Thursday, March 31, 2011

The Leader Board!

Found out today that Cindy and I made the Leader Board for losers YAY!  I guess while we may not have been reaching all of our goals we have been consistent in dropping weight.  Sweet!

I was so tired last night I went straight home and slept for 12 hours.  I feel MUCH better today.  I plan on going for a run before meeting tonight.  I will run the levy with my little Milla.  The poor dog has spring fever and I haven't been taking her to exercise.  Now that the weather is improving I am looking forward to running outside with her.  Its also supposed to be a better workout.  Hopefully preparing me for the 5K I'm supposed to be running in 2 weeks. 

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Lackluster Showing

I lost a little this week sadly not my goal.  This morning I weighted in at 233.6.  Is it good or bad news that I can say its all my fault.  I barely worked out this week and did not eat according to "plan" more days than not.  I have two weeks left on the Spring into Action Challenge.  If I can REALLY buckle down I can get into the high 220's by the end.  That is the plan.  I need to finish this challenge strong not peter out.  As my partner Cindy said we chose an apt name.  Erratically consistent.  Now its time to hit a consistent phase!

I am so totally exhausted today.  I have been staying up too late lately.  The problem is that no matter how tired I am all day right around 10pm (right when I should be going to sleep) I get a burst of energy and I start working on some project or start to clean and the next think I know its 1:00am and I've doomed myself to another night with only 6 hours of sleep.  This does not lend itself to having the energy to plan food or exercise.  This cycle is why one of my goals initial goals was to get 8hrs of sleep.  I am going to concentrate on that this week.  I aim getting to bed on time and get up when the alarm goes off instead of hitting snooze for half an hour.  I know that if I'm not well rested my already flaccid Will Power completely shrivels in fact I think it turns into negative will power.  I need to feel rested and alert to stick to the "plan" and head off temptations as they come my way!  Now that it looks like the rain has FINALLY stopped.  I want to try to start running a few times Before work.  Not only will my dog thank me but it will enable me to start the day off in the right frame of mind.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

I like the sound of rain on a tin roof but...

I expect to look outside and see spring just float by.  It is still raining non-stop.  This morning I was so cold I literally had the space heater on my lap and was working with my arms reaching around it.  We are starting to get mud slides and my poor Moms room keeps flooding!  Any time now the rain can stop!!

I was unable to work out last night.  I got off work late and lets face it the real reason is in Zumba she had us doing squats and butt kicks and I have been so sore that I groan getting in and out of my chair!!  I over ate yesterday but today I'm back on track.

I have been breaking out all the shirts I could not wear last year and so far everything fits.  I have one pair of capri pants that I can now put on.  They are SKIN tight but I can put them on and if I wanted to look like a woman of questionable morals (and taste) I could wear them out...of course there would be fear of buttons popping when I sat down lol.  So those are going to be my current "skinny jeans" I will use them to guage the success of my efforts over the next few months.

I am feeling pretty happy today.  A lot of the chaos that has been going on has finally settled down.  Finances have calmed and work is looking pretty good at the moment.  I have A lot to look forward to over the next couple months.  I will as always be excessively busy but with good things!

I also have a experimental stew in the crock pot at home.  I'm looking forward to it.  Stew is ideal for this rainy weather!  Oh my anniversary present for this year is a Nook.  I chose the basic one.  I decided I didn't need all the bells and whistles as I'm planning on using it to read not surf the web or anything.  I am quite excited!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Another good week

For my Wednesday Spring in 2 action weigh in I am down another couple pounds to 234.2 lbs.  I am content with my progress.  I am about 1.5 lbs behind in reaching my goal of 15 lbs by April 13 but I am losing so happy with that.  Next week I would like to be down to 232.

I went to Zumba last night.  Had fun.  Its great to work out in a way where you are not counting down the seconds.  Sadly I tend to do that when running.  I don't care though I have goal with that.  I want to get up to running a 10K and I think that is going to take awhile. 

My Pesto dish turned out really yummy.  I ended up adding a bit of feta to it and thought it was quite delicious.  About a cup came to 350 calories and that was plenty for me! I picked up some whole grain pita at Trader Joe's and want to make chicken salad for lunch.  I have been feeling like trying some healthier recipes and forgot that I do like whole wheat pasta it has more flavor than white and I like that its a bit chewier it feels more substantial and filling.  Of course in moderation as its still high in carbs!  Anywho tonight I run.  Not sure how I will do I'm feeling pretty sore today.  I also still didn't do my next Push up workout.  I keep forgetting.  TONIGHT though lol..

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Someone lost the memo on spring!

It is cold and rainy here despite the fact that spring officially started Sunday at 4:20pm!  How can I know so specifically you might ask?  I was at the "Academy of Sciences" at that time and that is one of the many interesting facts I learned.  The visit also served to reaffirm my desire for my very own pet Dik Dik.

I did well with eating and exercising yesterday.  I am hoping to be at my  235 goal when I step on the scale tomorrow morning I am not aiming lower than that because my tummy is hurting and somewhat distended due to my TOM.  Next week though I am really going to push hard I would LOVE to be in the 232 range.  I would almost be on target for my goal of losing 15 lbs for this challenge.  I'm a little behind at the moment.

All of this rain has made going riding impossible for me.  Ok maybe not impossible but highly unlikely.  The arena is muddy and I am a whiny light weight when it comes to being cold.  I think my mood transfers to Romeo because he seems supremely unmotivated when I get him out in cold wet weather.  I did have a non riding victory with him last week.  My 1000 lb baby is afraid of fly spray.  I have been working on desensitizing him with it and last week he stopped rearing up and running away every time I came near.  His fear downgraded to an intense suspicion.  I would like to attribute that change to a growing bond between us.  (I give him treats lol) I think he trusts me more and is beginning to believe I would not hurt him.  Note his expression in the image above.  He is keeping an extremely wary eye on the fly bottle.  Ideally I could have gone back several consecutive days to make sure he did not regress but sadly it did not work out that way.  I will have to see how things go when I do make it out there.

I ran last night.  I did my 5K in 40 minutes.  It seemed a bit harder this time but I am very handily going to blame that (and everything else that goes wrong this week) on the TOM.  It's hard to run well when you feel like you are carrying 10 lbs of water around your belly.  I got through it though and tonight I go for Zumba.  I even plan on running for a mile before class to get those extra calories burned off!

I'm looking forward to dinner tonight!  I am making Pesto Chicken Pasta with whole grain noodles and grape tomatoes.  I think I will throw some olives in it as well.  I will try to take a picture for tomorrows page if I remember.  I got some healthy snacks at Trader Joe's today.  Even some Dark Chocolate covered Cherries.  They are only 18 calories each and as long as I am moderate I can have a couple a day to help with that sweet tooth!  Also got some "Less Guilt" pita chips. Yum!

On that note I leave you with the following image as we all impatiently wait for spring to kick in for real!  Interesting note all the flowers in the picture below grow wild in California!

Monday, March 21, 2011

Wow its been 6 years!!

I can't believe DAn and I have been married 6 years.  It does not feel like its been that long yet I can barely remember life without him!  We celebrated our anniversary this weekend spending a couple days in San Francisco.  It was rainy weather perfect for cuddling and holding hands.  We had a wonderful time!

I was not particularly careful the past few days and as expected was up a couple pounds.  I am convinced its water weight from the high sodium food I consumed and I think it should be back off in time for weigh in Wednesday.  Tonight I go to the gym I'm going to run that should get me right back on track.   

It is pouring raining and this week is my TOM so I'm going to be and already am struggling for self control.  I will be fine though.  The rain makes me feel so lazy I laid in bed this morning seriously contemplating ways I could get out of work today.  In the end I kicked my butt out of bed.  Grabbed my gym back and lunch and here I am.  I have my meals for the day set hopefully I will be able to stick to it!. 


Thursday, March 17, 2011

Good news first!

I ran last night and got my time down to 40 MINUTES!  I know its not a huge change but I didn't see any progress for so long that I was getting a bit discouraged.  I even felt pretty good for most the run.  I did walk a bit but most of it was running!  I need to work on my endurance!  Oh and another thing my lower back tends to be sore after a run.  I work hard on tucking my hips but nonetheless I feel some sciatic pain on the left side after every run.  This time there was NONE!  Woohoo.

Another huge win... I got on the scale this morning and was down 2 MORE lbs!  Does crazy dance.  That means I'm at 234.6!!  Wish I had got that number yesterday would mean a 3 lb loss for the Spring into action Challenge this week.  I'm not gonna cry over it though just celebrate the number.  I am still hesitant to go to wild with my next week goal.  I might just set it at 234 for now.  I want to see how this weekend goes.  

*Edit* I forgot to add that I tried on 3 shirts last night that I couldn't wear before they are size 16.  2 were too tight on my arms and 1 all around.  They all fit!!! My arms are shrinking.  I attribute it to the despised push up challenge I finished week 2 day three last night.  It was tough but I did it and after seeing those shirts slide on made it all worth it!*Edit*

Now for the bad news.  The washer is going to cost $364.00 to fix.  I may be sick.  On top of the $400 we just spent on the roof and the pending $400 ish on getting Dan's car worked on.  UGH.  Hate months like this.  Oh and Romeo needs vaccinations.  Breath in breath out focus on the good stuff I was talking about before.  Looking forward to the weekend.  Fortunately my bonus finally came through and it will help a lot!!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Victory! but oh so tired...

Ok so the bad news is I did not make my goal of 235 but that's ok.  I did lose one pound.  I'm down to 236.6 and I will take it.  Its been such a rocky week at least I didn't gain right.  I worked out really hard last night.  Running for 20 minutes then doing the Zumba class.  I think that worked wonders with flushing out the fluid I was retaining.  I will set next weeks goal at 235.  Dan and I are going to be celebrating our anniversary this weekend and I won't pig out but I'm pretty sure I wont be eating low calorie either.  

I would like to work on preparing my meals ahead of time again.  I did really good last week but this week I was so overwhelmed I kinda let things go and allowed the hunger to decide meals.  All things considered I did much better than I would have done in the past with the choices I made.  I really must get organized!  I did try a couple "smart ones" the frozen meals weight watchers puts out and found that I really enjoyed them I need to stock some more!

My jaw is about to fall off from the amount of yawning I'm doing.  I spent 2 hours on the phone with Verizon tech support last night.  They finally got our DSL working but then my wireless router would not reset and by the time I got shuffled off to the router support and was informed that it would cost for them to support their product I was done it was midnight and I was exhausted.  So the DSL modem is configured currently to act as a bridge and I need to change it so at least the desktop will work.  I am so tired of dealing with tech support.  The silver lining is I now know where to call anytime I just want to yell.  

The washing machine is scheduled to be fixed tomorrow.  The roof was repaired on Monday.  I have talked to the handyman to get the new toilet installed and now we need to get huzby's car looked at.  Its sounding like it might be the CV joints.  Sigh.  We will figure it out.  

Tonight I run!

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

I think I can?

  I'm not sure why I'm struggling so much.  I ate pretty good yesterday.  My calories were 1600 which is the range I am working for at least for now.  Today I have stuck to plan but I have been craving sweets like nobody's business.  

 Not to give you TMI but I think in part the problem is this weird cycle thing that I've been dealing with for the past few months.   I get a "mini" period two weeks into my BC packet.  I talked to my Doctor about it and she said that I need to change BC to something that controls the hormones better.  Anyhow I am at the mini cycle.  My abdomen is sore and I'm retaining fluid.  It bites!!  I'm weighing in tomorrow and at this point I will be happy if it says the same thing it said last week let alone being down as low as I was shooting for.  Sigh! Pout! Moan!  I'm not going to give in to discouragement though.  Little by little I am going down.  I just need to not focus on the numbers so much I guess.  Worse comes to worse I can always go with the excuse below:

Monday, March 14, 2011

And kersplat!!

The stress got me.  I couldn't wrap my mind around planning and preparing meals the past few days and we all know flying by the seat of your pants is a bad thing.  I ate unwisely but fortunately not in huge quantities.  Saturday was the worst...I ate close to 2000 calories which means I wasn't in gaining range but definitely not in losing range and yesterday wasn't much better.  Again I didn't eat a LOT but my choices were pretty bad.  Today was better.  Breakfast was good lunch was decent and dinner eh... still around 1500 calories but sigh the scale is showing the high sodium content I'm up 2 lbs sigh.  I want to hit it hard the next couple days but I'm not feeling confident.  I rode and worked out pretty much every day in the past 7 except today.  I should have gone to the gym but stress is dragging me down.  Gonna perk it back up though.  I can follow this challenge through!! I can!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

HAPPY DANCE!

Yay!  I made my goal for the first week of the challenge!  I am down to 237.6!!  It was up and down for me this week with the house-sitting.  Very hard to stick to an eating plan when you don't have access to your carefully stocked fridge and pantry!  Even on the days I tripped (think evil gingersnaps) I did not go WAY over my calories.  My goal for next weeks weigh in is 235 its another 2.5 lbs so I will have to push it just as hard if not harder to make it.  I hope I can do it!  That will get me 1/3 of the way to my goal for this challenge and considering that its a 6 week challenge I would be right on track.  I am going to be switching more towards the sugar busters eating plan next week.  Not hugely different from what I'm doing now just a bit more substance.  I need to start working on a meal plan to support that goal!

I ran last night.  Hit a record time of 41 minutes.   Part of me grumbles that its only 2 minutes down from where I started but another part of me is just thrilled to see any forward movement at all.  35 minutes seems years away but I will just keep doing what I can.  I really need to find another day to run.  I would like to do it on the weekend but my weekends have been so crazy busy lately that I don't even know where I would put a run!

Tonight I ride!  The weather is finally starting to clear up even though there have been some threats of rain.  I am really looking forward to some serious riding.  Now that its drier and the footing is improve.  Its hard to get serious about cantering on a wet and muddy arena (at least for me).  I need to give Romeo a really good bath as he is shedding like crazy right now.  I come home covered in horse hair.  Though I am looking forward to him getting his shiny summer coat back.  Next winter I may try to invest in a blanket for him to prevent the huge winter coat.  Will have to see how that goes time and unforeseen occurrence and all.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Non Scale Victories

I have been thinking about non scale victories aka NSV’s the changes during your weight loss journey.  These things are the whole reason you choose to lose weight in the first thing.  The 100 annoyances that come from being too big. 

One of my favorite NSV is the regained ability to cross my legs when sitting.  I spend quite a bit of time in dresses and skirts this is huge for me.  This was such a big deal to me that I used to daydream about an invention that would hook a heavy persons knees together when sitting.   I still can’t cross “prettily” but I can do it comfortably.  Every time I cross my legs I get a little thrill of excitement.  Finally months after I reclaimed this ability I have begun to restrain myself from excitedly pointing it out to my husband.  Huzby was very forbearing even managing to muster some excitement for me the first hundred times I pointed excitedly at my crossed legs.  Now I can tell he is starting to suppress rolled eyes.

 Another NSV is the ability to sit in and get out of chairs that have arms without them becoming a permanent part of me.  It is so nice to actually be able to use the arm chairs for my arms instead of them becoming embedded in my hips inches below my elbows.  

 I have almost gotten over my fear of other people backseats.  That traitorous chime that compels the driver to survey if everyone has their seatbelt buckled. With me struggling once again to stretch the seatbelt around my bulk.  Sometimes managing it panting red faced but victorious for its much worse when I have to acknowledge that it does not fit me.  Weakly letting them know that its not law for the backseat passenger and assuring them that if there is a ticket I would be the one to get it.    

Additionally for the most part I can find clothes that fit me almost anywhere instead of shopping specialty stores or departments.   

Then there is my absolute favorite NSV the ability to ride horses again!  I missed riding so much and it has given me untold joy to be back in the saddle!!

So today I meditate on my victories as my weekly weigh in postponed until tomorrow morning looms on the distance.  I have hope!  I was able to Zumba yesterday and will be running tonight.  We shall see.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

It's oh so quiet

  I feel very quiet today.  A pessimist would call it blank an optimist would call it peaceful.  I'm going to go with quiet.  I feel mildly sleepy.  Not from lack of sleep for once!  Its from sitting in my quiet office during a mildly grey day cuddled in my wrap sipping my water methodically plowing through a never ending stack of paperwork.  

  Last night was the last night of pet/house sitting.  I am looking forward to getting back to my home.  Usually I love house sitting its like a mini vacation but this time it was so sudden and it was during an extremely busy weekend.  Its thrown my eating plan off.  I just wasn't up for lugging food from my fridge over to the house every day so we ended up eating out a lot.  The good news is every time we ate out I stretched each meal to 2-3 so I wasn't the bad news is I'm pretty sure due to the Chinese I am retaining massive amounts of water and I'm deeply concerned about tomorrows weigh in for the  Spring Challenge I am trying not to obsess panic stress think about it to much though.  

  I did my second day of the first week of the 100 Push up Challenge I found it more difficult than the first one.  Perhaps because I was still a bit sore from the first go.  I am planning on doing it every other day through this week so by Monday of next week I will be on the third week.  I started a bit late and I hate feeling behind.  

  Tonight before my meeting I plan on going to Zumba.  I need to work out harder this week.  That is my update for today.  Oh the gingersnaps are gone.  Huzby ate a good bit of what was left and I polished them off last night.  I am proud however that there has been a box of Samoa's floating around since Saturday and I have only eaten 4 of them.  For me that is progress of sorts lol.

EDIT:  I just found out I need to spend another night house  sitting.  Sigh.  Since we already packed up and all I prob will run by the house tonight grab clothes for work tomorrow and stay over on my own.  That hopefully will give me the chance to get my food for tomorrow in order.  I sure hope I'm not up when I weigh in.  Its gonna have to wait til Thursday morning though. 

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Upside and Downside

Ok so I worked today and started the day off real well.  I resisted boxes and boxes of girl scout cookies floating around the office (THERE WERE SAMOAS Not eating them should be negative calories!!) and stuck with my eating plan even saving up so I could eat slightly more for dinner to eat out with Huzby.  I ordered a half dish at the local diner and then only ate half of it.  Yay another success!!  So I was feeling pretty good when I finished supper well within today's goal.  Then a couple hours later Huzby surprised me with Ginger snaps!  Sigh so sweet but I apparently was low on self control and ate waaaaay to many of them.  Pushing me well outside my daily goal.

On the upside I did my first push up work out and at the end I was able to do 10 for the 5th set!  It will be interesting to see how sore I am tomorrow. 

I am hoping to make it out to the ranch tomorrow after checking out the horse show.  It will all depend on how late I get back to town. 

Friday, March 4, 2011

Spring into Action

I stumbled across an online challenge called Spring Into Action and I have decided to join it.  As I have stated my current goal is to be at 220 by May.  This Challenge is for 6 weeks and we all set our own goals.  So my goals for this Challenge which ends April 13 are:

  • Be down to 225 lbs
  • Complete the 100 push up Challenge
  • Train for my 5k and be able to run it straight through.
  • Consistently drink 1 Gallon of water a day
  • Sleep 8 hours a Night

On that note I am happy to report I am down another pound!  For the first time in over a decade I am in the 230's.  I am really hoping that by the end of this challenge I will be fitting in a 16 easily!  


I went riding last night had a wonderful ride and was thrilled to discover that Fitday doesnt JUST allow me to log riding as an activity it has the option to select trotting, walking and grooming so I am able to log all my activities on the ranch.  I am planning on going again this evening if I can walk.  After pushing so hard running Weds and Trotting A LOT last night I'm a bit sore.  Its still a good thing!

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Just because this amount of cuteness MUST be shared

I open this post with an official SQUEE!
  How can anyone not giggle and coo at the above cuteness!  I have a serious love of animals.  I think my wires got crossed and any actual maternal instinct got  have got sent to my love of furred friends.  Don't get me wrong I like children and babies but for me to really get excited it takes a furry friend.  I will drop everything and run to a cute critter emitting noise reminiscent of a boiling teakettle ready to pet and cuddle the cuteness.  I struggle to resist that urge as A) I look a tad insane and B) I would terrify the object of my affection.  Something akin to Elmyra from the tiny toons. See illustration!

Ok back on track.  I am down 1.4 lbs.  Been working it hard this week.  I am logging my food on Fitday and I went for a run yesterday.  I bought a bunch of celery for a healthy snack and a bit of hummus which in small doses is also healthy.  As  a treat I am allowing myself 1 Tablespoon of PB on Celery.  Something that is filling and tasty!

I have been doing much better with my water intake and been taking massive quantities of vitamins to try to get my immune system back up.  I'm still on the mega dose of Vitamin D and today is the first time I woke up before my alarm and while I did lay in bed I actually felt good.. still feeling decent.  Hope this is a new trend!  Tonight I go riding!