10 Things for Which I am Thankful

Today's writing prompt from The SITS Girls' Back to Blogging Challenge it to list 10 things we're thankful for.  Here are 10 random things for me.

1. Cuddles with Austin.  He is becoming a teenager this year so I know I don't have many of these left.
2. My house.  We HAD to get out of that bad neighborhood in 2012.  We couldn't stay there any longer because of the nasty comments, noise, and threats from the criminal neighbors that had moved in across the street.
3. My job.  Even though I hate it a lot I am thankful that I have a job.
4. Weight Watchers.  Without their partnership with researchers to do the diabetes prevention study I probably would've never lost weight or found my passion.
5. My readers.  Your support and encouragement throughout this journey has been such a tremendous help.
6. My new car.  Yes, the accident was a godsend.  My old car wasn't really safe to drive anymore but I didn't have much of a choice.  There was no heat or air, only knew when to fill up the tank when the car hesitated turning right, most of the time the turn signals and probably brake lights didn't work, the radio was possessed (turning on and going full blast all on its own), etc.
7. Benny.  Yes, he may annoy me or frustrate me a lot of time but he has helped me pick myself back up many times.
8. My FitFam.  All the other health and fitness bloggers out there are great inspirations and resources for when you get stuck somewhere or you may find yourself helping them too.
9. The Internet.  Without it...well I don't know where I'd be.  I wouldn't have met Benny.  I wouldn't be able to communicate with most people.  What can't you do online?
10. The Farmer's Market.  It's an inexpensive way for me to explore new veggies (I don't really see much fruit at the downtown one I go to).  I've discovered my newfound love of zucchini and Swiss chard there.

For what are you thankful?

Nicole Liloia's The #InstahappyProject

I've signed up for Nicole Liloia's #InstahappyProject where, over 21 days, I'll be sharing a picture of something that makes me happy on Instagram.  Yesterday was Day 1 so I wanted to share last night's weigh in for my picture.  I'm down another .8 lbs!

 

Today's happy moment was on my walk during lunch.  I wanted to capture fall along with it to go along with The STIS Girls' writing prompt for the Back to Blogging Challenge.  A nice day with the sun shining.  Not too hot.  Not too cold (although I wore my jacket/coat for the first half of the walk).  I got in 2.6 miles today.  What has made you happy today?

 



 

I'm kind of nervous about Sunday.  I'm attending a local Super Sunday Beachbody event hosted by another coach.  This will be my first time working out in a group since gym class.  My shorts aren't really decent for the general public so I plan to wear the Kockout by Victoria's Secret Tight that was in my Influenster Voxbox.  Since I am in the public I'm actually going to wear a shirt not just my Incredible by Victoria's Secret Sports Bra (will remove the shirt if others have done so and I'm comfortable).  I don't know if I'm wearing my bright green shirt I would wear on my walks or my Les Mills Combat shirt that arrived yesterday.  Is there anyone in the area that would like to come with me (so at least I'll "know" someone there)?

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Fall Bucket List

Image Courtsey of Nuttapong | FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I'm participating in The SITS Girls' Back to Blogging Challenge this week.  Today's assignment is to write out your fall bucket list.  I've never really written anything like this before so it's a challenge in itself.  I had to search online to find out what others have done to come up with my own list.

Have a photo shoot. Pictures taken either outside, among the leaves, or in a studio.  This would both be to show off my new size and so I'll have new family pictures.  The last one we had was from our vacation to Panama City Beach back in 2011.  So much has changed since then!

Make something with pumpkins.  I don't remember ever making anything (on my own that is) with pumpkins.  I'd want to make something other than pie or bread.  Perhaps I'll try these cookies.



Make caramel apples.  Austin requested this one last weekend.

Dress up for Halloween.  This one is always on my fall to-do list. The past two years I created my costume but this year I don't know what I'm going to be.  Austin wants to be the grim reaper.  Besides a zombie or ghost, what would go along with that?


Bake more things with apples.  I enjoyed making the apple crisp recipe from Truvia although it didn't turn out as expected.

I think that's a great start for my first real bucket list.  What 5 things would you have on your list?

16.2 Miles to Go

I weighed in last night down 1.6 lbs.  That puts me at a total of 104 lbs lost and 16.2 lbs to reach my goal weight.

Last night at Weight Watchers, instead of giving our individual 90 second stories, our leader set it up like a panel.  She played Meredith Vieira.  The other two giving their stories were lifetime members (sat on either side of me).  This way was a lot better for me - less stage fright!  We didn't have a chance to do the Enterprise song but the leader said that we could do it when I get to goal.

So why did I start with Weight Watchers anyway? I signed up with a diabetes prevention study that was sponsored by them. The IU Health researchers took your weight, blood pressure and some blood to test your A1C and cholesterol. Matching your numbers up to their chart they assign you to receive one or two years of Weight Watchers. You return for checkups about every 6 months.

I qualified for two years. If I wasn't a part of the study I wouldn't have ever joined Weight Watchers....I just couldn't afford it. I don't know if anyone else in the study has had the success I've had. I was in a focus group of some participants but everyone else seemed to have given up. A couple had discovered conditions that needed addressed; they were totally unaware of the issues before joining the study. So there are at least three of us who gained something from participating in this study. So why don't more people sign up and participate in them?

Photo Credit: NYCArthur via Compfight cc

I keep getting these tweets that something I've posted is featured in someone's paper.li.  So I signed up for one just to play around with it, although I don't really understand what the point of it is.  Have you set up a paper.li daily/weekly/monthly?  Did you see any benefit from it?

I kind of enjoyed running the birthday clean eating challenge last week so I think I'll run one (almost) every month.  October's theme is fall cleaning, preparing yourself for the winter.  This month's challenge will be October 13-19 (begins on Columbus Day).  If you're interested in participating, friend me on Facebook and leave a comment below so I know who you are.

If you can't tell, I've been playing with a new program to create graphics (I've already forgotten how I came across the site).  Canva seems to have a great variety but I'm not too sure with some of their templates. They can be difficult to manipulate and fit what you're wanting.  But I suppose that can be an issue with any free graphics program.

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Les Mills Combat...Complete

As expected I didn't lose this week because of TOM.  I actually gained 1.2 lbs.  When it's TOM gains don't bother me one bit!

When I submitted my Les Mills Combat results for the Beachbody Challenge Tuesday morning I was shocked to see that from July-September 2nd I lost 12 inches and 15.4 lbs!  So I was curious how I did other timeframes on my journey.  These past couple of months came in second to September-November last year where I lost 17.5 inches and 15.6 lbs!  I lost the least weight March-May 2014 (only 4.6 lbs) and the least inches May-July 2014 (only 2 in).

Before heading out to my birthday dinner we stopped at Kmart to get the "bone weights" (Benny's name for them still makes me chuckle).  We weren't sure what size to get but their inventory was slim pickings.  I tried the 5 lb weights but they felt like nothing.  The 8 lb weights were a little hard to lift (like they should be) so that's what I got.  The poor cashier could barely lift them to ring me up.

Dinner at Cracker Barrel was the grilled chicken tenderloin with green beans and brown rice pilaf (I don't understand why they call it pilaf).  Normally I only eat one biscuit but I ate 3 (contributing factor to the gain)!  I spent all day Tuesday with heartburn because of it....never again! LOL

I was so overwhelmed with birthday wishes across social media.  Roughly 90 messages on Facebook alone; I have no idea how many it was on GooglePlus.  I think that's a record for me!

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Where My Heart Will Take Me

Image Courtesy of happykanppy | FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I weighed in last night down another 1.4 lbs!  Benny measured me Monday night and I lost 4.5 inches overall in August.

At the end of the Weight Watchers meeting last week I was asked to give my story in 90 seconds on the 16th, bringing pictures or other items to represent our success.  I'm bringing my Panama City Beach t-shirt and possibly our family picture wearing it from the 3 hour cruise we took to Shell Island.  They always give us a little form with 4-5 questions to guide our story.  This time I've only come up with a response to the last two.

We came across the Star Trek: Enterprise series (2001-2005) on Netflix and have been watching it.  When I heard the theme song my head was screaming, "OMG that's my story!"  Here's a video of the song.




I've re-written the lyrics a little bit to fit this journey.  What do you think?

It's been a long journey,  losin' these pounds.
It's been a long time,  but my goal weight is finally near.
I'm about to see this dream come alive at last. I will touch the sky.
Nobody's gonna hold me down. Nobody's gonna change my mind.

Cause I've got faith of the heart. I'm going where my heart will take me.
I've got faith to believe I can do almost anything.
I've got strength of the soul and no one's gonna bend or break me.
I've got faith.
I've got faith,  faith of the heart.

Today was the last rest day for Les Mills Combat.  I now have 7 solid days of workouts until I'm done with the program.  Still don't know what I'm doing next....

On today's walk I picked up some Swiss chard (first time having) and mozzarella.  I found a $1 bill up against the curb and gave it to the guy in a wheelchair that I pass by every week.

The other day Benny asked me if I preferred the bone weights or what I have.  I asked him WTH were bone weights LOL!  I'm wondering if that means I'm really getting weights for my birthday....

Speaking of my birthday, I'm hosting a clean eating challenge next week.  Please leave a comment on this post and friend me on Facebook if you're interested in joining.  Besides purchasing whichever foodstuff you're going with (menu options will be posted in the group) for the week you'll need to purchase the Shakeology Taste Sampler (regular or vegan).  **Must live in the US or Canada and not already have a Beachbody coach.**

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