What a coincidence- I may have read about myself in a book

So I'm sitting/laying, donating plasma, chilling out, pumping away and reading my book. (Body Clutter By Marla Cilley- FlyLady & Leanne Ely- The Dinner Diva) I get to a certain paragraph and I about jumped up and ran over to show my husband who was just across from me. You can't quite do that though with a huge needle in your arm, hooked up to a machine. So I (im)patiently waited for someone to walk by so I could ask for help. J____ walked by and I asked if she'd do me a favor and show the book to my husband. I showed her which paragraph to have him read. D_____ got curious and headed over to see what it was all about. He read along with my husband not knowing what was going on. John (my husband) and I are chatting back and forth saying, "That might have been us. Oh my gosh it is quite possible."

What I had read very well happened to us. D_____ laughed, "Yeah right." Me and hubby said seriously that exact situation happened to us down to every detail. Hubby proceeds to tell him- "Google it. Google my name and it will come up with pictures." I tell him, "John and our son was on the front page of the LA times as well as other newspapers and people told us they saw us on the news as well"  So then D______ starts teasing us about he's not as cool as us because he's not on Google, etc.

Here is what I read:

"On the news recently I saw a couple of ships returning to port after being out to sea for over nine months. One sailor was searching for his wife. When he finally found her, he could not believe the transformation she had undergone. She had decluttered her body!"

Now it could very well have been a coincidence. Sure it could have been someone else but that happened to us. My husband was on deployment in 2002-2003 (USS Shiloh) and between September 2002 and April 2003 I had lost 42 pounds. As they docked in port he looked and looked and could not find me because he did not recognize me! What an amazing feeling when he did finally realize it was me and he picked me up and we smiled at each other.

http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/sailor-john-reeder-hugs-his-wife-jill-as-he-returns-with-news-photo/1951987

And someone caught it on camera. I didn't even know this picture existed until someone had found another photo of us a few years back and we started searching for others.


There were reporters and cameras all around us and we did speak to a reporter or two.

This picture was also on the front page of the LA times to our surprise.

Unfortunately this is the only picture we've found that included our daughter, hidden by the balloon. Look at how my son is holding on to his dad. Yep, tears are streaming about now. That's John's mom proud as can be in the background.

Photos and stories ended up everywhere and we still probably haven't seen or read them all yet. The part of the story that really makes me think it could have been us was that the ship was out for 9 months. Until that point, deployments were only 6 months, but it was the beginning of the war and they were extended. At the time it was a record breaking deployment for the time out to sea.

Maybe what I read was about us, maybe not. Either way it was really cool to read and brought back some awesome memories! Yes I should show some before and after pictures, but I don't have them on my laptop, and I want to get this published and I'm tired. So remind me and I will add them. K?

10 pounds down, 30 to go. Wanna See?

I've been avoiding pictures for awhile. But now that I'm down 10 pounds, it's noticeable and I'm comfortable with full body shots again. I just don't have a full body shot to compare it too, unless I go back to last year. (I started my current weight loss journey February 12, 2011)

So, here I am October 2010: (in Las Vegas with my Ex-ha ha just kidding)

There ya go, full body! Wow. I can tell that my boobs and belly aren't that big anymore. Wahoo! Although I really don't think it's fair that when women lose weight we lose our boobs first and our belly last. But still, I can tell I'm lost some belly weight.

Ok so here's a more recent picture.

NOT a flattering picture AT ALL... just using for comparison purposes only. Please erase from your memory after comparing. Thanks.   :)  This was taken March 1, 2011, so a few weeks after I started my weight loss journey.


And here I am full body today, April 6, 2011. (wearing a shirt and jeans that I couldn't get into 2 months ago)

And here's a side by side comparison:

 

And here's side and back:

I will try to check in every 2-4 weeks to compare with front side and back. Wish me luck!

A small victory and a new dating idea

Today is day 7 on Phentermine and day 7 of kicking butt at eating better.  I feel thinner already and that's a good feeling! I've been weighing myself the last few days and I'm noticing a trend. The numbers are getting smaller. Hooray. I've lost about 4 pounds this week. It's enough to keep me motivated to keep on track.  Even hubby said I feel thinner. By the way, I'm not feeling the crazy side effects as much.

We've been doing breakfast dates the last few weeks. We actually haven't gone out on dates consistently for a long time. I don't even remember whose idea it was, so I may as well claim it.   :)
Going out for breakfast instead of dinner is genius!

1.  It's a bit cheaper, depending on where you go.
2. It gets you up and going on the weekend and you can get more done.
3. The restaurants are usually cleaner in the morning and the restrooms are well-stocked with toilet paper, soap, paper towels.  YAY!
4. It's different, new and exciting. 

So this morning we went to Denny's. I stick pretty close to the Weight Watchers plan and I've been eating under all week. What does that mean? That I have some calories leftover. You can "bank" them for a special occasion, etc.  Even so, I wanted to eat healthier. I didn't just want to go out and waste all I've done this week. So I ordered the wheat pancakes, with scrambled eggs and no cheese (I always order it with cheese, but figured I could live without it) I also got fresh fruit and turkey bacon.  I was able to eat 1/2 and then I had to stop. I was so proud of myself. I stopped eating when I was full. I can do good at home, but when we go out to eat it's hard and it's there in front of me and I want to keep eating it.  Today is a good start and I have hope. I can't wait to do my first month's weigh in.

Here's a picture of me last time I worked my butt off and lost weight. This is my final goal to get back to one baby-step at a time.

Renewed Hope

If you've followed me for awhile, you know that I've struggled with getting the twin belly weight off. Shortly after having the twins I dropped about 25-30 pounds, but then it stopped. I've been off and on track ever since. (it will be 2 years in April)

The other day I had a checkup appointment with my doctor. I figured I'd mention that I'd been having a hard time losing the extra pounds.  Doctor ended up being backed up with patients, so I saw the nurse. Great checkup and she put me on Phentermine. I am once again motivated and ready to roll. I know I can do it... I mean I've done it before and I know what to do, it's just a matter of doing it and sticking to it. I just need a little help now that I'm getting older and this weight has been stubborn. The fact that I have to report back in a month and weigh in is what I've needed. I can't waste money on pills and a Dr. appointment try hard and be accountable.

I just hope there's not a lot of side effects. There's nothing I hate more than side effects! I hate it when there's this long list of things that could happen to you in exchange for making something better. UGH! I found out I have a bacterial infection, so I was prescribed something for that. Well yesterday and today I've felt like crap. I don't know if it's my body fighting the infection or if it's one of the pills or the combo.

I really hope this will work for me and I can finally be ME again. Not perfect, just not obvious that I had twins.

:)

P.S. I  know not everyone will be supportive of taking pills to lose weight, so let me just assure you that I will be careful and I'm not looking at this as a long term thing. I've done Isagenix and Weight Watchers and will be nutritious about this. I will also get back into exercising.  I also trust my Doctor's office.
If you have a personal story regarding Phentermine, please share. Thanks!

Back on Track (again)

I am back to counting calories and doing very well, thank you! Today will be my 9th consecutive day! I love it when I get in that groove and it's full steam ahead. I just hope and pray that I can keep up with it. So far, so good! I already feel better, and my clothes are fitting better. I am hoping to be heading to California for a Fall vacation with my family. I would so love to be looking good by then. I know I can do it, I've done it before. But why does it have to be so much harder now that I'm in my 30's? UGH!

If you want to buddy up, I could use the support and motivation. Otherwise, I'll just keep trucking solo best I can.

P.S. I really don't love ice cream. I mean it's just not that good.
(although I do love a good banana split... and Coldstone has yummy icecream)


Hubby always has to have ice cream around. Usually if he's eating it, I want some. I've actually had calories left over and been able to eat some. But almost every time, afterwards, I just feel like I really could have gone without.  Last night I had calories left and I had a bit of a sweet tooth. I was going to have a scoop or 2 of ice cream, but I got it out, looked at the fat: 10 grams for 1/2 cup. Ha, I thought, no thanks. So I had a Weight Watchers strawberry shortcake instead. *pat*

Balance and good bye holiday _______

I have lost the few extra pounds I gained over the holidays. This week has been great. Somehow with the kids home, my focus is better and there's more of a balance around here.

 It's crazy because I used to be one of those moms who couldn't wait to send her kids back to school over winter break or summer vacation. But here we are learning and growing together and I wouldn't have it any other way. They still have the choice to go back to school, but I'm enjoying this for now. We'll take it a school year at a time.

Our relationships are improving, we're working toghether, their rooms aren't such a disaster. It's not 100% noticeable, but we're all getting more done. It feels great!

The kids used to get home from school and not want to clean or do anything but veg and watch tv, etc.  They were tired and worn out from being at school "all day". Well not anymore. Not as much fighting to clean up. Everyone wakes up nice and happy. No stressing over homework! No more fighting over homework. Oh also, it was a crazy school schedule between the 3 of them. Jeremy would have to be up by 6:00 and out the door by 7:20. Tristan would be up by 7:50 and out the door by 8:55. Jessica would be up around 9:30 and out the door at 12:30. I used to walk her to school, but now that it's cold, I've had to drive her. (chosen to)
Then Jeremy would get home about 3:30 and the girls at 3:50. Since we live out in nowhere land and it's a good 45 minute drive to go anywhere, plus another 45 to get back, I didn't have much time to do anything. If I did leave I was worried that I'd get stuck somewhere and not get home in time. Talk about a stressful situation. If I need to go somewhere now, we just go. It's all a learning experience.

In a way, I wish I had done this a long time ago. It might have been nice to have them home while we were in San Diego. and John was in the Navy. But then again the teachers there were great. (I'll give them that! John and I aren't big fans of living in San Diego. It's a nice place to *visit* but our experiences of living there weren't the best. We did meet some great people there, but there were too many unfriendly people. Could have been the military environment, the crappy area, but that was our experience.)

I'm not 100% against public school! I want to make that clear. There are some great teachers out there and some great schools. However, not all the teachers are great and not all the schools are great. Sometimes I am shocked and surprised to see how a teacher treats her students and how little patience they can have. I'm just happy to know that I am now confident that I can give my kids what they need. I am also getting plenty in return.