Saturday, December 26, 2009

Seasons Of Love

So.....

Went to weigh in today and please find below the results

Starting Weight - 381 lbs
Todays gain- 1lb
Total Lost - 52.5 lbs
Todays Weight 329.5 lbs

I have said before that I am totally ok with gains here and there. I know its part of the process. So to have made it through almost 5 weeks of roasted turkeys,dressing, ham, cheesy "stuff", sweet chocolate "stuff", cakes, cookies, pies, candies,casseroles,homemade breads, egg nog and a taste of alcohol here and there ....I am very please to have only gained 2 pounds over the course of the season. Add to that I managed to lose alot more than I gained so I think i am on the right track.
ALSO....I got new pants and am proud to say that since august I have dropped THREE pants sizes. My old belts dont fi(got a new one today)
So thats good ....
I am pleased to have a WONDERFUL friend joining us at WW and cannot wait to be on this journey with her. Its gonna be a blast.!!!
I will be taking a year ending week off and wont report in till NEXT Saturday ...
Have a great END OF THE YEAR WEEK!!

Friday, December 25, 2009

In The Bleak Mid-Winter


2008

2009


So.....
You will find above last years christmas picture and this years ....I see a slight difference. The belt I was wearing in LAST years pictures I cannot wear this year cause it TOO BIG ...Heck Yeah !!

Hope yall had a great Christmas Day !!




Thursday, December 24, 2009

So This Is Christmas .....


Luke 2:1-20
The Birth of Jesus
1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3And everyone went to his own town to register.

4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
The Shepherds and the Angels 8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.
20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

O Holy Night

So......

Its Christmas Eve !

My thoughts on another year gone by ....
  • I am still in the same job. I love my job and the folks I work with ....Its a frustrating job at times but at the end of the day I go home happy and content with the with the work I am doing. I know alot of folks who cant say the same thing ...
  • I am amazed sometimes at the folks who HATE Montgomery. Montgomery is a nice city and my adopted hometown. Be nice to her....
  • Having found out this year that I have hearing problems in one ear only makes it seem like I hear even WORSE ....The roar is still in my ears and I am looking forward to the day when that ends.
  • I got to spend some great time in Western NC this past year ....Going 4 times total.
  • As you all know, Health become a big issue for me at the end of the summer. 2010 is shaping up to be an AMAZING year....I have a few personal goals that I would like to see achieved by this time next year and with some hard work and determination I will do it. I am also excited to have folks join up on the journey. Its gonna be FUN!
  • Speaking of health stuff ...sometime after the first I am going to finally schedule some type of sleep test. Lack of Sleep = poor health. I get sick with little things alot...colds sinus etc...time to check this out.
  • I am going to go hiking next year. Not a stroll in the woods by my house but a real weekend long hike ...maybe longer. Jmcfee is going to be my guide cause he is the great hiker !!
  • I continue to find so much love and support from my WONDERFUL friends. Nick, Laura, MrLucas, Jackie, John, Laura, Jason,David, Ryan, MT, Steve,Mary and Lane.....Yall make my life meaningfull and amazing. Where would I be with the love and support ...I just dont know. Words cant express my love to yall....
  • I started to Twitter this past year....do I like it ?? Verdict is still out but I am still tweeting.
  • My family....I love yall for everything yall do ....
  • I say it every year ...but I still terribly miss my Dad. I dont think that will ever change.
  • I dont have any movie lists or music lists to share. I see alot of stuff on Netflix and buy alot on iTunes but I have weird tastes in both at times ....

I could go on and on .....

After this coming weigh in on Saturday I am going to be taking a week off from blogging till the first Saturday in January 2010. As you can tell I have used song titles since August for my blog titles ....should i keep it up or change to something else..? Sometimes the song titles match something in the post itself but other tiumes i just like the song ...So should I keep things the same ?? Let me know

Thats it for tonight ...its getting close to 1:30 am and I need to be up early tomorrow

Peace Love and Happiness to you all and Happy Christmas Eve

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

White Christmas


So....

A friend of mine emailed this to me and I wanted to share


Ways That Losing Weight Is Like Writing A Letter To Santa .....


Anyone can do it


Being greedy isn’t a recipe for success


Some people need a little help getting it started


You feel better once it’s done


The possibilities are limitless


Your’s is different than everyone else’s


Helps if you write down all the things you want


If you can’t stop being naughty, you probably shouldn’t even bother


Once you’ve done it, you have to continue being good


Sometimes you feel like it’s going nowhere


Just saying what you want doesn’t mean you’re going to get it


You really need to be good, not just say you’ve been good


It’s harder to do when you get older


You really should leave out cookies


It doesn’t work if you don’t believe

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Home For The Holidays












So.....
No weight loss stuff tonight ...got family on my mind.
I look at the family picture above and I see two folks missing....My Grandaddy who was and is my Hero and my Daddy. I cried tonight looking at that picture but you know what ...
Our family goes on...It goes on with the smiling faces of those great kids down front there ...It goes on with my cousin Ashley being engaged and getting ready to start a family with Tyler. It continues through the grandkids who have famlies. The grandkids who remember the years gone by and the Christmas of 1975. Or the one from 87. We share with the little ones about how Santa brought horses for presents one year....We share and laugh.
We eat Grannys cake.....Her amazing chocolate cake!
So our family endures through loss and tragedy....It sounds stupid and corny but we endure because we do remember those past holidays, we eat that cake, we share those memories about our Grandaddy who loved Christmas and told us to always believe in Santa Claus....and I do Believe. You miss your Daddy with an incredible ache in your body but you remember how happy he was to watch his grandkids open gifts Christmas Day. You laugh when you remember how he would sneak off after lunch to go home and take a nap...
Family endures.
We fight and argue. We forget names. We laugh at each other till we cant see straight. We wonder who will eat that least piece of chocolate cake and you know what....
My family is full of crazy folks ....but crap I love um!
Merry Christmas !


Friday, December 18, 2009

Deck The Halls...

So.....

Tomorrow will be a busy day filled with family christmas time at my grannys house and i decided to go today and weigh in ....
I lost 5 lbs this past week !!! I dont know what I did different....I dont know how I manged to lost that much weight but I did and am very happy. Getting to 50 lbs is a HUGE deal for me ...its almost psychological if that makes sense....But here I am at 53.5 lbs to date...I said back in August that it would be cool if i managed to lose about 60lbs by Christmas....6.5 lbs is not that far off folks ...
WOW...

So to date

Starting Weight- 381 lbs
Todays loss- 5 lbs
Total Lost - 53.5 lbs
Weight Today- 328.5 lbs

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

The Christmas Waltz


So.....


We are knee deep in the holiday season ..Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukah, New Years ...the list goes on and on and so far this year I have been to more than a few parties with a few more to go before New Years Eve.


Here is a list that someone sent me. It is a good listing of things to do to help you out at a party if you feel the need to go a little overboard.



Always bring a pocketful of low-fat ranch dressing to dip carrot sticks in.


Dance furiously to burn off extra calories, even if there isn’t any music.


When you see a plate of cookies, think about me licking each one of them (because I do that at every party I go to).


If you’re looking for a beer that’s lighter than regular beer, try “light” beer.


Chewing on poinsettia leaves will suppress your appetite (probably due to the fact that they’re poisonous).


Instead of eggnog, enjoy a glass of eggwhitenog.


If there’s a bowl of chocolates, stuff them all in your mouth as quickly as possible so that they won’t wind up tempting you all evening long.


To get a little exercise, use the restroom at the house down at the end of the block.


When no one’s looking, spin around a couple hundred times.


Raw vegetables are a good healthy choice, especially if you fry them up and dip them in catsup.


While you’re talking to your boss at the office party, shake uncontrollably. It burns 40 calories an hour.


If someone offers you a piece of cake, explain that you’re Catholic and can’t have any.


Wear clothes that are three times too small so that you won’t feel like eating because one sugar cookie might make a button shoot off you as if shot out of a gun.


Ask the host if he or she has a treadmill that you can drag out into the living room.


Every time someone offers you a drink, fake a heart attack.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Mele Kalikimaka

So.....

I went today to weigh in and for the first time in 17 weeks I gained. One pound. Whos upset ?? Not this guy....if anything I am a wee bit relieved to have a gain behind me....I have my reasons for it but thats what I am feeling right now ....

So to date...

Starting Weight 381lbs

Todays Gain- 1lb

Weight Today -332.5

Total Weight lost 48.5 lbs

To have done what I have done in 17 weeks is still amazing to me ...Keep on keeping on ...
Yall have a DRY Saturday

Friday, December 11, 2009

Mistletoe and Holly


So.....


Twitter or Facebook....This post might ruffle feathers but here goes


I do both but I only do one regular. Facebook. I like facebook cause I get a real name, I like posting updates from time to time. I like seeing pages of pictures.I like leaving comments. I dont do the farmville thing but hey to each his own....

I still dont get Twitter....

I stink at Twitter.....I follow a couple of folks on there that post about weight loss and thats fun and of course I follow just about all of my blog readers out there ...Yall do a good job at updating Twitter. I will sometimes go a whole day without even thinking about it ...I will check FB many many times during the day...

With Twitter I always feel behind ....

See in my opinion there is an art to being a great Tweeter. You must have a really good blend of letting people into your life, re-tweeting motivational quotes, leaving good direct messages, and using the @ often. I dont do all that ....

With all of this being said, I haverespect for the weight loss Tweeters that are good at it.

I do think that being a good Tweeter takes talent.

I just dont have that ....

Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Frosty the Snowman


So....


I just noticed that I have 304 blog posts in the last 3+ years...a good many have occured in the last 4 months....I also noticed that in a very short while my blog posts will catch up with my weight loss. Or I should say that they will catch up to my current weight. Pretty neat ...anyway moving on ...

I want to bake cookies. Decorated cookies with thick rich creamy piped icing. I want them to be in the shape of Santa and candy canes. I want big plump snowmen with white frothy bodies and black hats. Maybe green and red icing on a wreath or christmas trees.

I want to make snickerdoodles (thanks brad)....and contrary to popular belief they have neither snickers or doodles in them ! I want to make Martha Washington balls.... Yummy confectioners sugar, chopped pecans, coconut and eaglebrand milk...Yeah, I want to do this ...


I used to bake cookies with a friend from Tuskegee ...One year we made so many sugar cookies we had them on the beds to let the icing set ...we made HUNDREDS...So much fun. Then we stopped making cookies...never did it much after that and honest to goodness I have not made cookies during the holidays since.


I am going to bake this weekend I think ...Maybe Saturday. Supposed to be a good cold day outside and I think it would be perfect weather for it....Might make some fudge also


I dont really want to eat all these cookies...I want to give them out to folks. I would enjoy a good sugar cookie and perhaps I might have one with a glass of milk ...

I am just feeling nostalgic today .....Call me sappy

Monday, December 07, 2009

The Christmas Waltz

December 2009October 2009
July 2009

July 2009



So.....

Just a couple of pictures today ...nothing to drastic but kinda give us an idea as to where I was am where I am today. Four months ago today I joined Weight Watchers and so far so good...
The first picture was made this past Sunday night on the 6th when our ensemble group at DUMC did 5 pieces from Handels Messiah ....The second picture is from MWITW back in October....Third picture was from our summer family trip to DC and the final picture is from the church where the choir did a broadway show...
I really think i need some more pictures...we shall see

Enjoy








Saturday, December 05, 2009

Winter Wonderland









So....
It snowed somewhere last night but to the best of my knowledge it was a wash here in Montgomery. I mean I had friends in Texas who saw snow and West Alabama saw accumulated snow. Friends in Baltimore, NYC and North Carolina ....Snow, Snow Snow ...but we got rain.
Oh Well...

I spent a good portion of today with my great nephews , Hunter and Connie. We spent the day making a gingerbread house and making some little stained glass ornaments. I remember as a kid doing the same thing with my aunt and wanted to share it with my nephews. We had fun!

Oh I also went to weigh in and here are the numbers ...I managed to lose 3.5lbs this past week!!
So to Date
Start Weight - 381lbs
Todays Loss- 3.5lbs
Todays Weight - 331.5
Total Loss- 49.5lbs

In four months I have done something that i really thought might take me a whole year to do and for that I am thankfull !!
I am pleased with any loss and you all know that ...Thanks for the continued support !
As Francis Albert used to sing " The best is yet to come....."

Friday, December 04, 2009

For Unto Us A Child Is Born

So.....



It was in the news this past week that Jared from Subway fame seems to have a gained a few pounds...

Yeah ...That happens when you struggle with being overweight. ET on television reported on it, Perez " I am perfect so dont bash me" Hilton commented on it ...and it was online on several different news sites. Everyone you read or heard commenting on it was SHOCKED....

Pssssst ...heres the deal-Weight loss struggles and obesity have been around a lot longer than Twitter,Facebook, AOL and Perez Hilton. They aint going anywhere anytime soon.....

I hate it for Jared if he has gained some of weight back but you know what ...He has inspired alot of folks to get serious about their health. Maybe not eat Subway every day for two years but they are doing something maybe.

I read on my AOL page(yeah I still use AOL) anyway on their health page "That's Fit", they said that Jared was "Toting some extra baggage and not the kind on wheels....looks like his mid section is spreading like the mayo on a Sub sandwich"

These are folks who are supposed to care about folks being healthy and yet they decide to make fun of the guy ....That angers and saddens me. They blasted him just like Perez Hilton and they are supposed to be on our side.

I hope he pulls this around and is alright and back on track with weight loss....I am pulling for him and you should be too !

Thursday, December 03, 2009

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

So.....

Lets cheat a bit and jump to the end of this blog. I am not a fan of cheaters. I hate when I read that a favorite athlete cheated by taking steroids. ...Or they took money for something....
Or when you read that a big executive at a huge company stole millions from the company to pay for his house or houses in Aspen, Paris, Etc.
We hear about it every day in some form or another ....Cheaters suck!

Having said that lets turn to diets...We have all fallen off the diet wagon at some point but alot of times folks say " I am going to cheat a little today" "Cheating wont hurt me...pass that cake" But it does hurt you ....Eating that first piece of pie can lead to you evntually gaining weight back that you have struggled to lose.

There is no perfect diet out there ....Never will be. I understand a little better about portion control but If I am being honest with myself (and you dear readers) I will have to work for the rest of my life to have a healthy weight. Excercise will be a norm for me ....Some people dont have to struggle. I will and I understand that ....

When we say we are going to have a cheat day it suddenly has a naughty sound to it ....Kinda like taking two suckers at the bank or smoking in the bathroom when you should not be smoking at all.
Heres the deal ...Most diets do work though specially the ones that mainly teach portion control. Slowly building you into a new way of eating and making choices. They are designed to let you eat what you want to eat when you want to eat it ...You can eat pie, cakes, candies, ice cream, starches galore....just be more aware of it and when you get the idea of having a CHEAT day there will be no need because when you look back you realize something....you dont need a cheat day cause I have not lacked for anything.

Cheating sucks ....Just ask the guys from 1919 'Black Sox" team ....

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

White Christmas

So....

Its about making choices ....I found a site that broke things down and you could register what you used to eat vs what you can order now and not feel like you have sunk your ship....
Enjoy....AND this is post #300 on my blog ...Pretty good !!

Burger King
Then: 9-piece chicken fries, medium fry, medium Coke, cheeseburger, sweet & sour sauce = 1570 cals
Now: Tendergrill Chicken Sandwich (no mayo) = 380 cals

Wendy’s
Then: Spicy chicken sandwich, medium fry, medium chocolate frosty = 1300 cals
Now: Ultimate Chicken Grill = 380 cals -OR- Baked potato (plain), small chili (plain) = 460 cals

Sonic
Then: Ex-long chili cheese coney, medium onion rings, medium liimeade slush = 1392 cals
Now: Grilled chicken sandwich (no mayo), Jr. candy sundae = 365 cals

McDonald’s
Then: Premium crispy chicken club sandwich, medium fries, medium Coke = 1250 cals
Now: Vanilla soft-serve cone = 150 cals

Papa Johns Then: Meat Lovers pizza (4 slices x 3 meals since )= 2400 cals
Now: Slice of cheese pizza = 310 cals Panera Bread

Panera Bread
Then: Sierra turkey (1/2), baked potato soup (8 oz), whole-grain baguette (side),sweet tea = 980 cals
Now: Smoked turkey on sourdough (1/2), baked potato soup (8 oz) = 450 cals


I don’t eat much ‘traditional’ fast food or ‘chain’ restaurant food these days simply because I prefer to spend my calories on more filling type foods....but from time to time you will find yourself out there and will need to decide what you want from a fast food place and remember they always have salads !!