You have to start somewhere!

This week I've been using the 'my fitness pal' app and I love it!  It's free and it allows you to track your calories.  Most of the time, I just scan the barcode of what I'm eating and it pulls up all the nutrional info.  So easy!  I just weighed myself, and I've lost 4 pounds.  Yay!  I didn't have time to add any exercise but I watched what I ate and tracked E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G.  This week was motivation to keep up with eating healthy!

Hello blog, it's Sarah! Remember me?

Hi!  I know it's been a while, but with the two jobs and the holidays, I just ran out of time!  Now that it's a new year, I've been organizing and re-organizing.  I finally got my Christmas stuff into tubs and labeled...how did I end up with so much?  Here are some random updates:

~This past weekend, I went to my first Trivia night.  It was a ton of fun even though I stink at current events.

~Wednesday night I met up with an old friend, Becky, and went to a Blues Fundraiser.  It was fun!  We gambled (with fake money of course!) with the Blues players.  And it was western themed, so I came up with a quick impromptu outfits of a collared shirt, dark jeans, boots, braided pigtails and fake freckles!  I kind of felt like I was back in high school because of all the butt-huggers there!

~I've wanted to lose some weight for a while now, but never followed through with my plans.  Well, I've had enough!  I was looking through my pictures of Facebook (old and new), and I cannot believe how chubby my face has become!  I hardly even recognize myself anymore.  Time for a change!  Yesterday, Bella and I took a two mile walk.  I just started using the my fitness pal app on my phone to track calories.  I think this will definitely help!

~It's been unusually warm here the past week.  I'm definitely not complaining!  In fact, I would be alright if we just skipped the rest of winter anyway!

Hopefully, I'll pick back up on blog posting!

Obedience Class & Other Life Updates

Bella's obedience class has been very trying for both her and I.  The first class, I had an awful time trying to find the kennel!  Apparently, my GPS needs an update so I was having trouble finding the correct road!  Once I found the road, actually finding the kennel was still hard (and by now, it was dark!)!  After driving the road (and paying attention to the mailbox numbers) several times, I saw a small (maybe 8x10) sign advertising obedience classes at the end of a gravel driveway.  Low and behold, this was the kennel!  I expected a bigger sign!

I take Bella into class (her pulling me the entire way), and about ten minutes later, the trainers strongly suggest a pinch collar to help control her.  I oblige and pay $35 for this pinch collar!  She does alright for the rest of the class, but mainly wanted to lay on the floor and not participate.  For the next week (after the class), I worked diligently with Bella.  She was doing great!  We even managed to take some long, two mile walks (all 3 of us!) using Bella's pinch collar. 

Fast forward to this past Tuesday, and we had class #2!  We even arrived early and I was optimistic!  In the beginning of the class, all the dogs and owners are squished together in a long row of chairs against a wall.  About the time class was beginning, Bella decided she'd had enough!  She kept growling and barking at the dogs on either side of us.  The trainers noticed this and suggested to get rid of the pinch collar because it can cause aggression!  Ugh (the one I just paid $35 for!)!  They now suggested a Halti head collar.  Thank goodness I had the one I've used on her before in my bag!  She never would adjust to it.  After fitting her with the new harness/head collar, we joined the others.  Bella was so upset and only wanted to pout!  The poor thing keeps getting a new collar sprung on her at the beginning of every class!  With some tips from the trainers, I was able to get Bella to follow some commands and participate.  After class, I spoke with the trainers about Bella's behavior during class.  Apparently she's still shy (I thought she had outgrown this) and just very overwhelmed by the amount of strange dogs in a small place!  So, we still have some work to do and only 4 more weeks of class...I can do this!

On a different note, I weighed myself this week and I am down 4.5 pounds.  This isn't great (because it was over the course of a month), but it's a start!!!  I have set a short term goal; I would like to lose another 10 pounds by Christmas. 

Here's some pics of the pups after a long walk!

Weight Loss Wednesday

Hopefully, this will be the first of many weight loss posts!  Currently, I am doing the couch to 5K running program (I'm only on week 2) for exercise.  I am not dieting (yet) but I am working to make better choices and eat more fruits and vegetables.  I'm not going to post my starting weight (anytime soon), but I do hope to loss 40-50 pounds!  I will keep you updated with the amount of weight lost.  I also took some before pictures...I'll post them in about a month with some progress photos.