Dear Jennifer Hudson (Year 2- Week 5)

Dear Jennifer Hudson,

After last week's birthday induced weight gain, I had made a personal commitment to myself to not record a gain on the scale again until I reach my goal weight. I don't care if I only lose 1/10th of a pound in one week, or if I lose 20 pounds in one week, but I just don't want to go backwards anymore.

I stayed true to my personal-pact...but just by the skin of my teeth...I was down a 1/2 pound this week. It obviously would have been exciting to have lost more, but hey, I'm just glad I didn't put on weight.

For the month of January, I lost a total of 5.5 pounds. Again, nothing earth-shattering, but again, a loss is a loss, and I will take it! :0)

The new shift of priorities in my life seem foreign, and I'm still working it all out in my head. My dedication to my faith and my family have not changed, but the time spent strategizing/focusing on my weight loss, has almost completely been replaced by strategizing/focusing on my new business. I have not abandoned my weight loss...but it's just weird that is not of huge critical importance to me anymore. When I was "hard core," I used to work out 2 hours a day...there is literally not enough hours in my day to work out 2 hours now. There absolutely IS time to carve out 1 hour though. However, when I have a lot of things on my calendar for the day, working out seems to be the least appealing thing.

90% of the time I still make the workout happen...and after the run, or after the spin class I am SOOOO glad I took a break from whatever I was doing and took care of myself...but on the rare occasion, I did succumb to the "lazies" and I bailed on my plans to workout.

That is the part the scares me.

For the last year I have had people tell me that they don't have time to work out, and while I agree that their work schedules ARE insane, I told them that when fitness became important enough for them, they would make the time in their day to work out (I still believe that). No matter how busy my life becomes, I take time to shower, and read my Bible. While fitness is not on the same level as personal hygiene and time in The Word, it is still VERY IMPORTANT. I don't want to get in the habit/pattern of making excuses for why I couldn't work out, and why I couldn't eat healthy.

I look forward to when this new lifestyle feels natural, and I can find balance again.

Hopefully next week I will have a larger weight loss to report...but for now, just 30 pounds to go until goal weight! :0)

Your Biggest Fan,
Elizabeth

Dear Jennifer Hudson (Year 2- Weeks 3 & 4)

Dear Jennifer Hudson,

This past week has been quite the struggle to stay on plan with WW. It was my birthday...but more accurately, my birthday-week.

There was lots eating...too much eating. There was some fitness...not enough fitness.

I feel like the Berenstein Bears Book: The Berenstein Bears and Too Much Birthday. LOL! But I'm not worked up over it. I knew it was temporary. I was/am confident about getting back on the horse this week.

The 2 most memorable eating experiences in the last week go to...

1. Dinner out with some of my "Happy Hour Girls" at Extraordinary Desserts. Just look at these GORGEOUS plates of food/dessert!...

2. "Family Dinner Night" featured the reintroduction of fast food in to our bellies! My family is hilarious (I really do think they are funny!), and now that our fast from fast food is technically over, they got us fast food from almost every fast food joint...

The kids were all too happy for a Happy Meal again!...

I had fun sampling a few things too...

And for dessert...my ultimate favorite...Ice Cream Cake!!!!!

But when all was said and done, at the end of my celebratory week, I was PINING to get back on track...by literally tracking my WW points!

I have no desire to return to this girl! (although, let the record show, KFC has never been a temptation of mine)...

So that was me swimming in the muck of all things weight-gain.

I did have a positive WW experience in the last 2 weeks though. I was asked to be a speaker on the WW panel for the East County. :0)

It was really an honor to be asked, and super motivating/inspiring to participate in this experience.

I just wish I remembered what I was talking about in this moment...DORK!...LOL!...

Any-who...so, I went backwards a bit...I am now 30.5 pounds away from goal! It's all good though... I'm back at it, and the coast looks clear from where I'm standing. :0)

Talk to you soon!

Your biggest fan,
Elizabeth

The Down-Low (2013-Weeks 2 & 3)

Back by popular demand!

Just kidding...my sister was the only one demanding an updated blog post, lol! But even having one fan makes me popular, right???

Things have been busy the last 4 weeks. Well, our life always seemed busy, but these past 4 weeks have been a new/different kind of busy.

As I have previously mentioned, I started a new bakery business this year ( www.PollyWantsACookie.com ). It's been all so exciting...and a lot of work...much more work than I expected. The "more than expected" work is all of the "business" stuff. I love baking, and that doesn't feel like work at all. In these past few weeks I have been taking deep breaths and telling myself that the "work-work" stuff is only temporary, and the "fun-work" will kick in soon. And sure enough, that has happened. Things are starting to settle down, and this past week I have gotten to "play" in the kitchen quite a bit. :0)

Honorable-(mid-chaos)-mention goes to: I got to have my first baking session in the commercial kitchen! Can I serve you a delicious cupcake...(or slop some mashed potatoes on a cafeteria tray for you!?)...

We were up to some of our old tricks these past couple of weeks. There was school of course, and who doesn't love seeing their name printed in their school book!?...

We squeezed fitness into our days...the 3 of us running together... :0)

And there were all kinds of dance lessons...

And play dates with friends...

And Wyatt got to spend time with his cousins...even if it meant that it was at the doctors office (shout-out to my sister for coming to my rescue!)...

In really old tricks, we did something this week that I have gotten to do every year for the last 32 years...celebrate my birthday! :0)

My birthday celebrations went on and on for a whole week. I am one blessed wife, mama, sister, daughter and friend! Our little family went to dinner, we had a few mid-week celebratory lunches, and then I got to celebrate with some of my "Happy Hour Girls"...

And finally, we got to celebrate with the whole family at "Family Dinner Night"...

 

So that's the official down-low on our up-and-up!...Until next time! :0)

Dear Jennifer Hudson (Year 2- Week 2)

Dear J Hud,

What's up girlfriend!? I'm writing you in back-to-back weeks...check me out!! ;0)

This past week re-opened a fave past-time of mine, and I'm interested to see how it will effect my weight loss goal in the coming days/weeks/months/years.

I'm not sure if you remember, but I used to bake beautifully decorated cookies, cupcakes, cake-pops and other yummy delights as a hobby. However, at the end of 2011, I made a personal commitment to pause all hobby-related-baking, and to instead make a concentrated effort towards weight loss. Obviously it seemed counter-productive to be baking treats (when they were my Kryptonite), AND make a serious attempt at losing weight.

Well 2012 came and went...Whew! That went FAST!...and not only am I back in the kitchen baking, but over the 1 year sabbatical from baking, I thought and thought, and prayed and prayed, and discussed and discussed, and researched and researched...and at the end of all of that, we finally decided to turn my hobby into an actual business! :0)

Over the last several months I have accumulated all of the necessary certificates and permits and insurance and yada-yada-yada's that are required to run a small bakery business. And as of January 1st of this year, I am now officially "open for business!"

In the weeks leading up to 2013, I was a little bit nervous about how this upcoming business would effect my weight loss goal. Would being around all of the treats be too difficult to resist? Would I be able to overcome temptation?

Well only time will tell. But if this past week is any indication, then I feel pretty confident about rising above the challenge in the future. While the thought crossed my mind to snag a piece of leftover sugar cookie dough today, I was able to easily squash the idea. It was surprisingly no big deal. NOW, I totally recognize that I have had these moments of strength one week, and then completely fail the next week, so I am not saying this new bakery business will not pose a challenge ever. BUT, I am not a slave to my temptations. I can (and do) make good choices. I can (and do) use the education and tools I have been given in WW to not only lose weight, but lose weight while living a normal life.

I am a baker. I was a baker even before I had a business. That's just who I am. I don't want to cut baking out of my life forever...and I don't have to. :0)

I'm super excited about this new chapter in our life...and I'm excited to make it fit into my WW lifestyle. :0)

On top of that, I had a successful week on the scale...24.5 pounds until goal! :0)

Let's do this!

Your Biggest Fan,
Elizabeth

The Down-Low (2013- Week 1)

This week was a week of returning to old schedules AND fresh starts on new beginnings!

In new beginnings, we rung in the new year!

It would be a shame to ring in a new year without proper new-year-accessories...

 

(my husband can never take a serious picture, lol!)

 

 

Other than our super-cool-NYE-fashion, our night of celebration was actually rather quiet...so quiet, you might even hear the fainest sound of an angel snoring...

 

I love when she falls asleep holding my hand :0)...

 

In other new beginnings, I must report that my Beatrice is a funny girl...but not always in the obvious "ha-ha" funny ways, lol! This girl has so many of her life ambitions planned out for her upcoming ages. "When she is 13 she will work in my bakery. When she is 10 she will get her ears pierced. When she is 7 she will not need a night light on in her room." But when she turns 5, there are so many achievements that she has lined up for herself..."she will swim without floaties...she will ride a bike without training wheels, she will tie her own shoes, and she will start running next to me, instead of in front of me (riding in the stroller)." But this week, my "little planner" broke her mold! She decided that this was the week she wanted to start "training" to run with me, lol. I said, "fine"...no time is better than to unload some weight before running up the biggest hill of our journey, lol! Go Bea, GO!

 

One other monumental achievement for our littlest one, is that she learned how to buckle her own seat belt this week without any coaching or assistance...she decided she wanted to do it...and she did it! It seems like Wyatt didn't learn that until he was 6, and that was with MUCH prompting, and MANY lessons...just sayin'!

There was a lot of board game playing around the house this week. Our favorites were the Toy Story version of Operation, and Candyland...who doesn't LOVE Candyland!?!?...well, we all love playing it, but someone (I'm not naming any names!) did not like losing at it!

 

Wyatt discovered that an old toy brought new findings...do you see the shadow that his violin is casting on the wall???...he bursted out of quiet-time this week to report that, "while I was playing my piano, I looked up, and found a bunny...sitting on the edge of a cliff...in my room!!!" I of course HAD to see it for myself, lol! :-0

 

We said good-bye to the last bits of our garden. The carrots have been growing for 6 months now, and they still were wimpy! Ba-hum-bug!

 

As little as they may be, they were mighty tasty in our pot roast this week!

I'm glad the garden chapter is over for us. What a headache. Someone...anyone...PLEASE talk me out of it when I say I want to do another garden come Spring!

This weekend re-introduced the start of all of our extra-curriculars after the Christmas break!

Wyatt rocked it out in his percussion class...

 

 

...and Bea was a beautiful ballerina...(doing ballerina jumps over shoes)...

 

...practicing "First Position"...

 

...and playing with hula-hoops...of course!...

 

 

Our week ended with a pot-luck, celebrating the start of the 2nd semester of Awana at church. Good food...good friends...

 

...and good team-building games!...

 

My team won...just sayin'.

So that's the down-low on our up-and-up...until next week! :0)

Dear Jennifer Hudson (Year 2- Week 1)

Dear J Hud,

I didn't know if I would continue to write to you in 2013. In all honesty, I was thinking of writing to the newest WW celeb, Jessica Simpson...BUT if the tabloids are correct, my homey J Sim is newly pregnant, again ( :-0 ), and so I doubt her growing belly will be on the cover of WW products for much longer. Sooooo, unfortunately for YOU, you are stuck with me and my weight loss drama for another year, lol!

I started WW in 2012, and I am confident that I can meet my WW goal in 2013.

Last year, I would write to you and let you know my accumulative weight loss each week. But this year, I'm going to switch things up. This year, I am counting down to my goal weight.

So with that being said, today, January 1st, was my first weigh-in of 2013 at WW. As of today, I have 35.5 pounds to go until goal! :0)

I look forward to continuing this journey with you!

Your Biggest Fan,
Elizabeth

Dear Jennifer Hudson (Weeks 49, 50, 51 & 52)

Dear J Hud,

Yikes, this might have been the very longest pause in between letters to you...sorry about that!

Things continued to be a roller coaster since the last time I wrote you. I was mostly on program though.

However, there was a vacation in the mountains where I was not watching my caloric intake. But, I was proud of myself for not abandoning fitness as well. I managed to go for a run while we were in Big Bear, and my laps around the cabin were tracked in pine cones...

 

The 10 pine cones equaled 5 miles. :0) I also cooked some fun things in the kitchen over the last few weeks! We made some amazing homemade granola!!!...

 

...AND I tried something that I have ALWAYS wanted to try...Spaghetti Squash!...

 

Many people have told me how much it resembles pasta, and this Italian-pasta-loving-mama was SO excited to try a zero-WW-points version of pasta!!! In the end, my review is this:

It is NOOOOO pasta!!! However, it was a healthy food that wasn't terrible to get down. I will definitely make it again! (I just won't be telling myself that it's pasta, lol!)

SO, I definitely didn't hit my goal weight this year. Near the end of November I realized it was mathematically impossible for me to make goal. At the time, that knowledge was actually a relief, and a bit freeing. I didn't have plans to throw my WW ways out the window, but the pressure and anxiety to make goal by the end of the year was gone.

But as the end of the year approached, I was reflecting on my journey this past 12 months, and the feelings of disappointment of not reaching goal arrived. :0(

The truth of the matter is, is that reaching my goal WAS totally doable. I was very consistent the first 6 months of the year, and I was absolutely on track to meet goal with no problem. But the 2nd half of the year, I just kept messing around. I'd lose some...I'd gain some...and as you know, I would repeat that cycle for weeks and weeks, and months and months. The last time I was awarded any type of recognition at WW was in July, when I reached the 50 pound marker. I DID achieve additional weight loss beyond the 50 pounds, on my own personal scale at home, but on the days/weeks when I did that, by the time I had attended my WW meeting, I had messed up on my diet, and I was back to a weight I had already been on their scale.

While I was having this time of reflection (a.k.a. beat-up-on-Elizabeth-moment), it dawned on me to look at pictures of myself from this time last year.

I was shocked at what I found!

This is a side-by-side of me on Christmas Eve 2011 and Christmas Eve 2012...

 

The TRUTH is, is that I did NOT make goal this year.

But the TRUTH is, is that I DID make GREAT PROGRESS towards my goal!

After seeing these pictures it was impossible to continue my pity party. I was really proud of what I did accomplish this year. Even though I am not at my goal weight, I am more fit. Even though I didn't make goal, I didn't give up. I definitely had moments/days/weeks of "fail," but I didn't turn my back for long...and that shows...in these pictures. :0)

This past week I was doing some organizing around our house, and I came across some of these old binders I used to keep/maintain/add-to. One of the binders was a collection of diets. I had no idea I even had this binder (it's been a really long time since I've looked at these binders, lol)...it was so sad. I came across like 10 different diets in that binder...Atkins, Cabbage Soup, Jillian Michaels, No-Sugar, binge-1hr-a-week only, yada yada yada. As I was browsing (and tossing) these diets, I was so sad for the girl that used to try these things...and try them on a regular basis. I hope I never return to that girl. These fad diets aren't healthy, and they aren't "real life." I need be on a plan like WW, where you eat normal foods, and practice self control in eating those normal foods. Otherwise, just as I did in the past, I will crash diet...it doesn't stick, because it's not real-life-living, and then the weight will come back on. It is definitely still a learning experience for me...but I want my results to be real...to stay. So I will continue on this WW journey for another year. :0)

To wrap it all up, my final weigh-in at WW in the year 2012 was on Christmas Eve...at that time, my total weight loss was 44.4 pounds for the year. While it could/should have been more, it is still a significant loss for one year. I'm happy. :0)

Thanks for all of your motivation J Hud, 2012 was a wild ride on the scale!

Your Biggest Fan,
Elizabeth