End of week 4 and beginning of week 5!

Well, week 4 didn't end as good as I wanted it to be.  I weighed in at -2, so I lost 2 lbs in week 4.  Losing 3 1/2 lbs the week before really made it challenging, because I was hoping to lose close to that again.  I did A LOT of exercising last week, but then again over the weekend I did eat TWO icecream cones!  I also ate some not so great stuff at Arts Fest (oops), but atleast I still lost weight!  That's the most important thing!  Even though I allowed myself to indulge in some fatty foods, I still worked hard exercising and still lost weight. 

So far, my total weight loss is 10 1/2 lbs!  I'm really really excited about this!  In 4 weeks I've lost 10 1/2 lbs!  That's a HUGE accomplishment for myself!  I have tried diets before, and I have tried excercising, but I have never lost this much weight on any other program.  Weight Watchers has really opened my eyes to how much crap I have fed myself in the past, as well as how very badly I needed to kick my butt into gear and start making healthier choices for myself.  I never ever though I would have the motivation to get on a treadmill and jog, or go walk/jog up and down the fields out back, or do Zumba 3 days a week for an hour long.  I have so much more energy now than I used to, and most importantly, I have motivation!!!  I'm very proud of my self, and I just pray every day that I don't lose this motivation. 

Week 5 started today, and so far I have walked a little over a mile, jogged and walked the fields out back for half an hour, as well as went to Zumba.  Each week I've been trying to take pictures of myself to see difference, and I'm starting to physcially see subtle differences from when I first started until now.  I can feel the weight loss mostly in my clothing.  I've probably dropped a pants size or two so far because pants that used to be too tight for me to wear are now loose on me!  That's an awesome feeling, putting on a pair of pants you've stashed away because they didn't fit, to trying them on and needing to tighten the belt a couple notches just to keep them from falling!  Shirts are much looser now too!  :)  It all makes me very very happy! 

I go to the beach in 2 weeks, and my goal is to lose 14 lbs before we leave.  That means I need to lose 4 lbs in the next 2 weeks!  I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!!

The end of week 3 of Weight Watchers!

So today marks the end of 3 weeks of sticking with Weight Watchers.  I've been meaning to start blogging about my WW's journey earlier, but I kept forgetting.  Anywho, I'm here now and I'm ready to blog about my weight loss journey!

First, I'll recap my first 2 weeks:

Week 1:

"I'm HUNGRY!!!"  That's what I thought for the first couple of days of starting weight watchers.  I had been given a target goal of 29 points to use each day.  On top of those 29 daily target points, I am allowed an extra 49 weekly points.  I was scared to use the extra 49 weekly points.  I felt I HAD to stick with the 29 daily points, in which I did and still do, but it's OK to use those extra 49 points in order to treat your self.  After about day 3 or 4, I started to notice I wasn't as hungry anymore!  YAY, this might actually be working!!  After the first week, I started to feel fuller quicker, and wasn't over eatting like I normally would!  At the end of week one when I stepped on the scale at my weekly WW's meeting, the scale read a weight loss of 2 1/2 lbs!!!  I was ECSTATIC!  I kept thinking "holy crap, it's working!  And I'm still eating what I what!! (Just not over doing it."  They say that typical results for weight loss (if you're doing it healthily and correctly, is about 1 to 2 lbs. a week.  I over set that amount at 2 1/2 lbs!!  Now don't get me wrong, with developing better eating habits, I began to develop more of a fitness kick!  I started hiking, doing 3 Zumba classes for an hour long each week, and the days I wasn't doing Zumba, I was walking/jogging on the treadmill for half an hour, along with lifting weights and doing ab workouts for strength training.  Week one was a success!!

Week 2:

Ok, so going into week 2, I was on a fitness high!  I continued to eat my 29 daily target points (and dabble into some of my 49 weekly points) as well as keep up the exercise.  I even ate an ice cream cone that week (fat reduced of course!) but I was feeling good.  This didn't feel like a diet, and it's not supposed to feel like a diet.  If anything, during week 2, I started to realize how great an idea this WW's thing was!  I'm still eating MOSTLY everything I want, but I'm making healthier decisions and watching my proportions.  It's all about proportions!!  By week 2 my stomach had shrank!  Eating less and still getting full knowing I didn't over do my 29 daily points was so awesome!  I can say that I do feel slightly guilty when I feel full even though I didn't go over my 29 daily points.  I guess that's natural, because I'm associating that guilt with when I felt full from over eating.  But I'm not over eating.  It just doesn't take much for me to feel full anymore.  I also realized how extremely important it is to make sure you're eatching 3 meals a day, ontop of snacking on healthy things in between meals.  My snacks of choice are fruits!  I've become a fruit finatic!  I buy fruits every week now, especially pineapple and cut it up to eat for the next couple of days.  You really can feel satisfied after eating fruit.  And, the best part is, FRUITS ARE 0 POINTS!!  I can have all the fruits and veggies that I want and not have to use my daily points, unless it's fruit that comes from a watery/syrupy can...etc.  Anyway, at the end of week 2 when I stepped on the scale, I wasn't expecting to lose as much weight as I did in week 1, but when she told me I lost another 2 1/2 lbs, I was so excited!!  That meant that in 2 weeks I had lost a total of 5 lbs!!!  For every 5 lbs. you lose, you get a sticker.  "A sticker?"  Yep, a sticker!  "Stickers are for kids!"  Well, nope, not really.  It felt nice being given something that you can place on record and show your accomplishment!  So I stuck that sticker on my weekly tracking pamphlet.  :)

So now it's up to week 3!

Week 3:

I felt like maybe I was slowing down a bit.  Like I wasn't getting as much exercise in, although, I still was doing all the same workouts each day of the week.  I also felt like I was starting to let my self eat a little bit more risky, but still stay within my 29 daily points.  I have used about 11 of my extra 49 weekly points, so of course I've started to feel a bit guitly for that.  But in my defense, there was a holiday this week.  I still have yet to weight in, and I'm really anxious to see if I've lost some or stayed the same weight.  But I weight in in about 20 minutes, so I will let you know my results as soon as I get back.  Wish me luck!!

AND THE RESULT IS (drum roll): 3 1/2 lbs this week!!!!!!! :) :) :) :) 

I'm SOOOO happy right now!  That's a total weight loss of 8 1/2 lbs in 3 weeks!

Since I've started working out and eating healthier, I feel so much more happy and confident in myself, as well as feeling so much more physically happy. Before WW's, I used to get headaches every single day, and no amount of medicine would make the headaches go away.  But since I've started WW and took control of my health, I hardly get headaches (knock on wood!).  This has all been so successful, and I'm so proud of my self for finally stepping it up and doing something about myself!  Hopefully everyone else that is unhappy with their apparence due to laziness or lack of control will be able to find that inner strength and just do it too.  You won't be sorry!

This is a picture my husband took from Easter this past Sunday.  I posted this picture in my Facebook Easter album, and I'm posting it here too.  I have posted this picture because of the dress I'm wearing.  I was unable to wear this dress in the past because it was way too tight around my waiste.  It would make my love handles stick out a mile.  But when I put this dress on the other day just to see, I was pleasently surprised to realize I hade quite a bit of wiggle room!  How is that possible from just losing several pounds?  I don't know, but all I know is that I was a happy camper! :)

Until next time...(that will be at the end of week 4)

There's nothing like a clean space to live in!

So, I first will start off saying that Kayla influenced me to start up with my blog again.  I haven't blogged since April!  

Anywho, I'm exhausted!  I've been cleaning since 10:30 this morning.  I finally finished at 6pm, and I only cleaned our dining room, living room, foyer, and the kitchen!  I haven't even touched our bathroom, bedroom, or den!  Oh well, Scott said since I worked my arse off today cleaning, that he would do the rest tomorrow on his day off!  Thank goodness!  Oh, and he's also cooking me dinner tonight!  He has made me spaghetti with meat sause, and  bought us some italian bread, as well as a bottle of Red Cat!  Mmmmm!  Actually, he just called to say it's ready.  So i'll take a dinner break and will be back to finish shortly! 

I'm back!  Dinner was amazing, but I ate way too much!

So, Scott and I made a last minute decision to go camping at the beach this weekend.  We called and booked our 2 night stay at the Delaware State Park campground.  We are so excited, especially to have our doggies along with us.  Of course we can't go out to dinner or shopping, so at night we will have to enjoy the campfire.  Everyone knows camping and campfires go together right?  WRONG!  Apparently this campground does NOT allow fires!  We called and asked if they had fire pits with grills so we could cook over the fire, and the man who answered said, "No, sorry, we do not allow fires at this campground!"  Whhhhaatttt??!  We were so excited to sit around the fire, and have smores and cook hamburgers and hotdogs!  So I guess tomorrow we're gonna try and call another campground that I KNOW has firepits and allows dogs!  Of course, only our luck would have us book a place that doesn't allow campfires!

Let's make it annual!

So my spring break vacation has come and gone already.  I waited sooo long for the trip to Daytona Beach, Florida, and now it's all over.  It's always depressing to step back into the real world.  How come when you want something to come fast, time goes so slow, but when you're doing something you don't want to end, time goes by so fast? 


Anyway, my trip to Daytona was amazing!!  Emily and I were greeted at the Sanford/Orland airport by Jeannie and Sara, Emily's two good friends, which I can now proudly say are my friends too!  Jeannie and Sara picked us up, and were gracious enough to drive Emily and I to Daytona, and then hang out with us for the day at our hotel.  We had a lot of fun that first day just us girls.  Jeannie and Sara are such sweet, good hearted people that having a good time with them easily. 


When we got to our hotel room, Emily and I had a two bed suite in which we had a full kitchen, and a walk out balcony that over looked the ocean.  The ocean view every day was amazing!  We had a really good time while we were in Daytona.  The first day was rainy and cloudy, but by the second day it warmed up and cleared up.  By the last two days in Daytona, it was nice enough to layout by the ocean.  I got a little burned....oops, oh well!  I loved it anyway.  We got a REALLY good price on our hotel though.  One of the hotel workers liked Emily, so we used that to our advantage. haha. 


On Thursday Jeannie and Sara picked us up from Daytona and took us back to Orlando where we decided to do an all day girls trip to Universal Studios.  It was awesome!  I want to go back to Universal again sometime in the near future.  SO much to do there, and so much we still have to see and do.  Overall Universal was probably my most favorite theme park to go to in Orlando, although I still have Animal Kingdom and Epcott to go to someday.  But for now Universal is my favorite.


Jeannie and Sara, thanks so much for such a wonderful time while in Florida, and for driving us around.  I really appreciate the lengths you went through for us.  I would love to make that trip an annual trip! 


Emily, I had a lot of fun on vacation with you.  Except for the night where we rode on a bus for like 2 hours!  Haha, but other than that you were a lot of fun.  I laughed way too hard that trip.  I should have some killer abs by now.  lol  Oh and SURPRISE!!! lol  Love ya! <3


Now it's back to the real world.  I guess if life was one big vacation, then we'd have nothing to look forward too.

Today is Friday, and I feel good!

I'm so glad it's Friday. This means after today I only have 3 more days of work before I'm on Spring break for almost 2 weeks, and a little over a week before Daytona Beach, FL. I keep viewing pictures of my sister's kids in nice warm sunny weather, and they look so happy! The weather here has been so nice lately. We've been in the 70's and sunny for the past two days, but what would go even more nicely with this weather is the beach! Only 9 more days!!!

Tomorrow Scott and I along with the dogs are going to New Jersey to go to the beach. We're going to pack up food and the dogs and head for the beach. Tomorrow is supposed to be 72 and mostly sunny, so it will be a great day! We need to get away to some where we love. Even if it's just for a day. It makes it so much more worth it when we're able to bring our dogs along. Too bad the ocean will be too cold to go into. But atleast we can relax and enjoy the day at the ocean.

Monday's should be banned!

So I went home to NY over the weekend. I had such a nice weekend visiting with family. Friday night I played Wii Super Mario Brothers with my brother Taylor. Saturday I had the chance to sleep in, hang out with my mom, see Alice in Wonderland with my mom, my sister Emily, and Scott. And then after the movie Scott, Emily, and I went to Taylor's and played Wii Super Mario Brothers for a couple hours. I wish I had a Wii just so I could play Super Mario Brothers! On Sunday, I was lazy in the am, and then in the afternoon I went and visited my sister Rachel, her husband Bill, and my two nieces Kyra and Kali, and my nephew Deakon. My weekend was full of visiting family. I love nothing more in life than to be around family and the ones I love. That is what truely makes me happy.

Scott and I drove back to Philly Sunday night. The drive back seems quick, although the drive back always seems to go much faster than the drive to NY. We're always so anxious to get to NY to visit, so the drive seems to take forever. Why is it that time seems to go by much slower if you're anticipating something coming up. I have 13 days left until I go to Daytona Beach, Florida, and so far time seems to be going soooooo sllllooowwww! I wish there was a gadget that you could fast forward to a time you want, but then rewind back to where you were (just so you don't exactly miss everything!).

On a brighter side, Spring is right around the corner! Saturday the 20th is the 1st day of Spring! I heard through the grape vine that Rita's gives out FREE Italian ice on the very first day of Spring! This week is supposed to be in the 60's and sunny. Life seems so much happier when the sun is shining and you can feel its warmth.

Sinus infection, please go away!

So this is my first time ever blogging. I've never been much for writing down stuff about my self like a journal, in which I felt blogging is like an online journal. Oh well, I'll give it a try anyway.

I'm a newly wed, if I can still call my self that since I got married in June of 2009. I believe you're still considered a newly wed 1 to 2 years after you get married. My husband and I are going on 9 months of marriage this month. I can't believe in 3 months, he and I will be married for 1 year. It seems like yesterday that we were getting married. Time really does fly.

So much has happened in just the year 2009. I made it through student teaching, got married, took 2 summer classes, moved to Philadelphia, officially graduated in August from SUNY Cortland with my Bachelors of Science in early childhood and childhood education, and took a job as an assistant teacher at a private school. So many exciting things happened in just the year 2009, although moving to Philadelphia was not necessarily among one of those highlights at first.

Since moving to Philly, I've started to break out of my small town living shell...short of. I come from such a small town in Upstate New York, in which at first I was terrified with the thought of living near a huge city like Philadelphia. Along my journey in Philly, I've developed friendships and a new "city" living confidence. I don't live in center city, but I'm not very far from it either. Either way, I say "city" because it's a lot larger and a more populated area where I live in Philly than where I lived in Upstate NY. Overall, I'm getting used to where I live, even though I will always be a small town girl.

To change thoughts, I'm getting sooo annoyed with sinus infections! Seems like every time I get a cold (doesn't matter how little or how severe the cold is) it always seems to turn into a sinus infection. Within a months time, I've had two sinus infections and have had to go on antibiotics TWICE! Ugh! Hopefully this will go away soon!