What are you putting in your trolley*?

Now it may not be totally obvious, but in this photo Miss Sophia is sat in a shopping trolley with a book. Throughout that shopping trip she tried to drop the book into the trolley (and out), and then insisted that I give it back to her.

Anyway, when you go shopping, what are you putting in your trolley? Are you setting yourself up for success or failure?
(Also, now I think about it, any products that you're currently buying/using/eating that you'd like to recommend?)


* aka cart

Second chance...

I know even when I was more a part of this group, I was never a consistent "regular." I really struggled with dieting results, and couldn't quite put my finger on it. I could do really well and suddenly gain 10 pounds, and do poorly, I mean really POORLY, then lose 10 - almost overnight. Turns out I was really sick with an autoimmune disease. It finally came to a head last summer when I broke out in a painful rash from head to toe, then began to experience arthritic pain. This time last year I could not walk and it could take almost 2 hours to pull myself up to a sitting position. It was determined that I have psoriatic arthritis, an inflammatory autoimmune disease that attacks connective tissue like joints, tendons and the skin. After a strong dose of prednisone, I was moving and walking again. I just weened off of the prednisone in the last couple of weeks and hope that the weight will come off easier now. In November I started taking weekly doses of a chemotherapy drug to suppress my immune system and it's been working very well. I'll likely continue these treatments for the rest of my life.

My skin is clear and I only suffer a managable amount of joint and tendon pain - unless I push myself too far. Many foods make my condition worse, so I am working hard to watch what I eat. Losing weight should also help relieve the workload on my joints and tendons. My starting weight is 197.5, as of today. My goals are to continue watching what I eat and walking daily while increasing distance. Keeping it simple. :)

Here's me (and my mum and a girl from my church)

I don't really like this photo of me, but it wast taken yesterday, so it's recent. (notice the tubigrip bandage on my ankle!) I'm wearing size 28 clothes which is truly truly horrible. So here's to changing that asap (I want to get back into my pre-pregnancy size 16 clothes and maybe even buy some smaller than that.)

Fun in the Sun

I normally avoid full-body pictures, but I actually let Rob snap this one when we went to the beach during his visit last month.  Therefore, this will be my official "Before" pic for this new start since it shows more than just my head and it's only three weeks old. 

So, here I am.  Let's get this party started!

Debbie, July 2010

Don't forget

to look back to where you've come from once in a while. It might help spur you on, and also remind you that you've actually done pretty well so far :)

This was taken in June 2006. It's the 'proof' that the photographer sends you so you can choose what to order. It was taken on my BA graduation day.













This was taken in May 2008, on my MA graduation day (I didn't do any extra work for it, it's just a Cambridge thing. I don't try to understand why they give us them, I just accept it!)













Anyone else want to show us some (still in progress) before and after pics?

bonus pic...

cos Boo said I didn't post enough pictures of me ;)

Introducing Debs

Hmmm, well, where do I start? I guess most of you probably know at least a little bit about me by now.
I'm 26, I'm currently living in London with my parents. I'm weighing in mostly around 210lb at the moment, and in a way my weight loss is on hold for a bit.













I've been dealing with depression lately, and focusing on just trying to stay on track with my
eating and not comfort eat too much.
Couple that with a badly sprained ankle over a month ago, which means I'm not really able to exercise much at the moment, and it's a recipe to be pretty much stuck. I've lost and gained the same 10lb over and over again, but I think that to be honest, so long as I stick around the same sort of bracket, I'm not too worried at the moment. Obviously, I would like to keep losing weight, but I'm trying to be realistic about it.












I probably have other things I should add, but that's all I've got right now. So instead I've included a few pics of me, taken over the past few days/weeks












This is the most recent one - I had my hair cut last Monday.

Presenting Elly

I know that she's not really an official OWOA member anymore, but I thought I'd upload a photo of her from this morning - modelling her recently completed jumper. Doesn't she look good at goal? :)

FINALLY!

I finally have a minute to sit at the computer and write out an intro post. I've been running around crazy for well over a week now, and although it's midnight, I figured it's now or never!

Hi, my name is Debbie, but since my bro, Bird, is also online many have come to know me as Boo. So to avoid confusion (esp since we also have a Debs) I was appointed the name DebbieBoo for the sake of OWOA-ers. Calling me either Debbie or Boo is fine.

Up until three months ago I had been a Kindergarten teacher. I love teaching and loved the kiddos and all the teacher friends I made, but my school was horrendous! Extra long hours, on top of an hour commute each morning and evening, took their toll on me. Plus the extra-curricular requirements -- one or more meetings after school each week, family night every month, fall festival, winter festival, spring festival, hispanic heritage month events, black heritage month events, cinco de mayo celebration, graduations -- you name it, we did it! My coworkers and I joked we were all on a reality show that combined it all - The Apprentice, Survivor, Big Brother, So You Think You Can Dance, AND Project Runway. And since our director wasn't the warmest and friendliest of people, that made working there so much harder.

But I wouldn't exchange those years for anything! It's there that I became good friends with Melissa and she's the reason I even attempted a weightloss journey. I wanted to help her because she was very sick and worried she may not be around for her kids much longer (and she was only 35 at the time!). So I began cooking all our lunches and she supplied all the snacks for the South Beach Diet. We started October 8, 2007. Both of us had noticable weightloss at first, but after a few months Melissa's weight melted away. Mine, not so much. Stress and feeling sorry for myself caused me to cheat here and there until I finally got to the point where I stopped dieting all together. And honestly, I'm not completely back to it.

I lost about 18 pounds total and dropped a size, but plateaued for months. Then eventually started putting some back here and there. So today, I'm pretty much back where I started last year, weight-wise (around 230), but am still noticable smaller than I was (I just saw a friend after over a year apart and she said I look smaller all over, so that helped me feel a bit better).

I'm rather comfortable in my own skin, but I'd like to lose at least 70-80 pounds just to be healthier. Heck, I'd settle for 20-30 if it meant I could fit into some clothes in a really cheap shop I discovered yesterday. Boy, the money I would save while still looking fashionable! But the problem is, it's very hard for me to lose weight. My mom's convinced I have a thyroid prob, but we're not ones to always go to the doctor and I don't have insurance anyway. Besides, I was tested a few years back and it was negative (but that still didn't satisfy mom). Anywho, I've tried many different things, many different times, and it's always the same -- I lose about 10-15 pounds and then stall out until I eventually stop trying. But I'm gonna give it a go again, while praying God puts right whatever may be wrong in my body.

Four days ago I moved to Bedford, England to volunteer at an organization that runs a night shelter. I'll start working in the Shelter tomorrow (prayers, please!). It's been something I've wanted to do for many years now, and finally have the opportunity. It's definitely something I felt God call me to, but I still worry about finances and practical living.

As far as my weightloss strategy, I'll be exercising a lot more since I have to WALK everywhere. No car for me, in jolly ol' England. And I'm using the basic elements of South Beach and good old fashioned portion control. No counting calories for me, though, because I stink at math.

I blog over at Decidedly Wandering and can be found on Facebook and Skype for those who know me. I'm single and am ok with it since commitment scares the heck outta me and I'm not naive to think marriage is all fun and games anymore. Not that I wouldn't answer the phone to any eligible bachlors you may send my way (as long as he loves God, is educated, and has a job and a sense of humor; bonus points if he's also loaded and can pay off my school debt).

And finally, this is what I looked like at my friend Greta's wedding back in June (my hair's usually not curly...). Gotta love that camera angle! ;o)


I guess I should add I'm 28 (how did THAT happen?!) and love my hometown of Houston, TX! And my family! FYI, Bird is my brother, as I mentioned, and Brandi is my lovely sister-in-law.

I don't know how long I'll live in England. As much as I love TX, England also feels like home. I'll be here for at least 6 months, hopefully a year, maybe longer if I find a teaching job. If you'd like to send me care packages, I need Stevia and I'd like a copy of the book The Diet Alternative! And I heard canned pumpkin is hard to find in these parts, so I may need some come October/November/December.

Thanks for sticking with me through such a long post!

OWOA meet in Cambridge

Hola, Mate!

I've safely arrived in England and our very own Debs was kind enough to pick me up from the airport, even though it is an hour away from where she lives!  We wasted no time in snapping a shot with my MacBook once I excavated my UK adapter from my luggage and plugged in my computer.  

Ok, that's just about all I have the energy for right now.  Just wanted to let ya know I safely arrived.  I just posted a bit more on my blog, so feel free to check it out.  But don't be too expectant, it's not that great of a post . . . 

Just me

Okay, okay. So I told Debs like 2 weekends ago that I'd get an intro post written up last Sunday (the 7th). So, I'm a little late. Last week I had a friend from TN visiting and the connection speed on my husbands laptop was not the best.

Okay, all about me...(not). I'm a 26 yr old wife and mother to 2. I'm amazed every day at how quickly my little ones are growing and the continual independence they display. After I had my youngest (January of 2006) I weighed somewhere in the ball park of 260. I've worked (ever so slowly) at loosing the weight. I am now starting this blog with a weight of roughly 193. I'm an avid crafter and recently started school in order to obtain a Bachelor of Science and then a Master of Science in Holistic Nutrition. Sometimes it seems so completely odd to me that I weigh what I weigh and want a degree in nutrition but I do. I learned how to eat from my family and I know that my children watch and learn from me. I want to instill healthy habits in them. I also want to be able to help anyone else that I can particularly people with stories similar to mine. Um...my goal is to weigh around 140. I'd say my maintenance range will hopefully be 140-145. Let's see, I now reside in WA (where I was born and raised) but want to go back home to TN. My Granddaddy was from the South and his blood runs deep in these veins. I'm the only one of his current descendants that this love for the south has come out. My husband, children and I lived in TN until the middle of February.

Last but not least I love to use ( ) and ... .

This is a picture taken Friday at Pike's Place Market. I'm the taller one wearing the black top. I seriously can't believe how round my center is. I haven't had a picture taken of me in a long while and I'm glad I have. It's a reality check for sure.