First Week and How Did I Do?? Hhhhmmmmm....

Well, I've been on Weight Watchers (WW) a week now and I was anxious to see how I did on the scale. Oh my am I ever nervous because I wasn't exactly "on target" with all the foods I was to eat. You see, I work at a church as the secretary and ppl bring in all these goodies ALL the time. That makes the will power tough to tame. A wonderful lady brought in a double layer of am-a-zing chocolates in a tin that is just gorgeous....you know what that means....calorie ridden and full of "oh no you didn't's"....lol.

Well, here goes.....

Oh darn.....I gained .5 lbs (1/2 a pound). Oh well, I guess for not staying on target for 1/2 the week, that isn't too bad. But the picture really depicts what I want.....BALANCE in my life. That is a lot of what my New Year's Resolutions have to do with. Balance. I think most of us get caught up in too much "stuff"....ya know. And we lose sight of the important things. I am in no way speaking of my family.....just other things in my life that need to be priortized. I've always made time for my husband and my children.....they are my life's blood.  My everything.

Well, there is always next week. I will try harder to stay ON TARGET and eat ONLY the foods that I know I'm supposed to eat. That first week is a tough one, ya know. BUT, I'm proud to say that I dusted off the eclipse and exercised on it daily before I'd get ready for work. I even exercised on it this am.

WOW....never thought I'd be able to say that. I plan on going to the walking track too. We'll see what another 7 days brings. One can only try and maybe at the end of this whole ordeal....I'll look something like this:

Yeah right!!  Well, at least I can look healthier and lose some of this weight I've carried for way too long.  AND to be healthier is the best benefit. I sincerely hope that those of you who are doing WW or some other form of weight loss, you did well this week and continue on your journey to healthy living!!

Until Next time....... ~Tina

Fondest of Memories

I don't know why, and it isn't our anniversary or anything, but I thought I'd write about the night Tony asked me to Marry him. I reckon I'm just reminiscent and thankful that I have him in my life and remembering special days!!

I knew the day I met Tony that he'd play a significant part in my life somehow and in some way. He said he felt the same for me. I have never in my life knew that from the very moment I met someone!!

Ok...fast forward to June 2002. It is the last day of the month in the late evening. We just got done going out to dinner and rather than driving toward our house, Tony drives in the opposite direction towards Louisville, KY. I asked what was up and he replied that he just wanted to take a drive. We get to Waterfront Park and park the truck and get out and start walking around. It was a gorgeous night. I remember it being very warm but not a sticky and overly hot night. It was perfect weather for walking along the Ohio River.

It was now midnight...now it is actually July 1, 2002. We walk over to the area with the trees and sand. I stopped in the sand and told Tony to turn his head around. (I wanted to surprise him with what I was writing...lol) I wrote "I love you" in the sand with a big heart drawn around it. Tony said, "Awwww. Now it's my turn, so you gotta turn around and close your eyes, ok?" I did as requested. After a little bit, Tony said, "Ok, now you can look."

There written in the sand were these words......"Will you marry me?"  I about fell out on the ground! He then got on one knee and properly proposed to me!! I knew the very second he asked that I was going to say YES!! Of course, YES!!

We've been going strong since and I know in my heart of hearts that I have found the most amazing guy in the world for me!! I've heard it said, "he completes me." Well, it is not so much that he completes me but rather that he was one of my missing puzzle pieces. He is the perfect fit!!

I'm very blessed to have Tony in my life. He's a God-send and I couldn't breathe without him.

~Tina

This picture was taken way back in the day.

Empowered and Equipped!! Now What??

Well, I did it!! I went to my first (again) Weight Watchers Meeting yesterday on my lunch break!! I had belonged to WW before and lost about 25 lbs but hit a plateau and quit. Shame on me...LOL. Tony and I both quit.....and I gained most of it back. I hear that a lot of ppl gain all and then some back. Thankfully, I didn't.

I purchased a Tool Box Kit ($39.95) which included several things. BUT....first of all, things changed in WW. It is now called the Points Plus Program. We used to count calories, well, no more counting those. BUT.....we do count 4 things....Fiber, Fat, Protein and Carbohydrates. AND I gotta get moving more. Today we're going to the local walking track and obviously, walking. Gotta track those points too. That takes a lot of discipline...but I can do it. No problemo! My tool box kit includes the following:
1. A Complete Food Counter Book
2. A Going Out Restaurant Guide (invaluable if you dine out at all)
3. A 3 Month Complete Tracking Guide
4. A Calculator to track my progress and find out what points value food has.
5. A Starter Recipee Book
6. A Coupon Book for WW Items worth $20

Boy, do I sound equipped or what? I am so excited.....and have never been this excited to start a weight control/loss/life change program EVER!! I think I honestly "got it".....understood where this spiral has led me to now. AND I don't like it.....But I will like the amazing results when I achieve them!! I now see where I need to be in my life.....not just trudging through day to day "accepting" and hating what I've become (obese).

Now what? Well, I have to have a plan of attack. I started counting my points this morning and we're going to the grocery store today after Joshua gets a haircut. We'll be in Louisville so the choices will be MUCH better in the grocery store and especially the produce dept. I also made a "date" later today to go walking at the walking track. I have an elliptical machine that I'll jump on (after dusting it naturally) for a couple minutes as that is about all I can handle now...LOL!! I'm gonna stay on target and IF I fall, I won't beat myself up about it. I'll just pick up and keep going...STRONG and EMPOWERED!!!!!

Here are a few quotes that I find inspiring in this journey to better myself!!
If you think you can, you can. And if you think you can't, you're right.   ~Mary Kay Ash

Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.  ~Mahatma Gandhi

All personal breakthroughs begin with a change in beliefs.   ~Tony Robbins

You have been criticizing yourself for years, and it hasn't worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.    ~Louise L. Hay

If our vocabulary did not contain the words trouble, adversity, calamity and grief, it could not contain th words, bravery, patience and self-sacrifice. Those who face no calamity will need no courage. mysterious though it is, the human characteristics we admire most grow in a soil with a strong mixture of trouble.    ~Dale Turner

For those of you thinking of joining something like WW.....do it.....and for those of you who are already doing so......congratulations on making that first step and all the steps you take daily to continue on your journey to betterment!!

~Tina

Can I do this?? Really?

Wow! All I can say is wow. But let me go back and explain a little.....

One of my New Year's Resolutions is to lose weight and get healthy this year...and I've made this one a couple times, but this year I'm SERIOUS about it. My husband wants to do the same. We both have let ourselves go. Mine came about from my depression. I started to gain weight when I went through the hardest time in my life and got very depressed (I still am on meds for it) and have not been able to lose the weight. I honestly need to lose about 40 lbs. or so.

The other day, we received something in the mail about a diet plan that the local hospital is offering (kinda expensive but we know ppl who've done it and it works). There was a BMI index rating for weight and height ratio and just HOW overweight are you. I wanted to literally cry when I was barely over the edge into the "obsese" side. REALLY, ME?! Obese? Are they serious? I've always been skinny....not anymore. Time for me to face reality. What a hard stinkin' pill to swallow!

Tony, my husband, wanted to do the hospital program but I'd rather do Weight Watchers as we've done it before and it was working but we gave up on it when we plateaued for a few weeks.....never should've done that. It was working well. I did some research on WW last night about meetings locally, cost, online support, etc. and have decided that is the way we're going to go.

I made a comment (and have made this comment MANY times) the past few weeks but especially of late. I said to my husband that if there are ANY sweets in the house, I have NO self-control whatsoever. His mother made us some peanut brittle about a week ago and it is (as of last night) now gone. Tony was looking for it tonight and was in shock that it was gone.....and I made that comment again, no self-control whatsoever!

I tell you what, God is smacking me in the face tonight! He wanted me to wake up and smell the coffee because as I was flipping through the channels a bit ago, Joyce Meyer's show "Everyday Living" was on so I stopped on it and watched (as I always do when she's on). Her topic.....get this.....Self-Control. I was only half listening as I was on FB (Face Book) and reading up a storm.....then I hear this as clear as if she were saying it straight to me personally....."I don't want to ever hear you say, 'I don't have any self-control' ever again!"  (paraphrasing what she said from here on out) You have total control. You control what comes out of your mouth and what goes in it. Only YOU! She then went on to say that all one has to do is to exercise that self-control by making the proper choices.

You know, I have made myself believe that I have no self-control for so long that I don't even TRY to exercise it. That is sad!! I surrendured to it (not a great thing to surrender to). Now.....I've got to make concrete plans......and STICK to them...TONIGHT.....if I don't do it now, I will fall backwards again. Tony said we'd join WW when all the junk food was gone in the house. Are you kidding me? That is like saying, we have a free pass to eat whatever and not practice that self-control until our bad food is gone. NOT in my plan.

Now what? Well, I believe that I will go to my free meeting that WW offers tomorrow and get started. It is at 12:15 PM (during my lunch break). I'm saying this here because I want to hold myself accountable. I will post weekly progress. I WILL begin an exercise program (we have an eclipse machine I need to dust off).

I will leave you with a couple of Bible verses on Self-control:

"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith: goodness, and to goodness, knowledge, and to knowledge, self-control, and to self-control, perseverence, and to perserverence, godliness, and to godliness, brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 1:5-8

"You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of the minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."  Ephesians 4:22-24

~Tina

"Every part of scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another -- showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes; training us to live God's way. Through the Word we are put togeher and shaped up for the tasks God has for us."  2 Timothy 3:15-16 (The Message)

How many times in our lives have we said, "Can I have a Do Over"? We get busy with worldly life ways, kids, spouses, jobs, activities, etc. Pretty much, just "stuff" gets in our way of the tasks God has for us. God gives us talents and uses such talents to better the Kingdom.

READ the scripture that God has laid out for us. It is our book....our life's book ,   We can learn so much about God, our relationship with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit within its pages. The scripture is one of God's gifts for us. It is a way to keep our relationship open with Him. God speaks to us through the scriptures....we just need to listen.

We can see pieces of ourselves in the lives of others in the Bible. I mean, think about it.....we see Adam and Eve, the first people in the Bible, the first created. They long for a relationship with God and to please God. Yet, they are tempted (as we are so often tempted by the things of this world) and they fell to sin. Sin sets us apart from God. We get further from God. But we can ALWAYS come back to HIM through prayer, apology, & sincere reading of your Bible.

We can't actually have a "Do Over" and go back in time, but we can learn from our mistakes and move forward. The Bible teaches us so many things.....righteous living, forgiveness, love, and worship of the one true God. Be blessed each of you......You're in my prayers.

Time's About Up....Dang It

I’m feeling really sad because nikki will be leaving on Monday. Our time together was short but seemed to fly!! Tomorrow is our last day together.

Tonight we all went out to dinner at a place called Famous Dave's BBQ. YUMMY! Funny, but I really think the waiter was flirting with nikki. He kept calling HER "Sweetie" and got her a lot of extras....LOL!! Of all the times we've been there, we've never gotten the "extras".....until today when Nikki was with us. LOL.

We're gonna cherish every single moment of this last day. I hope we get to visit with Nikki again soon......I'm truly blessed to be her mom!!

Minus One

In a matter of a couple days, I'll have the majority of my immediate family here with me! That is....minus one. My youngest daughter, Nikki, will be here to visit for a week but my oldest, Bridgette, cannot come because of work. Bummer! I'm elated at the thought of having Nikki here! I miss her with every breath that I take.

I moved to KY. from PA. to be near my mom back in 2001. The girls moved here with me. They hated it from the get go. I honestly don't think they ever gave it a chance...a true chance. Later that year I met Tony and the rest is history for us. We married a year later (I moved to SO. IN. with him). To say that things were easy for Tony and the girls would be less than the truth. They were tough because both sides had expectations that were unrealistic. Not a good combination if you ask me.

Fast forward a couple years and a lot of both the girls asking constantly to go back to PA. Well, I finally gave in and let them go back. It was starting to effect our relationship and I didn't want that.

Now...years later, I can't say whether I regret my decision or not. All I can say is that what is done is done and I must live with the decisions I've made. I can say that I truly miss the girls with every single breath that I take. I miss their smiles, their expressions of love, the funny side, the silly side, and even the wish-washy teenagerish side to them.

My life and my heart are in my children.....all of them....all three of them. No matter how far apart they are from me......they are a part of my heart and my soul. I long for them. I long to hear from them. I long to be near them and I long to be a part of their lives. They are forever a part of me and I a part of them. The way God intended it to be.

Nikki and Bridgette

Bridgette, Joshua and Nikki