How low can she go...how low can she go...

Yes, my friends. I've seen 135 two days in a row now (yesterday afternoon and this morning). I will give it another day before officially claiming that number, but now that I've seen it, it's ON. I will even go so far as to say that the scale was flirting with 134. I feel incredibly focused right now. Maybe it's just easier to focus on that vs other more stressful things.

I measured my waist this morning too, and it was under 29 inches. Yay! I think it was 30 inches at the end of April. Great progress.

That's about all I have to say for now. It's enough really.

Blogging is Good

This morning I was at 137. Hopefully it will be less tomorrow, but I am taking a step back today to reflect. When I started this blog two months ago, I was 147. I've lost 10 pounds and I've dropped a full size since then. This is actually really excellent progress so late in the game for me. I technically only have 7 pounds to go before I am officially of normal weight. I can't expect this all to just melt off. Plus, I started working out on April 4th, and I'm still doing it. I see huge differences in my tone, and as far as I can remember, I've never in my life been this fit aerobically. Why am I so freaked out about 137? I never in my wildest dreams thought that I could ever be at this weight again, yet here I am. If I can do 137, then I can do 120...but what's the rush? It might just take some time. I'm happy. I no longer feel self-conscious in public or embarrassed to see people from my past. I can go into just about any store and buy clothes.

I'm 32 with 4 kids, and I look great. What more could I ask for? Well, I want my arms to be toned. I want my love handles gone. I want my stomach to lose the pooch altogether. I want a 26 inch waist. I want to be able to really run for a long time. I want to wear a size 4. I want to be able to buy small tops. I want to wear a swimsuit out in public. I want a boob job (nothing crazy). I want to be 5'9" (I can dream, can't I?)

Oh, yeah, back to my title. Blogging is Good. Without this blog, I wouldn't have been able to go back and check out my progress like I was able to today. Sure I could have journaled, but I would have lost it at least 50 times by now. It was so easy to go back and look at where I've been for the past year and realize that I have absolutely nothing to feel discouraged about. Also, I have the best support system here. Where else can you find so many other people that actually want to hear about your progress. Most people in life don't mind talking about it here and there, but either they get depressed about their own weight or they just lack interest after a while. I know that I've said this before, but I really do love you guys. I pretty much know that I would not be working out right now if it weren't for your examples and your constant encouragement. It's obviously also extremely encouraging to be able to follow you all on your journeys too.

Ok, seriously. I cannot get The Greatest American Hero song out of my head right now. You're welcome... to everyone who gets it stuck in their head too...

Believe it or not, I'm walking on air.

I never thought I could feel so free-.

Flying away on a wing and a prayer.

Who could it be?

Believe it or not it's just me.

Sorry, it's how I feel today :)

Does anyone have any suggestions on getting rid of love handles and baby belly? My torso is so short, and while I love my hips, the curve to my waist is kind of abrupt. It always has been I guess, but I'd like it to be smoother if possible.

DEMF...conclusion

DEMF day 2 was pretty fun. I was pretty tired, but we got out there @ about 4 pm I think. We danced, but not nearly as much as the first day. We spent more time outside hanging out, and I got to know a few people a little better. My husband and I took off for a little bit to go grab something to eat from Greektown. We went to Niki's and I got a Chicken Greek Salad. I did finish most of it, because I wanted to stay energized. We went back to demf for the final set and then hit an afterparty. My back was really sore by this point, so I only danced for a few minutes (I wasn't the only one with a sore back). It was kind of nice to get home by 3 am anyways.

Monday morning, we woke up to bad news. I'm not going to go into details here, but we never made it out to demf. We planned on eventually getting out there, but it was just not possible. I was pretty much a big baby about it inside my head, and I felt bad for it, but I was disappointed to not be able to end the weekend out like I'd envisioned for an entire year. I know that I was wrong and self-centered, but it's how I was. My husband wanted to go do something else, like go grab a bite to eat. I did not feel good about that, because I wasn't hungry. I seriously felt that it was replacing fun with food or emotional eating...take your pick. I didn't want either, and I wasn't very good company.

Of course, I woke up this morning and felt incredibly guilty. I am on the right track now.

I got the kids from my parent's house, and then we spent the day together as a family. This is always nice. We went to Friday's for lunch, and I just got the low-fat potstickers appetizer. It was good, and I felt good for not giving in to the delicious menu at my favorite chain restaurant. We had some other things to do, and on our way home, my husband stopped to get some ice cream for the kids. I didn't get any. The store was right next to a pizza place, and my husband decided to get some pizza. I really was not hungry, so I wasn't going to eat any pizza. I usually give in eventually though. Not this time. I went to go weigh myself, and I was disappointed in the number...hovering around 138. I really expected to lose a couple of pounds this weekend, but I didn't. My clothing size numbers are good though, so I am not too depressed about the scale number. Oh, anyways...after seeing the not-beautiful number on the scale, I for sure did not eat any pizza. I really would like a recount - in the morning. I'm thinking that weighing myself when I'm feeling tempted to cheat will help me not to. If the number is good, I'll want it to continue. If it's bad, it should scare me into not cheating. I don't know...

A small item to note here. I showered this morning and then wrapped myself in a bath towel. I walked to my room and realized that the towel was all the way around me. For a very long time, I would have had to have been very careful as to who was around if I wanted to walk anywhere in the towel - so as not to scar anyone for life. Now, a normal-sized bath towel covers me completely. Such a simple thing, but so very convenient and normal feeling.

Tomorrow will be another day like today probably. I'll be around, but things are a little crazy right now. Hope to get to the gym tomorrow. I haven't been since last Thursday, but I know that I've gotten in a lot of exercise, so I'm not worried about that.

Finally, I saw my sister in law today - for the first time in about 3 months. She immediately said she loved my hair. Then she said...You look good. Then she said....You look really good. These comments never get old. I will keep writing about them as I receive them, because it's my blog and I can write whatever I want :)

Oh, one more finally...here's a pic of me, Jenn, and Troy:

Next year's major goal: Tone up arms.

Here's a pic just for Kirsten:

DEMF day 1

Yesterday, I went to Express to get some shorts or crop pants. I didn't see what I was looking for right away, so I just grabbed a couple pairs of jeans to try on... sizes 8 & 10. I started with the 8, and to my surprise, they looked hot. Seriously now. Don't you just love these moments. I'll be honest. I thought the pair that Kirsten gave me must be large 8's, but now I'm not so sure.

The girl that was helping me asked if I was looking for anything else, and I told her. She asked what size, and I said...I don't know...8 or 10??? And she looked at me and said...Well, you look like an 8 to me. Um. Hello!!!!! Great moment there. She got me some 8's, and if I must say so myself, they looked pretty fabulous. Unfortunately, they weren't on sale, but I really didn't care. I bought a couple and wore one pair yesterday. I felt so good all day long. My love handles were not even hanging over the top at all. My good eating this week has really paid off in the belly area. Eating junk makes the stomach bloated, and I am happy to say that my stomach was under control yesterday.

Demf was so much fun yesterday. Had fun with all my friends and made a lot more new friends. Danced for I would say a minimum of 12 hours. My calves were a little bit sore by around midnight, but we ended up leaving the afterparty at 4 am. I think that the elliptical prepared me a lot for this weekend.

I woke up this morning...er afternoon, and immediately noticed less of a tummy. Yay! Still weighed in at 137, but it was solidly on there. This is good. Life is good. Off to demf day 2 now...

Oh, one more thing. I'm not going to go crazy buying 8's this time. I'm going to hold out for the lovely number 6 I think. I have never worn 6 as an adult (except for about 5 minutes when I was 18 - if you consider that an adult). I don't see what's stopping me now.

Back to the party now...

Just Checkin' In

I had a great day yesterday. Didn't eat much since I wanted to be thin for today :)

Had eggs and a corn tortilla for brunch. Some kind of energy bar for dinner. 3 tortilla cheese dipped in con queso. 2 cocktails which I promptly threw up. Is this because I didn't have enough in my stomach? Either way. I weighed in at 137 this morning. A week of buckeling down brought me right back to where I was. Now I can build on that. I'm going to be so thrilled if I lose 2 more pounds over demf.

I looked hot yesterday in some sz 8 Lucky's that Kirsten gave me. I found this awesome black tee that was quite flattering on me. I got my mani-pedi and wore the cutest flip-flops. My red hair is fun. I haven't gone clothes shopping quite yet...hoping to leave in a few minutes.

I saw someone last night that I haven't seen in a couple of months, and he was in awe. I've only lost maybe 5 pounds since then, but I've been working out. The jeans don't lie - smaller and smaller we go.

It's raining, but I don't give a f**k. It's demf! TODAY!

Inspirational Quote

I picked this up from a myspace blog today:

keep your thoughts positive, because your thoughts become your words,
keep your words positive, because your words become your behavior,
keep your behavior positive, because your behavior becomes your habits,
keep your habits positive, because your habits become your values,
and keep your values positive, because your values become your destiny.

- mahatma gandhi

Short entry...I think

I just quickly wanted to say that I weighed in at 139 this morning. phew. I know i'll be good today and over the weekend. Wouldn't it be so cool if I lost weight at the festival? I will be dancing pretty much the whole time - well, probably at least 12 hours every day for three days.

And for the hair freaks out there...

Jenn put some pretty intense red in my hair last week, but it was fading out by the second. I don't know why, because we go red at least 2 or 3 times a year. This time she gave me this Matrix product that is a semi-permanent color, and I ran it through my hair last night. The red is so back, and it looks so awesome. It says it'll last 8 - 10 washes. We'll see about that.