Disney Pics

Here are a few of the many pictures we took while we were on vacation...

Weigh in and measurements

I weighed myself this morning and I was very happy to see that I already lost my vacation weight plus some! I guess most of it must have been water weight. I must have eaten a TON of sodium while eating all that horrible food. I have noticed that since Monday I have been peeing a lot. (I know....TMI) Below are my stats for this week. Miranda so graciously pointed out that I have only posted my stats twice since we started the blog so I couldn't let her show me up this time! You will notice that I am posting all of my measurements as well:

Weight: 247 lbs

Neck: 15 1/2"

Bust: 48"

Waist: 45 3/4"

Hips: 50 1/4"

Thighs: 24 1/2"

Calves: 17"

Arms: 14"

So there you go. Now the whole world can see just how big my thighs actually are!!! I hope that they will get smaller and smaller as time passes on.

Good night!!

Week 5 check in

Here's my stats for this week:

Weight: 223

BMI: 32.00

Waist: 43"

Arm: 14"

Thigh: 26"

Hips: 47"

Chest: 48.5"

Neck: 14.5"

Prom Dress

I fit into my prom dress :) Not such a big deal because I wasn't skinny winny in high school, but still cool! Haven't been able to do that in a while!

Why do vacations have to end???

You may have noticed that I was on a short hiatus last week. Ric, the girls, and I were in the Sunshine State having fun at Disneyworld. It was the first time any of us have ever been and we had a blast! I wanna go back already!! I was so amazed at the technology that Disney uses in all of its attractions. And some of those attractions have been around for many years. The best part of the trip was seeing the actual castle up close and personal. It is amazingly beautiful...especially at night. I think I enjoyed it more than the girls did!

I must make a confession, though. The whole week we were on vacation I did not make the right food choices. I felt like a total failure! The worst part is that when I ate the things I have been craving for the last few months they didn't even taste good! After I would eat anything bad I would feel disappointment and guilt. What good is that?? The good thing is that I drank plenty of water and walked a bunch. The bad thing is that I gained around 5 lbs. When I stepped on the scale last night after we got home I weighed 255 lbs. I weighed 250 lbs the morning that we left. This morning I weighed again and I was back down to 253 lbs, which is a good thing. Tomorrow is our 1 month anniversary of starting this journey and if I happen to weigh in at 250 lbs again that will mean I have lost a total of 10 lbs in one month! I definitely think I will be happy with that! I will try and post some pics later this week. We have been so busy since we have been back and tomorrow is my first day back at work. This weekend we plan on sitting down and sorting through the pictures. There are soooo many! I hope you all had a wonderful week last week and that this week is even better!

Shalena

Check this out

Tonight I stir fried some mixed veggies and at the last minute I added the crunchy kind of chow mein noodles, and when I got a forkfull of broccoli and red bell pepper I realized...

It tasted exactly like the fried veggies that come with the calamari at Red Lobster.

Yum.

Weigh in week 4

Here's my official stats for this week:

Weight: 228.6

After the rain

I took a nap today. It was a dark and rainy day, perfect for napping. I never take naps, but it was nice to get some much needed rest. I get woken up most mornings by Revelry playing over the loudspeakers on post at 0630, and my rest is just shot after that- tossing and turning, trying to ignore the dogs licking and poking me to get up and let them outside. Sometimes I wake up and Heisman is staring at me. As soon as I open my eyes he licks my face and jumps off the bed, running toward the door barking. That's hard to ignore. But, I digress.

After my nap I decided to take a bike ride since it had stopped raining, and I got to experience the post like I never have before. Usually if it's raining I just stay inside or run around doing errands in the car, so I've never taken the time to stop and take in the smells and how it feels outside after the rain. It was amazing. Every smell was enhanced and the color of the sky highlighted textures I've never noticed before...plus it was a ton of fun to ride through the puddles and mud! It's just not a good ride unless you have mud running down your legs and back afterwards :)

One of the things I love about Colorado is how cool it is after rain, especially after the toasty couple of weeks we've been having. I can walk outside without my glasses fogging up, without a swarm of mosquitoes surrounding me, and without my lungs drowning in the humidity! But, don't get too jealous- I was nervous to ride up a certain part of post because of the bears. You don't get that in Texas :)

Strawberry, Pineapple and Blueberry Smoothie

What you need:

1/4 C frozen pineapple

4-5 fresh strawberries

1/4 C fresh blueberries

1 C 1% lowfat milk

Directions:

1. Rinse and stem fresh fruit and place in blender in the following order: Pineapple, blueberries, strawberries.
2. Pour milk over the fruit and blend for about 20 seconds, or until the fruit is completely blended.
3. Enjoy!

Usually when I make smoothies I use all frozen fruits and add 1 pkt of Equal because frozen fruit loses its sweetness. Using some fresh fruit eliminates the need for artificial sweeteners or sugar.

Tostadas de jaiba

I got this recipe from a friend, it's a traditional recipe for HOT days when you just want something light and cool to fill you up! It's cheap, easy, and tastes so good!

What you need:

1/2 lb imitation crab meat

3 regular tomatoes (or 4-5 roma tomatoes)

2 medium white onions

1-2 bunches of cilantro

2 limes

salt

Corn tostadas (Mission sells them in a tall red package by the tortillas)

Hot sauce for topping if you like

Directions:

1. Shred the crab into flakes along the natural lines. It should be pretty easy to shred apart.
2. Dice tomatoes, onions, and cilantro according to your preference. I like to taste everything together and individually so I chop my onions and tomatoes sort of big. My friend's son doen't like onions too much, so she cuts hers small.
3. Mix the crab, onion, tomato, cilantro in a medium bowl, then squeeze lime juice over and stir well.
4. Add salt to taste, spoon onto tostadas and enjoy!

Imitation crab is actually made out of fish, so it has low calories and fat, but the processing of the fish adds sodium. Overall it's a light and healthy meal. I'll post the nutrition fact later. I accidentally threw out the package :)

Well, I got the results from my Personal Wellness Profile appointment at the wellness center, and even though our new official weigh in day is Wednesday, I thought I'd post new pictures along with the results from my profile...

Current measurements:

Weight: 227.6

BMI: 32.7

% fat: 47.9

Fat mass (amount of fat in my body): 104.4 lb

Fat free mass (weight of muscle, bones, skin, tissue, organs and everything but fat): 123.21 lb

Desirable ranges:

Fat %: 17-24%

Fat mass: 25.2-39.01 lbs

To be at the upper end of the desirable range for fat mass, I need to lose 65.39 lbs of fat, which would put my total weight at 162.21 lbs- all else held constant. If I didn't have an ounce of fat on my body I would weigh 123.21 lbs!

According to my profile, which is a compilation of answers to questions that were asked along with my stats, my health age is 22.9 years. This measurement reflects my current health practices and how they affect longevity. If I were to do the test they do on The Biggest Loser to determine the actual age of their bodies, I'm sure it would be much higher. But this is a good indicator that the choices I'm making right now are healthy. If I were to reduce my weight to the desirable range my potential health age is 21.2 years. For this health assessment, their suggestions for good health practices are as follows:

1. Not smoking
2. Regular aerobic exercise
3. Eat breakfast daily
4. Limit snacking (of unhealthy snacks)
5. Maintain a healthy weight
6. Get adequate sleep, 7-8 hrs/night
7. Don't drink or limit to 1-2 drinks in any one day

I'm going to redo the measurements above in 6 weeks, and again in 12 weeks, just to see where I am. If I continue to lose just 2 lbs of fat a week, I will be in the desirable range of body fat within 32 weeks, or by the end of next February! That just happens to be when Edward is coming home for R&R, so that'll be an exciting month for me!!!

My day on the river

On Friday I woke up and went to a clinic for a wellness exam. I'll post the results later, but while I was sitting in the wellness office I decided I wasn't going to waste the weekend sitting around at home or randomly wandering around town because I'm bored. I wanted to do something I've never done, something I was kind of afraid to do. So, I looked up what the Fort Carson Outdoor Recreation Center had going on this weekend and my choices were rafting, horseback riding, or kayaking.

I've been wanting to try kayaking for a while, but I was afraid I wouldn't fit in the kayaks (even though the guy at the rec center told me I would) and I have to admit, I'm kind of afraid of water activities. Water is very powerful, and while I'm not afraid of water as a whole, being at its mercy makes me nervous. So, since the white water rafting and horseback riding trips were full, I decided on kayaking. My day of reckoning had come.

The class started on Friday night, and we picked out kayaks and other gear, then went to the indoor pool on post to practice using the boats. I was so proud of myself for fitting in the kayak (although I barely did. I don't know what that guy at the rec center was thinking, because when I asked I was about 20 lbs heavier. I would have looked like a sausage stuffed in that kayak) and when we got to the pool I lost all excitement because I couldn't get into the thing in the water without help. I hit my head on the instructor's boat a couple of times by falling over when he thought I had it. I felt like an idiot. Thankfully there was only one other student, and he just laughed at me :)

When I finally did get in the boat I did great at paddling, keeping balance, and exiting the boat when I flipped. However, when it came time to flipping back over without exiting the boat, I failed miserably. Oh, I did wonderful when we were practicing, but when I had to be in the middle of the pool, flip myself over and wait for someone to come rescue me by bringing the bow of their boat close enough for me to grab and flip myself back over (called a T rescue, and the move I have to do to flip back over is called the hip snap) I just couldn't do it. I panicked everytime and put my hands wrong on the boat or tried to use both knees to flip over on one side, which doesn't work. I didn't feel comfortable enough to go on the river in the kayak because if I flipped I would have to exit the boat and it would take about 15 minutes to get to the side, get back in the boat, and get back into the flow, and I didn't want to slow the whole team down like that.

So I ended up using an inflatable open top kayak called a duckie. I was very comfortable in it, and it was a lot of fun. In the closed kayak my feet fell asleep and my legs cramped, I got HUGE nasty bruises on the inside of my knees from doing the flips to many times, and my hips were punished everytime I had to get back into the kayak. When I woke up this morning I was so sore from adding new exercises this week and being in the kayak on Friday that I could hardly move. But once my adrenaline started pumping it was easy to forget about my pains and enjoy the ride on the river. We saw deer and squirrels, and I thought I saw a skunk, but it ended up being a tree trunk. All in all it was a great experience, but I'm feeling the punishment to my body everywhere. My ear hurts, my hands hurt, my butt hurts, my hips, my knees, my abs, my arms, my shoulders, my back, head, neck, feet, calves, thighs, pecs, even my elbows.

Maybe I did too much this week...but I had a lot of fun!

Week 3 weigh-in

I have the best sister in the world. FYI.

Today was the first official weigh-in for my team weight loss challenge, so I thought I'd use this weight to post here, as well.

Current weight: 230.7 lbs!

I don't care what you say, canteloupe is not a chocolate chip cookie

I want a chocolate chip cookie so bad right now. Actually, I want a whole pan of chocolate chip cookies. I would even go for a roll of chocolate chip cookie dough. Or just a chocolate chip.

I tried the whole "Eat fruit instead of the fatty food you're craving" idea...yeah. I don't care who you are or where you're from, if you taste a chocolate chip cookie and you are craving a chocolate chip cookie, canteloupe is not going to fill that craving. I ate canteloupe. I ate strawberries. I ate cheese and crackers. I ate carrots. I still want a chocolate chip cookie. I'll probably still want one tomorrow. But I can't eat just one if I buy a package of dough, so I'm going to have to wait until I go to a party where there's some already made and I can have just one.

I've been getting rid of foods in my house that tempt me too much. I'm not an emotional eater, and I don't eat when I'm bored, but when I taste something I really, really like I'll eat and eat and eat until it's gone without even realizing it. For example, I made cinnamon rolls the other day, and I had one right when they came out of the oven and I put the icing on- they were still warm :) Before I even knew it I had eaten FIVE!! They were small, but still! FIVE! I was so unsure whether I could stop myself from eating more that I took the rest to my neighbor right away.

I have been doing that a lot lately. There were left over chocolate bars, marshmallows and graham crackers from our camping trip, and one day I ate TWO s'mores after dinner! All in all it was just one serving of each of the ingredients, but I should have stopped at one s'more. I should have stopped at none. So I had to give away the chocolate bars and marshmallows. Yesterday for dinner I bought a roasted chicken at the grocery store and I decided to buy a package of Kings Hawaiian bread rolls to go along with it. Hawaiian bread is my achilles heel. I could literally eat a whole loaf of Hawaiian bread and not even feel guilty about it...yum. But the serving size of the rolls is one roll. While I was at the store I was absolutely sure I would eat the whole package in two days (if not lastnight) that I passed it up at first. They were on sale, so they were right there in front of the store when I walked in. Then when I went to check out- BAM!- they were right there again, I had to get them. What can I say? They serendipitously appeared at the register, calling my name. But, I steeled myself for the temptation and resolved right then and there that I was only going to eat one. I ate three. When I woke up this morning the package was sitting right there on my counter, calling my name. But I ate cereal and didn't think about them again until dinner, when I saw them on the counter again. I shoved my chicken tacos and strawberries down my throat, then grabbed the Hawaiian rolls and went to a friend's house, where I instantly handed the little boogers over to safer hands.

Man, it's tough work fighting temptation! Anyway, here's what I had to eat today:

Breakfast: Honey nut cheerios and one grapefruit
Snack: Pomegranate fruit roll
Lunch: Herb baked chicken breast, grilled squash, small salad and a banana
Snack: Peach, strawberries
Dinner: Chicken tacos in corn tortillas with cilantro, spinach, and yellow peppers
Snack: carrots, cheese, wheat thins, strawberries

No chocolate chip cookies :) But only because I worked out really hard today and I didn't want to waste it.

Nightmare

I love McDonald's. I'm not ashamed to say it. But, lastnight I had a dream that Shalena and I were traveling and we were hungry, and the only place open was McDonald's. I didn't want to go because of the temptation to get eat something that I would regret later, but in the end the SMELL of the place got me!

We went in and ordered, and they didn't have any side options except for fries, and their fry containers were HUGE! They just kept stuffing and stuffing the fries into this box until it looked like they couldn't fit anymore, then they kept shoving them in until they were so packed that the grease started leaking out of each individual fry and then just started dripping out of the container. I couldn't eat them.

They had no chicken sandwhiches, nothing but Big Macs and nuggets, so I ordered the nuggets with iced tea to drink. BUT- they ran out of cups so they had to put my iced tea in this little toy cup that they had as the kid's meal toy, and it took an HOUR to get my nuggets. When I finally got them I opened my nuggets, and there were these small dried up little pieces of chicken jerky, but I was so hungry that I ate them anyway. It was awful. When I went up to talk to the manager I noticed that all of the employees were walking around with no shoes on!

When I woke up I was craving strawberries. Weird, huh?

Checking in

You may or may not have noticed that I have not posted in a couple of days. Mostly because I had a pretty busy weekend because my husband and I both celebrated our birthdays on Saturday and Sunday. But also because I did not do very well this weekend when it came to caloric intake. What can I say?? It was my birthday weekend! Everyone needs a break sometimes! I'm feeling a little guilty about it if you can tell. :) Anyhow...my employees at work all pitched in and made lunch for me and it was great! They made a casserole of sorts that included chicken breasts, broccoli, fettuccine noodles, and Alfredo sauce. I usually do not like anything Alfredo, but this was soooo good. And it ended up totaling around 400 calories! Everyone at work knows how hard I am working to get this weight off and they have been so supportive. They wanted to make sure they made something that was going to be low in calories. At the end of the day I ended up below my daily goal of 1200 calories and it was nice because I had eaten so much this weekend:

• Breakfast: Cottage cheese and yogurt (220 calories)
• Lunch: mentioned above along with a very small sliver of cake (458 calories)
• Snack: Special K strawberry cereal bar (90 calories)
• Dinner: Parmesan encrusted tilapia, broccoli, and sweet corn (310 calories)
• Water intake: 72 ounces
• TOTAL CALORIES: 1078

By the way, I am very excited because we are getting ready to leave on Saturday morning for Orlando, Florida! We are going to Disney World and it is the first time that any of us have been. The girls are super excited and ask me every single morning if it is almost time to leave! Well, I'm off to start packing. Hope you have a great week!

Vegetarian Shredded Stir Fry

Don't have time to put the recipe right now...I'll post it later. Enjoy the picture for right now :)

PS

I do not like Apple Blackberry sauce.

Natural Grocers

I went to an organic market today. It was expensive. They didn't have pictures of most of the veggies, so I didn't know what was what (except for the normal stuff). But I bought some things to try them...cereal, Apple Blackberry Sauce, noodle soup...they were on sale. I guess I'm too cheap to buy everything organic. The lady in front of me only had a few things, normal mid-week purchases to supplement what you already have, and her bill was over $30! Hmph.

My new ingredient for the week is sunflower seeds. I know, it's not that exciting and new, but I've never prepared dishes with them, so I'm going to have to look up some recipes. I'm trying new proteins. I pretty much have my base proteins that I know I like- chicken, fish, tofu- but I'm going to start trying to put incomplete proteins together to see how I do. I should probably focus on learning new vegetables, but I want to try whole new dishes, not just parts of dishes. If I come up with anything good I'll post it, and I'll definitely let you know where the recipe came from. If there's no credit, I made it up like all the previous recipes I've posted.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

PS- I had Chick-fil-a today...no butter on the bun, no value size. I didn't realize how different it would be without butter on the bun! It was too dry or something. I don't know. But it was still good. I'm thinking I'm going to have to start ordering my meal as separate pieces instead of a #1 because it was too much food. I felt stuffed like Thanksgiving after. But bonus- I tried on some jeans afterward and I guess I'm a definite 18, almost in a 16! Woo-hoo!

On a roll

I decided to take advantage of all the services I can while we are in the military, and one of the services provided at our hospital is Nutrition. I have an appt set for Tuesday with a dietician to go over my eating habits and do an overall health screening. I just had my well woman exam a couple of months ago, but I can't get the results for the anything but the pap without an appt with my primary care manager, and that takes weeks. So, as soon as I get results back I will post them...it'll be cool to see how much they change in the coming weeks!

I also went to the gym on post for the first time today. There are actually 4 or 5 full gyms available for use, so I really have no excuses for not working out. I usually use the equipment at our housing office because it's pretty close to my house, but their hours aren't as convenient, and I fell in love with the fitness center that Edward used when he was here. There are a TON of machines, and all sorts of classes that I can attend. Everything is free except the classes, but they are only $2/session, which is still cheaper than buying a membership somewhere else. I love the Army today. Ask me tomorrow, might get a difference response, but today it rocks!

My main reason for going to the gym today was to sign up for a team weight loss challenge that the post is having. It's 12 weeks long, and there will be prizes for most weight loss for teams and individuals. I'm looking forward to starting...first weigh in is next Wednesday. They put me on a team with other individuals that didn't have a team, and our name is the Fighting Fatties :) I'm pretty sure I'm the only female on my team, so hopefully I represent well! There will be a weigh-in every week, and if you miss the weigh in you have to pay $2 (which goes toward the prize money) and if you GAIN weight you have to pay $2/pound gained! I think that's a pretty cool incentive to keep losing! I'm excited!

Tyler Perry Rocks!!!

I have recently been introduced to a group of movies that were written, produced, and directed (and sometimes starring) Tyler Perry. For those of you who have not had the privilege to see any of his movies I would strongly suggest that you do so right away. His stories are all fictional but are so moving, funny, and compelling that you feel like he must have hidden cameras in your house and written them about you! The first movie that came out was called Diary of a Mad Black Woman and should definitely be seen first. Then I would highly recommend that you immediately watch the movie Why Did I Get Married. Heck.....you should probably just go to Blockbuster and rent all of his movies and invite a bunch of women over and have an all day movie marathon! I guarantee that the first thing you will want to do after watching his movies is watch them over again with your husband by your side! (Trust me....I have been trying to get Ric to watch these movies with me for a while but have been unsuccessful so far.) I know it sounds weird, but Tyler Perry has such a strong understanding of how women feel and think. He hits the nail on the head in each of his stories. After you do this I promise you will be recommending the same thing to all of your women friends. Not just because you want them to see a great movie, but because you will definitely want someone to talk to about all the funny parts! I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!!

Shalena

It happened today

Today must be a day for confessions.

Today at the commissary they were selling two large bottles of French's mustard for $0.49 (I never realized there wasn't a cent sign on the keyboard! If there is and I'm missing it, I'm sure Shalena will make fun of me...) and of course I had to get them because it was only $0.49!!! They required you to have 6 coupons that the nice commissary lady gave me when I picked up the mustard bottles, and when I went to check out, the self-check out machine would only accept one coupon. I didn't notice until the worker came and told me that she would have to override it, and by that time I had already scanned a second coupon and dropped it in the self-service machine. I had to go back to the other side of the store to get another coupon, and since there was a long line at the self checkout, I decided to run. I ran. When I got back to the counter the lady wasn't even done doing the overrides and I wasn't out of breath. I was so excited :) I wasn't breathing hard, I wasn't sweating, and I wasn't going to die even though I just ran up and down the commissary. It's not a marathon, I know, but that's something I haven't been able to do in a long time, especially not at this altitude.

I'm really loving where this is going...

Things I'll be able to do....

There are certain things that I have not been able to do in a while because of being overweight. Many of these things are probably taken for granted by those of you who are within a normal weight range. But these are things that I am looking forward to when the weight comes off....

1. Crossing my legs.
2. Not feeling paranoid about other people talking about me.
3. Shopping in the Ladies section of a regular department store rather than the Plus/Women's section.
4. No longer being the fattest person in the room.
5. No longer worrying if I will fit in a chair or if I will break it. (I did this once in front of my brand new neighbors!)
6. Weighing less than my husband.
7. Not looking like a pig when I eat especially in public.
8. Feeling comfortable in an airplane seat, movie theater seat, and a stadium seat.
9. Taking more pictures without feeling like a big blob.

There are several more things that I will not post because they are more personal. But I think you get the idea. I have been overweight for most of my life and I really don't remember ever not feeling self conscience about it. In fact, I remember when I was in 3rd grade and my teacher posted EVERYBODY's weight on the blackboard. She made us each go up to the front of the class and she weighed us and wrote our name on the board with our weight. I don't remember why she did it, but I remember that I weighed more than everyone except for one boy. It was completely embarrassing! That was the point when I realized that I was different than the other kids. Now that I have kids of my own I want to set a good example for them and make sure they do not go through the pain I went through for most of my life. So now you probably know more about me than you ever wanted to know. Thanks for listening!

Shalena

Woo Hoo!!

Five pounds in a week is fabulous, Shalena! Way to go!!!

The weigh in....bum, bum, bum.....

I weighed myself on Friday morning and was totally ready to post my weight, but since Miranda didn't do hers I decided I wouldn't either. Why would anyone want to do that to themselves for no reason??? I guess since she went ahead and posted her measurements then I must go ahead and do the same thing. I can't let her one up me! You will notice that I still do not have my waist, hip, etc measurements yet. I promise they will come. I just don't have one of those handy flexible ruler thingies....

Age: Still 27 for the next 6 days!

Height: 5'6"

Weight: 255lbs -5lbs

BMI: 41.2 -.8

I never , ever imagined that I would see the day when I actually wanted to weigh myself! Now I have to fight myself not to do it everyday!

Chicken Tacos

What you need:

1 lb ground chicken

2 cans Rotel, heat of your choice. I use Original.

Corn tortillas

Directions:

1. Thaw ground chicken and place in a skillet with both cans of Rotel.
2. Cook on medium high heat until chicken is cooked through.
3. Turn to medium low and continue simmering until the juices are evaporated, about 20 minutes.
4. Serve in warmed corn tortillas. I use 2 tortillas per taco because the juice soaks through one too quick :)

This is a quick way to make chicken tacos. I normally use boneless, skinless chicken breast and shred it after it's been cooking for a couple of hours, but this recipe allows you to make the whole meal in less than 30 minutes. You can top with fresh pico de gallo to make them perfect, but the best thing about these tacos is that they don't need sour cream or cheese because there is so much flavor in the filling. Yum!

Nutrition Facts:

Serving Size: 1/4 of prepared mix with 4 white corn tortillas, Calories: 410, Calories from fat: 100, Total fat: 11 g, Saturated fat: 2.5 g, Trans fat: 0 g, Polyunsaturated fat: 1 g, Monounsaturated fat: 0 g, Cholesterol: 65 mg, Sodium: 610 mg, Total Carbohydrates: 45 g, Fiber: 7 g, Sugars: 7 g, Protein: 29 g

Week 2 stats

Weight: 233

Waist: 45.5

Chest: 49

Hips: 49.5

Thigh: 26.5

Arm: 14.5

In the mountains

My cousin Ben and his friend came up to Colorado for the long weekend, and we went camping in Estes Park, CO. We had a great time, and I managed to eat pretty well!

Of course, camping food isn't the most healthy, but I did a pretty good job of making good choices. And I learned something about my system post-surgery...I shouldn't eat hotdogs. I ate ONE hotdog, with dog, bun, and mustard, and I paid for it for two days. I couldn't convince them to get turkey hotdogs, so I'll have to try those sometime because I LOVE HOTDOGS!

Anyway, the highlight of our time in Estes Park was hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park. We saw a trail to the top of Flattop Mtn that was only 4.4 miles, and figured it would be a good walk, not too far, not too hard. WE WERE WRONG! The beginning of the trail was deceitful, and by the time it got really hard we had already come too far to turn back (I think stubborness runs in the family), so we just kept trucking. I can't tell you how many people coming back down looked at us and said, "Man, you've got a long way to go," but we just kept going. And going. And going.

It took us 7 hours to get up and back down the mountain, and we climbed about 2,800 feet in elevation on the way up. We were exhausted and nearly dehydrated by the time we got back to the car because we figured 4 bottles of water and three large bottles of gatorade would be enough hydration. We were wrong again. We also figured we'd be so enthralled by seeing the view from the summit that we would be energized for our trip back down the 4.4 miles to the base. We were wrong again. We were so tired and grumpy and wet by the time we got back to the campsite that we just packed up and went back to my house where we could get a comfortable, WARM nights sleep!

But, it was a beautiful view, and we are proud of our effort! I have no idea what my intake was these past few days, but I'm going to give myself a pat on the back for only having one s'more the whole time :)

The pictures:

1. Our lunch site- about 1/4 the way up.
2. At the lunchsite.
3. Emerald Lake lookout, about a mile or less from the top.
4. We made it!
5. View from the top
6. See how happy we were on the way down?

Happy 4th everyone!!!

Today is the birthday of our great country and I am so proud to call myself an American! The day our fore fathers signed their names to the Declaration of Independence was the beginning of so many new things. Do you think they would have guessed that those small colonies would have developed into the large country that we are today? Do you think they would have guessed that the USA would become one of the most powerful countries in the world? I wonder what George Washington and Benjamin Franklin would think if they walked the streets of present day Philadelphia. Okay, enough with the reminiscing....Let's get right to reason why you came here today:

• Breakfast: Cottage cheese and yogurt (220 cal)
• Lunch: Cottage cheese and canned chicken with bagel crisps (311 cal)
• Snack: Keebler Cookies and Cream Right Bites (100 cal)
• Munchy: 3 McDonald's french fries (23 cal)
• Dinner: Crunchy cheese stuffed chicken, sesame garlic green beans, stuffed zucchini (359cal)
• Water Intake: 72 ozs.
• TOTAL CALORIES: 1012

I hope you had a wonderful 4th!

Shalena

Where were you on Thursday at 9:55pm??

I was at home watching The Jacksons: An American Dream. I remember the first time I watched this movie. I must have been 12 years old and at that time I thought Michael Jackson was the hottest person who ever walked the face of this earth. I don't think I ever told my sister or mom that I had a crush on him. Now when I watch this movie it makes me sad. It is sad because Michael had such a hard upbringing and ended up leading such a strange, lonely life. The worst part of this whole thing is that his kids are now going to pay for it because they are caught in the middle somewhere between normal and craziness. Everyday I am thankful for the people I have around me. I have been blessed with such wonderful, supportive people and it helps me to stay grounded. Lord knows that raising kids can drive a person crazy, but thankfully my children are wonderful, funny, and loving girls. I just pray that they will retain at least part of their childhood innocence for a long time. One thing I can tell you is that I am not looking forward to having 2 teenage girls in the house at the same time! But I guess that is inevitable, right? Now on to more pertinent matters...below is what I ate today:

• Breakfast: Cottage cheese and yogurt (220 cal)
• Lunch: Monterrey Jack chicken, shrimp fried rice, and 3 raw oysterds (364 cal)
• Snack: Breakstones Cottage Doubles with Strawberry (140 cal)
• Dinner: Parmesan Chicken and sesame garlic green beans (243 cal)
• Water Intake: 64 ozs.
• TOTAL CALORIES: 1116

I am a Chick-fil-a addict

I've had it three times in the past few days. It's so yummy. Shalena told me that I could go onto the Chick-fil-a website and build a meal to see how many calories I'm consuming and to make options accordingly. I went on there and found out that my meal has almost my whole day's calories!!! Good thing I don't care...I really do, but I can't stop my mouth from spewing out what it's used to saying. Sometimes I don't even realize that I ordered until the person tells me my total. If my brain doesn't know what to do anywhere else, it's a pro at Chick-fil-a. So, I guess that's something I need to work on, too, if I'm going to keep losing weight and keep it off. I'm not giving up Chick-fil-a, but I can make better choices when I go. Adios #1 with American cheese value sized with sweet tea- hello #1 with no butter, no cheese, not value sized.

Baby steps.