you know maybe someday..."  No!  I said, plain as day, "NEVER CALL ME AGAIN".  My mood was improving.  I'm losing weight, inches even!  I am getting back to being my old self and then BAMMM, there he is.  Very proud of myself though, that I did not talk to him.  I just reminded him, AGAIN, that he is not to call me.  I am either going to have to change my phone number or invest in a phone with caller ID.  Ok, well.... back on track tomorrow.  Can't let this get me down.  Head is spinning, kind of at a loss for words so.....

'Til tomorrow...

Like a butterfly from a cocoon:

I have shed another 2 lbs of this person who is not me.  Literally, I feel like I am trapped inside another person! But I'm slowly emerging, day by day.  My good attitude is coming back, as well as my bubbly personality.  I'm beginning to love live again, as I once had.  It's a little overcast outside today, but I'm going to get out there anyways because it's still 72 degrees.  I'm not going to let a few clouds ruin my day!!  If it starts to rain, I'll just thank God for the water for my plants and come inside to clean my house (which needs done anyways.).  Hopefully, I'm getting a visitor soon.  One of my dear friends from Michigan who I miss tremendously. Even though I'm doing good with the weight loss, I'm not going to leave it to chance and so I'm going back on my Special K challenge at www.specialk.com/challenge/ because I lost 8 lbs. in two weeks doing that!  If you try to click on the link and it doesn't work, type the address into your search bar because this is the correct link.

Reflecting today.....

I've been thinking back on my life and the things I regret.  Decisions I've made that I regret and such.  I want to say that I wish I could go back in time and start over, but at which point, and which bad decision, would I change?  Because I used to wish I could go back to when I was 17 and change THAT decision, but then I wouldn't have my sons.  Besides, I did end up having a do-over on that one and !WOW! that "what if?" ended up being a "what the hell was I thinking?" and taught me that what I thought was a bad decision was actually the right one... so, the best thing I can say is that all my decisions (whether good or bad) led me to where I am right now and that everything happens for a reason.  I'm not supposed to question God's Plan for me anyways, just learn from my mistakes along the way, and do my best not to repeat them or make any more.  I am human, though, so I will end up making more mistakes (God, keep helping me!) to learn from.

Well, I'm gonna go outside and work on my flower beds.  For all of you that are stuck in the snow all over most of the United States, here is something to make you think warm thoughts......