Surviving Christmas!

Well I guess Christmas went better than I was expecting it to this year! I had a couple of parties to go to and the food choices were oh so tempting!! I did well in planning though I ate something small before I went, so when I got there I was almost full and limited myself to just a few of the treats that I only get once a year. Going home after getting presents has been the hardest part for me though. My Aunt Kim baked like the devil this year making brownies, rum balls, cinnamon bread, and raspberry bars and oatmeal apple cookies!! I swear it's like attack of the bakery in the house and it all smells and tastes so good that I have to be super careful  as to watch what I actually eat. Not to mention that my gram got over 7 pounds of CANDY for her gifts this year as she is getting older and doesn't really want much else. I look at those boxes covering the counters and have to keep myself from diving head first. I'm thankful that most of it is stuff that I really don't care for which I guess is a real blessing! I have New Years Eve to contend with this weekend, but I'm hoping that I will be able to handle that as well as I did Christmas! My Gram also make a Chocolate Cream Pie for dessert on Christmas Day I'm just thankful I had a small piece and left the rest for my parents to finish, that thing can be the hardest to resist when it is staring up at you from the fridge I can tell you that much!!

Lunar Eclipse!

So it's times like these that I don't mind working the night shift! I got to stay up and see the whole Lunar Eclipse from start to finish it was pretty bad ass not to mention the meteor shower that happened as well midway through!! I caught the whole thing on camera, and I am super excited by that since this event only takes place every 600 years or so it's a once in 6 lifetime kind of event! I hope that everyone who loves this sort of thing got a chance to see it as clearly as I did  here in Daytona Beach.. We had the perfect weather not a single cloud in the sky!!

Sorry about the different sized pictures I started taking them on my cell phone, but finally found my real camera in my car. Then the pics were too big to upload here so I had to crop them all and the sizes ended up different. All in all though I have to say it was a great night to see the Lunar Eclipse, and I hope to see another Solar one as well some time!!

X-Mas Spirit...

So this Christmas Season I have been really down in the dumps. I have been stressed out about work, and starting school again in Jan. My younger brother shipped out for the Persian Gulf at the beginning of the month and will be gone for God knows how long, and no one in my family decorated for X-mas this year except my grandmother. I was really starting to feel like saying screw x-mas altogether this year and just sulking alone. 

Thanks to my best friend and my Godson I have seen the error of my ways. Last night we took my godson Key to go see all the houses in different neighborhoods that decorated and did stuff for the Christmas season. We found 2 houses that had decorated to the hilt and even had their lights and decorations flash in time with Christmas music on the radio... my Godson was so happy I couldn't help but finally get into the X-mas mood. On the way home from those 2 houses we stumbled across a whole entire sub division where every house was lit up I'm talking from the roof all the way down to the grass on the lawns were done up. They even had a motorized Santa sleigh with fake reindeer giving rides through the neighborhood so the kids could see all the houses that were lit up It was the coolest thing I have seen all year!

Now that I have my X-mas spirit back I need to make sure I don't let my X-mas appetite take over will all of the parties and goodies that have been passes around I need to remember that even though X-mas only comes around once a year it doesn't give me an excuse to stuff my face and forget about the consequences. So this week I will remember to count all of my points and keep right on tracking in hopes of having another great week on the scales!! 

My Godson Isn't he Adorable!!

I don't even want to know what the electric bill is going to cost them :(

I love all the lights there were so pretty! The flashing with the music was kick ass too!!

Best Friend Ash & My Godson Keandre!

Big Fat Loser... Is What I am!!

I meant that in the best possible way of course... I'm down 3.4lbs this week!! I officially love the new Points + Program. Not only do I get to eat more then I did before, but I find with free fruit I'm making better choices then I did before. I also think the program being new gave me great motivation as well, instead of tricking myself into thinking I know all the points for something and not really tracking like I should the new program has gotten me back to tracking and looking up Point + Values. 

I was worried at the beginning of the week thinking that I was eating too much, and that my point value seemed way to high for me to lose any weight this first week, but even after messing up my weekend a little I still lost a great amount and I feel great. I know not to expect numbers like this each week, but for me the last couple of months with my weight yo-yoing up and down a 3.4 lose is a great number to get me back on track and my head back in the game!! Knowing now that the plan really will work, just like the old one but even better makes me excited all over again to get back to basics and really work hard this time not to let myself slip back into old habits. With this New Year, and New Plan I have really high hopes for this year, and can't wait to see the results a little hard work can pull off!

I'm Down, Down, Down For the Count Baby in the Best Possible Way!!

So Busy!

So this week alone I have had to attend Math Workshops at school, to prepare us for a really hard class that will be coming up in a couple of months. I have to attend Orientation for my new classes on Wed. I have 2 doctors visits scheduled, a hair appointment, and last but not least I have to do some last minute Christmas shopping for some people who I thought were not going to be exchanging gifts but at the last minute decided to! With all of this Chaos and confusion going on I have been trying my best to stay focused and track all my points for the week.

I would have to say that so far I am loving the new Points Plus system I feel like I'm getting to eat more food, and I find I have more energy. I took a peek at the scale a couple of days early and so far I am down.. I'm just hoping that on Thur. WI the scale reads the same way. There were a few times this weekend that I forgot to track my points I'm just hoping that with all the WP we are allowed I didn't go over them..

I have been trying to get in some more AP's this week, but I have only been allowing myself to walk for so long in the cold. The last thing I need now is to get a cold or the flu right before my classes start back up. I still have like 50 AP's left to earn before the 1st of the New Year, so I know I need to find some warm indoor activities that I can do to get those last few Activity Point's in! I have been using my Wii Fit a lot more over the last month and I have found that it really is a great way to get active, but still have a blast while doing it. I'm hoping that I get the new Wii game Just Dance... It looks like a lot of fun, and something that can really get your heart rate up.

Hopefully this week goes by smoothly, and WI is a success if not then I know I really need to be more watchful on the weekends of what I'm cramming down my throat!

Rocking My AP's Challenge!

A couple of months back I set up a challenge for myself to hit 150AP's by the new year... I have almost reached that goal and I can almost taste the victory that is surely ahead! In the past I have always gotten close, but then forgot about the challenge and never finished them... but this time I want it bad! I want to know that I can finish things I set out to accomplish. So I hit the park again today and discovered a couple hidden pathways!!

I felt like Indiana Jones on a mission or something because when I thought I saw a secret pathway through a small clearing in the trees I went exploring and discovered about another mile of pathways behind the immediate park. For you twilight fans I found a place that really reminded me of the meadow where Edward and Bella go to. The sun was shining down on it and through the trees is where I saw the other hidden path. It was silly, but I felt like I had found something most of the other park goers never get to see!

 This was the main park I was used to walking through it was so amazing out I love sunny FL day's even if the weather is chilly out!

You can see the Spanish Moss hanging down from the tree here, it's so pretty when you see all the trees surrounding the park with moss hanging low from all of the branches kind  of romantic in a way!

                                  Me getting ready to sweat my butt off even if I was freezing lol...

 

In that opening back there is where I found the brand new pathways, I really couldn't believe it when I found them It was amazing. My friends said they never even knew there were additional paths behind there either. 

This is the path that was behind the clearing it went on for about a mile before it hit the main road on the other side.. Now that I know it's there it's where I will be attempting my running so no one can see my fat butt and laugh!


This park has really become my favorite place to get in my exercise, and I think next time I am there I will be checking out the other side of the park to see if I missed anything over there on that side... I love a little adventure when I work out keeps things so much more interesting!

WW Texting Buddies!

So the other night on the bored an idea was proposed and many of us WW girls jumped on the idea real quick like! We all know we struggle the most throughout the day when no on is there to help us or give us a push to stay on track, so we have decided to all exchange phone numbers and text each other for support and accountability. I woke up this morning to like 5 different messages and it made me smile, its nice to have people to talk to who know what a struggle it is to lose weight and get in shape.. Most of the girls WI today and while some gained others lost so it shows that this new plan we have all started is just going to take some time for everyone's bodies to get used to..

I weigh in on Thursday, and I honestly have no idea what to expect I have stuck to the plan all week long, but It's my TOM right now and I always struggle with losing during that week. Some of the other girls said that their points didn't increase by much and they are not sure if counting fruit as free is a good idea or not. I hope it is because I sure have been eating a lot of it this week!! 

I also managed to pry my ass out of bed fairly early this afternoon, and head to the park again. This time the sun was higher in the sky, but the wind was blowing like crazy so this walk was super cold. I also felt a little uncomfortable while I was there because there was a large group of just men there who were all scattered around fishing. I was the only female there and most of the trails or pathways are already pretty quiet and can get spooky if you have an over active imagination like I do lol.  I managed to get in a little over 2 miles today and I earned myself 7AP's!! I have a little less than a month to get up to 150 for the challenge I set myself a couple of months back and I am almost there. Getting AP's in numbers like 7 each day really add up pretty quickly I can't wait for the New Year I will be setting myself a whole new challenge with school starting!!

AP's AP's AP's . . .

So after all the crappy food I ate over the weekend I decided to take a walk this morning, but didn't feel like hitting up my normal walking route. Then I remembered taking my godson to this really awesome park to see the duckies a while back and decided that it would be a perfect spot for my walk!! The sun was out and shining, but it was still chilly out and breezy so I knew I wouldn't die of heat exhaustion. The view is amazing at this park!! There is a huge pond surrounded by these amazing trees that all have this Spanish moss hanging from them and when the sun shines right through them it really looks like rays of heaven or something it's incredible I also saw a couple ducks, and egrets swimming around looking for food, but I didn't get a chance to snap a picture before they wandered off :(

This place was pretty huge, it only took 2 laps around to equal a mile, so I did 4 laps and settled for only 2 today. I had to leave early because they were getting ready to close the roads down for the X-Mas parade, and I was so not getting stuck there for 2 more hours lol.

If you look behind me you can see the rays of sun shining down partially it was so cool to look at while I was walking... It's def. true that having something pretty to look at while working out helps take your mind of the working out part!

 

This picture was taken on the back part of the path where there are the most trees, it was a little freaky because it was so quiet today not a lot of people were out walking the path, and I felt like if it had been later in the day it would have been the perfect set up for girl gone missing or something lol. 

 

 

 The white pathways lead out to water overlooks, It is really pretty from there that's where I kept seeing all the duckies and egrets trying to get themselves some dinner.

 

In this picture you can really see how big the place is, this is only the beginning of the pathway once you pass the white building in the distance you still have about a 2/3rd of a mile walk left ahead of you... I love that it's so big though there is so much to look at and enjoy. The weather couldn't have been more perfect, and I earned 6  AP's for my little walk so I really enjoyed it! I plan on walking here at least 3 times a week now, and if I start to get bored with this place I will switch parks up for a bit. I just love finding new motivation for working out though it can be so hard to just get up and go sometimes!

Goals For Tomorrow:

* Get Some Needed Sleep!

* Stay OP & Track Everything!

* Grocery Shop, (Running out of Fruit :( )

December!

Well it doesn't seem even remotely possible that it could be December already, but alas it is and the weather is reflecting that here majorly at the moment. Living in FL your just not used to the temps being in the 30-40 at night. I'm currently sitting here at work wasting 4 points on hot chocolate to keep my insides toasty while sitting in a semi- ice cube of a room. I can't believe over 2 years has pasted since I joined WW, and I'm still 90 pounds from goal. I just guess it goes to show you that when you slack off for months at a time you get NOWHERE!

I am glad that with the new plan I have re-commited and have found myself tracking accurately everyday. I like the fact that my points increased by quite a few, but then I guess when food points doubled it was necessary. I have exactly 1 month until I begin taking my core classes for my DMS degree, and I really would love to lose another 5-10 pounds before I have to buy my scrubs for class. That is def. one of my major goals for this months as well as making sure I stick with the new plan and don't give up on myself. The next year for me will probably be the busiest I have ever had. With being in classes 5 days a week for 8 hours and working 8 hours each night, time for friends, homework, and life will be very limited to say the least.

I guess it's all about the planning just like with WW I will need to plan out my time for friends and school as well. I know it will be worth it in the future even if I have to suffer and sacrifice now I will be much better off for it later after I have graduated and can get a great job. I guess for now I better enjoy what time I have left with the Holiday's and get my mind set ready for the next years that's to come. I hope with the stress of school and work I won't let my WW slip or become forgotten. I might only be down 50 pounds now instead of the 75 I was, but I never want to see myself at my starting weight ever again that was the most awful time for me and I never want to be that person again!  I won't let myself become that person again!