Itty bitty, but still inching in the right direction!

     I lost .4 last night, and I will readily admit, I was MAD about it, and I felt all pouty.
     I did so much exercise that I really felt like I would've had a bigger loss on the scale.
     Even though I did not track points, I still felt like I ate respectably well, especially through Easter!
     So, I was sitting there with my lower lip out there enough for a bird to perch on it (or, so my dad would say), and then we had a GREAT WWers meeting that truly change my perspective around.
     I know, I know...a loss is a loss no matter how small! Blah, blah, right?
     Well, our leader had a demonstration that hit home. She first asked for any volunteers who thought they were strong. She went to the back row and had the people there try to rip a phone book in two.
     Of course, when they tried to do this by grabbing the phone book as a whole, it did not work.
     But, then when the leader grabbed the book and opened it up and tore a few pages at a time, you could visually see how it would be possible to rip that phone book into two pieces!!
     Then our leader went on to ask us all how many times that we had lost weight, but it was under a pound. It was crazy to look at the big picture like that!!!
     So many people had lost LOTS of weight in under one pound increments. That made me feel better.
     In the end, she used the "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." (Which by the way I have seen attributed to both Confucius and Lao-Tzu)

Finally finished!

     I just finished The Amazing Adventures of Diet Girl. AND, I loved it!
     (Click on the link to the book, and you can even read an excerpt! I love her style of writing!!!)
     I made the time to read, and then I really cruised through it!! It's so funny and inspiring.
     I COMPLETELY relate to the author, and I love the life lessons she has figured out and how much she has learned about herself :)
     READ IT! YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED!!!!

Uphill all the way (well, at least one-way)

     Today for lunch I headed out and up the hill from school. I don't have any idea how far I walked, but I felt great!
     The birds were singing, the flowers (and trees) were blossoming, and the wind was gently blowing my wild mane of hair :)
     I walked eight minutes uphill (a steep one), and then walked back downhill, which only took five minutes!
     Love it!!!

Great walk for lunch! And I scored on a Rawsons' sale!

Testing out this blogging from my phone. Reminds me of Twitter.

Falling in love!

      I am falling in love with exercising again! Yahoo! This morning I rode the bike for 45 minutes!!!
      Then at lunch I walked for a mile, even in the wind (thankfully only in one direction, right?!).
      I wanted to challenge you to walk during a break or your lunch! All you need is 15 minutes, and you will clock in a mile!!!! So, even if you don't know for sure how long you are walking, you can walk at a decent pace for 7 1/2 minutes, and then turn around and come back. YOU CAN DO IT! Plus, you will feel so much better after doing so! I PROMISE!
      After school I walked/jogged on the treadmill for another mile (eight straight minutes of jogging). And, I followed that up with a weights workout!
      To make exercising even better, we recently received a DVR!! Can I say YOWSER??!! What a super cool piece of technology!!
      Now, I am busy taping all of these dumb reality shows that I do love to watch, but sometimes feel a little guilty for wasting the time on them.
      Well, NO MORE! I am now watching the shows and riding the bike at the same time!!! It's so sweet that you can fast forward through all of the commercials! I LOVE it!!!!
      I have heard so many people talking about their DVRs, and I didn't really get the hype, but now I do!

THE most amazing ride

     So, Saturday we headed out for a "trail" ride, only we were hardly ever on the the trail!
     That's right! I officially now am a mountain rider! LOL! We were all up and down the hills and mountains in the Pogue Mountain area.
     I still can't believe how close to home we are, and yet when you are out riding you feel WORLDS away!
     I am in love with riding my horse. I kept telling Rick that I felt like I was in a western movie of some kind, as we went everywhere.
     At different times we could see Duck Lake, Brown Lake, Green Lake; the towns of Omak, Okanogan, Malott; and beyond.
     We rode through where the fire was last year, and surprisingly the damage wasn't nearly as bad as we expected.
     And, the regeneration of grass and flowers is inspiring.
     The views were breathtaking!







     Now, let's talk about the workout! I rode for four hours, but like I said everything was up and down hills, with just a little (very little) amount of flat trail riding.
     I earned 13 exercise points, as I dialed in my activity online at Weight Watchers, and they don't give an option for the kind of riding we did; they just have walking, trotting, or galloping.
     So, on Sunday my core and my back muscles were the ones feeling it the most. But, I feel good, alive, and STRONG!
     I know I am getting stronger, because I can get pull myself up in the saddle all by myself now, wihtout needing any extra lift from Rick :)
     Again, thanks to my amazing new saddle, I didn't feel any saddle soreness :)
     Mostly I just love my horse, and I can't wait to get out all summer long!!!
     I love exercising outside. I love the sounds and smells, and the fresh air! YEEHAW!

New routine

      For this entire week I have walked every day at lunch! I love it! It's so invigorating for the rest of the day.
     For the past two days, I had been so busy with baseball in the evening that I did not have a chance to go shopping for lunch stuff for me, so I went to Wall Webbers yesterday and today for a scrumptious veggie sandwich!!! YUMMY, and healthy, woo hoo!
     I had an AWESOME workout this afternoon. I am up to jogging for 8 minutes straight! That's so amazing considering when I started a minute felt like an hour!!
     I am really happy with the routine of working out that I have right now!!! Besides my daily lunch walks, I am also lifting weights and jogging on the treadmill.
     Tomorrow if the weather holds out, we are going for a LONG trail ride! I can't wait!!!

Another loss and a new do!

     I lost 1.2 pounds this past week, and I was pleasantly surprised because I did NOT do a good job tracking over Spring Break, and this past weekend, but I did exercise TONS and tons.
     I am definitely on a roll in the exercise department. I am at the point where I NEED to exercise!
     Now, I have exactly five pounds to lose, and I will be where I was last July, when I was at my lowest since I had started WWers! So, I am close!!! And, I am feeling very motivated.
     I tried on a pair of my jeans this morning that I haven't been able to wear, and what do you know...they fit and LOOKED perfect!! I was so excited!!!!!!
     So, another fun thing that happened today...my yearbook class completed the yearbook, and the deal was that when it happened, I would let them straighten my hair. I was a bit worried because I had my hair straightened two other times, and it looked like I was a triangle head, LOL!
     Well, three girls did it in 30 minutes, and they did such a good job!
     The best part of it all was watching the reactions of EVERYONE!!!! LOL

Another loss!

     I lost .8, which is OK. It brings me up to a total of 20 pounds gone!
     I feel pretty good about the fact that I had a loss considering I did not do good tracking on Friday - Sunday,and we did eat out. I expect this week to be better!!
     I am now able to get back into pants that I couldn't wear when I started back up with Weight Watchers, so that makes me happy!!
     One thing I did do is...for the month of March I worked out 21 times!!! 15 of those times was weights and cardio, and the other six times were cardio only.
     I am very pleased with that pattern of behavior! I am at the point right now where I want to exercise.