Disney World....What A Trip!!!

Last week I was at Disney World enjoying the trip I won during Lifetime's Clean Start Challenge with my sister and some friends. It was an incredible trip. We had a blast, went to all the parks, walked from dawn to dusk every day, slept very little but it was oh so worth it!!! It was the first vacation I have ever taken where I exercised every single day and ate reasonably. It felt good to be in control and not blow it!!!

I did several videos for Lifetime and here's one reflecting on the changes in my life. The quality of the video isn't the greatest but the feelings are real and the memories will last forever.

Girls Trip 08 - Grand Haven, MI

I spent the last two days with eight girlfriends who graduated from High School together. Every summer we get together and take a two or three day trip. We've been doing it for around 20 years and have a great time every year. This year.... Grand Haven, MI. It's a lovely town on Lake Michigan. I took over 100 pictures but here's a few of my favorites!

One is a lovely sunset (one of my favorite things) and the other is a pictures of us girls!

Pepper

Sad to say that I made the difficult decision tonight to have Pepper put to sleep. She has been part of my life for almost 16 years and had been going downhill in recent months.

I miss her already but know it was the right thing to do. Chloe and I are very sad to tonight. We'll be ok but not right now.

- n -

Team Milan is Getting Smaller!!!!!

Not in the number of participants...we're adding members...getting close to fifty people. The getting smaller refers to the weight loss of course. The group weighing in at my house this morning did a great job. Many people with BIG numbers (including yours truly). It looks like we will be really close to having lost 600 pounds as a group. Pretty remarkable huh???


I FINALLY had a great week. I lost 6.8 pounds for a total of 80.3 pounds since January. It feels so great to see results when I am working so hard. My goal for two weeks (this past week and this coming week) was to lose 6.5 pounds because I am going away with some girls from High School and wanted to be able to say I have lost 80 pounds. Met my first goal in one week. Cool! My next goal was to lose another 10 pounds by the wedding and I am confident I will be able to accomplish that. (maybe more???) Gotta remember this so when I have a slow week I will not be so frustrated and get so down on myself.


I took measurements two months ago and decided to take them again. In a little over two months I have lost 18 1/2 inches from my body. This really helped me this week when I was struggling. Just knowing that something was changing made it a little easier to deal with the slow weight loss.


Going to the Tiger game tomorrow with some friends. Supposed to be a nice day and will be a nice way to celebrate a weight loss success (without food of course)!

Dieting while away from home.....I failed!!!

I went to a conference in Nashville, Tennessee this weekend. It was a great conference and I was able to spend time with some fellow administrators. We stayed at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center. This place was like it's own little world. I had a blast but was not successful with my weight loss efforts. They had a fitness center and pool so the good news is that at least I did work out each day. In the past I probably wouldn't even know there WAS a fitness center.


Bad news is that I ate and drank WAYYYYYYY too much. I think I deceived myself into thinking I "did ok" and didn't overeat but getting home last night and stepping on the scale this morning said something else. I am frustrated beyond belief with myself. I know the big thing for me is the portion size. It's also not being able to accurately count calories and guessing what the numbers are. I just can't figure out why my self control isn't under "control" and why when I am in a social setting that I just don't maintain the same control I have when I am home.


I am freaking out over the Disney trip since it's for seven days. If I cannot successfully handle a weekend, how will I even begin to handle a week. I need a plan and I need it NOW!!!!! I am attaching several video clips from this weekend that I used for my weekly Lifetime video. It'll show what great workout facilities they have.


This morning....back at it......getting back on track is hard to do......fun and dieting need to go together......I can't figure it out yet though......darn!!!

Lifetime Visitors

Here's a picture of Mike, Dawn, and Ruben who visited me last week. They were great to work with and I hope they will come back to Milan again one day!!!

What a Week!!!

I had another incredible opportunity this week!!! For two days my house was "invaded" by people who work with Lifetime. One was a dietician by the name of Dawn Jackson Blatner who works as a consultant for Lifetime. The others were a film crew and producer. The purpose of their visit was to create a series of ten short videos for the web site about nutrition and healthy eating. Dawn looked in my pantry, frig, freezer..... She created a series of new meals for me to try. She even came up with an eight week plan to help step up my weight loss efforts. It was a blast. I learned so much from Dawn and I sort of felt like a movie star!!! The videos will air on the Lifetime site throughout the summer. I am so very fortunate and blessed to have the opportunity to meet, learn from, and work with so many incredible people throughout this experience. I wonder what's next??? Can't wait to see!!!

Nancy