Day 121 - The weekend is here!!!

I'm so happy that the weekend is here! Do I have big plans? Do I have a hot date? Is this weekend special? Yep! Let's see...do I have big plans? Of course I do! Baseball and softball, oh my. I know that you are all impressed, but let me be honest and say that I'm not playing, just going to watch as a fan. No calories lost...darn!

Do I have a hot date? Yes!!!! It is May 28 and 29th. So I guess I have two hot dates. Seriously, it is going to be 86 today and 88 tomorrow during game time. That's pretty darn hot! Where did the high 70s/low 80s go? I miss them! I'm not ready for 90 degree weather (or close to) in May. I shudder to think what July will be like.

Is this weekend special? Oh yeah! As I mentioned baseball and softball tournaments, and it is Memorial Day weekend. A weekend to thank all of those that have served our country so that we may have all of the freedoms that we do. Thanks Dad and all veterans for your years of service! God bless you all!

Day 120 - I'm finally starting to wake up

Well, yesterday was just crazy. I went with my mom & dad to Oklahoma City to watch my cousin play in the Big XII tournament. The game started at 4pm, and the score was 5-1 in the top of the 2nd. The game was then postponed due to weather. Did I mention that there was a 20% chance of rain before 7pm and 30% chance after 7pm? The delay lasted about 3 hours. We started to make a comeback in the 5th inning to tie the game 8-8, but Baylor prevailed and we lost 11-8. Daniel played great!!!! He had 3 singles, 1 RBI, grounded out to third (would have been safe but the third baseman made a great play), and walked. The game finally ended around 10pm, and we then made the 4 hour drive home. We got in at 2am, and no one really slept in the car (trust me, I tried). By the time we got home, I got my second wind and was wide awake. Needless to say that I'm feeling it today!

Baseball has in no way ended for my family. We will be cheering for the Panther softball team to win state (good luck Annie), the KSU Wildcats to beat KU on Friday and Oklahoma on Saturday (good luck Daniel), and the Rookies (9-year-old traveling team) to win their weekend tournament (good luck Cade). Good luck everyone!!!!

Take me out to the ballgame...take me out with the crowd...

Day 119 - I keep forgetting

Believe it or not, I keep forgetting to blog. I'll remember that I need to sit down and write so that all my faithful readers can read about my day (however boring it may be), but then something will come up. Mostly, I've been busy with graduation parties and birthday parties. Needless to say, all of these parties have lead to my downfall. I gained a pound! Darn it!

I could put the blame where it belongs...on me. Instead, I choose to blame everyone that hosted a party and had great food. :) How could you do it to me? All of the carbs and sweets!!! Well, to quote Scarlet, "I'll never go hungry again" as there are so many parties. Oh well! Seriously, things are progressing. Not as quickly as I might like, but they are progressing.

Well, I better go! Heading out to watch K-State play Baylor this afternoon in the first round of the Big XII Tournament. Go Wildcats!!!! Also, best of luck to my nephew Cade this evening! Go Red Sox!!!

Day 113 - The stock market and dieting are two peas in a pod

For those of you that don't know, I have started to learn about the stock market. I must say that it is a very scary subject, and I feel totally ill-prepared to navigate it alone. Not long after reaching that conclusion, I realized that dieting is like the stock market. There are highs and lows everyday in both. Granted there isn't a colored candle to rank dieting performance...thank goodness, but I do keep a tally in my head. There is definite volatility involved. In the stock market it is often viewed as investor nervousness, but in my case, it is the nervousness of the weekly weigh in. I never know which way the scale will go. Most importantly, there is volume! Yep, I said it...volume. How many calories can I eat, can I cheat by having a handful of M&Ms, will two pieces of pizza kill me? All of these questions deal with volume on a daily basis.

So, how did my personal stock do last night? Well...there were more highs than lows, there was some volatility as I knew that birthday cake would be making an appearance, I had more volume than I would like in the evening, but it wasn't too high. So overall, the stock did well. Oh yeah, I even saw one candle (Happy Birthday Colton)! It is true!!! The stock market and my diet do mirror each other. So, if anyone would like to invest in highly preforming stock, please send payments to......

Day 112 - Deep thoughts

First off...a few shout outs! Happy Birthday Colton! Congrats to high school graduates Drew and Annie! Congrats to college graduate Daniel! Best wishes to you all!

So, today was weigh in day. Unfortunately, I have not lost any weight, but the good news was that I didn't gain either. I just maintained. Yay me! I'm actually really happy with that! As long as I don't go up, I'm a happy camper!!!

I'll leave you all today with a deep thought...

If the scale needle doesn't move, but your belt notch does...was weight still lost?

Day 111 - This just in

THIS JUST IN...there has been a siting of a red woman. I repeat, there has been a siting of a women with red skin, somewhat of a pointed top, and freckles that look like seeds (?). If you see this woman, approach with extreme caution!!!! She has what is known as Strawberryitis. This is a serious condition where a person takes on the characteristics of what they eat. Right now, this women is in the early stages of this dreaded disease which consists of eating too many strawberries a day (or should I say drinking too many strawberry smoothies). If her condition worsens, please seek shelter and call Dr. Strawberry Shortcake. A picture of extreme cases has been provided for reference.
Everyone...please stay safe!!!!

Day 110 - Monday already?

No way! It's already Monday! It seems like this weekend just flew by. Friday night was great! K-State beat KU by one, and the weather was great! Saturday was rainy...again. Sunday was beautiful as we baptized the newest member of our family, and again K-State beat KU after losing to them on Saturday. Overall, it was a great weekend!!!

Last night I watched Survivor: Heroes vs. Villians. I must say I wasn't thrilled with the winner, but I was happy that it wasn't Russell! If Tyson just would have listened to Boston Rob, we would have had a completely different show. I love Boston Rob! So smart!

So after watching Survivor last night, I might need to rethink my diet. Instead of a high protein diet, I should change to the "Survivor Diet". Move into my sister Megan's backyard (she has a lot of trees...very Survioresque), learn to make a fire, live off the land (hopefully Carston, Cooper, and Cade will keep me supplied with food), build my own sleeping quarters, Megan and Eric can create challenges for me...it could work!!! It never hurts to have a back-up plan in case my current diet fails. I think I'm going to go buy rice just in case!

Have a good one!

Day 107 - Rain, Rain, Go Away

It is raining...again! I'm sooo sick of this weather! The only good news is that it isn't raining in Lawrence, and it isn't supposed to rain there until tomorrow. This evening, some of us are going to the K-State vs. KU baseball game. Hopefully, the weather will continue to be nice up there.

As for my smoothies, I have decided that no one should sell whole frozen strawberries. My poor blender is feeling the effects of having to chop those babies up. I just keep waiting for my blender to lose and the strawberries to be victorious. Keep up the good fight little blender!!!! I have also decided to try some new smoothie flavors. I'm debating on trying strawberries with peaches. We shall see. If anyone has any smoothie recipe ideas, let me know.

Have a good weekend!!!

Day 106 - I'm becoming a master at making smoothies

Well, I'm sure you are all wondering how I had such a large weight loss this week. Exercise, right? Wrong! I think I'm allergic to exercise, so I try to do the minimum amount required. Nope, I changed my diet. My doctor said that he recommends a high protein diet to all of his PCOS patients. So, I started a diet using plant protein. I have a protein shake for breakfast, one for lunch, and a healthy dinner. This is very similar to Slimfast. However, for some reason, my body is responding better to the plant protein than the high protein shakes from Slimfast.

This morning I had my favorite smoothie! It consists of orange juice, ground flaxseed, rice milk, plant protein powder, and mixed berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, & blackberries). The powder didn't come with any recipes so I've become something of "Top Chef", mixing different things until I find a flavor I like. In one week, I lost 3 pounds on this diet. I can't wait to see if I'm as successful next week.

Day 105 - Finally

Well after many weeks of mastering the art of maintaining plus a small weight gain, I have finally dropped some weight!!!! Yay!!! First, I want to thank my family...your support has meant a lot. I want to thank my creative team (myself) for not giving up on a dreamer. I want to thank the fans that have read my blog and been inspired. I wasn't expecting this award, but I will gladly take it! Hey...where is my award? Seriously, don't I deserve some bling or a little statue for my shelf? Not what I expected, but fine!!! I'll be gracious about the whole thing and just be happy about my accomplishment.

Day 104 - Weigh-in Eve

Ok, I can admit it...I'm totally freaked out by tomorrows weigh in. I really, really, really want to lose at least two pounds so that I'm at 184. Darn trip to Vegas, and the good food they provided! Where are Penn and Teller when you need them? Can't they do their magic so that I have a successful weigh in day? I think I'm more nervous then usual because it has been awhile since I stood on that cold, hard, plastic device that can either leave me with tears of joy or sadness. And terrorists think water boarding is scary. Please! Put a woman desperate to lose weight on a scale and see what real fear is all about.

Day 103 - Happy Belated Mother's Day

To all you moms out there...Happy Belated Mother's Day!!!! I hope that you all enjoyed your special day. Boy, this weekend was jam packed! I had my nephew's baseball game Saturday morning (he is a heck of a pitcher), I then helped watch my youngest nephew, and I had my cousins graduation party. It is so hard to believe that he is old enough to graduate. On Sunday, the majority of my extended family went to the K-State vs Texas game. My cousin is a senior for K-State and his mom was one of the mother's that threw out the first pitch. Janice has a heck of an arm! :) Unfortunately, we lost to Texas by one. It wasn't the outcome we wanted but it was an exciting game. The only thing that ruined mother's day was that I didn't get to spend it with my mom. Mom, I love you and you were missed!!!

As for my diet, I have discovered that I'm having a hard time mastering dieting. The whole losing weight thing is hard!!! The good news is that I've mastered the art of maintaining! So, if I can ever get myself to finish losing the weight, maintaining will be a piece of cake. Piece of cake...great, food is still on the brain. UGH!!! Oh well, I'm working on it.

I also wanted to let all of my facebook friends know that I hate the application. Seriously, must happy people post about their great kids and husbands? I know what you are thinking...jealous! Of course I am! I'm so sick of my relationship status showing single. I think I may change it to "in a relationship". Let's see...are there days that I feel happy or fulfilled by a certain presence in my life? Yep! Are there days that a certain someone gets on my nerves, but I have to accept them as a part of my life? Yep! Is that presence with me everyday in good or bad, sickness and health? Yep! It's official, I'm in a relationship!!! My significant other...dieting. My love of food is constantly with me (darn it), my loathing for the cheerful people on my workout videos that are coordinated has no bounds (but I must accept them), and my body weight (the good, bad, and ugly) is consistently with me. Yep, I'm in a relationship! Seriously, I should change my facebook status just to throw everyone off. It's a thought!

Well, today is going to be a great day! My older brother and his wife will be introduced to their new baby girl in a matter of hours. Lucy will be their 5th child, and I look forward to meeting her soon. I hope as a belated Mother's Day gift, Sarah has an easy birth and a quick recovery!!! Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Lucy...happy birthday to you!!!!

Day 100 - Challenging times...they are a comin'

Well, I'm proud to say that I'm back on track with my diet. Granted, it has only been one day, but I can tell that I'm on a role. Or so I like to think! However, I won't lie. The coming weeks will be a challenge. I have two high school graduation parties, two birthdays, and one baptism coming up. Yep! We will be adding a little one to the family on May 10th. How exciting!!!!

While I'm more than happy to go to all of these parties, I'm also dreading them. Why you ask? I can sum it up in one word...wait, make it three words...CAKE and ICE CREAM! I won't lie, I have a sweet tooth. Who am I kidding...I have sweet teeth. Cake and ice cream are my kryptonite. I'm not safe!!!! I'm going to have to dig deep and hope that I can find the willpower to fight the temptations of sugary goodness!

Day 99 - I'm back

Howdy all! I'm back from my trip to Vegas, and I must say that I would love to go again. I was so busy attending meetings that I wasn't able to go to any of the shows, and the person I went with doesn't like to gamble. Needless to say, the majority of my spare time was spent walking the strip. You would think that would mean that I would lose weight. Ha! Not that I ate bad, but it wasn't the healthiest I've eaten either. It doesn't help that one night we didn't do dinner due to some unforeseen circumstances, & all I had was a chocolate shake. This is where the saying "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" should apply. I even told my travel companion (my dad) that very thing. What is the first thing he tells my mom? Amy had a chocolate shake for dinner! Seriously! Seriously!!!

The good news is that I was able to play in the casino for a short time during my trip. I lost a little at roulette and craps (1st time player), but I won $55 playing Let'em Ride and $224 on the penny slots. Did I come home a millionaire? No! Did I lose weight? Probably not, and I'm not weighing in until next week because I'm too chicken to do it now. Did I come home with $20 more than what I took to Vegas? Yep!!! I actually came home about $60 dollars ahead of what I left with on Sunday. Oh well, at least I achieved one out of my three goals.