Lots Of Negative Energy This Week

I’ve been saying some negative stuff to myself and thinking about a lot of negative thoughts a lot this week.  It is all mostly due to my back-to-back gains that was a doozy of a big gain for the month of April.  To add insult to injury, my size 16 capris don’t fit as well as they did at the end of March.

 

One positive is that I caved and pulled out some old size 18 capris that I’ve not donated yet thinking I just needed to feel good in my clothes again.  Thankfully, they were too big.  Whew.  That was a relief.  I do miss feeling good and confident in my clothes.  Since I’ve only recently been feeling this way, I am going to stay focused on that it is only temporary and that I need to address the extra weight gain ASAP.

I can always count on FB Memories to help give me new perspective.  Today, two of them popped up.

Three years ago we broke ground on our new home build. 

 

Three years ago was just about where I peaked for my all-time high re-gain weight.  Looking back at my weight record in 2016 showed me that I was skipping the scale/meetings a lot and eventually I had to pull up those big girl britches and take action.

 

I am so thankful I did.  It has made these last three years so rewarding.  Once again, I took control of my life and made the necessary changes to start feeling better, moving more, and eating healthier.

Five years ago today I took a scenic flight along with Kenyon and the pilot of a very tiny plane.

 

I remember feeling the struggle of weight gain five years ago and starting to lost grasp of my maintenance journey all together.  In hindsight, the gain was nothing compared to where I would find myself in 2016.  And, you always wish you could be back to the weight when you thought you were fat.

 

What I am choosing to draw from this is that every weight gain, just like weight loss, is temporary unless you do something about it.  It takes just as much work to lose weight as it does to keep it off.  I really miss feeling good in my clothes.  Last year I worked really hard on body positivity.  Feeling so negative this last week as really taken a toll on me. 

I need to stay focused and release all that bad energy.  I’m working on it.

April Apple Watch Activity Challenge Completed: A Few Days Early

I earned double the Apple Watch Activity Awards the month.

An Earth Day Challenge came up tasking me to log a 30 minute outside workout. I did a 30 minute Aaptiv walk outdoors earning my award.

Due to all our Vegas vacation steps, I’ve earned my April Activity Award early.  I logged 88.6 miles in the month of April.

It’s nice to have it wrapped up and I’m hoping that the May Challenge isn’t too intense since we are out of town the first week.  We will see what transpires on May 1^st and if needs be, I can try and sneak in some activity at the hotel fitness center.  We are also planning to some exploring of St. Louis, which will get me some steps as well.

"Weekend" O' Fun

Good Morning and Happy Friday

It is actually my Monday and it is a split week due to a Celebration of Life for a cousin we lost unexpectedly so I’ll be working Tuesday in exchange for Sunday off.  This is going to be a very busy “weekend” as we roll into vacation next week.  Whew.  I’m already exhausted!

I had a great “weekend” as my days off are now Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  I love days off mid-week even though there is a lot of fun to be had on weekends too.  With Aunt Barb in town from New Mexico, we had some extra fun the last few days.

After my WW meeting on Tuesday, I met Mom, Dad, and Barb for lunch at Chuck-A-Rama and then had a low key evening at home with Kenyon and some missed television shows.  Wednesday, Mom, Barb, and I went to Melba to see my Uncle J.L. and my Great-Aunt Barbara as well as visit the cemetery where my grandparents reside.  We did some much needed clean up around the gravestone sites and added some Spring flowers. 

Thursday morning, I met Danielle for breakfast at The Griddle to catch up since it has been a while since all my friends have been able to meet up.  Afterwards, I headed into my parent’s house since wine tasting was on the agenda.  Mom, Dad, Barb, and I visited four wineries in the Snake River Valley Wine Region. 

 

We started our day at Vine and Branch Ranch, at their new location.  Snake River Winery merged with Peaceful Belly Farms to create one space that is absolutely beautiful.  We enjoyed several wine tastes along with cider too. 

 

Our second stop was to Koenig Vineyards & Distillery.  You aren’t able to try the hard alcohol but the wine tastings are free.  They have so many award winnings wines and several Iced Wines too.  Their new tasting room is beautiful with 360 degree views.

Next up was Sawtooth Winery, which also has a new tasting room location at the base of St. Chapelle.  We didn’t end up tasting any wines since the prices were steep.  There new space is also very nice.

Lastly, we continued up the hill to St. Chapelle, which is a favorite of mine.  I am a case club member so I should have had free tasting…but it has been a while since I’ve bought a case of wine.  She was really nice and allowed us to taste for free.  Plus, this was our last stop so we were all sharing one glass of tastes.  As usual, all were delicious.

 

From there, I raced home for a quick change so I could meet Phoenix, Stacey, and Kiki at Bittercreek Alehouse for dinner before going to see the Old Dominion concert.  Apparently this was Phoenix’s first time at Bittercreek and since they have $3 beer for happy hour, along with yummy food, we will be back.

 

The concert was at Century Link Area.  I’ve never been to a concert there before and thought while it was small it was a nice venue.  The concert ran really late for a “school night” but Old Dominion was great.  They are very high energy and I really love their songs.  The two opening acts were good too.  We had a great time.

 

And with that, I’m back at work and trying to be responsible.

Weekly WI: An Ugly End To April

Seeing the FB Memory of my 10 Year WW Lifetime Anniversary pop up a few days ago wasn’t the best timing since I’ve had a month of indulgent vacations.

Pro: my pants still fit and they are my new size 16

Con: I can feel the extra weight that has settled in on my muffin top

While I was dreading my WI yesterday and this is the last opportunity to log an official scale number for the month, the overall results aren’t pretty.

I am bummed that I didn’t do better at working harder to reach my goal of balancing vacation splurges so I could end the month with a maintain.  Or maybe a smaller gain. It is always super frustrating to have to work hard to lose re-gain weight.  But, I’ll do it and I’ll get back down under 210 again.

I’m in a better mental place today than I was yesterday. I was pretty upset with myself that I gained almost 10 pounds in one month. And I’m just frustrated that I have to work so hard to lose it again. I’m also scared to death about another vacation and the thought of 5 more pounds settling on. It’s all overwhelming right now and I’m just trying to process it all while staying positive.

While we were in Vegas, I went in search of a comparison photo from trip we took a few years ago.  I can’t remember the exact numbers but I think this was two years ago.

Despite my ups and downs, I have been able to keep the scale lower than the year before.  To me, this equals success.

Keep On Keeping On

Las Vegas: One Of My Favorite Travel Destinations

Our recent vacation to Las Vegas was just as fun as it always is.  And, the icing on the cake was coming home with some gambling winnings!  We also came home with a Sapphire Resorts travel membership, but that is another story for another time…

We used coupons, COMPS, and gift cards to our advantage this trip and saved some money.  With four full days in Vegas, we were hopeful the gambling money would hold out and thankfully, we were able to ride our winnings.  I’ll tell ya, gambling is way more fun when you are willing.

We ate at several different buffets also trying a few new ones.  And, we went to Buca di Beppo three times.  I had three different coupons which allowed us to get half off our meals.  Then, we went one morning for breakfast and was able to redeem the free dessert.  Chocolate cake for breakfast?  Yes please!  We also had a gift card from a Christmas bonus that we used.  I love a good deal.

The Vegas Golden Knight hockey team is playing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs but game tickets were more than I wanted to spend. 

I noticed the scrolling add at a bar in our hotel, The Still, was offering a free beer and free shots for each goal scored if you were wearing a jersey.  I found a decent deal on a jersey at The Luxor and proudly wore it around Vegas on both two times.  We watched part of the game earning me three shots (VGK ended up scoring five goals total and winning one of the games).  I wanted to go back for the second game but we watched in our hotel room instead.

 

Speaking of our hotel room, we stayed at The Mirage for the first time and really liked the mid-strip location.  We also had a four-night stay room COMP and a view of the volcano.  These aren’t the best photos, but it was fun to watch it “erupt” three times a night.

 

While we were in town, I met up with a prior coworker and friend, Laura, who now lives in Vegas.  We had a gift card (I told you we took part in lots of deals) for an off-strip location Gordon Beirsch, a GermanBrewery.  I didn’t get a photo of the amazing pretzel but all the food (and beer) was delicious.  We had to take an Uber to get there but we would go again.

 

I was missing National Telecommunicates Week at work but I celebrated in spirit by wearing our new shirts we designed and had made.

 

I love Vegas and never get tired of visiting.

 

We had several big wins at the slot machine and I even had a few big wins at the airport.  That is the best kind because then you are guaranteed to go home with some money. 

 

And with that, I’ll be posting about our Missouri travel adventures here shortly.

10 Year WW Lifetime Anniversary

Good Morning and Happy…what day is it…Sunday! 

Oh, and Happy Easter.

I’m really mixed up on my days this week but I’m looking forward to spending time with my family later today.

Today is the 10 year anniversary of the day I earned my Lifetime Membership with Weight Watchers (WW).

 

What an exciting memory to have pop up today.  I am very happy overall which now my Lifetime Journey has been thus far. 

I’ve had struggles along the way.

I never quit. 

I’ve been really depressed about my weight gain.

I never quit.

I haven’t always worked the program 100% perfectly.

I never quit.

There are times I have skipped meeting due to guilt for not being committed.

I never quit.

 

As tempting as quitting felt when I wasn’t 100% committed to health/weight loss/fitness, it wouldn’t have gotten me anywhere.  I have struggled many times and have had to pick myself up a time or two (well more than that).  The struggle is what has made me stronger and if I can continue to see past the storm to the blue skies ahead, I will come out okay.

Our Annual Visit To New Mexico

Our time in NM is always so short but is nice spending time with family.  We stayed with my Aunt Barb, as we typically do, who lives about 30 minutes away from my in-laws.  We had hoped to spend more time with Barb on this trip.  She is busy with her many volunteering jobs, one of which allowed us to see Chicago The Musical.  But, let me rewind.

Our flight out of Boise was early.  We grabbed a breakfast bagel sandwich from Einstein Bagels at the airport before getting to our gate just as they announced boarding.  It was a busy morning at the Boise Airport, which was really unusual. 

Our flight made a stop over in Oakland, where we didn’t change planes.  We packed some PB&J sandwiches along with some other snacks so we wouldn’t be starved when we arrived in Albuquerque.  I have some drink tickets a coworker gave me so I cashed on in for a Summer Shandy on the second leg of the flight.  It felt a bit weird drinking a beer at 10am California time.  We had been up since 3:45am Boise time.  I guess it is always 5 o’clock somewhere eh?

We checked in at The Air BnB of Aunt Barb and grabbed some lunch at Papa Felipe’s.  I’m a weenie for hot chile and the green chile was fire that day.  I enjoyed my bowl of Pozole with a small bit of chile and a side of whole beans but we all know the highlight was the sopapilla.  I like mine as dessert with honey dripping from it. 

I told myself before I went that I would have just one, which was so temping to order another.  But, I held strong and was also super full.  We made another stop at Papa Felipe’s before we left so we could enjoy one more sopapilla treat.

I enjoyed the visit with my in-laws and loved seeing the little niece and great-niece, who are now three.  We will have a great nephew when we visit next, which is very exciting.  Barb was able to get us tickets to see Chicago The Musical, which we enjoyed.

We celebrated my father-in-law, Ken’s, 83rd birthday, which was the reason for our visit in the chilly and unpredictable New Mexico weather of April.  Ken believes that once you turn 50, you start going backward in age like you do with yard lines of a football field.  We couldn’t resist having Happy 17th Birthday written on the cake since he tells everybody he is 17 this year.  German Chocolate is Ken’s favorite cake, which is great because it is also my favorite flavor.

We were able to spend some time with Barb the evening before we left and enjoyed a delicious meal of Green Chile Stew, Frontier tortillas, and this Hatch Green Chile Wine I spotted at Smith’s.  It was really good and complimented the spicy dish nicely.

With that...we continued on to Las Vegas and have been having a lot of fun