Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.

Well this has been an interesting week to say the least.   I did gain weight and it will not happen again!  Okay so now I am OVER IT!  I have been thinking alot about this post today and what I wanted to share with you. 

This is a week of lessons learned for me.  I am a true believer that things always happen for a reason.  This past week I have learned so much about myself.  Who would have thought that everything falling apart can make so much come together?  I had to recognize my biggest weakness and by doing that I am a stronger person for it.  Now I know how to head it off, recognize it and change my habits, in the future.  I have also learned that I need to put it all out there.  By being open and honest about my feelings and struggles I found so much wonderful advice and support from everyone that it’s a little overwhelming.  There are so many wonderful people we have met here online and I truly believe this support system that has been created is a HUGE part of why I am going to do this!  This morning I feel stronger and more determined than I have in a while.  That is very exciting to me!

Yesterday I was able to admit that I do need help with meal planning.  Up to now I have just been kinda counting calories and cutting this and that out.  I have not had a structured plan.  In my about me page on our blog I have a list of diet programs and how I feel about them.  Weight Watchers is on the list.  My exact comment is “I would rather eat my own arm than go to a meeting.”  lol  I am not sure if I would really eat my arm or not, but I really do hate meetings.  Thinking about this I have had to admit, it’s not the meeting I dislike, it’s the accountability of going there in person and having to put my junk on the table!  I joined Weight Watchers online with the option to go to meetings, so this week I will attend a meeting.  However I will not be changing my blog profile anytime soon. lol 

As you can see I have a plan.  This is the start of a new week and I feel excited, happy and strong.  I am looking forward to what this week holds.  My dear diet buddy Angie told me last night “we spend way to much time sweating the small stuff.”   After all right this very minute we are making a choice, a choice to be happy or sad, a choice to keep moving ahead or stop and a choice to see the good through the bad.  The small stuff for me is being left in last week and I choose not to go back and dwell on it again. I choose to make my life better and keep on moving ahead!

Shannon

Chocolate Cake, Lilacs and a Goat

Well week three down!  I am pretty excited about it I feel like I have done pretty well.  I have lost 2 more pounds which brings my total in 3 weeks to 10 pounds.  I feel great, excited and better than I have in a long time!  When I was thinking about this post over the week I thought of 21 days to break a habit but then I realized  I have not went a full 21 days off of anything, so that would not work.  The inspiration for today’s post is coming from my Mother’s Day.  We are going to start at the chocolate cake.  This is a 5 pound chocolate cake!  I wish I could tell you that it was given to me as a gift, but I am afraid to say that I bought it myself.  Honestly, I do not know what came over me.  I went shopping to get items for dinner and passed up several cakes with cute pink and green frosting on them, no trouble at all.  Then I come around the corner and there it was, right in front of me chocolate freakin’ heaven!  So I bought it for dessert after dinner, I am certain you all would have done the same.  (this is where you agree.)  When I got home I put dinner in the oven and decided I would have my slice of cake.  When you take a 5 pound cake and eat 1/10th you eat 1/2 of a pound.  Yeah think about that one!  When I got done eating it I felt like a cheap cheating sleaze ball.  I realized although I had not been perfect in the last 21 days I had not touched a pastry or baked sugary anything.  Right away I knew that I had to counteract the damage I had done.  I decided to go on a bike ride.  When I was leaving my house I suited up in my calorie counting gadget, helmet and mp3 player.  The last words out of my mouth were “I am not coming back until I have burned 600 calories.”  Heading down the road I knew that I was going to have to go down “THE HILL” to burn the necessary calories, now the hill is a monster.  I have been avoiding it for a while because honestly I did not think I could make it back up.  The devastation would be huge if my neighbors saw me pushing my bike and my fat butt up the hill.  As I approached the hill I got that feeling you get when you go on an amusement park ride, you know that one of no turning back  when you are strapped in and it’s to late.  That’s the feeling.  So I just sucked it up and down the hill I went.  It was exhilarating!  My little speedometer thingy said I went 27 MPH just coasting down the hill.  The ride was so much fun I realized how much I have missed the feeling of freedom that bike riding gives you.  It had been 2 years since I dared to go that far on my bike.  I enjoyed every minute of it .  The smell of the lilac bushes as I cruised by smelt so very good. They are my favorite.  It seemed to go from lilacs to BBQ’s, there were a few times I thought about stopping for a hot dog…but I didn’t.  I kept cruising along trying to avoid the streets that have dogs that chase you, along with the streets that my friends live down who would make fun of me in my bike helmet.  The next thing I knew, I was 5 miles away from home.  Then it hit me, I had to eventually turn around and go back.  So I headed up the road.  All of a sudden the easy going bike ride started going up hill.  I was huffing and puffing certain that people could hear my panting as I rode by.  Although my speedometer said I was going 7 MPH I am sure it was 8 or 9!  My legs were burning and I started trying to focus on the music, then all of a sudden I found a little friend.  It was like he was cheering me on as I rode by.  Letting me know I was going to make it.  It was a goat.  He just gave me such a look as I sped by at 6 MPH that I could not help but feel a little bond with him.  He is now one of my diet buddies.  I did make it up that street and then turned to head home.  The rest of the ride was fairly easy, but I knew what was coming.  I had it all planned out in my head, when to switch gears, when to say it’s okay and push my bike up the hill all of it, I had mentally prepared myself for this hill.  My bike started out at 12 MPH and I just kept telling myself I was going to make it, I kept peddling away and was about half way up the hill then my speedometer went to 8, 6, 5 and then 3 MPH.  My little chubby legs were peddling as fast as they could, I was just hoping that my bike did not tip over from lack of motion.  I put my head down and then all of a sudden I was at the top of the hill!  I made it!!!!  Then I started to cry, I cried because I did it, I cried because I am strong enough and I cried because I found that I can do whatever I set my mind to even when I feel like I can’t.  This may seem small to some people but to me it is huge!  It is something I have not done for 2 years because I was afraid of failure.  Biking is something that I have loved so much and I kept myself away from it out of fear.  How ridiculous is that?  So my fear is gone, I proved that I can make it back up that damn hill and I will conquer it again and again!  The only thing that holds us back is ourselves no one else.  My plan this week is to ride a total of 50 miles because I CAN do it, because it will make me feel better and because I deserve to do something I enjoy so much.  Long story with weird stuff but hey this is me and I CAN have a goat as a diet buddy if I want! Who knew 1 piece  of chocolate cake would lead to this?

Shannon with a new Diet Buddy

Two Peas in a Pod

My mom and I at Shoshone Falls, ID

I am writing the post on the road.  Thank goodness for modern technology.  I am traveling through Idaho, with my mom, visiting family.  We are on our way to see my maternal great-grandmother who is 101 years old.  I haven’t seen Granny in 18 years and I am very excited!

I have had so much fun traveling with my mom.  We are so much alike and often say the exact same things at the same time, with the same tone.  We have a similar sense of humor and really get a kick out of one another.  My mom is the most amazing woman I have ever met!  She has had 3 back surgeries in the past 18 months and also struggles with fibromyalgia.  I have never met a braver or stronger woman in my life.  She has showed more courage through her struggles than anyone would ever imagine possible and has shown concern and cared for others through all of her health struggles.  Her last surgery was very successful and she is doing so well.

My mother has been there to support me through all of my trials and triumphs throughout my life.  She is my biggest cheerleader and the shoulder I lean on for support.  I am going through a divorce after nearly 10 years of marriage and two amazing children.  I would be a wreck without my mother!  She has let me have my moments of complete break downs and encouraged me along the way.  She is the world’s most wonderful grandmother, a.k.a. Grammy Pants!  My kids adore her and she is their friend ally and nurturer.  She will play ball with them, help with homework, cheer at their sporting events, and teach them about life.  I feel so fortunate that my children have such a great support and friend in their grandmother.

One of my favorite things to do with my mom is shopping!  We can go shopping for over 12 and still want more.  We always have to coordinate our clothes… when I say coordinate I am NOT saying we try to dress the same, I am saying we have to plan so we don’t dress the same.  If we don’t plan in we will most likely end up in such similar outfits people will look at us like we are nuts.  We love to laugh and have fun teasing with the sales clerks.  I usually ask my mom, while she is paying at a store, if that is the credit card she found in the parking lot.  It’s so funny… usually the clerks get that I am joking, but there are sometimes they get really nervous and that cracks me up!

When I was in high school and working at a local convenience store I used to tell people my mom was a mud wrestler.  No, my mom is not, has never been, nor do I think she will ever be a mud wrestler.  I had a few people convinced.  One friend had to come meet my mom to see if she really was and after meeting her he believed me.  My mom was even cool enough to play along!

I really appreciate that my mom has always loved, supported me and encouraged me!  I hope to be the kind of mother my mother was!

I love you mom!  Hugs-n-kisses XOXO!

Angie

My Best Friend

With it being Mother’s Day tomorrow it is only fitting that today’s post be all about my Mom.  I know we all have the best Mom in the world and I really do.  Mine is also my best friend.  I am lucky enough to live close by and get to see her often.  The best times in my life have been with her and I treasure every minute of them.  Some of the funniest moments we have had have actually been over weight loss.  When I say I have tried it all, well she has tried even more!  Not because I said no to anything, only because she has been around a bit longer than I have. lol   Last week we went to a baby shower as some of you know.  At the shower they went around and asked the question “What are some of your favorite times or memories with your mom?”  I didn’t respond so I would like to share some here.

My Mom will give you anything if she thinks you need it.  Really if your shoes are hurting your feet she will offer to trade, it doesn’t matter that they are going to hurt her feet as well.  A while back my brother who lives 3 hours away had his fridge go out and then his water heater.  When she heard about the fridge she was planning on emptying hers out and sending it down.  Luckily he had a back up because I am not sure what her plan was when my Dad came home and they did not have a fridge.  When the water heater went out she literally asked my Dad if he could unhook theirs and send it down to my brother.  She hadn’t even talk to my brother to know that he had already gotten a new one. lol  That’s just how she is and that’s what is so dang cute about her is that she would go without whatever it took to make sure we are all taken care of.  Now that is the description of a Mom!

We have been on a couple of cruises together along with our girlfriends, yes it is so much fun!  The last one we went on there was a moment we had out on the balcony just talking and I was painting her toenails.  We laughed and talked for a while and I LOVE that time.  I am not sure what it was about that moment but I will always remember it. How many people really get that kind of opportunity.  If it was not for the wonderful person she is, I would not so I am very grateful.

There was a time when she had surgery and for once she let me take care of her.  It was so nice to be able to help her even though she thought she didn’t really need it.   One of the best parts of that was while she was on the pain medication she promised me a whole lot of things.  I will be collecting soon !

There are so many things I could say about my Mom, but the thing I want to say most to her is “THANK YOU!”  Thanks Mom for making me who I am and thanks for always being there.  You have taught me how to love unconditionally, be a good Mom, care for others, and how to laugh no matter what.  Incase you are wondering what I need for Mother’s Day, my fridge leaks, the water heater is to small and I need a new pair of brown shoes.  LOL  Just kidding I Love You!

A Very Blessed Daughter Shannon

*Share a story with us about your Mom in the comments, we would love to hear them.