Blogging ROCKS!

Yesterday's weigh in was a victory, even though I gained.

I was able to lose the 5 pounds that I gained last Sunday. (Well, almost.) My official weigh in was up 2/10ths from last Saturday's WI. But what WW doesn't know is that between last Sat's WI and this Sat's WI I gained and lost 5 pounds! I worked hard for it too! Exercised my butt off (literally) and ate nothing but fruits, veggies and foods that were high in protein and fiber. I got my dairy in each day. And I drank plenty of water. And no cheating or indulging AT ALL! Wouldn't it be nice if I could lose 5 pounds every week? Man! I'd be done with this whole dieting thing in less than 2 months! Oh, that it were that easy. I think losing these 5 pounds goes along with my theory "easy on, easy off". You know, kind of like your body cleansing itself of the excess fat that was piled on in over a short period of time. I guess it shouldn't be "easy on, easy off" it should be "quick on, easy off" or something like that. You know how it's easy to lose those first 5 pounds after you haven't been dieting in a while? Same theory. Just excess fat that your body that's easy to drop off.

I weighed myself this morning, and I was down 1.4 pounds since yesterday's weigh in. Now if I can just keep it off all week. Saturday is a LONG ways away!

So far, I'm doing good. No indulgences. I ate a very sensible (though rather large) meal this afternoon. I won't eat anything else for the day, though, because it was so much food. All healthy food, though.

I wanted to point out that I updated my before and after photo. Actually, it's a before and "during" photo—Still have 30 pounds to go. The "during" photo was taken while I was on vacation last month, standing underneath a 45 foot high waterfall.

I've also added something to my sidebar called "My Followers". It's a new "gadget" on Blogger that allows people who come to my blog to see who is reading it. It's a great way of linking back to your blog. It also gives me an idea of how many people read my blog. It's almost like a "sign in" sheet. So if you wouldn't mind, I'd love to know who's following me. It's on the right, just above my before and "during" photo.

Oh, and some really cool news. I've been nominated for a Love! This Site Award from Divine Caroline. Check out the cool badge over at the top right and vote for me (well, if you think this site is cool and all). The only thing is you'll have to register before you can vote but the only things that are required to register is your first name, your email address (and it doesn't have to be a valid one), your gender, the year you were born and your zip code. Everything else is optional info. And you can uncheck their newsletters so you won't get any. So it's not very intrusive. A friend told me that trying to vote was a little tricky, though. She had to keep clicking the "vote" button until the total number of votes changed.

A found another cool tool on Blogger. Mobile Blogging. It's way cool. You can post to your blog from your mobile device. Man that's nice! You can just send an email from your phone to their email address and it'll post on your blog. Now I just have to get a phone that can send email. My phone just does text messages. I need to upgrade, though.

I've been having so much fun blogging this weekend. I haven't had the time to just see what's out there in so long. I found a new blog that I think you guys should check out. She has A LOT of weight to lose and she's only just begun. But she needs our support. You should read her first blog post and you'll see what I mean. I can so identify with her pain and I was just the same way when I finally decided enough was enough and I wanted to shed my false exterior.

I have to say, I'm fairly excited about the new things I've discovered about myself. I'm seeing things change in my life. I'm making decisions based on who God has made me and how proud of me He is. I'm really worth it, you know? I've always thought that I need to hide in the shadows and let others be seen. I think over the past 16 months of metamorphosing into this new person on the outside has really help, too. Now I'm working on who I am on the inside. We talked about this, too, in WW yesterday. The leader was asking us to remember what it was that made us make that change and start our journey into a healthy lifestyle. And all the good decisions we've made along the way. (I love how everyone can take something different away from the same meeting.) I now feel like I have the strength and confidence to finish this battle over obesity and become the person I so desperately want to be. Your blogs and comments have helped me so much, too. I don't think I could have gone this far without you guys.

So here's to you.

And me.

We're both going to make it...

together!


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Challenge Update! - Week Eight (updates in bold below)
"18 Pounds in 18 Weeks"

*Please send me your total loss since we started the challenge back on July 12th so I can show how much we've all lost total since we started.

Bento Box Diet (sat WI) - No weigh in since week 4. Total loss 5.5 pounds.
Katschi (tues WI) - No weigh in since week 5. Total loss 3 pounds.
MaryFran (tues WI) - No report from last week.
Karyn (mon WI) - No report from last week
Donna (mon WI) - Lost 2.6 pounds! Alright!
Spunkysuzi (sun WI) - Lost 2.2 pounds!!! Sweet!
Cathy (fri WI) - Gained 6/10ths of a pound. Hang in there!
Christine K. Sader - New member. Haven't gotten an update yet. Will keep you posted.

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