Minor Changes, Major Expectations

  I would love to have all three of my businesses in one spot, so I think that is what I will do here.  I have been trying to do them all separate, but if they are all a part of me, then they should be together, right?  So, I have decided that I will keep my Facebook page and group and the Etsy shop, but I will group them all together here and just tag back and forth!  Let us see how much easier that makes life!
  If you have something you would like to see more of, please let me know, I aim to please!
  Here are the links you need to know about-

https://www.facebook.com/BeckysEX is my page for my Endless Xpressions posts and here is my shop http://www.endlessxpressions.com/store/#Becky

https://www.facebook.com/groups/415438731886291/  is my Becky Made That! group

https://www.etsy.com/shop/HangingByARibbon  is my Etsy shop

I should write a disclaimer here, the Etsy shop is a collaboration of my sister, cousins, and myself, so not every letter in there is made by me!

I will be at the Bellville Market Days next Saturday, so if you have are looking for something to do, come on out and visit, I would love to see you there!

Flowers Over the Wall

  I found this book on Amazon and decided to see what it had to say that might be new.  Let me tell you, it has a lot to say.  If you need some help with self-esteem or need a fresh start on your diet this book is awesome!  It really makes you think about why we overeat, why we are so hard on ourselves and teaches you how, and why you should, stop.  I am only on Day 4 of the study, but I am really enjoying it!  It is free if you have Kindle or a device with Kindle on it, and if you don't have something with Kindle on it, GET IT!  It is free to download the Kindle program onto your pc, tablet, phone, etc. and there are lots of free books to read to get you started!  If you just prefer to have the actual book, it is also available at a reasonable price.  I have the link for "Flowers Over the Wall" to the right of this blog, just scroll down a bit!

Let me know what you think!

My Little Ham

  My daughter, Betty Rose, put on her daddy's button up shirt upside down and was prancng aroung showing me how cute she is.   What is a mommy to do but grab the camera?  Well, I discovered that she is a professional model in the making!  She posed for a picture then came over to me wanting  to see it.  After studying it for a minute, she went back and struck a new pose!  This went on for a while, with different props, all on her own.  She is such a little ham!

Happy Saturday

  Hope you all survived Friday the 13th!  I was kinda worried, I don't have a good track record with that particular date, so here is a funny story for you to make you feel better about your day.
  Long ago and far away, when I was a senior in high school I drove a '73 Chevy Impala.  Chocolate brown and built like a tank, but it was given to me by my dad, who had babied it, so it was in great condition.  I would take all three of my siblings and two or three other kids to school every day.  One particular day, Friday the 13th, we were about half way to school when I realized I had forgotten to go and get gas, and we weren't going to make it far without it.  I pulled into a driveway to turn around and asked my oldest sister how far away the ditch was and she said "Oh, it's way over there".  I backed up slowly back onto the road and THUMP!!!  My front right wheel had gone off the edge into the ditch!
  "Patti, I thought you said the ditch was 'way over there'!"
  "Oh, you meant THIS ditch?"
  So I tried going forward, tried going back, that car would not move!  I had to walk down to a friends house and get help.  Turns out the frame of the car was sitting on the edge of the cement and the car was truly stuck!  The wrecker had to pick it up and put it back on solid ground.  All of the commotion woke up the owners of the driveway I had borrowed, so I felt horrible about that, too.
  When I was finally able to go, I went straight to the gas station to fill up (for 95 cents a gallon!).  I finished putting gas in the car and reached in to get my wallet and heard RRRIIIPPPP!!!  My pants ripped!  UGH!!!  So, red faced, I walked in to pay so I could go home and change and realized I had left all of my money at home!  So I did what any teenage girl would do, I called my mommy!  Let's just say that I never made it to school that day, I spent the rest of the day in bed!
  So the next time you are having a bad day, just remember, it could always be worse!
Smiles!
Becky

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

  Well, I have been thinking lately about making some changes to this little blog to make it more interesting.  I know what your thinking, if I posted more it would be a lot more interesting!  I agree, but I want to post about more than just dieting, which is not going so well for me right now, sadly. 
  I am going to start putting my reviews for Bzzagent and Smil.e, if you would like more info on either of these, or a referal, please let me know.
  I am also going to post some deals, not all of the same ones you can find on any bargain site, but hopefully ones that I find or that I think are too good not to share!  I am also going to start added in the craft projects that I actually complete!  I hope that this turns into a really great and fun blog that you will want to come back to over and over again. 
  Thank you for reading,
Becky

Another coupon source for printables

  I am adding this to the coupon links, but wanted to make you aware if you are interested in couponing.  Shortcuts.com has printables, but they also have coupons that you can load to your store card.  The stores that are included are the Safeway brand (Randall's, Tom Thumb, etc.)  and Kroger brand (Kroger, Fry's, etc.)  Most store policies do say that you cannot stack printables with the store card, but you should always check your store's policy.  If you can, it is always a good idea to print out your store's policy and always have it with you when shopping in case of a conflict, it is hard for the stores to argue with their own policy!

Dukan 2 . 3

  I did indeed have some carb cravings yesterday, UGH!  I eventually overcame it without giving in, I chewed a stick of key lime pie flavored gum and fooled myself, I guess, into thinking I had something sweet.  lol  So I am doing that again now.    I did really great and lost another 2.4 pounds since yesterday, so everything is looking up! 
  Did you watch the Biggest Loser last night?  It looks like it will be a great season!  I will admit that I am a reality show junkie, but not for the housewives or any of those, I really enjoy the gameshow ones.  I always watch Biggest Loser, SURVIVOR (huge fan!), Amazing Race, Big Brother and when I can remember, Project Runway.  I have also watched the last two seasons of America's Got Talent.  I was working out while I watched BL last night, what an insperation that show is!  The one thing that annoys me about the shows where people vote each other out is that at Tribal Council or whatever the last place they talk is, people start talking and get themselves voted right out of the game!  That is NOT the time to air your personal grievances, keep your mouth shut if you want to stay on!  lol  Which is what happened last night, Debbie ran her mouth and got voted off!  They just don't listen when I am yelling at them on the screen, lol!
  I am really hyped for my new weight loss and can't wait to pass the point where I gave up last time, blah!  I will let you know when that happens, for now I will say adieu, to you, till tomorrow!
Becky

Dukan 2.2

Whew!  I lost 3.2 pounds from yesterday and feel great!  Yesterday went much smoother than I expected!  I tried to start two days ago, but I was not prepared and the carb cravings overwhelmed me in the afternoon and I caved.  Yesterday I had NO carb cravings!  YAY!!  So I am expecting great things for today, too!
  I am trying to create routines for me and my family to keep us all on track, but I am really having a hard time, I am not a schedule kind of girl!  If you have any tips on how to get better at keeping us on track, I would love to hear them!
  Let me know how your day went yesterday!  I will leave you with a joke from my sons string cheese yesterday-

Why won't Tigress play board games with her friends?

Too many Cheetahs!

hehe

Day 1 AGAIN!!

Well, hello there!  Long time, no see!  Well, I have decided that I have to do something different in my diet, I have just been drifting along at the same weight for a while now so I am restarting the Dukan, with a vengance!  I went to the store this morning and got some protein, I have to have plenty in the house so I can stay away from the kids junk.  lol.  My biggest problem is around 3-4 pm, I just get the munchies and then I will fill up and not be hungry for supper, which is fine, but I have been filling up on all the wrong foods!  That will stop today!  I have plenty of snacks, chicken, greek yogurt, beef jerky (which really helps to wear out the jaw muscles so you don't feel like eating, lol) and some cheese sticks.  I will come back tomorrow and let you know how the rest of the day goes.  I have also joined a Biggest Loser challenge on Spark People, so we will see how I do during this 8 week challenge!
  So let me know how you are all doing!  Till tomorrow---

What the heck!

  I am getting a little aggrivated, I keep trying to post in comments and keep getting the message that my account does not have access to view the page.  What does that mean?  If you can help it would be greatly appreciated!
  Now on to what you really want to read about, lol.  This week is not going so good for weight loss.  The baby is sick this week and I feel like she is sharing a little too much, ugh.  Not only her illness, but I feel like I am never again going to be truly clean!  If you have or ever have been in charge of a sick baby I am sure you understand, I am her personal tissue and basic catch-all for anything she has, YUCK!  Needless to say, I am not feeling too hungry and have not really eaten or slept in about 3 days now.  On the bright side I think we are over the worst of it, so, hopefully, it is all going to get better now. 
  Keep up the great work and I will be back on track any day now.  Till tomorrow!

my apologies

I am so sorry if I have not responded to your comments, I am having a problem posting comments, on other blogs and my own.  Hopefully it is just a glitch and will be resolved soon.  Thank you for taking the time to comment and hopefully I will reply soon

ready for a reset

  Hello, all!  t brings me great sorrow to tell you that I have not lost as much as I had previously thought!  I started having some suspicions about my scales accuracy, so I bought a new one and sure enough my old one was dying a slow, torturous, lying death!  I am so aggrivated, I had thought I was doing so well!  So I am restarting with conviction!  I am putting off changing my weight on MFP and not willing to tell you just how much I have gained back, but I will say that I did not gain everything back, thank goodness.  I will update you when I am back to where I thought I was, or I feel better about sharing my utter humiliation. :(
  I am changing up what I was dong before, I am not starting with pure protien, I am adding some veggies right off the bat, for instance I am having a grilled chicken salad for lunch, but only the non starchy veggies.  I have really been watching for sugar in the stuff I buy, too, and there is a LOT of sugar in way too many products that don't need it.  I know it's a whole conspiracy to keep us addicted to junk, it's just sick what the companies will put in food nowadays! 
  The good news is that I actually started yesterday and have dropped a few pounds already, mostly water, but I will take what I can get. :)  I am going to try to be more regular with posting and maybe start posting what I eat again.  So, I will check back in with all of you tomorrow and hopefully we will all have something great to share!

A little bit about couponing

  With that couponing show on one of my otherwise favorite channels, I have been asked a lot lately about one of my favorite hobbies- couponing, so I thought I would add something about it to my blog for everyone to read.  I am going to add a tab for my favorite couponing links and hope that it helps someone!   Before the couponing show, the reaction I got a lot was "Oh, you do coupons?  Well, that's nice, I just don't have time"  What!?!  That is the silliest thing I have ever heard.  Who doesn't have time to save money? Or "Oh, I just don't use anything that they have coupns for"  Really!?!  You don't use toothpaste, toothbrushes, deoderant, or shampoo?  How about milk, bread, ketchup or mustard?  Clothes?  Detergent?  These are all things that I can get for free or really, really cheap, but you don't use them?  Please don't stand too close :)

  Now, the most common question is "Have you seen that new show?  What do you think about it?"  I have given this a lot of thought and I really like, but don't like that show and I will tell you why.

  I like that the show is giving couponing a better public image and it is really improving the way stores are training the checkers on coupon policy, in the past that was pretty hit or miss on who knew what part of the policy.  That is all I like about the show.

  I DON'T like that it is giving people an unrealistic idea of what the average person can save at the supermarket.  I don't like that it is making stores change their coupon policy to be less consumer friendly.  I don't like that it is making the coupon companies put limits on the coupons themselves.  I don't like that it has created so many wannabe extremists who don't learn coupon etiquette first.

  I love couponing and have been at it for about 7 or 8 years now and I love teaching others how to save.  I can save 40%-90% on my grocery bill, but it does take some time to really learn the ropes and the right way to go about it, so be patient and you'll get there.  You also don't have to spend 60 hours a week or order 1000 coupons off ebay (which is illegal and being stopped), I spend about 2 hours every other week planning my trip and I only buy three newspapers every week for the coupons and it is plenty for me and my family.  I also give away a lot of the freebies to my friends and family because it really hurts for me to know they actually pay full price for stuff I get an abundance of, lol.
  Ok, now that I have all of that off of my chest, I am going to bed, it has been a long day.  If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.  If you would like clarification on anything, please let me know, I am tired and may not have been as clear as I hoped.  I will put up links sometime tomorrow.
Nighty, night!

I'm here!

  Hello, everybody!  Sorry I haven't been on in a while, we have a lot going on here.  I just wanted to check in let everyone in on the great news!  As of this morning I am finally below 250 at 249.6, YAY!!!!  It was really great seeing that on the scale, and while I am having some suspicions of my scales accuracy, I am going to just go with it.  I have also modified my diet.  I am staying low carb when I eat a regular meal, but for breakfast, at least, I am having a Mona Vie shake.  My mom and sisters are all on it and doing so great and I have to admit it takes a lot of guess work out of what to eat, lol.  For breakfast I add some instant decaf coffee and it's really great, like a flavored coffee at a fast food joint.
  Another thing I am trying is adding some suppliments to my daily routine, oh and I am also trying to have a daily routine, lol.  I think the suppliments are helping, I have been feeling better lately, if I could just get the baby to sleep all night I think I could feel great!
  The baby has developed this horrible screaming habit, sometimes because her brother is egging her on, but sometimes it's just because she can!  It is SO shrill, it hurts my ears!  Any idea how to break that?  I would be most grateful!
  Well, I will try and come back to see you all tomorrow, hopefully with more great news!  Keep up the battle and we will all be winners!
Becky

Oh, barnacles!

  This is my son's favorite expression at the moment- Oh, barnacles!  Of course he is about to turn six, so Spongbob is his favorite cartoon, he just cracks me up, he is so cute and funny!  No, I am NOT biased, that is the absolute truth (wink). 
  Well, the good news is that all the crap I had over the weekend is melting away, I am back down again.  I worked out last night to Jillian Michael's Shred it with Weights, and I am a little sore this morning!  It is a tough and strange workout.  I have a secret envy of ripped gals, I would LOVE to have washboard abs, but I don't want to have to work so hard for them, lol.  I am trying to convince myself to really work out more often.  I know that if I could work out on a more regular basis, I could lose weight faster and look so much better, so I am working on it.  So do you have a workout secret?  Let me know how you get motivated!

Sticktoitiveness

  Sticktoitiveness, this is what I need more of!  It is so hard for me to stick to anything for very long and apparently, that includes longer than a week.  I had a horrible weekend.  I went to the movies on Saturday and saw the movie "Bridesmaids", which was SO funny!!  The language gets pretty horrible at times, but the actresses were great.  I know some people don't see anything wrong with foul language, but I was raised by a wonderful man who told me once that there is a whole dictionary full of words so why not try and use them all instead of just using a few bad ones all of the time.  You'll sound smarter and get a whole lot more respect.  Anyway, we also went to the in-laws on Sunday.  Dieting is so much easier when you can do it from home and SO much harder to keep up with when you are out and about.
  I got out some ground turkey earlier to thaw and am going to make up some burgers and grill them, then put them in the freezer so I can just heat up one at a time for lunches. 
  Well, we will see tomorrow how everything is going!

Great day!

  Today is starting out rather well!  Doesn't that sound all boring and proper? lol.  It's been a great morning, I am down to 252.8, so two more down for a total of 14.2 pounds lost since starting the Dukan! 

WOO-HOO!!! 

  I wanted to mention the My Fitness Pal counter on the right side of the page.  It is always saying I lost more than I claim on here and just wanted to tell you why.  I started that in November at a weight of 275, my post-baby weight, and I lost 8 pounds between November and April, when I started the Dukan.  I could go and change it, but I like knowing that I have come this far since Nov., so it will always be 8 pounds more than what I have here.  When I get to 225 I will post before and after pics from my 275 starting point!

In case you are wondering what my daily menu looks like, here is what I had yesterday-

Breakfast- Turkey bacon and eggs (chicken eggs, not turkey, hehe)

Lunch- grilled chicken leftovers

Snack- Sonic ice cream cone, NOT dukan approved, but I caved :(

Dinner- homemade turkey burgers on the grill, no bun (so YUMMY!)

 I hope you are all going to have a great day, check ya later! :D

Let's move!

Ok, so today has been great so far, I woke up and I was back down to 254.8 ( had accidentally put 154! what a dream! I am awake now, hehe) which is a 12 pound weight loss since starting the Dukan diet last month and I am so happy about that.  I kinda fell off the wagon, got busy with tee-ball, dr.'s appointments and just all kinds of crazyness and just got frustrated with myself and not being able to stay on the diet with all of the running around I was doing.  Really these are all just excuses and I could have done better, but it was just easier not to, sad, right?  Well, now I am going to try and get back on it, I CAN do it, I just have to try harder!  One problem is that I quit walking in the evenings. My mom and I had been walking, she is doing the Mona Vie RVL diet and has lost 12 pounds herself!  She stopped wanting to go walking, so I went with my son for a few days, but then we just slacked off and quit going.  My mom and I have been walking again this week, except for last night, so hopefully we will start up again and keep at it!  I have also been trying to move more through out the day.  If I go to another room I dance, shake my hips, twist my waist, just move more.  Another thing is just picking up the baby and dancing with her, that's an extra 21 pounds to carry around and she LOVES it!  If I go upstairs I skip a step or take really wide steps.  Going back down I try to step slower, talk about hard to do, WHEW!!! 
  So let's get moving some more!  Let me know what you do.  Till tomorrow!

I have more followers!

  Now I feel really bad!  I haven't posted in a while and gained new followers while I was gone!  Welcome and please feel free to post if you are doing the Dukan and how it is going for you!  As for me, I am staying steady, even though I have not been faithful.  I was pretty frustrated the past week and a half as I have a few pounds that crept up on me and would not go away!  However, with the end of tee ball season and a housefull of sick people, myself included, I did not realize that it is that very special time in a woman's life that I can do without, so today was much better and tomorrow will be even better! 
  Keep up the great work and leave a message letting me know all about you, I love meeting new people and hearing about others who are on this journey, or even if your just here cause I am such a great entertainer, hehe!

A new day!

  I haven't been on for a while, I got pretty frustrated because I could not stop the yo-yo of the same two pounds coming and going.  The good news is that I know that I can keep from gaining all of what I lost back.  I just needed a refresher and to review what I was doing wrong.  Having a candy filled holiday did NOT help. lol.   
  So here are the mistakes I made-

- not enough water!  This is very important!

- thinking "just one bite won't hurt"!  Just one bite almost ALWAYS leads to two or three or twenty!

- Not working out.  My body needs movement to burn calories.

- eating too late in the day!  I am not hungry at night, but love to snack, which is always a bad idea and the   wrong snack can lead to a painful night of heartburn and a painful morning of weight gain!

  I am going to come back to this list when I need it to remind myself.  Today I am back down to 11 pounds lost and hope to improve that number tomorrow.  Till then...