Weigh in Day and a Mother/Daughter Day

I woke up early this morning, even though I had the day off and I stayed up later than usual last night, but I laid in bed and read a book and it was relaxing and wonderful. I just finished up Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri. I love her writing. It is a collection of short stories and very well written, as usual!

I stepped on the scale this morning and was delighted to see 201.4—not only is that my lowest ever, but it’s a 3.6 lb. loss for the week!!! WOW! Now that’s motivating! I’ve lost 86.6 lbs. so far and I earned another 5 lb. star on WW online this morning. Yippee! I’m getting really close to ONEDERLAND and my 90 lb. goal!

This also means that my Daily Points Target was recalculated and was lowered by 1 point. Onward and downward!

I got my workout out of the way first thing. Day 3 of Jillian’s Ripped in 30. As always, I am loving yet another one of Jillian’s workouts. I love her 3-2-1 system. 3 minutes strength, 2 minutes cardio, and 1 minute abs. I always feel like I’ve worked my whole body when I’m done. I burned 281 calories today!! I really stepped it up! And guess what? I can hold myself in push up position and raise and lower myself—not all the way down yet, but I’m improving!!

For breakfast, I had Fiber One 80 Calorie cereal (I really like this stuff!) and a big bowl of fruit for 3 points.

After breakfast, I headed outside to mow the lawn. It was a SUPER workout today. It was muggy and I was DRIPPING in sweat. I don’t think I’ve ever sweated so much in my life. It took me 51:36 and I burned 398 calories! NICE!

And then my Mom and I headed out for our Mother/Daughter day. I was a little hungry after mowing the lawn, so I snacked on a WW string cheese stick for 1 point.

I also made an iced latte for 1 point.

We spent a little bit of time exploring the Amana colonies. This is a German settlement in the middle of Iowa dating back to the 1800’s. It was interesting to walk through.

I LOVE this sign:

I picked up this:

Can’t wait to try it!

There are these beautiful ponds in the area with real Lilly pads—they’re fascinating to me and so beautiful!

We ate lunch in Middle Amana at the Rose and Thorn Public house. We started with some breaded mushrooms for 5 points.

I ate a Cobb salad, which was really light on the toppings, which was perfect! 8 points.

And then we headed to a Tanger Outlet Mall for a little shopping. I picked up a couple of shirts, one of them was an Under Armor shirt for working out in—LOVE. Protect this House—isn’t that what this is all about. Taking care of the bodies that we live in? Love it.

I also found out that my top has shrunk yet another size at Old Navy. I just recently started buying XL’s and now I’m down to a Large!! Even though the scale isn’t dropping significant numbers weekly, I am seeing HUGE differences in the way my clothes fit.

And I always have to try something at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory because I rarely get to go there and I LOVE chocolate, as we all know. I had a Dark Chocolate Pecan Bear Claw for an estimate of 6 points.

At another mall we went to, I splurged on some Clinique skincare products. I’ve been wanting to get some quality skin care products for my face for quite a while—it actually wasn’t such a bad deal—about $40 for all of this:

Hopefully it works and keeps my skin clean, clear and radiant! So far I like how it makes my skin feel, but I think I like the gel moisturizer better than the one they recommend with the 3 step system.

For supper, we went to Red Lobster. I started with my salad and a biscuit, which unfortunately turned into two. 13 Points.

For my main entrée, I ordered Coconut Shrimp bites, which is my FAVORITE food, along with mashed potatoes. I ate half of each for a total of 11 points.

I also had about 1/2 of a Non-Alcoholic Pineapple Tropical Freeze for 3 points.

Today was a really fun day! We walked pretty much all day, so it was very active too. I used 19 weekly points today, but this should be the end of the indulgent eating now for a while. But, I did burn almost 700 calories this morning, so that helps! It’s been fun!

Thanks for coming Mom!! I know one song that describes a part of growing up for me is Taylor Swift’s “Never Grow Up.” And while I love the wonderful life that I have made with my husband. Growing up is bitter sweet. And yes, I’ve been away from home for a long time, but every time I hear this song, it brings back those feelings of when I first left home. Saying goodbye to childhood in a sense.  All your life you want to grow up, but then when it happens, it’s bitter sweet. And then you treasure those moments you had Mom and Dad growing up as a little girl. Even those moments with you brothers and sisters, and what you have left are these precious memories. Ok, I won’t get teary eyed, I promise. But Mom (and Dad, too of course), this one is for you because it describes how I feel about growing up. Thanks for being the best Mom in the world—and you are BEAUTIFUL! No matter what you think! Walk with your head held high and believe in yourself. You are beautiful inside and out and I hope to be just as sweet as you. And though I don’t say it often enough, I Love You, Mom and Dad!

To Mom