Ok, I haven't even LOOKED at this blog much less posted on it in quite some time. I've been really busy, but that's honestly no excuse, because I really haven't been taking care of ME! So what started as a few cakes for friends and family has now turned into me opening an actual cakery!! Yes, no wonder I didn't stay on a diet, huh? LOL Actually, cake has been the least of my problems on that front. I suddenly just seemed to have lost my resolve for a while. The last post I wrote I was .2 pounds UNDER my original goal weight, and at this moment, I can't tell you exactly what I weigh as I've been avoiding it, but I can guarantee you it's probably about 10 pounds more than that, maybe even more! We'll find out on Monday, as I have made that the dreaded "day of reckoning" between me and the scale. I'm not really beating myself up or anything, because to be honest, I have been really happy the last 6 months. I think I've regained a lot of my spirit through this new business venture, but now I realize my favorite jean shorts are tight again and it's time to try to live more balanced, and not let my weight get back up to a point that made me feel miserable!

So that's all I'm going to write for now. I have website stuff to do today and am purging my kitchen of all things bad and making sure all of my fitness gear is still in good order so I can get crack-a-lackin' this week!

I have been SO busy! All of a sudden I have become the "go to girl" for cakes. I feel bad blogging about my new cake business on a diet blog, but for me cake is not really a temptation. I'm just not a fan really. Now if someone was asking me to make home made ice cream, I'd be in BIG trouble. LOL

Also, my mother in law and two of my nieces were here for a week and that kept me very busy. They left Thursday morning and I gathered the strength to weigh myself on Friday. I was an even 145 lbs. Not bad, considering we ate like monsters and sipped mojitos many nights of the week while she was here. I did, however, manage to work out 6 of the 7 days so I guess it all worked out. Now, I'm back into serious mode since the kids are back in school and my schedule is more normal again. I have a standing restaurant order for 2 of my cakes each week so that keeps me busy too. I'm also starting a pastry class on September 7th that lasts 4 months. I'm super excited about that.

Otherwise, I'm pretty good. My self confidence is growing like crazy and I think that my weight loss and new healthier lifestyle is ironically enough, the biggest reason why my cake business actually started! Here are a few pics of the most recent cakes I made and sold.

This is a photo of me this same time last year at Disney World with the family. Wow, was I ever fat! Look at those chunk ass arms and that chin that doesn't stop! How did I think the shoulders of that shirt were remotely flattering on me? LOL








This is a photo of me from 2 weeks ago. I wish I had one from the front taken at this party. The funny part is, I'm slowly escaping an uncomfortable grill debate between my current husband (on the right) and my previous husband (directly behind me) LOL




I AM OFFICIALLY .2 POUNDS UNDER MY ORIGINAL GOAL WEIGHT! YEAH FOR ME....

Too bad I'm still a chunky muffin and want to lose another 10-20 pounds now.

I don't have much to write about lately. I've been doing lots of projects around the house (decorating, painting, etc.). Weight is coming off very slowly, but hey, at least it's headed in the right direction. I'm 2.9 pounds away from my original goal, but now I want to lose another 10 pounds after that!

It's been a whirlwind of a week. Our trip to Tampa last weekend for my daughter's birthday was a blast and my little reunion was SO fun. We left both of the kids in Tampa for the week with my ex husband. They are having a ball and this week has been awesome for me and hubby. We've been like teenagers, having no kids here! Lots of reconnecting, lots of wine, lots of nakedness. LOL (Sorry, TMI!) We're going back to Tampa tomorrow to pick up the kids and go to a dinner party with some of my old friends. It should be another fun one. I'm SO ready to have my babies back home though! I haven't weighed this week because it's my TOM, but I've been good and have worked out everyday since Monday. Life is good. I'm so blessed!

So tomorrow is my baby girl's 10th birthday. I can't believe she's gotten this old. She's out of town with her Dad for a month and I miss her like crazy. We are going up to spend the weekend there for her big birthday celebration. He usually throws her a great party every year and we never miss it. Her little brother decided to write her a "rap" song for her birthday and I'm so proud of how well he did helping me come up with rhyming words for the things he wanted to say! I'm so blessed to have not only 1, but 2 fabulous children!

I have to keep saying that to myself. I was hoping to have lost more weight by now, but I guess I should just be happy that I'm still actually losing at all. I have a little mini-reunion this weekend and was looking forward to being at my goal weight, but whatever. I think I'm still smaller now than I was the last time I saw any of those people. It should be fun. Maybe another pound or two will disappear by Friday!

A few weeks ago my husband called from work and asked me if I'd ever seen an "ugly doll."

http://www.shopatron.com/index/322.0?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=adwords&os=adwords&gclid=CNG43fn8zJsCFRJ4xgodMlzOnw

I had no idea what he was talking about so I went to the website and said "ok, what about them?" Then he asked if I could make a cake for a co-worker's wife who collects them. Apparently the guy wanted to surprise her for her birthday. I said sure. It seemed like an easy enough task and we agreed I'd call this guy and work out the details. Well, what started as a seemingly simple task turned into a true stressful ordeal. First the guy tells me his wife is lactose intolerant. OK, I can handle that so I ask him what flavor cake he'd like. (I'm thinking chocolate or vanilla, right?) He told me "well, I'd really like it to be a peach, caramel and vanilla cream cake." I was thinking "great, let me whip that recipe right out of my ass!" Then I asked him which doll he wanted me to make. He told me he wanted the one called "Suntan Target" - ok, this is the one with 5 arms and hair! See what I mean - a simple project gone bad!
Well, I JUST NOW AT 2:08AM FINISHED THE CAKE! It turned out awesome and I can't wait for him to pick it up tomorrow. However, I am a dumb dumb because I charged him $100 for the cake and tonight when I added up what it cost me to get all of the lactose free stuff and the huge supplies of fondant, I spent $70! So I guess with my $30, I probably made about $.05 an hour. LOL Oh well, another addition to my ever growing collection of hobbies. Now I'll be spending all day tomorrow getting the black and orange food coloring out of finger nails!

Well, my weight loss has definitely slowed down. I'm at the point right now where my body starts fighting me. It is apparently very comfortable being fat, and doesn't like being under 150 pounds, but we are going to have a fight and I am going to win, and not only is it going to cooperate, but it's going to LIKE it! I am at 149.9 this morning! Ha, ha ha silly silly old fat body! I'm beating you and you look good and eventually, you'll feel good at a smaller weight too!

I'm wearing my favorite Size 6 Levi's today. They are probably the smallest article of clothing I own, and finally, yes FINALLY, they are not tight. No rolls, no bunching, just a normal pair of jeans! Damn, it feels good.

Yesterday was a really good day. After I finished my usual morning chores (sweeping, mopping, a load of laundry, taking care of hubby, son, and animals) I worked out with Cathe Friedrich for almost 2 hours. I did her supersets DVD, which is a great strength training routine and then I followed it up with a step aerobics workout. By the way, even though I ate off plan this weekend, I still managed to workout both Friday and Saturday. I probably would have worked out on Sunday too, but I figured a full day at a water park climbing stairs was probably good enough.

A mood struck me to start painting yesterday afternoon. I had been putting off painting the trim in my hallway that goes upstairs for about 4 months. I finished it in just a few hours and had paint left in the pan, so I moved into my bathroom, which is the next room on my list that needs to be painted. I think today after I work out I'll get that room completely done.

Last night I still had some energy and felt like eating something bad so I popped in Jillian Michael's Metabolism Boosting dvd. 2 months ago, this dvd almost killed me. It's straight up, mostly intense old school cardio and back then I'd have to take lots of little 5 second breaks to even get thru it. Well, last night I kept thinking "why did I think this was so difficult?" the entire way thru. It's nice when you can finally feel yourself getting stronger. Honestly, I give most of that credit to Cathe Friedrich. She's really good and her dvd's are tough and smart. I'm doing another one today and can't wait to see how my weigh in goes on Thursday now!

This 3 day weekend seemed to go on forever and I'm really glad it's over. I only hope my waist line will forgive me for what I've done. LOL We started our weekend on Friday with a small bbq. I made italian sausages on the grill and friends brought over side dishes. While I didn't eat much, it was still things that aren't normally in my menus. (including that vodka and cranberry juice!)

Saturday hubby and I were desperately craving sushi for dinner and after driving to our 3 favorite places, we gave up as no one was open. We ended up at Carrabba's and I don't think I'll ever eat there again. We ordered mussels and calamari to start and I only nibbled at those. Then I had the chicken rosa maria. My son ate the mashed potatoes and I had a few bites of chicken. I don't know what did it, but I woke up at 3am with pregnancy style heartburn and my tummy was not good! I spent about 3 hours running to the bathroom.

Sunday we took Sebastian to a water park and had loads of fun. I didn't eat the whole time we were there (which was only 4 hours) so afterwards we went to one of our favorite tex mex restaurants and I had some shrimp and crab quesadillas. I brought home more than half of my small plate and ate the rest for dinner. I feel yucky today, bloated, full, just not right. I realized that it's been so nice the past month not eating out and how much better I feel when I eat the things I cook! I'm not even going to get on a scale until Thursday. Hopefully I can work it all off by then!

The smell of dinner tonight is SO delicious. I am dying for hubby to get home so we can eat! I made lean pork chops that had been marinated in apple cider vinegar and a tsp. of splenda. I sauteed them in cooking spray for just a minute per side then took them out and added onions and chopped apples. Then I added the marinading liquid back with some thyme, salt, pepper and garlic and put the chops back in and reduced it down. I sauteed some spinach with garlic and a few squeezes of fresh lemon juice and I have brown rice going in the microwave almost done. (Yes, brown rice cooks much better in the microwave than on the stove!) It smells wonderful in here and I'm starving after a hard 2 hours of working out today!

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!