June 24: Update

Hi!  I've been away a few days because my mom is up from the US for a visit and things have been busy busy busy.

I'm working everyday, of course, and then coming home and entertaining afterwards.  Money, as always, is a serious issue.  Things are beginning to work out, though.

My final day of RFL was Saturday.  I will do a results post this weekend.

This week, it has been weird getting back to "normal" eating.  Carbs seem to be making me bloated and uncomfortable.  I'm also having a lot of trouble getting my calories and protein in.  I have yet to hit my targets.  After a grocery trip I think it will be easier.  I have a plan in mind.

Workouts have been sporadic this week too.  It is so hard when I'm at work all day and the girls are at school and mom is sitting home by herself.

One week won't kill my results.  The kids are away for the next month and a good part of August so I can be completely focused on myself and be entirely selfish.

I'll be around on the weekend!

June 20: Update on Life

Here's the good news!  I can breathe deeply again without pain, and my voice is back, much to my children's dismay.  I think I have fully recovered from the bleach incident. 

I have finally broken the 170 barrier.  I'm down to 168, which is 3 pounds from my original goal.  I'm exceptionally happy about this.  It seems like it has take forever, but I am not only 3 pounds from a healthy BMI.  I feel better and healthier and have a lot more energy.  I also have more confidence.  I'm not sure I see a person at a healthy weight when I look in the mirror, so that is something I have to work on.  Either way, reaching that goal is something to be celebrated.

On to the next goal.  I want to lose another 15 pounds and get to 150, at which point I plan to maintain.  I know the lower in weight I get the harder it is to lose the weight, but I'm prepared for that.  My kiddos are going away for a month with Granny, so I will have all the time in the world to hit the gym to add an extra burst to my weight loss efforts.  I'm planning 3 weight lifting sessions, 2 cardio classes, yoga, and perhaps some swimming.  The dog and I will continue our daily walks, of course.

I'm going to wrap up my RFL today.  My final weigh in and measure will be tomorrow morning (refeed last night.)  I'm stopping at 5 1/2 weeks instead of 6 because my mother is coming to visit tomorrow and I really really don't feel like discussing such an extreme plan with her.  So I decided this would be a good time to complete my 2 week diet break.

My central air has given up the ghost, which does not thrill me at all.  I hate being hot.

And finally, today, I want to mention my father.  It's my first father's day without him.  I've been teary since I got up.  There have been so many questions about life that he could have answered for me over the past year, and I've had to dig for the answers myself.  He has left this gigantic hole in the family, like a meteor crashed through it.  We all miss him for so many different reasons.  You don't realize how much you depend on someone being there for you until they are gone.  I wouldn't want him to be hear suffering the way he was towards the end,; that would just be selfish.  I miss the goofy, cheerful, whistling wise Daddy that I was blessed with.

I'll leave you with our last picture with my Dad, on my 40th birthday, about 3 months before he passed.  It's blurry, but precious all the same. 

Hug your own fathers today - they won't be there forever. Never let love go unspoken.