Goal Dress

This week, I wasn't as focused as I had hoped. I ate donuts, Taco Bell, etc. Last night, I went out with some friends for a mom's night out and saw a movie. I ate popcorn, candy and had a soda. Afterward, we went to a local hot spot for their late happy hour, and had a BBQ sandwich, smoked salmon rangoons and two Guinness. Talk about bad choices! Exercise didn't happen either.


My big positive for this week was getting myself all set up on SparkPeople:

SparkPeople is the world's largest healthy living community with a free online diet and fitness program. SparkPeople is helping millions of people achieve their goals every single day!

Whether you want to lose weight, tone up, live a healthier lifestyle or reach other goals, SparkPeople can help--and it's 100% FREE!

My friend DB told me about it, and I have found it to be a great resource! I joined some teams that suit my needs.


At the end of the evening last night, I got a text message from my brother's fiancée telling me she had picked the bridesmaid dresses for their wedding. I finally got online this morning to take a peak. It's a beautiful, red, long, strapless, satin ball gown with a waist sash. I have never worn a strapless dress in my whole life. Mostly, because I've never had the chest to support it. I now have a goal dress. The wedding is December 10, 2011.


Today, I started my day with good food choices and I'm walking with my friend KK this afternoon. I will try on the bridesmaid dress this afternoon and get it ordered. It is my hope that it will have to be substantially altered by the time the wedding is here. I have 336 days to get my act together.

It's On!

My husband and I have been married for over 11 years. Since being married, we have always alternated Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays between the two families. So, it's always been either my parents or Jon's parents hosting the holidays. We lived in a small house, hours away from either family, so hosting never came up as an option.

March of this year, we relocated to southern Oregon to be closer to Jon's family. This also was the year we spent Christmas with Jon's family. We invited his grandparents to stay with us for five days over the Christmas holiday. The kids were especially excited to have their great-grandparents here.

Now that we live near family, and have a house big enough to have a gathering, we hosted Christmas. I was so excited to finally use my Christmas dishes! It wasn't until this year that I really appreciated what it meant to have someone else host Christmas, and at a distance from our house. Usually, we would go to visit my parents, or Jon's parents. It would be wonderful, magical and full of good food and family. A day or two after Christmas, we would pack up and head home, returning to our normal routine.

Our Christmas tree

The thing about hosting Christmas, and especially about having guests, is that all the food is at our house. Which means, the leftovers are at our house. I hosted a potluck, to make it easy on myself to host a meal for twelve people. I feel like everyday since Christmas, has been Christmas all over again. THE FOOD. There's been ham, potatoes, sweets...you name it.

We never repent of having eaten too little.
Thomas Jefferson

As you've gathered from the title of my blog, I'm a bit of a sweet tooth. Dessert is a weakness for me - like a drug. I need a 12-step program for my sugar addiction. My endocrinologist tells me that this is one of the horrific symptoms of having PCOS. I am insulin resistant, meaning that my body doesn't process sugar correctly. The more I eat, the more I crave. It's a vicious cycle.

What I need to do, is cut down my sugar intake. I did this once before, last spring. I lost 20 pounds in two months, almost effortlessly. I need to be conscious of what I'm putting in my mouth. I'm a boredom eater, and a stress eater...so I'm going to have to find some new vices for when I'm bored or stressed. I'm thinking that reading, exercising and writing this blog will be a good start.

Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow ye diet.
William Gilmore Beymer

So, here we are, on New Year's Eve. Tomorrow is a new day, and a fresh start.

Movement Goals

So, my friend sent me an invitation on Facebook to join the 100 Days Challenge. The premise is to exercise for 30 minutes per day for 100 days. I suppose that the 'event' being on Facebook is just the incentive that some people need - me included. I was skeptical to accept the invitation, because accountability is a scary thing sometimes. But, I figured if I'm putting myself out there enough to do this blog, I could certainly accept an exercise challenge on Facebook.


My husband and his brother fixed the horrendous squeak in my elliptical machine a few weeks ago, so it's time to get on and conquer that beast once again. I also have one exercise DVD, and several Wii games...so no excuses! You can see my list of resources along the sides of my blog page. I also plan to start walking Old Military Road. This is a steep, country loop.

Stay tuned for updates...