For Liss

I just watched Eat, Pray, Love (so disappointing; the book is far and away MUCH better) but I can still hear Ketut saying "Liss" instead of Liz. And my sister's name is Liz. So this is for you, Liss!!

First of all, answers to questions:

1. Are you going to get tested for celiac disease?
Yes, hopefully when I get back home and establish care with a competent doctor.

2. How often do you throw up each week? (just curious if it's as bad as it used to be)
It varies. Some weeks I throw up 3-4 times and other weeks not at all. It depends on stress and what I eat.

3. Did you know Debbie Sanchez is coming to my house tonight to talk about Pre-paid legal?
I know it now! (Since you asked this, like, eons ago).

4. What is your favorite thing to do during the day?
Read blogs or books. But once I get home and am in close proximity to my friends, that will expand to include visits and coffee dates.

5. What is your BIGGEST pet peeve?
Josh not putting on his seatbelt as soon as he gets in the car. He waits until he is actually driving to put it on. GRRRRRRR.

Okay, thanks Mary Beth, Amy, Dawne, and Steve for the comments!!

Ok, so here's the deal. I'm not giving up. The whole PREMISE of this blog is "Slow and Steady". So I'm going to honor that and just keep plugging along, even though it feels like I can't finish ANYTHING I start. Not even a cup of coffee. Seriously, that's how spastic I am. I rarely even finish my coffee, so it doesn't matter that I use 1/4 c of creamer in it. Seriously, I do. Sorry if that made you gag.

I see Dr. Ray this Friday and I am hoping and praying that he is able to give me some more long-term answers and help. I just need something to stick. I do plan to be serious about my weight loss and learning to live a healthy lifestyle in general. I didn't manage to drink much water yesterday. Um, it was only 2 small glasses right before bed. Oops.

I need like a huge white board with all the things I need to do, so I can check them off:

VITAMINS
WATER
PROTEIN
EXERCISE
HORMONE DROPS
SLEEP

Maybe once we're back in our house I can come up with something.

Today I need to keep packing. I had 1 crepe for breakfast and I'm working on a cup of coffee. It's 11:30 and I'll try to have a salad for lunch. Bleh. I really hate making salads. Jen made a very good, valid point; if the salads were easier to make, I'd eat them more. So I need to take some time and prep a bunch of the stuff so I can throw it all together, instead of having to wash and chop everything every time.

Has anyone used Debbie Meyer's Green Bags?
Or something similar? I'm thinking if I get the baby spinach from Costco and these bags help keep it from going slimy and bad that it would help tremendously. Also if I have the other stuff all chopped and prepped.

I really don't want this weight to keep creeping back on. Those were the perfect descriptive words, Dawne. They are just creeping... slowly but surely piling back on. And it must be stopped.

I really hope to figure out a plan that I can stick to, something that works consistently, once we're settled in back at home.

Well, I'm off to pack. Seriously. It's not gonna magically happen, unfortunately. :-P

Hibernating Bear

Thanks to those who took the time to comment on my last post.

It seems there are a few people reading. And I decided that I'm doing this for myself and not to see how many people are following along. This is my journey, so even if no one reads, I will keep at it.

Especially after weighing in this morning. 145.2. GULP. Apparently all my excessive eating and drinking has caught up with me. Granted, it is my TOM and I'm bloated and craving/eating salt. But still. I really hate moving my ticker back, in the wrong direction. My poor turtle. She has learned much patience on this journey.

I don't have lots of time right now, or even much time in the coming weeks. In 11 days we'll be moving back, and in the meantime I leave for AZ this Thursday. So I have LOTS of packing, cleaning, organizing, and other things to do until our move is complete.

But I have decided I have to put more effort into living healthier. This year the holidays have seemed so overwhelming and stressful, and I know a large part of that is due to the fact that holidays = food. People bake and buy goodies and they are in abundance, all around. And that is so STRESSFUL when you're on the weight-loss path, or even just learning moderation.

However, I'm not going to throw in the towel and I'm going to make a conscience effort to lose these 5 pounds I've gained. And then continue to lose the rest of this excess weight. I can see it on my body now. I have a thick layer of fat around my stomach that is exactly where the 5 pounds is sitting. My pants are tight and the muffin top abounds. Basically I'm a bear who is well prepared to hibernate. :-D

Poor Pooh Bear didn't know when to stop; he hasn't learned moderation yet. And see how unhappy he looks!?

I'll try to continue to post; I just saw/figured out the option to write a post and have it publish at a later date, so I can maybe do something like that. ANYWAY, I'll try to at least check in to let you know how I'm doing and to keep myself accountable. I'm not trying to count calories or do anything like that just yet. Life is much too crazy for that right now; I don't have the time or desire to run to my computer umpteen times a day to find out how many calories are in things.

But I'll choose to put healthy food in my mouth, and I really, really, really am going to work hard at drinking water.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Thanks again for all the comments and I promise to answer all the questions soon.

Honest Scrap Award

My dear friend Dawne has bestowed the Honest Scrap award on me! (By the way, Dawne, when I was reading your blog last week my husband happened to walk by and see the pictures at the top of your header. He exclaimed, "WOW! That lady has lost a ton of weight and looks amazing!" I just shook my head in absolute, total agreement. You look amazing and you just plain ARE amazing.

Back to the award...












I am supposed to tell you ten honest things about myself, so here I go:

1) If I could have one wish (at this moment) it would be that I could be 100% healthy. Emotionally, Chemically, Physically. No more hormone/chemical imbalances, no more digestion issues, and no emotional scars.

2) I wonder if anyone (besides the faithful few commenters) even read this blog.

3) I am really self-conscious about my red hair.

4) I am REALLY bad at diets/counting calories. Thus, no weight loss.

5) I am afraid all the years of throwing up has damaged the enamel on my teeth and I'll end up with, like, dentures by the time I'm 40. *shudder*

6) I'd go on a vacation every 3 months if I could.

7) Dutch apple pie with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream is my all-time favorite dessert.

8) I have really bad night-vision. Because of this I have a PARANOIA of crosswalks at night. I am so, so, so afraid that someone will be crossing in the darkness and I won't see them. Whenever I come to one, I slow WAY down and open my eyes as big as they'll go and look all around. Basically, I turn into an owl-in-slow-motion and creep over the crosswalk.

9) I use my measuring cups/spoons almost every single day.

10) My oldest child just lost her first tooth! I feel so grown up.

Okay, that was fun. =)

But now I want to know... Do you have any questions for me? I'm going to do a Q&A type thing.

If you have questions (especially if you read but have never posted before!) ask away. =)

I want to know who is reading and what you want to know about me.

Hi, my name is Ruth Anne and I'm working on being a Skinny Turtle. Nice to meet you!

Musings

It is so hard for me to stick to something and see it through to the end!

Even the list I wrote, what, a week ago?? I can't remember what I was going to change, besides drinking more water. Except, I haven't drunk more water. Oh, neither have I done any exercise videos. Blah.

I feel too overwhelmed to take on any additional tasks, but at the same time I'm feeling overwhelmed by my complete lack of action in the area of physical fitness. I feel like I *should* be doing a video, drinking water, counting calories, watching what I eat, etc...

However just thinking about all that makes me want to crawl into bed and pull the covers over my head and hibernate for the winter. I think I'd make a very good bear. I can eat and eat and eat and then sleep and sleep and sleep. :-D

For now I'm just floating around, doing (some) of what I need to do. I did step on the scale finally. It's hard for me to weigh in the mornings now because that means I have to take off my clothes and it's too cold for that! I sleep in socks, pants, shirt and a sweatshirt and the thought of taking it off in the freezing cold just to see the scale is not a nice way to start the morning.

A couple of times I've stepped on the scale and it's been up... like the last two weeks. 141.6 isn't horrible (considering how I'm eating and NOT exercising) but it's still moving in the wrong direction.

I guess part of me feels like I'll just see Dr. Ray in Dec and hopefully he can help me enough so that in January I can do another round of HCG. Have I already mentioned this? I'm having deja vu.

Anyway, I feel pretty restless and unsettled. No routine really, no concrete plan. At least, not one that I have energy to carry out at this point.

The good news is I've definitely been having fewer headaches. Thanks Erin for the insight that glasses and contact prescriptions can actually be different. I plan to make another eye appointment once we're settled in at home in December. For now I wear my glasses around the house and my contacts when I go out.

I don't have much else to report, so I'll sign off. If you got through that boring, mundane post give yourself a big pat on the back. ;-)

No more hawking wares

Hi Guys,
Sorry about the Shutterfly posts... I mean, if you're a blogger and want free cards, well then, you're welcome for the info. Otherwise sorry to the other readers.

Back to life, back to reality.... Name that band!

Anyhoo, I have something quite interesting to report. When I wear my glasses... NO HEADACHES. NO BLURRY VISION. Is that weird, or what!? My glasses and contacts are the same prescription.

I wore my glasses for 2 days and had not one single headache, nor did my vision get blurry. Yesterday I wore my contacts and I had a headache most of the day. It didn't affect my vision, but by the end of the day my eyes were burning and stinging and watering. Like I'd been chopping onions in a smoke filled room. Very strange!

I use disposable contact and this pair is new and not expired by any means. But to play it safe I've been wearing my glasses (which Joshie boy loves) ;-). The only problem... I really don't know if heads can lose weight but SOMETHING has happened. My glasses are too big and constantly slide down my nose. Now, I do have a pin head. I admit it. I could probably have fit into child size glasses. But the kiddie frames weren't quite sophisticated enough for me.

I'm thinking about buying a new pair of glasses, but can't remember what size frame I need. Maybe I'll call and find out. I never thought I'd give up contact for glasses, but if that takes away my headaches, I'll do it for sure.

In other news, the doctor's office called and left a message for me yesterday. But they wouldn't say what it was regarding, just to call back. I called them back this morning and the receptionist said I needed to talk to the doc but she was in with a patient. So I'm waiting for her to call back with all kinds of things running through my head. It's not usually a good sign, right? I mean before I've always just received a letter in the mail saying my PAP smear and everything else turned out normal. Hmmmmm.

I'll report back once I know why she's calling. Maybe she's calling to apologize for being so inept. HA. ;-P

**EDITED TO ADD** She was calling back to say everything was normal. Hmmm. Guess maybe they are trying to save trees and not mail out the results. Ah well, all's well that ends well!

Hope you're having a good day!

Shutterfly Give Away

Ahem. Apparently there is more to the Shutterfly Holiday card giveaway than I first thought. Which is fine; you very rarely get something for nothing, right?

In order for me to get the goods I have to follow the protocol, so here I go!

I haven't actually used Shutterfly before, but I was browsing their site and found the perfect holiday card for us to use this year. I've always like the idea of photo Christmas cards, but was hesitant to actually use them because they were so... Christmasy. I mean, do people really want a MERRY CHRISTMAS card hanging around all year? I know I enjoy getting photos of our friends and family, but don't necessarily like the extreme holiday greetings.

Enter the solution!



That's not my family. Obviously. ;-) (WHERE is Jack in those photos???) BUT, I do love the card. Faith, hope and love are timeless. And in light of my MIL's brain tumor, these virtues are something this coming year should be full of. It's also something everyone else can appreciate all year long, too.

Shutterfly has a whole SLEW of photo cards to choose from. Check them out here.

They also have photo mugs here. What better way to start the day than with a cup of joe and the smiling faces of the ones you love!? Genius!! Add a personalized beverage choice (hot cocoa, tea, coffee, etc...) and you've got a thoughtful, individual gift. Score!

And guess what else? I had no idea Shutterfly even did this, but it's really cool. Let's say you're on vacation in the Caribbean. And you take a picture that a) takes your breath away and b) reminds you of your sweet retreat. You don't want to just have it sitting in a folder on your computer desktop, or tucked away in some dusty album somewhere. So what do you do? Contact Shutterfly and they'll PRINT IT ON CANVAS. Say whaa...!? Yep, take a look here at some examples. Awesome, no?

I don't know about you, but I've already got my card designed and in my shopping cart at shutterfly.com, complete with pictures of my real, actual family. ;-)

Go check it out! They are having some great deals/promo codes right now, too. Bonus!!

Shutterfly Promo and My Sister's Blog

So, you may or may not have seen this around blogland, but Shutterfly is doing a promotion for bloggers!! I've never ordered Christmas photo cards before, but now that we're all set with our professional pics, I think I'm ready to give it a go! And Shutterfly is making that easier than ever by offering 50 free prints!

Check out the deets here!!

Also, my sister has started her own blog, and she is pretty fabulous, if I do say so myself! Check it out here, and be prepared to read the whole thing with a goofy grin on your face, and maybe a tear in your eye here and there. Talented. Smart. Witty. Compassionate. Amazing.

Love you, Liz!!!!

Joyous In Hope

Go to the beginning and read from there. It'll make more sense, that way. She has a tale to tell; Jerry Springer ain't got nothing on her. And don't be shy to leave a comment if you enjoy her wonderful writing style!

Back to our regularly programmed schedule tomorrow. :-D