Am I Supposed to be able to do everything???

I am SO tired this morning. I did not end up eating dinner until almost 9pm last night. Got home, the kids were eating dinner. Dh decided he needed to go to urgent care because he sprained his ankle pretty bad the weekend we were camping and it still hurt like heck so he wanted to make sure he didn't break it. So he left. I did baths, got the kids ready for bed. Started cleaning up the kitchen. Put the girls to bed. Kept doing stuff in the kitchen. Put Connor to bed. Did laundry. Made dinner for tonight. Cut up cantaloupe for the week. Dh came home. Made him dinner. Finished up in the kitchen. Then heated up my leftovers and ate. By that time it was 8:45pm. Finished laundry. Got my clothes ready for today and by the time I was done it was almost 10pm. Shhesh!! Where am I supposed to find time to exercise?? I didn't even have to do lunches for the kids today because I bought it for them today. :sigh: I know there is this whole debate on working mom's and should we or shouldn't we. I have no problem working. I enjoy working. I am a better mother because I work (I can get centered and build up patience while at work!). But how I am still supposed to have a clean house, prepare food, have clean clothes, buy food, buy necessities for the house, etc etc etc??? And then STILL take care of me and my need to exercise? I know I've brought this up in the past and I will probably keep bringing it up. This will be an ever -going problem in my life. I guess I'm just supposed to deal right??

GAG Challenge - Week 4

Whew! This week's challenge isn't hard but it is time consuming and makes you think! It's a 3 part challenge with multiple items for part #2. I know Sheila said we didn't have to post it on our website, we HAVE to e-mail her but I'd like to get everything together for me. =)

#1 - Survey

Week 4 Challenge Survey - DONE

#2 - Christmas Planning (serisouly?? It's like only 13 week away! YIKES!)

• Christmas Card List (Thanks Shiela! I do this normally but you spurred me to make an excel file that i quickly update every year! YEAH! Now to just take pics for the card - scheduled for Oct. 24th)
• Christmas Gift List (I had already started this but I updated based on some stuff I recently bought.)
• Christmas Get Together - Never got a chance to post my idea. Oh well.

#3 - Soup/Stew/Casserole Recip - Shared my Crockpot Taco Stew - DONE

WOO HOO!! It's all out to you Sheila! Have fun going through all the e-mails. LOL!

What a Weekend

:sigh: And it wasn't a good weekend. At least not eating wise. What is UP! Well I think I know what triggered it. Twinkies. Damn 100 calorie pack Twinkies. NOT WORTH IT FOR ME. :sigh: It's just tickles that feeling. Makes me want more. And I cave in. And then I want to eat more of other things to get the sweetness out. Actually, you know what? I think I need to get rid of all sugar. No cookies, no twinkies, no nothing. Maybe chocolate. I was able to eat one chocolate covered macademia nut and be ok. It satistified that sweet tooth. But from now on (and this what I had been doing all week), I eat a fruit when I feel like something sweet. That satisfied it. You want to know how this downhill started?? On friday at work we got an e-mail they were giving away free Quizno boxed lunches. Sandwich, chips, cookie and soda. So my coworker and I went down and got one of the last boxes available. The cool - there were BAKED lays inside! The bad - there was a cookie. And I ate it. And it was delicious. And THAT is what set me off. Ruined me for the whole weekend.

The good that came out of this weekend?? I journaled EVERY LAST BITE. Friday, Saturday and Sunday were not pretty, but it's there. It's in sparkpeople for everyone to see.  And I learned. Sugar sets me off. I should know this. I can say no. I have said no. I will say no. Once I say yes, it's all over. I will not let that happen again.

Damage - so far NONE. I weighed in this morning and I'm the SAME as last week. Holding steady at 166.2. I"LL TAKE IT!!! Whew. Now time to start a new streak. I lasted 24 days. I want to go to 30 this time. I will. I need to start getting some exercise in. I have my next 5K in 3 weeks. I CAN train for it. I will train for it. We have a camping trip in the mix during that time but I have to do this. This week is low key so I can get some exercise in. Next week I will force myself.  But I will. Back to the drawing board.

A Look Back

I was just trying to figure out what my lowest weight was (before I got pregnant with the twins) and decided it would be kinda cool to look back and see where I've been. I started this journey in 2004. That was the year I fondly refer to as my going places year. I went to Hawaii, Cancun & Buffalo (yeah not as exciting but family is there!). We had also planned a cruise that year with friends but that fell through and we never ended up going. Oh well. It was still motivation at the time to lose weight! I keep a record in my calendar of my weekly WIs. And I keep my calendars so I have them all! There were times when I didn't keep track of my weight (like when I was pregnant) but there were reasons. So let's look back:

Beginning of 2004: 202.0
End of 2004: 184.2
Last Weight of 2005 before I found out I was pregnant: 179.3
Beginning of 2006 (first weigh in after giving birth in November): 210.6
Highest weight of 2006: 213.6
End of 2006: 164.6
LOWEST Weight recorded - January 2007: 160.3
Last Weight of 2007 before I found out I was pregnant: 166.0
Weight before giving birth to twins: 207.0
Weight after giving birth to twins: 187.7
End of 2007: 179.4
Weight One Year after giving birth to twins: 172.3
End of 2008: 178.1
Today: 166.2

What has all of this taught me? I am actually at the steps of VIRGIN territory. I am actually AT my pre-pregnancy weight with the twins. It's "only" taken me 22  months but who's counting. LOL! My weight has been all over the place. It doesn't help when you have two pregnancies in there. =) I also never realized how heavy I got with Connor. 213 lbs! No wonder I was finally fed up with myself. I actually remember the photo (I'm sure it's on here back in 2007) that spurred me to lose the weight. I didn't want my picture taken with my newborn son and that is NOT how I wanted him to remember me by.

So in hindsight, I've come a LONG way when you look at the numbers. I guess I should actually change my start weight to 213.6 since that was my highest ever recorded. Not going there again EVER! But I will get to my lowest and I WILL get lower. Wow, looking at all these numbers is mindblowing.  Hope I didn't confuse you but I will look back at this post and it will spur me on!! =D

Ending the Year with a BANG - 100 (well now 99) days left

I logged on today and saw a couple of my fellow GAG'ers referring to some 100 days left challenge. First, what the heck happened to 2009??? Can anybody tell me?? I was supposed to be to goal by now, then by the end of the year now it won't happen (but I'm gonna get CLOSE!). There are only 99 days left today. Well, Steve at logmyloss is challenging us to make these last 100 days a success! And even though I'm a day late, I'm going to TAKE that challenge!!! So the rules:

1. You have to come up with some goals.
2. You have to publish those goals.
3. You have to give a status follow-up on those goals at least every ten days.

I can do that! So here are my goals:

1. I will stay between 1200 - 1600 calories each day.
2. I will journal my food every day.
3. I will exercise 3xs a week. Even if it's only a 15 min walk.

I think that is a good base to get me through the end of the year. Especially the exercise thing. I'm having a hard time fitting it in but I WILL. No matter what. Even if I have to start taking my break at work and walking around the block - I can do it! Anybody else want to join in???