Officially Back on the Wagon

Yup, I've been saying it for weeks, but I am back on the horse or wagon, which ever metaphore you prefer. I realized I was having no luck motivating myself, so...my friend Nicole did it for me. See, I follow a blog called "Does This Blog Make Us Look Fat," where the authors make loosing weight fun. I shared the blog with Nicole some time back and I thought that was the end of it. I got an email Tuesday from Nicole telling me she won 3 months free membership to WW from the blog. Woohoo Nicole! I was so excited for her that I decided then and there to go to WW Tuesday night and get back on track. Yup, I didn't wait until Sat., I just went. And I felt the way when I weigh-in on Sat., things are back on track. I gained 3 pounds in my post-Easter extravaganza, but it's done with now. I am back. And I think I'm down a little even since Tuesday. :-)

The goal for NEXT Sat (since I've weighed-in already this week, I can't go on the 2nd), is to loose what I gained and then 1-2 pounds more. I think the bulk of that 3 pounds was water, hence the loss already since Tuesday. I am pumped for this! I finish classes tomorrow - I'm mailing in my two papers - and can commit again to exercise. My goal now is my Sat. run, plus 2 more runs the rest of the week. So, three runs a week with some Wii or other activity thrown in. I do have a badminton challenge out to my hubby for when the weather gets nice. So, that will be good as we usually play for about an hour. Ahhh...how much time I get back now that classes are out for summer!

A New Start

It is Sunday night (ok, technically Monday morning) and I am psyched. I have had a good weekend, though I have had a sad couple of weeks. As I've written earlier, my too-small ring now fits and a shirt I purchased last summer now fits. Well, now I have more happy news. The weather here in the northeast was warm this weekend - according to the weather report tonight, temps made it to 90. Really. 90. When does it get to 90 degrees in April? Oops. I digress. So, with warm temps and baseball tickets in hand, I needed (obviously) short sleeve shirts and capris. I grabbed some from last summer and started on clothes. I was thrilled when my capris fit without being snug. I generally have issues the first try-on of the season. Then I moved onto t-shirts. I tried on a cute blue cotton tee with a pretty pattern on the front. This shirt has never fit. The matching jacket does, but not the tee. It fit! And to celebrate, I wore it to the game. :) I was THRILLED!

So, with the high of my capris fitting and wearing clothing that has never fit, I am officially recommitting myself to my healthy eating and exercise routine. I've sad that the last two Sunday nights, but I'm so happy with really seeing results that I'm motivated to stop eating sweets and go back to Lenten actions. I can do this! I have 12 weeks to loose approximately 16 pounds. It will be a challenge, but it's doable!

Small Things

It has not been the best of weeks diet and exercise wise. I had high hopes on Sunday that I would get back on track, but I didn't. I wasn't as off the mark as last week, but I definintely wasn't doing what I should have been doing this week. Frustrating. The end of Lent and my Lenton resolution is KILLING me! Now that I know God won't kill me for not eating sweets or meat, it's like I never knew these items existed before. I need to get back to eating cereal and dried fruit for dessert rather than Easter candy. I need to stop snacking on the foods in the office kitchenette.

But, with all that negativity, there was some good this week. B and I went on vacation last June to Natural Bridge, VA. A very scenic and fun little vacation trip. The extremely large gift shop for the natural wonder had a beautiful synthetic opal ring and since I'm an opal suckor, I bought. Well, once I removed it from it's lovely plastic backing, I realized it was too small for ANY of my fingers. I was sooo disappointed. It's a very pretty ring and in silver, which I do not own much of. Well, I had an event last night for work that I had to dress very business formal for. I saw the ring and really wanted to wear it. So, expecting disappointment, I tried it on my right pinky finger. And much my surprise and delight, it fit! I was able to put it on! Which I could NOT do last summer. And the even better aspect of this was I could REMOVE the ring as well. :-) I wore my pretty opal ring with pride last night, even if I was the only person who knew.

And a second good this week, which should turn my negative week into a positive one, since two positives are double the negatives and should out-weigh the negative. Anyway...today in South Central PA the temperature is to be in the 70s. Which is glorious, and would be even more so if I had the day off, but I digress. I wanted to wear a short sleeve shirt to work. Since I haven't switched my winter clothes for summer clothes yet, I had very slim pickings this morning. I did find a cute pink/white/red shirt I bought last summer. The problem was it was tight about the chest. I have a large chest and button down shirts are the bane of my existance. No matter what size I am, in a button-down shirt, I'm one size bigger. Grrrr. Well, I was short on time, so I grabbed in with fingers crossed it might fit. I ironed it and threw it on and low and behold, IT FIT! It is the perfect size now.

I hadn't expected my 15 pound loss to make a big difference yet, but obviously, 15 pounds means something. I'm very excited my shirt and ring fit. I'm thinking of grabbing some other clothes and seeing if they fit. I have my 10-year college reunion tomorrow and I might not have to worry about buying something, I might have something new just by fitting into some old clothes!

Sunday - Back on Track

The past week has been a train wreck. Seriously. I got sick Tuesday and when I'm sick, I have a tendency to eat crap. And with Lent being over and candy again adorning our pantry, it was easy enough to do. So, crap it was this week. Then on Thursday night, I stopped being able to taste anything. So, then it became the challenge to see if I could taste anything. Turns out unless it's really strong, no. I can taste the sweetness of jelly beans, bananas, the spiciness of pepperoni, and the strong after taste of licorice. Other than that, nada. Sucks. It's been several days now, you would think I would be able to taste again, especially since my nose is getting unstuffed. Very frustrating.

So, I'm back to eating healthy today. Kinda. I really want something to snack on right now and chances are I'll have it. We're having left over pizza for dinner, but after that, back on track. I should be fine this week, especially as I adjust to not being able to taste food. Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to. Who knows? Here's hoping!

What a horrible week

Really. It's just been bad. The broadcast world lost an icon on Monday and apparently, I was so upset over it, I caused myself to get sick. I have been ill all week with a cold. I've been stuffy and coughing since Tuesday and eating. Non-stop. Everything. It doesn't matter what it is, I'm just eating. When I'm sick I want to eat. The bad part? Aside from eating everything in site? I can't taste most of it. Really. So, I'm eating, taking in tons of worthless calories and I'm not even really enjoying them. Sucks.

I'm not weighing in tomorrow. I decided I don't want to face the scale. And since I'm not running because I can barely walk the 10 feet from my living room to the bathroom without having a coughing fit, I thought it was unwise. So, I am going to sleep in and try to rest. I think right now that's what my body needs. I'll be back to my good ole self by the end of the weekend (hopefully).

A Sad Day

Yesterday was one of the saddest days I have lived through in a long time. Beloved Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas passed away at the age of 73. It's such a shock to loose someone so important and ironically, someone I've never met. I spent most of my evening watching coverage of his loss and crying. It's like I lost a member of my family. I am truly amazed at how deeply I am taking this. A read a comment today about his passing that struck home - it was like a blow to the stomache. Yea. I agree. It is like a blow to the stomache. It hits that deep.

With that being said, I allowed my emotions to carry me last evening. I ate a ton of crap. I think I stayed within my points, but those points sure weren't nutrious in any way, shape, or form. They involved chocolate Easter bunnies, SF shortbread cookies, jelly beans, and buttered popcorn. Today, I just don't feel like eating anything. I did purchase a bag of cheap-o jelly beans on sale and had some, then stopped eating. Tonight's dinner is comfort food, cheese sandwich. Not grilled cheese, just a cheese sandwich.

And I think I made myself sick. I cannot get my nose to stop running. I woke up with a sore throat that has just about disappeared, but my nose will not stop running. So, apparently Harry's passing is making me physically ill, as well as emotionally spent. What a week.

Weekly Check-In

Saturday again and we all know what that means....weigh-in! I was .8 pounds away from being down a total of 15. I've been thinking of that ALL week. If nothing else, let me hit the 15 pound mark. I really wanted to hit that this week. I was tired of being this close. So, headed to weigh-in and low and behold, I was down .8 pounds. I was a tad disappointed, but to be honest:

A. I HAD prayed to at least hit the .8 mark this week

B. I attended TWO baseball games this week AND had my splurge day.

So, with that being said, I am now content with my .8 pounds this week.

Onto not so good news, I did not run. :-( It was raining this morning pretty badly as we left WW, so it was not going to be a good morning to run. So, we hit the grocery store and home. Had a wonderful breakfast though. I made scrambled eggs with red, orange, and yellow peppers, tomatoes, and broccoli. It was yummy! B made us toast and coffee, so all in all a good breakfast and healthy!

The rest of the day consisted of reading for class and cleaning. We're having a friend visit from France this week and the house HAS to be clean. Yesterday I spent 3 hours cleaning my kitchen. That's just wrong. So, come hell or high water, the kitchen will stay clean! LOL! Today, we did laundry, cleaned the bedroom, and hung a frame. It's going well.

Tomorrow is Easter. Happy Easter to all my friends! I hope the bunny treats you well.

Two Posts in One Week?

Yup, two posts in one week. :-) It's been a busy week and that makes two updates all that more suprising. But, I'm here and sharing and you're there reading, so let's get moving!

I had two major hurdles this week. Sunday night we headed to Philadelphia to see my boys defend their title as World Champions. It was a miserable night. It was cold and there were odd people all around. It was a sold out game, so what else do you expect? And what made it truly a miserable night was their performance. They played like a bunch of amatuers. Frustrating! These guys know better. Ugh. The hurdle at the game was what to eat for dinner that wasn't horrible. I did some advance scouting and found a place that had vegetarian options and off we went. We grabbed a mozzerella, roasted red pepper, broccoli rabe, and eggpplant wrap. Yum! I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was...and filling! It was a huge wrap, but still. It filled me up the whole game. I did grab a small bag of pretzel crisps on the way home, but only ate half. They were spicy!

Then Monday, we headed to Baltimore to check out the O's at their home opener. And of course, the question lies in what to eat for lunch. So many options in Baltimore, that don't include the ball park! We opted for Philips, though we anticipated eating at the Baltimore Brewing Company, but sad to report they are closed. :-( Since Philips had no line to get in (shocking!), we grabbed lunch there. Had a beer made specifically for Philips and a Salmon BLT without the B. LOL! Silly Lent. It was really good actually. The only critique I have is the fish could have been seasoned in some way. It was just kinda blah. But, overall good. I ate half my fries (a hurculean effort, trust me) and felt good. We wandered the Inner Harbor a tad, then off to the game. We grabbed another beer outside the stadium, then off to the game. This game was crazy with weather and on-field action. It POURED right before the game, but once it ended, the game started and there was no more rain. Phew! And the game ended in a 10-5 win for the O's against the Yankees. Now that's something we can all celebrate!

We shall see how these two days influence my weight. I think I did ok, but you never know. It's really hard to eat out AND eat healthy. But we had a great time and I'm looking forward to baseball season!

Moving Along

Well, weigh-in on Sat. went better than I expected. I lost a whopping .6 pounds, which is way better than the gain I anticipated. So, I am currently down 14.2 pounds. I desperately want to hit 15 pounds. I am salivating over it. I crave it. I need it. I know that sounds extreme, but I am tired of being the biggest of my friends. I want to be pretty and happy with who I am and what I look like. People don't get this (because most people are at a healthy weight), but I'm tired of always being overweight. I have been overweight my entire life (all 33 years of it) and I want to be normal. I'm not asking to be a size 0, that wouldn't be me. I'd love to be a size 10. I'd love the chance to know I can go in ANY store and find something that fits and looks good. I can find things now, but it's always a search to find something good. So, 15 pounds meants a lot right now. And just as a reminder, the goal is a total of 31 pounds by the end of July. When I hit the 15 pound mark, I will only have 16 pounds to go. I think it's doable.

After weighing in, headed to the park to run. It was the windiest run I have ever gone on. As much as I say I'm shocked at increasing my running time, I was floored when I did it Sat. I mean, I have never been in wind that strong before. With the wind at my back, I felt like I was flying. With the wind in my face, I felt like I was walking into a brick wall with tears in my eyes (and I wear sunglasses when I run!). It was truly a unique experience. With that being said, I had a great run! I finished my one mile time at 12:45, which is 12 seconds better than last week. Woohoo! And I finished my 2 mile time at 30:06, 2 seconds faster than last week. Bummed I was so close to finishing under 30, but I am not shocked with the wind. I'm cool with it. There's always next time, right? I even thought I would run an additional half mile, but Brian was done his run and I was excited enough about my time that I had to tell someone. LOL! This week we will aim to get under 30 minutes on the 2 miles and add that half mile in. Gotta have goals.

Face the Music Tomorrow

Well, I weigh-in tomorrow. I believe I will be up. Which truly saddens me. I so wanted to hit 15 pounds lost this weekend. I'm frustrated by it and that frustration really does make it worse. I now want to just eat more because I feel like I've screwed up, might as well eat some more.

But I am fighting that urge. I'm trying hard to stay on track, even if I didn't do a great job this week. I'll be back to let you know how the week went. Let's just assume the news won't be good.

Updating, Because I Need To Get With It

Why is it that I keep thinking I update this when I haven't? I SWORE I shared my Sat. weigh-in and run. Ah well. Better late than never, right?

Got to WW Sat. and it was pretty packed. I was surprised. It's been really quiet when I go the last couple months, so when there were 8 people in line when I got there, I was surprised. Took me about 10 minutes to get to the front. Odd. It was somewhat worth it. Was down 1.4 pounds this week. I was again hoping for 2 pounds. I just don't know what's up with this. I want a week where I'm down 2 pounds. Is that too much to ask??? Ugh.

Then off B and I went to the park. It wasn't too bad temperature wise. So, off I went. I did a great first mile! I finally got under 13 minutes! I was so excited. I did my first mile in 12:57, so not much less than 13, but it was still less. :-) Excited!! I then went on to run the second lap. I was feeling ok. Got to the end and improved that time too! Finished my 2 miles in 30:08, which was 39 seconds faster than last time. Yea! I was pretty proud of that.

But that's the end of the good news. For two days, Sunday and Monday, I ate horribly. Ugh. I have a feeling I'm going to be up this week. Which sucks since this will be the first week since I started back that I've gone up. I was on such a roll. And only needed 1.4 pounds to hit 15 pounds down. Man! I hate stress. :-(