Gardening!

I have made so much progress on my garden.  This is the third year of my extended garden project and I believe it may be the longest I've stuck to any plan!  The first year everything was cleared out a small circle of lawn planted and a clumping bamboo to provide a privacy screen.  I also created a  couple winding gravel paths.  End of that year in the fall i planted my Climbing rose.  Last year I got several varieties of thyme in and got the arbor for the rose.  I also acquired a table for the patio area.  This year I have planted a small herb garden and am using a second set of stairs for a plant stand that is now decked out with plants and a few decorations.  I have two Topsy Turveys in which I will be planting a variety of veggies (yellow bellpepper, orange bellpepper, cucumber, grape tomatoes and the second one will be straight strawberrys)  I have purchased the stand for them and just need to get the rest of the veggies to plant.  I also bought an adorable owl statue for the garden.  I plan on digging in a stump of redwood putting some other garden statue on top and planting English ivy to grow over it.  The last BIG thing I want to do this year is put in my little pond and fountain.  I am very hopeful to get it all done in the next couple months.  That is pretty much the end of the 3 year plan.  I need to maintain things and watch them fill in.  I will get some pictures and update this post with them later on. 

I am the salt MONSTER

Ok usually I am a sweets person.  I crave sweet things.  This past week I have been craving SALTY things.  Chips and puffed things in particular.  I dont know why and yes I have indulged this craving more than I ought.  Good news I haven't gained anything time to tighten up.  I got 2 weeks before the cruise and would love to get down to 225 before then!

I also have been incredibly slack about exercise.  Been riding but not going to the gym.  I want to get up and run in the mornings but can't seem to pry myself out of bed.  Gotta get going and training for the 10K!!

Pretty lame update I know sigh.  I made Chinese lemon chicken and fried rice from scratch Friday.  I know not particularly healthy but its better than getting it from fast food all ingredients were healthy and I can pronounce them all :) so I will take it as a win lol. 

Another Challenge in the works!

I am down another .2 lbs.  Not a big deal you say?  Phaw I say!  Its huge, that .2 lbs allows me to see the 220's for the FIRST time in around a decade.  222 is a big number for me because around 2001 I got really dedicated and managed to go from 260 to 222 doing Atkins.  Then over the next 8 years I managed to gain that all back plus another 43 lbs.  So if I can get down to 220 it will surpass my last effort and I will be past a mental wall. 

I did my 5K last Saturday.  I had fun nothing huge with the times still hung out around 45 minutes that is a little disappointing but I was there and i had fun.  I took my wee doggie :)  to the left is a collage of some of the pictures my Huzby took.

I have been going to the ranch quite a bit this week.  I'm trying to throw a few runs in in the mornings but so far have not been successful at that.  

My Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans Challenge partner Cindy and I are gearing up for the next challenge.  It starts May 1st.  My goal for this one is to get down to 220.  That will be tough because I will be on a 10 day cruise during that period and anyone who has been on a cruise knows the incredible amount of food available.  I will do the best I can though.  

Speaking of my cruise I am SO excited.  I can't wait.  I have started tying up all loose ends and have my packing list started.  We are going to have SO much fun!

This is the way the world ends: Not with a bang but a whimper

Ok so nothing happened this week.  I spent most of it sick.  In fact Friday, Saturday and Sunday I stayed in my PJ's and slept A LOT.  Monday I was finally feeling better but still haven't really gotten back into the groove.  The good news is that I haven't gained much back I am up .2 lbs but my tummy is feeling swollen right now so I'm not overly concerned.  

To Recap I lost about 12 lbs during this 6 week challenge.  I am satisfied.  My goal was 225 but I was aware that was a high goal.  I am still pushing to try to lose more before my cruise on May 10.  I have 4 weeks, perhaps I can drop another 10lbs we shall see.  

I can't wait until the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans starts another challenge.  Cindy is willing to be my partner again! Yay!  I shall just keep pecking away slowly edging toward my ultimate goal.  I am very close to a size 16 right now.  I am smaller than I have been for about a decade.  Happiness.  In fact I am only 2 lbs away from having lost 75lbs.  That is huge!!!  I shall focus on that for now!

Being sick works for me I guess

I am sick.  I have been sick since last Thursday.  I have not exercised all week.  Apparently that works for me I weighed 230 exactly when I got on the scale.  We will see if that holds lol.  I might actually make it into the 220's by the end of this challenge.  My goal for next week is 228 that means since I have been pushing I will be down 14 lbs from 242.  Not bad.  I will have almost a month to meet my goal of 220 by the time we go on our trip in May.  

I really want to work out on this trip.  I have never accomplished this before but I will be very discouraged if I gain 10lbs on this cruise!  At the same time I want to eat the delicious foods and enjoy myself.  So the only way to do both is to work out enough to offset the extra food!  Hope it works lol.  That's all for today.  Head feels like its floating on the ceiling.  Nose is dripping.