Freaking Update for 2020

I apologize I have been absent for so long!

Things have been a mess here since about last November, an absolute Fiasco! 

I lost my grandfather in November and then my father in December and then I spent most of January sulking and then most of February planning and preparing for the pandemic.  I think this 2020 mess is my Fault.  I kept saying all last year "2020 is going to be my year!  The best one yet!" I jinxed it didn't I?

Then my kids were sent home from school and my husband started working from home.  I tried to continue working in a face mask for as long as I could stand it, but it meant way longer days with larger breaks in between each job.  I finally threw in the towel.  The mask makes me extremely panicky, especially now in warmer weather. 

Dieting went way off track.  I too have had some good laughs at all the weight-gaining memes and gifs.  It turns out they all were true for me.  I went completely backwards having gained almost all of the weight I have lost back due to the stress I have encountered over the last 8 months or so.

We are blessed that so far we have all been healthy, as I hope you all have been as well!  I am ready to stop focusing on all of the "stuff" going on around me and to Focus on me and ditch my Feelings of hopelessness.

I have some new goals in mind and a new announcement!

1.  I no longer support Weight Watchers/WW nor encourage people to utilize the Shipt shopping services, as both companies have thrown their hats into a political arena by supporting groups, the funding of which, in one way or another, furthers certain political agendas with which I do not agree.  If you want my business, you need to stay neutral politically, especially when the cause involves a mob mentality against police officers since I am married to one and have the knowledge regarding his job that too many don't seem to want to learn the truth of.

As an aside, it really chaps my ass when a company asks their customers/members to donate to a cause of their choosing while saying they will *match* the donations by these folks *UP TO* $X amount.  In Shipt's case, it is $50,000.  If you want and are able to donate $50,000 then just Friggin do it!  Oh, and I hope those police officers you have smacked in the face come running to your aid when needed!

2.  Mostly as a result of number one above, I have decided to utilize good old fashioned calorie counting and healthier choices, including more exercise, moving forward as my weight loss method.  If I can add up points, I'm pretty sure adding up calories with no extra steps to reach a "magic number" will work just fine for me.  I believe this is also called Freestyling!

I am sure you can still figure out the points for the future recipes I will share since they will still be diet friendly, but I won't be figuring out points moving forward.

3.  I gave Noom a try!  I will share my experience with that soon!

4.  I plan to revamp my blog and bring it into this century for easier recipe browsing since I will no longer be listing WW points.  Instead it will be broken down into categories. 

5.  I am toying with the idea of vlogging as well!  What do you think about vlogging?

Status Update on My Journey for all of 2018!

I have very few followers, but thought I should update those of you still with me. I was MIA in 2018 because I got a new job that took me out of the house and got me moving! It is a great change of pace. I enjoy it (most of the time)! I became a Shipt Shopper!

It also took me away from meal planning, cooking dinners most nights, counting anything points related, and blogging, social media, etc.

I'm not going to lie....there has been a huge shift in this house due to my absence. A huge struggle actually. My husband is no cook. That still fell to me despite being gone most evenings. The peak shopping times are from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m.--straight through dinner. As a result, there was a lot of not-so-good choices being made in this house for dinner, as well as late-night eating for me anywhere from 10 to 11 p.m. when I got home, but I still lost weight!

The homefront struggles aren't all limited to dinners either. Everything else related to kids and home falls onto my husband in my absence, and it is stressful on him too after working his full day. Twenty pounds in 11 months with a couple of big chunks of time off due to vacation and family emergencies. I'll take it! Hell, I got it and I'm loving it!

Now I am trying to get my organization skills back out and figure out a plan of attack to get things in order here at home for everyone else while I am away and on the run out there and everywhere. I will get it eventually.

This "job" (since I am self employed, as all Shipt shoppers are), requires a ton of walking and pushing heavy carts and a lot of lifting, sometimes up to 40 pounds (think bags of water softener salt pellets, dog foods, and kitty litters, as well as 24-count packs of heavy bottled water). My muscles have made a comeback. I suffer less back problems from strengthening my back muscles in a way working out never seemed to do for me. Overall, I see improvements all around.

I have been injured a few times as well. There are risks involved in this line of work believe it or not and being self employed means you pay the price. This old bird has fallen on an icy driveway and has had an emergency tear-filled doctor-visit day trying to figure out what I did to my shoulder (inappropriate lifting of 2.5-pound jugs of water did the trick), but I am learning as I go what NOT to do as well. For instance, I created a list of orders I will not take again...the lady with 400 pounds of this and the one ordering 40-lb bags of dog food to be delivered in dangerous terrain. Plus, I can overlook a lot of the annoyances that come with this job by simply reminding myself that I am earning money as I lose weight and tone-up my body! Win!

My confession is not eating well throughout the year. By making a conscious effort this year to do so combined with this physical job of mine, I'm interested to see how 2019 ends!