Do you remember me?

I keep saying I'm alive and blah blah blah. Which I am. And I haven't fallen off the healthy eating wagon or anything like that. In fact, I found my exercise mojo and I was back at the gym this morning so all is well with that again.

I have my cousins wedding in 4 weeks and I want to get into that dress. If I can't fit into it, I have to buy one. Which SUCKS!

Here is the deal: I kind of tend to get a little obsessive about things at time and if you follow me on twitter you will know Monday nights belong to "Dancing with the Stars" and Evan and Anna. So I'm kind of off in my own little world about Evan these days. *Giggle* I get like that sometimes.

Plus the hubs and I are planning our vacation to Arizona/Vegas in September. My Mom will be here in less then one week. And work is hectic as all hell!

But I am alive and things will come back to normal soon. I promise. And I miss all your blogs and hope to catch up with all of you soon

And I am working on someones goodie box, I really am! I picked up a few things tonight and I promise it's coming along. I'm such a space cadet. I hate doing the job of 3 people these days. It's so hard!!

Overwhelemd

I have been a bad blogger.

And I will get back to posting on a daily basis. I promise.

I have pictures to post and things to post about.

Work has me very overwhelmed. Ugh!

I'm alive.

My exercise mojo has kind of disappeared but I'm trying to find it again.

Alive

I am still here!!

I had a rough Friday. Things were eaten that well I probably shouldn't have eaten. I had seen on Friday 223.8 pounds on the scale in the morning which was a 1.8 pound loss but by Saturday, my offical weight day I was back to 225.6 pounds. So I stayed the same.

I'm not sure what happened or what triggered it but it happened.

I am happy to report I am back in the saddle again and things are going in the right direction. I went back to the gym on Saturday so all is well again. I hope.

I didn't go to the gym Sunday but I plan on going Tuesday and Thursday and Friday so all is good in my exercise world.

I think I am in need of a serious work vacation and that my eating issue was work lack of gym time. Since I didn't work out for most of last week.

I have a lot more to blog about. My awesome package from Jaime, my cousins bridal shower and still have yet to talk about Stars on Ice!

My Mom will be here in less then 2 weeks and I can't wait to see here.

And the winner is...

The winner of the Tales from the Scale giveaway is....

Christina from My LAST Weight Loss Journey. Congrats!! So email me at operationsize8@gmail.com with your address and I will get the book out to you. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

I have more to blog about later. Today was rough. Not a good eats day so we'll see. Stars on Ice was amazing. I left with a huge smile on my face. Evan makes me happy. Don't ask me why.

So congrats again to Christina and get me that address girl!!

Quick update for you...

I forgot to mention (I'm so bad) I won a contents by Fat Girl in A Wedding Dress. It was the book Hungry by Allen Zadoff. I got it yesterday and I am super excited. I can't wait to read it.

Sleep and I are BFF's again.

The gym and I are taking a break I guess. But I miss our relationship and hope we get serious again really soon. Tomorrow even.

Tonight is Stars on Ice and I am super excited. Super excited. Squee!! I am a big dork.

I am really not going to buy Vita Tops anymore. They are not good for my tummy. And eating 3 since yesterday? Not such a good idea either.

I also need a new picture for my blog because I have lost nearly 20 pounds since then!

Happy almost Friday!!

All about sleep

So sleep and I need to have a serious conversation because we aren't seeing eye to eye right now. Seriously. I hate when I can't sleep. Grrr....And if I'm posting right now, that means I didn't hit the gym this morning.

Surprisingly, I'm alright with this. I know from time to time I'm not going to make it to the gym 4 times a week. 3 times is okay. I am (fingers and toes crossed) going to go Thursday and Friday and that will make 3 for the week. I just know that exercise helps with my stress and puts me in a great mood before I get to work. And I need that because I am stressed these days at work.

It's hard doing the job of 3 people.

Don't forget about my first giveaway. You have until Friday 8pm EST to get in on it if you want to.

Exercise issues...

I am struggling this week exercise wise. I am not sure what the problem is but it's getting under my skin big time. I had a hard time sleeping last night and that lead me to not making the gym this morning. And then of course I skipped the gym Saturday. And Sunday. But Sunday I used the treadmill.

But I love the gym. And I would rather workout there then at home. S0 (fingers crossed) I have my gym bag packed and I am planning on hitting the gym tomorrow.

Today I wore this stupid huge capri pants to work that I don't think I am going to wear again. I should have had a belt on because really? They kept falling down. *Giggle* It's great motivation to not be able to wear clothes I've fit into for the past 3 years though. I'm sure some of my gym issues are PMS.

I am super excited for Stars on Ice in 2 days. I checked out where our seats were tonight and I realized we are 10 rows away from the ice. I am really excited about that. Ha!! It's going to be a lot of fun. Plus I'm only work a half day on Thursday, too.

And I am still loving my new phone! It's so cool. I am still getting used to it but of course I love the twitter function.

I need to catch up on blogs and stuff. Have a good one everyone!!

Hello 21st century

I have joined the 21st century and gotten a smart phone! Woohoo!! I can now tweet and see twitter from my cell phone. Which may or may not be a good thing depending on how you look at it. The app is already installed. Ha! I am so excited. I got a Palm Pre and I love it. I already accidentally called my sister instead of texting her. I am a nerd.

I almost kind of cheated on the diet last night but didn't. I am pretty proud of myself. I don't know WHAT came over me when I thought about it but I am glad I didn't. Because I've really been putting in a lot of hard work and I am sure it wouldn't have hurt me if I had but it wouldn't have been worth it. I'm sure it was all PMS talking but still. I didn't give in and I'm proud of myself for it.

I had a nice compliment at work today. My coworker who I haven't seen in a few weeks told me it looks like I'm shrinking. She just started doing weight watchers and was asking me some pointers.

I'm off to finish "Dancing with the Stars" and finish up a few things.

Don't forget about my giveaway!!

The one in which I do some running

Have you heard about my giveaway yet? If not go check it out. You have until 8pm EST Friday to get in on it.

I overslept this morning. I wasn't too happy about it either when I woke up at 9:00am and realized I my alarm hadn't gone off. Boo. I knew that if I didn't do some sort of workout I would sit around and wallow in self pit all day.

Soooooo....I hit ye old treadmill out in the garage for the first time in awhile. And I say that because the weigh on the treadmill read 238 pounds. Which means I love lost over 12 pounds since the last time I used it. So that was nice. And I really enjoyed my workout, too. I did some running, which I haven't done in awhile and was drenched in sweat 60 minutes later. So even though I missed the gym, I still got in my workout.

I am super excited because there are only 4 days left until Stars on Ice. Me=big dork. Yes, I know.

Lunch yesterday was supposed to be with 2 of my sisters but it ended up only being 1 of them. But that was alright. We had fun. I had chicken and some veggies so I was still on plan.

And when I mentioned that I was doing the old weight watchers plan I did mean the one where you could bank points if you wanted them, etc. You had like a points range instead of a set amount of points you could eat. Before they changed the plan, in 2003, that was how I had lost all my weight. It works for me so I'm going to continue to do that.

Today I am just hanging out and doing things around the house. Nothing exciting.

Looks like I may actually be getting a awesome cell phone tomorrow. One in which I can access twitter from like a normal person. Welcome to the 21st century, Sarah. Ha!! I am pretty excited about it. Hubby's BFF works for a cell place so we are going to go and check out phones tomorrow night. I am pretty excited since I have this huge twitter addiction and all.

I really wish the weekends were LONGER!!

Hubby and I need to start planning our trip to Arizona and Vegas in September for our 10 year wedding anniversary!! I can't wait!!

Happy Sunday y'all!!

Boo-ya!!

Down another 1.6 pounds this week my friends. Which just goes to show that, once again, that counting my points and working out, 4 days a week, works for me. I had plans to go to the gym this morning before heading to work for overtime but it didn't happen. And I think I am going to change my gym schedule around. am going to go Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Going Saturday and Sunday kills me. Totally knocks me on my butt and I miss sleeping in a little on the weekends. I was up at 7:30 today but it's better then 5:30am.

Speaking of the gym, all that leg work I did yesterday is causing my legs to scream very LOUDLY this morning. WOW!

I am going to confess, right now, about something. I am following the old weight watchers program. The one before flex points. Because I hate flex points. I don't believe in them and they have done nothing but get me in trouble since they started 6 years ago. I don't like them. And since I have been following the old program, which I started back at the end of Feburary, I have lost a decent amount of weight. Like 15 pounds. In 2008, with the flex program, I lost 13 pounds in 3 months. THREE MONTHS. So something didn't work for me there. So I am going to continue to do what works and see what happens.

I am lunching with 2 of my sisters today. I can't wait. I have already looked at the menu of where we are going so I can plan my food. I don't want to be surprised and make bad choices.

I have to get back to work but I hope everyone has a great Saturday!!

Kick Ass!!

I would like to say, for the record, I totally kicked ASS at the gym this morning. I’m just saying.

This week has been hard for me for some reason. I haven’t wanted to get up and work out. Hence yesterday and my slacker day and skipping my workout. Which is when I ended up going this morning. I grumbled through my shower. I grumbled through getting dressed. And I grumbled through the 5 minute drive to the gym (seriously it takes me 5 minutes to drive there and it’s 1 minute from work, too). But once I got there-awesomeness occurred.

45 minutes on the elliptical and 45 minutes of weights. I seriously worked my legs today big time. Because my butt? I’m not going to lie my friends. I have big old ghetto booty. For an Irish girl, it’s pretty big. My husband, goodness I don’t know why, loves it. I do not. Although I have learned to appreciate it more. Even when I’m thin, like tiny thin, it’s still larger then the rest of my body. Except when I was running all the time it was shrinking down and I know if I had kept running it might have gotten smaller. But anyway. I worked my lower half super hard today. And I LOVED it.

I have that darn dress to get into, remember?

Have you heard about my giveaway yet? If not go check it out here.

My First Giveaway!!

I was lucky enough to pick up this fun book from paperbackswap.com after wanting to read it for years and decided I wanted to give it away to one of you!! I really enjoyed it and hope one of my lucky readers will, too. Once you are done with it, I hope you decide to pass it along, too.

I used to really love Erin's (the author) blog, Lose the Budda, but she doesn't blog anymore.



Tales From The Scale is really for us! It's up the ups and downs of the diet life. Written by bloggers just like us.

So what do you have to do to win it? Just blog about my giveaway in your blog and link back to this post. And comment that you here that you did. That's it. The winner will be picked randomly on Friday April 23rd at 8pm EST.

Good luck my friends!!!

No gym today

This morning when the alarm went off I knew I wasn't going to make it to the gym. There was just no way I was going. My body was too tired and I needed to go back to bed. My body was telling me to get more sleep and I listened.

And I feel a bit guilty about that.

Tomorrow I plan on going and making up for today and still making my 4 days this week but I still feel guilty anyway. I know exercise really helps me with my depression and with my stress.

But my body knows best!!

Pizza, Pizza

I have been craving pizza for about a week now. And it's been killing me. Today my coworker ordered pizza for lunch and I just about died. But what kept me from eating it was all the nice comments I had been getting about how it looked like I had lost weight.

So since tonight was grocery night I picked up a few yummy things to make my own pizza and it worked! I am no longer craving pizza!! I am super happy about that because sometimes when I start craving something I start eating everything else until I eat what I really want.

I can't wait to get to the gym tomorrow!!

Right now my living room looks like a clothing store. I have 3 dresses hanging up. One for the wedding (the one I am trying so hard to fit into it), one for the wedding shower (which is a week from Sunday and I know I fit into it) and then one I hate and hope I don't have to wear to the wedding. I am keeping the wedding dress out to keep me inspired. It's a size 18/20 so fingers crossed my friends!! I hope to be 220 by the wedding which is Memorial Day weekend. I have 6 weeks to go!!

And that makes 2 updates for me today! WOW!!

Finally Wednesday

Nora asked for my turkey and couscous recipe which is really nothing special so I thought I would go ahead and post it. I wish I had some pictures to post but I alas, I do not.

Anyway, I threw 7% fat turkey, veggies (for me I used a handful of broccoli and a handful of zucchini) into a pan. I added a bunch of spices that I like including basil, garlic, onion, blacker pepper and parsley to spice things up a bit. My couscous was already cooked so once my turkey and veggies were nearly down cooking I tossed the couscous into the pan to heat it up. Pretty simple right? I really enjoyed this meal a lot.

I am super glad today is Wednesday already. I don't know what it is about this week but it seems to be tough for me to handle.

And I have this terrible craving for pizza like you would not believe.

Yesterday I noticed that my figure seems to be coming back. I noticed it when I was changing after my workout. It made me really happy. And I've been getting a lot of comments at work from everyone. They say they can notice a difference as well.

Anyway, I hope the rest of the week is a lot easier then the first two days have been. Yesterday at work the door was like a revolving door. Patients coming in and out all day long. I really need a week off, not just a few days. Ugh!!

much happier

I was in a grouchy cranky mood yesterday so I didn’t update. I figured who wants to listen to me bitch and moan? I didn’t even want to listen to me.

But today I am much happier. At first when my alarm went off at 5am I didn’t want to get up and I almost went back to bed. But is an extra hour of sleep really worth missing the gym? Not really. So I went. And I am glad that I did. Because I feel so much better for it. 45 minutes on the elliptical and 40 minutes of weights. And I think that is what has helped put me in a better mood today.

Last night when I got home from work I totally didn’t want to cook. So I threw together some veggies, turkey and couscous in a pan and cooked it up. It was so good. I think I might do that again tonight. It was quick, it was easy and it was healthy. Plus it was really filling. And it was different. My problem is that I tend to eat a lot of the same things and then I get sick of them. So trying something different is always good because it means I have more choices for meals.

I want to apologize now if you follow me on twitter. Just be aware my Monday and Tuesdays tweets are kind of nutty because of “Dancing with the Stars”. I am all Evan and Anna crazy during the hour of 8pm-10pm. But that is only until Evan is gone. But I hope he stays until the end. I just adore the two of them. And Evan just keeps getting better. He has had the highest score 2 weeks in a row now.

I am so excited! I don’t know if anyone knows that Pink Floyd: The Wall is my favorite album or not but Roger Waters, the mastermind behind the album is bringing it on tour! And he is coming here on October 15th.

It hurts to be up this early

I so did not want to get up this morning and go to the gym. It was 6am and I wanted to go back to bed so badly. And nearly did. But I did it and I am so glad I did it. Because I know all my hard work is going to pay off in the end. If I want back into my size 8 jeans again I have to work at it. I did 60 minutes of cardio and 40 minutes of weights. It felt good, too.

My Mom will be here in less then a month!! She called last night to say she'll be in May 5th to June 6th! Awesome!! The main reason she is coming out is for my cousin's wedding but that is also means she will be here for Mother's Day! For the first time in 8 years! I am so excited.

My favorite Nascar driver won last night! For the first time in 2 years he won a race. I was so mad I missed the race but I figure if I had been watching-he wouldn't have won. So congrats Newman!

I'm sad to see the weekend come to an end already. I hope everyone had a great one!

Happy Birthday to my Big Sister

I would like to wish a Happy 40th Birthday to my Big Sister!! Growing up I wanted to be just like my sister. Everything she did I did. She was everything I wanted to be when I grew up. And I am so lucky to be able to call her my best friend. I can't believe she is 40 because in my heart we are still too kids goofing around in the backyard or dressing up my cat Fern (yes, my poor cat) in doll clothes or going to my first concert together (for the record it was the Monkees). I have such great memories with her that I can't even begin to get into them all. I love you El the Belle!!

o I guess the worrying about gaining weight this week because of my mega huge 4.4 pound loss last week was all for nothing because I lost 1.2 pounds this week.

Woot! Woot!

227.2 pounds my lovelies! I can hardly believe it myself. Who knew exercising and eating right would lead to me hitting the 220's in like a month? I mean seriously? I mean hell-I knew it but I guess I forgot.

I have been feeling really good lately. My clothes are fitting amazingly great. And by amazingly great I mean loosely. And I'm fitting into clothes I haven't worn in nearly 4 years. So everything is really coming together very well.

So I think maybe I won't worry about getting in a 5th day at the gym right now. Because I don't think I need it.

And speaking of the gym-I hit the cardio HARD CORE this morning. I busted some serious butt on the elliptical this morning. It felt amazing. I did however not enjoy the two ladies next to me chatting up a storm. If I can hear you with my headphones on there is a problem. I understand it's loud in there but seriously? I also don't want to have blast out my own eardrums to block on the sound of your voices either.

So anyway that is my Saturday so far. Hope everyone else is having a fantastic day!!

It's Friday!!!

I didn't update yesterday because I really didn't feel like I had much to say.

Remember how I said I was ready to pick up a 5th day at the gym this week? Well that so didn't happen. Ha. Again. It was supposed to be today, Friday. Yet here I am. At home and not there. I'm not sure what I need to do. Because I really WANT to pick up a 5th day but I'm guessing that Fridays are not the day. So it may have to be Mondays? Wednesdays probably wont work. Hubby and I go grocery shopping and he usually brings me to work and picks me up. Hmpf. I'll figure something out I guess.

I did go yesterday and my toe was super mad at me when I was done. But this morning it is feeling so much better. I haven't even felt like it needs to be wrapped up or anything.

Wednesday and Thursday night I was trying on clothes from my dresser and closet that haven't fit in forever. And also clothes that were tight last year that are now quite loose. I love that feeling!! The weather had been so warm on Wednesday and Thursday. It was in the 90's on Wednesday and in the 80's yesterday so I broke out the capri pants. Today it's raining which stinks. I hate the rain.

At least it's Friday. I'm going to pick up a coffee on the way in to work for sure. TGIF my friends!!

Toe Update

My toe is feeling much better today. I don't think I broke it but even if I did they wouldn't do much for it. They would just wrap it and send me on my way. My hubby broke his toe a few years ago and they did just that for him. Of course his was pretty bad and they wanted to do surgery and all this other junk on it but he refused. It was kind of nuts if you ask me. Surgery and a metal rod in his toe? I don't think so. But I am totally getting off of my toe here. I have kept it wrapped all day and I'm icing it now so I am hoping to be able to hit the gym tomorrow.

We shall see.

Other then that not much else to blog about to be honest. This weekend is my sister's 40th Birthday. I can't believe it. I swear it feels like I just threw her 30th Birthday party and now BAM! She's turning 40. She is my BFF, too, so I had a hell of a time picking out a card for her. We are super close. I love her so much. *Awwww. I miss working with her a lot. I don't get to spend nearly as much time with her anymore. And now she is working 3rd shift so I really don't get to spend that much time with her. But we have Stars on Ice coming up in 2 weeks (*giggle*) and then the concert in June and the Nascar race and the new Twilight movie so we have plenty to keep up girls busy.

So that is that. I should totally start taking pictures of my food to keep my blog more exciting!!

Ouch!!

So I kind of jammed up my toe a little bit today. I was half asleep this morning and slammed my toe big time into the entertainment center while stumbling around in the dark trying not to trip over the starving cats. Who I think are trying to kill me by the way.

I didn’t let it stop me from going to the gym. I think that made it worse because by the time I got to work it was throbbing something fierce. And I was limping and hobbling around pretty badly. Luckily I work where I have access to medical tape so I taped my toes together and it feels so much better. I doubt I broke anything since I can walk on them. I have taken some Tylenol. That seemed to help, too. And my coworker who injured her ankle on vacation had her ice left in the freezer so she let me use that. So we'll see what happens.

My first day back at work wasn't bad. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be.

Off to catch up on all your blogs my lovelies!!

Back to work tomorrow

I so do not want to go back to work tomorrow. Boo! I enjoyed my days off a lot. I have some time off next month when my Mom comes out for my cousins wedding so I have that to look forward to at least.

I am also kind of afraid of what I have waiting for me when I get back tomorrow. *Shudder*

I made it safely through Easter without eating too much. And I didn't eat dessert. I got a few compliments about my weight loss so that was nice to hear.

Today I had a doctors appointment and then got my haircut. One of these days I am going to do something different with my hair. I would like to get bangs or something like that. But for now I just got a much needed trim.

And I can't wait to get to the gym tomorrow. I actually miss it, if you can believe that.

I'm off to watch "Dancing with the Stars". I wait all week for this show. *Giggle*

Happy Easter

Just a quick post to wish you all a Happy Easter. If you celebrate Easter. If not then Happy whatever to you then. I am not a very religious person but I do enjoy spending the holiday with the family.

I hit the gym this morning for an hour on the elliptical and then 30 minutes of weights. I am really feeling my workout today. My hips are a bit stiff for sure. But I love the feeling of a great workout and I was drenched in sweat when I left. Love it!!

I am thinking I'm going to handle Easter dinner pretty well today.

Hubby and I had a great night last night. I got 2 pairs of flip flops at Old Navy last night. One new exercise bra, a great new shirt that says "Train Like A Girl" and some girly pink nail polish. I painted my toe nails this morning. The shirt is a little tight but I figure it will fit soon enough. We picked up a few other things we needed, too. Then we had dinner and it was so yummy! I had a great turkey sandwich and I didn't eat the whole thing.

Well we'll be leaving soon so have a great day. Hard to believe that tomorrow is my last day off. I have a doctors appointment and I am getting my haircut for sure!!

I can't believe it!!

I'm not exactly sure HOW I did it, but I lost 4.4 pounds this week. Yes, four point four pounds. And that my friends, plants me into the 220's. 228.4 pounds to be exact. I couldn't believe. I got off the scale and then on it again. I was pretty excited to say the least. Which means a few things may happen next week. I may gain. I may stay the same. Or I may have a tiny loss. My body does not normally drop weight that fast.

But I am super excited about it!! It's been nearly 4 years since I've been this low. Woohoo!!

I hit the gym this morning for some cardio and then I went to work. I had to. I have so much to do. Even though I'm supposed to be off. And then I was really surprised to see that the manager from the other office had been up and helped with some of my work. I was so happy about it. I still have plenty to do though. I almost went home but I stayed since I already there.

The weather is so nice today. I came home and hubby had the windows open. The cats are loving it. Hubby also took his motorcycle out for the first time this year. He got to try out the seat his parents got him for Christmas.

I think we're going to go up to Target later. I would like to get some more sports bras. Since right now I'm working with 2 which is kind of hard when I'm going to the gym 4 times a week. So I have to wash them all the time. I would also like to go to Old Navy and see if they have any flip flops left.

Happy Saturday. I hope you all have lovely weather like we do!!

Slept in

I was going to step it up this week and hit the gym 5 times but that didn't happen today. I was tired and slept in. And by sleeping in I mean 8am. Whoa! Hold me back. I mean I am on a mini vacation and all, right?

I did go yesterday and did 30 minutes on the stepper and 30 minutes on the elliptical. I had planned to go today but it's no big deal. I got in my 4 days already for the week. But I would like to start going 5 days a week soon.

I'm a bit nervous about Easter coming up. Holidays are always hard and I'm not sure what I'll to deal with on Sunday. We're going to my husband's family's and the is usually never anything healthy. Last year we went over for a father's day thing and there was not even one drop of diet soda. So that was tough. So I'm hoping I can at least make it through somehow. I will hit the gym before hand.

I'm totally loving this not working thing. I know Tuesday is going to hit me in the head like a ton of bricks. And I can only imagine what is going to be waiting for me when I get back. But right now I am not worrying about it.

And I am off to go do some cleaning. Happy Friday ya'll!!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today would have been my Father's 71st Birthday. It's still hard, even after nearly 16 years. I think it always will be. I think it's the first time I haven't wanted to hide in bed all day. I realize he isn't in pain and he isn't suffering. That it is okay to talk about him. My Dad loved me very much and I know that.

Sometimes I feel a bit guilty for not spending more time with him the last few months of his life.

I was 18 and a senior in high school. I had a lot of friends and a boyfriend and getting ready to graduate from high school. I know I can't go back and change things but I wish I could. But I know my Dad knew I loved him and I know that he loved me and that is all that matters.

I do wish he could have gotten to know my husband. Because I know they would have gotten along like two peas in a pod. I know I married my father and I am thankful for that.

So Happy Birthday Daddy. I miss you and I love you. I hope wherever you are you are riding your motorcycle and raising hell like only you can.