Gearing up!!!

Today it feels so good outside and the temperature is just right for a walk.  I am hoping that we will get to go downtown and do a little walking today.  I have been wanting to get a pedometer to help see how many steps I walk a day...they say 10,000 is the magic number.  I saw one in a magazine that not only tells you the steps you have walked, but also how many calories you have burned. 

I am loving that fall is approaching and the weather will be cooler to do some exercise outside...did I just say that?  Me!!! The no exercise queen....but I am ready to kick my weight loss into high gear and I feel that exercise is the only thing that will help me do that.  Oh, I really am changing my ways.   Yesterday, Oogie complimented me on my weight loss and just went on and on...that will make you want to get serious.  I have lost 30 lbs as of today.  Although I haven't weighed in a week and a half.  So, I better get my rear in gear and quit talking about exercising and start doing it!!!

Caregiving!!!

The last two weeks have found us mostly in Moore County.  On August 14th, Mark's dad was taken to the hospital due to dehydration.  He was released the following afternoon.  We stayed until Saturday afternoon to make sure that someone was with him at all times as he was very weak.  I made him some milkshakes out of "Boost", the nutritional drink, that seemed to help perk him up.  He seemed to be better when we left, and I was hoping he would keep his strength up, and not have a relapse.

Then on Monday August 22nd, I realized that Hurricane Irene was predicted to hit the NC coast.  Mark and I decided to go ahead and get our groceries for the storm early.  While going to the store, we got a call that Mark's mom had been taken to the hospital.  We got our groceries and headed back to Moore County.  She had pneumonia is what they told us when we arrived.  Mark and his brother, Dwight, stay around the clock the first 48 hours to make sure she was okay.  Then on Thursday we left to go home to secure all our outside stuff.  We were going to stay during the hurricane, but when they started predicting bad weather where Mark's dad lives, we decided it was best to go and be with him and make sure he was okay during the storm.  So we are still in Moore County...haven't been home to see what all has happened, but my parents say that nothing news worthy happened at our house.  That is very good news, and I am happy to report no damage at our house.

I am very tired, and haven't slept well in the last 2 weeks.  I am looking forward to going home and getting back to our regular schedule.  I really realized these last few weeks, that you need a break when you are caregivers for someone, and 24 hrs doesn't cut it.  I have missed my several days at home each week.  I have also found that caregiving is not an easy job as most would think...not if you do your job throughly.  There are always things coming up...like getting the van serviced and making sure all medicine is on hand, even when the insurance says that it is not ready to be filled (but you are out).

I wouldn't trade these last few years for anything though...we have learned so much history from Mark's dad about the family and the area that Mark grew up in.  We have had time to spend with him and Mark's mom, look through old pictures and listen to stories of the good old days....they didn't seem to be too many good days. LOL

To all who are caregivers...I salute you and the job that you do!!!

There She Blows!!!

Hurricane Irene raged through our area on Saturday, August 27, 2011.  We put everything we thought could fly away up or secured it, and went to Mark's dad.  With dementia, he sometimes doesn't realize things that are going on around him.  We came back to mainly make sure he wouldn't be upset.   It was breezy and sometimes rather gusty at his house. No damage to our house (mom and dad stayed there), we will be picking up limbs; but Irene did a number on NC and on up through the Northeast.  I think sometimes pictures say it all.

 Irene is one more massive storm...and she has her eye on NC and beyond

This storm is going to effect a lot more people than just those in NC.  She doesn't seem to be stopping.

 A person in Virginia Beach caught this as Irene approached the VA beaches.  This is an amazing picture!!!

 Destruction everywhere on the Outer Banks

 Lots more flooding

 Waves crashed and the erosion is tremendous on our coast.

 The beaches on the Outer Banks of NC took a big hit

 Irene moved slow over NC and dumped a lot of water

100 year old trees were no match for this massive storm.

I am thankful that Irene didn't strengthen to a Category 4 as they had predicted.  She made landfall a strong Category 1.  She did a lot of damage, but it could have been lots worse.  As it was said so many times before the storm hit, "We are preparing for the worse, but praying for the best."

M&M's That Melt Your Heart!!!

Ever since February when we found out that Anna was having a baby, we have been anticipating it's arrival.  Then we found out that it was not going to be one baby, but two babies.  It seemed like they would never get here.  And for a while, we weren't sure that they would arrive.  Anna had to go to Cincinnati for a procedure on the twins every early in her pregnancy.  She has been on complete bed rest forever it seems.  Then we found out they they are identical and girls....WOOHOO!!! Poor little DIG will continue to be our only little boy.

Anna shows off her pregnant belly

After doing everything the doctor's told her to do...she went 34 weeks.  She delivered little Mabry Anna and Morgan Abigail on Monday August 22th.  They are little 4lbs 5ozs and 3lbs 11ozs.  They have had all the struggles that preemies have, but they are just precious.  Our little M&M's....they melt your heart.

 Anna with Morgan....she has her eyes opened in every picture

 Mitchell with Mabry...she never has her eyes open

 Anna with Mabry

 Mitchell with Morgan

 Little Morgan

 Mabry

Morgan

Struggles!!!

As of this blog...I am down 28 lbs.  I seem to have stopped losing, and I am trying to rearrange my menu and my exercise routine start an exercise routine.  I am going to try and look at some gym's this week...schedule permitting.  Excuses are building as I hate to exercise, but I want to be healthy...exercising is a big part of being healthy. 

It has not been easy these last 10 weeks, but the end result has been worth it.  I have kept a journal since beginning Weight Watcher's on June 2nd.  I note the times I feel hungry and what is happening in my life at that moment.  I am trying to get to the root of my eating.  So far, I am hungry at night from the hours of 7 pm to 10 pm...and nothing significant is happening during those hours.  I am not upset, happy, gotten bad news or anything I can pinpoint this hunger to. I have narrowed the hunger down to four contributing factors.  1) I really am hungry...probably not  2) boredom...which may be it...because if we are busy or off doing something then I am not hungry   3) habit...I snack while I read and watch TV, so this may have to be a habit that I break 4) medicine....I still take cancer treatments which also treat anorexia patients.  I take this after dinner, so this could be making me hungry.  I am going to try several things this coming week to see if I can combat the hunger and not sway into my value points for the week every night.  If I am going to dip into those babies, I want it to be for something good.  I do encourage you to keep a journal as you lose weight...it helps to see where you make mistakes and where you soared.

Moving On Down!!!

I had promised myself that I was not going to turn this into a weight loss blog, but the blog is about my life and right now losing weight is my life.  I finally hit my 25 lb mark and I have been on Weight Watcher's for 2 months now.  I had set a personal goal of losing 12 lbs a month, and so far I have achieved this goal.

I had the ultimate thrill yesterday when I went shopping.  I finally got to leave the women's section of the store and shop in the misses section.  It was only for pants, but I will take it.  I am still in the women's section for shirts, but another 10 or 15 lbs gone might solve that completely.  I found that clothes in the misses section are cheaper.  I got shorts for $5 and capris for $6.  I am moving on down...in sizes that is....and I feel great!!!

I remember watching Jennifer Hudson on Oprah and just being amazed at the weight she had lost.  I remember her on American Idol and them telling her that she was too fat to make it big.  I was so out raged at some of the judges statements, because she had the voice and who cared what she weighed...I wasn't listening or looking at her body...it was her voice that was so big.  I keep thinking that day as she sat on Oprah's set...if she can do it, so can I.  It was the beginning of a changing point in my life.

Even though I wanted to lose like Jennifer, I still wasn't motivated enough to start.  My feet were burning and hurting all the time, my stomach felt like it was coming up in my throat and I was struggling to breath most of the time.  My weight stopped me from doing things I loved, just simply because I didn't feel like doing anything.  Don't think that I didn't love myself, because I did...I am an only child, and self confidence is something I am not lacking.  I got tired of feeling tired and bad all the time.  It wasn't so much the weight that motivated me, but more of a healthier lifestyle that inspired me to begin and to continue.

I will say that it is nice to fit into smaller clothes and to physically look better, but it is more important to me to feel better and to be healthier on the inside.  I don't so much care what the scales say as rather what I am feeling physically. Weight Watcher's does the point system, and even though I have points to eat fried foods, I still choose grilled over fried, green vegetables over starchy items, fish over beef and salad over bread.  It is not that I can't have these things on WW, but I am choosing a healthier lifestyle.  My blood sugar levels have plummeted and I have found myself eating a 3 Musketeer bar to bring the levels up (it is only 7 pts) at times.  WW is not there to deprive you, but rather guide you.  Guiding you to find a healthy weight, but to also help you with portion control and self control (which I lacked and still struggle with).

It is a journey that I don't know if I will ever complete.  Food has somewhat of a hold on me.  I am learning that it is not always my friend, and there are other things to turn to in my hour of need, excitement, happiness, worry, stress or just plain life.  I am slowly learning that more is not always better. I am trying to change my mentality of "getting my monies worth".  Eating until I feel satisfied and not stuffed. I have learned that losing weight is more mental than it is physical.  The journey continues and I will keep you posted on my progress and my ups and downs.