Week In Review

A friend of mine posted this on Facebook earlier this week:

Right?! Whether you're working this summer, or not, summer is slipping away. I'll report back to work in three and a half weeks, and school will start for Michaela the week after that. Where does the time go?

I had so many projects I wanted to get done this summer; but at the beginning of the week, I had not done any of them. The weather was really hot when we returned from our vacation, so that was a deterrent. Thankfully, this last week has been much cooler. So Monday morning I took on the task of cleaning out and organizing the laundry room portion of my garage. This is not only where I do the laundry, but it's also where I store my ebay inventory and shipping supplies. Things were all over the place before, but now they are neatly stored. It also revealed to me that I'm approaching the maximum amount of inventory I can house -  between 250 and 300 items.

I did take some photos of my hard work, but I can't seem to locate them just now. You aren't missing out on much. Besides, even in its new, organized state, my laundry room is no beauty. At least it's more functional now.

I also spent lots of time sourcing this week for ebay. I anticipate that sales will be very good in the fall, and I want to have good inventory on hand and listed. June was a great month in sales, but July wasn't. August has started out well enough, but I don't know what to expect at this point. Hopefully people will start their fall wardrobe shopping soon.

On Monday I also started a detox/cleanse program with Arbonne and my friend, Kara. She has done this successfully earlier this year. In fact, she lost twenty pounds at that point. I'm not looking to lose twenty pounds, but I am interested in dropping some weight. The program doesn't allow me to eat sugar, dairy, gluten, corn, caffeine, etc., and I drink a couple of protein shakes each day. There are other supplements in the program. I had a dull caffeine headache the first four days, but I'm over that now. This is a 28-day program, and I'm pretty sure it's something I can stick with for the duration. I don't usually feel hungry, and there are lots of options for clean snacking and cooking.

I had my first day off this summer on Thursday this week. Michaela spent the night with my parents on Wednesday night, and she spent the following day with them. They were going to take her to the county fair, but she chose to stay home and swim instead. She loves the water.

Yesterday, we went to the movies to see "Nine Lives". It reminded me of "Freaky Friday" (the original one!). Overall, it was a cute movie. I will have to say that I did not appreciate some of the language in it. Obviously, it's a movie for children, so why foul language has to be used is beyond me. This is why we go to the movies infrequently! I take Proverbs 4:23 seriously: 

And I've learned that exposure to a lot of pop culture (movies, television, music) is not the best source of healthy examples for Michaela and me. In the end, the main character learned a good lesson about life and the importance of family. So it was funny and it did have a positive message.

Have a blessed weekend!

Get to the Point(s+)

One of my goals for this summer was to lose a few pounds. In my end-of-the-school-year-induced stress, I had turned to carbs, carbs, and more carbs for comfort. They do work, but there's always a price to pay - added poundage. Ha!

In addition to not enjoying tight pants, I was also motivated by the fact that we're going on a cruise next month, and we all know that one of the things about cruising is the food. I can't tell you how many Youtube videos I watched and CruiseCritic forum posts I've read about the food on our upcoming cruise ship! I'm kind of obsessed. I want to be able to enjoy the food on the ship, and not come back needing to go up a pant size.

I started dragging Michaela to the gym with me. Thankfully they have an awesome kids playroom and she likes going. I also started watching what I ate. But the pounds just weren't budging. I was super frustrated, and the weeks were passing, and my cruise was looming up in front of me, and I knew I needed to do something else!

So it's time to get to the point - Weight Watchers Points+ that is. (And no, this is not a paid review. I've got nothing to do with WW, other than a whole lot of love for their program right now.) I had used WW in the past when I was trying to lose my postpartum weight, and it was effective for me. I'm using their online program, which is super easy to navigate. Since I started just four days ago, I have dropped nearly three pounds. After two weeks (or maybe more!) of doing things my way and having no weight loss, I am thrilled to see that I can do this! I don't expect to keep losing at that rate, but since I've only got six pounds left until I reach my goal, I am pretty sure I can lose them before our cruise begins late next month. Yea! Thank you Weight Watchers!

When I'm at the gym, all I do is the elliptical machine. I get on the one right in front of the television that has HGTV on it, put some music on my iPhone, and kill forty minutes. That earns me three extra points I can use for more food, or not. It's up to me.

I prefer to do strength training at home. I've been using some Youtube videos to guide me while I tone up my arms. Michaela likes to do this with me. She uses her Elsa microphone and her flashlight instead of hand weights. It's pretty darn cute!

I was also doing a 30-day plank challenge until I realized that the pressure it puts on my toes had lifted one of my big toenails to the point where I'm going to lose it eventually. Gross! Interestingly enough, it doesn't hurt. Now I will have to come up with something else for strengthening my core. Something that doesn't involve those dreaded crunches. Any suggestions?