I've spent some time this morning reflecting on the way my life has been lately. It's been simple, drama free, quiet, HAPPY. Yes, I'm really happy. I am finally feeling good about myself and it's just making the rest of my life fall right into place. I have so much more energy; for the kids, for hubby, for me. There's a marked improvement in the "intimacy" department in my house and hubby and I have just been having so much more fun with each other lately. Friday night we went out for a date night at a local karaoke bar that a friend owns and I don't think I've laughed that hard in SUCH a long time. True to his form, hubby was the life of the bar, singing and walking around meeting people, and constantly proud to show me off on his arm. It was a great feeling and I was so proud to be with him.

My kids are having a great summer. Zoë (my 10 year old) is in Tampa with her father and gets to spend lots of time with my family who all live there also. Sebastian has gotten to take over the neighborhood in her absence and constantly has friends here or is off playing with kids outside. We're going to Tampa the weekend of July 18th for Zoë's yearly birthday party her father throws and I'm also having a small reunion with some old friends I've reconnected with on facebook. I am really looking forward to it as I have been gone off to NYC for the past 7 years so I missed a lot of friends there. It will also be nice to show off my new body as I'm in better shape now that I was back then!

Going back to college was a huge decision for me and I feel super good about it. I can't wait to start in August. It's going to be so much fun and rewarding.

Really, my hugest problem right now is trying to decide if I'm going to cut my hair an inch or let it grow. I know, sad, huh? LOL Ahh, life is good.

I'm praying and working to be in the 140's by this Friday. I don't care if the scale says "149.9." That would make me really happy. If it doesn't happen, that's ok too, but I'm hoping it does. Now that I'm 7 pounds or so away from my original goal of 145, I'm thinking I want to be smaller than that. I still have lots of fat lingering around my mid section and on my arms. I may shoot for 135 and see how it goes.

Wish me luck!

My grandfather used to say that.. A LOT. It's something I say now to myself often when I'm in the middle of a two hour stretch of heavy workouts. I don't know what's going on with me lately or what I'm doing differently, but something has got my metabolism moving into high gear FINALLY!

Sunday began my "lady time" (I know. Sorry, TMI, right?) and it had been about 7 weeks since I had one. I'm usually on a 5 week cycle or so, but I think all the exercise and weight loss just made it late. (My tubes are tied so no worries there!) Well, it came on with a vengeance and a mission to destroy my day! I was sure I'd gain weight this week because of it. Being the impatient fool that I am, I decided to go ahead and weigh myself this morning just to see how my cycle was affecting my weight loss this week. Well, go figure. I am down another .7 pounds. YEAH! I'm thrilled with losing 1-2 pounds a week at this point. I'm so close to my goal and I know that a rate of 1-2 pounds is best for optimal maintenance. I'm hoping now though that by Friday it's at least 1 whole pound.

I worked out early today also in the hopes of catching the hot Florida sun pool side before the rain kicks in. I'm just now making it out to the pool. Let's see if I get wet!

Today is a day to celebrate my beautiful, sweet, handsome husband! I am wearing his favorite little sun dress today (mind you, this thing didn't even squeeze over my hips a few months ago!) and my son and I are cooking him beef bourguignon, mashed potatoes, peas, garlic bread, and peanut butter cup brownies. None of this is especially diet friendly, but I've learned that I can eat just about anything I want if done in moderation so I'm not worrying about it! My boys are already on the Wii trying out the new WWII game I got for him. Later we'll get out the other few presents we've been hiding for Dad.

Earlier I was out walking the dog behind our townhouses on the creek and my next door neighbor was on her back porch cleaning her sliding doors. She just had a baby in November so I don't get to chat with her often. She immediately turned to me when she saw me and asked "ok, so what's your secret?" I had no idea what she was talking about at first. Then she said "how have you lost so much weight and gotten that muscular so quickly? You look amazing!" It is nice to know that people are noticing my efforts. I told her there's no real secret, simply eat less, move more! I told her how I workout almost every morning in front of the tv and I think she's going to start bringing the baby over a few times a week so we can workout together. That should be fun! It's always nice to have a partner!

Well, I'm off to Publix. I realized I had forgotten flour for the beef! I don't ever have flour in the house. I also need some beef broth. I've had the meat, onions, carrots and herbs soaking overnight in a nice bottle of burgundy wine. I can't wait to taste it tonight!

I am SO happy this morning. All this hard work is paying off and it's paying off at an awesome rate. I lost another 1.8 pounds this week. I'm only 10.2 pounds away from my original goal, so losing 2 pounds a week or so is amazing. I think people forget that we're really not supposed to lose more than 1 or 2 pounds a week for maximum long term results. I know if I start weighing myself everyday, I will become obsessive and freak out over not losing a pound a day! SILLY! Since I've switched to only weighing in on Fridays, it's like a little morning "YEAH" every Friday morning when I see results.

I had a really fun shopping experience this week. I went to go buy a few new nice pairs of shorts. I picked up a brown pair and a black pair and went into the dressing room with my size 12's. Needless to say, I wasn't thinking and those things literally fell right off! So, I went back and got 10's. Those were too big too! So, I had to go try the 8's! They fit just fine, and I have a feeling, in 10 more pounds, those will be too big also.

I cleaned out my closet this week too. I gave away 3 garbage bags of clothes that I either wasn't wearing, or I don't WANT to ever wear again. Anything that was a 14 had to go! And some things I had were just stupid. For instance, why on earth was I holding on to 3 pairs of maternity pants when my youngest and last child is 5?? I must subconsciously thought I was going to get THAT fat? It felt so good to lighten the load in my closet and be able to find everything. It was fun to try on all my size 8 and 10 clothes too. It feels like I got a whole new wardrobe.

I really have to say that while I know diet is the biggest part of weight loss, I am seriously feeling and seeing the results of my working out. I've really increased my strength training and am only doing about 20-30 minutes of cardio everyday. I LOVE Cathe Friedrich on fit tv and have tivo'd almost all of her workouts. They are tough and she really focuses on form and stability. I can see my biceps and I don't think my back has ever been this strong. Her workouts have also really helped me tone my hamstrings and glutes and I feel those muscles working more now when I'm doing squats and lunges, which is nice because I was starting to notice my quads looking a little too bulky in comparison to the back of my legs.

That's really all I have. Otherwise life is good. I'm preparing for school in August. My daughter is in St. Pete with her father for the month. I'm babysitting the neighbor's kid everyday and so Sebastian has a playmate. We spend lots of time at the pool and we're doing the summer packets from their school. I can't believe my baby is going to kindergarten in the fall! Oh, how time flies!

Ok, so the scale is FINALLY moving! I was an even 157 this morning. YEAH! I'm so close to reaching my goals I can actually taste it. (diet pun intended) I've had a great week now that the kids are out of school. I've still been working out like crazy in the mornings and then we spend our afternoons in the pool. My tan is looking awesome!

does weight loss have to slow down so drastically? I hate that. It's so frustrating. I am hovering between 158 and 159. That's too close to 160 for my comfort!

I'm so very blessed. My husband is a gem. I've been babysitting lots of kids all week, and had 2 overnight gigs both Friday and last night. My dear sweet man literally put me in the car last night and told me be home by midnight and sent me out to hang out with my girlfriends at a local pub. I had so much fun and it was a well needed break. I'm proud of myself too because all I drank was diet coke. I tried to trick myself. See, just this week my size 6 Levi's (the smallest sized clothing I own) actually pulled up, zipped and buttoned. While still tight, by yesterday they were appropriately tight if worn with a loose top. So I wore those, knowing those jeans would keep me from drinking or indulging in bar crap food! It worked. I had a great time and came home feeling empowered and proud and of course amorous towards my husband due to his overwhelmingly good deed! LOL

Isn't that crazy? I really do love Monday. I think that I just enjoy the "routine" and consistency of my weekdays as opposed to the weekends. The weekdays are MINE to plan, do and make happen. While I love being with my husband on the weekends, I just don't get as much done when he's home! Sad, but true! I did fine without drinking this weekend. I will admit that the weekend was kind of boring, but that's mostly because we're kind of broke until payday, so we hung around at home and watched it rain, playing Wii and letting the kids have friends over.

I ate like an angel all weekend. I had fun cooking with Sebastian again on Saturday night, and I think he and I are going to make a recipe scrapbook this summer while he's home. I can't wait for the kids to be out of school on Thursday. I have lots of fun summer plans for us!

The BEST news I have to share is that I'm no well under 160!! YEAH!! I don't think I've been there in at least 2 years. maybe longer! It feels great and I can't wait to see what this next month holds for my body! Exercise is so amazing. Our bodies are really miraculous works of art and machinery!