Wednesday Weigh In

Welcome to the first Wednesday Weigh In!

This week's topic is introductions. Please introduce yourself, tell us what your weight loss plan is, your weight loss goal, and why you are embarking on this journey. Also if you would like you can list your starting weight, but you do not have to.

2010 Fat to Fit Club

The way it works is this; we would all blog every Wednesday about how much weight you have lost that week, what is working for you, what isn't working, tips & tricks, great recipes and other weightloss topics. I will create a blog with the week's prompt and a Mr Linky (provided I can figure out how to work it) Once you have written your blog come back paste the link to your post in the linky read the blogs of others on their weightloss journey and show them some comment love. My hope is that we can all be accountable to each other as well as ourselves. But also that we can support and encourage each other. I want this to be a safe place where we can be honest about our individual journey, and get support when we stumble or get off track.

The Guidelines:

1. ABSOLUTELY NO NEGATIVE COMMENTS WILL BE TOLERATED!

2. NO ONE has to reveal their starting or ending weight unless the WANT to

3. Honesty is the key to success so be as honest as you can

4. Remember that stumbling does not mean you have failed, just pick up where you left off and get back on track.

5. Most importantly this is to be a JUDGMENT FREE ZONE, each person is allowed to embark on their weightloss journey in what ever manner works best for them, there is no right or wrong.

6. NO ADVERTISING

Reflection and 2010 To Do List

As 2009 came to a close, and we started a new decade, I decided to reflect on all the changes that have occurred in the last ten years.

Ten years ago I was ready for the year to be over and put what was one of the worst years of my life behind me. My grandmother had passed away just 4 months before and I just wanted a new start. I spent the Y2K New Year's with the boy I thought was "The One". I thought for sure that because I started the year and decade with him, that I would finish it with him. Within in a year we were broken up, something we had done many times, but this time he had crossed my line in the sand. As a 21 yr old girl I was sure my world was upside down and I had no idea what to do and where to go. I spent the next 3 years figuring out who I was, what I wanted and where I wanted to go in life. It was some of the best times of my life. I embraced being single. Then I got a new job and in the second week of training this guy walked into the training room and I knew he was the one for me. I know it sounds cheesy, but it is true. I saw him and leaned over to my friend and said "If I ever get the chance to date that guy, I am going to marry him!" Two and half years, and a beautiful baby boy later, I did. He showed me what love is. He fills my heart in a way I never thought it could be. He is my best friend, my partner and everything I never knew I always wanted. The beginning of the decade feels much farther away than ten years should, it seems like another lifetime. I began this new decade the way I plan to begin each decade with the most amazing husband I never could have asked for, and our son. Now hopefully someday we will be blessed with another child to share our New Year's with, but even if we aren't I will be perfectly content to begin each new year, and decade the way I began this one.

Now on to the second half of my post my "To Do List". I call it that because I am not fond of the whole resolution thing, I think it is a recipe for failure. I would much rather make a list of things I want to do this year, this way just like my daily to do list, if I don't finish I don't feel bad. I can simply add it to the next To Do List. So here goes:

2010 To Do List

1. Watch all 3 Lord of the Rings movies with my hubby - he has been asking me to do this for the entire 6 years we have been together.

2. Lose weight, get in shape, be healthy

3. Organize each room in the house

4. Let go and get rid of stuff I haven't seen or used that is just taking up the limited space I have

5. Scrapbook

6. Go on dates with my husband

7. Spend one on one time with my son doing something he wants to do, no matter what it is

8. Send my hubby and son out to do stuff BY THEMSELVES, and enjoy the quiet of my house

9. Blog at least once a week

10. Journal

11. Meditate/Pray/Relax daily

12. Spend time teaching my son things he won't learn in school

13. Go to Church

14. Be wiser with our money

15. Continue school

16. Be more patient

17. Spend more time with my Nana and my hubby's Grandma

18. Spend time pursuing my artistic delights

19. Take time to hang out with friends

20. Have a dinner party

I think 20 things on my To Do List is a good start. I plan to work as diligently on this list as I do my daily list. I guess 21 would be, doing a Daily To Do List, daily.

I hope everyone has a fabulous year filled with joy, laughter, family, friends and lots of blessings.

Happy New Year!

(this post is a little late because I was sick, a part of my new year I hope not to repeat every year ;) )

Wednesday Weigh In

So, I have been complaining about my chubbiness for far too long. I am sick of it and lets be honest my chub is not helping my fibromyalgia get any better. So here I am writing a blog about it. Well not really. I know several people who have expressed the desire to lose weight in the new year. But like me need accountability. So here is my idea:

We all blog about it! Ok so it wasn't completely my idea I was inspired by someone who said they were going to blog their weightloss journey. My idea is to create a "Fat to Fit Club"

The way it would work is this; we would all blog every Wednesday about how much weight you have lost that week, what is working for you, what isn't working, tips & tricks, great recipes and other weightloss topics. I will create a blog with the week's prompt and a Mr Linky (provided I can figure out how to work it) Once you have written your blog come back paste the link to your post in the linky read the blogs of others on their weightloss journey and show them some comment love. My hope is that we can all be accountable to each other as well as ourselves. But also that we can support and encourage each other. I want this to be a safe place where we can be honest about our individual journey, and get support when we stumble or get off track.

There will be some guidelines:

1. ABSOLUTELY NO NEGATIVE COMMENTS WILL BE TOLERATED!

2. NO ONE has to reveal their starting or ending weight unless the WANT to

3. Honesty is the key to success so be as honest as you can

4. Remember that stumbling does not mean you have failed, just pick up where you left off and get back on track.

5. Most importantly this is to be a JUDGMENT FREE ZONE, each person is allowed to embark on their weightloss journey in what ever manner works best for them, there is no right or wrong.

6. NO ADVERTISING

I really hope that this takes off and we get a great group going and we meet our weightloss goals this year. Perhaps we can plan a special treat for New Year's Eve next year to celebrate our success!

My Healthcare Solution - NOW STOP YELLING!

Here is my healthcare plan:

1. Make it affordable for ALL employers to offer GOOD healthcare plans by subsidizing the cost or better regulation

2. Allow small businesses and the self-employed to buy in to a healthcare collective, giving them the opportunity to have affordable full coverage healthcare.

3. Expand coverage for children, allowing more children to be covered by medicaid/SCHIP and use it as their secondary provider

"Universal" healthcare is not a perfect solution. Even places that have it admit there are drawbacks. What we need to focus on is keeping costs down across the board. My son just had his tonsils and adenoids removed the cost for that DAY surgery over $10,000.00. That seems extremely high and excessive to me - thank God I have great insurance, but my out of pocket was still $1250 (our plan max). An older woman I spoke to in the waiting room of my Dr's office told me that in France if you get admitted to the hospital it is like $15/day no matter what you are there for. I don't know how accurate that is, but I think putting a set charge like that would help. We need to stop focusing on "government" healthcare and focus on what needs to be done to get everyone insured. If healthcare premiums were low enough that ALL employers could afford to offer GOOD plans to their employees at an affordable rate, that helps get a good majority of people covered. If small businesses and the self employed get to buy healthcare together with the power of a large corporation, that covers almost everyone else. Expand medicaid coverage for kids, allowing for children who have insurance to be covered but as their secondary insurance, lowering the financial burden on parents.

Stop all the yelling and start listening. I am not an expert or an elected official but I think if I could come up with a relatively simple solution, the big brains in Washington should be able to do the same. Stop listening to the special interests and listen to the interests of your constituents.

Lets work together - Healthcare is a UNIVERSAL need!

Thank You!

Writer's Workshop: Too Hot to Handle...

Yes boys and girls it is that time again, time for Mama Kat's Writers Workshop

This weeks prompt: 1.) Who made you red hot this week?

I have 3 things/people that made me RED HOT this week.

#1 Michael Vick:



Okay not actually Michael Vick, but the reaction of people to his reinstatement by the NFL. First let me start by saying I think what he did is despicable. I love animals as much as the next person, however HE DID HIS TIME! What he did was terrible, no he did not take responsibility right away, but he did go to jail. He was sentenced by a court of law and he did his time. If he had any other job people would not be demanding he not be allowed to serve their fries at McDonalds. He has the right to make a living, and the way he makes his living is to play football. Yes he is in the public eye and therefore many think he should be held to a higher standard, but he is just a man. He is no different than the rest of us. We have all done things we are not proud of. Probably not to this extent but come on now. Leave him alone! I know people who are so mad about his reinstatement that they are not going to watch the NFL at all. That seems silly to me. If you don't like him don't watch him play, why cut out football altogether? We as a society need to stop getting mad about the wrong things. Did he kill anyone? NO Did he in anyway endanger another human being? NO Yes he was cruel and irresponsible with animals, but as much as we love them, they are still animals. They deserve to be treated and cared for properly but we cannot equate the actions of a person against an animal to that of actions against a person. Why isn't there the same kind of outrage when our soldiers are killed fighting on foreign land? Lets all take a step back and think about what is really important. For every MJ and Michael Vick there are probably 5 soldiers or more whose name we will never know because we were too busy with our noses in the tabloid news. To everything its place and time, and lets give others the second chance we would want if ever we needed one.


#2 Parents who take small children to inappropriate movies:



HELLO.....Thats what the ratings for! So I listen to an awesome morning radio show. On Monday they were discussing a parent that took their small child to see 'The Orphan' Many listeners called and wrote talking about all of the other inappropriate movies they had seen parents take kids into. Now I have to ask, isn't that what the ratings system is for? I bet that this parent is the kind of parent that wants labels on everything so that they don't have to THINK! I mean come on now. What were you thinking? Did your 6 year old say I want to see that movie, and like a moron you just took her no questions asked? Or were you not able to get a sitter and decided to you HAD to see it opening weekend as if the movie would vanish if you didn't see it right away. I just don't understand. I am all for a parents right to do what they think is best for their own child, however when your child is in class telling my child about a movie they saw and now I have to explain why he can't see it, that makes me HOT! I mean the industry has already done everything it can to make things IDIOT PROOF. What more can they do? Police the movie theaters making sure parents are not being MORONS? Or maybe they have to make the rules more strict, instead of admitted with a parent should it be not admitted at all? Come one people get it together! Do what is best for your child, and what is best for them is not seeing 'The Orphan' or 'Bruno' Any questions see the chart above!

#3 The Monster that has taken over my child:



This boy make look sweet and innocent, but I assure you there is something sinister lying beneath the surface. Underneath all that sweetness lies a shrieking, whining, yelling, deaf, jumping off the couch, throwing everything in the trash when he gets mad MONSTER! I don't know what happened to my sweet boy. He is lost. In his place is this being I do not like much. He requires more attention than he did at 2. What is going on? Shouldn't it be getting easier? Shouldn't I be able to go to the bathroom without worrying about whether he has gotten a hold of my phone and called the police again. Yes he does call the police, I have a Blackberry that locks automatically when I put it in the holster, you can do nothing with it except make an emergency call. Now this feature I am sure is great in an emergency, but not so great when a monster has taken over your child and he calls the police on a regular basis. At least once a week I am explaining to a 911 operator that my son got my locked phone and called them by accident. I think we have become the family who cried wolf, my phone number is probably at every station in the 911 dispatch center so should I ever have a real emergency, I will be out of luck. I just want my sweet boy back, preferrably before I end up in the loony bin.

Ok so now I am done...What made you HOT this week?

4 yrs ago today......

This is what I was feeling 4 yrs ago today:

WE'RE ENGAGED!!!!!!!
Current mood: ecstatic

On July 28, 2005 along the Pecos River in Carlsbad, New Mexico my amazing boyfriend got on one knee and asked me to marry him. It was incredible, the river was running behind us, our son was with us, and the weather was perfectly clear. It was one of the best days of my life, second only to the birth of my son. My ring is so beautiful! It is a princess cut diamond solitaire. I absolutely love it. It is perfect. I had waited for that moment my whole life and let me tell you that it more than lived up to my expectations. It was a very special moment. It is so exciting. I AM GETTING MARRIED!!! It feels so good to say that. I could not have dreamed up a better man to be marrying. He is my partner, my best friend, and so much more. Words cannot describe the happiness that I feel. I am in ecstasy! I have so much to say and I just can't seem to find the words to describe what I am feeling. And for me to be without words is a first! I just wanted to share my exciting news with you my friends.

Now four years later, I could not be happier. I am so glad that he picked me. I could not ask for a better husband or father for our son. His proposal was perfect and so uniquely him. I would not change a thing. Ok maybe a bigger ring, just kidding. I love my ring, hell I picked it. I can't believe that it has already been 4 years since we got engaged. So much has happened in that short time that it seems like it has been much longer, in a good way.

I love you my amazing husband, you are the best. I could not ask for anything more. I love you, I love you, I love you!

In my house...

So I know that my son is only 4 and years away from texting (I hope) but I saw a news story about "Sexting" and had to put in my 2 cents.

So the whole "sexting" thing is bad in and of itself. I don't know why kids find this so amusing. I guess I have always been a little paranoid, I would be worried about who else would see or read my text. However in my day the worst we could do was write an embarassing note on real paper, imagine that. Still, as an adult with text messaging I can't imagine "sexting", even with my husband. There are too many variables. My husband could lose his phone, lend it to a nosy friend, or accidentally forward my message.

As far as the kids "sexting" well I guess I don't understand why. What happened to self respect? We have begun to go above and beyond to boost kids self esteem. Only positive cheers at organized sports, everyone plays rules and so on. So then why now are kids doing things that show such a lack of respect for themselves?

What prompted me to write this blog was not the fact that the kids are doing this, because I am speechless about that, shocking I know.

During the news report a computer program that parents can use to monitor their children's cell phones was shown to several teenagers and parents. Of course the kids said "Thats an invasion of privacy" One parent showed support and another said "Oh no Big Brother"

Here is my opinion:

If I pay the cell phone bill, I paid for the cell phone, my child lives RENT FREE in my house, I CAN and WILL monitor, search and check anything I want. I believe my child has the right to privacy. However, I do not believe that his right to privacy trumps my right and responsibility to keep him safe. My husband and I have already discussing the rules for our son. Right now there is not much we have to worry about but, he will never have a computer in his room, I will use security software to block and monitor his internet use, I will monitor and restrict his use of video games and if I see fit I will search his room. Now I am not saying that I will trample on his privacy just because I can, but if he gives me a reason I will do what I have to do as his mother. I am not interested in being his friend, I am his mother. I plan to do all that I can to have an open and honest relationship where he can and does come to me with anything. I plan to have open lines of communication and listen to his point of view. However that in no way will put he and I on the level of friendship. When he is an adult, and I have done my job, then I hope we will be friends. But when he is a child, my primary responsibility is to be his mother.

I am tired of hearing parents say how they didn't know what their child was doing. Why didn't you know? Why weren't you paying attention? STOP worrying about whether or not your child likes you. THEY DON'T HAVE TO LIKE YOU! Being a good parent is not about being popular. My mom was not always my favorite person growing up, but I grew up. I survived the rules, I survived the consequences of breaking the rules. I became a parent, and now I understand why she did the things she did. She was protecting me, loving me, and teaching me to be a responsible adult. She was right, she wasn't my friend. But she is now.

When we do not teach our children that there are consequences for their actions, or teach them that someone else is always to blame, we do them a HUGE disservice. We do them more harm than good by not setting clear boundaries and sticking to them.

So yes I think cell phone monitoring software is a good thing. I think that nowadays when kids often know more about technology than their parents, any tool parents can use to help keep their kids safe is good. However no software is a substitute for good parenting. Software or not it is still our responsibility as parents to KNOW what is going on in the lives of our children.

Sorry kids, but when you go out get a job, your own place to live, and support yourself then you can expect complete privacy. Until then, while living with your parents, in the room they let you use (no it is not yours it is a room in their house they have loaned to you) your privacy rights are very limited. My advice, be honest, earn your parent's trust and then you don't have to worry. Be dishonest and sneaky, well....