Weigh in Wednesday -- YES!!!

The scale is finally going in the right direction!

For the full update, including my latest running excitement/drama,  click on over to my new blog,
here.


Hope to see you over there!

Things I am excited about but don't want to brag about ON that blog?
I created my own banner and button and favicon.
And I figured out how to center the banner.  Those were pretty big things!!

So go on over... check it out, and while you are there, subscribe to my new blog.

Here.

(in case you forgot.)


Ciao for now!

-Meredith

Weigh-in Wednesday.....

Hey everyone!

My latest Weigh-in Wednesday post is up at my NEW BLOG.

I know- you have been thinking about how quiet I have been... which is just not true!
I have been a posting maniac.  But not here.  :)

Please update your readers with the new blog address:

http://journey2authenticity.blogspot.com


Where I am learning to "own my junk,"and be AUTHENTIC,  as I have been inspired by all of you  (but especially TMB).


Hope to see you there!
-Meredith

I did it!

I have wrestled with this decision for MONTHS.

But it just felt like the time was right.

I have merged my two blogs- this one and Crying Out to My God to a new blog.

My word?
You know...

AUTHENTIC

I may have tried every single word/phrase combination that I could think of before I finally found one that is perfect, that was availalble.

And now....


My new blog:




My Journey to Authenticity:
Where I own my journey, my faith and my flab.


I sure hope that you update your readers, and follow me over to my new blog.
I am so excited about this!!

(Oh ... and please know that you will still be seeing the Weigh-in Wednesdays, and Race Reports, and all that jazz.... just in a new place.  :)    )

Weigh-in Wednesday: The Learning Curve

For the last five minutes I have been muttering to myself about writing this post.


"grumblemuttergrumble accountability grumblemuttergrumble"


You see, I was going to let this weigh-in slide. 
Nothing to report.
Why even mention it?


And then I remembered last Wednesday.
Where I am pretty sure I talked about being accountable. 
And owning my journey.
And stuff like that.


FINE.


Starting Weight (July 6th):  275 lbs
Previous Weight (July 20th):  269 lbs
Current Weight: 269 lbs
+/- this week:  0
Total lost: 6 lbs


Am I happy?  No.
Did I expect this?  No.
Should I have expected this based on effort? HECK YES.




Giving myself a chance to process, here are some things that I learned this week.


I need to track ALL of my calories.  I need to stop guessing how much I am eating.  I need to stop assuming I am under and that it will be fine.  Because I am either NOT under, and it is NOT fine, or I am TOO far under, and I it is still NOT FINE.


I need to expect that this is going to be a slower process than I want it to be.  I will NOT fit into my cool teacher clothes by August 31st.  I need to find a way to be okay with where I am (and who I am) right now.


I need to keep my body moving. I feel empowered when I exercise.  I feel strong when I exercise.  


I need to track my measurements so that I have something ELSE besides the scale to measure my success.


I am worth the effort and the discipline that this is going to take.


This blog is doing its job.  Here I am, instead of just ignoring a stagnant week, putting it out there.  Owning my progress, and committing to make some changes.


So here is what I am going to do:


I am going to log every single calorie (maybe a day late, because sometimes life happens) at myfitnesspal.


My username is Meredith713.
I have made my journal public.
I want you to be LOOKING AT IT.


I want you to be checking to make sure that have logged all three meals, and usually snacks.


I need you to know that I have a REALLY hard time eating all of the calories that I am supposed to.  Especially if I have exercised.  In fact sometimes, I quit on a workout because I don't know how on EARTH I would eat back all of the exercise calories.


I know that the statement above is not fair for those of you who are hungry all the time because you are not obese, like me.  (Gosh I hate that word.)  It still feels wrong to be having to eat this much.  But I have consulted with experts, and others who are actively using this plan and have achieved results.  And y'all?  I want results.  (so much so, in fact that I am apparently slipping into a southern accent that is NOT my own.)


But more than that?
I want to live my life on purpose.
And I need to realize that in order to achieve goals, I have to weigh each action.  (Every bite. Every time I decide to sit on the couch instead of get up and move.)


I want my children to see that healthy choices are a way of life, and not something to complain about.


And while I am writing a wish list-
I would love for my 16 month old to sleep through the night.
And I would love for my husband to find a job that was closer to us, or daytime hours during the school year (without a reduction in pay, preferably an increase, ha), or both.




Oh ---- and the 16 month old just said WATER when he wanted some!!
(actually, it came out more like wah-wah, of course, but he was thirsty, and he said wah-wah, and he smiled really, really big when I gave him his water and showed that I understood him!)


One more thing.
I did level 1 of Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred today.  It felt amazing.  It was hard, and I (mostly) pushed through.  And now my arms are jello. And I couldn't be happier!

a restful day, and the cough is practically gone!

Yesterday was a wonderful day on the parenting spectrum.  After the WW3 that was Sunday (picture battle, after battle, after battle) with Soccer Boy, and some other upheaval in our lives, we were ready for a day of rest.  And since my husband had to leave for work at 4:30AM, and I was facing a day alone with the stranger that used to be my adorable, compliant son, and his younger brother, it didn't seem to be a likely outcome.

However--- a day of rest it was, in many ways, even though as soon as my husband came home I had to rush to the school to teach five hours of music lessons, it was a very restful day -- free from arguing and defiance.

Ahhhhh.

On a completely unrelated note, I am thrilled  to report that the nagging, lingering wheeze and cough that I had been suffering from since July 17th is almost completely gone.  My good friend, Lori, who happens to be the school nurse where I teach, had suggested that it might be allergies, but since I had suffered a similar malaise the LAST time I had a cold, I just assumed it was an asthma thing.   But when a second friend mentioned the allergy possibility again, I decided it could NOT hurt to take some of the Zyrtec D that I just happened to HAVE at home.  Can I just say that it awesome to be able to walk up the stairs and not have a coughing fit?

SO, yeah.... it's working.  Like a CHARM.  I am so happy!
But I am also disappointed, because if it had occurred to me sooner, I would have been on the mend, and could have participated in the Lobster Roll 5K (the 2nd annual!) in my town that happened on Saturday. As it was, the route passes by our house, so my boys and I watched from the window and cheered on students, colleagues and friends as they passed by.

I love my town!!


After lunch today, if the weather holds up, the boys and I are going to walk down to the Library so that I can get a new library card, and enroll in the e-book rental program!  (Thanks, MCM Mama, for mentioning the Overdrive app, and program! I  checked it out and our little library is involved! Hooray!)

On the way I plan to hit up the gourmet popcorn store.  (So excited.)  And possibly, after the library, get a treat from the coffee shop next door.  The trick to that one will be the stairs vs the stroller.  There is another cute little bakery, but the stroller would take up so much room in there, and that one is so close to our house that we would practically be HOME by then, and I would feel silly splurging when we could just have a snack at home.  (But it is about the adventure, right?)

Anyway -- fun will be had this afternoon.

If the weather holds up.
(The sky is looking kind of gray. Good for cloud cover, bad if it starts raining!)


Any tips for checking out (and correctly, safely and promptly returning) library books?


1. Cuddle Bug seriously believes that books are either snacks, or stepping stones.  I should keep track of how many times I re-shelve my books back on my book case per day.  I am happy that he is fascinated with books.  I wish the fascination help more with what was inside the book, but.... we need to keep library books safe from the little guy.


2. We, um...  misplace things. Frequently.  


3. Deadlines and I are.... not on a first name basis.


So what to you guys do with books from the library? Do you have any systems in place?  Or brilliant suggestions?  Help a Mama out!

3 in 30

In the back of my mind, and increasingly more on my mind as more and more monthly recap posts pop up, has been the thought of joining the 3 in 30 challenge.

What does this mean?

It means that I am going to choose three goals, or areas of my life that I want to pay particular attention to.  And I already know two of them.  And they are not going to be easy.  And one of them will definitely NOT be fun.

1)  Practice guitar playing and worship leading  at least 3 times per week.  Preferably when Cuddle Bug is sleeping so that I can actually play UNinterrupted.

2) Make sure the dishes are done, and the mess underneath the high chair is swept every. single. day, and for sure right before bed.

3)  Write in my prayer journal.  Write.  With a pen, not type into a doc on google docs.  Write.  Every day.  Write to give thanks, Write to praise.  Write to HEAR.

Okay.

Those are my goals.

Off I go.

Not such a big fan....

I am not such a big fan of AGE 5 so far.

We are dealing with horrible attitudes, and defiance Every. Single. Day.

It is wearing us down.

The poor little guy....  he has such a tender heart.  When he realizes how naughty he has been he is heartbroken.  We are just trying help him think about the choices he is making.  So hard.

I am so fortunate that the good, cute, wonderful times are also plentiful, because without those, I know that I would be going crazy.

And I just want to say --  friends that stand by you, and support you, and have been there?  Awesome.

So called friends that judge?  Even when they are pretending not to?

Not helpful.  The opposite of helpful.

Just sayin'.

And because I don't want this post to be ALL bad, here is a picture of my littlest cutie pie:

Yummy pasta!!!