I'm back

Hey guys! Happy New Year! The holidays are almost over and since I'm starting a new stint of the hcg diet, I thought I'd keep you posted on my progress. I'm doing a short one this time as 40 days was just too long for me.

I gave myself the first shot this morning and let me just say . . . scary! I'm out of practice. It also stung a little and bled. Oh well. It was over quick. I'll keep you up to date on how things go. These first two days are considered "load" days where I'm supposed to eat as much fat as I can stuff inside myself! WOO HOO! My dear friend is starting with me. I plan on eating at Olive Garden for lunch and donuts for dinner! =) And everything else in between!

I'll be checking in. May all your clothes feel baggy!

It's All a Conspiracy ...

Have you ever had one of those days ... er, weeks ... or months ... or, let's face it. Lives where it seems like everything's out to get you?

Yeah. That would be how I'm feeling right now.

I've struggled to find a way to exercise that doesn't hurt my feet. I've told you the feet story, haven't I? It's pretty pathetic. Anyway, so I happened upon the Wii Fit. Love the Wii Fit. Plan on getting the upgrade soon. I've mastered the Advanced Step for aerobics and I'm a Yoga Master, so I'm ready for more challenges. The Wii is my friend. I love the Wii.

My husband vacuumed the Wii sensor bar cable and broke it.

Yeah. That was fun.

However, I did find a replacement online. It was $14.95, which is pretty good, with free shipping, which is excellent, and is wireless. Priceless.

We're now waiting for it to arrive, and we'll see if it works. That's always the challenge ... will it work.

Keep your fingers crossed for a resurrection of our Wii ...

Working Out Again

I ran on Saturday and did an upper body workout on Monday. Now, the real test is going to be whether I can get my buttox to the gym on Tuesday to swim. *gulp*

The amazing thing is that healthy food looked good to me at the store today, and junk food looked like junk. I can't say it'll last forever, but I love little moments like that when I feel like I'm making progress. :o)

Still Steady

Okay, I haven't been trying to lose weight in a while. I mean, not really, although I've tried to somewhat watch what I eat. I also go on vacation on Christmas day to San Diego for ten days so eating habits will definitely be different.

For me, January fifth will be when I hit everything hardcore again. However, there is good news. I haven't gained. Those ten pounds I lost SO long ago? They're still lost. And I'm going to keep them lost even through this vacation. And maybe I'll take some long walks on the beach and get some good exercise in!!

So there you go. Oh and I really do think I'm going to try to do the Acai berry thing and see what happens. Just for a month. It'd be great if my body could get kick-started into some weight loss. AND the acai berry thing is supposed to improve energy levels . . . and I've NEVER had energy. I mean, NEVER. Just ask my husband.

I'll let you know what happens as I try it. Most likely nothing . . . but it won't hurt me either so who cares?

I probably won't be posting here for the next couple of weeks--I won't have access to my scales, so have fun . . . and remember. Just because it's Christmas doesn't mean you can't lose or just maintain.

Good luck everyone!

Weaknesses

I'm weak. Weaker than I ever thought I was. I eat and eat and eat. And not good things either. Junk. Just junk. If breakfast doesn't start off healthy then I apparently let the rest of the day's food go to waste (waist) as well.

I also haven't been exercising. I set up an exercise group with some girls from Church. Only one comes. I had six girls tell me they were really interested and wanted to come. Only one comes. And now that it's Christmas time and we have trees up, she has decided it's not a good time to exercise because kids might touch the trees. What?

My kids know not to touch our Christmas tree, they aren't going to go up to hers and start pulling off all her ornaments. If she's worried about my tree, she shouldn't be.

So now that I have no one to exercise with, I'm not.

I had a girl offer me her gym membership and I told her I'd buy it off her. She has yet to contact the gym. I've reminded her twice. Still nothing. Maybe when she gets next month's bill she'll think to call. I think the gym has a daycare, so I could drop my kids off and not be governed by my husband's school schedule, only the kids' school schedules. That would be nice. If she'd just sell me the dang membership!

I've Committed Myself

Not to the loony bin. Yet.

I committed to run a triathlon in May. I even bet money on the fact that I can finish. The entrance fee is actually kind of beastly. But you do get a shirt and chocolate and stuff at the end. I wanted something that could scare me into exercising and dieting again. And the thought of myself collapsing on the ground in a heap halfway through the race is pretty scary. :-D

So, now, I have to do it. At least it's only sprint-distance. (ONLY! HA!) And it's at the /end/ of May. I have a whole 5 months to go from "I'm a lazy, fat slob" to "I'm in the best shape of my life!"

Yeah. I wouldn't bet on me winning any prizes, either, if I were you.

Here's the thing, though. I KNOW I can do it. I /KNOW/ I can! I've gotten in pretty good triathlete shape before. Less than a year ago. I couldn't have done very well on time, but I could have finished. Probably. :-P

And one nice thing about the race I'm doing is that everyone starts at different times and you all get a timing chip. So when you're plodding along and there are people way in front of you, it doesn't matter. Because for all the crowd knows, they started way before you. Except for the fact that they're going 3 times your speed. But, still . . . :-D

Now, I promised Tristi I'd blog about successful dieting throughout the holidays. But I wanted to get on track first before I wrote the blog. And since that never happened, well, you know. But here it is in a nutshell:

I did BFL throughout the month of December last year. I started on December 8th. Everyone said, "Why not just wait until Christmas is over and start in January?"

Here's why: I was motivated RIGHT THEN! Why wait a month? My willpower has the attention span of a humming bird. I have to catch it while it's paying attention!

Also, I figured I'd weigh less at the end of December if I was at least TRYING to diet and exercise than if I wasn't. Right?? Apparently, the answer is YES because I ACTUALLY LOST 8 POUNDS BETWEEN DECEMBER 8TH AND DECEMBER 31ST LAST YEAR!!! And that was even counting the fact that I took 8 free days in a row right around Christmas time.

So, people, you don't have to pig out and let yourself go just because it's Christmas. And you don't have to give up and eat chocolate every night just because I am! :o) Give it a go. Try to do something to improve yourself today. Anything. Any little thing. Really. :o)

Tristi Rambles ... Again

It's my belief that none of our bloggers have died, because I'm pretty sure someone would have told me. So, moving forward on the premise that no one died, where the heck is everyone?

I've been in hiding, because I've done nothing I set out to do. Nothing, zip, nada. But I did have some insights. Will the insights equal weight loss? Will they be instrumental in my journey? Will I finally find the time to exercise and eat right? Will Lola learn that she's really the illegitimate daughter of the Count of Grunden and her brother is next in line but plans to kill her in case she decides to challenge that claim? Only time will tell.

1. Insight the First: we tend to start diets when we're angry. We get fed up with how we look or how we feel, we set goals that may or may not be realistic, and we go into the weight loss process disliking ourselves. That's counterproductive. We need to set our goals when we're calm and when we can look at ourselves objectively, and use words that will outline the situation without degrading ourselves. Rather than saying, "I'm such a fat slob. I need to lose a hundred pounds to even feel like a human," we need to be able to say, "I'm a hundred pounds overweight. I'm ready to make some choices that will help me lose that weight." Decisions made in anger are rarely good ones, so why do we make decisions about our health while we're angry with ourselves?

2. Insight the Second: this one is actually kind of a long story. But you're used to that from me. And since it's so dang quiet over here, I imagine you won't mind.

Last year, I started drinking Coke with my headache medicine because the medicine just wasn't strong enough any more and I didn't want to take a stronger medicine. Been there, done that, it wasn't pretty. So I started drinking Coke, and I noticed that I felt better overall drinking it. Well, for this last year, I've been feeling like a very bad Mormon and have tried to get off it a ton of times, only to find that I feel like garbage whenever I do. Logically, one would assume that I'm addicted to it and that I need to just cleanse it out of my body. Well, I've tried cleansing it out of my body a ton of times, and I still feel like garbage a month after going off. I have no energy, getting out of bed is just too hard, I can't think ... it's just not a good thing. So I sort of threw my hands in the air, confessed that I'm a Coke addict, and moved on.

Two weeks ago I went through another "trying-to-get-off-it" cycle. Didn't make it. Could barely function. I was going grocery shopping and my mom tagged along. I had announced my intention to go off the Coke, so I took back that announcement and told her that I was going to buy some. I had come to the realization that my adrenals hadn't been working, and so until I could figure that out, I was just going to drink the Coke.

"That makes sense," she said.

"Huh?" I said.

"You were diagnosed with poor adrenal function when you were three," she told me.

Um ... call me crazy, but that would have been way cool to know a long time ago.

Turns out they discovered it, no one knew what to do about it (keep in mind, this was the 70's) and so they just let it go.

So for 33 years, I've felt absolutely terrible, and I attributed it all to my thyroid. So I'd get my thyroid levels checked, they'd be fine, but I'd still feel terrible. Now, if I'd known I had an adrenal weakness, then I could have had that checked and gone from there.

Now, I know that my mom has had four children and it's hard to remember which child has which ailment. But I think it would have been nice for me to know this.

So the next step is to find out what one does for an adrenal problem. My mom can't remember if my adrenals just need help, or if they aren't working at all, and they've probably changed a lot in the last 30 years anyway. But I'm excited to find all this out. If we can kick-start these puppies into action, maybe I'll feel like a human again, and maybe I can stop drinking the Coke, and then I'll feel like a good Mormon again. I mean, after I stop doing all the other bad stuff I do. :)

I have a screw loose

Surgery in the morning to remove a screw from my foot. This screw has been causing pain and all kinds of other problems for about 3 years now. I have had it for 4 years. I, however, did not know that I did not need it for the last 3 1/2 years.

There is always the chance that he will not be able to take it out if it gets stuck, but he thinks, according to the x-ray, that it will go well.

The deal is this, I will not be able to run or jump for about 8 weeks. So the treadmill is going to be even more lonely than it has been for the last little bit. And right now is a bad time for that to happen, but I cannot take this pain any longer.

Maybe I'll talk myself into just walking at 2-3 mph so that I can indulge in a few goodies.

Any way, prayers would be nice for success tomorrow.

Phooey! (and Happy Holidays!)

I'm up 1 pound again this week. I know 1 pound is not the end of the world. But if I'm going back up, I have to get rid of the same stupid weight AGAIN, and it will take me longer to reach my goal. Time to buckle down again.

On a happier note, once again I have turned my regular blog (here) into a musical advent calendar. This is my Christmas card to family and friends, and it's absolutely calorie free, so I hope you like it.

A Comedian's Take

DH and I were doing something quire rare last night - watching live TV. It was strange, after years of only watching TiVo'd programs. But we were trying out our new Black Friday Plasma Deal. :o)

And we saw a comedian who was talking about diet and exercise. He was pretty darn funny, actually. But one thing he said was that he's decided to start out slow. So he's now sleeping with ankle weights on. 'Cuz who knows? You might roll over and burn a calorie or two.

He also said that his wife called him from the driveway because she was about to leave for the health club and forgot her purse. He said, "You're calling from the DRIVEWAY? How lazy are you?" And then proceeded to ask his kid to get his mom's purse and take it outside to her. :o)

That's how I feel lately about exercise. LOL.

Ignoring the Scale

Thursday morning, before we left for the big family get together, the scale said that I was still holding steady. No weight gain, no weight loss since last week.

Since Thanksgiving dinner, the scale and I are not on speaking terms. I have avoided making eye contact with it. I am pretending it does not exist until next week. I just don't want to hear what it has to say right now.

I would like to think that calories consumed on a major holiday during a large family gathering do not count. But, unfortunately, they do.

The Silly Cycle of Sickness

Feeling good, eating better, exercising.


Catch a bug, start to feel bad.


Get totally and completely sick.


Am so sick, can't eat much of anything, can't exercise - just drag self to couch and stare at children so they don't kill each other.


Start to feel better, still too weak to exercise.


Get strength back. Ease into it slowly. Exercising, eating well.


Back to full productivity. Life is good, feeling frisky.


Start to feel sick.


This is the cycle I've been living since August. Don't know how to forestall it, don't know how to speed it up, don't know how to make the healthy times last longer. But it's really frustrating me.

Any ideas?

And yeah, just coming out of another bout of sick.

Goals this week: Take vitamins every day, especially the ones that keep you from getting sick. Drink enough water. Get more sleep. (Yes, I'm laughing already.)

No more loose screws

I just wanted to check in.

Good news-I am holding steady with the weight.

More good news-the doctor is going to take the screw out of my foot. That should get rid of the pain when I walk or run. Or sit. Or stand Or sleep.

Bad news- I will not be able to run or jump (or dance) for 6-8 weeks. The surgery is scheduled for Dec. 4, so that means the entire month of Dec. and most of Jan. I will not be doing any rigorous exercising.

So I guess I need to really ramp up the quest for sugar free Christmas desserts.

Yes, I Am Alive

Yes, I am alive, but that is about it. I don't know why, but my second year teaching is far more stressful than my first year couple that with some major family issues and yeah . . . Stress goes up? Eating goes up. Exercise goes down. Blogging goes down. Being social goes down . . .

Now for the good news. I'm still holding steady. I haven't lost anything in what? Two months? Well, maybe less, but I haven't really gained either.

And right now I'm SOOO tempted to do the acai berry thing because taking a pill (right now) seems about the only think I can handle. If I do, I'll definitely be posting about it.

For now, my big goal is to get back to counting calories and sticking to 1400 calories a day for two weeks. Also, not eating after 5 pm. If, after that I haven't lost any weight I have some decisions to make--acai berry? HCG? Weight Watchers? I don't know, but the very first thing I'll do is go to a doctor then decide (and money definitely has an impact on what I'll decide).

Also, I'll need to finally figure out what would be the healthiest weight that I should be at, because honestly I'd like to weigh 145, but I don't know if that is reasonable for me. We'll see. Right now my goal is for 160-165. Only forty pounds, right? But if 145 is healthy for me that means I have FIFTY-FIVE pounds to lose . . . I can do that, right? RIGHT???? ; - )

Long time no see!

I know, surprise, surprise. I'm writing. It has been a while and I've been busy. I have been off the HCG for over a month and have been maintaining well. I pretty much stick around 158-160 depending on the day. I'm going to do one more short round in January and see where I am.

I have not felt like exercising at all lately. Don't know why. Just not motivated. I think it's the cold. The stupid thing is, exercise will warm you up. It helps with SAD, it helps burn calories and it makes you feel good with endorphins. So why do I resist? I don't know. Because I'd rather write in my book, or read a good book, or take long, hot baths with a good book and watch long movies.

I guess that leaves only one thing. Am I lazy? I don't think that's it because I can make myself sit at the computer and write all day if I have to! lol When I have a goal, nothing stops me. I guess I worked out so long and so hard and felt like I made no progress, that it lost its appeal.

Dang.

I wish my body would work for me. I'm tired of a daily aching neck, sore low back and feet that kill me if I run. (and that began long before I started writing) What is wrong with this picture? I'm tempted to say that life's not fair, but then I did get a book deal and that is pretty dang fair! lol

Exercising with FitTV

by Rebecca Talley

I've been trying to stay on South Beach. I'm on Phase 2 which allows me to add in fruits, cereal, and popcorn while still losing 1-2 lbs a week. I don't feel deprived. I actually fell off the dieting wagon last week and this week when we celebrated birthdays. I had cake last week and a brownie with ice cream this week. I weighed myself the day after I ate the brownie and was happy that I'd actually lost a pound.

I really think that the most important part of losing weight is finding a diet and exercise system that works for us. I've seen women who've done Jenny Craig, NutriSystem, and the liquid diets and while they initially lose weight, it comes right back on as soon as they start eating normal food again. I didn't want to do that and had to find something I could stick with forever. South Beach may not work for everyone, but it works for me.

I'm happy to report that I've been exercising again. I changed satellite providers (read about it here) and am thrilled that I now have FitTV which provides workouts around the clock. I even found Gilad who hosts Bodies in Motion. I worked out to this show 15 years ago, but then lost it when we moved and I'm so happy I found it again. Each segment is only 30 minutes which is completely doable for me. And I love his Iraeli accent. It's set in Hawaii so the scenery is beautiful. Sometimes, his mother even works out with him.

So my new favorite channel is FitTV and it's getting me up and exercising again. Yay!

Hi!

So, it's been a long time since I visited. The reason for that has nothing to do with my dieting, but with my aversion to longterm blogging. I get bored, and then I stop. Sorry. (Tristi: You knew what I was when you picked me up!)

I have not been terribly excellent at continuing to lose weight, but I've remained steady and even dipped a bit. I'm currently at 228 (so, a grand total of eight pounds down from the starting point). Not great, but not bad, considering everything I eat is dripping in butter.

My diet technique continues to be: eat less, move around more. I'm not awesome at either one, but I'm better than I was three months ago.

Good News, Bad News

The good news is, my weight is down another 1.5 pounds.

The bad news is, my word count for NaNoWriMo is anemic.

The good news is, I'm going to be doing more walking in the next week or so.

The bad news is, I'm walking because one of our two cars is comatose. It requires a solenoid transplant.

The good news is, all the important things, like the post office, the grocery store, and the library, are within easy walking distance.

The bad news is, IT'S COLD!

My New November 17th Resolution

I say you don't have to wait until January 1st to make a resolution. Just make it now!

So, here's mine. I decided yesterday that I just had to get off my lazy caboose and get some more exercise in. So I made a resolution that I wouldn't sit down to read books anymore. If I'm going to read, I can walk on the treadmill while I do it.

Before, I could never do that because I thought I was wasting my exercise time if I wasn't pushing myself really hard. And you can't push yourself really hard while you're reading a book. It's just too jiggly. :o)

But then I realized that if I'm going to be sitting reading a book anyway, I may as well be walking and reading a book. So I set the treadmill nice and slow and walked 2 miles. It took me 40 minutes.

Today, I read some more - and walked another mile in 20 minutes.

I think this will accomplish more than one thing. I'll be sitting less, walking more, and possibly even reading less. You know those times you just can't put the book down because it's just too compelling. That'll push me to exercise more. And it'll also push me to put the book down and get something productive done, already.

Okay, so I've only been sticking to this new goal for about 30 hours now, but it's working so far. Wish me luck!!

Tristi's Friday Update

When you turn on the Wii Fit, one of the first options you see is to weigh yourself. It becomes nearly second nature to click the little button and see if you've lost anything, but there's a danger in this - you can go for a whole week eating chicken breasts and carrot sticks and lose one ounce, then eat a slice of pizza and go up two pounds. This makes you think, "I can never, ever cheat, even a tiny bit, or I'll stay fat forever." And, as we all know, this kind of thinking makes us head straight for the fridge. You can't tell someone they can never, ever again eat something they would like to eat ... it's a recipe (pardon the pun) for disaster.

I've decided to weigh on Fridays, before breakfast. If I watch my weight inch up and sneak down and inch up and sneak down by mere ounces all week long, I go stark raving bonkers. It's better for me if I see the results of an entire week's work at once.

I did pretty well this week. I exercised every day but Wednesday - Wednesday was a really odd day. It's like my world got turned upside down and a great many things didn't happen that should have. I'm still trying to increase my vegetable intake and decrease my sugar intake, but that will be my goal for this next week.

Now, I'm ready to make an announcement.

A couple of years ago, I went chocolate free. I went for nine whole months without any chocolate whatsoever ... and then this happened (click here for link). Easily, one of the worst days in my writing life. I headed for Baskin Robbins and got two scoops of the most chocolatey chocolate ice cream with chocolate chunks they had. From there, I sort of went back to my old chocolate consuming ways.

But, the announcement! I am now chocolate free again. One day so far. :) I did it once, I can do it again.

Today chocolate, tomorrow - the world!

Remember Me?

Wow, I haven't posted in a while. My life has been crazy. I thought after my son's wedding everything would calm down. Wrong-o. After the wedding and the open house and lots of visitors, I had to catch up with homeschooling and laundry and getting organized with my YW calling and doing Halloween (I was divine as Winifred Sanderson from "Hocus Pocus") and there was one other thing, oh yeah, my work-in-progress. Yeah, that thing. Not having it done when I'd planned (September 1) has really thrown me for a loop and even made me question writing at all (after all, if I were really a writer I'd have it all done, right?).

As far as my dieting, I haven't gained any weight nor have I lost any. I still want to lose 6-10 more lbs. I am convinced that exercising alone does not help me lose weight. I have to control what I eat. I'm still doing South Beach, but I've modified it in that I don't do the sugar-free ice cream bars anymore because I'm thinking the sweeteners just aren't that good for me. I've been eating Special-K with strawberries or bran flakes with a sliced banana for breakfast, a salad and celery with natural peanut butter for lunch, and then chicken or fish or beans or lean meat or whatever I fix for the family for dinner if it's not too far off the SB recommendations. I also try to drink almost a gallon of water every day.

I'm thrilled I haven't gained back what I lost, but I still need to lose more weight. It's a little harder now because I'm able to fit into clothes I haven't worn for a long, long time (my kids tell me they're all out of style now but I don't care because it's been such a feat to fit back into them) and since I can fit into them I'm not as motivated to lose more weight even though I need to.

So I'm not doing great, as in I'm not taking more weight off, but I'm not doing terrible, as in I haven't gained it back. I need to get back on track. I did exercise 3 times this week for 45 minutes each time. That felt good.

And my work-in-progress? I'm deep into revisions and still hope to finish it soon. It's a very important book to me so I want it to be perfect--yeah, I know that's not realistic, but it doesn't stop me from wanting it to be.

Goals:
Lose 6-10 more lbs.
Exercise 4-5 times per week for 45 minutes
Finish my work-in-progress

Yummy Recipe

I came across this recipe in my low fat Mexican cookbook. It is delicious! And with the weather turning colder, I thought I'd share.

Now I'm normally not a soup person. I hate soup usually. But this soup is so GOOD!

Chicken Lime Soup (I heart lime)

Ingredients

• 4 corn tortillas, in strips, toasted
  
• 2 chicken breasts, grilled, boned and cut in bite-sized pieces (I bought boneless and just boiled it)
• 3 stalks of celery, chopped (I don't like celery, so I didn't use it)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 4 tablespoons white rice
• 3 14.5 ounce cans chicken broth (or about two cups, I think)
• 1/2 tsp garlic salt
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 2 Roma tomatoes, diced
  
• avocado, peeled, pitted and diced
• scallions, sliced
• salt and pepper to taste ( I omitted this, it wasn't needed)
• fresh lime wedges
  

Directions

Prepare the tortilla strips and set aside for garnish. Season the chicken and moisten with 2-3 tbsp chicken broth. (Yeah, I forgot to read the directions just before this step and poured all the chicken broth into the chicken. It got moistened all right.) Set aside.

Generously coat a 2-quart saucepan with a vegetable spray. Add celery, onion, and carrots and saute 3-4 minutes or until softened. Add white rice, chicken broth, garlic salt, cloves, thyme, and oregano. simmer, uncovered, for 20-30 minutes.

When you are ready to serve the soup, add the lime juice, tomatoes, avocado, scallions, and reserved chicken. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve the soup with tortilla strips and fresh lime wedges.

Advance Preparation: The soup base may be prepared a day or two in advance. Add lime juice, tomatoes, avocado, and scallions before serving.


Hope you enjoy it!

An Interesting Observation

I've done the Wii Fit the last two days, my feet finally well enough to resume exercising. It turns out, I didn't have gout after all - just a whole lot of painful swelling. I was put on a really nice anti-inflammatory and I've only had to take a few doses, and life is good again. But I digress.

I've done the Wii Fit the last two days, like I said, and each time, I weighed myself right before and right after. What's interesting to me is that I generally lose weight while I'm exercising, to the tune of about a pound. I don't know if that's water I'm sweating off, or what, but regardless of what's causing it, it's actually a pretty good incentive to exercise. Get on at one weight, and get off at another! Yeah, sometimes the simplest things make me happy. :)

I'm still working on finding ways to cheer myself up without food. There are some days to where I just feel this amazingly strong need to grab a treat because of how things are going in my life. Once I can figure out what to do instead, I'll be able to make a lot more progress. I've tried turning on the radio or calling someone - those things that are supposed to help for emotional needs - but it's the physical kick in the pants sugar gives me that I'm trying to replace in a healthy way. I'm going to try taking a vitamin C instead. That's a really nice kick in the pants.

Anyway, things are going pretty well so far. Still having issues with remembering to eat, but yesterday I made some good food choices (I ate breakfast, Marta!!) and while I wasn't perfect, I do feel satisfied that I'm putting forth some good effort.

Effective?

One thing about having a huge boat load of homework, mom work, life work and then getting sick- the scale drops numbers really fast. Today it said 172 lbs. But I am afraid that once I get out of bed for real and start putting something besides chicken broth in my body, that same scale is going to start adding those numbers back.

Tristi Rambles

I'm sorry - it's time for another rambling Tristi blog. I don't set out to ramble - it just all sort of happens when I open my mouth - or in this case, sit down to blog. But that's why this blog was created - to give us all a place to vent.

First of all, I'm starting over again. I'm setting some new goals. I'm firming up my decisions. I am going to create a new me.

I've spent the last three months battling sinus infections, foot problems, headaches - you name it, I've probably had it. (Except morning sickness. For once in my life, I'm not pregnant. :) I have watched my body grow weaker with each illness. I have wondered if I even had what it takes to get healthy, or if I was just meant to be big my whole life.

My four-year-old son told me he wanted to go to the zoo. "I want to see the giraffes and the lions and the hippos. The hippos look just like you, Mommy." Oh, sweet innocence - he had no idea that he was saying something hurtful. He was calling it like he saw it, no malice intended, yet the hurt was still there.

Last week was a huge event for Valor Publishing - we released Mark Shurtleff's new novel, "Am I Not a Man: The Dred Scott Story." I got a new blouse for the occasion and thought I looked pretty cute, until I saw some of the pictures from the event.

I don't even know who that person is. I feel like my spirit and my body are completely unconnected, like my spirit is driving around in some old clunker car that keeps breaking down.

I want my outsides to match my insides. I want to look like the professional I am. (Well, sometimes I'm a professional - other times, I'm a goofball.) I want to feel like I'm being taken seriously. I want to be healthy, and the only person stopping me from doing that is me.

So, expect to hear a lot from me. I'll probably whine and complain a lot. Please leave me nice, friendly comments cheering me on. Something has got to give. I can't continue on this way. I just can't do it.

Holding Steady

Just a quick check in. When I weighed this morning, my weight was the same as last week. This is a miracle, considering I am participating in NaNoWriMo this year and that is taking precedence over the whole diet and exercise thing. However, I have found in the past that I am less inclined to get the munchies when I am writing than when I am working my day job or doing housework. It is tempting to ignore the scale for the month of November, but I am determined not to yo-yo back up again. Once was plenty.

And where is everybody?

Halloween: FAIL

Scary music should accompany this post, and it's not because of ghosts and ghouls . . . it's because of candy. Delicious, sinful, addictive, fat-producing candy!

See, I never give out candy at Halloween. Well, I can't say never, because I only started giving out other kinds of prizes and such for the last 5 or 6 years. However, this year because of bad planning and procrastination, I didn't buy anything in time and ended up running out for a huge bag of that awful fattening stuff I have such a love/hate relationship with.

I'm weak, that's what it comes down to. I can't have it around or I just eat it.

So, I went out today and bought some cool non-edible goodies at 50% off to give out for Halloween next year. Now, the trick is going to be keeping track of the box I'm putting them in for an entire year. Can she do it? Stay tuned and find out. :o)

I feel like I'm not going to be able to get back on track as long as all this candy is around. Not only do we have the leftovers from Halloween night (which is one of the big reasons I don't give out candy) but my kids all came home with large bags of the stuff, too. I wish I could have just taken the candy they were given and given it out to the people who came to our house. It'd be a win/win/win! ;o)

But who am I kidding? I wasn't on track before Halloween, either. I did go on a bike ride this weekend, though. It was glorious! The fall leaves along the trail are gorgeous this time of year. I can't believe we have biking weather in November, especially after that blizzard we had in October. The weather is a funny thing, isn't it? Hopefully I'll get some more bike rides in before it becomes unbearable again.

Enough rambling. What I need now is to get some sleep so I have the energy to work out tomorrow. ;o)

Back From The Brink

The weight that I regained is now gone! I was down to 169.5. Then I bounced back up to 173. This morning I'm down to 169, so I'm actually down another half pound. Now if I can just keep going in the right direction.

Now that the weather has turned, I have a new weight-lifting regimen. We heat mainly with a wood stove (this is Idaho folks) and a little electric. We just had 6 cords of work delivered, which is stacked in an outbuilding that used to be called a detached garage. It's my son's job to split the wood and stack it on the front porch. I've been helping to carry the log chunks from the garage. I carry just enough to know I've had a good workout, then leave him to it.

How Flattering ...

Once again, I have been seriously derailed - I have a gross little old man's disease. That's right - I have gout. Doesn't that just sound terrible?

Actually, it's a build-up of uric acid in the joint, and mine is located in my right big toe. I've been hobbling around like an injured drunk for a week. I went in to my chiropractor and he put the joint back in for me (it was seriously out of alignment) but then it just wasn't getting better. I'm glad to say that after 24 hours of serious doses of flax seed oil, I'm almost better, but it was been a wild week, I tell you what. Practically no walking, walking slowly when I do, and lots of nice purple swelling.

So ... no exercising.

I've about decided there are some Stay Fat Fairies at work in the universe, seeking to keep us as unhealthy as possible.

Regaining my footing

I feel like I'm trying to climb a mountain, and a couple of weeks ago I slipped on a glacier and fell halfway back down. I literally gained back half the weight I have lost so far. But I'm working my way back and I'm only a pound up from where I was before I fell. I should probably come up with more analogies about pitons and safety ropes and whatnot, but it's too early in the morning to do that much thinking.

I've started exercising with Wii Fit a few times a week. It can be a little deceptive. It feels like playing a game, but the soreness and stiffness in my thighs tells me the step aerobics are a real workout and I overdid it. I've heard there's a way to play on the Wii with friends over the internet, but I haven't figured out how. Anyone know?

Making Good on My Promise

I'm here to make good on the promise I gave in my last post. I came back to make a more positive report. :-D

Tristi, I know, you're right. I should be reporting in regardless of doing well or not doing well. It's just hard when you have to keep posting that you're not doing well for weeks and months at a time! Ugh. I'll try to do better about that, though.

But, since I DO have a positive report, I'll go ahead and post it! :o)

I've started using an iPhone app I was using months ago that fell into disuse for a long time that tracks your food and exercise. It's a very handy tool and it calculates the calories you can eat each day and adjusts for the exercise you do, etc. It's called "Lose It" for any iPhone users who are interested in it.

Personally, I don't totally believe in the "calories-in, calories-out" mentality. I think it's helpful, but only part of the equation. HOWEVER, I eat way, /way/ better when I'm tracking my food, whether by calories or any other way, and this app makes it very easy to do.

So I've used it for the last two days, and I'm eating so much better. I also did a jog/walk combo on the treadmill yesterday, and took a bike ride with hubby today. I feel so good right now. I plan to go for a swim at the gym tomorrow, and then I'll have gotten in a whole triathlon. Kinda. :-P

Here's to a new week. :o)

It's No Accident

The fact that I haven't checked in for a while is no accident. I've purposely been avoiding this place because I'm ashamed at how badly I'm doing. I get a workout in here and a workout there, but I just can't get going on it. And to let you know how far off my diet I've gotten, I just eat ice cream straight out of the carton these days, even though I had gotten so good at just dishing up a little bowl when I did have some before. I was in shock a couple nights ago when I woke up out of my daze and realized just how much ice cream I had consumed in one sitting. :o(

There is a bright side, though, and I don't want to neglect it. I went to a Power Pump class last week, and another one yesterday. Even when I was in way better shape 6 months ago, those Power Pump workouts were KILLER, but I decided to go anyway instead of going to a less intense class because I want to kick myself in the butt. It was embarrassing to see myself in a mirror every direction I turned, and it was embarrassing to have to put the weights down and get a lighter set when the very slim, muscular woman next to me was putting her weights down to get a heavier one, but I dug deep and did it anyway.

I've also been on a couple bike rides with my husband in the last month, but it's been hard to find even an hour here and there when he's not working AND the sun is out at the same time.

But the treadmill and I still aren't on speaking terms. I'm going to rectify that right now, though. I'm off to jog on the treadmill, because if I say I'm going to run, I'll get scared and back out. ;o)

I'll be back soon with a more positive report. :-P

Earth to Tristi ... Come in, Tristi ...

Wow. These last two months have been pretty wild, and that's an understatement. Between my mom moving in to our already small house, and getting sick, and dealing with frisky kids and any number of other things, I feel like I've not only been derailed, but thrown off the train and run over by it. When I got on my Wii Fit the other day, it pretended to not even remember my name. (Sarcastic piece of equipment ...)

It's so easy to gain weight. It just happens and you don't have to do a single thing to cause it to happen ... just drift from day to day, not paying attention. Losing weight, on the other hand, takes a lot of attention, and I simply haven't had it to give. By the time I do all the stuff I'm supposed to be doing, and maybe get a shower in there too, I don't have anything left. This has been a constant source of frustration for two months now - having good intentions, and yet, not having the ability to do anything about it.

But the sickness is gone (I think) and my determination is growing. I've been a fat little chicky nearly my entire life. The picture I posted up top is of me and my dad, taken when I was seventeen. I'm not terribly overweight, but I'm overweight enough. My weight gain actually started when I was ten, when I was diagnosed with a thyroid problem, and it's been a battle for me ever since, made worse by compulsive overeating that started when my parents divorced. I'm tired of this being my life's pattern. I'm tired of telling myself that if I just accept myself how I am, I'll be a lot happier - guess what - I'm still not loving my weight, even after a lot of positive self-talk.

You may be wondering where all this rambling is going. I'm not really sure, but it feels good to vent. I want to change my life, but every time I try, it seems my life fights me. I'm going to have to get stronger than my life, take charge, control it and stop letting it control me. It's got to happen.

My goals for the rest of this week, and next: get back to the daily exercising. I can feel my body starting to weaken again, after all the time I spent strengthening it with regular exercise before. That's what I'll start on first, and I'll let you know how it goes. Wish me luck!

OH MY WORD, YOU GUYS!!!!!! What is better news than losing weight???? Come on, my writer friends! You know!

WiDo publishing wants to publish my book!!!!!! (Yes, I am aware there are too many exclamations and I don't care!!!!!!) I'm going to be a published author! All those hours of plunking away at the computer are now paying off! I SO love to write and now I'll be paid for it! Who would'a thunk it? he he

Not only that, but they want the book to be a series! They are also interested in another story that I just barely finished last week that they saw at the LUW conf.! WOO HOO!!! I am still on cloud nine!

I feel so blessed, so grateful and now I KNOW for a fact that you CAN teach an old dog new tricks! lol

Quick Check In

I haven't posted in a while because honestly, not much has changed. I'm still finding it hard to squeeze in exercise time, but doing good with the diet (minus a few snacking episodes this week). I'm still working on starting an exercise group with my Relief Society and have three or four girls interested. We are now working on finding a time we can all agree on. Luckily, one of the girls has keys to the Church building, so we have a place to meet that will fit all of us and our kids. I'm going to try to get it started and going this week, so I'll let you know.

As for my weight, I think I've officially lost two pounds. I haven't seen the up and down, up and down for a couple weeks. Two pounds wouldn't be such a big deal, but these are the two pounds that mean I've got to lose weight before this gets out of hand and I just need to be a little more careful. So I'm feeling good about that.

Not going the way I'd hoped.

Not going so good for me. My diet hasn't been so great. I made a half batch of cookies and that was what did me in at the beginning of the week.

My throat was sore last night and on our way home from Idaho Falls we got stuck behind a bad accident (a bus rolled over with marching band kids--from American Fork) and by the time we got out of that my throat felt worse so when we stopped at the gas station I bought a bag of Rollos to suck on to keep my throat moist--water just didn't seem to cut it. Of course, I could have bought a bag of vitamin c drops or something, but I didn't even look for that--just went straight for the chocolate because when I get stressed, chocolate is my comfort food! And I was stressed from waiting in the accident (and worrying about the people in the accident), it being so late, and we'd had a hard day of working out in my brother's yard, and wanting to get home, well--etc etc . . .

I exercised a lot this past week--the result? A swollen knee. I biked every day and went to taekwondo twice and then on Friday, even though I didn't bike, I went after school and did some 'martial arts' stuff with a couple of other teachers. So I exercised EVERY DAY and my knee did NOT appreciate it.

Luckily the swelling is gone now--this next week I'm going to take it slower--I'll try biking 2, maybe 3 times this week, and my normal taekwondo stuff. Hopefully that will help and in a couple of weeks I'll try to go back to biking every day. Maybe I just need to take it slower and build up to the exercise.

But the net result of all of this? A gain of two pounds. Sigh. Last time I dieted like this I lost 1-2 pounds a week and now I'm struggling to lose anything. I guess I need to accept the fact that things are going to be much harder this time and that at least I'm trying to improve my overall health by exercising.

Not feeling exactly comforted!

Hey guys

Hey guys. It's been a few days. Thought I'd check in. The weight is still melting away, but slowly. That's okay, as long as it leaves! =)

I'm down to 157, which makes me super happy! That makes 18 pounds in little over a month. I feel great and may do one more short stint in January to get down to where I want to be if I can't on my own by then. You can do a 40 day injection, or a 23 dayer. Either way, it's tough. It's hard to diet. It's hard not to cheat, but I've found on this diet, that you are more motivated not to cheat because you're putting out money.

My last injection is on the 15th, then I have to do three days of sticking to the diet, (because the hcg stays in your system for up to three days, and you'll gain weight if you don't.) then do a three week "no starch" diet. Although, I'll need to add plenty of healthy fat back in since my body is used to having so much in its system with the way the hcg works. It's fascinating. Anyway, that's where I am. Hope you all are doing well too. Hope to see you soon!

I need a tune-up.

This morning was weigh-in day, and I'm up 2.5 pounds. Between my husband's low-carb, high-protein, high-fat diet and working overtime and giving in to too many cravings, I'm not doing very well here. Why do they have to put that darn Halloween candy out so far before the actual holiday? This is the toughest time of the year for me. First it's Halloween candy, then the Christmas candy comes out before Thanksgiving. Then Thanksgiving comes with the huge meal and leftovers that go on forever. Then the traditional Christmas baking and candy (which goes on sale right after Christmas). There's a quick respite when everybody is make New Year's resolutions, and the next day they bring out the Valentine's Day chocolate. As soon as Valentine's Day is over, out comes the Easter candy, and my personal worst temptation ever - Cadbury anything. Cadbury even trumps Hershey.

I have got to buckle down and get back to my original plan. It was working pretty well for a while.

I'm still HERE

So I haven't checked in in a while and was having fun reading all your updates. Congrats to Melissa and all those who have had success.

I weigh the same which is miraculous but I learned something new about myself. With my eighth baby I got CMV which turned to GB, and I was in bed for the most part of a year partially paralyzed. I recovered but still get very tired and have been told by physicians that I just need to build up my strength up by more exercise. I believed them but every time I do, I'm exhausted!

So I start a new diet plan and can't understand that after a few days I'm literally bedridden. Well, I found out after reading some medical abstracts yesterday that because of my condition (my nerves are ragged and can get swollen- its called CFIS) that high stress exercise is the worst thing I can do! They suggested, yoga or Tia chi (sp?)

That is so great because I went to the PT the other day for my knees, and he told me the same thing, that all the exercises I'd been given were actually deteriorating my knees rather than helping them and that I need to do low impact exercises the surrounding muscles instead of putting more stress on my already pathetic knees.

I guess the trick is to figure out my personalized owners manual for this body of mine and stick with it. I'm excited to start AGAIN with low impact so I don't wear myself down and see where I go. Hopefully it's all uphill and down on the scale.

Checking in

Wow, it has been a couple of weeks since I checked in. Busy times. The bad news is that I haven't lost any weight. The good news is that I haven't gained any either. I had the beginnings of a migraine at work the other day and took some Excedrine. After an hour it wasn't lessening any so I broke down and bought a Coke. I drank about 4 sips of it- and it was nasty and too sweet, all that sugar- but after those 4 sips, the headache was gone. I ended up throwing the rest of the Coke away.

I have found that since I quit eating sugar, that when I do eat it I don't really like it. I had a taste of my daughter's chocolate bar the other day. I remember them being soooo good, but this was a disappointment to me. Same with the cocoa I tried drinking after her soccer game Saturday afternoon, where it was freezing.

This will be my first holiday season without sugar so I will be posting tips and ideas as I find them. I ordered my Halloween giveaway stuff from Oriental Trading so that there will not be a ton of candy tempting me. Plus we will be in Logan with the marching band until 6 or later, so there won't be a lot of trick or treating for my kids.

Thanksgiving I usually make 10-15 pies to go along with all of the other good stuff and we nosh on it all weekend while we decorate the house for Christmas. This year my daughter has a soccer tournament in St. George starting the day after Thanksgiving so we will have to leave Thursday evening. I don't think I will make as many goodies to sit in my fridge and spoil. So maybe that will make this holiday easier.

Christmas. Last year Santa found some yummy goodies at The Good Earth. There were caramels and chocolate bars that are sugar and artificial sweetner free and taste great. Fruit leather, freeze dried fruit, cookies and everyone loved them and ask for more. It is the pies and sugar cookies that I am going to miss. Maybe I should just plan a trip to New Mexico to see my parents for Christmas.

Not Sure How

So I am not sure how it happened but I lost 4 pounds last week.

I stuck close to my goals of no seconds, small portions, and no treats except for Sunday up to Friday. Friday I went to the zoo. We saw the baby elephant (so cute!). We walked and walked. We ate an ice cream cone. I ate it thinking this will be my Sunday treat but then came Saturday. I went to a baby shower on Saturday. There were delicious treats and I ate them. I was moderate though. I ate small portions. Sunday I made a roast and potatoes and gravy. Then because my Son begged and it was Conference Sunday I made a chocolate cake. I did stick to my goals of small portions and no seconds but my goal of no treats until Sunday went out the window.

Despite my miraculous weight loss I am going back to my original goals. Why tempt fate right.

Here comes week three.

ARGGG!

Hey gang. What a strange week it was. I hardly lost any weight at all. Sometimes, on the HCG diet, your body will become immune to its affects. The symptoms are that you stop losing and you get VERY hungry. It's the HCG that keeps hunger at bay, if it doesn't work, you're starving! If you skip one day a week of the shot, you shouldn't become immune. The day I skipped the shot all I could think of was McDonalds, doughnuts, Olive Garden...you get the idea. I thought I was immune now. AND, I hadn't lost weight--and I was doing everything right--in almost two weeks.

So I decided to do an apple day which usually gets you over a plateau. It didn't work. Needless to say, I was quite discouraged. I've joined a website called Happily Thinner After that's just for people doing the HCG diet. They suggest an egg day instead of an apple day, so four days after the apple day, I did the egg day. It worked. But the weight loss has been in ounces, not pounds. That's okay though, as long as I keep going down.

So, today I was at 159 exactly. I put on some jeans I haven't worn in ages, and damn (pardon my French) but I look good! Can't wait until I'm down to where I want to be.

A Rollercoaster Week

I've had a lot of ups and downs for the past week and a half. First of all, I made the huge mistake of buying a snack size bag of Lay's potato chips, thinking just a little bit wouldn't hurt. WRONG! I have a problem with too much salt, and apparently I have been getting enough sodium in my regular diet that the chips just pushed it into critical mass. When I overdo the salt, I retain water, which seems to build up fluid in my inner ears, which makes me dizzy. I also developed a headache. (My body will take any kind of stress and manifest it as a headache.)

So I broke my rule and drank a Dr. Pepper. The caffeine is a diuretic, which helps to flush out the retained water. It wasn't enough to kill the headache though, and I took some Excedrin, which is my last resort because it makes me feel sick and very jittery. So I ate a large amount of chocolate, which for me is like a tranquilizer that doesn't put me to sleep.

After all this self-medicating, I was dreading what the scale would say on Thursday morning. Sure enough, I was up 3 pounds. It was so depressing I totally put off posting. But then the next morning, I was back down to where I had been the week before. Weird!

On Thursday night, out of the blue, my husband's sister called to say she and her husband were coming up for the weekend, and they were bringing us a Wii! She uses Wii Fit every day and loves it, and she is worried about my husband's health and wanted him to have an easy way to exercise. They got here on Friday night and my son, our resident tech expert, set up the Wii. It said I am 3.5 pounds heavier than our scale said that morning, but some of the difference could have been evening weight versus morning weight, and fully clothed versus not. At least that's what I tell myself. My body fat in the overweight range, but my Wii Fit Age is only 42, or 5 years younger than my real age.

This morning I stepped on the bathroom scale again and I'm back to where I was before the potato chips.

Update from the Nuthouse

by Rebecca Talley

Yep, my house is definitely the nuthouse! We're neck deep in home projects hoping to finish them all by next Thursday when everyone starts arriving for the open house. I'm thrilled to be getting so many projects done, especially since some of them have been lingering around the house for years. But, it's been such a time crunch that I've had to shift focus from other important things like finishing the final revisions on my next manuscript and getting a son to finish his Eagle project. He's only 13, so there's time, but I'd planned to have him do his project this summer, but wedding plans, sewing dresses, and home projects all took precedence. But, we'll get back to it in a couple of weeks and get 'er done.

I didn't lose any weight this last week, nor did I gain any. I still have 9 lbs. to get to my goal weight and hope I can do it by the end of the month--just in time to gorge myself on Halloween candy, carmel popcorn, and carmel apples (at least that one is sort of healthy, right?).

I'm back on Phase 1 of the South Beach diet for the week and hope to lose a pound or two in the next week. The weight stress is nothing compared to the open house stress I feel. At least I have some of the decorations done. And, let me just vent for a moment. I scheduled the church for Friday and Saturday next week. Somehow, that info was lost and another member of the ward scheduled a wedding the night before the open house. I'm thrilled this young woman is getting married and very happy for her, but that means I can't decorate when I needed to and I won't have the tablecloths I was counting on so now I'm in search of other tablecloths. I'm sure it will all work out, but it throws another kink into the plans.

In two weeks, I'll be so relaxed!!

I am woman, hear me roar!

Yes friends, it's time to crow! I did something I never thought possible. You see, I have a disability. And that is that I have a super sensitive smeller. Yep, super sensitive. It always has been. During my pregnancies, it was terrible because it was even more enhanced.

So, I have discovered during this diet that my main down fall is smell. If I smell it, I'm done for. If not, no biggy. I could care less about it. Well, never have I been able to resist the lure of popcorn at the theater. You walk in and the aroma engulfs you. Well, I wanted to go out with the hubby and see a movie, I LOVE going to the movies. So, I went prepared with an apple stowed away in my purse. I knew I could do this. At least I hoped I could.

We walked in, the smell overwhelming. My mouth watered instantly, but one thing I've learned this week--that I've been experimenting with--is that I can enjoy those sweet scents, but don't have to taste them. Many times over the last week, I have inhaled deeply, enjoying the smells of food I love, but have been able to refrain. I was able to do this at the theater!

Did I mention my terribly disloyal husband who bought his coke and popcorn (with butter) and sat down next to me? I gave him my best glare and told him he couldn't tempt me and that I would blog about him today and about his traitorous heart! He didn't seemed to mind.

Not once did I cheat or sneak a bite of that forbidden delicacy. I wanted to, but I had a WILL OF IRON!!!!

So, you can teach an old dog new tricks. I learned I can make a goal and stick to it, even if it hurts. The more I stick to it, the easier it gets. Although, I do miss those yummy things. Can't wait until I can have them again, in small portions! lol

Update on Tristi

Still a little sick, still a lotta fat.

HELP! I Need an Intervention!!

I want to snack this weekend--and snack. I'm so happy to be off for a couple of days I just want to EAT!!

HELP! I need an intervention!!!!!!

Hi again

So I disappeared for a while. I just wasn't really in a good frame of mind but I am back and have a revamped program for myself.

I am no longer counting calories. My problem is not that I don't know how to eat (I got a B.S. in Community Health). My problem is self-control. I like eating and I like it a lot. But I also want to be skinny.

So here is my new program. 1.Small portions at all meals and no seconds. 2.No treats until Sunday (the Sunday treat being reasonable). I started with a prayer and all last week I worked at it. If I wanted a treat I said "no but I can have one on Sunday". If I wanted seconds I said "no". The self control was totally a result of prayer. I am still praying. I still have to say no to myself but so far I have been able to say no and that is something I haven't been able to do for a long time.

First weeks weight loss on the new program. 3 pounds.

Hooray!!

Playing Catch-Up

I missed my Sunday weigh in because I haven't been feeling too well. Allergies have got me down and I haven't been doing much of anything. I did weigh myself on Saturday and I was on the lower half of my fluctuating weight, so that is good, especially since I weighed myself in the later afternoon instead of morning. I also found another pair of jeans I can comfortable fit into, so now I've got two pairs of jeans and my yoga pants. I also wore a white button down shirt on Sunday that my mom bought for me this past summer which didn't fit when she gave it to me. So those things are happy!

As for diet, I am still working on not gorging myself as meals, and doing pretty well with it. I have slid back into the chocolate chip habit, though. Things have been so stressful lately that I keep finding my hand in the bag of chocolate chips.

Hopefully my allergy meds will kick in soon, enough to get me some sleep and next week I can start exercising. I sent out an email to a bunch of friends to see if any of them are interested in starting an exercise group and I've gotten quiet a few responses. So hopefully I will soon have people to exercise with me.

I'm Back and He's Married

Yep, my son is married. What an amazing experience. Watching him kneel across the altar at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple and gaze with so much love into the eyes of his eternal companion was absolutely breathtaking. I've never seen him smile so big or be so happy. Truly a "parent payday."

And, I didn't worry about dieting. In fact, we found the greatest, most delicious restaurant ever in Provo--my new favorite restaurant. It's on Center Street in Orem, but actually in Provo at the Riverwoods (I think) shopping area close to Provo Canyon. It's called Tucano's. It's a Brazilian buffet and the food is spectacular. They have an all-you-can-eat buffet with cold sides on one side and hot side dishes on the other. So many salads. Then a waiter comes by with meat on a skewer and you let him know if you'd like a piece of bacon-wrapped turkey, garlic sirloin, tenderloin, chicken wings, BBQ chicken, pork, etc. I stuffed myself so much that I was literally sick when I left the restaurant, but what a glorious sick feeling. And the lemonade is to die for. So good. I could easily have kept to the South Beach diet while I was there, but I didn't want to and I'm not a bit sorry. We plan to go to this restaurant every time we're in Provo. The lemonade alone is worth it!

We also ate at Olive Garden--my next most favorite restaurant. I had the pasta stuffed with portobello mushrooms. I also ate a few bread sticks and loaded up with salad.

On the day of the wedding, we had a catered luncheon with croissant sandwiches, sausage-stuffed mushrooms, deviled eggs, and spinach artichoke dip. Since we stood in line for a full two hours at the reception, I didn't eat too much but I did eat cake and cookies. Again, not a bit sorry. (I think my feet may have recovered from wearing high heels all day).

We then went to Chuck-a-Rama the day we left to stuff the kids for the ride home. I enjoyed whatever I felt like eating, including some delicious frozen drinks.

The result? I gained 5 pounds. But, I went right back on South Beach when I got home and I've already lost 2 pounds. So I'm up 3 pounds, but it was such an incredible weekend, I'm not sorry. I know I can take it back off. I've still lost 27 pounds and I fit into my dress.

My goal: stay on South Beach Phase 1 this week. Phase 2 next week. Lose 9 pounds.

While we were on one of our many last-minute shopping sprees before the wedding, I put on a pair of pants I hadn't worn for a few months and they were big. In fact, big enough that I could remove them without unbuttoning or unzipping them--yay. Love to put on pants that a few months ago cut off my breathing and circulation and now are too big.

Sorry I've been AWOL for the last little bit--too much to do for the wedding and I still have the open house in a few weeks. I'll be better about posting. I love to read your posts. You guys are awesome and together we will reach our goals!!

3 REAL workouts in 3 days

I know that every little bit helps and just moving your body, going on a walk, or whatev is a great thing. But I always feel so proud of myself when I do a workout that's challenging. On Friday, I ran, and then on Saturday and Sunday, hubby and I went on bike rides. I did about 9 1/2 miles on each of those two days.

The bad thing is that in the last 3 days, I've gained weight. I had stayed pretty steady, but now all the sudden I work out and I gain. Waaah! I'm pretty sure it has to do with water retention, or that I'm building muscle, or /somethin'/. Yes??

I'm going to keep at it, though. I didn't get it in yet, but I'm going to do a weight workout today. I'm just trying to decide if I want to go to the gym or work out at home. I have all the stuff I need, and even though they have free babysitting, it's just a pain to go over there still. And I need my kids to do some serious homework tonight. They do have one machine I really need that I don't have here - the assisted pull-up machine. Love. It. Maybe I'll just do a leg workout here today, and then go to the gym tomorrow and do upper body and stuff then . . .

Decisions, decisions. :o)

Hello hello!

For the last four days I've been on a plateau. Each morning I've weighed the same, so what they tell you to do is have an "apple day." You have to eat 6 medium sized apples throughout the day and have a four ounce steak for dinner. It get's you off your plateau, so I'm trying it.

I had my appoint today and my body is carrying a whole liter more of water in my cells then last week! Yeah! Finally! I've been so dehydrated. That sea salt really works! lol I also lost 2 inches around my upper waist and 2 inches around the lower part of my waist, and, an inch on my arms, but I didn't lose anywhere else really. But it's happening, slowly and surely. I wore a skirt to church yesterday that I haven't worn in the last couple of years. I looked so cute up there teaching gospel doctrine! lol

Anyway, off on another week. I sure miss pizza, and pop corn and all the yucky fattening food. Can't wait to have a bit when I'm through with this thing! lol Who knows though, they say after doing this diet completely, your tastes change a bit and those foods just don't taste good to you anymore. Let's hope!

Sleep-MUST GET SLEEP!!

Sleep is where weight loss really occurs for me. I went into this weekend weighing 202, which means from last Sunday to Friday I had gone from 202.4 to 202. How lame is that? So this weekend I stuck to my diet really well--I didn't do too much snacking and kept within my calorie range. Just like I've been doing ALL week long.

And today I weighed in at 200.6. The only difference? Sleep. I'm the kind of person who needs around 9 hours of sleep. If I'm getting that much sleep regularly I don't get sick--and I guess I would lose weight faster. Argh. How can I get enough sleep during the weekdays? I'm not sure, but I'm going to have to if I really want to lose weight.

Has anyone else noticed if sleep makes a difference for them? I read in the Reader's Digest a few years ago what a difference sleep makes for weight loss--which is why people who have sleep apnea often can't lose weight and even gain weight.

So my goal for this week is to continue staying in the calorie range I've set up for myself, continue exercising, AND get to bed at 8 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I can't on Tuesday and Thursday because of Taekwondo. Hopefully if I get to bed at 8 then I'll be asleep at nine. We'll see.

So ... Whassup?

It was awesome to see so many of you at the UVU conference yesterday. And I must say, we did notice a bit of slimness taking place in Rob. Very svelte. He says he'll be better about posting more often. I guess we'll see ... we can but hope.

So, how are you all doing on the challenge I gave you? Are you game? Are you rarin' to go? Are you pumped? Motivated? I sure hope so ... 'cause I need to borrow some!

This month has been, truly, very hard for me. I got sick a few weeks ago and haven't been able to pull myself out of it. I went to the doctor the other day and he told me I have a sinus infection, and so he put me on antibiotics and proclaimed me good for the writers' conference. Then as I was walking into the building to register for the conference, I had this weird, freaky lung-seizing-up-thing that was unpleasant, and had to sit down for a while, and then came home and got a huge headache and ended up having to take some headache medicine with some Coke, which I had vowed not to do because if Rob can give it up, so can I, and I'd been clean for a whole week, but headache medicine doesn't work for me unless I kick it with Coke, and the headache finally went away and I watched the results show for Dancing with the Stars online, but today I still feel rotten and I haven't exercised in like, days, because I feel terrible, and now I've broken my string of no Coke, and I'm feeling fat and sick and like a loser, only not in the weight loss way, but in a non-successful way.

I have done longer run-on sentences than that, but I figured you got the message. :)

At any rate, my goals for the rest of September have been blown to bits, and it's frustrating because I had every intention of smokin' it out of the water, and it didn't happen. It's so easy to gain weight, and so hard to lose it, ya know? Hard not to feel depressed by that sometimes.

But, again, I'm not giving up! First I'm gonna get better, and then I'm gonna try again. This is not going to beat me.

The Importance of Being Earnest

I don't know what it was, but I think I hit the tipping point yesterday. It's been coming on for a while, but last night, I just had one of those "I've HAD it! Something has GOT to change" moments.

And I decided I had to write down a plan for the next day. Not just say, "I'm really going to do it this time. Really. Honest."

So I broke out my old BFL spreadsheets from before and made a new blank one. And I wrote in a plan. I was going to run for 20 minutes at noon. Eat some oatmeal with raisins and a couple eggs at 9. Etc.

And I did so much better today! I actually ran for the first time in forever.

Another thing I'm so proud of myself for - I didn't push myself to the point of pain and death and agony. Usually I feel like I have to push myself just as much my first day back as I did after months of training last spring or whatever. I definitely ran hard, basically doing 1 3/4 miles in 22 minutes. A few months ago, I could do closer to 2 1/4. But I gave myself a break and I felt amazing.

My new scale came, by the way. It seriously rocks. It's the easiest scale ever to use just to take a quick weight check, and it also does all the nifty metabolism and fat % stuff, too, if you want to take a little longer. So I recorded my weight. It was a little scary. I'm about where I was when I "started" on here, though, so it's not too bad. But even though my weight is the same, I know for a fact that my measurements are worse because I can't even get this one pair of pants /on/ that I was wearing frequently a couple months ago. :'(

So, I need to be earnest about this thing if I want to change for the better. And I am.

Game On. ;o)

(P.S. Where is everyone? Hardly anyone is posting and even less are commenting. Come on, guys! Let's do this thing.) :o)

Thanks to you all

Hey guys! It was SO great seeing you all yesterday! I loved every minute and thanks so much for making my day with all your compliments and praise. I really love you guys. I feel so blessed to have found you.

So, get this. I weighed myself before the conference yesterday and I was 163.4. This morning, I weighed 161.3! Woo Hoo! I could NOT believe it. I don't know if it was the stress of not sleeping the night before, or the green tea I'd had that morning, but I was surprised. I don't usually drink green tea. I don't love it, but that was the only thing I'd done differently.

Also, it was much easier sticking to the diet and not cheating with all of you knowing I was on the HCG diet. Normally, at conferences such as these, it's super hard to not cheat. And I'm especially triggered by smell, so let me tell you, it's hard! But your support helped me stay on track there and after. Thank you so much!

I've also decided to try green tea again today to see if it makes a difference in tomorrow's weight. Who knows? Maybe it will. It's VERY unusual to lose two pounds in one day like this, but I'll take it!

A Disappointing Week

I weighed in yesterday and lost another 0.5 pounds. I know it's going in the right direction, but I always hope for a bigger number. Of course, I haven't been very consistent with eating the way I should, and exercise has been nonexistent. I guess if I want bigger results, I've got to make a bigger effort.

Failing Miserably

Ok, I have a cold. A whopping nasty sore throat, coughing, stuffy head, fever, achy muscles cold. And I have done absolutely nothing. I took a 4 hour nap today while the kids were at school. I feel awful. I will probably lose weight from this, albeit not a very fun way.

Pep talk

I just have to post! I am so excited! I am down again! I woke up this morning, weighed myself and I'm 163.2! On Aug 31 I started the HCG diet at 175. I did screw timing up a bit with cheating on food, but now, I am strict and on track. It feels so good to have loose fitting clothes. I really see a difference in my face. I look in the mirror and can't believe it!

You guys, if you're struggling, do this diet! It has been wonderful and there are no side affects to the shots. It still bothers me to give them to myself, but it doesn't stop me. You can buy the stuff yourself and mix it. For under a hundred bucks you can get all your supplies. You don't have to go through a doctor. That's what my friend is doing. She gave this site you can go to.

http://www.happilythinnerafter.com

Seriously, if you want to finally get it off and keep it off, it's worth a try. This diet was even on the news yesterday! It works. You don't have to keep hitting your head against the wall going up and down with weight. I was so discouraged, thinking I'd never be able to lose weight. I felt hopeless and that I should just accept myself the way I was. But I didn't feel good the way I was. My clothes were tight, my face was fat, and I didn't feel good in my own skin. Now, I feel great. I still have about twenty pounds to go, but I'll get there. Slowly but surely.

My Goal for the Rest of the Month

I've been thinking about the challenge Tristi sent out about our goals for the rest of the month. At first, I was thinking of just reapplying myself to my original goals, since I've been slacking off a bit. But then I had a better idea.

I'm going to aim for writing at least 500 words a day, six days a week, for what's left of this month. I've discovered in the past that when I am at the keyboard writing, I am less likely to want to snack on anything, because I really enjoy what I am doing, as opposed to sitting at the computer, typing medical reports, when there are so many other things I would rather be doing. I think this is in the same category as listening to more of the music that I like, more often. I want to get back to more of what feeds my soul and makes me happy, instead of feeding my face because I am not happy.

I'll keep pushing ahead on my original goals too.

Tristi's Challenge and My Goals

Okay. So ironically enough I've lost weight this week, but I haven't exercised as much. I started coming down with a cold on Tuesday so I didn't go to taekwondo and my husband was on a business trip from Wednesday to Sunday so I had the car. Believe me--I did NOT bike when the car was so convenient!!

BUT, my weight is now at 202.4, which means I've lost 1.6 pounds this week. Which is really perfect. I want to be in the 1-2 pounds of weight loss a week.

I think that I may not be eating enough calories on the days that I'm exercising which may account for the non-weight loss last week--or maybe I gained some muscle.

So my goals?

1. Measure myself--not just worrying about pounds, but inches and start tracking my measurements every two weeks.

2. Increase my calorie intake on the days I exercise and increasing the frequency of eating. So I need to get some stuff to have a midmorning snack that I can eat in-between classes. Other than that I'm pretty good.

3. Control my weekend eating--and stay within the calorie range I've set out for myself.

4. Continue exercising.

I think those are pretty good goals for now!

Oh and I keep seeing advertisements for the whole acai berry and colon cleanse thing as a way to lose weight. I know that it is most likely not true, but man it is tempting to try--but WAY expensive. I think anyway. Their 'free' trial isn't a free trial at all. Anyway. Anyone out there trying that diet? I'd be really interested to see if someone trustworthy is trying that diet!

Jeans

I tried on some blue jeans the other day. I got them on and then tried to walk around in them. Nope. Didn't happen. I promptly unbuttoned them, stuck my feet under my couch and started doing sit ups. Nothing prompts exercise for me like a good reminder that most of my pants don't fit still.

My weight remains unchanged. My diet has been pretty good. I haven't eaten too much junk food and I didn't eat a lot of junk at the birthday party I went to yesterday. I am still doing well with not overeating at dinner and the other day when my husband suggested ice cream, I actually didn't feel like having any. That is a first.

We do have a few leftover yummy brownies in the fridge that we made for the party yesterday, but I've only succombed to eating one of those and not the whole pan.

I'm realizing that even though my diet is tons better than it used to be, I've got to get moving more. Finding the time and making it a priority is still really hard for me. There are things I really just rather do-like the dishes. I never thought I'd ever say that.

Anyway, I'm still here, still the same size, and still trying.

September, You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet

It's true. September hasn't seen much of anything from me as far as fitness, weight loss, and feeling better about myself goes. But I've put some thought into Tristi's challenge, and here are some things I can commit to for the next 13 days.

1 - I will do some kind of formal exercise for at least 20 minutes every day but Sunday.

This might be something as intense as running sprints, something moderate like going on a bike ride, swimming laps, or lifting weights, or something easy like taking a walk around the neighborhood. I'll try to shoot for something more on the moderate or even intense end of the spectrum several days a week, but the minimum is just to get into the habit of doing /something/ every day.

2 - I will only eat sweets at one sitting each day. Instead of having a "free day" each week, I've decided to have a "free hour" each day.

It's sad that this would be a great improvement, but right now, promising myself I can pig out on a free day isn't enough to curb the cravings at the moment. Six days of clean eating is too long-term, sadly enough. But if I can ask myself, "Do I really want to eat this ice cream sandwich right now? Because if I do, I can't have dessert when I go out with DH tonight, or I can't eat a handful of cookies or a bowl of ice cream tonight when we sit down to watch our show," I think it will either keep me from eating the ice cream sandwich in that moment, or it will keep me honest that night when I sit down to watch TV, so I don't reach for a midnight snack because I know I just ate that ice cream sandwich a few hours ago.

And . . . that's it. I have a few other goals I'm going to make, but these are the only two that have to do with my physical fitness. I think I'll even make myself a little chore chart and use the stickers I bought for the kids' charts to help keep myself on track. Maybe if the kids see me marking stuff off on my own chart, they'll be more motivated to get the stuff on their charts done, too. Yes? Or is this wishful thinking? LOL.

Thanks Tristi for inspiring me to push myself a little more, while giving myself permission to do it in a way that's realistic for where I am right now in my life. I'll keep you updated on how it goes.

Shhhhhh...I have been cheating!

Yes, I have been cheating; but it was NOT my fault! Do I sound like one of your children? "It wasn't my fault, it was hers"...as I point to the person standing next to me. I had a house guest from PA and she stayed for one week. Of course I had to take her to some of the best eating places to be found in Utah. Unfortunately, we kept going back to Iceberg, one of my favorite places for milkshakes, but only 3 times!! :) I think I lost my mind when my friend was here. I threw caution to the wind and the word "Diet" out the door.

Here I am now, heavier than before and wanting to beat myself up. I know it is hard to diet when you have a guest in your home. It also is hard to eat healthy foods when you are off site seeing. The grilled chicken salad at Cafe Rio isn't that bad, right? Um, yes it is and I would only be fooling myself otherwise.

So, thank goodness for brand new days and fresh starts. Instead of living this rule:
" I ONLY EAT IN THREE PLACES: HERE. THERE. AND EVERYWHERE.
--Daniel L. Worona"


I will be following this advice instead:
"If hunger is not the problem, then eating is not the solution. ~Author Unknown

Stress has been my good friend the past year. Until I resolve some things within my own soul, this whole "losing weight" thing will never work.

So, this saying is hanging up on my fridge, "Gluttony is an emotional escape, a sign something is eating us. ~Peter De Vries


Keep up the good work everyone!

wohoo!

Okay, I know I just blogged last night and no one else has even had TIME to blog yet, but I am super excited. I got all my stuff out and ready last night to go biking this morning, and got up and biked 5.3 miles. Now if only I can keep going the rest of the day!

My month goals

So, it was too unrealistic for me to be able to continue excercising at 5 Every morning. Especially now that I am watching a friend's very infantilized child while she is moving and fixing up her house to move. I can't get anything done for 9 hours because her child cannot be put down. I don't know how her husband, who is the one at home with him, gets anything done.

However. I am recommitting to exercise for the rest of this month. I WILL go biking/swimming twice a week. I WILL do my exercise ball exercises once a week. I WILL use the Wii at least once a week. And as soon as I finish getting all my produce put up, I will go back on my diet. Stinks when you have fresh produce that you have always believed is super healthy but you just can't eat it on your diet. But I am canning, I canned peaches with splenda and have been drying herbs and freezing zucchini and will have produce later in the year when I don't have access to fresh produce any longer.

Good luck everyone!

Accountability

Ok, Tristi threw down the gauntlet and I am going to pick it up.

What I was afraid would happen has happened for me. Work has picked up and I am not in the halls as much as before or as much as I should be. So movement and stair climbing has decreased. After school there is soccer practice to drive to and pick up from, class for me, errands around town, home work, house work, and you know how it goes. Not much left over for the exercise.

Plus I had some big homework projects that kept me up late, so I haven't been getting the sleep I need.

Then I was invited to be a vendor at an upscale boutique the weekend before Thanksgiving. So I have been spending all my extra time when not doing the above stuff to paint bracelets so I will have at least 100 to take with me.

My pants felt a bit snugger today than they did last week. I refuse, absolutely refuse to let the scale go up more than a couple of pounds. And I really want to get to the next zero number down. So, goal for the rest of the month:

*Exercise to the 10 minute exercise DVD 5 days a week. It doesn't matter what routine I choose, just so long as I do one.
*Walk the halls at the school, going up and down the stairs at least 2 times a day. 4 is preferable, but I will settle for 2 times a day everyday that school is in session the rest of this month.
*Go back to my menues for supper so that I don't just make something fast when I remember the kids want to eat.

What the ... And a Challenge

I'm not even going to discuss what happened when I got on the Wii Balance Board today. I'll have you know, I've been pretty good lately. I'm cutting back on portion sizes, I'm cutting back on sugary drinks ... although, I'm not as good as Rob on that one yet ... and I'm cutting back on sweet treats. I'm feeling pretty proud of myself. The Balance Board, however, is refusing to acknowledge this fact.

I'm not giving up, however.

Well, we've been going at this blog for a little while now, and I have to say, I'm really impressed with all of you. You're great!! And as a reward, I'm going to issue a challenge.

I'd like each of you to sit down and come up with a realistic plan, that you can stick with, for the rest of the month. You can allow for snacks or whatever else you feel you need to keep it real, but it should also stretch you just a little bit. Write that all down and post it somewhere in your house where you'll see it often. On October 1st, send me an e-mail and tell me if you accomplished the goals you set on that plan, and you will win a prize! Um ... I don't know what the prize is, because I just thought of this challenge, but I'll get back to you. No, it won't be something to eat. :)

You don't have to post your plan here, unless you'd really like to, but I'm going to post mine now because I need the accountability.

My goals are:

1. Kick the Coke habit. This will be hard because some days, it's the only thing that keeps me awake. (Adrenals are shot.) Anyway, I'm gonna do it.

2. Exercise every day but Sundays for the rest of the month.

3. Continue to watch the portions and the food choices.

Note - these are behavior goals, not weight-loss goals. If I were to say, "I'll lose four pounds," and then I get a lot of water weight or something, that's not really my fault and I can't punish myself for something I didn't do. However, I can reward myself for consistent, positive behavior.

And there you have it - Tristi's plan for the rest of the month. I can do it!! And you can too!!

Low Carb Diet, Low-tech Stair Master

I am down another 1.5 pounds, for a total of 8.5 since I started blogging here.

It's been a scary week. My whole plan was turned on its ear and I didn't know whether I would gain or lose. I went with my husband to see the diabetes specialist. George isn't on insulin yet, but he is on two different medications to control his blood sugar levels. We wanted to know if there was anything else he could be doing to reverse or stop the damage that has already been done. The doctor handed us one page of instructions for a special diet to keep the blood sugar levels steady. It's 30 carbs each at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and 15 carbs each for three snacks a day.

It didn't sound too bad until we got home and tried putting it into practice. One slice of whole grain bread is 20 carbs. A medium banana is 27. One cup of milk is 13 carbs. Here we have been trying to incorporate more fruits and vegetables and whole grains into our diet, and the doctor tells us to severely restrict them. This means, to get enough calories to sustain life, we need to increase our protein and fat intake. It seems a lot like the Atkins diet without the drastic first stage.

(Notice I am saying "we" and "us" here? To be supportive, I am eating the same foods, in nearly the same amounts, as George is. If we do it together, I can be sure he measures everything and checks the carb count.)

In other news, I had quite a good workout yesterday on my low-tech Stair Master (regular stairs). We elevated our bed enough to fit the #10 size cans underneath and transferred what had been stacked in a corner of my office upstairs. This meant grabbing a couple of cans (and dang that wheat is heavy), power walking from the office, through the living room and kitchen, hiking up the stairs, and piling the cans in the bedroom and hallway. I lost count how many trips up and down I took, but I lapped George twice. Then in the cool-down phase I did a lot of kneeling and stretching and pushing to get the cans under the bed. I haven't done a workout that hard for a long time (gauging by the amount of sweat that was pouring off my body). It felt pretty good, actually.

Breakfast of Champions

Let's just say, that's not what I'm eating right now. I know it's terrible. I know it isn't good for me. I know it's not going to start my day off on a healthy foot. Nevertheless, it's what's for breakfast.

chocolate cake.

and cheese crackers.

I did have a bite of a baked apple, does that count for anything?

Back on track

Yea! I'm back on track! Now that I've started eating correctly for this diet and have stopped cheating (I'm more committed than ever) I have lost four pounds since Monday! At my appt. (on Monday) I weighed 169. This morning I am 165! and I'm never hungry!

Also, I still, after three and a half weeks, have zero side affects from the HCG. I'm telling you this as I feel it's important for you to know. I feel great, energetic, happy and dang, I'm lookin' good!

The thing I love about the HCG diet is that it only dissolves "abnormal" fat. NONE of the normal fat that we have and need. Just the yucky stuff is attacked like the unwanted fat around your heart, organs, belly, thighs etc....

I have now met so many people who do this diet. I'm amazed and every single one loved/loves it. I am so glad I found it too. It is so worth it!

Gaining

All this time I've been supposedly trying to lose weight since the debut of this site, I've maintained my weight, and at one point was even down a pound. But I weighed myself this morning and I've gained. :o( I wasn't surprised, though, because when I looked in the mirror last night, I was shocked at how big I looked. Ugh! One of these days I'm gonna get fed up and really change some things.

My nice scale that does body fat and other stuff is broken, but it consistently only weighs about a pound off from the other scale, so I'm pretty sure the gain is real and not just because I'm using a different scale.

So I went online and bought a new scale off of Amazon. If you anyone is in the market for a scale that is total whiz-bang and has mostly good reviews, the one I bought is on a major sale. It's the Omron Full Body Sensor Body Fat and Body Composition Monitor In addition to weight and body fat, this thing does a bunch of other readings like resting metabolism, BMI, skeletal muscle %, etc. It's $75, but that's $35 less than MSRP, and you can get free super saver shipping. I'm just sayin'. :o)

So, I'm off to do a workout. Wish me luck. :-P

Biking in the Wind

Today was windy. Windy and rainy. And I observed something about the wind--it followed me. Or it blew against me the whole way. Kind of like the whole theory, "Smoke follows beauty" kind of thing? Only this was more the theory of, "Wind is against those who are in BAD SHAPE." Or maybe the wind is just trying to help me. Yeah. It was a friendly wind. Just like the needle-like points of the rain being driven into my skin on the way home. Friendly rain . . . friendly wind!

I biked three times last week and went to taekwondo twice. So the exercise was good, but I didn't lose any weight. Maybe I gained some muscle? At least that is what I'm telling myself. We'll see how this week goes. I'm staying steady at 204. And this weekend I didn't do so well on calories AGAIN. Luckily, we didn't have a three day weekend! I'll have to find a way to get control over the weekends, however, and I'm echoing Melissa's complaint . . . How do people have the willpower to say NO!!?

(Especially when your students bring in donuts!!!)

Not great news.

Today's report isn't too fabulous but it's my own dang fault. On the HCG diet, you can't cheat or you just won't lose weight.

Well, it was Peach Days this last weekend and then we had a family party on Sunday and, well, you know the rest. I did pretty good most of the time, but how do people have the will power to say NO?

Bry took me to a movie on Friday night and as soon as I walked in the theater, CABAM! the overwhelming smell of popcorn knocked me down and let me just say, I LOVE popcorn. I can't NOT eat popcorn at the movies. We did get it unbuttered and I only had a bit, but it was still cheating.

So, the results are this . . . I lost only 2 lbs (and remember, you lose about a pound a day on this diet) and the place where I lost the most inches was my boobs! ARGGG!

So this week I am vowing to have a will of steel! I bought a George Foreman grill too. It's so dang fast and the food tastes great with it! Hopefully that will help! lol

Anyway, off to a new week!