The last day before vacation

We leave to go on a fun-filled vacation to Las Vegas tomorrow morning. CANNOT WAIT! The whole reason we are going is my friend is getting married and we want to share in their happy day. I'm just so dog-gone proud and happy for her. I wish her love and happiness that knows no bounds on her wedding day and beyond.

The trip itself is going to be a blast! We are staying at New York New York, where I haven't stayed before. This is my 5th trip, yes I said 5th trip, to Las Vegas. I have gone 4 times for work, which means that for three days I've had to be inside for conferences. Blech! This time, I get to spend EVERY DAY having fun with my friends and hubby. I'm so excited about this! We have great plans for the pool, a show, and all-around fun time. How can you NOT have a good time in Vegas?

So, with that being said, I'm not going to be 100% concerned with my food. I am going to try to aim for veggie meals over meat meals, but I'm not going to let that stop me from having a delicious milk shake at the Ben and Jerry's in our hotel. We have no Ben and Jerry's near us, so I think that last time I had this milk shake was the last time I was in Las Vegas, 3 years ago. I'm splurging. LOL! We'll do a lot of walking, so hopefully the walking will help.

This vacation is going to be for fun. I will handlle the consquences when we return. For now, vacation beakons and I plan on joining it!

Oh heavens...the weekend

Wow! What a weekend! Hubby and I headed up to NYC with two of our friends from college for the day. One of them lives just outside the city, so we stayed with him for the night and spent an exhausting, fabulous day together touring a large chunk of NYC. We walked a LOT! I meant to bring my pedometer to see how far, but forgot it, but trust me, we walked a TON! We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, all around Wall Street, the East Village, and downtown. Had a BLAST!

The food wasn't too bad either actually. We had a slice of pizza before heading into the city - one plain slice. Then we grabbed dinner at an Irish place in the East Village where I had a veggie burger and fries. At the end of the day, I had a 100 calorie pack of carrot cake. So, food-wise I did fine. I was a little surprised at how well I ate.

Alcohol is another story! LOL! I had two delicious beers at the Irish place. It was a Wheat beer. Yum! Then off to Burp Castle, which serves Belgium beer and had a yummy raspberry beer there. I forget the name, my friend ordered them. Then at the comedy club two more beers - Bud Light. Totally recommend AGAINST it. Blech! But the selection was limited and it was a two drink minimum. After we got home, I had two more. So, the food consumption was fine, the alcohol consumption killed me!

So, the decision for the week is high vegetable meals. Salads at lunch and lots of veggies for dinner. I'm not weighing in this week because the only weigh-in on Wednesday is the same time I have to take my adorable fluffy Pooka to the kennel for boarding while away. And after this weekend, I think I don't want to know! LOL!

Friday Weigh-In

The last official weigh-in before Las Vegas. I was hoping for 2.2 pounds today so that I would be down 25 pounds by the time we leave. I was down 1.4. :-( I know I should be happy for a loss, but I really wanted to be at 25 pounds this week.

So, I have a dilemma. Do I work really hard until Wednesday night, weigh-in and hope for a .8 pound loss or cut my losses and be happy with 24.2 pounds? There are a couple factors to consider. This weekend hubby and I are heading to NYC with a couple of friends for the day on Saturday. I don't have control over food while we're out. I know I can make certain choices, but I don't know where we're eating, so not sure what's on the menu to try and strategize. AND, Wednesday night I have to take my sweet Pooka kitty to the kennel. He has diabetes and needs a daily insulin shot that while we're away he can't get. So, WW is one direction and the kennel is in the completely OPPOSITE direction. And there's only one meeting on Wednesday at 5:45 p.m. I suppose I'll just see how tomorrow goes and if it's good, I'll figure out a way to go and if it's not good, then 24.2 will be fine.

I've done half my workout so far today. I got the cardio done and still need to do the upper body weights. I've been doing pretty good at getting in anywhere from 40-60 minutes a day. Hopefully that will make a difference soon!

Wednesday Exercise

Well, since I didn't go to the Outlets today, I had time to exercise. I did two sessions on the Wii Active. I wanted to check out the Sports Activity one and my goal is to get my arms as buff as possible between now and next Thursday. I know they won't look great, but I think that's the one area I can really make any headway in within a week's time.

So, the sports routine? I was hoping for more of the sports. : -( There was too much of stupid other stuff in between the baseball, basketball, tennis, and volleyball. It was definitely more than usual, but I thought the whole routine would focus more on the sports activities. Ah well. Live and learn, right?

I also did the Upper Body routine today. I did that yesterday and I think I'm getting the hang of it. It really is all the upper arm exercises in one routine, which is exactly what I'm looking for! I'm going to be doing this often over the next week. I have a sleeveless dress to wear in Las Vegas and I want to look good! ;-)

Wednesday Update

Home. No outlets for me. Mom's car isn't working...surprise. So, I will run errands and have much more control over my lunch and dinner. Phew!

Interesting Week

I have no idea how this week is going to pan out. I had a really good Sunday (after a fairly ok Sat. and a decent Fri.). Then yesterday was the All-Star Home Run Derby. It's one of my favorite non-Phillies baseball events all season. Especially when my boys are in it! We go out to eat and watch the game. I planned ahead and knew what I was going to order. And I followed through. Yea me! I had half an order of the pretzel sticks and the Southwestern Chicken Chop Chop (no, I didn't eat the chicken. I brought it home for Brian to eat). Both were delicious! I also hate two lite beers, which were part of the plan.

So, today, when I jumped on the Wii Fit to do the Body Test, I didn't have much hope that it would be a good weigh-in. Well, I had been down 1.1 Monday and then went down another .2 today. :-) Yea! I was very happy to see that I planned ahead and it worked.

Tomorrow, I'm going to Lancaster outlets with my mom. I'll have breakfast here, but no idea what's going on for lunch/dinner. Sucks. I have a goal here and I don't know how tomorrow is going to effect it. Aiming for mostly veggies for meals tomorrow. Can't go wrong with veggies, right?

I'm starting to hate weigh-in days...

I gained this week. Grrrr... Only .8 pounds, but still. It's not the direction I wanted to go in. I wanted to go DOWN, not up. Ugh. I was so close to hitting 25 pounds before Las Vegas and now I'm not sure. I need to be down 2.2 pounds before Friday to reach that goal. I'm not sure I can do it.

So, this week, I have decided I am going to eat as little candy/sweets/chips as possible. Be really conscious about it. Eat more fruits. Get more veggies in at meals. I know I won't completely not eat them. At some point, I'll eat a random piece of chocolate accidentally, but hopefully by concentrating on fruits and veggies more, I'll eat less of the unhealthy stuff and more of the healthy stuff. Maybe? Yea, that's it.

5 days til weigh-in. Is 2.2 pounds too much to ask?

Exercise

has been hard to come by lately. I did the 5k on June 28th and then just kinda stopped. I gave myself until July 1 off from running, but that didn't mean I gave myself off from other things. It was a snowball effect, I stopped running and I stopped doing other activities as well. I have lots to choose from - by design. I get bored easily and having a variety of options available makes it easier for me to do SOMETHING. I have a Wii, so I can do Wii Fit or Wii Active. I have a small bike that only has the pedals that I use. It's great to just sit on the couch, watching the Phils, and use the bike. We have a treadmill that I could run OR walk on. And then there's the park. I could go to the park 2 minutes from the house and run OR walk the trail. So, you would think I could do any number of activities other than running. Well, I didn't.

Until yesterday. Well, truthfully, I used my bike on Monday for 30 minutes as my first forray into exercise, but that was kinda weak. Yesterday, I did a combo workout. I did 20 minutes on the Wii Active (it's set list of activities and the machine sets the amount of time per workout), 30 minutes on the Wii Fit (20 minutes of step aerobics and 10 minutes of balance exercise), and 20 minutes on my little bike. I like being able to do multiple activities for small amounts of time. It gives me a variety of activities and I can work out longer than if I do one activity for an hour. It's kinda nice.

I think I'm back in the game. I plan on getting a short run in. If it's nice out, I'll go to the park this afternoon, if not, I'll use the treadmill. Aiming for really just a mile. It's been awhile. I can easily work back up to more, but a mile the first time out is good. I'll also do the Wii Active today. It's a good workout. I have one more day on my 30-day challenge, then I can either start a new one or I can program my own. :-) I think I also want to check out what programs are on the cable. Sometimes they have fun ones and I could add in something different, which is good.

Tomorrow is weigh-in. Who knows if I lost this week. My scale is screwy lately. I'd love to hit the 25 pound mark this week, but I probably won't. The aim is before July 23rd. I can do that. Right?

First weigh-in of July

Headed off to WW this morning. Was kinda tired, but got up. I needed to get there when they opened because we had plans to head to Hershey Park today! Yea! Just what every dieting girl needs...a trip to an amusement park devoted to chocolate. LOL!

Had a great week apparently. Lost 3.4 pounds. I KNOW! Who would have thought? So, down a total of 23.6 pounds. I will not hit my goal of 30 pounds by the end of July, but I can hit 25 pounds. That isn't something to scoff at and it's not THAT far from 30. It would bring me to the half way point of my goal of 50 pounds. Something again to be excited for.

Today ended up being my cheat day. Ate too much crap at the end of the day. Sucks though because tomorrow is 4th of July. Ah well. Looks like our BBQ plans have changed and hubby's parents don't have as big a food selection as my family. Also hoping they'll have stuff I don't like so I'm not tempted to have stuff I shouldn't. LOL! Isn't that horrible?

So, I just need 1.4 pounds this week to hit 25. *fingers crossed* I can hit it this week!

Gardening

Let it be known first and foremost, I do NOT have a green thumb. Generally it's black. I've killed a cactus...really. But, knowing I was being let go from my job, which cut our income down, I decided to try my hand at a little gardening. So, I got some planters and planted lettuce and watermelon. We had some slight problems with the planters and I thought the bottoms had the stoppers pulled out when they hadn't and we had horrible rain storms. So much water...and so many weeds! I was using the planters to avoid weeds, but I wasn't swift enough for that. Anyway, this is what my watermelon and lettuce looks like now:

WATERMELON


LETTUCE

If anyone knows if there are weeds in my lettuce, please let me know. I think there is, but I can't tell which are lettuce and which are weeds!

6 Month Check-In

Well, it's been approximately 6 months since I started this blog and I had some MAJOR goals for the year. I thought it would be appropriate to take time now, 6 months later, to see where I stand in relationship to these goals.

Healthier Eating

Overall, it's been better. There were a few weeks here and there (February, April) were I definitely didn't follow through with what I should be doing, but overall I've gotten into a rhythm and I think it's working. I generally weigh in on Saturdays, then use the rest of the day as my splurge day. No points counting and just enjoying meals that I shouldn't eat on WW. LOL! As the months have passed, I have noticed on splurge night that I can't eat as much as I used to. If we have an appetizer, I generally cannot finish my dinner. Brian gets some tasty lunches the following week based on my left over Saturday night meals. :-) So, I think my body is getting used to smaller portions with less fat in them. It looks like I may be coming to the point where I have to decide on appetizers OR dessert. Ack! But, that's a good thing.

Exercising

That has increased as the year went on. I started out in January running one mile on Saturday mornings and doing my little exercise bike and Wii Fit during the week...when I wasn't in class. When classes ended, I started adding week night running into the mix, so I was going 2-3 nights a week. The exercise routine got another boost when I obtained Wii Active. That's a workout! LOL! It's helped define my shoulders and arms. I am doing more exercise in general than usual, which is a positive thing.

And of course, there was the first 5k on Sunday, June 28th. Something I NEVER would have thought I could do. And honestly, it wasn't as hard as I thought and I was a little faster overall than I thought. It was a great experience and a great way to show my progress over the last 6 months.

Finishing my education

Well, I am on my way! I finished the spring semester out and only have my thesis to go. That seems so strange. It's been a long year and a half, but I'm almost done. I've been doing some research lately for my thesis and my Advanced Research Methods class helped get me on the right track with things, especially the Introduction. Phew! I will spend the summer researching, maybe even starting to write and then work my butt off this fall to finish my thesis and graduate in December 2009. Yea!

Finding a new job

That has not gone as planned. I did not find a position in the first six months of 2009 and I have lost the position I had at the beginning. Apparently I was not as good a fit as one of the other candidates for the position. Lovely for me, huh? So, now it comes down to determining what to do. I have filed for unemployment and have contacted the city about being a substitute teacher in the fall. This should hopefully help my personal income while allowing me to finish my thesis. I will be using my vacation pay to pay for the fall semester, so that's something at least. In December, I'll have an MA, which hopefully will open some additional employment doors for me. And maybe by the end of the year, I will be again gainfully employed. And maybe this time, doing something I really enjoy!

So, there you have it, a recap of the first 6 months of 2009 based on my goals for the year. It has been overall a good year, though stressful. Hopefully that will change as 2009 goes along.

I'll keep posting and hopefully by the end of the year:

* I will have lost 50 pounds total
* Run at least one more 5k, maybe even an 8k
* Will have my MA in American Studies
* Find a job that I love!