52 lbs down 48 to go!!

So I've reached my second goal weight of 200 lbs and I'm now down to 198 lbs. Being back in 'ONEderland' is really cool, I haven't weighed 1## lbs since K was a baby. Back then I was 170 lbs but that is the lightest I've been in about 15 years. Everything is still going smoothly.

My next goal weight is 190 lbs, then 180 lbs, then 170 lbs, then 160 lbs and my final goal weight is 150 lbs. I've been posting a lot about my weight loss on Facebook so if you friend me on there you'll get more information(if you want it). I probably won't post an update here until 180 lbs. I'm still thrilled over the whole onederland deal, I LOVE seeing a one hundred something on the scale instead of two hundred something and it all beat the hell out of 250!!!

Shrinking ...

One of the things I was not expecting about this whole weight-loss deal is how weird it is to get smaller. I'm now down 41 pounds and weigh 209 lbs down from the whopping 250 lbs where I started. I've had to buy smaller pants and actually found out the other day I can squeeze into men's size small shorts(my XL shorts were getting skirt-like). I now realize that weight-loss is the only time when we get smaller.

So now that I have dropped a significant amount of weight I'm noticing that I am smaller. I could probably drop from the men's large track pants I wear to a medium, I know I could drop down to a large size t-shirt and the sports bras I bought just a few weeks ago I can do up at the next tightest setting. I finally had someone comment on the fact I have lost a lot of weight and actually had a trainer at the YMCA say "I've seen you working out ... you're pretty hard core.". I also caught myself saying "I hope they deliver the fridge before noon, I'd hate to be late to the gym."

5 months ago I would have been shocked if you had told me I would be so far along my weight-loss road so soon. I wouldn't have believed you if you had said I would be going to the gym 6 days a week and liking it. The whole thing is surreal. I mean, sometimes I just don't believe that it's me doing so well at this. I know it's going to get harder the closer I get to my goal weight but so far it has been EASY. I keep saying that it's because I was ready to do this and that it's because I'm not depriving myself of the things I enjoy eating. I guess that's true but I think part of it is because I'm used to getting what I want and this, at long last, is exactly what I want.

I'm so close to my second goal of 200 lbs I can taste it ... 50 lbs will be a very big deal. I'm almost halfway there!!

Cass :)

Weight Loss

I know it's been forever but I always feel like almost no one reads my Blog and sometimes I just get into my life and just don't think I have anything to say. Today I feel like talking about stuff but all my friends have heard of it all over and over again and I don't want to continue to bore them so I thought I would post a summary here.

Back in May I had to buy new bras. Now, if you know me you know I hate shopping for clothes and I really hate buying anything that I have to try things on to see if it's the right size. Bras are worlds of worse because you have to measure yourself to get the correct size and then you still have to try them on! So there I was needing new bras and I took my measurements...

A long long time ago, when I was 19, I took my measurements. I was Bust-Waist-Hips -- 36, 21, 38. Now I realize that this was 20 years and 3 pregnancies ago but it was depressing as hell to go from 36, 21, 38 to 49, 44, 52. I cried. It was all very sad. I remembered that I lost weight before using a site called Calorie Count it was just a few months before I started this Blog and I had gone from 250 to 227 but I quit logging everything I ate because I figured that I knew what I was supposed to be eating and I was discouraged by how much weight I still had to lose so back in the early fall of 2006 I quit. Of course I ended up gaining it all back and there I was back in May looking at the most depressing measurements ever and knowing I was back up to 250 lbs. I was, in fact, inching into 251 and 252 and I decided that it was time to really get a handle on my weight.

I dusted off my Calorie Count account and put in my new weight and deleted all my old weights so I could make a fresh start. I started out eating 1900 calories a day and logging all my food. I left my activity pretty much where it was and just paid very close attention to what I was eating. I started eating more fruits and vegetables and set up strict meal and snack times for everyone in the family so we all ate better. My sweet man saw everything I was doing and he also re-joined Calorie Count and we encouraged each other.

I lost weight. I wasn't starving and I wasn't doing anymore than I had always done. I dropped 2 to 3 lbs a week and it was easy! I was shocked. After about a month the kids were off school for the summer and I changed my activities a little and kept losing weight. Each week when I entered a new lower weight my calorie needs dropped so I had to reduce my calories to suit or increase my activity.

Now it is about 3 months later and I've hit my first goal weight of 225 lbs and my measurements are 44, 41, 49. I'm down 5 inches off my bust, and 3 each off my waist and hips. I'm still a long way from those measurements from 20 years ago and I am not able to get that small again but it still feels good. Almost a whole foot of my body is gone! 25 pounds is gone!

I'm now working on my second mini-goal of 200 lbs and have increased my activity quite a bit this last week. I am eating about 1500 calories a day but can burn up to almost 3000 calories with walking and swimming. Once the kids go back to school I plan on talking to a trainer at the YMCA - all members get a half hour a week with a trainer for free and I'm looking forward to talking to someone who can help me set up some strength training so I can build some muscle to help me burn off some more weight.

So that's what I've been up to for the last few months. I'll refrain from talking more about my weight loss here until I meet my next goal. If you're friends with my on Facebook you have access to my weekly weigh ins and calorie numbers.

Soap nuts, a summary.

Okay it's been a few months since my big excitement about soap nuts. Here's where I am now - I use it to wash our clothes. That's it. When I make the soap nuts liquid I just but 20g of nuts in a liter jar and fill it up with boiling water and slap the lid on it. So far our clothes smell clean and I figure it's cheaper than regular laundry detergent.

We're using our dishwasher again and I use traditional detergent there and I have dish soap next to the sink as well(I missed the bubbles).

So best use for soap nuts? Laundry :)