At school, I started a weight loss competition to help all of us that are wanting to lose weight. So far we have lost a total of 41 pounds all together!! I hit my 10 pound mark this week! 10 pounds in a month! I can't believe it. I went shopping last night for a dress for Sarah and Dave's wedding in a few weeks. I am part of the house party so I wanted to find something other than dress pants to wear. I found a dress that is something I usually wouldn't wear but the best part is I had to go down a dress size! The 18/20 dresses swallowed me so I had to go to a 14/16. I'm slightly between sizes but I was happy to have to go smaller. :)
On another note about getting healthy, I went to the doctor about a month ago and she had me take a food allergy blood test. I got the results last week and it was amazing. Many of the symptoms are not necessarily noticeable but could be why I am having a hard time losing weight. On my list of foods I am sensitive to I had 30 foods!! I was giving my friend a hard time for having 23 and I had 30!!! On my list were some of my favorites including bread, chicken and tomatoes.
So this program is very interesting. Here is how it works. You give up the foods on your list for 90 days (which will take us right to cruise time). After 90 days you slowly introduce one of the foods back into your diet and see how your body reacts. If your body has any kind of reaction, you stop eating that food or at least know how you will feel if you eat it. With the program, I have access to a nutritionist that I can chat with online for a year for free! They take the foods on your list and give you recipes or meal suggestions. I will keep you updated on how its going.
Monday will mark a month without caffeine. I can't believe it! I usually drink a diet mountain dew or diet coke at least 3 times a day and even more if we go out to eat. I have been drinking sprite and water. Diet Cherry 7-up has become a new favorite. I am amazed at how much energy I have. I don't have that mid-day slump around 3:00 when the kids leave. My kiddos informed me that I was in a bad mood for the first week. Ha ha! Now, all I need to do is add exercise to my routine. :)
I can't believe how fast October has flown by! I know Daisy looks so excited here! :) This picture is from our pumpkin carving night and camouflage day at school. We had Red Ribbon Week this week and I dressed up as Pippi Longstocking for Book Character Day. I have also included a picture of the pumpkin that Brad and I carved. We didn't go with the traditional Halloween pumpkin, but the butterfly template that Brad made for me years ago while teaching kindergarten. How crazy is it that teaching kindergarten was "years ago"?? Things on the home front are going well. The job search is still going... nothing really popping up but Brad is applying for every position that pertains to him. I've been busy at school with my 4th graders. We have booked and paid for our cruise over Christmas and we are looking forward to a fun time with friends and family. We are going to start planning our trip to Florida now. Hooray!! I've been working on a healthier me. First, I gave up caffeine. I thought this was going to be impossible but I haven't even wanted a diet coke or mountain dew. Then, my doctor gave me a blood test and it listed foods that my body is sensitive to. On that list I had 30 foods including some of my favorites: bread, chicken, scallops, and wine. I have tried to stay away from these things as much as possible, with an occasional splurge. Giving up bread and chicken has been the hardest. However, in the past 2 months I have lost 11 pounds so it is working! I'm hoping to hit the 20 pound mark before we go to Florida. Then, the challenge will be to keep it off during the cruise. We don't have any plans for Thanksgiving. We'll probably do our own thing and stay in town. I hope you all have a Happy and safe Halloween!
