We love living in Texas

Reed has found a new hobby. Firearms. I approve. There's something extremely therapeutic about the smell of gunpowder and the thrill of blasting a cardboard target to smithereens. Paul also enjoys shooting the guns. Maggie would if we would let her, she's not quite old enough yet. I think Ellen would enjoy watching, she's more of a peace-keeper, and she has more sense than the rest of us.
Kendall brought home his girl to meet the fam for Thanksgiving. So we decided to see if she really was a keeper. We took her shooting. She did pretty well, so I guess he can keep her. :) We love you, Victoria!

Halloween

Happy Halloween! We went to a party at Pegi's house on Friday night. I love this picture, because it is so us. Paul is whacking Reed in the face with his sword and Maggie's hat is falling over her eyes. Grace personified, that's us. Reed and I were zombies, Paul was a warrior and Maggie and Ellen were witches. Too fun!
This picture is on Nana's (Pegi's) front porch. The mummy's name is Pete. He only gets to come out on Halloween. The rest of the time, Mom stands him in front of the attic window so people can just catch a glimpse of a strange, person-shaped shadow looking down.

new blog

There seem to be lots of folks interested in losing weight. I love all the questions that I have received. So I decided to start another blog just about weight loss, so this one can be about my family. The new blog address is: fleurshrinks.blogspot.com All future thoughts and stories about weight loss and fitness will be there. Cute pictures of my kiddos will be here.

New Me

I did it! I reached my official Weight Watchers goal weight today! Yay! I can now be classified by the powers that be as "at a healthy weight". Whatever. More importantly I feel great, I'm healthy and I've learned some skills that will help me continue to feel great and be healthy for a long, long time.

Some stats:
since June 2008- 65 pounds lost
since starting WW April 2010- 42 pounds lost
from jeans size 14 to jeans size 6- make note of this one people: SIX!! That still blows my mind.

I have learned many, many lessons and tricks along this journey, and to share even some of them would make this a very long post. I would be happy to share with anyone and everyone who wants to know. If you do want to know, say so in the comments and I'll post again.

But, mainly this post is to brag a little. :) Here are some before, after and in between pictures:

Here's me, Christmas 2006, I think. I'm the one on the right, in the blue shirt. :) I don't have a lot of pictures of me, mainly because I was always the one behind the camera, and the last person I wanted to take a picture of was myself.
Here's me in July 2009. I had lost about 25 pounds and felt all sorts of hot. :) Not to say I wasn't, but the truth is- I've felt rather good about myself no matter what I weighed. I think most of that has to do with the way my wonderful hubby sees me and treats me. And, the rest of my family, too. I've never had a single person I care about make me feel bad about the way I look. Thank you.

I took this picture on Friday, October 1, 2010. I got some money for my birthday and went to buy some clothes. I was shocked, absolutely shocked, when the size 8 pair I tried on were too big! The size 6 pair looked way too small, even putting them on I'm looking at the waist thinking "no way, these are never going to fit". And behold, they did! Now here's the interesting thing about this whole journey. I've had people tell me almost since starting Weight Watchers that I'm looking good, etc. I've believed them, because I could see the numbers on the scale going down. But. I never felt skinnier. I was focusing on parts of my body (ahem: arm flab, saggy poochy twin belly) that I wanted to change, and waiting for them to start looking firm and fabulous. I wasn't able to see the overall changes that were happening. Needless to say my arms are still flabby- matter of fact, I have old lady arm flappy thingys that keep waving long after the rest of my arm has stopped :). I didn't really see my body the way it really is until after taking this picture. I looked back and forth between my new profile picture on Facebook and my old profile picture. I was amazed. This new picture is not the person I saw in the mirror every day. I guess it will take a while to see myself the way I really am. I wonder if anybody ever really sees themselves the way they are. Maybe we should all take a self-portrait picture every now and again, just to remind ourselves.

Some heavy thinking about weight loss

About two years ago I decided that it was time for me to lose weight. I had been to the doctor for my yearly check-up and the number on the scale was shocking. I promised myself that I would never, never weigh that much again. The resulting journey has been long (it's not over yet), frustrating, exhilarating and exhausting. And, I have learned some things along the way.

I have learned that the hardest part of losing weight was convincing myself that I could. Believing in myself, trusting myself, knowing that when I fell, I could get up again and keep going was nearly impossible. But I managed it. Then, I needed to find a method that worked for me. That part actually took much trial and error. I have tried everything from pills, to running, to throwing up (don't freak out, I only did that once, and it so totally wasn't worth it). What I really wanted/needed was a method that I could adapt so that I could continue it for the rest of my life.

Enter Weight Watchers. I was a little skeptical at first, I actually referred to the meetings as "my AA meetings". Hi, my name is Fleur, (Hi, Fleur) and I'm overweight. But really, the program is awesome! I have completely changed my relationship with food. I NEVER thought I would be able to say that. I have learned that just because something tastes good, it doesn't mean I have to eat it. Going along with that, just because something looks good or is supposed to be good doesn't mean that it is. Have you had those Hostess Ding Dongs? They look wonderful, everybody loves them, they're an American institution. But next time you eat one, really pay attention to it. The things taste like chocolate-flavored wax wrapped around styrofoam! Why on earth would I want to waste calories on that? And so many foods are like that to me now. If it isn't absolutely wonderful, I don't eat it. If I'm starving and nothing in the house sounds wonderful, I have some carrots (zero points) to tide me over until I can find something that's worth it. I really had to get it through my head that food is going to be around my entire life. There will always be birthdays and Christmas and chocolate cake and fudge. I don't have to eat that Snickers bar every time I get the opportunity. Target will always have Snickers bars.

The next stage of my journey is to change my relationship with exercise. Sigh. Actually, I love to exercise.... once I get started. It's getting started that's the problem. I'll let you know how that one works out.

Just FYI: I have lost a grand total of 48 pounds, 25 of which have been since joining Weight Watchers. I'm not sure how much more I want to lose, but at least another 20 pounds. And if any of you reading this are interested in losing weight, I do recommend WW, but more than that I recommend believing in yourself and not giving up. If I can do it, so can you!

I will try to get some pictures posted soon.

Paul's baptism

Paul turned eight years old on Aug 5th. Then he was baptized a member of the church on Aug 8th. I'm so proud of his decision to get baptized. He's such a wonderful young man, and our family is very blessed to have him!

Girls weekend in Vail

My fabulous mother decided that my sister-in-law, Poppi, and I needed some time off. So she took us to Vail, Colorado for a few days this last June. It was so much fun! The weather was cool and rainy, and the mountains were breathtaking. We got massages, and went shopping. We got to ride horses one day. My horse's name was Chief. Poppi's horse was Chubb, and he ate everything he could see. I loved riding in the mountains, seeing all the beautiful flowers and enjoying the cool, fresh air.

The village of Vail is a wonderfully quaint tourist attraction. There were more shops and restaurants than we could even begin to explore. I especially liked the bronze statues everywhere, particularly the one of Einstein. :)

We missed our families, but it was such a fun, relaxing treat to get away for a few days. Thanks Mom!