Hump Day Hottie

This weeks Hump Day Hottie was born in a small town in Washington State in October of 1973 to BonBon, a home maker, and Den, a pulp mill worker. She had two older siblings, Ria and MacKeiver.

She grew up less than an hour from the ocean and had regular trips there during her childhood whether it was to fly kites, clam dig or play in the surf.

When she was 10, her parents divorced and at the age of 14 her mother remarried and she moved over 2 hours away near Mt. Rainier. She hated it there. The nearest "town" was 7 miles away and to get to school it wasn't even the short bus, but the school districts station wagon that picked her up.

Between her Junior and Senior year, she moved again into the city, but missed her friends from school and continued on with school just to graduate, not making many friends her last year because the classes that were Senior classes in her old school, were Freshman classes in her new one.

Probably the worst decision she ever made was to not go to college, but instead worked at such jobs like Dairy Queen, Sbarro's, and a 7-Eleven type store. She did get promoted to the corporate office, but was downsized just a year later.

At the age of 24, this weeks Hump Day Hottie gave birth to her only child, Devon and then 3 months later relocated to Michigan, where she still resides today.

Currently, this weeks HDH works as an insurance agent and has recently lost over 50 pounds on Weight Watchers.

This weeks Hump Day Hottie is ~ RachelG1016

The Television Dilemma

You know that the TiVo pickings are getting slim when you are excited about having your soap opera recorded every day so that you at least have SOMETHING to watch.

Most of the weekly shows that I watch are either done for the season because they ran out of episodes, or they are spacing them out and putting a filler show in every other week or so.

Some of the shows did a pretty decent mid-season finale considering that they don’t have anything else to show us, such as Desperate Housewives.

Now I am having a dilemma. What shows should I start recording now that my usual picks are done 6 months early? I can only watch so many Little People, Big World episodes and Big Brother 9 doesn’t start until February (I do have to say that I am really excited about it coming 6 months early).

I am sure that the new Survivor series will start relatively soon along with American Idol, but to be honest with you, I can’t handle watching ONLY reality tv. I need some dialogue that is scripted!! I need talented actors that can convey more than annoyance, boredom and cockiness.

I am also totally bummed that the second season of Dexter is over. I found it this season and am now totally addicted. I am planning on going to get the first season on DVD so that I can sit and learn some more of the back story. Michael C. Hall ROCKS!!!

What are you planning to TiVo or to watch in lieu of your favorite shows?

I Hope Turning 50 Feels As Good As This

I walked into my meeting last night with trepidation. I knew that I had stuck to the program, but was it enough to reach my short term goal of 50 pounds? I didn't know but since I had given myself until the day after Christmas to reach it I was OK either way. After putting my jacket in a chair, I went to the bathroom (every little bit helps) and then head to the front desk.

Lisa (my meeting leader) greeted me and we chatted for a few moments while she got me a new tracking booklet as I had used the last spot on the first one the week before. I took off my zip up hoodie and shoes and step on the scale.

It always takes a few seconds for the weight to come up but we can't see it. They have it only on the screen that they can see. It seems like it takes forever.

Lisa looked at me and said "How do you think you did?"

I replied saying, "I think that I hit my goal", meaning that I reached my 50 pound loss goal.

She waits a few more seconds and said, "You are down 50.1 pounds!"

I laughed and gave Lisa a high 5.

During the meeting she presented me with my 50 pound keyring and asked me to tell people what I am doing to lose weight.

I discussed food journaling, not grazing or inadvertantly snacking and also exercising. The same things that I have talked about every other time when I hit a milestone.

I went home and told my room mate and called a few friends. Everyone was really excited that I had hit my goal 2 weeks early and I went out with a few friends to celebrate. I drank water and sang some karaoke and met some cool people. One guy even had the bartender send me a drink because I sang his favorite Christmas song. I felt bad that I didn't drink it, but I had already used my daily points so I made sure that I thanked him and subtly moved it over to where there were a few more drinks sitting in front of other people.

This morning I went online trying to find anything that shows what 50 pounds of fat looks like, but I could only find 1 pound and 5 pounds. So, here is a photo of 5 pounds of fat. I have lost 10 of these.

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten my promise. I will be posting a full length photo of myself sometime this weekend. I will also be posting some full body before photos as well so that you can see the difference.

Hump Day Hottie ~ Guest Post

Today’s HDH was born in Umbria, Italy on September 30, 1964. Her mother was a painter and her father owned a trucking company.

She speaks Italian, French, and English fluently and has acted in each of these languages, as well as Aramaic.

She began modeling at age 16. She initially went to school to become a lawyer, and by modeling, she helped finance her tuition while at the University of Perugia. In 2004, while pregnant with her daughter, she posed nude for the Italian Vanity Fair magazine in protest against Italian laws that allow only married couples to use in-vitro fertilization and that prevent the use of donor sperm.

Her English film career began in 1992 as one of Dracula’s brides in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. She is perhaps best known for her role as Persephone in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions followed by her portrayal of Mary Magdalene in The Passion of the Christ. Out of her all her movies roles, my personal favorite was when she played a doctor in Nigeria being rescued by U.S. forces in Tears of the Sun. If you are looking for a good horror film, I highly recommend 2001’s Brotherhood of the Wolf, in which she also stars.

She is married to fellow actor Vincent Cassel (lucky guy!), with whom she has appeared in several films and had a daughter, named Deva, born September 12, 2004.

This weeks Hump Day Hottie (courtesy of Jaybird) is ~ Monica Bellucci

Thoughts On The Past Six Months

I have one day to go to make it a full 6 months on Weight Watchers. I started on June 13th, and this week is week 26 for me.

In the past 6 months I have lost 44.5 pounds which is nearly a third of my total goal of 147.5. That is amazing to me. Six months ago I was busting out of my 24's and now my 20's are getting too big. My feet have gone down a size and my ring finger has gone from a 10 to at least a 7.

I feel so much better. I can sleep the whole night through and not have horrible back pain in the morning. I can go dancing and be on the floor for 3-4 hours and my legs don't ache and my feet barely hurt, even when I wear heels.

I feel attractive again. I used to feel like I was the biggest, ugliest person in the room. Now, I might be the biggest sometimes, but I know how far I have come and that I am becoming as beautiful on the outside as my friends tell me that I am on the inside.

I have had a few splurges like birthdays and last Monday with my 20 point leftover extravaganza, but I haven't ever felt like I was being deprived and I never went over my weekly points except for the time that my son was in the hospital. I feel better, I look better, heck, I probably even smell better now that I don't have fat and grease from fast food in my body.

I don't know if I ever would have started this journey if it wasn't for my mom. She offered to pay for WW for the first 3 months as a birthday present and I almost turned her down. I would have been a fool to do that. I love the program and the people that I have met while on it.

People say that they won't change if they lose a lot of weight. I want to change. I want to be a more confident person. I want to feel that I am worth something and I can't wait until I see my mothers face when she sees me for the first time after I have lost so much weight. She lives on the other side of the country and I won't see her until next summer. I hope that I will be down 100 pounds by then.

I never thought that I would stick it out. I have no willpower. What I discovered is that if I want it bad enough, and I take it seriously enough, I can achieve whatever I put my mind to.

Thank you to EVERYONE on here who has inspired me, given me a wakeup call or made me take myself not so seriously and filled my day with laughter.

P.S. ~ Only 5.5 pounds to go before I post a full body photo (I will be clothed LOL)