Kiss and Tell Scrapbooking

Scrapbooking by Numbers - 6 Photos

This was the first scrapbook page I made this year with 6 photos taken on New Year's Day morning and summarizing the three classes I'm starting today at Big Picture Classes.  I took and edited the photos with my iphone and printed this up on my home printer on a 8.5x11 page.

 

Be*4@30+

 
I did this page as part of a Two Peas in a Bucket challenge for scrapbooking about your fitness journey.  I was trying to take this picture of my page without flash and with natural light & I didn't get the settings / conditions perfectly, but here's my blurry photo of my layout. 

Journaling Reads:  "I took these photos last year during (the Ali Edwards scrapbook project) A Week in the Life & even though I was working out, I hadn't made up my mind (at that time) to (really) change.  That came around 4th of July & since then I've lost 30 pounds.  Since then I decided to really change & now the trick is keeping it up (since I still have 20 more pounds to lose).  Now I work out almost everyday and burn at least 1000 calories each time I do the stepper. K 2/2011."

Supplies:  plain cardstock; American Crafts felt sticker letters; red sharpie fine point; EK Success punch; Die Cuts With A View stars & stripes paper (a nod to my 4th of July decision to change / free myself from the weight - I'm hoping this summer by 4th of July I will have reached my goal of losing 50 pounds - although this picture sort of inspires me to lose 30 more - we'll see).

Another day - another 1000 calories burned

I do at least 1000 calories every time.

Sent from my iPhone

Everyday exerciser

I've been stepping almost everyday since around 4th of July.

Sent from my iPhone

One Little Word & Weight Loss Update

Remember how last summer I declared that I was going to lose 50 pounds? (Click Here for The "I'm going to lose 50 pounds" declaration post).  Since then I've been burning 1000+ calories a day on the stepper and facebooking the pictures of my work out summaries.

 
Today, when I got on the scale, I was so happy that I had to go get Charlie and Allison to witness what it said!  No, I haven't lost 50 pounds yet, but I can see it in my sights.  So far I've lost.... Drum Roll Please..... (you know Christmas Vacation style), I have lost (Joy To The World):

31.4 pounds!!!

Yesterday I happened to bump into several people I haven't seen  in a while and they all had the same reaction:  "OMG!  You've lost weight!  What did you do?"  I like those comments, but they scare me a bit because I'm not there yet, there is no cause for celebrating (eating) now - and I'm going to take a lesson from Oprah - the one she didn't learn after she rolled that red wagon full of lard out onto stage - she went out and ate to celebrate.  I will not do that!  It was too hard to get here.  Once I'm at my goal, I'm going to stick it (you known like when you land a really awesome gymnastics trick - you got to stick it and then put your hands up champion style and turn around several times so everyone can see how awesome your trick was).

Which leads me to my "One Little Word" this year:

After my entire family, one by one, had the stomach flu the first week of this new year; I had the undeniable urge to clean and re-organize every single thing we own.  I spent the first weekend of the year bringing Charlie popsicles so he had enough strength to help me sort legos (millions of tiny little lego pieces) while I completely clean sweeped - Peter Walsh Style - without the yardsale - my son's room and his room is now completely clean and organized - every single centimeter.  Really.

 
{Having buckets all over your house "just in case" makes you want to really clean up afterwards.}

The cleansweeping has now spread to the rest of the house and my office at work - actually it willl spread to everything we own.  Its kind of like we are moving but without actually moving.  Every single inch is being reconsidered.  A few mornings ago I woke up at 4 am with my brain racing and basically dictating to me the entire reorganization plan.  I lay there for about an hour listening visualizing all my brain had decided while I was sleeping.  Most of my biggest decisions are made while I'm sleeping and I wake up with the answer and the plan.  Maybe its divine intervention.  Whatever it is I love it when it comes - so much inspiration and creativity and alive-ness - all at once.  Maybe its this cold weather we're having - it makes me come to life and somehow I no longer need to sleep - like the reverse of hibernation - I've been operating on less than 4 hours of sleep for over a week now, althought last night I did get a good solid 10 and while I had the stomach flu I slept for 48 hours straight so I'm probably still averaging 8 hours a night for 2011 - just not 8 hours each night.  Anyway, I woke up wide awake at 4 with the plan and lay there till 5 and then ran downstairs and wrote out 20 pages of notes on the plan, then woke Charlie up at 6 to give him some coffee while I told him about the plan.  Before I started I told him that I had already made up my mind on all this stuff, so you'd better just listen honey because I'm not asking for your opinion - although I do care about it - I have a plan and need your muscles to move the heavy stuff, and just sit there and listen while I tell you what it is.  As offensive as it sounds to dictate to my husband what we're going to; most of our big decisions have gone down like that.  I formulate a plan, let him know what it is, and then he takes over in the implementation stage and I let him decide on all the nitty gritty details of exactly how everything is going to work.  I'm big picture girl and he's fine detail man.  It works.  And that's where we are now.  The inspiration came while I was sleeping.  I wrote it down on Hello Kitty paper; 1. because I'm a 40  year old working mom and sometimes I forget stuff and 2. because I'm a sucker for anything Hello Kitty. I shared the plan.  And now Charlie is going to Home Depot and implementing my plans.  Charlie loves the implementation stage - the action - and he is very good at it - at home and at the office.  I'm great with the start up - he comes through with the follow through.  Together we make an awesome team. 

Which brings me to my "One Little Word" of the year - I know I took a long winded way to get here, but it came to me when I woke up this morning - I hadn't really decided on what it was going to be.  But in my sleep, I either got a message from something divine or my brain decided that the word of the year is going to be:

AWESOME!

Maybe its because I've been listening to Madonna on Pandora with lots of Cyndi Lauper and Prince thrown in.

Maybe its because I can finally start to see the body I had in high school - which was awesome by the way - seriously awesome.

Maybe its because I'm making my home and office environment awesome.

Who knows, but it feels right, really right.  You could say, it feels AWESOME!

So there you have it.  The word of the year is AWESOME!  and I'm in full "Awesome Implementation Mode" in every single area of my life.

I'm probably going to start quoting Madonna in my everyday speech, but I think that's awesome too.

I'll post pictures of my Awesome changes soon.

Oh, one more thing, my mascot of the year is the BIRD, more on that to come too.

Katie.

 

Everyday & Random Stuff.

Here's a simple everyday scrapbook layout about something I've been doing everyday for quite some time now:

 
Other stuff:

1. My Ella Friend Barb Wong gave me a great idea for that layout problem I was having with the circle paper and the long journaling, I'll post some pictures soon & thank you Barb - you are awesome!

2. I've got an Ella Publishing giveaway coming soon for Angie Lucas's new journaling book - stay tuned and I'll have details about how you can win soon.

3. I've lost 26 pounds so I'm 1/2 way to my goal of losing 50 pounds, thank you stepper.  I'm 40 and feeling like its not going to get any easier to lose weight, so no time like the present.  I'm focusing on exercising rather than on dieting so if I want some ice cream or a slice of pizza I have it, but I am eating way less than I used to; and not focusing on the diet part helps me to not fall off the wagon; sometimes, I just have to eat a little non-dietish food.  But mostly its lean protein and salad and lots of water and coconut creamer in my coffee - it is delicious.

4. Starting on my December Daily & Christmas scrapbooking ideas and spent some time tonight looking through last year's album.  It is still amazing to me how quickly my kids are getting bigger. 

5. Charlie got me a web cam and I'm planning to start ustreaming soon.  I'm going to plan a "scrap-along" so I'll have some supplies etc. listed soon with my ideas about what we'll be doing and making and what you'll need to play / scrap along with me.  It should be lots of fun.

6. Totally disappointed with the final decision about the winner of Project Runway.  I am a Mondo fan.  Go Mondo!

7. This week flew by, work is super busy for me this time of year, but I expect that I'll be busy this time of year, so its all good.

8.  Whim-So-Doodle is having a scrapbooking yardsale soon & Scrapbooking in Paradise is moving to Seminole and becoming Scraps of Art.  Not that I need any more scrapbooking supplies, but I do love the yardsales - and I'm looking forward to seeing the new store, even though it will be further away from me.

9. Missed the Tampa Bay Scrapbooking Guild this week - sorry Maura!  (see #7 and #3 - these two things along with the rest of life have kept me on the completely busy side of things -- it gets less busy after the end of the year for me).

10. Made an executive decision to skip paper Christmas cards this year (gasp!) but we sent out thousands every year for work and it is a huge expense and is very time consuming.  This year, we'll still take the family photo but I'll be posting a blog Christmas card on this blog and my professional blog.  And we'll save money, trees, and time.  I'm looking forward to having a peaceful holiday season.

Check Out Charlie's Blog

Go Here to see what my husband Charlie has been up to - he's lost 25 pounds!

Two Steps Foward, One Step Back.

Weight In Wednesday:  166.3

That's up from last week.

Excuses, Excuses:  Ok, I cheated more than once.  And I didn't exercise because my knee hurt and I've had a bad cold.  I've had laryngitis for almost 2 weeks but I think its getting a little bit better.

So my goal for this week:  No more cheating and move every day.

Wendesday Weigh In

166.7 - 165.4 = 1.3 pounds lost.

Not bad, but I was down to 163 earlier in the week but then I did a skip day & had a bad cold so I ate a bunch of popsicles and threw off my good thing.  I'm thinking this week will be a bigger weight loss.

Lose Weight by Scrapbooking!

I made this page last fall & then I fell off the wagon but I'm back on now:

Tony Orlando & Marie Osmond

both lost weight on Nutrisystem - I didn't know this when I signed up but went to the website today & saw them!  If you read my blog or know me, you know I love Tony & Marie!  So Yay!  I'm in good company :)   Oh, and plus, my husband tells me he did Nutrisystem years and years ago (he's ancient remember - just kidding); and he lost 30 pounds.  Who knew.

4 Minutes

Thank you Madonna for helping me through those last 4 minutes on the stepper this morning.

And here's my official self portrait before picture at 166.7 pounds:

Weigh In Wednesday

This morning was my first on Nutrisystem.  I had the blueberry scone and it was great (really).  I was a little worried about an institutional food taste and there was none of that so I was very happy.

I've decided to share my actual weight with the world.  I'm normally about 170.  Here's how I got there:

When I graduated from highschool I was 103 and mostly boobs - I had a terrific figure and wore a size 1.  I ate whateever I wanted - like ice cream for breakfast and pizza for dinner.  I was pretty active with cheerleading and doing the Jane Fonda workout and running around with boys so I could eat whatever I wanted to and still look like a complete babe.  Those were the days.  Ahhh memories.

My sophmore year at Eckerd College I spent on Gower Street in London, totally immersed in the culture - and the food and the pints of lager.  I came back weighing 123.  When I got back my mom commented that I looked thick.  Back at Eckerd in Florida I dropped some of the weight so I probably went back to 115 or something like that.  But I was probably 125 when I graduated from Eckerd.

Then along comes Law School.  I think I gained 30 pounds in the first year.  So I was up to 155.  Seriously.  This was a stressful time and I was scared out of my wits and sitting and studying all the time.  Not many parties but I discovered nachos and cheese and macaroni and cheese.  I was living by myself and cooking for myself for the first time and macaroni and cheese was about all I could afford and all I knew how to make.  I think during law school I even got up to 165 but when I graduated I was about 140. 

As a young lawyer I fluctuated between 140 and 150.  Then I met Charlie and probably packed on a few pounds during dating because I think I got back up to 165.  For Christmas 1997 one of his relatives gave him the Atkins Diet book, so starting New Years we did atkins and I lost 35 pounds in the first three months, it was totally cool.  When we got married in 1999 I think I weighed about 130. 

Then we went to Atlantis for our honeymoon and the food was great and I think we each came back weighing 5-10 pounds more and for whatever reason we never got back on Atkins so I went back up to about 140-145.

Then I had Mac and gained a lot of weight.  I think I must have been about 140 when I got pregnant because I know I gained 60 pounds with him but I also know that 202 was my highest weight when I was pregnant.  The day I had him I lost 30 pounds (I was retaining a lot of water) and in the next 3-4 months I lost the other 30 so after Mac I totally went back to my pre-pregnancy weight, maybe even a little lower, I was looking really good.

Then along comes Allison.  I again gained 60 pounds with her but didn't lose a bit when I had her.  Ok maybe I lost like 10 pounds the day I had her but she weighed 8.8 pounds.  I did lose about 20 more in the next few months.  So since I had had Allison I've fluctuated between 170 and 175.  I did 8 months with a personal trainer and didn't lose one pound - she said I gained muscle and lost fat.  Big whoop.  I wanted to see that scale move and it never did.  Then my friend told me he lost 30 pounds running a marathon.  So I joined a running club and started training for the Disney half marathon. 

A few months in I was at the gym and trying to improve my 5k run so I got on the treadmill and ran as fast as I could for 3.1 miles (or whatever it was).  I think I did 8-9 minute miles that day.  But that was a bad bad day because when I got off the treadmill my right knee hurt.  I went home and didn't think a lot about it but every time I ran after that - which was for several months and through several 5k races, my knee hurt a lot afterwards.  People told me I wasn't stretching and that I had the wrong shoes, so I started stretching and bought new running shoes, but my knee still hurt.  Finally I got an MRI of my knee because I thought I had a tear, I didn't - instead I had a fractured femur!  Seems that my calcium after 2 babies and two rounds of nursing was totally depleted (and I'm not the greatest at remembering to take vitamins) and I had broken my own knee running on the treadmill.  I asked the orthopedic doctor when I could start running again and he said "You should never run again."  Big Time Bummer.

So I let my leg heal, it took a long time.  And I started exercising again but I have to restrain myself from doing too much or else my leg starts to hurt again.  And I hadn't lost the weight.

I did have a really uncomfortable pouch from having 2 c-sections and my boobs were gigantic.  So after a lot of thinking, I decided to get a tummy tuck and a boob lift and reduction.  It was a 9 hour surgery and 6 weeks of recovery (I did LOM for the first time during the recovery).  And my pouch went away and my boobs looked like they did when I was 13 - beautiful.  But that surgery was not a weight loss surgery.  So while I stopped fluctuating up to 175 pounds, I stayed right at 170.  Which is where I've been ever since.

Until I decided to order nutrisystem and I started eating just a little bit less and I've lost a couple of pounds.  I'm pretty proud of this because for four years I haven't been able to lose anything.  So I think that my mind has changed.  That I was Inspired perhaps, thank you Donna Downey. 

I'm ready now to claim back my babalicious body because I know its in there.  It is.  By the way, in my head, even with all of these ups and downs, my mental image of myself is pretty great - I think I'm a babe - so when I see pictures of myself I'm always in a state of disbelief - like - there is no way I'm that fat - whoever took the picture must have been taking it at a bad angle or something like that - but I'm ready to face the fact that its probably not the photographer.  I'm ready. I'm mentally there.  I'm going to succeed this time.  I know it.  Just watch me!

Wednesday Weigh In:  166.7

Guess What Just Arrived?

Nope, no scrapbooking goodies or magazines today...

I got a giant box of Nutrisystem food!  I'm going to start tomorrow and I'll do Weigh In Wednesdays just like Donna Downey!  I'd like to lose 30 pounds.

If it worked for Donna Downey...

maybe it will work for me.  She just lost 34 pounds on Nutrisystem.  So, I just ordered Nutrisystem for 28 days - I'll let you know how it goes. I'd like to lose 30 pounds.  (I'm a pretty pick eater so I picked the plan where you get to pick your meals).