The First Day of Preschool!

The Village Preschool II is up and running!



Yesterday was the first day at the new preschool and it was wonderful. It was so fun to meet new friends and watch them interact with a new environment. The children loved pretending like they were animals while they learned several yoga poses including: Downward Dog, Upward Dog, Cat and Cow, Tree Pose, Triangle Pose, and more. Yoga was followed by art play with glitter and glue, resulting in sparkly names that were hung on the wall. A little running and sand play… I would say that makes almost a perfect day. Can’t wait to see what the rest of the week brings!


Lovin the Art!!








Really Lovin the Snack!!

The Village Preschool II Is Up and Running!

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Checking for Dilation and the Scale

First and foremost….If you haven’t voted…what are you waiting for? Get out there!


Here’s my latest thought: Constantly using the scale to measure weight loss is much like using dilation to measure the progress of your pregnancy. Let’s face it, dilation as a means of measurement is a crock. You can be at 4 centimeters one minute and then shoot up to 7 in a matter of minutes. This is why, with my last pregnancy, I didn’t let the nurses check my cervix until I was sure I was about to push (grunting noises were a dead giveaway). Instead I listened to my body.

I mean, how deflating is it to labor for hours and hours and find out you are only dilated to 3 cm? Not that it actually means anything, but even if we know that, it can break our confidence. Or in many cases, give us false hope. Every pregnant woman I know goes to the doctor and has her cervix checked a month before her due date and 80% of them find out they are dilated to 2 or 3 cm. Of course this convinces them that the baby is coming early! And of course makes those 3 or 4 days past the due date extra painful!

The scale is very similar. I don’t know how many times I have woken up looking and feeling thinner only to be disappointed when I step on the scale. Even if my pants are looser, or my husband oohs and ahs. I find my motivation slipping away and that grilled cheese sandwich starts sounding mighty enticing.

So I have decided to try something new. Instead of stepping on the scale every day, I am only getting on once or twice a week. The last time I weighed in (last Friday) I was down 5.5 lbs. Wednesday or Thursday I will hit the scales again. FYI, I have been feeling great and it shows as well. I just don’t want my confidence to slip.

One final note: I am in the bad breath fat loss stage. I had forgotten how bad fat burn can make your breath smell. Yikes. My poor husband, he is so excited about how I look but when he comes in for the kiss he can hardly hide the flinch…Lot’s of Listerine helps. Oh well, it will be well worth it in the end. My breath also works nicely as a tool to get him to scoot over and give me more room on the bed..or couch..

Banana Pudding

So basically I don’t like anything banana. That’s why I have been avoiding the banana pudding medifast snack/meal. I save my pudding for my last meal of the day. A tasty last note to end my day on. I have been enjoying the chocolate pudding (while my girls and husband snork down the Halloween candy) except for one night when I added too much water. FYI: soupy pudding is disgusting.

So last night I eagerly tore open my evening pudding packet and to my dismay realized I had grabbed the banana pudding. Well, I’d much rather gag the banana pudding down than waste a meal…I have become a penny pincher in these tight times. Man! Was I impressed? That was the best banana pudding I ever tasted. In fact I have noticed that all of the medifast meals are tasting increasingly better.

A friend of mine was teasing me and saying that starving will make even the crappiest food taste good but the truth is, yesterday and today I have barely felt hungry at all. In fact I have to really keep track of the time to make sure I get my meals in. The only time I have found myself craving my old comfort foods is right before lunch, especially if I wait the full three hours to eat. Other than that, I’m pretty satiated.

Ok, so here is the one drawback I have found to the diet; at least once a day I seem to get a little…well… flatulent. Fortunately my husband is always down for a good fart joke and I am also typically by myself in the office editing or writing. And the girls, well “tooting” is also always good for a laugh at their age as well, unfortunately tooting always leads to potty talk…grrr.

So anyways, I am eagerly waiting for pudding hour to roll around. I plan on breaking the banana pudding open early so I can mix it and chill it before oh so slowly enjoying every last spoonful…and licking the bowl clean. I’m a changed woman.

Mmmmm banana!

Trick and No Treat

Halloween was a blast! The kids had a great time as we met up with a group of cool families and did the rounds. I was pretty stressed about sticking to my diet as there were a couple of parties and I really was mourning having to miss out on the hot toddies. As it turned out, we were too tired to hit the parties after winding our way through the neighborhood so we all just hung out at the house to visit and and let the children play. It was great! I am not a fan of beer so it wasn’t hard to go without a drink. The pizza that one of our friends brought did look good but I held strong!

Woke up today feeling slimmer and for the first time I have experienced the bursts of energy promised by the program. In fact I have been a little hyper at times. Day 7 is looking good. So far I give Take Shape for Life 2 thumbs up!

By the way, I have signed up for a yoga retreat next Friday night. I think yoga and this diet will go hand and hand beautifully. If you are interested in starting up yoga, I have the perfect teacher for you. Nadine Sims is the owner of Yoga of Bend. Check out her website at www.yogaofbend.com. Her style of teaching can benefit almost any level of practitioner with most any condition. Her experience and knowledge is vast and worth way more than what you pay for. If you would like a firsthand testimonial drop me a line. I’d be happy to share my personal experience with you.

On to day seven.