A Short Hiatus

Dear Readers,

  It has been a long, difficult week. Jeff lost his step-mother BJ to cancer on Monday morning. I know you all will understand that we have not been focused on our weight-loss and have skipped weigh-in this week. 

  I will get back to writing next week and keeping you updated on our progress. 

Denny and BJ

Week 16-Banning Holiday Celebrations

  The end of week 16 has come and passed. I had that miraculous moment a few days ago when the scale showed me some love and I weighed in at 128.2 pounds. And then another celebration came along and my willpower wilted like a salad on a hot summer day. My beautiful granddaughter, Annie, turned 3 years old. I hosted her birthday party at my house-a princess tea party complete with tasty tea sandwiches which I made myself (and sampled. You know, for quality control. Can't poison our princesses by mistake with a tainted tea!). Cream cheese and strawberries, chicken salad sandwiches, and of course, Katie's personal diet demon-Nutella with banana slices. And don't forget the cake! A ridiculously huge confection of frosting and fudge that my mom brought over. 
                                                                                                                     

My little princess-one in a minion!

A tea party fit for a princess, but not the waistband of my jeans.

         

  It all tasted really good, but after eating it, I felt kind-of crappy. Not guilty so much as bloated and all-over BLECH! All that white bread (oh yeah, I went ALL THE WAY bad!) and sugar attacking my fat cells and filling them to overflowing. Was it worth it? If I'm being honest, yes. Kind of. I enjoyed seeing those happy little girls enjoying their ever-so grown-up tea and then racing around the house with fairy wings on their backs. It was such a great day, and my little princess had so much joy in her sweet little face (until it was WAY past her naptime. Then, not so much). But did I HAVE to eat all that junk food? No. I could have just served it, drank my tea and called it good. But where is the fun in that? So I indulged, I sent all the leftover food home in doggie bags with all the guests that I could pawn it off on (or sneak it into their purses or cars when they weren't looking). 

Do you think they'll notice ONE more slice of cake?

  So, once again, I have allowed a celebration to sabotage my good intentions. I am weak and humbled in your presence. And I shall confess my sins and move forward. I am back up into the 130 pound range. Just barely, at 130.4 pounds I have still managed a .8 pound loss for the week. And a total weight loss of 18.4 pounds. My BMI is a normal, healthy 23.8 and I'm declaring a no-more-holiday-or-celebration-food ban until my birthday in 36 days. Anybody want to start a pool to take bets on how long it takes me to break that rule? Memorial Day is coming up. I'm really going to try to make it though. Really!

I'll take Memorial Day BBQ for $50!!!

  Jeff lost another .8 pounds this week. I know he is getting super-frustrated with not putting up bigger numbers, despite having had absolutely nothing to do with our princess party (he's a MAN for heaven's sake!) and having a lot more willpower than these weak-willed women-folk (my words, not his). But almost a full pound is still good. It's still a loss. And it's the same amount that I lost this week (I told you we do everything together). He's looking forward to a Quad-riding trip to the Oregon dunes in a couple of months and I think he just wants to look good in his riding gear. Plus, with fewer pounds on his frame he'll be able to go faster and get some air under those wheels. Boys and their toys! For today, Jeff weighs in at 273.4 and a BMI of 37.1, which is moving in the right direction. He's dropped 24 pounds so far, and I'm super-proud of him!

I think Jeff would look pretty hot in silver riding gear. Like a speeding bullet! 

  Katie once again is our winner-winner low-carb dinner with a 2 pound loss this week. She did attend the princess party, was our official photographer, helped assemble sandwiches and fell victim to her arch-nemesis (as well as her one true love. Kind of like Batman and Catwoman. But fudgier.), That Nefarious Nutella! The sight of the jar on the counter stopped her dead in her tracks and she was drawn to it like a chocolate tractor beam had gripped her by the tastebuds. I don't know what happened to the half-empty jar after we finished cleaning up. I suspect it has a special spot in her room, enshrined and idolized in a tasteful and yet somewhat creepy fashion. No, I can't tell you her weight yet. I can tell you that she has lost 56 pounds total and 9.7 points off her BMI! When we started this journey of wellness, Katie's BMI was almost 3 points higher than Jeff's. It is now nearly 4 points LOWER. AMAZING!!!!

KATIE! Resist the pull! Nutella has no power over you!

  So we lost a combined 3.6 pounds this week and our total combined weight loss since we started is 97.4 pounds. We just really love keeping all of you in suspense-"Is THIS  the week they will reach 100 pounds lost?" Um, nope. But with only 2.6 pounds for the team to lose, I honestly think we can make it next week. If our goal for this week is to each lose ONE POUND, yeah, I'm pretty sure we can do this thing!

Learning to Love the Axis of Evil

  I'm pretty sure I've mentioned that I weigh myself obsessively every single morning. Sometimes I step on the scale 2 or 3 times in a row and reposition my feet (slightly forward, slightly back) just to see if a lower number will magically appear. Sometimes that actually works. You know you've done it, too. I can't be alone in this.

If I stand on just ONE foot...

  I know that some weight-management "experts" (read as "Quacks" or "snake-oil salesman". Dr. Oz, I'm talking about you) say that you should only weigh yourself once a week. Ppppphhhhhhhhttttttt! Whatever! How can I keep on track without my morning ritual with the Axis of Evil? It's a smart scale, you know. If I didn't check in every day, she would worry what happened to me. I'll have to take her with us when we go on vacation. Wouldn't want her to figure out how to dial 911 or go all 2001:A Space Odyssey. I can just picture it-we arrive home from our little getaway and the Axis of Evil has plugged into Jeff's "nerd center" and taken over the world as we know it. "News Flash-the Hostess, Nabisco and FritoLay factories have self-imploded. Findings are inconclusive as to how these explosions occured simultaneously and without warning, but experts have tracked a link to a Lose It! scale in Bremerton, Washington."

Yes, I do. Just let me live my life!!!

  It's still 2 days until our official weekly weigh-in day, but I got super-excited when I checked in with the old A of E this morning. I had REALLY wanted to be lazy and sleep in today, but no such luck. Mr. Early Morning Riser was up at his usual 5:00 a.m. He did let me sleep until 6:20, which is the time I usually wake up anyway. Jeff is a "get up and greet the day ready to go" kind of fella. I am a "play snooze tag for an hour, where the *bleep* is my coffee???, why does morning have to be so early???" kind of girl. So I was not thrilled to be wide awake at 6:20. 
  But I stumbled to the bathroom and stepped on the scale. The clouds parted and the angels sang as I read the number-128.2 pounds! I have not been in the 120's since I was in my 20's! I still have 18 pounds to go. But I'm over halfway to my goal now! I have lost 20.6 pounds so far. I hope I can keep the momentum going and not blow it today with my granddaughter's birthday party.

Me at the start-148 pounds

Goal-110 pounds

                

Me now-128 pounds

  

Week 15-Not the Best, Not the Worst

  Our goal this week was to lose a combined 7.2 pounds to reach 100 pounds total lost since beginning this journey. I would love to say that we blew that out of the water, but the truth is we just blew it. 

Holy Crap! What happened HERE?????

  Holidays are our biggest downfall. What is it about a holiday that makes us all so hungry? Maybe it's the commercials and ads for restaurants and edible gifts. "Hey folks, show mom how much you love her on Mother's Day with an endless buffet of delectable treats. Nothing says I love you like pasta and pastries!" And that really is how we show our moms that we love and appreciate them. After all of the home-cooked meals and tasty snacks our mothers lovingly prepared for us growing up, we return the favor in kind. It makes perfect sense. 

Happy Mother's Day! I got you a sugar-induced-coma! Love ya!

  So that's what we did. We had a barbecue for our moms and family on Sunday. Jeff grilled up juicy hamburgers and hot dogs and baked salmon. I (with the help of Jeff's nephew, Brayden) prepared this amazing cauliflower salad (just like potato salad, but 86 the potatoes for cauliflower). And because I can't host a meal without having dessert available, I baked a strawberry-rhubarb pie. There were other offerings as well-chips, pea salad, shrimp, chocolate pie. We could've been good little dieters. But we weren't. We ate the meat packed into buns, indulged in chips and pies. Jeff drank beer, I had wine. It was all so good! 
  But, the aftermath was just this side of devastating. My weekly weigh in the morning after was a paltry .4 pounds lost. Jeff lost a slightly better .6 pounds. Katie had a no loss/no gain week. 
  Sometimes I wish I was like those people that are not that into food. You know the ones. Everybody has a friend like that. The people that can eat one M&M or don't get excited about a hot and steamy plate of noodles and cheese. In some ways, I am so jealous of those individuals who can walk past the buffet table at a celebration and not even glance at the offerings. Were they born without taste buds? Do they lack salivary glands? Maybe they aren't so lucky. I can't imagine a life where there is no joy in sharing a meal with loved ones. 

Me at the buffet table...Did somebody say there's a chocolate fountain?

  So the Axis of Evil sits quietly in our bathroom, waiting for us to redeem ourselves in week 16. She will record our efforts and send them via bluetooth to the app on our phone (an app which stands for appetite in this house). 
  Next week our goal will be a combined weight loss of 6.2 pounds. Just slightly more than 2 pounds each. I want us to reach that 100 pounds lost goal!!! Jeff will need to get back on his ThermoFit (he hasn't been taking it lately), and Katie and I will need to be stronger-willed. More exercise, less holiday! 
  This Saturday is my grand-daughter's 3rd birthday party, which I am hosting at my house. (No, Katie is not the mommy. I have another daughter, Chelsea, who is 22. Sheesh!) There will be a princess-themed cake and treats right here in my kitchen. If I'm lucky, the birthday girl will spit all over the cake when she blows out her candles!

So tempting until it's covered in slobber. 

  

Week 14-Where Did The Time Go?

  I can't believe a whole week has passed already! Life has been very non-stop lately. Every day seems to go by faster then the last and there is never enough time. Let's get you all caught up!
  Katie had another awesome week-she lost 3.2 pounds! That is a total of 54 pounds so far! There was a fair amount of cheating on her part. Saturday she went with some folks from her high school choir to see Phantom of the Opera in Seattle. They had a wonderful time-she's obsessed with it now! She had a decadent dinner of pasta, but I think she burned it off walking up and down the glorious hills in the Emerald City. Her BMI has dropped 6.2 points!!! Just so you have something to compare that to, my BMI has dropped 3 points and Jeff's has dropped 3.1 points. This kid is incredible! 

Katie and her friends at Phantom of the Opera. And she's in THAT dress again! Love!