READY FOR SUMMER Challenge Week 6 Check-In and Week 7 Goals

Sorry I am late to the game this go-round. I've not been my normal self the last few days. Just to show you I did at least attempt a little exercise this week... here is a pic of DH an I after a small hike in the mountains here around our house. 

Weight Loss :: Lose 2 lbs.  

Success or failure? Well, I guess it depends on how you look at it.  Last Sunday I weighed in at 284.0. On Friday morning I was at 282.9. A 1.1 lb loss so far for the week. Then, Aunt Flo showed up a week early. I've been beyond bloated and an emotional nutcase. On Saturday morning I was 287.0!  Over a 4 lb gain over night! So who knows.

Sunday, April 29 :: 284.0 
Monday, April 30 :: Didn't weigh 
Tuesday, May 1 :: 284.0 
Wednesday, May 2 :: 283.4 
Thursday, May 3 :: 283.4 
Friday, May 4 :: 282.9 AF 
Saturday, May 5 :: 287.0 AF 
Sunday, May 6 :: 288.0 AF

I'm going to go with what I weighed on Friday and just wait it out til next week and see where I land. 

SW: 293.8
W1: 292.8 (-1)
W2: 292.0 (-0.8) 
W3: 292.0 (-0)
W4: 289 (-3)
W5: 284.0 (-5)
W6: 282.9 (-1.1)
CW:282.9 (-10.9) Total so far.  

NSV :: Make it 3 days without Diet Coke. 

Yeah, this didn't happen. Not even close. 

Exercise :: Attempt P90X Plyometrics with my husband again. Make it further than the 21 minutes we made it last time.  

Nope. Didn't do it. 

Nutrition :: Track every single calorie. Even if I eat out, even if I eat crap, even if I go over.. track it! Be accountable for my actions! 

Haha. No, not even going to go there.

Now that week 6 is over, I'm ready to pull my self back together and get on with it. I'm praying week 7  is a good one. I'm not reaching for the stars this week. I'm just hoping to make it through. 

Weight Loss :: Manage to land on anything below 282.9. Any loss at all will thrill me. 

NSV :: Try not to be a nutcase all week and get my motivation back.

Exercise :: Put a serious effort into getting some form of exercise, everyday!

Nutrition :: Try not to eat crap.

Good luck this week!

Day 126

I got up and hopped on the scale. Yikes! I'm up 5 lbs since yesterday. I know it is mainly due to AF. I'm bloated like a balloon! But, I didn't eat great yesterday either and no real exercise. Still though, there is no way on earth I ate enough food to gain 5 lbs over night!

Today was CRAZY! I did prom pics for my nephew and his girlfriend, 1st bday pics for my great niece, and spent the rest of the evening at the campground with the family.

Once again I ate too much. Ugh!

I've had cramps from hell all.day.long!!!

Michael and I did walk up a huge hill at the campground and around the whole area. I'd say we got in a good mile today. At least I attempted to move, right?

Please tell me tomorrow I will be back to my normal sane self.

Day 125

I slept in, cleaned some in the house, went to the store to pick up a few things we had to have, and then spent the rest of the evening at the campground with my sister and her family.

Food wasn't great and I didn't get in any structured exercise.

Aunt Flo showed up today. A whole week early. That explains the insane craving for sweets and salt yesterday as well as the headache and mood swings.

No excuses. Just bad choices.

Day 124

I haven't felt top notch today. My allergies are killing me. I think the pollen count must be high. My nose has been runny, my ears hurt, my eyes are watering and itching, sneezing like mad, and if that isn't bad enough I've had a headache from down below.

Bai and I went back to bed after we got Dalt off to school. The public school was having field day all day today, so I let Bai take it easy too. Well, at least for 1/2 of the day. The rest of the day he spent on his end of the year math assessment. He did ok, 84%. He could have done better, because the problems he missed weren't even the hard ones. They were the very basic ones. I'm proud of him though, because at the beginning of the year, when we first took him out of public school, he had a low 50% on the very same test.  Tomorrow he does his reading assessment.

When I picked Dalton up from school today, he was soaked to the bone. His entire body was wet. He said the last 15 minutes of school they played some sort of wet sponge game on the football field. It was very hot here today. 86* but it felt much hotter. The humidity was insane. Five minutes outside and your clothes were sticking to your body. So, I am sure they had a blast getting soaked.

I did the whole cook and clean thing until Michael came home from work. After we ate, we took the boys for a hike. I don't know the exact distance, but I'd say it was a good mile. We went out around the hill to where they strip mining company has been rebuilding the road. It's been dry the last few days, so the mud was pretty well dried up or it wouldn't have been possible.

Before we left the house, Dalton found himself a little friend. I thought he was going to take the little one along, but he tossed him soon after.

He of course had to pull his socks up before we could go for a hike. He pulls up on his socks more than anyone I have ever met in my life. We've tried every brand on the market. None will stay where he wants them.

Oh, look! Another little friend.

Finally, we are on the move.

Maybe a 1/2 mile up the hill from our house we saw this. No clue who made it or why. Bai said it is Big Foot's Hut. However I assume it is some of the local teenagers who like to come into the mountains and have a good time.

Michael brought a shovel along to try and ditch some of the mud puddles. Bai thought he had to help on the way down to the pond.

This was taken standing in the same spot as the photo above. The road splits. You can go down to go to a pond or on up the road.

My men are checking out the muddy pond in this one. The strip miners had to clean out the mess they made in it. Now it looks like one big mud puddle instead of a pond.

There were a few deer tracks along the way, but no actual deer.

After a hike up the mountain that caused our hearts to beat like drums, we made it to the end of the "road" . Well, the dozer had went on up to the main top of the mountain as you can see in the photo, but the "road" wasn't cleared enough to bother trying to climb up this evening. So we stopped here.

Bai took this photo. He said the holes in the rock were a cross. I wouldn't have noticed. He pays a lot of attention to detail.

Michael and I... all sweaty and skanky.

On the way back down, Michael ditched a few more muddle puddles which were huge and never going to dry up. We found this little guy as the water drained out.

 Michael was in deep thought as he watched the water clear out.

 Not long after, we headed back down the hill and to the house.

Sorry, I don't have more photos of Bailey. He would not put his shirt on long enough for me to take pics. He was roasting. Like I said, the humidity was insane and we were drenched with sweat by the time we got back to the house.

I didn't do any further walking tonight. I just haven't felt up to it. I did get my water in, but food has been so-so. Hopefully I can get lined back out tomorrow.

Day 123

Yesterday was day 123. It was a long, busy, and emotional day. I helped Bai with school work, cooked, cleaned, done dishes, picked D up from school, and then cooked and cleaned a little more. I also bathed our Shih Tzu Sophie, again! She is the craziest Shih Tzu I've ever seen. A wonderful inside dog while she is inside, but the second you let her outside she hits mud puddles or sand piles wide open. She doesn't just splash through them. She rolls in it. I love her to bits, but I just don't have the time and energy to try to keep her clean. We can't let her hair get over an inch long or it is matted in a couple days. There is no way I could bath her every single day and it wouldn't be good for her either. So, we keep her hair short... which eventually runs into money. So I've taken on cutting her hair myself. I've been doing it for about a year now. It by no means looks professional, but it is easy to wash and doesn't get matted.

I walked a mile on the treadmill last night, and did so only because I made myself. I had no desire to walk at all. I was too emotional. I cried a lot yesterday over the transplant issues. Food wasn't great, but the scale stayed dead even this morning. At least there wasn't a gain. I didn't binge, but I ate more than I should have.

Happiness and Sadness

Should I start with the good news or the bad news?

Ok, I'll go with the good news. My sister Opal is going to be crossmatched and possibly give my Mom a kidney very soon. Today is my Mom's 69th Birthday, what gift is better than that?

Now, for the bad news. The transplant center called me around 10:30 this AM. They said that I am their first choice out of us girls (Opal, Missy, and myself) to try to crossmatch. I have the best overall health. However, I am still about 20 lbs over the BMI cut off. The doctors won't even attempt to crossmatch me until I have a BMI under 40 because it is an elective surgery. So they are going to crossmatch Opal. I cried my eyes out. I don't care who Mom gets the kidney from, as long as she gets one. However, it is devastating to hear that you are the first choice but you are too fat.

Day 122

Hey, all! Sorry I've left you hanging for the last two days with very short and sweet posts. Let's see if I can catch you up.

Day 120 was Sunday. Michael had to work, the boys and I slept til about 11 am and then went down to Mom and Dad's house for our family dinner.  Most of the family showed up and I ate too much. Mom had made meatloaf and the fixing's. As I've said before... Mom's meatloaf is fantastic. I couldn't pass it up.

I baked Mom a banana coconut upside down cake Saturday night. Her birthday is tomorrow, and since I couldn't spend the day with her tomorrow, I took the cake to her early. I did have a taste of the cake, and man it was yummy. Mom said she liked it, but I know Dad did. He ate 4 pieces. Seriously, 4 pieces! Even though he is as thin as a rail and normally it wouldn't have hurt him to splurge like that, he is a diabetic. I walked by him a couple times about 45 minutes apart and both times he had piece of cake in his plate. I asked him if he was still eating on that same piece of cake. I was thinking... goodness, he is slow. He just laughed and said nope, I'm shooting my sugar through the roof. I kinda felt guilty that I didn't make him some sort of sugar free dessert, but he doesn't splurge often, so I guess it is OK. I didn't expect him to like it that much.

After Michael made it home; he, the boys, and I decided to ride the 4-wheeler and motorcycles out around our driveway and into the mountains where a strip mining company is rebuilding. The company had destroyed the road a few years back when they were mining and we had no access to a family cemetery. After petitioning several different people, they finally agreed to fix it. The road was there before they destroyed it. They should have to fix it. You can't leave people unable to reach their families graves. Anyway, It had rained a couple days before and there road was solid mud. It was knee-deep and sticky. Bailey got his motorcycle stuck half a dozen times. His motorcycle kept sinking up past it's tires. It just a small one, a 90. Needless to say, we didn't go far. Michael drove Bai's motorcycle back out of the mud while Bai attempted to walk his way out. He lost his boot about 10x. It was so comical.

Once we were back on gravel, we rode down to Mom and Dad's house to use Dad's pressure washer. There was no way our regular garden hose would spray the mud off our rides. We ended up staying there nearly until bedtime.

I didn't even attempt to exercise. Call me lazy. I totally was.

Yesterday was day 121. Dalton was suppose to have a field trip and Michael had requested the day off weeks ago so we could go along. But the trip had to be rescheduled to today.

We got up early, around 6:45 am, got Dalton off to school, and Bai started on his work. Michael and I cleaned here around the house all day while Bai was doing busy work. We picked Dalton up from school around 3pm and went to the library, to Wal-mart and then to Moms.

Dalton asked if he skipped the field trip would we buy him a new video game. We were totally up for that. For one thing, he'd been driving us nuts over the game for weeks. It also saved me from having to drive all that way on my own. They had planned to go to a local State Park and it is on top of one of the highest mountains in Kentucky. Which we have been to a million times. I hate driving off of there. Even if I put the vehicle in neutral on the way down, my brakes always get hot. So, I was really dreading the idea of going alone anyway. Bailey didn't want to go with us to pick up the game, so he stayed at Moms. We called every store in the closest two towns and not a single place had the game. After searching everywhere, we finally found it at a Game Stop in Virginia. We loaded up and drove all the way over there to get it. So we really didn't save any gas money by not going on the trip. But I did save my sanity. Dalton and Bai stayed up all night playing that game. It's totally been worth the money.

It was around 9pm when we made it home. After showering, I was so exhausted. I really didn't feel like getting on the treadmill. I know I had walked at least a mile yesterday, so I took that as an excuse not to do it.  Food was fair I guess. I didn't go over on my calories, but I maxed out. That's for sure. I didn't make very good choices either. I had waited too long between meals and just shoved whatever I could find in my mouth. But, I did keep track of it. I owned up to it. Be accountable, right? 

Today, Day 122... Since Dalton skipped out on his field trip, I let Bai have the day off as well. We've got all summer to make it up. Dalton only has 3 more days of school left. Bailey has 9 that he needs to get done. We slept til 11 am and it felt wonderful to sleep that late in the middle of the week. I'm not a morning person at all. I am so excited to have a long summer vacation this year. Thank God for the mild winter. The boys probably didn't sleep 5 or 6 hours as they stayed up playing video games. But, I made them get out of bed anyway. We cant get totally off track. We still have a few days of school left. So, we need to be in bed on time tonight.

I had a ton of dishes left from yesterday to wash plus the ones from breakfast. After I finished washing those, I cleaned out the fridge, and had another sink full to wash. I texted Michael and told him I felt like I had washed every dish we own today. I tackled a mountain of laundry as well. How does everything get dirty at once? That is what I'd like to know.

The boys played video games almost all day. I'm going to hide the remotes this summer. We so are not spending the summer inside playing video games. Hikes, biking, swimming, relay races, tag, and long walks is more like it. 

I did manage to get on the treadmill tonight. I walked 2 miles. I could have pushed further. I was sweating, but I didn't really exert myself. That is what I need more of, exertion. Speaking of, I though my heart was going to blow out of my chest when I had to go to the bottom of the mountain and untangle Duke's run. Well the going down part wasn't so bad. The coming up was crazy. When I got to the top, my heart was  beating out of my chest. I thought.. this is what I need to do more of.

Food has been so-so today. I'm in my calorie range, but I ate up my exercise calories. I've been so hungry. I think mainly because I didn't have a lot of veggies today and what I ate was loaded with calories. I like a stomach full of veggies. Very few calories and I can go back for more if I am still hungry. I have got to get out to the store tomorrow.

OK, I guess that about catches things up. I'm going to shower and then lay down and read. I'm obsessed with the Hush, Hush series by Becca Fitzpatrick right now. I didn't think I'd like it, because it is in the juvenile section, but boy was I wrong. The librarian was spot on when she pointed me to it. I asked for suggestions because I've read everything.

Seriously, I gotta go. 6 am comes early. OK, well it comes at 6 am... but it feels earlier than that cause I know I wont be asleep til late. Hope everyone has a great nite!

Day 121

Today has been another insanely busy day. I'll get a good update tomorrow. This ol' gal has got to hit the hay. Food hasn't been as bad as it was yesterday, but still far from great. No structured exercise but I am sure I walked a mile at least. I hope everyone had a great day!

Day 120

Today was a great day in general. But, I ate too much and exercised too little. Ugh. Tomorrow will be better. I promise.