10 Pounds Overall

I've lost a total of 10 pounds over the course of these past few months. Right now, I'm still stuck right around 171 1/2 and 172. I'm trying not to get hung up on the numbers. I feel better then I have felt in a really long time. It just dawned on me yesterday that I am 3 days away from having a visit from Aunt Flo and for the first time since my early twenties, I didn't have any cravings. I generally crave salty, sour and spicy foods and gain a few pounds before she arrives. I do not feel bloated, have seen no weight gain and I've been much less moody. I don't know if this is happening to anyone else but I am going number 2 like 3 times a day. I know it's a good thing but boy does that distrub my day. Well...since I've been going so often the good news is that I don't hardly pass gas anymore and when I do, it has no odor.

I started shopping at Whole Foods. With my cholesterol being high and my risk being higher than most people with the same level because of my kidney disease, we are slowly fazing out all red meats (yes, even pork...the one we love). Though it was a little pricey, I picked up a variety of chicken sausages along with yummy stuff like salmon cucumber salad for dipping raw veggies into, which by the way, tastes great with carrots. We tried the chicken with sun dried tomatoes and basil the other night. A package of 4 one ounce sausages cost $5.99 but I was able to make an entire meal from it. If cooked like regular sausages, it would have probably just been enough for one adult male. I cut up the chicken sausage into little pieces, stir fried it with baby spinach and garlic and it made a great meal. Though that meal cost nearly $10, I figured it was still more cost affective then a family of four eating out, right?

I have to say, Kong has been extremely supportive of this change. He even let me cook eggs without the yolk the other night. I made an egg based dish with 7 eggs and just 3 yolks. It nearly killed him to wash the bright yellow yolks down the disposal. We also had a discussion around no longer buying red meats and summer sausage. He's been really great about all of the changes.

I've been especially proud of him for all of the new revelations he's been having. Now that the girls are bigger and modeling everything we do, Kong has been so much more aware of how we live, the decisions we make and how that affects the girls. He doesn't push back on suggested changes anymore. Sometimes I feel a little upset that it took him so long to get to this point but I know that it's better late than never. A funny thing happened last night. Around 11:30pm, Adyen came into our room after using the bathroom, climbed into our bed and zonked out. Kong and I let her lay there while we talked in the dark about the stuff that happened during the day. He said, "holy crap" and we hear this little voice say to us, "I say holy crap at school" then she giggled. Just another reminder that swearing can no longer be part of our language.

Any way, I've gone on and on today so just one last thing. I realized just this morning that I've been tracking my points wrong. I've probably been eating a few points more each day than what I was tracking due to my oversight in reading labels correctly. I'm on track now and on my way to breaking 170. Woo whoooooo!

Another Reminder That Change Needs to Happen

So I got the result of my cholesterol test back. My cholesterol level is at 230. Just a year ago, it was 201. I'm a little baffled as to why it's gone up so much. I feel like I'm eating healthier and exercising way more. I think things will make more sense after I've been tracking my eating on WW for a substantial amount of time. Sometimes perception is different then reality. Maybe I wasn't eating as healthy as I thought. I'm not taking any meds yet. We're going to try management of my cholesterol for six months with testing every three months. Hopefully the results will be better in December.

I worked out for 56 minutes today, ate a Cobb salad for lunch (eft most of the bacon and cheese). I also had a hand full of raspberry and plums for my afternoon snack.

On another note, I read a really interesting article in Time Magazine about siblings and how they may be the one most influential factor in how we navigate life as adults. After reading the article, I just felt so thankful for my siblings. Each of us are so uniquely different and I love each one so much. Each person has shaped me in how I deal with conflict, parent, love, treat my spouse but especially how I view life and my future. I'm so blessed to have each of you and I'm thankful that we all truly and genuinely love and enjoy each other; bad traits, differences and all. I love you guys : )

I did read another article about cloning that had horror movie written all over it. It turns out that clones are NOT exact replica of the original. Very interesting article. I couldn't put down the magazine so I stole it from my doctors office. Shhhhh!

OMG!!!!!!!

I can not believe how I ended my WW week. I entered the weekend with all of my 35 extra points. I thought the 35 points would allow me the flexibility of going a little crazy this weekend. It's amazing how fast 35 points get used up when you are eating out and traveling.

Friday, Uncle Mike and Aunt Mandy had Pho at their house to thank everyone for helping out with Shaneva's wedding. I could have eaten more and I passed on a lot of dessert. After Friday, I still had 22 points left for Saturday and Sunday. I started Saturday out very well eating a modest breakfast and even a 1.4 mile run/walk with Taylor in the morning. I didn't eat much for lunch so with that in mind, I hesitantly agreed to go out to a buffet for dinner while we were in Wausau with Kong's family. What a horrible idea. I went spent the 22 points plus went over another 27 and the sad thing is that I didn't feel like I had stuffed myself.

Then today, we went out for dim sum. Had I tracked what I ate yesterday, I would have made very different food decisions for lunch. I ended up this week going 33.5 points over. What is truly surprising to me is that my food intake this weekend is how I use to eat all of the time. How is it that I was not fatter? I feel horrible, heavy and crabby tonight.

My learning from all of this, 35 points does not buy you a lot. I still need to be cautious when I have left over points and I need to be especially careful when we do eat out. That means making better food selections and eating way less then I think I can eat.

I hope I have not derailed all of my efforts. I'm going to try to work out 5 days this coming week and get my eating back on track.

Still Going

I've been doing a really good job with food this week. I have not gone over my WW points. I was too tired to exercise Monday and Tuesday but I did go today. I made the mistake of eating papaya salad for lunch so needless to say, I was not in the best shape to push myself physically. I only worked out for 33 minutes.

Steph - I finally get what you were saying...about finally feeling like you are in control of your eating and food. I have never felt so in control. I keep thinking about all the time I wasted trying to lose weight on my own when I could have been getting help from WW. I lost 5 pounds in one week without feeling like I had to give anything up. Who knew....

I hope to break 170 this week. I know that is still a really high number but I've been over 170 for over a year and a half. I haven't been under 155 in over 10 years. So sad...I'm going to kick this thing. I will no longer let food control me!

New Routine

Yesterday was an interesting day. Our family had a very modest breakfast (whole wheat waffles with a few chocolate chips, cucumber and fruit with skim milk) then headed out to a picnic. Needless to say, we ate too much and it was all the bad (because it tasted so good) stuff. We finished eating around 1:15pm and headed off the Rondo Library for a few hours.

Around 3:45pm, Kong popped home made popcorn (a lot of it) and we all watched movies together. We had a discussion around how we wouldn't really need to eat dinner but that we would give the girls peaches with some wheat thins or a cereal bar with fruit as a snack around 6 or 7:00pm. Thinking that the girls were in good hands, I left for a work out at Bally's.

Upon my return around 7:45pm, I found the girls finishing up canned spaghetti and meat balls and I lost it. After our discussion about not over feeding the girls, and getting back into our normal routine of fresh, healthy, and organic foods, he did the complete opposite. In Kong's defense, he was feeling guilty because the girls said they were hungry so in his mind, that meant he needed to feed them food and not a snack. I went off on him about being responsible about knowing what is right and wrong and to not let guilt fuel his decisions. The girls will always tell him they are hungry but it's his decision to think about what they ate that day, how to balance that out and especially what time it is when he is feeding them. I couldn't understand how someone rational would choose to feed children a meal so late in the evening when they just had huge cups of soda to drink with their enormous amount of popcorn just a few hours earlier.

The reason why I was so angry was because Taylor has put on a few pounds since their three week stay at home before school. Work these past few weeks have been really hectic so I haven't been feeding them the way I would like to. We ate out at least once during each of the week they were home, sometimes twice. I think it was probably more of the lack of exercise that contributed to Taylor's slight gain in weight as I was not able to take them out during the work day. Considering that Kong was aware of this as we spoke of it just a few days earlier, I was livid that he made such a poor decision on food choice.

Anyway, the girls, Kong and I talked about being responsible about fueling our bodies properly and taking care of it so that it can be healthy so we decided that on the weekends, and maybe 2x during the week, we would do a walk/run of 1.2 miles to get our hearts pumping and our bodies moving. We did our first one this morning. We would walk a block, then run a block and so on until we had gone .6 miles and reached the Brugers Bagel on Grand. We had a nice breakfast at Brugers (choosing healthy options...at least for the girls and I), then we ran and walked home. Surprising enough, the girls did a great job. Even Ayden with her short little legs ran nearly as much as we did. My hope is that soon enough, we'll all be able to run the whole distance.

Anyway, that was my moment of weakness this weekend where the crazy came flying out of me. Must be that time of the month. On a positive note, I lost 4 pounds in 6 days on Weight Watchers and I had 16 left over points at the end of this week. I also cooked every meal this week and made some very healthy choices for the family. I feel very hopeful and am excited about what is to come not just for me but for the girls too.

Before I sign off, please pray for me for patience. I feel like I have not been controlling my anger very well and I have been extremely negative. I'm not proud of this but I have also been condescending. Not stuff you want to admit to people. Thanks for your prayers. I need all the help I can get.

Weeks of Updates Condensed

It seems it's been forever since I've put something substantial up. Just a quick update and review.

1. We spent a great deal of time visiting and spending time with the Her family this summer.
2. Shaneva, my cousin got married. This was significant for us because I ended up helping coordinate the bridal shower, some of the wedding details and acted as the wedding coordinator. Taylor was also the flower girl.
3. The girls started school. Ayden now attending 4yr old pre-school at Taylor's School. It is so nice not having to do two drop offs and pick ups.
4. I started Weight Watchers this week and lost 3 pounds already. Yeah!

Here are some pictures from the last part of our summer.

Ayden's last day at Mini Apple International Montessori. We brought pizza to school and had a pizza party for her last day. It was really fun. It was nice because Kong was able to stop by for lunch. Ayden loved it. We were said to leave Ms. Angel and Ms. Najat.









This is from our second trip to Kansas City to visit the Hers. We had a picnic in 100 degree weather so a dip in the lake was a welcomed treat. I did not take a dip but I was told that it was so hot the lake water felt like warm bath water.









Courtney and Max stayed with us for a week after our trip to KC. We had so much fun going to the Park at MOA, waterpark, International Market and so much more.









I had some material left after Shaneva's Bridal Shower so the girls and I made veils to wear with play dresses.


Just some fun pictures of playing in the rain. It was much needed rain.









Here is one picture from Shaneva's wedding. Once I get more pictures from Kaonou and Kaosong, I'll post those.







Here is a picture from Labor Day. We were hoping to feed the ducks but since there were none at Silver Lake, we ended up just playing at the park.














Here is a picture of Taylor's first day at school. She was nervous about starting school until she saw her friends.









Ayden started school two days later.

Weight Watchers

I did it! After swearing off anything that is diet related (pills, fad, meal plans, etc...) I decided to try Weight Watchers. I've been exercising for nearly 5 months now and have only lost a total of 7 pounds. Not impressive considering I have been very diligent about exercising. Plus, since I am not a big junk food eater and I think I do a pretty good job of balancing what I eat, I didn't think something like Weight Watchers would be all that beneficial.

I signed up for the free week trial today. What a surprise. I have cut down the amount of food I consume considerably but in loosely (because I still learning how to track Asian foods and foods that were prepared before I could take down the contents of the ingredients) tracking my points today...I was shocked! I was 20 points over my 23 point daily limit. This is considering I only ate 1/2 cup of qoa poon noodles. Just imagine how many points a real bowl would be?

Anyway, now that I have an idea of what I'm suppose to do, I think I'll have a better day tomorrow. I'm hoping this will be a good start to a healthy weight loss. Since I'm suppose to weigh no more than 130 pounds, I need to lose nearly 45 pounds. I will shoot for 140 pounds with the ultimate goal of 130. Wish me luck and a better tomorrow.