Date Night

My hubby takes me out for a date every week. We always have a good time with what we choose to do. Tonight we went to the bowling alley and did the "must do's" at this particular bowling alley.

Evidently, from the reviews we had from friends and internet alike, their food is very good . Not to be rude, but the food, umm, well, it was bowling alley food. We had the enchiladas with beans and rice. We were so hungry that it didn't matter about taste ... and the calories?? Well, ya live and learn. I did have an adorable delivery guy though!

I realized that I haven't bowled since 8th or 9th grade. I was just happy to knock some pins down! David also did great for not having bowled in years. We had a really good time and relaxed. That's what date night is all about!

Eats: My eats were good today, until ... :)

NS breakfast, NS snack, NS lunch, Zone bar and then ... cheese enchiladas, drenched in cheese and covered with chili and cheese. :)

I haven't walked since Thursday. I miss it. I hope to walk on the treadmill tomorrow as the weather will demand that I stay inside. Good news! I finished a large paper work task that I've been working on for days. My desk is finally beginning to reappear. It's hard to fit in spending time with my daughter, work and house work and exercise. I feel like I'm turning a big ship and my rudder is so small. I know it's these small changes that will eventually turn my whole life around, physically speaking.

And by the Grace of God alone ... I have now gone 59 days with no paralysis!! You go, God!!

A Picnic with Daddy

I went out with Bekah last night, so Lauren had a date with Daddy. They went down to the lake and picnic'ed by the water. And in the water! They also went for a hike. I can't believe all this beauty is so close to us. Hopefully we can enjoy it more this summer since I'm feeling well.

My eats were fine. I ate dessert out last night and didn't really care about the calories. :) The name of the dessert was "decadent chocolate cake". Need I say more? I will say that I only ate half a piece ... and wanted the rest.

I did not walk yesterday, but I hope to walk today.

Just Before and During my 7 weeks on Nutrisystem

The picture of me in the green shirt is toward the end of February '07. The picture in the red shirt is the first of April. I've lost 4 more pounds since the red shirt picture. I've also started walking a lot since this picture.

I walked almost 2 miles this evening (1.8) and am still enjoying the exercise. My eats were great today until we had to eat out. I ate well, just abit more than I should have eaten. I still think I'm at or under calories again today. I ate often today and that helped me feel great. I had a migraine all day, so that dampened my whole outlook on the day.

Well, tomorrow is a big day at school. Better go do bible time with Princess and tuck her in.

Walking Again

My eats were great today. I was very tired and I think it is because I haven't gotten enough food the past couple of days. Enough calories, I mean. I've eaten well, just ... not enough. I think the culprit is that I had salad for lunch the past two days and by this morning, I was running on a bit of a protein deficit. It's hard to eat out and eat healthy. I don't have to eat out any more this week, so that is good.

I walked my 3 miles again this morning. I walked a route in my neighborhood and I walked some steep hills! I made the walk in about 50 minutes instead of my hour that I've been walking. I hope to build up to 4.5 miles, 3 times a week. For right now, I'm just going to keep the 3 miles, 3 times a week and let my muscles get used to that.

We leave for the caribbean in 5 weeks and I'm determined to have more endurance by the time we leave. Here is a picture of a waterfall that I hope to see while there. Isn't it pretty?

Sweet Day

I had lunch with my bible study ladies today at the sweetest little cafe and bakery. It had the feel of grandma's english tea room. The food was so good! Almost all of my ladies were there and we had a great time. I was so overwhelmed ... still am ... at their gift to me. It's a gift certificate to a well-known spa in town for a very generous amount of money. I am still sitting here shaking my head. I enjoyed them so much this year and have been praying about whether to lead a group next year. The love and affirmation I received was humbling to say the least! I just realized that we didn't take a picture today. (sigh.) This picture is a sample of their desserts. The flan cake is flan on top of a butter cake. Does it get any yummier??

Today has been a hungry day. I'm within 100 calories of my 1200. Maybe over, maybe under. Today is the first day I haven't written my calorie consumption down on my refrig. Maybe I'll stop and add things up.... Okay, looks like I'm about 1070 calories. Not as bad as I thought. I had a salad at lunch that was so good! It had some creamy basil pesto pasta in it, so I'm not sure of the calorie count on that. Bfast: NS bar, 4 oz milk; apple; L: aforementioned salad, water; 90 cal ice cream bar; Zone bar at 3p.m.; NS dinner with Skinny cow bar for dessert. And of course, throughout the day I have sipped on my beloved Peppermint tea.

I have to tell you the sweetest of God. It's the little things that show His Lovingkindness. David's office chair broke over the weekend. It's a used, fancy office chair (Herman Miller, if that means anything to you). He has been sitting in a folding chair the past few days which has been, ah-hem ... painful on his damaged tailbone. Today he was able to reach the chair repair folks who told him the chair parts would only be $20; however, it would take about 2 weeks to fix it because the parts had to be ordered. (sigh) This afternoon he took the chair in and not only did they have the parts in stock (!), but they fixed it right there in front of him!! Now his little bruised/broken tailbone will not hurt as he works. I just think God is so sweet ... and FAST!

Whew. I'm back

Sorry for not posting, but my login hasn't worked for over a week. I'm back to blogging daily now.

Weight: It's about the same. I'm losing a pound a week or so. Nice and slow which is best. 24 pounds lost ... f-o-r-e-v-e-r.

Exercise: Great improvement here! You all know during Periodic Paralysis sometimes it was exercise just to walk across the room. It's been 7 weeks and three days since I've had a paralysis episode! In that time frame, I've begun to use my muscles. I started walking 1.3 miles about three weeks ago. I haven't walked a lot, but I've been active in between walking events. On Friday, I walked 3 miles! My hips (where I have most of my muscle damage) hurt during but not after the 3 miles. Tonight David and I walked the same three miles.

So, in honor of my friend Josha, I will also write a song. To the tune of Mary Had A Little Lamb:

I walked around Town Lake, around Town Lake, around Town Lake
I walked around Town Lake with my friend Bekah.

The path was three miles long, three miles long, three miles long
The path was three miles long and I did it all.

Bekah has a soccer physique, soccer physique, soccer physique
Bekah has a soccer physique and I kept up with her!

I was so inspired, so inspired, so inspired
I was so inspired, I bought 2 running skirts.

Ok, enough. :) I do like my two new running skirts. I felt official as i walked with all the other sweaty bodies out there this evening. Our city is so fit. Sheesh.

Eats: The eats are going well. I eat out about once a week or so. This week it will be twice, but I'm choosing wisely when I order. I ate a caesar salad today with a bit of bread at Johnny Carinos. Yum. NS pizza for dinner, NS bar for bkfast and Laughing Cow lite for morning snack.

I'm off to bathe the sweat away. I'm alive, not paralyzed, my family is with me ... it's been a great day!

Roses and Moving

As promised, here is a picture of my Mother's Day 2004 rose bush. It was getting buffeted by the wind in this picture. What's up with the wind lately? It's been blowing almost every day.

EATS:

I told Bekah that I'd post my eats for the day ... to keep me accountable on this weightloss thing. So, Bekah, I had a Luna bar for breakfast. It was "S'mores" flavor. Now, this is silly because there were no marshmallows and no graham crackers. How in the world is this meal bar like a S'mores?? Only the advertisers know. It was passable. Then I had a DanActive yougurt (three swallows and it's gone) for morning snack, NS Black Bean Tortilla Soup (with no tortillas!) and NS Chili for dinner. I drank lots of Peppermint tea and a diet A&W. The Hershey's chocolate covered eggs are calling, no, screaming my name. They are as of yet, still strink wrapped. Pray.

We helped our sweet friend, Jamie, move into her new apartment today. And I do mean n-e-w. These apartments have just been built and Jamie is one of the first people to move in. Her apartment is beautiful!! The first picture is in the old apt with her cute dog Bella. The last picture is in the new apartment ... check out the countertops. Cool!

I walked 1.5 miles today in 53 degree weather with a north wind blowing. I took no potassium on my walk, no sugar, no cell phone. It was just me, my polartec and my ipod. I felt like a normal woman going for a walk. I had an earache when I came back, but that's always happened to me when I'm in a north wind for any length of time. I don't know why, but I've gotten earaches as far back as I can remember. My mom used to heat that oil in the little brown bottle and put it in my ears and stuff cotton in my ear to keep the oil in and wind out. We lived in the panhandle of Texas and could get some stiff, cold winds back then. As I headed off to school, I always felt like an inverted Cottontail with those cotton puffs sticking out of my ears. When I came back from my walk today I thought fondly of the warmth of that oil from my childhood, but I figured I could thaw my eustachian tubes just as easily with hot herbal tea. I was right.

So, after walking 1.5 miles and helping Jamie move today, my muscles have called an emergency meeting of the body and have declared a strike. I'm not paralyzed, just worn out. It feels good because I know I've had great exercise today, worked my muscles really hard in the process, been in cold that normally triggers paralysis, gotten very hungry at times today ... and I've not been paralyzed once!! Three cheers for God and His sweetness to little ole me.

Hip, Hip, Hooray! Hip, Hip, Hooray! Hip, Hip, Hooray!

Working Girl

Here I am, working away at my desk in my new office. No, wait. That's Grover on my desk. Don't you just love Grover? My favorite book as a child was, "The Monster At The End Of This Book". Loved it! Now, I have found a small version of my childhood friend and he keeps me company at my desk. I think he has a "rosey" spot, don't you?

The roses are from my "Mother's Day" bush that King and Princess bought me three years ago. I'll have to post a picture in a couple of days. It is covered with roses. The roses smell soooo good, too. Did you know a great fertilizer for roses is a banana peel? I was skeptical, too. I tried it after a neighbor urged me to try it. Shazam. I have done nothing to this rose bush for two years ... no yearly pruning, no fertilizing. Nothing. I only put banana peels on it. It is 5' tall and 3.5'-4' wide and blooms all season long. I'm telling ya ... banana peels.

So, did I mention that I am working from home now? Yes, I've been hired as the executive assistant for my hubby. Like in a professional position ... not a wash your socks kind of position. It's been fun so far and I look forward to working and helping him even more.

Running & Kipper

Can you believe it? I ran night before last. And no one was chasing me either! :) I used to run when I was in college and then in early marriage I picked up in line skating. Since having Periodic Paralysis, I obviously haven't been able to do either one. Now that I'm on this new medication and am keeping my calcium levels up, I have so much more energy. Princess was riding her bike and I was going to follow her. I decided to jog to catch up with her and once my feet started making that rhythmic pounding, I just kept going. I ran all the way up the hill and 1/2 way around the block. It felt so great!

I'm trying to get some type of walk, jog or other exercise at least 3 days a week. I'm averaging more than that right now. I have to start out slow because my muscles have been getting smaller over the course of my illness the past 6 years.

Kipper, our cat, is the most adorable thing. He has never had an accident in the house, he doesn't scratch furniture, he loves people, he doesn't get on countertops, he hasn't ever had hairball trouble. He's the perfect cat. The problem is that he is a cat. So many people are allergic and I think I might becoming one of them. I'm having some non-typical allergy symptoms and it only happens here in the house. Kipper is Princess' 7th birthday present, so I hate the thought of sending him to another home, but it might be what we have to do. Please pray for all of us: me, to find out what is causing my alleric reactions; Lauren that her heart will be peaceful no matter our decision; and Kipper that God will find him the perfect home if our home can not be his anymore. Above is a picture of what he looks like most of the time. He loves to have his chin and chest scratched. Silly boy.

Just Another Monday

Actually it isn't just another Monday. This is the day after Easter and I can't believe how fast things have become mundane. Yesterday was such a celebration of Jesus and now I'm back to laundry and school projects. :) It's all good though.

I told myself last week that I would only weigh once a day, but I confess ... I'm a daily "weigher". I lost another pound last night, or ... sometime. I'm down 22 pounds with 28 to go. Almost halfway. This morning I really and truly resolved to weigh only once a week. I love waking up and seeing the numbers on the scale go down another point. However, I owned the fact that I don't need to lose a pound a day or else I'll risk losing muscle and not fat. The Lord knows I need to lose fat, so I'm going to shoot for Friday morning weigh-ins. In the meantime, I'll ... just ... wait ... and wonder.
And here is the picture of my treat for making my 20 pound goal! Solar Nails. Love 'em. L-o-v-e them!

Plateau and Treats

Well, as happens in weight loss, I have hit a plateau. I lost about a pound a day for 3 weeks in March for a total of 20 lbs. I haven't lost any weight this week. I did give myself my "20 lb" goal/treat. I got Solar nails. Oh my! I've wished for these type of nails for years, but have never had the motivation or reason to spend money on them. I told myself if I lost 20 pounds that I would get them. I'm so glad that I did. It's a reminder to stay on top of my game every time I look at my hands. I'll post a picture on Friday.

New treats! David and I took our Christmas camera back to Best Buy today because it does not take low light pictures very well. The manager has been so helpful. I'm really liking Best Buy these days. David traded the big camera in for a dryer and a cute little digital camera that fits in my purse! A new dryer!! I'm so excited. Mine still works, it just takes a little longer to dry big loads and it's one of those purchases that will be necessary before too long.

Here is a picture of my Hero. He's the one who bought my dryer and my camera and my new nails. What a doll!

My camera should arrive tomorrow. I'll take a picture of my nails and post it then.

Update: the dryer just arrived and is purring away in there. Ahhhh. The things that pamper us as women. Especially gadget girls like myself.