Today is officially the start of my second week on ViSalus!  I had some good days and some really bad days so I had no clue what the scale was going to tell me this morning.  I was pleasantly surprised to see it say 254!  That’s four pounds down in the past week.  I know that the first couple of weeks are usually the best weeks, but that’s a damned good number for someone who hasn’t lost in over 2 year.  Seriously, I think the last time I lost any weight was when Bubba was born.  Ever since then, it’s been a slow climb on the scale.

Yesterday, I added exercise into the mix and I’m looking forward to making that a habit.  Now, I just hope Mother Nature cooperates with me and doesn’t send a massive heat wave this way!  I’m a big weenie when it comes to going out in the heat.  I think it has something to do with already being hot and worn out in the apartment since we don’t have central air and live upstairs.  I figured it out last night, and I think 100 miles of walking in September is a good goal!  I’m going to use Map My Ride to see keep track of exactly how far I go each day.

I’m not feeling as hungry as I thought I would.  In the past, when I’ve tried any sort of meal replacement shakes, I didn’t feel satisfied, I hated the taste and I quit pretty quickly.  With ViSalus, I’m learning to make my own shake flavors depending on my mood and it’s amazing!  In the past week, I’ve had chocolate orange, chocolate banana, straight sweet cream, strawberry, mixed tropical fruit and mocha.  For lunch today, I’m thinking of trying chocolate strawberry, YUM!!!

It’s interesting, since I decided to be honest with myself about where things stand and put it all out there on here, I’ve heard from many other women and it feels like a little support group growing. I’m realizing that I’m not alone in this club of women over 250 in a world where 150 is seen as being overweight by many!  I’m loving it!!

Today, I resolved that I was going to do everything by the book for my new diet, I was going to drink my water, NOT drink soda AT ALL, enjoy my shakes and one sensible meal, and mostly, I was going to exercise.  So, after making dinner (that I didn’t eat because I’m not a fan of some Hamburger Helper flavors and really don’t like the one Miss Mack picked out) and cleaning up while the kids ate, I got Bubba into his stroller and we headed out the door.

First of all, I have to add that before putting Bubba in his stroller, I got him ready for bed.  I knew that we were going out close to bedtime and was praying that the fresh air would wipe him out a bit.  This may become my new favorite time of the day because he was a trooper about going to bed when we got home!

Anyway, Miss Mack asked if she could ride her bike.  Sure, why not?  Next, she asked if she could ride her bike to school this year.  She’s too young to ride alone, so this will be two built in walks for me and Bubba every day.  Sure, why not?  So, I suggested that we practice riding to school.  About 2/3 of the way there, I suggested that we turn around, partly because I realized that this was a long ride for a little girl who doesn’t have her training wheels off yet (shut up, we’re working on it!) and partly because this was a long walk for a mama who is still over 250 pounds and NOT used to taking long walks.  Nope, she wanted to go all the way to school.  OK, why not?

When we got within a block of the school, Bubba was getting restless.  I was trying to figure out how I was going to keep him calm until we got home because once he loses it, he’s lost it and there’s no turning back!  Right about then, Miss Mack says, “Mommy, catch me!” and takes off on her bike as fast as she can.  Seeing as how we were on a low traffic residential street and no one was outside, I decided to run after her!  Oh yeah, have I mentioned that smoking is the vice I still have to get rid of?  So, here’s my 256 pound smoker’s backside running down the street wearing jeans, a tank top and a really ill-fitting bra!  BUT IT WAS FUN!!!!  Yep, I had a blast chasing her!  She had a blast being chased.  And Bubba just thought it was fun to be going fast, even when the bumps in the sidewalk jostled him.

So, we walked around the schoolyard while I tried to catch my breath and turned to head home.  Right away, Miss Mack decides it’s time to play chase again.  This time, I decided I wasn’t going to stop until the end of the block.  I made it, but was starting to wonder if an EMT lived close because I didn’t have my phone on me!  She took it easy on me the next block, then decided it was time to go again.  And I was determined I was NOT going to tell her I couldn’t do it because the kids were both having a blast!

Not even half-way home, Miss Mack hit the wall.  She tried telling me she couldn’t go any further.  I told her she’d have to sleep on the sidewalk then because I couldn’t carry her home.  She told me I was mean.  I told her I was just telling her how it was.  And she found it in her to go again.  The rest of the ride home was a bit rough, her little legs were tired!  But, when it was all said and done, my little 6 year old rode her bike over 1.5 miles and Bubba and I walked with her.  Now, I’m looking forward to getting over 3 miles a day in taking her to school.  She wants to keep walking at night too, so who knows how much more active we’re going to be from now on!

I swear, I have no intentions of becoming a coupon blogger.  I love my coupon blogging friends and would much rather leave the deal finding up to them!  But from time to time, a deal comes along that’s worth passing on! That’s how I’m feeling about this one from Tippr! If your kids are anything like mine, you go through about 27,000 bandages a year between the ones that they actually need and the ones for boo-boos that are so small they aren’t seen by the naked eye.  So, if I can get some absolutely adorable ones to hide and only bring out for the bad owies, I’m taking it!

I can’t wait to get my voucher and pick out some cute bandages for Miss Mack!  I’m thinking of Hello Kitty and Macaroni and Cheese!  If you want to get your voucher, to to Tippr and sign up.  When you sign up, you get a $5 credit which can be used for the $5 purchase on these, making them free before shipping!

Thanks to Amber at Cut, Clip, Save for passing this on!

Okay, so maybe not, but it was good!  Yep, I have officially had the first bad day of my diet that’s not even a week old.  I blame the sleep deprivation and stress!  Start off with a toaster strudel and donut for breakfast, one brought to me by Miss Mack and the other by Hubs and combine that with the inability to think before shoveling and it was just bad!  So, what’s a girl to do?  Top it off with pizza, of course!  My logic is that I threw the day away and can’t change it, so I might as well have something else I enjoy and vow to make tomorrow better.  Of course, tomorrow is really today since it’s 4:20 in the morning and I’m still up.

There was a time, not very long ago, when a day like today would have completely derailed my plans for success.  Maybe my attitude isn’t as crappy and blah as I thought if I can find something to fight for like getting healthy for myself and my kids!  And speaking of the kids, maybe this will help teach Miss Mack that when you don’t succeed, you keep trying.  When you do something bad, you remember it and try to do better.  Hey, my taco pizza just turned into a learning lesson for my daughter!  Too bad she wasn’t home for the taco pizza part of it…

If you’re trying to lose weight, what do you do on the bad days?  What do you do to get past them?  Seriously, I’m dying for some advice here!  Oh, and taco pizza is a health food because it had refried beans (protein) and was smothered in delicious fresh veggies!  See, healthy!  And, when you add in the cheese, crust and meat, you have a completely balanced meal.