A long weekend alone....

Hubby and family headed out camping this weekend and I stayed home alone. I pondered heading up to Plymouth (about a 3 hour drive - 5 this weekend!) after work on Saturday, but the thought at sitting in the car listing to my iPod for that long was a bit much. So, I stayed home with the dog. Me and him. I loved it. No one to bug me, no one to nag at me, no one to talk to.....I got so much done! I haven't been home in so long because of all of my trips. It was nice to get some housework done. Speaking of trips.....
My Mom and I got back last Monday from our cruise to Mexico. I got MORE tan (just love being so tan right now) and I gained a couple of pounds. That part stunk. My friends kept telling me it was probably "water weight" and they were right!! By Friday it was all gone....and as of this morning, I'm at 38lbs gone. Two more to go to 40!! WOO HOO!!! My Mom and I had a great time. She loved all the fun things we did. Bingo, playing the nickel machines in the casino, lounging by the pool, and of course my all time favorite: The Austin Powers dance class!! Yes, Mom and I went up to the Lido deck and learned the Austin Powers dance in front of everyone lounging at the pool. It was a BLAST! She left with a big smile on her face.
Next trip: Colorado Springs first weekend in June. :)

I did it!!!!!!!

I can't believe I did it, but I did!! I walked 6+ miles today (10k) in under 2 hours. My goal was a 20 minute mile and I did better than that. 5 months ago I would have never been able to do this!! I started off with a brisk steady pace and kept it going throughout the whole walk. I took opportunities to jog when I could (mostly downhill!) but it helped with my time. I ran to the finish line and WOW it was exciting! I did the whole race alone with my iPod. Nothing better than dancing along to your own tune and having people look at you like you're crazy!

This is a picture before the race of me and "Mini Me". My friend Andrea reminds so many people of me at a younger age (is that a compliment???) that she's been dubbed "Mini Me". So, to her credit....she couldn't be Mini Me alone. I got a moniker too. "Mega Me". I laughed so hard when she pinned that name on me!

And just for Vicky, here's the view of Spring Lake I had while I was walking today..

Lighter and lighter...

Coming back from vacation was difficult. I really enjoyed the relaxing and swimming and the general "do nothing" attitude. The hard part was coming back to diet and exercise. Surprise surprise...it wasn't as hard as I thought it was! I've lost 3lbs since I've been back for a grand total of 35lbs!! I've gone from a size 20 pant (OMG I can't believe I just admitted that!) to a size 14!!

This weekend I'm walking in our local "Human Race". It's a walk-a-thon where we get to choose the charity we walk for. With heart issues in my family and with it being a concern for me, I'm walking for the American Heart Association. It's a 10k walk around Spring Lake and I can't wait. I'm going to have such a big meal afterwards. Walking the 10k burns 2000 calories! WOO HOO!!

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Ahhhh.....relaxing vacation! I went with the thought in mind that I just want to chill. Relax. Do NOTHING! I did that for the most part. I just loved it. The food was fabulous, the resort was beautiful and the beach was.....well, you can see for yourself.
On the flip side, the country is very poor and that was hard to see while we're relaxing in a 5 star all inclusive resort.
We did bring school supplies with us to donate to the local kids including back packs, laptop bags, pens, pencils etc. Our tour guide has a helper who volunteers for local school kids and asked us to bring anything we could donate. Since I go to a work conference every year and they usually give us bags, I was happy to pass those along.

The diet is still going well! The picture above shows the two of us 85 lbs lighter (between us). What a difference!

No vacation is complete with out a realistic view of my new favorite vacation spot...

Softball!!

I'm so excited to be on this roller coaster ride. I'm going UP with my exercise and DOWN with the pounds!! I'm almost at 30lbs gone!! It's very exciting. Now that my energy level has gone up, I've joined the softball team at work. It's co-ed and I'm having a BLAST!!! Prior to this month, I haven't played in several years, but I just love it. We're on a "fun" league, playing for the enjoyment of it, not necessarily the tough competition. The teams we've played against so far have been just as lackadaisical as we have been. I am a power hitter.....when I connect with the ball! Apparently I'm suffering from freakin' stage fright! I get to the batting cages and hit 18/20 balls. I get up to bat in the batters box, and I strike out! UGH. I'm gonna hit that ball if it kills me....

As for fun, Jeff and I are heading to the Caribbean this week. It's the work trip for him (honest!) and I'm looking forward to relaxing on the beach or near the pool for the week.

Vacation is almost here!

So I've been working on my "plan" for over 3 1/2 months now. Taking it slow and not trying to kill myself with exercise. While I haven't lost as much as I was hoping I would by now, I'm down 26 lbs and two pants sizes. Yesterday I went shopping. It sounds like something fun...right? Try trying to replace your entire wardrobe in one stop. I was buying one pair of pants and one pair of jeans per size as I dropped the weight but then everything else just started hanging on me. Think about all of the things you put on every day and now you can't wear them because they are literally falling off of you. I won't tell you what I had to spend to replace most items, but I only bought casual clothes. I'm going to the Caribbean next week and it was shorts, t-shirts and YES - bathing suits on the list! I am so excited to be going and relaxing on the beach and by the pool. It's been a trying year so far and I am looking forward to the "do nothing" attitude.

Is it really worth two black eyes?

I've stopped walking. Crazy....right? Well, actually I'm starting to do a bit more. I'm jogging. Don't laugh! It's very difficult for a large breasted woman to jog! I am finding that the walking just wasn't enough and I wanted to get my heart rate up a it more. Now I have to be careful of the black eyes that usually come with jogging. LOL

Wish me luck?