200

200. Is this my new weight? Not quite. Although, I am not far off. I had a doc appointment today for the baby. In the past four weeks, I have gained 10 pounds. 10 pounds!!! That is an average of 2.5 pounds per week in the past month. That puts my total weight gain for pregnancy at 17 pounds. That is more than a pound a week thus far. Too much. The doc did not say anything but really, should she have to?

Oink, oink. I think part of the issue is lack of exercise from my stinking foot. I will try and get back to it tomorrow. So excited for that. The other part is too much food (I know, I am a genius to figure that out). Once people hear you are pregnant, they want to feed you. I have been eating out too much as well. I just need to refocus.

The baby's heart rate is good - 152 beats. The good news is they let me push up the date of the next sonogram a week so I can find out the sex before school is out. In 3 weeks (May 27th), I will know (hopefully). No excuses then. It will be time to paint, pick out furniture and the like.

Back to the title of my post. 200. That is the number of followers I have!! I LOVE YOU GUYS!!! You are amazing. I love sharing this journey with you (although mine is going slightly in reverse at the moment). I cannot believe 200 followers. I don't get many comments anymore so that leads me to believe there are a lot of lurkers out there. I must admit, my Internet comes and goes so in order to read more blogs, I comment less which makes me a lurker myself. That will change with summer vacation. I will be harassing the crap out of you and your blogs so brace yourselves! And thank you so much for all your support!!!

Blogger Love

I know you all have seen the lovely blog award. It has really been making it's rounds. I will tell you my favorite blogs in a moment. First I must address the fact that I was awarded the Honest Scrap award weeks ago by Crystal at Mi Vida Loca. I am very flattered that anyone would even read a blog filled with my selfish, random thoughts. Now to be awarded for it? Hotdog! Well I am supposed to tell you ten honest (and interesting) things about me. If you have heard them before, I am sorry.

1. I have never felt bad about myself or hated myself, especially just for being obese. I have always been a good person and compared to the rest of the world, being obese seemed like a small flaw.
2. I can forgive, but I NEVER, EVER forget. Anything you have done to wrong me, lingers in my mind whenever I see you.
3. I love the water. So much so that if I die by drowning I will be extremely pissed in my afterlife (where ever that may be).
4. I think I was born to be a mom. I love kids and love to teach but the more I am around kids, the longer I can wait to be a mom.
5. I like to watch depressing shows (i.e. Intervention on A&E or 16 and Pregnant on MTV) because they make me feel better about my own life.
6. I make really good pico de gallo. It is just an awesome food that I can eat on pretty much anything. I order it in restaraunts to eat on baked potatoes.
7. I have never twittered and I rarely go on Facebook because I think the news feed is retarded. I could careless if your kid took a crap 2 hours ago and you are now folding laundry or that you sent some imaginary pixie to bomb Japan in some stupid, fake game you are obsessed with.
8. I have mad interpersonal skills. The thing I can do best is interview. Weird, huh?
9. I am TOTALLY freaked out by anyone who wants to be a clown. I think they are just perverts that dress up to get close and molest children. It is not logical, but I stick by my theory. And no, you cannot change my mind.
10. I do not feel any older now than I did 10 years ago when I was 21. I just feel like everyone around me is getting younger.

I think I am very negative sounding in my head but really I am pretty pleasant to be around (at least I think so). On to better things, your blogs.

I have to tell you, I love blogs. You can say whatever you want. And then I get to read it. AWESOME. It's like looking into someone's windows when you are walking your dogs late at night because they left the lights on and shades open and I get to see what you are doing (not that I have ever done that and enjoyed it or anything). That said, I am disappointed in some bloggers. Don't worry, not you. Some that got too big of a following or too many book deals and changed who they are and now their thoughts (or at least the posts on their blogs) are crap. Some people who I found totally inspirational were all like I have this beat, I quit. I felt abandoned. All of these blogs I am referring to are on my blog roll on the side, mixed in with yours.

I enjoy reading all of your blogs. It is so hard to pick a few but I would like you to check them out if you haven't already. These people are so inspirational, honest and best of all, entertaining. I am not going to mention Jack Sh*t because my guess is EVERYONE knows who he is, but I do love it. So here we go friends:

1. TJ's Test Kitchen- awesome inspiration and the girl has mad cooking skills and takes lots of pics!!
2. Confessions of a +Sized Girl - honest, hard working and super cute. She is like that friend you have that is always there for you, no matter how bad a day either of you have had.
3. Halving Hadley - this girl is super intelligent. I love her graphs and percentages and honest account of life. I just wished she would cut herself some slack and not OVER analyze her bad days.
4. Not Just Celery - this girl is total inspiration. With nothing but hard work and determination, she has dropped over 100 pounds. She is now an athlete!
5. Watch My Butt Shrink - she is a trained writer so her blog is excellent but it is her positive attitude and wit that keep me coming back.
6. Fit to the Finish - never has a bad thing to say. Conquered obesity and helps others now. Her story is amazing and brutally honest and has some of the best before and after pics I have ever seen.
7. Diamond Motivation - a newer blog but FULL of energy and motivation. Always a fun read.
8. Shedding My Fat Suit - does not post as often as I would like to read but when she does it is heart felt. Her blog is so relatable. Just read, you will see. I think she is someone who always has a big hug for you.
9. Bigger Than My Body - LOVE, LOVE, LOVE her. I feel we are kindred spirits. And I totally laugh out loud when reading her posts. She can be very deep and meaningful - maybe I will learn something.
10. Infatuation - Darling, darling girl overseas. Our lives are so different and yet so similar. Incredibly honest and funny - I know she will have HUGE weight loss excess as her journey continues.

If I have given you a blog award before, I tried to spread them around this time because there are so many great ones. I am not telling these folks that I am giving them an award, they will have to discover by reading. Thanks for all your positive thoughts on the new school year. I love you all. Best support system ever!!

What I Like About You....

What the hell is THAT?!? No, it is not cat vomit (I do not own a cat), although I can see where it looks like that. That my friends, was my lunch today. It was tuna fish (made with miracle whip light, mustard, pickles, onion and tomato), cucumbers (I used to eat it on crackers but cucumbers are the same size, serve the same purpose and are healthier) and baked chips.

What is the point of me showing you my lunch? Well I have been trying to think about what I like most about your blogs. And what I like about you (besides your wit and positive spirits and brutal honesty) is the fact that many of you share pictures. I don't even really care what they are of, they just add a new dimension to your posts.

I would have much rather shared some video from my Zumba class this morning (I am really loving the Monday morning group) however, some may have found that to be rude. These ladies crack me up! They really like to get their groove on.

So back to my lunch. That is a huge dinner plate (I like big portions - bang for my buck). My point is, that huge plate of food is under 350 calories (not by much though, I do not count calories in the veggies - they are so low in calories it does not much matter to me). My lunch during the school year was also around 350 calories but it was a frozen entree' a la Smart Ones or Lean Cuisine and a tangelo. I did enjoy my frozen meals (they are yummy, fast and make calorie counting easy) but they were not made with the love that the tuna fish was. And did you see how much I got to eat?

I am going to try and post more pictures. I am working on a post with pics of me for sometime this week. So sorry if this one grossed you out. It was delicious.

Other than that, we cooked out with our friends for Father's Day. I did not even exceed my calories for the day and I did not feel the need for the extra 200 calories like I have been. However, yesterday all I did was walk the dogs and swim (and by swim I mean float around the pool and throw the babies around in it).

Today it was back to Fat Camp, trainer and all. He made me do abs and then I did Zumba (which works a lot of abs). Boy were those muscles screaming. Hopefully they will not be too sore tomorrow. I actually have a training all day tomorrow. So tomorrow night I have a training session and I am going to attempt a Yoga/Stretch class (I have like NO flexibility). Dude, that crap looks hard. So wish me luck and I will write my review on that tomorrow.

Might as Well Face it, I'm Addicted to Blogs

So I got on the internet hours ago to research something for my father. And I thought, mmmmm....I will just peak at a few blogs. You all are so addicting to read. Your stories really resonate and make me laugh and I cannot get enough. So fast forward two hours and here I am still reading them.

Everyone is so witty, charming and honest. I am honored to be able to read your inner most personal thoughts. So thanks for sharing. You entertain me constantly.

Fat camp is going well today. I am sore from that crazy muscle endurance class yesterday. Running this morning seemed so easy I made it a little harder. I did personal training this morning and I have Zumba in about an hour. I heart Zumba. This class does not have as many freaky deakies in it so I can concentrate more. But perhaps tomorrow's class will have more for me to comment on.

I went to lunch today with some girls I taught with 5 years ago. I have not seen them in a year. One of them (who is super cute and nice) could not believe it was me. She kept saying I look like a totally different person. And you know what? I am starting to feel like a totally different person - in a good way. I guess everyday on this journey is helping me to reinvent myself. I want to be a fit person. Now I am beginning to think it is something I can pull off for life.

Also, I am changing my ticker today to show my new goal. I have picked a goal weight of 175. When I started this blog and put 185, I did not think I would come anywhere near it. I am picking this weight for a few reasons:

1. I am 5'10 and muscular, I look healthy and lean at 175 (I know this because I was at that weight for about 2 weeks my senior year in college)
2. I have actually weighed that in my adult life and know it is possible
3. If I weighed 175, I could gain 25 pounds with a pregnancy and still not go over 200 pounds

Is this possible? Time will tell. I will work my ass off (literally) to try and get there. I may have said before, my trainer's goal is not a weight but a size 8. He originally said 10 but changed it to 8 after I lost more weight because he says he can see my build more now and it is an 8.

Dude, my tiny mother-in-law is an 8. I tried to tell him I walked out of the womb a size 12. I was 12 in middle school and never went any smaller. I went up and down but never below a 12.

So we will have to see who has the more realistic goal. Hopefully I will meet one of them. If not, I am gonna die trying.

I guess I should do the work I came here to do. Please update your blogs soon so I have something to read later. Ta, ta for now!

Awww.....she's so sweet!

Well thanks so much to Aimee over at Best of What's Around. She is so sweet and gave me an award. I do enjoy her blog so.

I guess here is where I pass it on. The rules? Pass it along to 5 fellow super bloggers, and comment on their blog to let them know how lucky they are today! When you present your Super Blogger awards, link back to the super blogger who gave it to you. So here are some good ones.

1. Tisha over at A Blob Blog has a very interesting journey going on that I am fascinated with. I am so glad she is sharing her story, I am learning a lot from her.
2. Acting Skinny is young, fresh and honest. I enjoy reading her true to heart yet slightly sarcastic entries. You never know what she will post.
3. Stages of Change is a very introspective blogger. He analyzes his journey and shares with all. I wish he would post even more.
4. Deb over at Shedding My FatSuit is brutally honest, which is difficult to do. Yet, she keeps on. Her strength is so admirable. I enjoy all the posts - no matter what the topic.
5. WildFluffySheep over at Infatuation:it will eat you is a great writer and she lives in England which makes her blog even more fun to read. It is heart-felt, honest and entertaining.

There are so many others. I just hope everyone knows that when you share your stories, they are appreciated.

In other news......those damn lady troubles are back and helped me acquire half a pound. Thanks uterus-toting body of mine. I am bloated and in pain which made my trainer pity me (for like the 2nd time ever), he said I look like shit and cut my workout way short today. Man, he really knows how to sweet talk the ladies.

I also went on a job interview Friday. I am a 1st grade teacher and am currently working in an unstable environment administration-wise. So I put in for a transfer in case I wanted out. I was not going to pursue it. But, surprise! It pursued me. I got a call on Wednesday, set up the interview for Friday (what could it hurt?), interviewed for like an hour and a half, was offered the job before I left, decided to take it this morning. What, a whirlwind! I was going to have to move classrooms anyway so if I am packing up my crap, I might as well really move it. Also, I have shrunk out of my school shirts (I do not think that is the technical term, but all my shirts are too big now) and need to buy new ones. So that will be a huge pain in my ass as the school year draws to a close but I think it was meant to be. Another workout of lugging boxes of teacher crap in the muggy Texas weather.

So now I need to catch up on everyone else's adventures. Hopefully you all lost more weight than I did this week. I am just going to use my stick-to-it-ness (another of my technical terms) to keep working at it and hope it will even out later on down the road (like tomorrow - I am so impatient).