Rachael will officially become a college student tomorrow. She is technically still in high school also though. She will be attending Austin Community College in their co-enrollment program for high school juniors and seniors. She is taking Spanish and US History. I think she is a little nervous. I know I am a little nervous for her. She has never been in a formal school setting except for seminary. She is a smart girl though and I know she will do fine.

I continue to be very frustrated by my weight loss efforts. I have been going to the gym regularly, every day but Sunday, for 3 weeks now and I have gained 2 1/2 pounds. My personal trainer said it is because I am eating more and exercising more and my body has to get used to it and realize it is going to get the food it needs consistently before it will start releasing the fat I have stored. I can understand the explanation, but it doesn't make it any less frustrating. I'm going to stick with the program, because I know it has to work eventually. I also don't want the alternative which would be to continue at the same weight forever, or worse, gain this 50 pounds back.

I am so grateful that I got to go to Pennsylvania in March and that I got to see my grandmother while we were there. A few weeks ago, my mom told me that my grandma was having increased pressure on her brain from an age related problems. This is in addition to the cancer she has been dealing with. She was already on hospice for the cancer, but had several months to still live. With this new problem, she has gone down hill very quickly. She is now completely dependent on both my mom and Eugene to take care of her every need. She can't communicate any more and doesn't understand a lot of what people say to her. My mom is asked for us all to pray the end comes quickly for her as she is in a lot of pain and discomfort all the time. When she passes away, she will be sent to Utah to be buried. Her husband was buried in Utah when he died (my mom was only 9 when her dad died). I am assuming my grandma will be buried next to my grandpa. I am going to be flying to Utah for the funeral when the time comes. I'm glad to be able to go up there and see all of my family, I just wish it was for a better reason and that I had more time to spend up there. While I am there, I am going to go see my grandma Hess. This will probably be the last time I get to see her. She is 95 years old. She has had 2 major back surgeries this past summer. I was really impressed she did so well with the surgeries considering her age. I'm also looking forward to seeing my dad and step mom as well as seeing my mom and Eugene again. Like I said, I just wish it was for a better reason and that I had more time.

Wish me luck

I am taking Rachael to the Jonas Brother's concert tonight. I am sure I am going to be surrounded by squealing girls. I'm glad I don't mind their music at all. Rachael listens to them all the time. They are pretty good and not at all like "boy bands". I overall think they are pretty talented.

I am really struggling with my diet and the idea that I need to be eating more. Last week, I went to my weigh in and I had gained 0.2 pounds. I was really disappointed. I really felt like I had lost a little bit. I would have understood if I had stayed the same, but to have gained even a little was just yuck. As of today, I only have 1.5 flex points left and then my 17 activity points. I won't eat all of the activity points, but will probably dip into them just a little bit. I wish the online tracker would deduct my activity points before my flex points. I have never eating all of my flex points in a single week while still being on program. I have been perfectly on program for 2 weeks now. I got on the scale at the gym this morning and it looks like my weight is exactly the same. The trainer said I should lose 1-2 pounds a week if I started eating more and working out regularly. I have worked out every day but Sundays for 2 weeks and I have been eating more, but still eating healthy.

The school year is about to start again. I should have started with the kids school work last month, but I just haven't felt like doing it. I gave them the entire summer off this year where as they usually only get June off. We have spent a lot of time in the pool. Rachael starts dance classes again on Monday, the 17th. Then she is going to start classes at ACC on the 24th. She is going to take US history and Spanish. We will work on math and science here at home. I'm a little nervous about how she will do with college classes, but I'm sure she will do fine.

A positive step in the right direction

I have been doing Weight Watchers for 3 years now. In February, I posted that I had finally lost 50 pounds. At this point, I am now down 51 pounds. I have only lost 1 pound in the last 5 months. Not a very impressive feat. I decided it was time to do something about it. I have been on program most of the time, but I have not been very good about exercising. I don't take the time to exercise while I am at home. We have an elliptical trainer and a recombant bike, but I don't like using them right now. They are in our family room, formerly our garage and it is just hot in there. We have AC out there, but it doesn't work as well as it does in the rest of the house. I can't stand to work out in the family room right now. My friend Lynn has been telling me she wanted me to come to the gym with her. Stan though we got a discount through his employer, but we don't. He discovered they were having a special though. It was only $9.99 initiation fee and $26 each month to join 24 Hour Fitness. Stan gave me the green light to join, so I did so last Friday. Since then, I have gone to the gym every day but Sunday. It has felt good. I am a little sore from exercising though. It is a little different from normal work out soreness. It is more like my MS pain flaring up due to the extra exercise. I know it will get better as my body gets used to working out. Most of the exercise I have done has been in the pool. I am not as susceptable to the heat when I do water aerobics, but I still get a good work out in. They were also having a special on 3 sessions with a personal trainer, so I got that. The first thing he told me is that I am not eating enough. The extra activity has made me really hungry this week, so I was kinda glad he said that or I would be feeling guilty about eating so much more. I'll find out tomorrow if this is going to pay off when I weigh in at WW. I will be devistated if I gain weight tomorrow. I have to realize that it may take me a few weeks to start seeing the scale move. I need to not let the scale dictate what I do or don't do though. I know the work outs are good for me and this has to be my next step in losing weight. I am really glad I joined the gym. I have loved getting together with Lynn to work out. Tomorrow, we are going to ride the exercise bikes because I have a limited time to be at the gym. I am usually there for an hour and a half when I go to the pool and I just don't have that much time tomorrow. I have appointments scheduled all day tomorrow. Wish me luck on the scale tomorrow.