Erin Akin Carroll

1. What else would be my #1 thought other than the kickoff of Gamecock football 2009? We’re pretty excited around here. Both of Hudson’s little Gamecock outfits are a little too big for him, but we’re thinking of having him wear them anyway. The Cocks take on the NC State Wolfpack tonight on ESPN. Watch– but you better cheer for the Gamecocks.

We didn’t get season tickets this year because I wasn’t sure how many games I’d want to attend because of having a baby this year and because I hate the games when it’s still hot outside. I’m sorry. I think that literally makes me a fair weather fan, but my days of standing in Williams-Brice Stadium and nearly sweating to death are over for a while.

Gamecock football is one of Todd’s and my favorite things to do together, so we’re both really excited that this time of year has finally arrived. This will give us hours of entertainment until December! And hopefully all the way through Christmas and New Year’s if it’s a good season.

We are planning on making the trip to Tuscaloosa this year for the SC v. Alabama game, so I’d love to meet up with any of you in that area if you’ll be around.

2. A new season of Junior League kicked off last night, too. I saw a lot of people that I hadn’t seen in such a long time, but also ran into someone that I “know” but had never met before in person. One of my favorite readers– and the author of her own family blog– was just standing there and I knew it was her! She had a little girl 4 days before Hudson was born and she has been so encouraging to me. We’ve talked about meeting up, but haven’t had a chance to do it yet. I gave her a big hug and I can’t wait for our babies to play together when they get old enough to actually play!

3. Todd and I have been having lots of talks about doing something to our backyard. Maybe I’ll conclude Home Tour Tuesdays with a nice shot of our yucky backyard. The grass is sporadic and we have so many trees that it stays really muddy after a rain storm. I’d like to build a deck and then pour concrete to have a place for patio furniture, but leave enough grass for the dogs to play. Currently the space is only used as a doggy bathroom and I’d love for it to be one more area where we can live and play. Has anyone else tackled a backyard makeover?

4. I’m so excited for Labor Day weekend. We don’t have any plans, but with the game being on a Thursday this week, we really have three days of nothing! So nice!  Todd typically doesn’t take off work for holidays like Memorial Day and Labor Day even if his workplaces observes the holiday. The man just likes to work. But he is going to be at home with us for three days. Maybe I can get a pedicure? Or see the new Jen Aniston movie by myself? I love seeing movies by myself! Love it! Anyone else enjoy this?

I have learned to like eating by myself. I used to have to bring along a book or a magazine to make it look a little less sad. But now I can go without the props. I do have my cell phone, though. Does that count as a prop?

5. I’m itching for a vacation! Even if just for a weekend. We’re going to Dallas next weekend to visit my family. Todd’s only staying for the weekend, but Hudson and I will stay for two weeks. We’ll drive to Louisiana and visit all of our family there and go to a Louisiana Tech (my alma mater) football game. The second full week will be spent just hanging out in Dallas with my family and friends and visiting with some of my favorite blog (more like real life) friends.

6. Hudson will be three months old on Saturday. What?! Where did the time go? I’ll give a full update on his milestones and activities on Saturday. He’s such a big boy!

7. I’ve had Flipping Out on all day long. I haven’t seen every minute of every episode because I’m obviously taking care of the bebe, but Jeff Lewis kills me. And I’m such a Jenny fan.

The end. I’m out of fun stuff to talk about– that’s assuming that you thought any of the above was, in fact, fun.

The Weight Watchers Wednesday fun began last fall about two weeks before I found out I was pregnant. The fabulous Mojito Maven and LyndsAU continued on and lost weight and reached their goals. Then LyndsAU got pregnant, too! We all know Mojito Maven isn’t next on the pregnant bandwagon, but I did joke that bloggers should stay away from Weight Watchers Wednesday unless they wanted to end up pregnant!

I didn’t stay with the program while I was pregnant because my WW leader doesn’t like for pregnant women to follow the program. Some of you may have followed Weight Watchers while you were pregnant and that’s completely fine. I just didn’t– but I also gained 42 pounds over the course of 10 months.

Those 42 pounds don’t include the 12 pounds I gained between May 3, 2008 (our wedding day) and October 15, 2008 (the day I found out I was pregnant). Those were my happy pounds. Those pounds are the reason I started Weight Watchers Wednesday in the first place.

Now that Hudson is here, I’ve already lost 34 of the 42 pounds. Some of that was 9.5 lbs of baby. Some of it was fluid. Actually, a lot of it was fluid. Then over the past three months, most of the rest of it has just come off from having little time to think about food let alone eat. I’m also constantly chasing two dogs around and moving around the house with a 15 pound baby.

So. I have 8 pounds of baby weight left to lose and then I have those 12 pounds of happy marriage weight to lose. 20 pounds. Wow. When I put it like that it seems like an impossible mountain to climb. But I know I can do it.

Here’s my plan. I love Smart Ones and Lean Cuisines. My favorite Smart Ones is Creamy Rigatoni with Chicken and Broccoli. I could eat it every single day. I know I’m going to get comments telling me that I should cook fresh vegetables and eat lean protein. I appreciate your input so much, but the reality is that I don’t have time to cook lunch. I barely have time to eat lunch. The Creamy Rigatoni Smart Ones is 6 Weight Watchers points and it fills me up. A couple of hours later I’m bound to crave something sweet, so I eat the Sugar Free Strawberry Jell-O or Sugar Free Chocolate Jell-O Pudding Snack.

Hudson and I have just started going on walks. If I can, I like to fit in two walks. I go with just Hudson on one walk and then I bring Boudreaux along with Hudson and me for the second walk. Each walk lasts about 30 minutes, so that’s a good amount of activity every day.

I’m going to join the gym in October. I’d do it tomorrow, but I’m going to be out of town for two straight weeks and I don’t want to pay for a full month of gym membership if I’m not in town for the majority of the month. So I’ll join in October and that should speed up the process.

I know that these 20 pounds are going to be the hardest to lose, but I’m determined. I’m not giving myself a deadline– just a weight goal. When I reach it, I reach it.

For dinner, I’ll cook from the Weight Watchers website and Cooking Light. Cooking Light gives you almost all of the nutrition facts so it’s really easy to figure up the points per serving. I will have recipes ready to share next week. This post is simply here to kick off the process for me and to help me stay accountable to all of you that are watching and reading.

I’m all about honesty, but I’m just not ready to put my starting weight on the blog. I will go ahead and tell you that I’m wearing a size 8 in Banana Republic and J.Crew pants. They fit completely different than they did before I was pregnant and I know my body has morphed. I’ve also realized that I may not get my old shape back, but I’m excited to see what my new shape looks like.

I was wearing size 4 pants before I got pregnant, so I do have a big goal of fitting back into my old clothes. For weight loss purposes and economical reasons. If I can fit back into my old clothes I don’t need to buy quite as many new clothes. Although I do think a good reward for losing 20 pounds is a new wardrobe! Right, ladies?

Okay, so I’ll post about my progress every Wednesday and I promise to let you know exactly how it’s going. I’m a little bit nervous to put it out there like this again, but I’m ready. I haven’t been pregnant for 3 months and I’ve averaged 10 pounds per month with weight lost so far.

I’d also like to point out that I’m not joining Weight Watchers this go round and I won’t be attending meetings. I’ve done this so many times before and I’ve been successful. I will only weigh myself once every week and I will be recording points. I just don’t think it’s in our family’s best interest for me to pay Weight Watchers to do this when I’ve been successful before.

Okay, so please cheer me on– if I fail you’ll all see it happen! Also, please share your favorite recipes and Weight Watchers websites. And join me if you want to! Hopefully the ride will be lots of fun!