The Final Post

Good evening, readers!

Well, it's official!  Yesterday we got hitched, after months and months of getting fit! We are officially Mr. & Mrs. Emerson!

Of course we don't have our professional photographs back yet, but I'm sure we will be sharing lots of them on Facebook once we do. Until then we've gotten a few good photographs sent to us, but if you want to see more you should check out #flemerson or #flemersonwedding on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

Bill and I could not be happier with the way everything turned out yesterday. At least from our perspective things went off without a hitch and everything was absolutely perfect.

On Friday we had our rehearsal and dinner. I was surprised at how  many tiny decisions there were to be made at the rehearsal, an I eventually got exasperated. I just couldn't help but think that it shouldn't be this hard to have everyone walk down the aisle, sit or stand in their spot, and then walk back at the end. So I got a little frustrated there, but it ended up fine. They we had a delicious dinner hosted by Bill's mom Kris, which was beautiful. Afterward I went to the hotel and Bill went home.

My personal attendant, Kim, stayed with me in the hotel room. We got up pretty early Saturday and had breakfast before everyone congregated in my room to get their hair and makeup done. The hairdresser and makeup artist were right on time, at 9am. We ended up finishing the hair and makeup early, and headed to the church at 11:15. 

At the church we relaxed for a few minutes before the photographer arrived at noon. Then it was time to get the dress on! The nature of my dress made it impossible for me to step into it, meaning I had to put it on over my head. I was concerned about it ruining my hair and makeup, but the teamwork of 6 people made it go on smoothly.

We spend the next 3 hours taking photographs in different locations both inside and outside the church. At 3pm we retired to our getting-ready rooms while the guests arrived, and then it was time to get married!

I think the ceremony went off without a hitch as well, but if you think otherwise you can keep it to yourself :) We had a reverse unity ceremony, which I thought was nice and added a feeling of inclusion to the ceremony. Afterward we grabbed our stuff and got straight on the party bus.

We stopped at downtown's Rice Park and took some photos, then we went to Keller park and took even more photos! Then we were ready to go to the reception.

One of my favorite parts of the day was our first dance. It was to the song "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" by Frankie Valli. We each entered through different doors at the reception hall and met in the middle for our dance. Its was super fun!

Then we ate after a nice heartfelt welcome by Bill's dad, Bob, and prayer by Pastor Dan. And we can't forget the singing of Johnny Appleseed led enthusiastically by Bill's Aunt Sue!  The food was as amazing I remember in the tasting. Then we were on to the speeches! First was Maid of Honor, Sam, who actually passed her time over to my brother Chip. Let's just say there was not a dry eye in the house after that speech. Then came Best Man Rob, aided by the help of Mini-Best Man Nicholas. Another beautiful speech, which was then followed by my dad. Another speech that succeeded in making me tear up.

Then we had dessert, an ice cream bar. We went around to dismiss each table for dessert, which took way longer than we thought it would. When we finished we had just enough time for the first dances with our parents before the photographer had to leave, but it worked out perfectly!

We spent the rest of the night dancing away, with pizza and a french-fry bar coming out at 10pm to satisfy our late night munchies. Bill and I danced to our last song, "Save The Last Dance" by Michael Buble, at about 11:40 and made our getaway!

I have to say it was an absolutely perfect day. Everything went so smoothly, we had perfect weather, and I felt absolutely beautiful and confident, mostly because of the multitude of compliments I received. But also because I knew that I worked really hard to lose those 50 pounds to make myself worthy of those compliments.

There are way too many people to thank, but here goes nothing:
Kim, my personal attendant: Thanks for running around like a crazy person and keeping everyone on time! You were great at making sure I had everything I needed and that I was happy. Thank you!
Mom: Thank you for doing all the decorating on Saturday morning and for cleaning up after us at the church and at the reception late at night. None of this could have happened without you!
Kris: Thank you for a beautiful rehearsal dinner, beautiful decorations in the church, and for keeping us fed during a hectic day!
The entire wedding party: Thanks for being there and putting up with our crazy demands without a single complaint!
Dad: Thanks for walking me down the aisle. You physically and emotionally supported me when I needed it most.
Bob: Thanks for the kind words and welcoming me into the family with open arms!

I feel like I'm on an award show with too many people to thank and not enough time to do it!

One last thank you: Thanks to everyone who reads my blog, whether you comment or "lurk". It is because of you that I was able to lose the weight while planning this wedding, which ultimately led to a perfect day. Thank you for keeping me accountable!

I can't believe this is my last post. After more than 400 posts it almost seems surreal that I was able to continue this for so long. It was a great experience, but its time to put it to rest. Who knows, maybe I'll start a new blog to document my "30 before 30" journey.

Thank you for everything, readers.

Kayti

2 Days to Go!

Good evening, readers!

Holy crap I can't believe I'll be married in less than 48 hours! I'm not nervous, even though everyone keeps asking :) I'm still mostly excited, and still not looking forward to being the center of attention for a whole day. But other than that I'm pretty calm. I think.

Today I had a very busy day, even though it was my first day off work. I answered lots of work texts, but it steal beats actually being there. I ran some errands and had a couple beauty appointments in the morning, and then I met my parents at Keller to bring all the reception decorations in. Since we can't get in until 10am on Saturday to decorate, Keller was nice enough to let us bring all the decorations there and store them until then. We put together all the centerpieces as much as we could and made sure we had all the other pieces there and ready to go. My mom has recruited some pretty reliable helpers to assist in the decorating that day, so I'm sure everything will go well!

While we were at Keller my bridesmaid Maddie and her parents Kelly and Howard came and helped us out with the decorations! We all had lunch together, and then we went to the hotel. Everyone else checked in, and I just dropped off the welcome bags.

PSA: If you're staying at the hotel make sure you get a welcome bag upon check in! Especially if you made a late reservation or possibly forgot to use the promo code, they won't know you're with the wedding! And trust me, you want the welcome bag :)

Afterward I went home and took a nap. I did get up at 5 this morning and go to 5:30 am weightlifting. That class was a little awkward because the instructor knew I'm getting married on Saturday and announced it to the whole class and asked a bunch of questions. As you can see, the whole "center of attention" thing is not really my deal. I'll do my best.

I spent most of the evening fielding calls, texts, and emails from various wedding party members with last-minute questions. Mostly about dress code for rehearsal dinner/wedding and other random stuff. I also did some cleaning so that the house isn't a total disaster when we leave for our honeymoon. There's nothing worse than coming back from vacation to a dirty house.

Tomorrow will be a big day, it's rehearsal dinner time! I've got some activities with the bridal party in the morning and then the rehearsal in the evening. I'll do my best to take some photos to share with you all tomorrow evening!

Until then, readers.

Kayti

The Final Work Day

Good evening, readers!

What an incredibly exhausting two days I have had! Once people at work got wind (or remembered) that I was going to be leaving for two whole weeks, all chaos broke loose. For those of you who don't know exactly what my job entails, I purchase all of the drugs and medical supplies for the University of Minnesota Veterinary Medical Center. I'm sure there's a person like me at every hospital, human or animal. It's one of those things you don't think about... who puts in the time to order, receive, and pay for things like gauze, tongue depressors, and hospital gowns? That would be me.

So when I leave for two weeks, even though I have a backup who is just as capable as me, the chaos ensues. Between yesterday and today I've ordered aaaaaaaall the things. Which makes for a very tiring day, I must say. Plus, yesterday, I went to Zumba after work. By the time I got finished with today I got home and crashed. I didn't sleep, but I haven't really moved much.

Today was weird for me though, because people kept asking me if I am nervous for my wedding. Umm... no, am I supposed to be? I'm not feeling nervous or stressed. I'm mostly excited and looking forward to it, and a little anxious at being the center of attention for an entire day. But that's about it. Everything is planned really well, I think. Besides clearing up a few last-minute details I think it will be all good. So I'm not nervous. Is that weird? Now if only I could get Bill to practice dancing with me...

So tomorrow things really begin. My mom and I are going to the reception venue, Keller, tomorrow afternoon to bring all the decorations there. We can store them there until we go to set up at 10am on Saturday. I'm also going to be bringing the welcome bags to the hotel tomorrow so that all of you staying there will have a treat upon arrival :) I can't believe some of our out-of-town family members, including my very own bridesmaid Maddie Soypher, will be here tomorrow! It's finally becoming real, I'd say. So will someone tell me exactly what I'm forgetting to do? There's gotta be something; it just can't be this easy.

Also tomorrow I think I'm going to go to 5:30am BodyPump. I might be crazy to get up early on a precious day off, but it will probably be my last chance before the wedding, and then I'll miss it for an entire week! I hope I don't lose all my muscle in that time frame!

If that's the case I must be off to bed! Or at least to work on this library book that's due in two days! Can you imagine, I'm reading a book three days before my wedding because I'm out of wedding stuff to do? That's nuts.

Until tomorrow, readers.

Kayti

The Final Measurements

Good evening, readers!

So we all know I put a lot of focus on the scale, but sometimes that's not the only way to measure progress. We can literally measure it with our handy-dandy pink Singer tape measure. Since muscle weighs more than fat I'm hoping I've lost a few inches even if I haven't lost much weight.

So here's where we started:
Bust: 38"
Waist: 32"
Hips: 48"
Thighs: 31"
Arms: 16"

Here's where we are today:
Bust: 37"
Waist: 29.5"
Hips: 45"
Thighs: 26.5"
Arms: 13"

Wow, I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty impressed with that progress! Specifically in my thighs and arms.

I think I may have mentioned this before, but my arms are the area of my body I am most self-conscious about. I'm incredibly happy that I have lost three inches there. Sure, there's still work to do, but that's pretty not bad!

I'm not sure if I ever mentioned it in this blog, but last year at Chip and Sam's wedding we were invited to go zip lining with some of the family, but I was unable to go because my thighs were too big to fit into the zip lining harness. I told Bill that I was going to work as hard as I could to never be embarrassed like that again. And guess what? 27 inches was the max. Look who's at 26.5? Epic win for me.

So that's all the excitement over here. We're just dealing with last minute wedding stuff. I'm kind of enjoying people asking me things and just making decisions based on what I want without worrying what everyone else thinks. Not in like a bridezilla way (hopefully) just in a, "No one knows what's best for me more than me," kind of way.

Oh one kind of exciting thing did happen today. I went to Zumba and Body Pump after work, and in between classes the Zumba teacher asked me when I was going to become a Zumba teacher myself! So that was kind of flattering. I told her, "maybe after the wedding." So there's something to look into for my 30 before 30 challenge!

No more stats, as things are all crazy with the wedding coming up and I can't even remember if I ate lunch today. But I definitely ate dinner! And I'm pretty sure there's a pint of Halo Top in the freezer with my name on it :)

Until tomorrow, readers.

Kayti

The Final Weigh In

Good evening, readers!

I can't believe we are getting married in 1 week! Which means this is the last Saturday I will be posting on this blog, which means it's the very last weigh-in I will have!

I am happy to let you know that I lost two pounds this week, bringing my final total of weight lost to 50 pounds!

So it's not the 60 pounds I had set out to lose. But I'm still very happy with it and feel like I look much better, feel better, and have more confidence than I did when I started. Here's my first before photo:

Here's my halfway through photos:

And here's my photos from today:

As I look at these now I can notice the differences, even though they're not world's greatest photos. We really need to get a better full-length mirror.

Thank you all for taking this weigh-loss journey with me. I am going to be making a second journey, although I don't think I will blog about out. After the wedding and honeymoon I'm going to start a new diet that I am calling "30 before 30." I want to lose another 30 pounds before my 30th birthday next March. If I can do that I believe I will have reached my health goals, if not my appearance goals. I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to change to accomplish this yet, so I've been weighing my diet and exercise options to see how I can get there. I'll probably have to promise myself some really cool reward though. Like a vacation. Or a puppy :)

On Monday I will take my measurements and post for the last time so we can see how many inches I lost total. I'm not super confident in my ability to accurately measure, but hopefully we can get a rough estimate! 

Wedding weather update: getting better! The chance of rain decreased to only 20%, and there's a high of 56 degrees. Now if it could just get a little warmer that day it would be perfect! We'll keep an eye out.

I hope everyone has a very happy Easter!

Until tomorrow, readers.

Kayti

9 Days to Go!

Good evening, readers!

After writing this blog almost every day for the past 14 months, I have to say I've really learned a lot. I've had my good days and my bad days, but hopefully more good than bad, and I've managed to plan an entire wedding and lose a bunch of weight. But I think the best thing that came out of this was my fitness routine.

I've gotten to the point now where NOT going to the gym feels weird. I go 5 days a week, sometimes 6, and if you didn't count sleep time I might almost spend more time there than I do at my house. I get tired of being there sometimes; it would be nice to be magically fit without having to spend 10+ hours at the gym every week. But I've made friends there, and I always feel good after going. So I'm glad to have it and I know for a fact I will keep it up after the wedding is done. 

Today I had so many different people at the gym ask me how many days until my wedding. Some were in disbelief that I was still coming to the gym a mere 9 days prior to the big day. But what else am I going to do? Everything is planned and done, I'm not stressed, and I'd otherwise just be watching Netflix or reading. So I might as well keep up on it! I'm going to miss two weeks for the wedding and honeymoon, why would I want to miss three?

Man I wish I had more exciting things to report from wedding planning land. You'd think this close to the wedding I'd have all sorts of stuff to tell you, but its all done! I'm just working on eating well, exercising, and doing all that personal stuff like whitening my teeth, trying to get these eyebrows in check with some gradual tweezing, and doing everything within my power to not get any pimples. Oh and obsessively watching the weather report. Maybe I'll report that daily here, along with my daily stats!

Today's stats: 
Steps taken: 20,000
Calories burned: 3365
Calories consumed: 1445
April 22nd weather report: 40% chance of AM showers

Okay the weather report has improved, so that's good. My eating, however, has not. And I just did a weightlifting class, which always makes me want to stuff my face. But I can wait until the wedding to stuff my face :)

Until tomorrow, readers.

Kayti

10 Days to Go!

Good evening, readers!

Definitely fell asleep early last night. Like 8:45 early. Just though I'd explain my lack of blog yesterday. 

I'm still nursing the aftermath of my increased squat weight from Monday; my quads are still burning. Like I walk funny because it hurts to walk too fast. Sorry for the whining. No pain, no gain, right? I must have had aaaaaall the gain on Monday because now I'm having all the pain. 

Yesterday I went to Zumba after work, thinking doing some moving would help with the quad pain. It was almost comical how hard it was for me to move. I'll have to remember not to do too much squat weight too close to the wedding; I want to be able to get my groove on!

Otherwise today was just a pretty normal day. It's Wednesday so I didn't work out. I did do a few wedding things, though. I sent the Bible verses we chose to the readers, Laura & Laura, so they can practice them if they want to. I also printed out all our travel documents, including our tourist cards, for the honeymoon. 

Oh, we also had to call our DJ tonight. We are using a company that matches you with a DJ based on a profile you fill out; it's like eHarmony but for wedding DJ's. So we called our DJ, Jamir, a couple hours ago and I'm pretty sure we're best friends now. Maybe he's just being nice to get a bigger tip, but I think he did a good job of understanding what we wanted. I was nervous to call, mostly because I'm so awkward with new people. But it worked out well! One less thing to be anxious about. 

After that I cooked Bill dinner, some shrimp scampi and salad. It was pretty delicious, if I do say so myself. Who puts water chestnuts in shrimp scampi? All the cool kids, apparently.

Sorry, Wednesdays are always such a boring day for me, which is why I don't usually blog on Wednesdays. It's the day where I catch up on TV shows or reading, maybe do some cleaning, and actually have dinner with Bill instead of coming home, scarfing something down, and immediately running back to the gym. 

So we're just here, counting down the days and obsessing about the weather. And cheering for the Wild tonight, in the hopes that they win this series 4-0. Otherwise they'll have  home game on our wedding day and possibly ruin the pictures I want to take in Rice Park.

We'll just have to wait and see!

Until tomorrow, readers!

Kayti

12 Days to Go!

Good evening, readers!

You guys wouldn't even believe how relaxed I am this close to the wedding. I can't even believe it, honestly. This weekend I did a few wedding things, sure, but I also went on a 5 mile walk with Bill, started a new book, started a new TV show on Netflix, and started a new podcast. I feel like I haven't had time for any of these things for the past year, and it feels good to be free of the constant "what wedding stuff should you be working on?" question that would buzz in the back of my head. 

Oh, we need to talk about this real quick, though. Yesterday was such a perfect day. It started out sunny, made it up to 72, got overcast in the afternoon and then there was a nice thunderstorm in the evening. Today it's 40 and raining and probably about to snow, and all I want to say is "screw you, Minnesota." The trees have finally started to bloom and I'm hoping for some pretty outdoor spring blooming photos, and then you just have to go and ruin it.

Also, we're close enough to the wedding where I can start obsessing over the wedding forecast. Lucky for all of you! Right now it says rain, which would make the Flynn family 3 for 3 in the not-so-ironic "rain on your wedding day" luck. Yes, everyone will tell me that you can't predict the weather that far in advance so I shouldn't worry about it. Fair warning; the more you tell me to stop worrying about something I can't control the more I'm going to worry about it. But seriously, remember a couple months ago when they forecasted over 20 inches of snow seven days prior, and then we got nothing? Here's to hoping.

Today I had a really good day at the gym. I skipped Zumba because there was a sub and did a treadmill workout instead, which means I got to watch another episode of "13 Reasons Why." Then I went to BodyPump and added extra weight to my squats, chest, and biceps, I felt like a million bucks. I ate really well today, too, if you don't include that one sneaky birthday celebration lemon bar.

Today's stats:
Steps taken: 15600
Calories burned: 3000
Calories consumed: 1310

Tomorrow's really just more of the same. Hopefully I can find something interesting to write about here!

Until then, readers.

Kayti

Weigh In: Week 58

Good evening, readers!

I'm a little bummed that today did not turn out to be anywhere near as nice as those crazy weathermen made it out to be. I didn't get outside much, but that's really okay because I still got tons of stuff done! Who knew I still had stuff to do?

But first, the important part: I lost 3 pounds this week! I'm glad I've made up for my weight gain a little bit. I'm back down to 48 pounds lost total, and I'm hoping to make it 50 before the wedding day! Sure, it's not the 60 I had originally wanted, but I'm still pretty happy with 50 (assuming I get there).

So now for all that stuff I got done today! I had my normal Saturday morning workouts. I wore a new Fabletics outfit and got tons of compliments on it again. Pretty sure this company should start paying me. The normal Saturday morning Zumba teacher was out this week, but it's okay; the sub turned out to be my favorite Zumba teacher that I used to take on Mondays! I've missed that class a ton so I'm glad to be able to get back into it a little bit. I worked out super hard and got super sweaty because I was just having so much fun remembering all the old dances we used to do.

After the workout and the weigh-in Bill and I worked on a few of those smaller wedding-planning projects. We finished our seating chart board, figured out a few extra decor things, and then I went shopping! 

First stop: Hobby Lobby, where I picked up some missing decor items that would round out our reception decorating.
Second stop: Target, where I picked up some photos we had printed and some frames for them. These photos will be used at the reception, but I can't tell you more than that :)
Third stop: JiffyLube. Cars need oil changes whether your two weeks away from your wedding or not.
Fourth stop: Library. Now I actually have time to read a book!
Fifth stop: Ulta Beauty. I bought a perfume and a nail polish to use for the wedding day!

I rented a movie for Bill and me to watch and we ordered pizza for dinner. I know I shouldn't have, but I was just having such a good day!

Today's stats:
Steps taken: 15100
Calories burned: 2900
Calories consumed: Too many. We can just leave it at that :)

I also started watching the show "13 Reasons Why" on Netflix and I am addicted. Luckily it's supposed to rain tomorrow so I will have plenty of time to binge it!

Until then, readers.

Kayti

15 Days to Go!

Good evening, readers!

Lots of super exciting stuff to report! You guys would not believe how much my mom has gotten done while she has been here. I only have three tiny projects left to do. I can do them all this weekend, even. Everything else is absolutely, positively, completely finished. Place cards are finished, double checked for spelling and organized in alphabetical order. Decor is all planned out and ready to go. Basically everything is done. What am I going to do all next week?

People keep asking me what I'm going to do with all my free time when the wedding is done. I'm going to read, watch tv shows, listen to podcasts, and do puzzles. Boy am I looking forward to the good ol' days.

The big news from yesterday, though, is that we applied for our marriage license. Which means I had to make a huge life decision in the middle of the Woodbury DMV: what will my name be? I hemmed and hawed for a while, but eventually I decided. So change your Christmas card lists, everyone, because I will henceforth be called:

Kayti JoAnn Emerson

I am very sad to drop the Flynn. I thought about adding it to my middle name, so I would be Kayti JoAnn Flynn Emerson. I almost feel like I'm betraying my own family by not keeping that Flynn in there. Why don't men have to go through this? It's such a hard decision. I spent 29 years as Kayti JoAnn Flynn and then one day it just changes. It's just weird.

The big news from today is that we went to Keller, our venue, and finalized everything and made our final payment. We got the alcohol all taken care of with Bill's dad, Bob. Which means everything is paid! We owe nothing. What a good feeling! Too bad I can't say the same about car payments/mortgages/student loans.

Alright last thing for the night and then it's bedtime for us old people. Tonight I went to the gym and wore one of my new outfits from Fabletics. I swear to you they are not paying me. I wore a black racerback tank and black high-waisted 7/8 length leggings. I don't think I've ever gotten more compliments at the gym in my life. I'm definitely buying that top in every color they make.

Today's stats:
Steps taken: 18000
Calories burned: 3300
Calories consumed: 1600

Tomorrow I have no plans. How weird. Every day this week we've had some sort of wedding activity planned. I'm looking forward to the gym, Culver's and bed!

Until then, readers.

Kayti

17 Days to Go!

Good evening, readers!

I remember the good old days, like maybe yesterday, when I thought seating charts were so easy-peasy. Boy was I wrong. It's when you start thinking about other people's feelings that you get in trouble... in seating charts and in life. Just kidding. Kind of.

Today was a super extra productive day in wedding-planning land. All thanks to my mom. We got everything finalized with the florist and all paid up. We finally got those darn ceremony programs finished! Mom also finished the welcome bags, wrapped my flowers, and made us dinner! We had meatloaf with baked potatoes, corn and salad. Boy did I miss my mom.

We've also got Bill working on the place cards, at least for those people who fit nicely into our seating chart. That's going to be a big project, but totally worth it. And honestly, it's really the last project we have. I haven't looked at my to-do list in a while, but I'm sure I'll be able to cross off almost everything at this point!

Alright that's enough about wedding-planning land. There has to be more to life, right? Well I suppose there is, but not when you're 17 days away from your wedding. Although I must say I'm glad I only have to do this once. It might be fun to help other people, but doing it for yourself is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. And I hope it stays that way.

Work was work, nothing exciting to report there. After work was the meeting with the florist, then home to see all the progress mom made. Then we had her delicious homemade dinner and I went to the gym. I have the feeling that I am going to have a less consistent gym schedule with all the goings-on for the next two weeks. I made a schedule so that I will at least get 12 visits in before we go on our honeymoon so that I get the insurance discount. I'm just hoping I can stick to it!

Today's stats:
Steps taken:18300
Calories burned:3350
Calories consumed: 1660

Yeah, a few too many calories. But it's not terrible. And that meatloaf was delicious.

Tomorrow is a big day for us, but for me specifically: we are getting our marriage license! That means I have to decide by tomorrow what I want my name to be for the rest of my life. I've been weighing the options but I just can't decide.

I guess I will let you all know on Thursday!

Until then, readers.

Kayti

18 Days to Go!

Good evening, readers!

It's official; the countdown has begun!

It's our wedding month! With only 18 days left there's plenty to do, but I'm still not feeling overwhelmed. And why is that? My mom is here!

After two months in Alabama, my parents have returned. And now my mom has come to stay with us for the week and help us finish up all the unfinished projects around here. I swear she's like a wedding project superhero. This week we've got plans to finish the programs, the seating chart, the place cards, and the welcome bags. Plus there's little things, like printing some photos, buying frames, wrapping the flowers, etc. It seems like a lot, but she doesn't have to work during the day like some of us :)

Today felt like a really weird Monday. Work was strangely slow, but then I encountered all sorts of odd requests that require a lot of work and are all half-finished. I hate that feeling of half-finished. But I think I just couldn't focus because we had a very exciting event this evening...

I had my FINAL wedding dress fitting! Sam came over, we all went to dinner at Olive Garden, and then we (me, mom, and Sam. Not Bill.) went to try on my dress! Mom and Sam learned how to bustle it, and then I got to take it home! Good thing Bill only has to resist the temptation of looking at it for the next 18 days!

Because we had that excitement this evening I was unable to go to the gym to work out. I ate pretty well, if you don't count the breadsticks at Olive Garden. I don't have a calorie count, which is bad. I'm just going to go with "too many."

The rest of the week is looking really busy and I'm hoping I can get to the gym around my normal times. Tomorrow we have our final meeting with the florist, Wednesday Bill and I are going to the courthouse to get our marriage license (eek!) and Thursday we are going to Keller to finalize the food and venue. That's a busy week! But productive. And I like productivity.

Hopefully tomorrow will be just as productive as today!

Until then, readers.

Kayti

Weigh In: Week 57... 3 weeks to go!

Good evening, readers!

So I hemmed and hawed about whether or not to do a weigh-in this week. I decided to do one because you can't make progress if you don't know where you stand, right?

Well, it was bad. But not as bad as I thought it would be. Over the last three weeks I ended up gaining seven pounds. Boo. It's pretty annoying that all that hard work can be undone so quickly. But, now I've got motivation and a goal: lose those 7 pounds in the next three weeks. Probably my most lofty goal yet, but I'm hoping wedding stress will push me in the direction of "eat less" instead of "eat everything in sight."

So far it's been full of good decisions. I did my double workout this morning. Since I missed weightlifting on Tuesday, my Thursday weightlifting class left me pretty sore. And since I was sore on Thursday, Saturday's class was brutal. When I finally made it to Zumba my legs felt like lead. Which was sad because I finally had the energy to dance after being sick all week. We'll just have to try again next week.

After working out Bill and I met his mom at the church to go over some decorating details. Everything seems very under control, so that's one less thing to worry about! We went to Chipotle for lunch, and then came home and went for a super long walk on this fine sunny day. We're getting darn good at guessing the sale prices of homes in our area I must say.

After the walk we did one of the most pain-staking wedding activities thus far: seating charts!

Nope, those aren't fancy new flowers. It's a seating chart diagram! I'm sure everything will get moved around, but it's kind of fun to play with. It was painful at times, but we did it together and it ended up being more fun than I thought. Then we got dinner. I did a good job of ordering a salad when Bill ordered pizza and only had one slice.

Today's stats:
Steps taken: 17300
Calories burned: 3050
Calories consumed: 1320

Tomorrow we don't have a ton planned, just a few more wedding things. I'm going to finish those programs, I swear it. But that old to-do list is getting shorter and shorter!

Until then, readers.

Kayti

Outside?

Good evening, readers!

Well, it's the very last day of the best month of the year, and we're finally getting spring weather! Bill and I celebrated with my favorite date night: exercise and Culver's! We walked around the more affluent Woodbury neighborhoods and looked at for-sale houses that we could never afford in a million years, and then we enjoyed dinner and ice cream. We walked a good three miles; I forget how nice it is to not have to walk or run on a treadmill inside. Hopefully the weather only gets better from here and I can continue with more outdoor exercises. I like my classes at the Y, but I'm still looking forward to getting outside! Which is weird for me to say since normally I'm not big on the "great outdoors." I must be going stir crazy.

I can tell that I am feeling better because I am exercising, but I am also able to eat a larger variety of foods. I even drank coffee this morning for the first time in a week! 

Over in wedding planning land, lots of big things going on. We're almost done with the programs, just one more step to go.  We've got our appointment set with the venue to finalize everything for the reception, and tomorrow is my dad's suit fitting. All the other guys had theirs last weekend. We spent some time updating our guest spreadsheet, too. You can bet that if you haven't RSVP'd yet you will get some harassment from someone in the next day or two :)

Today's stats:
Steps taken: 17600
Calories burned:3250
Calories consumed: 1560

Tomorrow is Saturday, and that means it's supposed to be weigh-in day. I know I shouldn't do a weigh-in because I haven't in quite some time. Three weeks almost! But I have to be honest: I'm completely terrified. I had two weeks of not-so-great eating, and then I had a week of illness where I ate basically nothing but didn't exercise much either. I honestly believe I gained ten pounds and I'm just kind of in denial. I can't lose it before the wedding, since I only have three weeks left. So why even do a weigh-in? But I also feel like I should because I can't avoid it forever. I'll probably make a split decision after my workouts tomorrow. 

Until then, readers.

Kayti

Feeling Better

Good evening, readers!

After what I can only say has been a pretty terrible four days, I am finally beginning to feel better. Tonight I was able to go to the gym, although I wasn't able to go nearly as hard as I normally do. I made it through two hours of classes, though. I am also able to expand my diet past gatorade and saltines, although it's still pretty bland.

Yes, for the last four days I've eaten almost nothing except saltine crackers and drank solely gatorade and water. It's funny, I was eating saltines to keep myself from throwing up; now the thought of having to eat another saltine ever again in my life makes me want to vomit. Anyway, I have expanded my horizons to a plain bagel, dry toast, and a potato! Big day for me.

But I can also tell I'm getting better because I'm getting more interested in wedding planning again. We only have 23 days to go and for the last 3 days I have really done zero wedding stuff. But today I pretty much crushed it. I talked to the photographer and caterer, created a photography Pinterest board, and almost finished the ceremony programs (with Bill's help, of course). I can probably get those finished up tomorrow. I put Bill in charge of figuring out the marriage license, but I was getting nervous so I just looked up the info myself. So that's in the works. We're getting my dad in for his suit fitting on Saturday, as well. I feel like there's a lot of loose ends to tie up, but nothing I can't handle!

And for the first time in a while, I'm going to do stats!
Steps taken: 16700
Calories burned: 3200
Calories consumed: 1250

I just ate a protein bar to get the calories up since it was looking a little slim there.

In other wedding news, I hope you all made your wedding reservations! I'm going to check with the hotel tomorrow to see how many were made so I know how many welcome bags to make. And if you are reading this and haven't sent back your RSVP, shame on you! I'm looking at you, Bill's family! Almost all of my family has responded. Just saying. If you haven't RSVP'd by Saturday you'll be hearing from us :)

Until tomorrow, readers.

Kayti

Sick Day

Good afternoon, readers!

It's really weird for me to be writing a blog on a Tuesday afternoon, but as the title of this post suggests I am home from work sick today. I'll spare you all the gory details, but we're just going to call it food poisoning and be done with it. The silver lining is that I've eaten nothing but saltine crackers and Gatorade for two days straight. That has to be good for the weight loss, right? I am a little concerned about my fitness routine, since I haven't worked out since Saturday morning and I really hate missing weightlifting. I feel like I get so behind when I miss a class. I'll just have to work extra hard when I can finally get back in the gym.

Well, there is lots to report! First, we had a super awesome time at our bachelor and bachelorette parties! My portrait from the wine and painting is no Picasso, but it's not half bad. And we had fun while doing it! Then we played games and ate and had cake... it was really fun and I'm glad its wasn't some wild and crazy affair where I would end up drinking too much. I'm too old to be hungover. But apparently Bill isn't :)

Sunday was a mellow day that involved a lot of wedding stuff. We got our DJ and limo paid off, so all we really have left is the venue for food and alcohol! I spent a ton of time working on the wedding programs, too. My fingers might fall off from all the ribbons I have to tie. 60 down, 90 to go.

And then yesterday I did nothing but hang out in the bathroom.

As most of you know, ice cream is by far my favorite food. During the dieting process I have searched for low-calorie alternatives to regular ice cream to get my fix without expanding my waist. I've fallen in love with Halo Top. But now, someone has introduced me to Enlightened, another low-calorie ice cream alternative. I promised a few days ago to compare them for you, so here goes.

I tried the chocolate chip cookie dough flavor of Enlightened. I had previously tried the same flavor of Halo Top so I figured it would be a pretty good side by side comparison.

First, the facts. Let's see how the nutrition stacks up per 1/2 cup serving size.
Calories: Halo Top - 90, Enlightened - 100
Fat: Halo Top - 3g, 1g saturated; Enlightened - 3g, 2g saturated
Cholesterol: Halo Top - 44mg, Enlightened - 10mg
Sodium: Halo top - 120mg, Enlightened - 44mg
Carbs: Halo Top - 16g, Enlightened - 18g
Sugar: Halo Top - 7g, Enlightened - 6g
Fiber: Halo Top - 3g, Enlightened - 5g
Protein: Halo Top - 5g, Enlightened - 7g

Okay that's a lot of numbers. So the breakdown is this:
Halo Top has less calories, carbs and saturated fat. All positives for Halo Top.
Enlightened has MORE fiber and protein while having less sodium, cholesterol, and sugar. All positives for Enlightened.

But really, how does it taste? I'm not gonna lie. I'm a hardcore Halo Top fanatic, so you should definitely take my word when I say: I think Enlightened actually tastes better. It has a creamier texture, and the vanilla actually taste like vanilla (which is one of my biggest problems with Halo Top; I don't like any of their vanilla-based ice creams as I think they taste weird).

All I'm saying is they're both good. They cost about the same. And they're both available at the Kowalski's in Woodbury. Try them both and let me know what you think!

And now I'm off to continue this sick day on the couch with my gatorade. It would be a lot easier to be sick if it wasn't so darn nice outside!

Until tomorrow, readers.

Kayti

Bachelorette Party!

Good afternoon, readers!

Sorry I didn't post yesterday, my evening went something like this:

• Get home from work, sleep for 2 hours
• Bill wakes me up to feed me some chicken noodle soup
• Go directly back to sleep

Because, of course, I contracted another extra-annoying cold. I felt it coming on Thursday, and by Friday morning I was miserable. Of course I still went to work because it was my coworker's last day and I can't miss a goodbye!

Tonight is my bachelorette party (Bill has already left for his bachelor party tonight as well) and I am going to do my best to not let this pesky cold dampen my spirits! Who needs to breathe properly when you're just drinking, painting, and playing games? Not this girl!

Which is also why I'm writing this post now instead of tonight; I have the sneaking suspicion I will be too tired to type anything. In preparation I am drinking tons of tea and water, taking sudafed and Tylenol, and just had a giant bowl of chicken noodle soup from Panera. Luckily I asked for a yoga-pants only dress code so at least we will all be comfortable!

I don't have to leave for a couple hours yet, so I'm going to medicate and work on some wedding stuff. We've got everything printed now, so I can put together the welcome bags and the ceremony programs! I'm just taking things one day at a time and just trying to do something every day. But it's only 4 weeks away! Luckily my parents will be back from Alabama in a week and then I'll have lots of help from mom! My "to-do" list is actually getting pretty short!

• Ceremony programs
• welcome bags
• seating chart
• place cards
• photos printed and in frames (this is a bit of a secret!)
• Pack for the honeymoon!

Holy cow that's a tiny list! You should see my "running list" that I've made throughout the process. I would put things on it but never delete them (just cross them out) so it's pretty darn long. Maybe I missed my calling and should go into the wedding-planning business? Or... not.

Anyway, I'm off to medicate before the bachelorette party! I'm not counting calories today, but starting tomorrow and for the next four weeks we're right back on track! 

Oh, and I'm sure there will be lots of pictures of this evening's festivities posted, so keep an eye out ;)

Until tomorrow, readers.

Kayti

Studio 3

Good evening, readers!

Well, I know I did much better on my eating today than I did any other day this week. So I've got that going for me. I started my morning with my regular banana, coffee, and water.  I picked up a bagel on the way to work, because I get free bagels at Panera, but it was earmarked for Darla. At work I snacked on some pickles before lunchtime, and then at lunch I had a sandwich with some chips (not the best choice, I know) and a few sample bites of some "exotic" donut flavors (include cookie dough, peanut butter, coffee, and maple bacon!). But only one small bite of each, I promise! Also 1/2 a spring roll, so at least there's vegetables in that!

I was concerned about eating too much at work because it was my coworker's birthday today,  but I think I did a good job of participating without going overboard. It was weird, though, when I got home from work and my tummy wasn't happy with me. Maybe I didn't eat enough? Who knows. I drank a bunch of water and went to the gym, and that basically made it go away.

Ah yes, the gym. For the last year I've spent almost every hour of my life at home, at work, or at the gym. In that order. Then probably Target. But the important part is the gym. I know the desk people by name. I have made a lot of workout friends that are in the same classes as me. And while I'd rather be curled up in bed reading a book any day, I actually really enjoy going to the gym.

The best part about the gym (aka the YMCA) is Studio 3. Studio 3 is the space at the Y where every single one of my fitness classes takes place. Whether it be Zumba or weightlifting, kick boxing or step class, Studio 3 is where it happens. Which means, somewhere between the mirrored walls and hardwood floors of Studio 3 sits the missing 52 pounds I've burned off. I didn't realize it until I spent another three hours in that room how much those 150 square feet have impacted me.

I'm not usually so eloquently nostalgic about going to the gym. How strange.

Yeah, I pulled another triple today. I just couldn't sit at home thinking about all the wedding stuff that still needs to be done but actually CAN'T be done for another couple weeks. So I distract myself. In the same way I will sometimes go to the gym because I'm hungry and it's a distraction.

Today's stats:
Steps taken: 23700
Calories burned:3700
Calories consumed:1550

After the gym I stopped at Kowalski's. Even though I have a freezer full of Halo Top, my mom told me about another low-calorie, high-protein ice cream and Kowalski's carries it! It's called "Enlightened." I'll try anything once. I purchased the chocolate chip cookie dough flavor. I haven't actually eaten it yet, so tomorrow's blog will include a full breakdown of Halo Top vs Enlightened. This is very important stuff for us ice cream-loving dieters out there!

Until then, readers.

Kayti

One Month To Go!

Good evening, readers.

I wasn't going to write a post tonight, but I feel like I should. I haven't been very consistent with my posts for the last week or so, and I must apologize for that.

But, if nothing else, I owe you all some honesty. A lot of you have been reading these blogs since the very beginning, when I decided I wanted to lose weight for the wedding. It's been over a year now, and I have to say some days I find writing the blog tiresome. There's not always a lot to tell on a day-to-day basis. I cut back to 5 days a week, which worked well for me.

But recently, I have fallen off the wagon. Hard. For the last... 5 days (since Friday) it seems like I can't stop eating. With all the birthday celebrating I am feeling pretty down on myself. I'm still on my normal exercise schedule, but the food is a problem. I thought I could just do Friday, let myself have some treats, and be fine. But it's not fine.

I stopped writing daily because I was embarrassed. I didn't want to admit to all of you that after a year of doing really well I had slipped up so close to my goal.

But you know what? I'm human too. And I like ice cream and pizza. So sue me. Sometimes I make mistakes, and sometimes I take a day off. And I need to learn to not be so hard on myself. I can do this. I had a few days off the diet wagon, but I can get right back on.

From now on (until the wedding) I'm going to be extra diligent. I'm going to make sure to write exactly what I eat every day and get lots of extra exercise in. And I'm going to be accountable to myself AND to you, those who have been with me from the beginning.

So thanks for listening, readers. This wedding is happening in ONE MONTH and I am going to make sure I feel absolutely confident for it.

Until tomorrow, readers.

Kayti

Whoops!

Good evening, readers!

I can't believe I forgot to post yesterday! Honestly it just totally slipped my mind. We had such a fun day, and by the end I was so tired and falling asleep on the couch that I just didn't even think of writing. I hope you will all forgive me. I'm actually kind of surprised at the number of people who commented on my missed post!

So there's lots to catch up on! Friday we had our annual birthday celebration at MOA! It started with breakfast at IHOP, where I got a free stack of pancakes. Too bad all this dieting has shrunk my stomach so much I could barely finish two of the stack! After that we went to the mall and burned off breakfast by walking around and shopping!

You guys: go to Fabletics in MOA. Seriously. Best workout gear. I'm going to have to get a part-time job there to finance all the workout gear I will be purchasing. Definite highlight of the day.

After shopping we went to BWW and got free wings and some cheesy birthday deliciousness in the form of grilled cheese/cheese curds/mozzarella sticks. I had a beer, too! What an indulgence! After watching basketball there for a few hours we did some more shopping/eating. Bill started getting tired, so we headed home. We went out for a dinner of burgers and fries, which I was totally craving, and then called it a night.

The bad news is that I probably ate more calories on Friday than I normally would in a week. The good news is that I was so full I vowed to never eat that much again. Hopefully I stick to it. Plus, I got all of my cravings out for cheesiness and burgers and ice cream, so hopefully that helps with the end of wedding planning weight-loss push.

Saturday I did my normal AM workouts, but I didn't do my weigh-in. After Friday's indulgences I don't even want to know! Honestly I might skip weigh-in this next week, too, as I'm getting a little stressed about the whole situation and I don't think it's worth it. Giving myself an extra week to work everything off and get back in the groove sounds like a really good idea.

Also on Saturday I went to my cousin Jordyn's apartment to try on my veil! She wanted to make sure everything looked good before she completed the beading. It looks perfect and I'm excited to check another thing off the list! I ran a couple more wedding errands and then took Bill out to see Beauty and the Beast. Assuming he would stay away for it (which he did).

Today we had brunch at Sue & Mike's after church. We got a lot of wedding stuff done, as Susie had printed all the ceremony programs. Now they just need to be assembled! That's no small task, though. If it gets overwhelming we may be holding a program party to get these things done. Sue is also going to print the welcome bag itineraries, then those will be ready to assemble! We also finished our DJ planner tonight, so we checked lots of things off the list this weekend!

I'm feeling pretty good about the wedding planning. I went over everything with my Mom and we're pretty under control. Now I just have to make sure I get my diet back on track after all the birthday celebrations, and then I will make the final push to lose those 8 pounds before the wedding day.

We got this!

Until tomorrow, readers.

Kayti

He's Baaaaaaack

Good evening, readers!

Good news! Bill's back! And not in the poltergeist kind of way. More like the "thank goodness my fiancee is back so we can finally finish up all this wedding planning" kind of way.

Even better news: today was my last day of work this week! The entire University staff has tomorrow off of work because it is the last day of spring break and the students have been off all week. But my story is that I'm so Irish my religion requires me to rest on Saint Patrick's Day. Actually, last night when I was picking up a "welcome back" pizza for Bill from Red's Savoy pizza the guy working didn't believe my name was actually my name. He thought I was just making it up because of the impending holiday. No, I'm just this pale and Irish.

Anyway, since I have tomorrow off and so does Bill (travel recovery) we're taking part in the best day of the year in my opinion. March Madness round 1 Friday! Here's what we do: Every year I get a bunch of coupons in my email for free food. I print them all out and we go to the Mall of America and shop, eat, anI'm d eat s'more. When we're tired of that, we go to Buffalo Wild Wings in the mall and drink and watch basketball! It's seriously the best day of the year. I put my diet on hold for one whole day and finally get the good ice cream. Actually I'm really craving a burger and fries. Hard.

Since today was the last day of the week, it was kind of nuts at work. Plus I was trying to watch the Gophers in the tourney, so I had a pretty stressful last two hours. It was nice to get out and know that I didn't have to go back for three whole days!

After work I did my usual workouts of Cardio Step and Body Pump. There was a woman next to me who had never done Body Pump before, so I helped her with her weight selection and kind of explained everything to her. It was funny because at the end she commented that she would really feel it tomorrow. I told her I've taken the class three days a week for a year and I still feel it the next day. Always.

Food was good today. My only indulgence was a shamrock cookie at work. The regular banana for breakfast, sandwich/yogurt/fruit for lunch, and then I had vegetarian corn dogs for dinner, along with a Fiber One bar and some popcorn for a snack. Guess what's missing? Vegetables. Because they're gross. And I'm 5 years old apparently.

Today's stats:
Steps taken: 16600
Calories burned: 3200
Calories consumed: 1450

I'm looking at my calorie count and laughing because tomorrow will be a little bit higher than that... and by a little bit I mean a lot.

Until then, readers.

Kayti