END OF YEAR REBOOT

I was thinking on Saturday about how many times I've picked myself up over these past several years, brushed myself off, and tried to continue down the weight loss highway, only to find myself walking down the SAME street with the SAME pot holes and falling in each and every darn time while hoping for different results... I know, I know, that's the definition of insanity.  Well realizing that there are only FIVE weeks left in 2012 and facing the reality of yet ANOTHER year beginning with my weight over 200, I prayed EXTRA hard this time that between God and Dad they would help me with this struggle.  I kept hearing God telling me "I've given you the tools but YOU have to be the one to take them out and use them!!!"   I am so close to the 100's... I thought everything needed to be "perfect" before I could be successful at this game.  Meanwhile I also kept hearing "If you fail to plan you plan to fail"... yep... story of my life! 

Well all of that being said, and according to my math-wiz calculations (anyone who knows me knows that I am NOT a numbers person) as of Sunday there would be approximately FIVE weeks left until 2013.  I decided then and there to challenge myself to an "End of the year reboot".  I WILL get this portion of my journey behind me.  I WILL be in the 100's as of 1/1/13 (possibly even by Christmas).  Oh what a breath of fresh air that would be to start the new year out right! 

My closet space here is so limited.  I NEED to move out the things that won't fit me anymore (too big) so I can make room for cutesie-pie things in smaller sizes!  I want to be able to shop in a regular store again... not depend on the size 5 and size 7 buyers for the major chains who have to pick out things for the 2X crowd!  They may do alright for the big-uns on Rodeo Drive but in my price range (Wally World and even Kohl's) the selection is HORRIBLE!

So anyway, IT'S ON!   As of this entry I am on week #1, day #5, and have tracked EVERYTHING.  The thing that REALLY helped me mentally was switching my weigh day to Sunday... the calendar weeks start on Sunday and my weeks will too... besides, hopefully starting on The Lord's Day will give me an extra boost.  The old way definitely wasn't working for me... by the time I would get to Sunday I wouldn't track ANYTHING... what was the use?  I was already out of points!  :(   So I just pretty much had a FREE FOR ALL while hoping for the best by Monday morning.   This way I start out on Sunday more conscious of the points I am consuming and making good choices during the rest of the week.  I hope to get to Saturday with at least 20 flex points left for a weekend treat (use them or lose them) with a fresh start again on Sunday morning.

Thank you Lord for the gift of a new day and a new outlook on life.  

MIKEY TURNS 1

Well now... so how in the world could 365 days have evaporated in the blink of an eye?  When Mike and Nicole first gave Jerry and me the fantastic news that we were going to be grandparents before the year was over my heart was dancing!  I made up my mind then and there (or so I thought) to get myself healthy.  I DID NOT want to start out my grandbaby's life as an unhealthy grandma. 

Needless to say February to October went faster than the speed of lightning and Michael Bradley Briones made his debut into the world on 10/11/11.  While his perfect little body was maturing and getting ready to be born, my progress was at a standstill.  Every brain cell I had was preoccupied with thoughts of our second move in the past few years, finally being able to relocate back to Chatsworth, and of my sweet dad and that stupid brain cancer and when he was going to be well enough to come home again.
 

Jerry and  I welcome our new little Mikey!  :)

So now fast forward the 365 days that Mikey has blessed the world with his presence and brought joy to so many hearts.  No diet progress at all for me in 2012 (except that I didn't GAIN - which I guess could've happened in the midst of everything else - so I suppose that is definitely a GOOD thing).  We are now permanently in Chatsworth, Dad passed away on 12/23/11, and I was working as hard as anyone could to keep things caught up at work while trying my best to make sure Mom was being cared for both physically and emotionally.  We ALL miss Dad SOOOO much but no one more than what SHE does!  :(  

Nicole and Mike relocated to the SFV, Dennis moved twice, and Chris was accepted at and is attending USC working on his master's degree.   I guess only GOD knows how much we can handle. 

Happy 1st Birthday Mikey!

Me - Nicole - Mom and Mikey = 4 generations!  

 

So now with today, 10/11/12 being declared the official start to the

YEAR OF FAITH for the Catholic Church around the world

I am going to renew my faith that I CAN tackle this weight loss issue once and for all and come out the winner!    





http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/how-we-teach/new-evangelization/year-of-faith/

Mikey, by your 2nd birthday I hope to be at my goal weight and much, much healthier and happier than I am right now. :)
 

Please help me in my weight loss journey, Lord. 

To you be the glory and honor in all things -- now and forever! 

 

FRESH START

So here you are again Monday Morning.    I have been looking forward to seeing you for most of last week.  You and I have a lot to get done today.   Time to step on the scale and face the music.  I haven't tracked anything for the past week and  I'm afraid the numbers don't lie.   According to the Weight Tracker I'm right back where I was almost 2 months ago!  :(   But I think/hope I have learned some valuable lessons along the way!

There’s going to be a third guest at our party, too… the  Lord himself, the causer of miracles.  

Please Lord, be my constant companion through this.  Influence me in making good decisions about my food and about my exercise.  Please let me not be bogged down by excuses.  I need to get this done once and for all, and my record speaks for itself –

I CANNOT DO THIS ALONE!   

Let me thank you in advance for being my constant companion Lord. 

A LOOK AHEAD

Okay, so that being said, I HAVE managed to accomplish something since 1999.  It’s taken me 12 long years (or short years, depending on which end of the telescope I’m looking through) to get from 275 to 205.  Now I have to keep going.  Last year I became a Grandma and lost my sweet Daddy both in the last 3 months of 2011.  Such joy followed by such sadness.  My heart went from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows.  But still I trudge ahead on this Weight Loss Highway.   Distractions are plenty but I have to keep making my health my main priority.  Blood work and blood pressure were both much better but there is still a lot of room for improvement.

Here is a picture of Jerry and I on our recent camping trip to Huntington Lake.   The camera sure doesn’t lie and I feel like I’ve made some real progress but I still have a long way to go.   Not stopping in Barstow when I can get all the way to Vegas!   It is still my ultimate goal to "weigh my birthday" (1/27).  

A LOOK BACK

So in reviewing the past and things I did right and things I did wrong, there is evidence that I have made SOME success... Back in January of 2006 when I recorded my weight at 252 I had already lost 23 pounds from this unbelievably awful 1999 vacation picture.  Can't believe I had unconsciously allowed myself to get up to 275! Thank God that not many people remember me at that weight. But sadly, most people in my life now have never seen me at less than 200 pounds!

I am resuming this journey with more conviction and determination than ever now. I am going to put MYSELF at the top of my priority list for a while and get this job done once and for all!

God Help Me! (pretty please?)

 

~SUCCESS~

What is it that makes it so elusive to some and come so easily to others?

Why do some people seem to have it all together – pictures off the camera and sorted into folders on the desktop, scrapbooking up to date, perfectly organized garage (Mark, you KNOW who you are!), closets neat and tidy – even the ones nobody ever sees, or the ones who get an idea in their head for a business they want to start, then before you know it they’re up and running, when the rest of us get it all together and forget where we left it.

Why is it that some people make a commitment to lose 25 pounds – and DO IT!  Work their way up to completing a marathon – and DO IT!  Decide to get their house in order – and DO IT!   And the rest of us (yours truly included) just dream about these things.   Is it drive?  Determination?  A definite plan of action?  Probably.  Or as in my case, DISTRACTIONS!

By recording my journey this time (my 101st new start on Weight Watchers) I hope to explore some of these issues and discover along the way where I have gone off course all those countless other times.

Since the passing of my sweet Daddy at the end of 2011, someone who seemed to always take some great care of himself, both physically and spiritually I have become acutely aware of how fragile and fleeting life is.  I don’t want to still be sitting on the sidelines in January of next year, making the same tired old New Year’s Resolutions.  I want to be a heck of a lot closer to my goal than I am today and a lot more physically fit!

Lord, please let me always remember that nothing is going to happen to me today that you and I can’t handle together!