Weight Loss Wednesday: The Beginning
Since I’m going to be posting about my weight loss journey occasionally, I thought it might be a good idea to start from the beginning. I was pretty much a normal sized kid until somewhere around the fourth grade. I don’t have a lot of photos from my childhood (yet – my mom is scanning them, but she’s still working on the early years right now), but there are a couple. Here’s one from when I was about 8. Pretty much normal.
(Isn’t my mom pretty???)
Here’s where I started to put on a little weight, but still not too bad. I was 11:
I had a really, really awesome home life and would never even think to blame my weight problems on my parents or the way I was raised. However, my childhood was pretty unhappy outside of the home. I LOVED school until I was about 10. Coincidentally, that’s when I started to put on weight. I grew up in Hawaii, in a neighborhood where the vast majority of people were Chinese and Filipino. I loved my Asian friends, but they were all SO MUCH smaller than me. One word you could not use to describe me was small! I got teased a lot about my size (and my color, being one of the only white kids in the entire school, but that’s a different post altogether) and was called a lot of really mean things. Looking back on it all now I realize I wasn’t actually as huge as I thought I was, but in my mind I was enormous! One day during PE in the sixth grade we had to be weighed and measured. All three classes were in the gym and they did us one by one, calling out the numbers to be recorded. When it was my turn the PE teacher yelled out, “Five-foot-seven, 164 pounds!” I swear, the entire gym burst out laughing. That has stuck with me throughout the years and I have never quite been able to shake the humiliation of the moment. My best friend was 4’11” and weighed 90 lbs, so you can imagine what we looked like together. No one in the entire school weighed as much as I did, but I never stopped to think that no one in the entire school was as tall as me either. I DREAMED of being 5 feet tall and under a hundred pounds!!!
That was the point where I decided something had to be done and I embarked on what would be the first of MANY fad diets. Through my teen years I fluctuated between 150 and 180 lbs. My height topped off around 5’11” so my weight was almost normal for most of those years, but my mind was so messed up when it came to my weight that I couldn’t see that. All I could see was that I was so much heavier than all of my friends and therefore I was fat and ugly.
When I started college I was 170 lbs, but by the end of my freshman year I had gained 30 more. I went up and down through my 20’s and after I met my husband (Chris) I put on even more weight. Chris was the first person outside of my family who I really and truly felt accepted me the way I was. He has NEVER cared what I weighed and has always told me that I was beautiful no matter what. So I got lazy. And I ate. And I got even heavier. But I was stilled loved… except by me.
I won’t discuss numbers anymore, since they got so high that I can’t think about it without shuddering, but after I had my twins in 2006 I was at my highest weight so far and I was miserable! But you know what having a baby is like, right? And having twins was harder than I had expected. I was tired all the time, a complete zombie until they were about 9 months old. When they were about a year old I started trying to lose weight again. I’d lose 5 pounds, gain 10 pounds. Lose 10 pounds, gain 15 pounds, and I was getting unhealthier and unhealthier by the day! I don’t have any pictures of myself during this time (except that one above from 2007) because I wouldn’t let anyone take my picture, I was just too embarrassed!
Here I am last year, at my absolute heaviest.
I cannot look at that picture without wanting to cry. That was the picture that caused me to break, to really take a look at my life and try to make changes. Since then (Nov 2011) I’ve lost 18 pounds, which isn’t much considering what I need to lose, but the holidays really slowed my losses down. January got me back on track and my goal is to back at 170 pounds by June 2013. It’s a long time, but the time is going to pass one way or another, I may as well put it to good use! lol
So now I’m basically following Bill Phillip’s Eating-for-Life and it’s going good. I feel a lot more balanced than I have in a long time and am finally starting to get some energy back. I’ve been walking on the treadmill for exercise and want to add some weight training soon. Chris has been supportive, as always, but it’s been my parents who have really helped me along with this. My dad is a health nut (and will probably outlive me by decades), and he’s been great about checking in with me every week, letting me talk about my progress and my failures. My mom has been awesome, too! My husband goes to school in the evenings, so the boys and I always go to my parents’ for dinner and my mom is just amazing about cooking healthy and making sure there are appropriate things for me to eat. I really feel like I can’t fail this time!
I’m hoping that in a few months I’ll be able to take some comparison pictures to post here to help motivate me, but for now I have this stuck on my bathroom mirror and I read it every morning before I start the day:
I’m looking forward to sharing my progress with you and I hope that you’ll share your thoughts with me, too – on this and anything else!
Another Year Gone
I can’t believe Christmas has come and gone already. I say this to myself every year, but it’s so true. I LOVE the holidays, but there’s always so much to do that by the time they have come and gone I’m always left thinking that I wish I could have slowed down and enjoyed them more. I did have a wonderful time with my family, though, and I hope you did, too! I haven’t scrapped any photos yet, but I did put together a little collage of photos from Christmas morning on Picnik.
We had to finally wake the boys up at 10am to open presents, if you can believe it. Granted, Luke wasn’t feeling well, he’d had a fever the day before and was still not quite himself. They eventually rolled out of bed and opened presents, but afterward Luke decided he’d rather play with my iPod than any of his toys and Adam took some of his new cars and hid away to play. One of our family gifts was Just Dance 3 for the Wii and Chris and I spent 2 hours playing that morning. It was so fun, I don’t think I’d ever laughed so hard as I did when he danced to Britney Spears’ Baby One More Time! I wish I had gotten that on video. lol We’ve been playing every day since and can I just mention what a workout that game is?! Now I’m hoping to get Wii Fit Plus for my birthday. (Anyone have that? How do you like it?)
So now I’m thinking about the new year and changes that are coming and other changes that I want to make. My husband will finish his classes in a few months and already has a job lined up for the end of April. We finally got Lukey a diagnosis of autism and he will be starting his new therapies this coming year, which we’re very excited about. Now we need to get Adam an official diagnosis and we can start getting him the help he needs, too. I think 2012 is going to be a much better year than 2011, although I can’t complain too much. 2011 was a rough year, but it was successful in a lot of ways, too. And I can’t complain about a year where I had so much time with my husband and kids, that part was excellent!
My biggest goal this year will (of course, as usual) be my health and weight. I did pretty good through the holidays, though! I managed to lose 11 pounds, despite the amazing food and treats I was surrounded by. I figure if I can lose weight through the holidays I can pretty much do anything. lol Food is my kryptonite, after all.
What are your plans for the new year? Anything exciting happening for you?
Oh, one more thing! Are there any tutorials you’d like to see? I’ve been thinking about adding some to my blog (and also to my CU blog), but I don’t know what people are interested in learning. Any ideas?
Thanks for stopping by! Have a safe and Happy New Year!
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, guys! Wow, it’s been a really long time since I posted last. Like everyone else I’ve been busy with family and the holidays and it’s been wonderful! My brothers (all except one of them and he lives in New Zealand, so he’s excused, lol) and their families all came down here to Arizona to visit for Thanksgiving. My parents live right down the road from me, so it was really nice to have so much of the family here with us. It’s the first time my boys got to meet any of their cousins! Here’s a layout I did of them all together. (Those are my two on the far left. Yes, the crying one is mine. Of course. lol)
I used Flergs and Eva Kipler’s Leaf It to Me. It’s one of my favorite autumn kits!
My husband is starting school again in January and we had to run some paperwork over today. Fortunately, my parents had agreed to take the boys for the morning, so we didn’t have to drag them all over town with us (because there’s nothing five year olds love more than being stuck in a car all morning)! When we went back to pick them up my mom had made gingerbread men and she said the boys helped! Adam helped cut them out and Lukey frosted them, and there was a whole plate waiting for us! Have I mentioned how much I love gingerbread? Especially the kind made with so much love?! Haha!
Anyway, I wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I hope it’s wonderful and you get to spend lots of warm and happy time with your loved ones! Be safe and have a great weekend!
The Right Thing at The Wrong Time
This post isn’t scrapbook related at all, just personal stuff. (Just thought I’d let you know so you can skip it if you aren’t interested.) :)
I don’t know how many of you out there are like me and need to lose a few pounds (okay, maybe more than a few, lol), but I have been pretty much struggling with my weight my whole life. I’ve had times where my weight was normal, but it’s always been such a battle to keep it there. I gained a lot of weight while I was pregnant with my twins and then afterward I was just too tired to care about anything, including my health and my appearance. But the boys just turned five and I figure I’ve given myself more than enough time to slack off, so I’m hopping back on the treadmill, hitting the weights and getting my eating under control.
Of course, this is the absolute worst time to get started, with Halloween (candy, candy, candy!) right around the corner and then Thanksgiving (pumpkin pie, candied yams, stuffing!) and Christmas (cookies, fudge, cinnamon rolls!) coming up, but I figure if I can make it through the holidays then I can do pretty much anything. :lol:
The hardest part for me right now is sticking with my exercise schedule. Because I’ve given up both sugar and caffeine I am SOOOO totally dragging. I know it’ll get better in a week or two, but right now I have no energy at all and am having withdrawal headaches. Not fun! So hopping on the treadmill or lifting weights is something like torture, but my husband has been awesome about getting me out of bed and working out, even if I am half dead while I’m doing it. :lol: I’m so glad for his support, even if I am swearing at him in my head for the first 5 minutes. Haha
The best tool I’ve come across so far is My Plate at Live Strong. Does anyone else use this? It’s awesome! I love being able to track what I eat, how much water I drink, my weight, my fitness and there’s even an app so I can record it through my iPod Touch when I’m not near my computer. I put a widget in my sidebar (scroll down a ways) —–> that shows how much weight I’ve lost so far.
Anyway, I’d love to hear from anyone else who’s working on shedding some weight. How are you doing it? What do you find works best for you? Leave me a comment, I’d love to hear what you’re up to! :D
Finding Pumpkins & Little Miss Spooky
Yesterday we took the boys out to a farm to get pumpkins for Halloween. My parents went with us and we all had a really great time, but it’s still a little on the hot side here in Arizona and I was more than ready to head home after a couple of hours in the sun! The boys had a great time, though! I haven’t had time to scrap the photos yet, but I did make up a couple of collages on Picnik that turned out pretty cute!
I also have a little freebie for Halloween coming up. I’m thinking I should have put a witch’s hat on her, but I didn’t think of it soon enough. I hope you like her anyway. Just click the image to download.
Thanks for dropping by!
My New Favorite Drink
We’ve all been sick with colds/flu the last few weeks AND it’s been kind of rainy and cold so I was in the mood for something that would encourage my daydreams of being on a nice warm sunny (deserted) beach when I closed my eyes. lol I recently discovered Our Best Bites and they have a great assortment of awesome recipes, one of which is Brazilian Lemonade. It uses whole limes, which is how I was snared. I love lime flavored anything!
Anyway, I made this drink a few days ago and I pulsed the limes a few too many times in the blender (it’s NOT a good idea lol) and my drink ended up being a little too bitter. Since I apparently can’t control my over-blending tendencies, this time I took the skins off completely. I’m sure I’m missing out on some of the flavor from the rind, but at least this way I could overblend and still drink it. 
And it turned out… AWESOME, especially in a big glass of Sonic ice! Then I got a bright idea and added a couple of drops of coconut extract and yeah, that was it… exactly what I was looking for to facilitate my beach daydreams!
In fact it reminded me a little bit of a Tongan drink my dad used to make when I was growing up. It’s called ‘otai and consists mainly of watermelon, coconut and coconut milk. Sometimes he’d add mango or pineapple, but usually it was just watermelon and coconut. OMGosh, to this day I could still drink ‘otai every day of the week and not get sick of it!
Do you have a favorite drink recipe? I don’t drink alcohol, but I’d be interested in trying anything else. Leave me a comment if you’ve got something good!
ETA: Here’s a recipe I found for ‘otai that is pretty close to the way my dad always made it: ‘Otai An Unforgettable Watermelon Drink
Hi, My Name Is Ellie…
It seems like so long since I last posted anything but new products and freebies, that I think maybe people have forgotten me. :lol: I’ve been busy with real life (who hasn’t been?!) and let myself fall into the routine of just posting when there’s something new in the shop. So I thought I’d talk about myself for a bit and what’s been going on (try to contain your excitement). LOL
We have been caught in the awful economy with my husband losing his job and not being able to find another – not just another in his field, but another at all. 2010 was a very rough year. We’re hoping that 2011 will be better and he’ll be able to find something soon. But life hasn’t been all bad! Early last year we moved into a new house and that has been wonderful. We’ve lived in apartments most of our married lives and having a house with a yard for the boys to play in has been better than awesome!
The boys also moved to a new school, which I was apprehensive about since I LOVED their old school, but I shouldn’t have worried. Their new school is just as wonderful and I adore their teacher and therapists! The boys turned four in September, but they have some developmental delays so they go to a special preschool and they love it. Luke has just been diagnosed as being autistic. I had been thinking this for a couple of years now, but no one would diagnose him. The doctors just kept telling me that the boys were simply a little delayed and they would catch up. So we finally have a diagnosis for Luke and are working on a diagnosis for Adam. I don’t believe he’s autistic, but he might be. He does have sensory issues and is just barely starting to speak real words with real intent. Anyway, Luke was just transferred to a new school with a program better equipped for his needs, so he and Adam are split up for the first time in their lives but they are both coping with it great! With the boys settled I am feeling much more settled, too. The only thing I really don’t like is that they catch every little cold or cough that comes around at school and bring it home. They are sick so much! Is that normal? They aren’t normally sickly kids (they weren’t sick at all through the summer break), but for some reason they seem to be sick a lot since starting school.
I’ve been trying to scrap more this year and with that in mind I signed up for a journaling class called Tell Me More by Chelle of Chelle’s Creations at ScrapMatters. So far, so good! I like to scrap, but I never journal enough, so this should be a great class for me. Speaking of scrapping, here are a couple of layouts I’ve done in the last little while. (And while I do use my own designs to scrap with sometimes, by the time I’m done designing them I need a break from them, so I scrap a lot with other designers, too! You’ll notice that I’m a big fan of Flergs.)
And I think that Luke might be taking after me and getting into doodling! Check out his artwork on the living room wall (sorry about the lighting!):
He loves to draw these little happy people! I know, I know, we DO try to keep the Sharpies away from him, but the kid is a houdini and can get into/on top of/through anything! You can’t tell from the photo, but this little beauty is about four feet tall. :lol: There are five more of them in his bedroom and I really need to paint over them, but they are so cute that I find myself procrastinating. Of course, he did get a scolding for this, but I can’t help feeling a little proud of him, too.
Alrighty, I’ve got sick kids and they’re waking up so I need to run, but I’m going to try to post just regular stuff about life on my blog at least once a week, so I’ll be back to bore you with more later! LOL
Have a great week!
I Scrapped!
The boys are back in school and I actually have a few hours to myself four days a week. Yay! So after I spent the first few days napping, cleaning, and running errands I decided it was time to scrap. 
I eased myself back into it with a template from the Shabby Princess and a couple of kits from Flergs (Tuesday’s Child, Shenanigans and In Bloom). I usually like lighter colored layouts, but the dark browns looked too good to resist.
Thanks for looking!
New Kits at Scrapable!
Before I get into the new stuff, I have to tell you what my husband brought me today. First, let me say that I’ve stopped drinking soda and am all about water these days, but then my husband came home from the store with this…
The last time I had Pineapple Crush, which was by far my favorite soda when I was a kid, was when I was about 8 years old. My first sip had me closing my eyes and I could swear I was back in Hawaii, riding in the back of my dad’s VW Beetle in a towel and wet swimsuit with sand on my feet and a cold can of Pineapple Crush in my hand, straight from the coldcase in the IGA in Haleiwa! What awesome, awesome memories! *sigh*
What is it for you that takes you back to those good times in your childhood? I know that it can happen with any number of things – scents, sounds, sights! – one single moment and you’re transported back. Have you had an experience like that recently?
Well, back to real life now. lol
I have two new kits out at Scrapable this week. The first is a boy kit called Snips & Snails, great for little guys! And, of course, it’s 30% off this weekend!
And I have a girl kit (which I used on my blog here) called Sugar & Spice. It’s filled with everything nice! Okay, maybe not everything, but quite a few things anyway. lol Also 30% off this weekend…
And here are some layouts by my CT (and me)!
In other news, Sunshine Studio will be closing for a couple of weeks for remodeling! When we come back we’ll be celebrating our 2nd birthday with fun stuff like chats, challenges, speed scraps, prizes, and grab bags! Fun stuff! In the meantime we’ll be having a daily blog train (starts May 16th, I believe), so don’t forget to check back for that!
Have an amazing weekend!
Happy Mother’s Day
Happy Mother’s Day to all of you wonderful moms and future-moms out there! I hope your families spoil you rotten today!
And to my own mother, who I am so very, very grateful for…
I've started using My Plate at Live Strong to track my eating and I LOVE it. It makes it so easy to keep track of everything, especially since there's an app for it so I can use my iPod to record what I eat when I'm not at my computer. :)
