Ring Sizer

Today I achieved a NSV.

That’s a Non-Scale Victory, for the weight-loss club uninitiated. A victory that comes without it being tied to a number on a scale. I knew it was coming, and I was very excited…and today, it happened!

I had to put a sizer on my wedding ring!

I know most ladies probably wouldn’t be too terribly happy with that, but to me it represents an awesome milestone!

When I started losing weight in 2011, I remember right around the time I hit 30 pounds lost, I had to put on a ring sizer because my wedding ring would just spin around my finger all day. I lost another 30 pounds after that, and that’s when I got pregnant. I gained 30 pounds with Reagan, and even so I still wore my ring with the sizer. It wasn’t until AFTER I had Rea and continued to gain weight that I eventually had to take it off. After weighing myself this morning I realized that I’m finally down to where I was my highest during pregnancy.

Now I just have to lose that next 30 to get to my pre-pregnancy weight…which includes a 1 as its first digit. It’s so ironic…I was focusing on losing weight to have a baby, and the VERY DAY I finally saw a 1 as the first digit on the scale is the same exact day that I also saw a positive pregnancy test later that afternoon. It’s such a surreal fact.

So, like I said, most ladies may find having to where a ring-sizer annoying (because, let’s face it, as far as fashion goes it IS kind of annoying), but I will where it with pride! 😀

Anyone else out there experience any NSVs lately?

Bet Your Butt Off

So who went on vacation and ended up LOSING two pounds? This girl! I was totally and completely surprised. I didn’t over-indulge and there was a bit of walking involved while I was gone, but I didn’t count calories religiously either. When I stepped on the scale this morning and saw a loss, to say I was surprised would be a definite understatement.

We had a blast on our first family vacation!

A few days before I left for vacation, I saw an interesting link from a Facebook page I follow. It was for something called DietBet. I took a brief look at the website, and even though I was intrigued, I didn’t spend much time looking at it. Then, right before I left, my best friend wrote me a YM (we instant message all day while we’re at work at our jobs…oh the joy of working in media!), and told me SHE had just signed up for a DietBet! So, I took another glance and found one that began yesterday (Monday). I figured, what better way to motivate myself post-vacation??

So, in short, a DietBet is a game where players pay to play. You’re betting that you can lose 4% of your body weight within the time period, which is 4 weeks. Right now from what I’ve read those two variables (4% and 4 weeks) are always the same. Anyone can host a DietBet, and anyone (who wants to pay up!) can play. Anyone who hits the 4% goal within the time period wins and splits the pot. So, that is definitely great motivation! So far I’ve been very impressed with the site and the program. They have a very clear weigh-in validation process, and the site is clean, easy to follow, and slightly snarky, which is a thumbs up in my book!

So, I submitted my weight yesterday afternoon, I have 4 weeks to lose 10.4 pounds to split the pot! Which, is the most important part – the pot in the game I’m playing is almost up to $30,000!!! I am shocked! Most of the games seem to get up around $1200 or maybe $9500…but this game great exponentially after I had entered! I guess the host is more popular than I thought! So, the motivation is DEFINITELY there.

So, if anyone is interested in jumping on (though I’m not sure I have any readers, lol!), you can still enter for 13 more days before the game is locked! You can find the game I’m in here.

So, that’s what happened over my extended weekend. The vacation was nice…it was a bit hectic with all the kids and of course extended family. They do things differently than we do of course, and Reagan definitely had troubles being out of her routine, especially on the last day or so. I’m glad to be back, but we’re already talking about going on vacation again later this year (with just the three of us!). The place we went is close by and reasonable…out in the “country” here in Texas but with plenty of modern convenience! 🙂 Here are a few more photos…

Reagan got meet her first horse!

Exploring around the cabin and trying to figure out where bubbles come from…

We also took a ride in the back of Daddy’s pickup truck.

So many great memories! I can’t wait to go back!

Vacationing

Well my initial blogging goal of 1 post a day is kind of unrealistic, but I want to at least attempt to write a post once a week. Let’s see if that happens.

This week my mind like everyone’s has been focused on Boston. I was as shocked as everyone when I heard about the bombing.

I definitely did a double take when I saw this!

I’m not ignorant, I know there is evil in the world and screwed up people with screwed up agendas…but a marathon?? I could wax poetic about this forever, but it’s so exhausting, and working at a News station, I’ve definitely had my fill of it for the last few days.

Tomorrow I am going on vacation! It’s not a huge trip, but it’s my first real “vacation” since 2009. Due to financial issues, and then having a baby last year, my husband and I haven’t really done anything vacation-y in a good long while. It’s a co-trip with his brother and his wife and 2 kids, and we’ll have Reagan (my daughter!), so it will be quite a social experiment! I am trying to pre-plan meals and such so that I don’t go crazy, as well as bringing a 10 minute workout DVD, workout clothes…etc…I am trying to stay focused! I am a BIG stress eater, and some elements of planning this trip with my in-laws have been…let’s just say tricky…so I am needing to keep in mind that I can’t turn to food to deal with stress! 😉

Speaking of family, I guess I should introduce you formerly to mine:

This is my husband, Bradley, and my Daughter, Reagan. They are my everything!

This is how they normally appear…

Oh, and in case you were wondering, this is me:

Hi, don’t mind me…I’m loving my new running shoes right now…a little too much!

Goals

The other day, I had the awesome idea to start a blog…and suddenly today I find myself having trouble thinking how exactly to blog again…for fun, that is! 😛

I guess I should state some goals here, so that if you stumble on to this post, you can get a good sense of what the heck I’m all about. Because, while this blog is meant to be more personal, more ME, than my previous dreaded “mommy-blog,” it is at its heart supposed to be about accountability to myself.

Goals:

• Track Food. I want to track all of my food this year. I won’t bore you with all that here, thank God, but if you are also wanting to track food, I love MyFitnessPal as a tool. SparkPeople is also great. Both are free.
• Exercise. I am on a running mission this year…as the title of my blog indicates. Unfortunately at this time you aren’t going to find an amazing running blog, I am a beginner for sure. I’ve been following the Couch to 5k plan, but some hip injuries have me relegated to the elliptical for the short term. I am however signed up already to do three 5ks this year! Yikes…
• Deal with the Mental Beans. I am a new mom to a 13 month-old daughter. She is amazing, and beautiful – and more than a handful, lol! I have a wonderful and supportive husband, which I am so thankful for. I do have a tendency to get stuck in my own head-space though, and that sometimes can put a strain on our relationship. I am working also this year to become a better wife. In the midst of that lofty goal, my father passed away suddenly in February this year. He was only 68. Not only am I trying my best to cope with that, but my mom is basically shutting down on me mentally and physcially in the aftermath. And I’m 150 miles away. So, I am working on not using food as a coping/numbing mechanism with this.

I guess that’s my measurable “goals” right now. I need to work this plan through and figure out the best way to break these down in to baby steps I guess.

Right now I weigh 235. I’ve been a bit stuck here for the last few weeks. But I have lost about 27 pounds since January 1 of this year. I have some weight loss stories to tell of a time before that, but that’s another story.

Finding the Right Mix

Hello blogosphere. My name is Amanda. I’m a long-time blogger, and I have about 100 pounds to lose. I have had a few blogs over the years. My latest venture was to “blog professionally” as a mommy blogger. It was an interesting adventure…but I felt like it took a lot of fun an reality out of my blogging. I was no longer blogging to keep my friends and family updated on my life and such, but I was testing products – many which I wasn’t personally interested in, all to move myself up a ladder. In my “real” life, I’m already a manager, work full time, have a baby and husband, etc…so it became much like another job. In essence, I found myself dreading blogging. I have stepped away from that, not officially, but I haven’t blogged there in several months.

I have another blog that was about weight loss, but it wasn’t really done in the healthiest fashion…don’t get me wrong, it worked wonderfully, but it wasn’t sustainable, and when I became pregnant a lot of the weight was gained back. I haven’t really blogged there in several months either.

I’m pretty busy on a day to day basis, so the idea of trying to open up to the world of blogging again is a bit daunting…but I really want to find that joy again. And more than anything, I want to just find something to be able to deal with the baggage that goes along with it…somewhere where I can hash these things out without feeling like I need to be a fake mommy blogger. I need an outlet.

So, here I go, dipping my toe in. Be kind to me.