Otherwise Occupied

I apologize for the lack of blog posts, missing Saturday Sundries posts and Weigh-In Wednesdays posts.

{Luna, our Siberian Husky pup}

I have been otherwise occupied with a festival, vet appointments, doctor appointments, and every day life.

We have gotten two new pups in the last few weeks.

{Luna with Ava, our feisty German Shepherd puppy}

I'm sure things will slow down soon... eventually.

Ava cries to go outside to play with Luna and Buddy. Luna is very patient and lets Ava growl and bite and tug at her ears, then she just holds her down with her paw, lol!

Buddy's still around, but I have no recent pics. He got fixed yesterday and will be a bit under the weather for a few days.

In the meantime, Ava will pose for the camera...

along with her little brother, Thor, who lives with my son and his wife...

{Ava & Thor}

{Thor}

So that's what's going on here. It's just like having little ones around again and I am getting pretty much nothing accomplished.... other than adding more cute puppy photos to my album! ;)

{Ava}

I'll check back in tomorrow for Weigh-In Wednesday.

Take care and God bless,
Lana
~*~

Weigh-In Wednesday

Since I won't be sharing photos of myself but once a month or so, I was really at a loss of what to use to illustrate these posts! So I figured I could photograph something I've eaten or drank in the past week. Really exciting, huh? ;)

I try drinking lots of water.. shooting for a gallon a day but sometimes it's hard to guzzle down that much so I started adding flavor to it. Crystal Light has some great flavors, but often I go for the cheaper off brand. WalMart has a Great Value brand that I like: Peach Mango Green Tea. I put 2 packets in a quart of ice water and drink it as I'm working on things like this and this and most recently I'm working several hours a day on silk ribbon embroidery for the Lavender Festival.

I only walked 6 miles on the treadmill in the past week, but I did do some outside work in the yard as well --- like helping my husband drill post holes for our back yard fence. Let me tell you, just because it's gas powered and they say just stand there and hold the handles... it's hard work... especially when it doesn't want to drill into the ground. I was sore for days after I helped. Since I've been trying to get a lot done for the festival along with all the other daily chores, by the time I get supper finished and sit down in the evenings... I'm out like a light! For that reason, I'm going to try to get my walking done in the mornings now.

I'm still watching what I eat and keeping a basic count of calories. We live out in the country and can't run to the store every evening if we're out of something, so if I forgot to pick up a few extra things for my "diet" I just try to do with what I have on hand for a few days and watch the calories. Also, if I'm craving something.... which thankfully I don't normally crave sweets... I treat myself and just try to work extra hard to make up for it. I think if you do that, you are less likely to give in later and eat a plate full of whatever you are craving.

My weight loss for this week (from Wednesday to Wednesday) is only 2 lbs. but there again --- it's still a loss and not a gain. I don't find it a struggle as I've heard a lot of people say, because when I do what I should, I see results. It's just a matter of doing what I know I should be doing. Does that make sense?

I'd better get off the computer and get back to working on festival items. Thanks again for the comments and the personal email messages you have sent. It's very encouraging to hear your stories. :)

Take care and God bless,
Lana
~*~

You can see all the other Weigh-in Wednesday posts here.

Weigh-In Wednesday

Ok, it's time to check in...

I enjoy walking outdoors, but to have a safe place to walk, I need to drive a few miles down the road and that's not always convenient. Either I have something going on at home that I can't leave unattended or it's raining, too hot, too cold, etc. I decided to get a treadmill so I would not have an excuse. I'm on a budget, and needed to go with what I could afford. Last fall I bought a manual treadmill ($128 at Amazon) and did not like it at all. I know you have to work harder with a manual treadmill and that was fine with me, but we could never get it adjusted so you could walk on it without the tread slipping. I never used it.

About 1 1/2 weeks ago I bought the one pictured above. It's a Weslo Cadence G 5.9 and I love it! I bought mine at WalMart but you can find it other places. We have it in a spare room that's waiting on a renovation near the end of June, so for now it's not in the way. When we do renovate and make the spare room a guest bedroom, the treadmill can still go in there because it folds up! I love that, too! If I wear it out or it doesn't live up to my expectations, I'll just have to save up for a better one, but so far it's fine.

I just wish I had a Kindle or something to read while walking. I have the treadmill set up where I can see out the window, but there's not a lot going on out there other than a couple of bluebirds flying in and out of their birdhouse. I listen to a mix of Michael Buble, The Beach Boys, and Celtic music on my pretty aqua iPod shuffle that Suzanne gave to me as a Christmas gift a few years back, but I think I'd like to read some, too. Maybe I'll win a Kindle on a blog giveaway somewhere. :)

So, I guess you want to know how I've done for the last week or so? I didn't lose as much as I intended, but I slacked off over Memorial weekend and didn't walk for 4 days straight! We were busy, gone most days, had company, had a yard sale, went to a cook out, went to KY to get a new puppy, etc. I know.... excuses, excuses, but I did start back walking again this morning and I'll walk again tonight.

Daily calorie intake was approximately 1200 - 1500, but to be honest, I didn't keep up with it exactly. I know about how many calories are in most of what I eat so I keep a mental tab going, but I will be writing more of it down from now on. Over the weekend I splurged and made a fruit salad for our family here at home using low-fat yogurt, low-fat whipped topping, and fresh fruits. I skipped dessert at the cook-out because it wasn't light or low-fat at all! I'm sure I'll get in the groove before long, but as long as I'm losing, I'm happy. I have Jillian's 30 Day Shred dvd and plan on starting that again this week. It worked when I used it before, and I could see results, but last fall when I started getting sick and was sick for several weeks, I stopped doing it and never started back.

Here's how I did this time:
from May 19th to May 30th I walked 11.6 miles on the treadmill and lost 3 lbs.
That's not as much as I hoped for, but I didn't exercise as much as I should have either.
I'll do better next time! :)

Thanks for checking in, thank you for all the encouraging comments and email messages,
and for those of you who are also on this journey...
I know you can do it too! :)

God bless,
Lana
~*~

Click here for more Weigh-In Wednesdays

Weigh-In Wednesday

You don't know just how hard it is for me to hit the publish button on this post, but here goes.....

Yes, I know this isn't Wednesday, but I wanted to let you know about a weekly post I will be doing beginning next week.

I have wanted needed to do this post for a long time, but always chickened out. It's hard to face the reality of not being what you want to be, and face up to what you are, and finally do something about it. At least it's hard for me. It's even harder to go public with the reality. I have changed my mind on posting this so many times. How would I be judged?

As long as I stayed in the background, behind my words, you could picture me, Lana of Honeysuckle Lane, however you wanted me to look... perhaps you thought I was a tall, slender blonde, or a feisty red-head... or maybe a dark-haired country girl looking lean and fit in jeans, boots, and a flannel shirt (considering all the chicken and turkey posts I've done in the past). But if you've read the rare past posts with photos of me, you know that I am none of those. I am still the person, the artist / wife / mom, who wrote this blog for the last 5 years or so, but I have always held back in some way or another. For many years I have been embarrassed of the way I look, of my weight, and that has caused me to stay on the sidelines, to turn away opportunities, to miss out on so much... all because of how I felt about myself. Silly, I know, but that's just the way it has been.

{taken in February of this year at my son's wedding rehearsal}

I have been overweight for over 20 years and I am so tired of being overweight.
So I am finally.... finally..... doing something about it.

There are many reasons why I decided to blog about this, but here are a few:

• posting this on my blog will make me feel more accountable
• this will be a journal that I can look back on and see my progress
• hopefully, by sharing my experience, I can be an inspiration to someone else

Each Wednesday, I will try to post about my progress on losing weight and getting healthy. I'll share photos, but I'm not sure yet if I will share a weekly photo of myself or maybe once a month... we'll see. I am no expert (obviously) but I will share what I am doing, what's working for me, how I am doing, how I am feeling, etc.

I appreciate your comments and encouragement and will try to respond if there are any questions.

Wish me luck and I'll be back on Wednesday to report in! :)

Take care and God bless,
Lana
~*~