the Journey

Does anyone else watch the Disney Channel?  Specifically, Octonauts?  No, just us, ok.  Well, they're land animals who live in the sea, and they help out distressed ocean faring creatures during each episode.  After the happily ever after there's the "Creature Report", detailing the scientific, physical, social, and other characteristics of the creature they've just helped.  All that to say, I'm giving my weekly "Creature Report". At our current rate of a pound or so a week, it'll take almost two years to lose my desired 80 lbs.  Throw adding to the Coats brood in 2014 to the mix, and sometimes I wonder if I'll ever get there. Having the Curves Complete program Coach is extremely beneficial.  After yesterday's weigh-in she reminded me that this is a permanent weight loss, and it may take a little longer.  Fast plan diets are usually only successful in the short term with participants gaining most or all of their weight back at program&#

We had a fairly good weekend at the Coats' house.  I took my first ever Zumba class Saturday, and later that day we bought a house.  The Zumba class was good, I was better at it than I thought.  I also wasn't sore to the point of immobility Sunday, so I guess I'll go again.  Diet is going well, I'm just chugging along, trying my best. Oh, you caught that house buying part did you?  Yes, less than a month after closing on the sale of our Daphne house, we've bought another one.  Not exactly how we thought that would go, but God is good.  Great deal on a foreclosure, plenty of space, great yard, corner lot, a LOT of work to do.  We bought a project, something we can make our very own.  I'm looking forward to actually implementing all those Pinterest ideas! Thanks guys and gals!

Had a great birthday!  You all were too kind with your social media out-pourings of HBDays and the like. I had 3 peanut butter balls at small group Sunday night.  That was the majority of my dinner.  They were so good.  I blame their creator, she knows who she is.  Crunchy > Smooth.  It was my birthday-eve.  That probably wasn't as bad as what I had Monday night at Texas Roadhouse.  It really was my birthday that day.  Not to mention the end of tax season.  Not to mention I avoided (mostly) the pizza and (completely) the cupcakes at the office that day. Still lost another pound.  Brings our total to five.  Still looks like a really small number considering how far I  have to go, but I can tell some difference.  Can you?  Top is last week, bottom is today.

The Titanic sunk today. Abraham Lincoln (shot on the 14th) died today. All of your taxes are due today. It's my birthday.  Woot Woot! They ordered pizza for lunch at the office.  After I got the email, I immediately heated up the lunch I brought and ate it in hopes that it would fill me up and I wouldn't be tempted. The second email was to announce the presence of cupcakes.  In honor of the hard work of everyone in the firm, and for my birthday.  Cupcakes.  For the girl whose on a diet.  I really don't care for cupcakes, so that one's not a big deal. Great recipe below! Creamy Shrimp Pasta Four Servings 24 oz. shrimp 4 oz. whole wheat or egg noodle pasta 8 oz. mushrooms 1/2 cup red onion, diced 4 tsp. prepared pesto 8 tbl. ricotta cheese, part-skim 2 cups meatless tomato sauce olive oil seasoning Ok, Matt makes really good seasoning for steaks, chicken, seafood, whatever from this recipe: Outback Steakhouse Steak Rub .  Don't use as much bro

And literally, only that much.  Well 1.4 to be exact, and another 3 inches.  That brings our total to 4 lbs (some of which had to be lost twice) and 9 inches.  We almost have our first double-digit stat! I went in on Monday of this week and had the lady weigh and measure me.  She's never done my measurements before, so I wasn't confident in their accuracy.  I was appalled by the number on the scale.  It had gone up even more!  How could this be?  I'd learned my lesson, I was sticking to the plan.  No cheating, no Chick-fil-a biscuits, no bread or cookie with my Panera salad on Saturday at the office, what the heck was going on!? So, I started thinking.  I looked at the back of the bottle of Mio (flavoring for water) that I had been using religiously and found the culprit.  Sodium.  About 30mg per serving to be exact. I'd probably consumed 50 servings in two weeks.  The stuff taste really good!  There are no calories, no sugar, no carbs, what harm could there be?  W

Ok, I'll say it, I looked super cute yesterday for church.  There's not a picture, just take my word for it, I've never let you down before!  Cute boots, cute dress, jean jacket.  Cue the cameras, I'm ready for my country music video. So, I run into Wally World after church on Sunday, because apparently there is some rule in the universe that you can't go more than a certain number of days without entering the hell hole that is Wal-Mart. While I was waiting for Matt to pull around and pick me a up a car drove past, stopped, and backed up.  The girl rolled down the passenger window and asked me where I got my boots.  What?  These things, you're too kind!  They came from Dress Barn - which while I hate the name, has some really cute stuff.  She said where?  I repeated.  Where's one of those at?  I said, I think Huntsville?  Mine came from the Outlet in Foley - oh how I miss the outlets. At this point, I'm feeling pretty good about myself.  I dressed

Ok, I lost back most of what the weekend cost me.  In two days.  So, we've proven that commitment and success are overlapping ideas, mutually inclusive of each other. If you're unfamiliar with the Curves workout it's 30 seconds of cardio and 30 seconds on a strength machine arranged in a circle.  You do the circle twice, which takes about 30 minutes and then stretch.  Well, last night during the cardio sections the young lady (I think she's older than me) gave us alternative moves to do rather than running/walking in place.  It's hard to walk today.  It's a good hurt, I look forward to doing it again.  Does sports cream really work?  I may have to invest. I feel it this time, a different kind of commitment, one that has totally come from God as He grants the desires of my heart as promised in His word.  Like I said in my post earlier this week, the office brought in Chick-fil-a biscuits and such this morning.  It took a lot of strength to sit in my office

Well, Easter brought some lessons.  I've not had my official weigh-in for the week, but, I put some back on.  Lesson learned - every bite counts.  Every one.  Don't lie to yourself with the one bite won't hurt B.S., especially if you lack control.  If bite one doesn't hurt, bites four and five certainly will.  It's ok, I won't give up, I won't be discouraged.  It was a lesson. The next two weeks are going to be difficult with the tax deadline approaching.  I may not make it to work out as much as I'd like with working late, but I can control what I put in my body.  So, strict diet will be the number one goal as we head to the end of busy season. They're bringing in Chick-fil-a biscuits Thursday.  They're trying to kill me.  I will not eat one. Another good recipe below. Pasta, Sausage & Bean Soup Ingredients: 1/3 tbsp(s) oil - olive 1 oz sausage - Italian 1/3 onion(s) - medium 1/2 carrots - large