renewedhope

way to go Georgia!! 6 pounds is awesome!! You will be in onederland in no time!!

Hey guys!! I am home. We had a great time. Each one of us shot a spike deer. WOOHOO! Deer meat for the freezer. It's very lean you know!! Ok, I have put some thought into goals, challenges, whatever for myself. It ended up feeling like a New Year's Resolution List, and I HATE NEw Year's resolutions. So....I have a top ten list...... TOP 10 THINGS I WANT TO DO TO BECOME THE ME THAT GOD CREATED ME TO BE!!! 10. Keep a cleaner house. 9. Spend less money and better manage our finances. 8. Eat healthy, well balanced meals. No more "diet". 7. Teach my boys a healthy lifestyle with both food and exercise. 6. Don't eat processed foods!!! 5. Weigh 150 so I can get a breast lift. 4. Weigh 150 so DH will have to keep his promise to take dance lessons with me. 3. Learn to love myself more. 2. To reach a healthy BMI> 1. Do some sort of exercise at least 5 days a week. There you have it. It turned into more of a to do list than a goals page, but it will get me there if I can get my head back in the game!!

Wishing you the best for your surgery. You are such a trooper!! YOu will do great! It will elp to have family around for christmas, even if you aren't 100%

Kathy, I totally agree. I was telling DH last night that I am sooooo not motivated. I, like you, have accomplished so many of my goals that I have become complaicent. I look in the mirror and I am very happy with what I see. My tummy is flat. My size 9 jeans are loose!!! I am so very proud of all that I have worked for. However, I have become a bit too content. I find that I don't have the motivation to work my butt off for 15 more pounds. I am NOT at goal, and I am NOT where I ideally want to be. I know I can get there because I have come this far. How can I be proud of myself and happy with where I am AND stay motivated to keep working hard to have the ripped abs and even sexier body that I desire. Thanks for your post Kathy. I will work on a list of goals this weekend as well. There are still things I want to accomplish and I don't want to sell myslef short..... Have a great weekend everybody. I probably won't be back on until we get back. You are one awesome group of ladies.!

WAY TO GO SUGAR!!!!!!!!! good luck on the interview Lyn!! I hope all of you are feeling much better real soon. I am not sick and have no excuse for not getting my butt in gear, but I have not gotten my butt ingear. I don't know what my deal is. My weight has not changed int he past several weeks. I am staying betwen 162 - 163. With my lack of activity and my food choices I should be gaining. Oh, I have got to get my mind back in this!! We are leaving early tomorrow morning for south central Texas to go deer hunting. We will be back late Sunday night. IT is for real roughing it. We stay in an old horse barn. It is so much fun to get away from everything for 1 weekend. We usually don't even have a good cell phone signal. Obviously I won't be able to get online, so, I will check back in when we get home. yall get to feeling better!!

Sugar, Sounds like you do need an unfill. Being too tight is the pits!! Hope you feel lots better soon. Ok, tomorrow is the big day. Back on track!!!! Who is with me! Let's do this!!!

Way to go Kathy!!!! Onederland is such a huge accomplishment!!! WOOHOO!!!!! I did OK for Thanksgiving. I ate some things I normally wouldn't, but my portions were very small. I am ok with what I chose to eat. I am ready to get back to routine exercise and eating healthy on Monday!!!!

I don't see Renee and Michele leaving anytime soon. They both consistantly pull off great numbers. I hope it's Vicky and Heba next. Stranger things have happened.

welcome Beanie!! Kathy, here is your kick in the butt. Now, in return, would you give me one please. I am so NOT motivated!! I have these last few pounds to lose and I can't seem to get off my butt and do it. Georgia, you are right, carbs are the devil. We are alike in that we both lose really well on low carb, and both pretty much hate doing low carb!! I have got to AT LEAST cut out the sugary bad carbs. Sorry I have been kinda MIA lately. I check everyday, but for some reason haven't taken the time to post much. I don't know why. I am just not very motivated. I have got to get a grip. I have this new wonderful body and DH bought me lots of new clothes. They look really cute. We are having a family picture taken on Friday. We haven't done a family picture since my almost 10 year old was 2. Ok, I know I will eat traditional Thanksgiving dinner. My sisters are both coming and mom is cooking. Anybody want to holding each other accountable to start eating and exercising right starting Monday??? I dont want to toodle through the holidays eating like a little pig and have lots of "old weight" to lose come January. I want to lose new weight!!

I am more hungry on the days I run. Makes sense because you are burning more calories. I just got through eating a little taco soup because I was so hungry tonight. I got a fill today so I was wondering why I am so stinkin hungry. Well, I started back running today. Just be sure that what you put in your mouth is healthy and the extra hunger won't hurt you a bit!!

Thanks Sugar. If felt SOOOO good to run, and it was SOOO hard!!! I couldn't hang with the c25k. I just need my music. I did intervals. I think the longest I ran without walking was 8 minutes. Anyway, here are my nike+ numbers. I ran 2.54 miles in 30 minutes with an average mile of 11'50". Not bad for a first day back at it. I am pretty proud of this tired body of mine. It was really cool to run without my belly flopping!!

I CAN RUN!!!!I saw my doctor today and she removed my last 2 staples. I can resume presurgery activities, carefully, and I CAN RUN!!!!! I no longer have to wear the binder, but I still have to wear the compression garment for 2 to 4 more weeks. I go back to see her in 3 months and she will fix the little pooch on my left hip in the office. Not a big deal. So....I guess I am officially released from the doctor!! Wow, after only 4 weeks. I am very excited. Now its time to get busy with my exercise again so that I can get to goal and stay there. DH and I are going on a shopping date on Saturday. I don't have any clothes to wear. he has never cared about picking out clothes for me, but he is pretty excited. I am VERY excited. Ok, I am putting my Nike+ thing in my ipod and I am off to run!! I think I am going to start the couch to 5k over again just to get me started. I know I need to start slow and that will pace me. I probably won't do a week on each level, but that is my starting place. WOOHOO!!!! I am soooo excited. Oh, I also got another fill today because i can eat a house. Maybe now I will just eat a small shed!! LOL I will check back in after my run!!

I CAN RUN!!!!I saw my doctor today and she removed my last 2 staples. I can resume presurgery activities, carefully, and I CAN RUN!!!!! I no longer have to wear the binder, but I still have to wear the compression garment for 2 to 4 more weeks. I go back to see her in 3 months and she will fix the little pooch on my left hip in the office. Not a big deal. So....I guess I am officially released from the doctor!! Wow, after only 4 weeks. I am very excited. Now its time to get busy with my exercise again so that I can get to goal and stay there. DH and I are going on a shopping date on Saturday. I don't have any clothes to wear. he has never cared about picking out clothes for me, but he is pretty excited. I am VERY excited. I will get him to take some pics this weekend!! Everyone have a great day!!

Way to go sugar!!!!!!!!!!!! Woohoo!!!!!!!!

Shalee, you are too funny. Hopefully you will be showering AND talking about sex really soon.

Frangi, So glad you are almost completely healed. What a long recovery this has been for you. Enjoy feling great!! You earned it!!

WOOHOO Mamato!! congrats on the new job and Dh improving. Have a great time on your trip!! I am so excited for you!!

Somehow I knew you would respond to that! LOL!! Well, this is TMI, but last night and today seem to be much better in that department. LOL I guess it is not necessary that I feel "HOT" 24/7. I took and shower and shaved my legs. It's amazing what that will do for your sex drive. Ok, I'm done on this topic.

Sugar, it doesn't bother my band if I sip it very slowly, but I wouldn't say it is a good band choice. That is why I am having it today. Some people can't drink sodas at all. All of us shouldn't. I can drink them very slowly.

Way to go Kathy!!! Today is my last "recovery" day. Tomorrow it is back to real life. I will still take it easily physically, but I have got to get back to eating very healthy like I was presurgery. So....I am going to drink a Strawberry soda today and then only healthy food beginning tommorow. BTW, DH is taking me on a date night either Friday or Saturday to buy new, smaller clothes. This is good incentive to eat healthy this weak. I don't want to be bloated for my date with DH.

Shalee, I am so sorry that you are going through all of this. What an emotional roller coaster. My thoughts and prayers are still with you. Keep us posted. Hoping to hear great news soon!! Renewed

I slept really well with the benadryl. It may just be my new best friend. Ok, here is a rather personal question. When I first got home I really wanted to have sex. Ok, we did, probably sooner than we should. We have resumed sex, but very carefully. Now, at 3 weeks out my libido seems to have disappeared. Why is that??? You would think these changes would cause an increase in my libido, and it did initially, but now the opposite seems to be true. Is it the hormone changes?? Has anyone else experienced this??

I am 5'5'' and I want to be under 150, so I set my goal weight at 145. I want to wear a comfortable size 6-8 depending on how they are made. I haven't bought any new clothes since my surgery and my 10's are baggy so I am thinking i am at an 8. According to my doctor I have 7 pounds left to lose. According to me I have about 16. However, I don't expect these last pounds to drop quickly. More than anything I want to make healthy eating choices and resume my love of running and exercise. When I started this whole journey my goal weight was 180. I wasn't confident that I could reach that. When I got under 200 I moved my goal weight to 150 and then 145. I want to start focusing more on how I look and feel than the number, but that darn number is still so important to me.

You are definately not alone. While I love my new body, I still manage to find and pic out all of the imperfections, and there are still plenty. Just last night I was telling DH that as the swelling goes down I can tell that I still have a little fat on my back. He said "that is very relative". I am very glad I had the tummy tuck, but it seems that the old insecurities rear their ugly heads even more since the surgery. I want to be happy and satisfied in this skin. I don't want to spend the rest of my life wishing that this or that were different. Maybe I can lipo a little here, etc. I didn't think about the hormone changes, but that makes sense. Maybe that's part of it. Having said all of that, I am very glad I made this choice and I am very pleased with my results. I jsut want to learn to appreciate my accomplishments and beauty without always looking to improve on what's here. What an amazing journey this truly is.

Oh yeah, Leslie, what happened to your blog. I miss reading it!!