Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Happy New Year!

I'm ready for the year to be done with. Here's to 2009! Maybe things will be better this year for Michigan, the economy, and my John Hancock -24% 401K (yeah, that stinks) but at least Chris and I have our jobs. 2009 is going to look promising. We've got a lot to look forward to. Hopefully next year I can get pregnant if I'm at a decent weight so I can have a kido in 2010. I'm not ready for one next year....way to soon. 2010 is a great year to have a child. I can feel it.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Weight Watcher/Holiday Ramblings...

Chris and I woke up at 5:00 this morning. We were all set and ready to start our day but after discovering that we really couldn't do anything until later, we went back to bed only to wake up around 9am. I decided to hit the Weight Watchers 10 am meeting for the first time since March so I needed to get dressed quickly. On our way out the door, we hurt a big CRASH. Only to find outside that the ice that was on the roof slammed down on Chris's car and took off the passengers side mirror. Darn! because we'll have to turn that into the insurance company. He hates putting in claims but I don't want to think even how expensive it would be to pay out of pocket. Darn weather screws us again (in some fashion that is). So I get into the WW meeting and weigh in. I found out that I'm 2 pounds lighter than my last weigh in. I'm currently 185.2 on the WW scale. Not bad, er? I'll take that. When I first went to the move it to lose it class I was 193 so that's pretty darn good. I got the Weight Watchers new books for the Momentum Program and figured out that there is no way that I'm going to stick with the 26 points that is recommended for my daily target. I figured out that if I stick to 30-34 points a day that will keep in line with what I have been doing. I'm going to still use spark people to input my daily intake but I'll use the journal for writing it down when I eat so I can use it when I log in my food at night. The new program sounds like it is going back to the 2001/2002 program prior to the core program because there is no core plan now. They want you to stick with a target total point but then you are allowed to eat 35 extra points within the week. Nothing new there, really. I did notice that they are emphasizing working out more, which is good. They really never pushed it but the guides are noting that you should be moving at least for 30 minutes 6 days a week, which is true.

I handled the holiday okay eating wise. Sure, I could have made better choices on Christmas eve (Chris and I had some Asti) but we didn't do our usual fondue which is better for us health wise. I avoided the 190 calorie, 9g of fat crescent rolls at his mom's but had a few pieces of candy but I kept track of everything and it will even out in the long run. I definitely didn't gorge myself as usual, which is good. I have no idea what we are doing for New Years. We're invited to a party but I'm secretly hoping to do nothing but relax at home with the kitties because we would have to stay overnight and I just feel almost too old to be crashing at someone's house at my age...if that makes any sense. I just want to be in my bed, my PJ's, chilling out, oh, I'm so old but then we still have to work on Friday so that stinks. Another issues is that I know if we go to the party, I will be cramming food that I don't necessarily need into my mouth. My self control with appetizers is amazingly weak. Appetizers are my Achilles heal.

Chris and I got a $35 for Macy's so armed with our gift card today we went looking for some amazing deals. Needless to say, we came home empty handed. There is nothing that we want at Macy's. In fact, I really don't care for that store and if it wasn't for having a gift card, we wouldn't have gone in there. Here in Michigan, Hudsons was originally around but then it turned to Marshall Fields and then Macy's bought Marshall Fields about two or three years ago and since then I haven't shopped there. I could always find nice bargains at Hudsons but Macy's seems to be lower quality and the deals are not there. We looked and looked for something to pick up but after noticing the gift cards don't expire, why bother? It just firms up the fact that our major spending freeze is happening for a reason. We also hit Target and found nothing, Kmart well, I did spend $10 on gum drop garland but that's my weakness and it Martha Stewart 50%. We even managed to get out of Costco for $10, which is amazing. I think just in case if I get tempted to spend. I need to copy my dream backyard and put it in my purse and just in case if I get tempted to spend, I look at my goal to keep myself focused.

Christmas was a blur. I think it was because we both had to work on Friday, it just felt so rushed compared to usual. Chris and I had our usual Christmas Eve day where he sends me on my annual scavenger hunt. This began 3 years ago when he started doing this because he was afraid I would look for my gifts so he hid them and I had to find them by doing a puzzle, word find, caching clue, etc. It's an awesome tradition and I always love participating in it. He keeps me on my toes! That's why I love him. Great husband....well that's it for me today, take care all-Kellie

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Very thankful that I have until Friday off!

The weather is utter crap here in Michigan. My parents spent the night last night and they are heading down to KY today. So my thoughts are with them during this time because that is going to be some trip. They were getting cabin fever up north and didn't want to wait until Christmas to leave. We are basically getting snow every day. Chris has to work this week so he's had a rough go these past few days. It kind of sucks that I have to work Friday but at least I have a job!

I'm enjoying my vacation. Nothing new going on. All the gifts are bought, just need to wrap them. We so went over budget this year so we're having a spending freeze for four months because we do not need anything at all! My plan is to avoid Big Lots, say no to Costco impulse buys because I cannot walk out of there without spending $100, and no to Meijer Outlet (Grand Rapids has an outlet and almost everything there is 50% - 90% off compared to the store). We have property taxes for our land in February, have to beef up the emergency fund, we have to pay city taxes, and save for our home improvement stuff (replace the rest of the windows, get a new kitchen door, and new french doors for the back). Plus we need to start putting money for a baby fund if we start to TTC next year (if the economy perks up).

I've been running my points on the Weight Watchers and I'm averaging about 26-30 points a day. There's no way in heck that I can eat 24 points a day. My typical work out earns me about 6-8 points a day, 5-6 times per week so that would be about 30-48 points that I'm earning in a weeks time. My calorie range is between 1500-1700 usually. Ever since the YMCA class I've changed my mindset about food and healthy living. I feel okay in the gym. I can use the free weights, the ball, the bands, and actually do lunges! I'm challenging myself on the cardio machines and not hesitating to work in my proper HRA range. I love my heart monitor. On the home front, we ONLY eat out 1 time per week. This mouth has not touched a Wendy's burger, french fries, Mc Donalds since September and I don't miss it. When we eat out, it's usually a local nice restaurant. Like this past Sunday, we decided that our eat out meal was going to be at this place called the Cherri Inn. They offer local fresh foods and they are known for their breakfast. It was a terrific meal and well worth it. About a month ago, our one eat out meal was Qdoba and we both felt, wow, was that worth it? Nope. So we're really putting thought into this. The one thing that I loved about the class is that they stressed that eating out is not worth it. People have been to dependent on going out for so long. The healthier way is to just use it as a treat. At first I thought it would be a "binge" meal but that's not the case. After doing this, I've found that I still stick within the proper calorie range.

My pants are fitting a heck of a lot better. Down below is a pair of pants that I would like to fit in better before April. Right now they are tight in certain areas so it would be great to see me fit into them by the spring time. Plus it will remind me of old times when I used to do this on a weekly basis. It's not the best picture of me, nor is the outfit a favorite...it's just for demonstration purposes only :) That's it for me today, take care all-Kellie

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Oh, the weather out there...


The weather is definitely not good out there. Yesterday, we got slammed by another storm. It was so bad that Chris's work in Kalamazoo was delayed opening for 5 hours so he opted out of going to work yesterday because the roads were so bad and it would probably have taken him two hours to get there instead of one. I had yesterday off anyways because it was the beginning of my vacation. It took Chris about two hours to snow blow (but he helped some of our neighbor's out too). Thank God we bought a snow blower in September. I love that thing. So far this year our snow totals for the season already has reached 30.7", which is scary because this is only January.

Despite the snow, we were able to have some company last night, which was awesome. We had our neighbor David over. He just lost his partner of 15 years so that's said. His partner had a stroke a year ago (he was just 59) and it was not good. So we thought that with everything going on in his life, we should have him over a few times. It was nice to have the company. We had lamb on the grill, potatoes, veggies, and baby spinach. We learned some cool things about him. He's a comedian with puppets and he puts on shows. His puppets are awesome looking so we'll have to catch his show some time. We were talking about our houses and we might be an owner of a Sears Roebuck Catalog home! That's exciting so I'm trying to scour the net looking for our old house.

Christmas is coming and it just doesn't feel like it's that time of year yet. Almost all the gifts are bought for everyone. We just have a few loose ends for Chris's family. My family, we just drew one persons name which is nice. We are supposed to celebrate with them tomorrow but I doubt that because we're supposed to get another storm. Chris has got to work Christmas eve day so we're going out to church when he gets home then have a dinner and open gifts. On Christmas, we're at Chris's parents bright and early. Funny thing is that they stress to us the up most importance of getting there early. 95% of the time, everyone is still in their PJs. Now that Chris's sister who spends the whole week there kids are getting bigger, it makes me wonder when are they going to have Christmas at their own home because they never had one in their own home. Chris went over budget for Christmas then that prompted me to go over. I like what I bought him and hopefully we'll get the chance to use it. I couldn't beat the deals because I shopped at Moosejaw (a Michigan company) and EMS (Eastern Mountain Sports). I got 30% off of all the items so I couldn't pass that option up, especially with some of the items I bought him because some of the items never go on sale. The bad thing that I did though while shopping is picking me up something. I saw this Patagonia Jacket and I got $50 off of it so I got it. I have this thing about jackets, I have a ton of them.

The gym is going well. I need to work out Sat/Sun since I opted out of working out on Thurs/Friday. This was the first time in a long time that I didn't log my food every day. I missed 3 times last week so this needs to stop. This is a sign of my slacking behavior because I haven't missed a day of logging since September. Especially this time of year so I need to get back on it. No slacking.

Anji and Jan, can you pass me your email addresses please? Feel free to email me at misskellie@hotmail.com so I can send you the recipe book online :)

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Snow day!


I got a snow day today! I live in the green area on the map but the work place is in the pink area so they closed the office today. My boss called me at 6:30 to let me know that I didn't need to go in today. This is my first official snow day of the year and you know what? It's terrific. After Chris left for work, I crawled back into bed until 9:00. That felt particularly good because I was a tad tired this morning. I could have been very productive today but I chose to be lazy. My only outing of the day so far was to see my hairdresser Erin. I go to her home and she hooks me up with perfect cut so another super hair cut! I have to met Chris at the gym tonight so that's my day today :) I guess if I get super motivated I can wrap up Chris's presents but I don't know if I am that motivated (shame on me).


One thing that I have found lately with the going to the gym is preparing for it. I noticed that when I was not preparing dinner ahead of time last week in the crock pot or part of cooking Sunday, I felt rushed. I feel a ton better when I'm working out knowing that when we get home, dinner is ready. I just felt so unprepared last week when I neglected to plan. A couple of years ago, I got a WW friendly crock pot recipe book on the computer and it has a ton of healthy recipes. I haven't been disappointed yet. My latest tasty dish was a spaghetti sauce marinara sauce. I love that cookbook. I passed it to our trainers at the Y and they even thought it was good. If you are interested in a copy, drop me a line in the guestbook and I will ship it your way.

Living in Michigan is kind of sad right now. According to NPR, Muskegon, had a 22% unemployment rate and Detroit has a 21% unemployment rate. It's like wow, when is this going to end? I remember in college when I was changing my majors left and right, I thank God that I ended up being a social worker. At one point, I was going to go into business. That's funny, I cannot picture that. After looking at all my poor grades with my only one A in sociology I thought about being a therapist. At first I wanted to be a marriage therapist (that is also very funny) but after talking to a professor named Lori Ryan (who unfortunately died from breast cancer in her early 30s), I decided to become a social worker. Thanks Lori for inspiring me and giving me a sound solid career advice. I feel somewhat secure in my job but can anyone feel that secure in this day in time? I just hope that things turn around because it's so sad to see all these businesses closing, which impacts everyone. If I was in my 20s, graduating from college, as much as I like Michigan, I would be out of here. Now that is sad. I thank God for my job everyday. Take care all-Kellie

Saturday, December 06, 2008

This is why I am glad I bought a home with character...

I love my house, especially at Christmas time. New homes just don't do it for me. I especially love the fact that the first owner stayed in the home for 65 years. We're the 3rd owner of the home and I just feel the love that my home has. It gives off a very good vibe. So when I get to decorate for Christmas, my house kind of feels like it is singing. Last night it was so cozy because we had the fireplace going, the stockings were hung, and the kitties were chilling :) I love my life sometimes, it was pure happiness. Now only if I could bottle that feeling!

Life is good, working out is good. I have no idea how much weight I am down to. I wore my smaller jeans to work yesterday and they looked terrific. My stomach is getting flatter and the muffin tops are GONE! Yeah! I hear weight watchers is switching up their program this weekend. I might try to hit a meeting soon since I'm still a paying member. I haven't been to WW in eons. Partially due to the fact that I feel what I am doing now is better for me. I've never really emphasized eating better, just tracking my points. Now I am really eating better which includes vegetables, fruits, and other healthy foods. I actually eat a handful of nuts as a snack and I'm not afraid to (I was always afraid on ww to do this because of the point value). I've been doing the sparkpeople.com site with calories. I eat about 1500-1700 calories per day. I burn between 500-720 calories per work out. One meal a week, we splurge and go out. I no longer eat out more than once per week which really helps the budget. I no longer get that extreme hunger feeling or get that crashing feeling like my sugar is dropping. I feel terrific. I have a ton of energy! We've been at this for almost 3 months now and I'm proud of us. It's nice to have a spouse on board. Chris is looking terrific. His belly is going doing. The challenge for him has to get his calorie intake because that can get difficult. He was initially eating not enough so now his intake is better but it's hard to find extra healthy foods to add into his day. We no longer buy lunch meat for him because we take some chicken or turkey and cook it up for him where he throws it on some bread. Plus it's a heck of a lot cheaper. I get chicken for $1.89 a pound at my meat market and we usually get turkey for 59 cents a pound. Eating better has definitely helped our budget. Take care all-Kellie