Thursday Report

Daryn lost 2.6 pounds this week. So he is at a total of 15 lbs lost in the last 6 weeks! I am SO happy he's working on this. He says he doesn't feel very different yet, but I'm sure that will come. He still has a long way to go, but I'm sure he can do it this time. :)

Today we signed Rebekah up for swim lessons. A few things I learned: Even though the Parks and Rec books SAYS Mon-Fri, some pools are closed Mon and some Fri, so the actual classes are only 4 days a week, not 5 like I thought. (Remember, the county pool was 4 days a week.) Jacobs pool DOES give lessons. I thought they didn't. They're closer to me, but they're open T-F. This wouldn't be an issue except neither Jacobs nor Amphi has 9am lessons for beginners, just 930. Since Rebekah's ballet class is at 10 on Wednesdays, I had to go with an evening class: 5-530. I could have done that at Jacobs, but I didn't want her to have a swim lesson Friday evening - since Daryn has that day off, we could leave much earlier in the day if Bekah didn't have swim that night. So, I went with Amphi, which has classes M-R.

Funny enough, I managed to pre-register for sessions 3 and 4 and it turns out Amphi won't offer lessons then! They are hosting a really big tournament or something, so... thank goodness Jacob's pool offers lessons! Hopefully they'll have a time slot available that works better with our schedule later in the summer.

Also, when I invited one of Rebekah's friends to play this week, her dad told me that all she has is swim lessons at 9, so she might be able to come over. Turns out she's going to the county pool. Now I'm feeling like the extra money would have been good (it's still a good deal for 8 lessons!) to spend on taking her to county, getting 9 am classes like I wanted AND having a friend of hers in class with her. Oh well. It's only for 2 weeks and then I can re-assess. (Note to self: call county pool about registration for next session...)

Rebekah was a little upset that we didn't bring our swim suits to the pool, but I reassured her she would get to go swimming plenty in the next few weeks. I hope she likes swim as much as ballet and gym!

Also,  I posted a little status update on facebook that said Josiah knows how to open an Oreo and everyone liked it, so here's a video of my 1 year old opening an Oreo. No one showed him - he just knew how!

Wonderful Wednesday!

Wednesday was a fantastic day! Rebekah had her very first ballet and gymnastics classes. Our day went a little like this:

9:30 leave for Ballet
9:45 arrive! Wait for teacher.
10-11 Ballet!
11:30-1:30 Carrie's house
1:30 leave for gymnastics
2-3 Gymnastics!
3-5 NAP! (whoops)

I was hoping Josiah would sleep during Rebekah's classes, but he slept AFTER them both times. During ballet it wasn't an issue because I had the stroller and he was actually happy just sitting in it the whole time. Gymnastics was different. He wanted to explore!

We went to our friend Carrie's house for lunch, since she so graciously offered her home for us between classes this summer. Rebekah had a fun time, and so did Josiah until he got bit by a very tired and grumpy 2 year old. It was partly my fault that I let him down and didn't keep track of where she was. Whoops! His bruise is just about gone now, and no skin was broken.

The ballet room is a bit small. Ms Didi let us all come in and watch, but for the rest of the summer we will wait out in the hall. Unfortunately, there's no viewing window. If any of the girls have problems, Ms Didi will send them out to Mom until they are ready to come back in.

Gymnastics has a great big room with lots of equipment. Parents sit outside where there are benches and a large window.

For both classes, everyone will be allowed in on the last day of class to see the kids perform. We'll definitely bring the video camera that day! And Daryn's asking for the day off work. :)

Without further ado, Rebekah's ballet and gymnastics pictures!

 

For some reason, my camera wouldn't zoom while I was taping. :(

Memorial Day

Daryn had the day off work, so we had two couples and their children over and we had a barbecue. Then one couple - the Strattons - stayed to play Ticket to Ride with us. That evening Daryn went out with the guys to play some games. It was a great day! 

This year I saw some pictures going around Facebook with things like "Memorial Day: In case you thought it was national BBQ day." And the picture shows a (presumably) widow mourning at a grave in Arlington. I really didn't like that. The sarcasm is not befitting a day that should be filled with good will and gratitude, and yes a little bit of sorrow for those we have lost in the service of our amazing country.

Mainly it upset me because the friends I have in the military are very happy, fun loving people and they would encourage me to take advantage of a day off by celebrating with my family and friends. Especially my friend Mike.

In the fall, Mike died while serving in Afghanistan. We attended a funeral for him October 23, and the outpouring of love and respect what not at all surprising, but very overwhelming. Mike was VERY active in Boy Scouts, and there were troops lining the entrance to the building, all holding flags at attention. There were so many people from school we hadn't seen in a long time. We all reminisced and it was rather beautiful. Daryn was closer to him than I was, but we both enjoyed his sense of humor and his passion for every activity he undertook. He was one amazing Debater, too! So here are a few photos people shared in memory of Michael Elm. He was an amazing young man. 

Rebekah's Summer Plans

Rebekah is growing up! This summer, Rebekah will be taking ballet, gymnastics and swim lessons! I hesitate to admit my cheating here, but I'll be honest. Judge me if you want, I think my reasoning is justified. : p

So, the ballet class is ages 3-5, and the swimming flyer says "about 4 years" for the youngest age group that takes lessons without a parent in the pool. Gymnastics without a parent participating is 4 years old. I can't participate unless I get a babysitter for Josiah, and I don't like getting a babysitter pretty much ever. That being said, Rebekah will be among the younger children of her school year. Her birthday is such that children who are already 4 will be in the same class as her when she starts school - so, kids in these "age 4" classes during the summer are Rebekah's peer group. Her friend Heather who lives down the street had a birthday just 3 weeks ago. Rebekah is definitely just as mature and physically able as Heather, and Heather is old enough for these classes, so I decided that Rebekah is also old enough for these classes. That being said: I fudged her birthday on the papers so that I could get her into these classes.

The city has Swim Lessons set up like this: Daily lessons M-F for 2 week sessions at various pools across the city. Thanks to Tucson Police Department, The Red Cross is offering lessons at city pools for only $2/session! When I registered Rebekah for her classes, though, it was a little late and I could only sign her up for sessions 3 and 4. For sessions 1 and 2 I'm on the "wait list." The tricky part is that none of the sessions are set up by pool; the sign up is for the entire city, and you have to later go to the pool of your choice and sign up directly with them, listing your top 3 pools for where you'd LIKE to have your lessons. I can see how they're trying to share the lessons across the city, but it's also annoying to think I might be asked to go to a pool not near my home. :/ So, since I'm on the wait list for the first two sessions, I just need to go to the pool I want to have lessons at during their walk-in sign up days and get in that way, since there's no promise for who gets what pool. If I can't get her into lessons at the pool I want for the first 2 sessions, I might just take her to the other pool nearby, which is a county pool.

The county pool is offering lessons in 2 week sessions that run M-R, and charging $20. But, it's so close that I feel like I will not actually lose too much money, considering if I don't get in the city pool I want, I'd have to drive pretty far to get to another city pool for lessons!

So, Rebekah's summer schedule will basically be swim M-F (time TBD), and Ballet and Gymnastics on Wednesdays.

Originally, I didn't want to put Ballet and Gym on the same day, but the closest building that offers the classes is pretty far from us. I wanted to cut back on gas, so I needed to only make the drive out there once a week. Ballet is at 10am, and Gym is at 2pm. I wish they were closer together, but I figured that the building is on the same property as a very large park and the Tucson Zoo, so we can have a picnic lunch every Wednesday!

... Yeah, I know it's going to be disgustingly hot. : / This week I'm going to scope out spots and see if there's somewhere indoors we can hang out and eat our lunch. If not, we do have a friend who lives relatively nearby, so we're going to drop in and visit them each week, I think. We'll see how it goes!

Also, I know that Rebekah might be exhausted, so I need to make sure I remember to have the stroller with me so that she can nap in the stroller if need be. It's going to be interesting!

Which brings me to the shopping I talked about in the other post: We bought Rebekah some leotards - short sleeve, one pink and one black. And some footless tights - black and white, I think. I wasn't going to get the tights (it says barefoot or ballet slippers only for Ballet) but decided on the footless ones because I didn't know if she'd be allowed to wear shorts with her leotard - Daryn mentioned that in ballet they need to see their hips pretty well, though that's probably not as crucial for 4 year olds. Honestly, I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to dance. I probably should have called my friend Ashley before I bought anything! She has 2 of her little girls in dance, and she's a dancer herself. Come to think of it, I have a ton of friends who danced growing up and I totally should have given someone a call. Ah well. I still have a receipt and we'll find out on Wednesday if I made a good decision! :P

I will say, though: We were at Wal-mart and it was clear that the display was specifically for dance classes: They had the leotards (short sleeve, long sleeve and sleeveless), footless and footed tights, simple skirts with a little rosette on the front, slippers... all of it in pink, black and white. I was VERY tempted to get Bekah a skirt, but figured it was unnecessary and shouldn't waste the money - yet. ;)

Rebekah overheard me talking on the phone to get her registered for ballet, and when I got off the phone she asked if it was time to go to her ballet class. So cute! I hope she stays as excited as she is for this summer. I hope it all goes well. She's such a bright girl and I love the joy on her face when she learns new things. I'm looking forward to a fun summer!

Oh, in addition to Rebekah's classes, my friend and I split the cost of purchasing a Zoo Pass for the summer. Since Daryn now has Fridays off, we went to the Zoo as just our family for the first time ever this last month! (Yes I have pictures... to come another night) Anyway, I look forward to planning some fun outings for us on Fridays with Daddy. In fact, I think I need to make a list! Do you have suggestions for us - fun things to do in the Tucson area (or Phoenix area) with toddlers? We will definitely be headed to Brandi Fenton more than once, and Jacob's Park pool is open this summer, I hear that one is fun! Daryn's already talked about going up Mt Lemmon for some picnics. What else shall we do?

This fall: My baby's first soccer season! Daryn and I have talked about this day since before I was ever pregnant. <3

Fun Purchases

After our hard work Friday morning, we did a little shopping in the afternoon and just relaxed that evening. One of our shopping stops was Lowe's for some tools for Daryn. While we were there, I saw a big black floppy hat. Normally I wouldn't be so into it, but when my friend Priscilla helped me pick out my current swim suit, she insisted that it would look best with a pair of overly large sun glasses and a large floppy black hat ala Audrey Hepburn. So, I bought it. I'll be out in the sun a lot this summer (zoo pass, splash pad, etc) so I figured, why not? Also, the sales clerk assured me that it doesn't absorb heat enough to be concerned it would be too hot. We'll see how that holds out.

Oh! So the tools Daryn bought - he's such a resourceful man! He needs something to do during his off time at work, but doesn't want to take a book because he's frequently interrupted (you know, by actual work) and can't immerse himself in the story. So, he's decided to take up rope work again and needed something to act as a needle to pull his nylon ropes through while working with them. He bought aluminum post screws and then altered them by cutting of the end that isn't the screw, and then filing that end down so it's rounded almost to a point (but not at all sharp). He explained to me that the cord gets pinned into the post with the screw piece and that it holds very well. When being used, it looks like this. In fact, the link I just put there is to the website of "the" paracord blogger of the internet. Everyone gets ideas from him and references his stuff, according to Daryn. I'm interested to see Daryn do more work. When we were dating he made me a bracelet out of nylon rope like this, and later a rope "ladder" that had pencils for steps. It is super cute and I still have it. :) He's going to make me and a few of our friends some dice bags, and probably some rope jewelry for Rebekah.

Saturday, we went to the store again partly because I just wanted to get out of the house and partly because we needed to buy Rebekah some leotards! BUT, I will put a separate post up about that exciting news. I'm pretty sure I haven't detailed that yet.

Also on Saturday, Daryn took the truck to get the emissions checked, but things didn't work out. We have a check engine light on because of O2 sensors, and we had hte light turned off but apparently we did it too recently before getting it to emissions because the sensors weren't reset for the test to read anything. So, we have to go back later. I'm so not happy because 2 cars will make this summer MUCH more pleasant (mainly because of the above paragraph I'm going to expand on in another post) and the tags on the truck can't be renewed (they expire this month) until it passes emissions! Cross your fingers everyone - this truck is such a pain in the neck!

Recent Goings On

First things first: Daryn lost 1.6 pounds this week. :) I think if we put in some exercise, we can boost those numbers a little bit more, but he's still losing, and that's what we need.

Last night, Josiah only woke up 3 times, but I was already in bed by the first time he woke up. I'm still trying to get over a cold that I came down with last week, and even though I've been really good about putt Josiah in his own bed lately, I just let him in our bed last night. BEST sleep I've had in weeks, if not longer!

Oh, if I hadn't mentioned it, I took down the crib a few weeks ago. We never used it anyway. I mostly just threw things in it that I didn't want Josiah to get a hold of (Bekah knows how to climb in and out). We have 3 child sized (crib sized) mattresses - 1 on Bekah's Princess bed, 1 from Daryn's sister Renee, and 1 that came with the free wooden toddler bed that Daryn's dad found on craigslist for us.

So for the last 2 months or so, I've been lying on one of those mattresses on the floor with Josiah and getting him to fall asleep, then I just get up and go to bed. When he wakes up at night he just walks or crawls into my room (sometimes crying, sometimes not) and wakes me, and we repeat the process. It's not really that different from when he was in a bassinet when he was very small, and better than when I'd sit on the couch to nurse him in the night, so I am getting plenty of sleep (albeit, not all at once), I like that I can lay down with him. Sometimes I fall asleep before he does, but most of the time I'm able to get back into my bed.

This morning, Rebekah got me up at 6 (pretty typical these days, even though we have "blackout" curtains in their bedroom) and Josiah woke about 30 minutes later. I was very happy that Daryn was up by 7 (he tries to sleep in on his days off and I don't blame him) so we were all up and ready to get working! I let Daryn know I wanted to work outside, so the sooner he was ready to work, the sooner we'd be finished and hopefully we could avoid having it get too hot outside.

So this morning we managed to:
clean up dog dirt, wash the kids table (pigeons pooped on it), wash the kids wagon, empty the water side of the kids water/sand table of sand to put water in it (we make it an all sand table in the winter), move a LARGE chair from the shed to the house, put infant toys in the shed, clean up some camping gear and put it in the shed, dispose of a washing machine, remove all trash from the back yard and break down/throw out cardboard boxes that we've been piling on our porch, and then wash off the back porch

During all of that, Rebekah and Josiah had a blast outside. Since Josiah's only recently learned to walk, it was his first time being allowed to roam freely outside. At first he wanted to follow me and Daryn around everywhere, and he tried to hold our tools - especially the shovel. (When he's inside he's super proud of himself when he gets to carry around the broom.) But eventually I got him to play on the slide and he loved it! He's been down it before, but now he can consciously initiate sliding down by himself. The stairs on it are a little too narrow for him to climb up, so I still have to put him on top, though. We also let the kids play with the sand and water table, so Josiah got soaked and by the end of the work time he was super muddy from running around (and falling down) in our dirt yard! I fell a little bad, I forgot to get a picture of him all dirtied up before I stripped him down and gave him a bath. BUT! I do have pictures of him playing with the shovel.

One of Rebekah's outfits that she put together herself. :)

Hooray sandbox!

Later that day - he was SO tired! :)

WW Cooking Advice

Adding to what I wrote last night, I just want to say that I'm re-learning a lot about cooking! (I did 2 summers of 4H cooking. I swear I used to know a lot about it! But this is what happens when you don't utilize your skills!)

For example, don't just look over the list of ingredients to decide if you can make a meal. Daryn and I really wanted to try out this recipe and bought all the necessary ingredients. Only, I went to make it and discovered I was missing this amazing tool! Granted, I finally decided that I could just put it in my regular blender 2 cups at a time, but that was so much extra work and mess! I resolved to do it anyway, but then I discovered that our potatoes were rotten. Ew. So we have yet to try this meal - we will though!

Lesson: Check for tools as well as ingredients in a recipe!

The other meal I goofed on was this one. SO good! But it called for 1 cup packed basil. Daryn bought dried basil. Guess what, you don't have to pack dried basil. And according to this it looks like you really just don't want to use dried basil for pesto. BUT, in most cases if you're using dry herbs when you're supposed to use fresh, you should cut it in half or in a third.

I didn't.

Oh man, that pesto was gross!

Daryn doused his in marinara sauce and I doused mine in parmesan, so it was edible, but wow, that was quite the cooking error. I DO want to eat it again, though. You know, when it's made the right way. ;)

Lesson: Check for substitution rules.

Weight Watchers

Note: This is the last time I apologize for a long post. Sorry. I'm a talker/writer. It's not like I'm forcing you to read, right? And you know that I love to talk so it's not like I won't tell you all this if you ask me about it. : P

So, Daryn has given me permission to write this blog. Weight loss is a hugely touchy topic for him so I was surprised when he said yes, but that's also encouraging that he's adjusting his feelings on the topic.

Here's the thing: If you know us, you know that Daryn has always been a big guy. Even when he was in great shape, he was still big. Also, when he WAS in great shape from hiking, wrestling, football, rock climbing etc, he didn't worry about what he ate. So, when he stopped being so active, he still had the same eating habits. He also had some other unhealthy habits (drinking, smoking cigars) for a couple of years that added to his unhealthiness. Top it off with being an emotional eater, and he gained weight fast. Anyway, my point is that I love Daryn despite his unhealthy weight. I have never pushed dieting on him because I think his looks are unappealing or embarrassing. I don't think those things. In fact, I've actually done my husband a disservice by not pushing the issue sooner. I didn't want to fight about his weight, because I didn't want to hurt him. I didn't think I had the right words to say to help encourage him to eat healthy. That's the thing though - I DON'T have the right words. But right now I'm learning to ACT the right way.

That's what this post is about. So any of you out there who have a loved one you wish you could help lose weight, I'm with you. Maybe we can help each other - at the very least we can warn each other off of things not to do. Right now I have more don'ts than do's, but hopefully that will change.

Previous Attempts:

When we first got married, the apartments we lived in had an exercise room. I think I drug Daryn there twice. I encouraged him to work on different machines while I ran on the treadmill and tried a few other machines. I'm not terribly comfortable with exercise equipment, but I did what I could. We didn't talk about it much after, but we also didn't work to make time for it in our schedules. Also, I didn't do anything to help change eating habits. We mostly had sandwiches, pizza and hamburger helper. The pizza was most often consumed at 2am when Daryn came home from work, and washed down with a 32 oz root beer. I rarely placed veggies next to the hamburger helper.

Lesson: Working out with a skinnier, healthier person can be discouraging. Also, pizza makes you fat.

After that, we moved to Tucson and focused on school. At some point I decided that I would fight the School battle and wait on the Weight battle. Daryn is a very intelligent man, but school has never been his 'thing' - he is much more a hands on kind of person, not a read a book and write about it kind of person. Besides, I was taking classes and having a baby! I thought about working with him on "losing weight" together after I had our daughter, but that's totally not fair; Moms are designed to lose baby fat and at this point Daryn had been carrying around his extra gut for a couple years.

Lesson: Timing matters. If  weight loss is not MADE a priority, it won't happen.

Daryn's talked about dieting multiple times. I always insisted that if he would eat better and exercise that he could lose the weight. But then I did nothing to aide in either of those categories. Daryn likes to cook (most of the time) and I don't, so cooking duties were almost exclusively his (since we were both in school, I insisted the house chores be broken up too, instead of solely on me) and he cooked what he liked to eat: meat, potatoes, oh and we need a vegetable! Corn. : p Yeah, that was pretty much what we ate. Oh, and pizza. Man, we looooove pizza!

Lesson: Talk is cheap. You must take action!

Daryn attempted attending the gym with friends here and there, but often his friends flaked out on going with him consistently and he just didn't have the will power to get himself to the gym alone.

Lesson: You need to be consistent!

In the most recent years, Daryn started talking about a rather extreme diet that relied on "supplements" and severely restricted calories. I was NOT happy. I did NOT support it and refused to even talk to him about it other than to say no. Well, he went ahead and purchased the supplement and started using it the week I was out of town with our children visiting my parents. He lost more than 10 lbs that week! But the diet was so restrictive! He didn't like 1/2 of the foods he was allowed to eat (fish, mainly, but also vegetables) and so he didn't even eat everything he was supposed to eat. Add to it that I still had to make real food for the rest of the family, and he was dying. One night he told me that generic noodles and tomatoe sauce from a can had NEVER smelled so delicious before! He attempted this diet again once or twice, but one time there was a party we went to that spoiled the diet (you can't really cheat on this one or it messes with the supplement) and the other time the supplement had spoiled and it made him terribly sick. :( I'm pretty sure he gained back almost all the weight he lost while on it. The second and third tries, I really wanted to be supportive, but I just didn't know how to be. Most times I would talk about weight, Daryn felt like I was nagging - which I DO have a tendency of doing - and he'd just shut down. After all, it's not like he LIKES having all that extra weight!

Lesson: Super strict diets can be very hard! Don't just diet - change your habits.

Also - I watch Biggest Loser. Daryn hates that show. I've heard some pretty not cool stuff about what the contestants do behind the scenes, but part of me wondered if it wasn't the kind of extreme action Daryn needed. Maybe not that show, but some kind of place where he could go without the family and focus ONLY on eating right and working out. When Jillian started her spinoff "Losing it with Jillian" I thought how maybe we should look into having a dietitian come to our house and help us change our ways. I also liked the looks of "Extreme Makeover - Weightloss Edition" mainly because it was someone coming to your home and helping you make adjustments over an entire YEAR. (Also, they help with the costs of skin removal surgery after the extreme weight loss, which is something Daryn might need when he's lost all the weight he needs to lose. Hopefully not, but we'll see.) Only, we don't have the money to hire a personal trainer/dietitian, and Daryn certainly did not want to put his weight loss journey on public television. Partly because of the image he felt it would leave of him when it came to future employers, partly for obvious privacy concerns - that and he hates drama!

Lesson: Wishing for an easy fix is not the way to fix things.

Now:

One of my girlfriends recommended Weight Watchers. This was about the time of his 3rd supplement attempt (around the beginning of the year). I gave the recommendation, but left it at that. Previous fights and multiple conversations with friends and family about dieting had told me that I just had to let Daryn decide to change on his own. Around the time he started trying supplements, I was trying to change the way our house eats, since I've taken over the cooking. As I've said before, I'm basically learning to cook and learning to manage a 2 child family at the same time. Not easy! Sure wish I'd realized how bad a cook I was when I first got married instead of 5 years in!

Lesson: Offer options. Support their (good) choices.
Anyway, our eating habits have slowly been improving, but it did little to nothing for Daryn's weight. Then, a couple of months ago (beginning of March?) Daryn said he wanted to join Weight Watchers. I told him I'd do my best to make room in the budget. A month later I told him we could swing it (thank you, tax return!) and he said he would join. Except, the littlest things would get in his way! First, he couldn't decide if he was going to do the in-person or online. He decided to try in person, but the meeting time was a little too early for him to get to on time (and you're supposed to go early to weigh-in). Then his schedule changed! (Yay!) Only, he started booking other activities on Thursday nights! I partly understand why those events happened on a Thursday, but part of me suspects he tried to do it on purpose a little. On April 26, Daryn came home from work at 5 and we didn't have any plans, so at about 5:30 I turned to him and said, "Hey, isn't it time for you to go to a meeting?" He stared at me, and I could tell he was thinking of why he shouldn't go, but he went. :)

Lesson: Encourage good behaviors.


So, he went. He came home with a baggie full of books and pamphlets. I read all of them. Then I talked to him about them. Then I registered him online and talked to him about the online parts of it.

I told my friend. She gave me websites:

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2008/03/recipe-index.html
http://pointlessmeals.blogspot.com/
http://www.emilybites.com/p/recipe-index.html

Daryn and I chat online when he's on breaks at work. I gave him the websites and told him to pick meals for us to put into a meal plan. We bought the food and planned it out. He was SO happy that I was being supportive. I was so happy that he was trying again. Plus, my kids need to eat more fruits and vegetables (and so do I) so I figured this was a great way for all of us to eat healthier.

Lesson: Make it a family thing!


So for the first week, Daryn did everything possible to reduce his points and ended up eating less than his allotted point value every day. He was VERY strict with himself. I went out of town for a few days, and after an entire week of being strict, he broke down and spent a day eating all sorts of unhealthy stuff - he still stayed within his points! But the quality of the food was not very nutritious. This was the same day he weighed in, so it was bittersweet. That first week (weigh in on 5/3) he lost 5.4 lbs.

Lesson: Moderation!


Moderation has always been tricky for Daryn. He's very extreme. All or nothing. It's just his personality. But this is something we're working to get a handle on. That weekend I lectured him for eating a bunch of crap and it really hurt his feelings. I don't blame him! He'd been working so hard and I had to focus on the one day he didn't do as well. He went from appreciating my encouragement to resenting my nagging and changed his password on his account so I couldn't watch what he put in his food journal anymore. The food journal is there to help him know when he really blew it, and that mistake was such an obvious one that he hated even thinking about it. He just wanted to move on, and I wasn't letting him do that talking about how he screwed up.

Lesson: Congratulate the success, move past the mistakes.

Since then I haven't been as hands on in helping Daryn with WW. We plan our 2 week dinner menu together and choose meals both from the WW websites and from our favorite meals. He gets enough points each day that he eats mostly things that he likes. The biggest changes are increasing his fruits and veggies and decreasing fats and portion sizes. Now he drinks skim milk (which puts 3 kinds in our fridge: whole for Josiah, 1% for me and Bekah, and skim for Daryn). He eats less bread/cabs, and snacks on carrots and hummus since he's downsized how much he eats for lunch and dinner. We also buy reduced fat cheeses, and  Daryn uses less cheese, dressing, egg yolks and other things that are high in fats. He enjoys a Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich almost every night.

Lesson: Cut the fat and still enjoy some things you love!

After week 2, Daryn missed a meeting (5/10) because it was the only night he could see a friend. He weighed himself, though, and it looked like he'd lost another 5 pounds. :) But when he weighed in on 5/17, he'd lost 5.6 lbs since his last weigh-in. We talked about what changed (the weekend before that weigh-in, he'd done a done of physical labor and we'd expected to see a 10 lbs loss, 5 each week) and Daryn told me that he hadn't really eaten breakfast for the last week. Ah-ha! I'd always told him that he should eat a good breakfast to get his metabolism going, but now we had proof!

Lesson: EAT BREAKFAST!

So, tomorrow is his next weigh-in. I hope to see a good 5 lbs now that he's making sure to eat breakfast again. If not, though, that's okay. Daryn is really committed to this and it's working out well. No "binges" since the first after the one week.

Originally, Daryn was going to attend in-person classes for the first month (there's 3 introductory classes, and then they repeat, but they're taught at the end of the meeting, so the first part is for everyone and the second part is for new people) and then switch to just using the online tools. (It's 1/2 as much that way!) But he's decided now that the in-person meetings are good for him. They weigh him in, and they talk about successes and failures and even though the weigh-ins are confidential, they have a "group weight loss" number that's shared. Daryn likes being a significant part of that number. I think it's also good that he's talking to other people going through (or have gone through) the same trial he's going through. I honestly can't relate. I've never been fat. The closest I've come is pregnancy, but I never even really felt fat. I loved being pregnant, and lost the weight easily. At these meetings, Daryn isn't judged and doesn't FEEL judged. He's getting the support he needs.

He's happier. We're talking about adding some light exercise to this plan. I've tried to get him interested in my spinach smoothies, but he really still doesn't like most fruits or veggies. He's mostly focused on cutting back on fat and portion size, but if he can keep losing weigh that way for now, I'm happy. Maybe when he hits a plateau I'll try to encourage introducing a few new options.

So that's where we're at. Daryn has started blogging about his journey on Weight Watchers. I have permission to remind him once a day to write in his food journal. Perhaps once every couple of days I'll remind him to write on his WW blog, too.

If you have healthy recipes you love, I'd love to hear them! Share websites, too! Daryn is more than happy to try new things. (in fact, I'm terrible at trying new things, so he takes a sick pleasure in making me!)

Parties!

Saturday May 13 was a blast! We went to Old Tucson for Daryn's work party, and then went to the park to celebrate our friend Grant's law school graduation. Here are some pictures of our fun filled day!

Every time Rebekah got on the Carousel (we're pretty sure it's her first time on a full sized one) she found THIS horse. Every horse on the carousel is different, so sometimes she would walk around the whole thing before finding her horse! She called her FlowerTop.

The gun show at (not) High Noon! (It started at 12:30...)

Panning for gold!

At the park with friends.

Josiah's birthday Part 3

For Josiah's ACTUAL birthday this year, I gave him his first haircut. I've never cut hair before - Rebekah still has not gotten a haircut and she'll be 4 soon!

I polled Facebook for some tips, and then did the best I could. Daryn wasn't home that night, so it was just me, Josiah and a pair of scissors! He did pretty well, and I didn't nick him even once! :)

Before:

After:
 

The next day we went to the zoo. Daryn came with us (hooray for those new Fridays off!) and I realized it's the first time we've been to the zoo as just OUR family. It was pretty great! After the zoo we stopped at the library. What a fun day!

 We got SO up close to SO many of the animals this trip! :)

When we were looking at the Rhino, there were some people next to us who said they didn't see it. It was so funny! You see him, don't you?

This polar bear, Snow, is relatively new at the zoo. The last polar bear died and it took a while to get a new one. Snow is not used to Tucson yet and this is the only time we've gone to the zoo and she was out where people could see her.

This was SO cool! This is a tiny little side window and the Lioness was chilling in the shade. We've never been so close before!