Always check the clock before deciding to go outside for a walk.
Let me back track for a bit. I'm trying very hard to earn activity points (AP in WW speak). I didn't plan on walking today because it's a bit too warm (close to 80) and I tend to get sweaty and flushed. But by around 11:30 I started getting antsy. Then about 15 minutes later I jumped up from my chair and went for a walk.
It's still sort of warm, but I didn't become too sweaty and gross, so that part is fine. But, I forgot to check the clock and I ventured outside and onto campus right smack dab in the middle of the change of classes.
You see, this is something that I, and probably 99.9% of the people who work here, try never to do. It's crowded and noisy, and depending on the time of year it can sort of be depressing (that is, remind you of how old you are). On top of that I was being lapped by everyone. Not that it's a huge deal for me, but I'm pretty sure they were getting annoyed with it. If I'd just checked the clock I would have waited 5 minutes and spared myself.
Or maybe not. Maybe I'd have put it off and not taken my walk at all. Maybe I'd have talked myself out of it. Maybe it wasn't such a mistake after all. I took a walk when my bod told me I needed to take a walk, and I got it done whether campus was crowded or not.
Makes you think. Well, maybe not you. But it makes ME think.
I may forgo my afternoon constitutional however. It's only going to get warmer, and I was planning on doing laundry tonight, which can be a real workout for me. I hate doing laundry and put it off and end up doing a ton at once. And WW includes laundry as an activity. I always clock less than I actually do, too, because I don't really work THAT hard at it. But I deserve those points anyway!
So, that's my activity for the day. I wonder how many points a person earns for wading through a sea of underclassmen?
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Anxious
Hey Amigos,
I feel the need to blog about some anxiety I'm having. I suppose I could just journal about this but who knows, maybe I'll write something that someone else may find helpful.
I'm anxious about many things right now. I'm anxious about my weigh in tomorrow. I can't believe how fast they come up! I was .2 lbs away from hitting a personal milestone last week. I believe that I did relatively well this week, but as has been my problem in the past, I let go a bit over the weekend. 3 meals eaten out, eating every bite from the plates of said meals, a few too many tortilla chips while having Mexican for lunch, a breakfast that could have been better. I know that I will be quite disappointed if I don't lose that lousy .2 that I need to, and I have no one to blame but myself.
Why would I sabotage myself? None of those things I did was fatal of course. But they are the crack in the dike, you know? That tiny little thing that seems OK and you don't have to worry about it, but it's the beginning of trouble.
The good thing is I recognize it as such. But I recognized it going in to this week and I still caved.
It's such a scary thing, that food has such control over me. You put it in front of me and I'm going to eat it. Like when I was at the ball game a few weeks back, we had a big bag of salted-in-the-shell peanuts. I kept eating them, and then moved them away from me so I would stop. My sister said "Why don't you just stop eating them?" Sounds easy doesn't it. But for me it's not. I needed them out of my reach. But why???
I'm anxious about how the odds are stacked against me. I do know the answer to that problem, though. Never stop going to the meetings. These meetings are going to be a life-long thing for me. If I stop going, it will stop working. That much I know. I tried desperately, for close to 20 years, to lose weight on my own, and all I did was gain. I'd lose in the short term, but it would always come back on, along with a few friends brought along just for kicks.
As long as I reach out for support, as long as I educate myself, as long as I'm accountable, every week, I will succeed.
Living the way I was living is not an option anymore. I really and truly was miserable. The enjoyment of food is over so quickly, but the effects of it are not. The good thing is I tend to think a lot more about my choices and I tend not to rush into things and buy stuff and eat it before I have a chance to rationally decide what I should do.
There are lots of things I haven't eaten since I started WW, and I don't miss them. I never did miss them. Krispy Kreme, for example. Can't remember the last time I had a KK donut, but I don't really care and I don't miss it. Haven't gone to a drive-thru since I started WW. I haven't visited the local deli or bakery either. I haven't had a mocha or a latte. I haven't bought and devoured a bag of chips. I haven't gotten anything from a vending machine. I haven't ordered Chinese carryout. I've been feeding myself with the groceries I buy every week. Not only have I lost weight, but I've for certain saved a lot of money too.
Even while I know I'm doing well and will continue to do so, there are still things that cause me anxiety, things that I work on all the time. I could never, ever say that this struggle is easy. The plan is easy. The meals I prepare and eat are easy. But the struggle I have with food never, ever will be easy. Never. I will fight this my entire life. That's what makes me so anxious. But all I can do is get through today.
If all else fails, I'll find something on my body that weighs .2 lbs and chop it off. Come to think of it, I haven't had a hair cut lately.
I feel the need to blog about some anxiety I'm having. I suppose I could just journal about this but who knows, maybe I'll write something that someone else may find helpful.
I'm anxious about many things right now. I'm anxious about my weigh in tomorrow. I can't believe how fast they come up! I was .2 lbs away from hitting a personal milestone last week. I believe that I did relatively well this week, but as has been my problem in the past, I let go a bit over the weekend. 3 meals eaten out, eating every bite from the plates of said meals, a few too many tortilla chips while having Mexican for lunch, a breakfast that could have been better. I know that I will be quite disappointed if I don't lose that lousy .2 that I need to, and I have no one to blame but myself.
Why would I sabotage myself? None of those things I did was fatal of course. But they are the crack in the dike, you know? That tiny little thing that seems OK and you don't have to worry about it, but it's the beginning of trouble.
The good thing is I recognize it as such. But I recognized it going in to this week and I still caved.
It's such a scary thing, that food has such control over me. You put it in front of me and I'm going to eat it. Like when I was at the ball game a few weeks back, we had a big bag of salted-in-the-shell peanuts. I kept eating them, and then moved them away from me so I would stop. My sister said "Why don't you just stop eating them?" Sounds easy doesn't it. But for me it's not. I needed them out of my reach. But why???
I'm anxious about how the odds are stacked against me. I do know the answer to that problem, though. Never stop going to the meetings. These meetings are going to be a life-long thing for me. If I stop going, it will stop working. That much I know. I tried desperately, for close to 20 years, to lose weight on my own, and all I did was gain. I'd lose in the short term, but it would always come back on, along with a few friends brought along just for kicks.
As long as I reach out for support, as long as I educate myself, as long as I'm accountable, every week, I will succeed.
Living the way I was living is not an option anymore. I really and truly was miserable. The enjoyment of food is over so quickly, but the effects of it are not. The good thing is I tend to think a lot more about my choices and I tend not to rush into things and buy stuff and eat it before I have a chance to rationally decide what I should do.
There are lots of things I haven't eaten since I started WW, and I don't miss them. I never did miss them. Krispy Kreme, for example. Can't remember the last time I had a KK donut, but I don't really care and I don't miss it. Haven't gone to a drive-thru since I started WW. I haven't visited the local deli or bakery either. I haven't had a mocha or a latte. I haven't bought and devoured a bag of chips. I haven't gotten anything from a vending machine. I haven't ordered Chinese carryout. I've been feeding myself with the groceries I buy every week. Not only have I lost weight, but I've for certain saved a lot of money too.
Even while I know I'm doing well and will continue to do so, there are still things that cause me anxiety, things that I work on all the time. I could never, ever say that this struggle is easy. The plan is easy. The meals I prepare and eat are easy. But the struggle I have with food never, ever will be easy. Never. I will fight this my entire life. That's what makes me so anxious. But all I can do is get through today.
If all else fails, I'll find something on my body that weighs .2 lbs and chop it off. Come to think of it, I haven't had a hair cut lately.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
6 Months!
Hey Amigos,
My last WW meeting marked 6 months with the program. They don't acknowledge that the way they acknowledge your first 16 weeks. The first 16 weeks is huge and everyone deserves kudos for making it through. By 6 months you're deep into it it's a long damn time. 16 weeks is dedication, a sign that you've committed, and I can see why they'd acknowledge it.
I didn't want anything for 6 months in the first place, and it makes perfect sense why they don't make a huge deal out of it. Can you imagine the poor person struggling to lose, receiving acknowledgement for length of time in the program? "You've been at WW for over a year now! Great! How much have you lost? 5 lbs? Oh."
I think this may be the longest I've stuck with any one program. The most I ever lost on a program was 28 lbs, and I hit that with WW 4 months ago.
So, this is good. And I still feel strongly for the progam, I still agree with it, I'm not bored with it, I like it. I haven't missed a single meeting or weigh in, and I still look forward to going.
So, what now? More of the same, I guess. I have made a few changes. As you move along in the program you sort of have to. Like the points thing. They give you a certain amount of points based on your start weight, and as you lose weight, they take points away. At first that was no big deal because I had an assload of points and had to work to use them all.
But as they've whittled away at them I find myself using them up much faster. So I've made some adjustments. I no longer purchase the WW goodies at the meeting. This has several benefits, actually. I save money, first of all. Also, I found it increasingly difficult to eat them sanely. I could rarely stop at one. And on top of that, I don't spend my points on them anymore. It wasn't like I was getting a great dose of nutrition or anything.
I've also stepped up my exercise. I'm not 100% successful in this endeavor, but I do try. I try to take a walk at least once a day for 20 minutes. Ideally I shoot for 2 walks a day of 20 minutes each, but I try not to get too worked up about it if I can't fit both in. The great thing about that is I can use the points I earn that day for food, and those activity points come in handy dandy.
I'm also making a rather drastic move. I'm going from a full sized bag of 94% Fat Free Orville Redenbacher Kettle Corn to the 100 calorie pack of 94% FFORKC. This is going to be a big change. See, I'm a popcorn nut. I can just eat and eat it and never think twice about it. The thought of that tiny bag of popcorn makes me very depressed, but I'm sure I'll get used to it, much like I got used to all the other little changes I made. Baby steps, amigos.
So, who's to say what the next 1/2 year will bring. If I have any control over things (and when you think about it I pretty much do, barring force majeur or an act of God) it's entirely up to me what happens the next 6 months. Frankly, it's the next 4 months that are giving me the schpilkes. I mean, this is the holidays, amigos. The big kahuna. The big cheese. The biggest road block to diets.
All I can do is plan, and pray. So often I've headed into the holidays with the best intentions, only to be spat out on New Year's Day with absolutely no resolve and a complete lack of interest in what I'm putting into my body. But, I have a secret weapon now. Well, not so secret. I have Weight Watchers.
My last WW meeting marked 6 months with the program. They don't acknowledge that the way they acknowledge your first 16 weeks. The first 16 weeks is huge and everyone deserves kudos for making it through. By 6 months you're deep into it it's a long damn time. 16 weeks is dedication, a sign that you've committed, and I can see why they'd acknowledge it.
I didn't want anything for 6 months in the first place, and it makes perfect sense why they don't make a huge deal out of it. Can you imagine the poor person struggling to lose, receiving acknowledgement for length of time in the program? "You've been at WW for over a year now! Great! How much have you lost? 5 lbs? Oh."
I think this may be the longest I've stuck with any one program. The most I ever lost on a program was 28 lbs, and I hit that with WW 4 months ago.
So, this is good. And I still feel strongly for the progam, I still agree with it, I'm not bored with it, I like it. I haven't missed a single meeting or weigh in, and I still look forward to going.
So, what now? More of the same, I guess. I have made a few changes. As you move along in the program you sort of have to. Like the points thing. They give you a certain amount of points based on your start weight, and as you lose weight, they take points away. At first that was no big deal because I had an assload of points and had to work to use them all.
But as they've whittled away at them I find myself using them up much faster. So I've made some adjustments. I no longer purchase the WW goodies at the meeting. This has several benefits, actually. I save money, first of all. Also, I found it increasingly difficult to eat them sanely. I could rarely stop at one. And on top of that, I don't spend my points on them anymore. It wasn't like I was getting a great dose of nutrition or anything.
I've also stepped up my exercise. I'm not 100% successful in this endeavor, but I do try. I try to take a walk at least once a day for 20 minutes. Ideally I shoot for 2 walks a day of 20 minutes each, but I try not to get too worked up about it if I can't fit both in. The great thing about that is I can use the points I earn that day for food, and those activity points come in handy dandy.
I'm also making a rather drastic move. I'm going from a full sized bag of 94% Fat Free Orville Redenbacher Kettle Corn to the 100 calorie pack of 94% FFORKC. This is going to be a big change. See, I'm a popcorn nut. I can just eat and eat it and never think twice about it. The thought of that tiny bag of popcorn makes me very depressed, but I'm sure I'll get used to it, much like I got used to all the other little changes I made. Baby steps, amigos.
So, who's to say what the next 1/2 year will bring. If I have any control over things (and when you think about it I pretty much do, barring force majeur or an act of God) it's entirely up to me what happens the next 6 months. Frankly, it's the next 4 months that are giving me the schpilkes. I mean, this is the holidays, amigos. The big kahuna. The big cheese. The biggest road block to diets.
All I can do is plan, and pray. So often I've headed into the holidays with the best intentions, only to be spat out on New Year's Day with absolutely no resolve and a complete lack of interest in what I'm putting into my body. But, I have a secret weapon now. Well, not so secret. I have Weight Watchers.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Rummage Report
Hey Amigos,
Made it through another weekend. The rummage sale was a resounding success. Of course, this all depends on your definition of success in the world of rummages. Success for me means I got rid of some stuff, made some money and was never frightened or overly annoyed by any visitors. Frankly, some of them were downright adorable and so sweet. And I got to spend quality time with some of my favorite people who were a part of the whole sale (we figured, the more people the more stuff, the more stuff the larger the crowd).
So, it was good. Better than good. Yet another fun thing I was able to do this summer.
The weather started out kind of badly on Saturday, with a couple sudden thunderstorms. But truly interested people do not let something like that get in the way of a bargain.
I also went to see a movie with my mom this weekend, Vicki Cristina Barcelona. The wonderful Javier Bardem was in it (which I'm pretty sure is the reason my mom suggested it in the first place--the woman has taste). I wasn't entirely into it, and neither was she. The settings were gorgeous, and it had some of the astute observations you expect from Woody Allen. I think my big issue was that most of the reviews I read had been stellar, so I was waiting to be impressed. This may be one of those 'the whole isn't equal to the sum of the parts' thing. There was a lot to like about it, but bringing it together didn't really happen, at least for us.
We had dinner after the movie. We couldn't make up our minds where to go, and I'm a bit fussy seeing as I don't want too much conflict with WW. We ended up at the Chancery where I had the open faced tilapia tacos. The combination of things they put on there was quite tasty, and it came with some yummy black beans and a side of wild rice. But there were for sure things on there I probably should have steered clear of, and I cleaned my plate, so I wouldn't say I did the best job. It probably didn't help that I met my friends bright and early that morning for breakfast at Heinemann's, and while I tried to keep it reasonable, I just don't think there's anything you can do to hash browns to make them healthy other than not eating them.
So, when I got home that evening I took both dogs out for a walk independently. I can walk them both, but I really need a couple more arms and maybe another leg or 2 to make that an actually enjoyable experience. But I wanted to get moving because I'd been so generous with myself food-wise. Stella and I went south, Ravi and I went north. By the time Ravi and I were heading in the door it was nearly dark outside. I love walking that time of night (though it's probably not necessarily the safest time, although I doubt anyone would mess with me when I have Ravi with me unless they were well armed, which they probably would be). The greatest thing about being out then is that the bats start coming out. I love watching them up there doing their job of picking bugs right out of the air. Occasionally they'll run into one another (not literally, just get into each other's business I guess) and you'll hear this 'tst! tst! tst!' that's very cool.
So, while I did take some liberties in the area of consumption, I was not inactive, far from it actually, so all is not lost.
Classes start today. I've made sure to get in 2 walks (if you walk all the way around campus you can almost get a good mile in), but only after the change of classes. I know they're my bread and butter, but I don't want them crawling all over the place when I'm just trying to get a little decent exercise.
Well, that's about all she wrote. I did want to mention this, however. I need to make a conscious effort to eat better on the weekends. I think I'm giving myself too much leeway, and while I haven't noticed it at the scale yet, and maybe I won't for a long time, if I keep it up unchecked, I will get into trouble.
If I think I can get away with it, I'll try more and more things until I'm right back where I started and wondering how I got there.
There is one thing I know for certain. I can't start this process over. I can't even let myself think about it, it's just too overwhelming. So I'm telling you all here and now, I'm going to do better on weekends. I'm going to be more serious and more honest about what it is I do on the weekends. Weekends are not a free pass!!!
Made it through another weekend. The rummage sale was a resounding success. Of course, this all depends on your definition of success in the world of rummages. Success for me means I got rid of some stuff, made some money and was never frightened or overly annoyed by any visitors. Frankly, some of them were downright adorable and so sweet. And I got to spend quality time with some of my favorite people who were a part of the whole sale (we figured, the more people the more stuff, the more stuff the larger the crowd).
So, it was good. Better than good. Yet another fun thing I was able to do this summer.
The weather started out kind of badly on Saturday, with a couple sudden thunderstorms. But truly interested people do not let something like that get in the way of a bargain.
I also went to see a movie with my mom this weekend, Vicki Cristina Barcelona. The wonderful Javier Bardem was in it (which I'm pretty sure is the reason my mom suggested it in the first place--the woman has taste). I wasn't entirely into it, and neither was she. The settings were gorgeous, and it had some of the astute observations you expect from Woody Allen. I think my big issue was that most of the reviews I read had been stellar, so I was waiting to be impressed. This may be one of those 'the whole isn't equal to the sum of the parts' thing. There was a lot to like about it, but bringing it together didn't really happen, at least for us.
We had dinner after the movie. We couldn't make up our minds where to go, and I'm a bit fussy seeing as I don't want too much conflict with WW. We ended up at the Chancery where I had the open faced tilapia tacos. The combination of things they put on there was quite tasty, and it came with some yummy black beans and a side of wild rice. But there were for sure things on there I probably should have steered clear of, and I cleaned my plate, so I wouldn't say I did the best job. It probably didn't help that I met my friends bright and early that morning for breakfast at Heinemann's, and while I tried to keep it reasonable, I just don't think there's anything you can do to hash browns to make them healthy other than not eating them.
So, when I got home that evening I took both dogs out for a walk independently. I can walk them both, but I really need a couple more arms and maybe another leg or 2 to make that an actually enjoyable experience. But I wanted to get moving because I'd been so generous with myself food-wise. Stella and I went south, Ravi and I went north. By the time Ravi and I were heading in the door it was nearly dark outside. I love walking that time of night (though it's probably not necessarily the safest time, although I doubt anyone would mess with me when I have Ravi with me unless they were well armed, which they probably would be). The greatest thing about being out then is that the bats start coming out. I love watching them up there doing their job of picking bugs right out of the air. Occasionally they'll run into one another (not literally, just get into each other's business I guess) and you'll hear this 'tst! tst! tst!' that's very cool.
So, while I did take some liberties in the area of consumption, I was not inactive, far from it actually, so all is not lost.
Classes start today. I've made sure to get in 2 walks (if you walk all the way around campus you can almost get a good mile in), but only after the change of classes. I know they're my bread and butter, but I don't want them crawling all over the place when I'm just trying to get a little decent exercise.
Well, that's about all she wrote. I did want to mention this, however. I need to make a conscious effort to eat better on the weekends. I think I'm giving myself too much leeway, and while I haven't noticed it at the scale yet, and maybe I won't for a long time, if I keep it up unchecked, I will get into trouble.
If I think I can get away with it, I'll try more and more things until I'm right back where I started and wondering how I got there.
There is one thing I know for certain. I can't start this process over. I can't even let myself think about it, it's just too overwhelming. So I'm telling you all here and now, I'm going to do better on weekends. I'm going to be more serious and more honest about what it is I do on the weekends. Weekends are not a free pass!!!
Friday, August 22, 2008
The state I'm in
Jeez, a week without a blog! Honestly amigos, it's strictly because I've been absolutely swamped at work and I'm swamped at work because one of my students came back for the last week of summer vacation. All my students are great, but this one is a freak of nature. Better than good, so far beyond competent there aren't words. So what did the Margin Walker do this whole week? Tried desperately to keep all of my students happy and busy, and it's kicked my everloving behind.
But it's all good.
Classes start on Monday. You'd think I'd be immune to it now, but it is an event that always gets me wound up, in many ways, most of which aren't good. Everything gets crowded, it's harder to park, it's harder to get around. And it makes me realize just how long it's been since I was in their shoes. That's the problem with working at your alma mater, amigos.
But there's another part of me that loves it. Don't hate me, but I always loved going back to school (that is, once I hit high school and even more when I got to college; grade school, which I despised, not so much). Seeing all my friends, getting back into the books, the camaraderie of the classroom. And I truly love working at an academic institution. I'll take that over a business any day of the week. Here we're just trying to get the knowledge out there. There's no money involved, just learning.
Of course, it's nothing you'll ever get rich doing. Wouldn't it figure, my two favorite things, education and animal rescue, are not the cash cows you may have been led to believe!
Weigh in was good yesterday, amigos, quite good. Scale is moving in the right direction, and it took a nice hop on its way down.
My weekend is going to be a very, very busy one (which is enough to drive me crazy; I come to work on Mondays feeling like they never even happened). Why, you ask? Well, I'll tell you, in two words: Rummage sale.
That's right. My friends convinced me (against my seemingly better judgment) to host a rummage sale. See, I live in a better neighborhood than either of them. Not that my neighborhood is any great shakes, but it's extremely close to Wauwatosa, and one of the benefits is that I can sort of ride on their coattails.
So, it'll be 4 people altogether: Me, my friend T, and my other friend T and his girlfriend G. I advertised it (on craigslist) as a 3 Family Rummage. So I guess I'm a family now. I'm completely and utterly unprepared. No lie. I've done nothing. So what does that mean? That means that tonight I'll be going through 11 years worth of things, figuring out what I'd like to throw away, and instead of throwing it away, slapping a price tag on it and putting it in my driveway.
To add to everything else, 2 of my best friends are having a housewarming (or as my friend, yet another T calls it, a 'house chillin') and I've got to figure out how on earth I'm going to swing getting there (because I really want to) and run a rummage.
And, this is going to be a family weekend, too. It's been a couple weeks since I saw my mom, and I can guarantee you that if I don't see her this weekend, well... I'm not going there. Trust me, it's in my best interest (and frankly EVERYONE'S best interest) that I see her.
So, I'm about ready to hit the road here, head home and start sorting. Here's what I have so far (at least, in the virtual rummage sale in my head; I've not actually done anything). A 19" Zenith television with no remote; a 3 tiered bookcase that I got from Target and never put together; a vaporiser (and filters!); a NordicTrack (if I'm not too embarrassed to put it out there); some cds I never listen to and dvds I never watch.
Tempting, ain't it?
But it's all good.
Classes start on Monday. You'd think I'd be immune to it now, but it is an event that always gets me wound up, in many ways, most of which aren't good. Everything gets crowded, it's harder to park, it's harder to get around. And it makes me realize just how long it's been since I was in their shoes. That's the problem with working at your alma mater, amigos.
But there's another part of me that loves it. Don't hate me, but I always loved going back to school (that is, once I hit high school and even more when I got to college; grade school, which I despised, not so much). Seeing all my friends, getting back into the books, the camaraderie of the classroom. And I truly love working at an academic institution. I'll take that over a business any day of the week. Here we're just trying to get the knowledge out there. There's no money involved, just learning.
Of course, it's nothing you'll ever get rich doing. Wouldn't it figure, my two favorite things, education and animal rescue, are not the cash cows you may have been led to believe!
Weigh in was good yesterday, amigos, quite good. Scale is moving in the right direction, and it took a nice hop on its way down.
My weekend is going to be a very, very busy one (which is enough to drive me crazy; I come to work on Mondays feeling like they never even happened). Why, you ask? Well, I'll tell you, in two words: Rummage sale.
That's right. My friends convinced me (against my seemingly better judgment) to host a rummage sale. See, I live in a better neighborhood than either of them. Not that my neighborhood is any great shakes, but it's extremely close to Wauwatosa, and one of the benefits is that I can sort of ride on their coattails.
So, it'll be 4 people altogether: Me, my friend T, and my other friend T and his girlfriend G. I advertised it (on craigslist) as a 3 Family Rummage. So I guess I'm a family now. I'm completely and utterly unprepared. No lie. I've done nothing. So what does that mean? That means that tonight I'll be going through 11 years worth of things, figuring out what I'd like to throw away, and instead of throwing it away, slapping a price tag on it and putting it in my driveway.
To add to everything else, 2 of my best friends are having a housewarming (or as my friend, yet another T calls it, a 'house chillin') and I've got to figure out how on earth I'm going to swing getting there (because I really want to) and run a rummage.
And, this is going to be a family weekend, too. It's been a couple weeks since I saw my mom, and I can guarantee you that if I don't see her this weekend, well... I'm not going there. Trust me, it's in my best interest (and frankly EVERYONE'S best interest) that I see her.
So, I'm about ready to hit the road here, head home and start sorting. Here's what I have so far (at least, in the virtual rummage sale in my head; I've not actually done anything). A 19" Zenith television with no remote; a 3 tiered bookcase that I got from Target and never put together; a vaporiser (and filters!); a NordicTrack (if I'm not too embarrassed to put it out there); some cds I never listen to and dvds I never watch.
Tempting, ain't it?
Friday, August 15, 2008
By popular demand (of no one)...
Yeah, I'm posting again today. So?
I'm sure you noticed I changed things up here a bit. I just felt the need to try something new and I was getting sick of looking at the colors I'd been using.
Actually it started because Alabaster Mom sent me a link to a website called CakeWrecks and I HAD to include it in my 'good links' section. And once I start messing around in there I just keep going to see what else I can monkey with and improve/make worse/annoy my reader(s).
I've included a picture of myself somewhere over there on the right. I was at an event for the adoption center and there were scantily clad women handing out what they called 'caffeinated shots.' Being the innocent that I am, I didn't think they were alcoholic, I just figured they were shots of caffeine. Alas, they were indeed alcoholic, and not too good either, and my drinking days are long over, so it wasn't particularly enjoyable. The least enjoyable was the picture. I look like I just consumed an entire pie. I do NOT like how I turn out on photos, and this one in particular just bugged the bejesus out of me.
But, I figured, I owe it to my reader to post a picture. See the sacrifices I make for blogdom?
This picture is from June I believe, early June or late May, so I've dropped some weight since then. Of course, unless every ounce has been lost only from my face, I probably don't look a whole lot different.
I'm going to try and post weight loss progress pics. That seems to be something that my WW boardies do, and it's so inspirational, and I should just swallow my pride and do it. Baby steps. It's all about baby steps.
Gearing up for the weekend. I'm off like a prom dress. Peace out amigos.
I'm sure you noticed I changed things up here a bit. I just felt the need to try something new and I was getting sick of looking at the colors I'd been using.
Actually it started because Alabaster Mom sent me a link to a website called CakeWrecks and I HAD to include it in my 'good links' section. And once I start messing around in there I just keep going to see what else I can monkey with and improve/make worse/annoy my reader(s).
I've included a picture of myself somewhere over there on the right. I was at an event for the adoption center and there were scantily clad women handing out what they called 'caffeinated shots.' Being the innocent that I am, I didn't think they were alcoholic, I just figured they were shots of caffeine. Alas, they were indeed alcoholic, and not too good either, and my drinking days are long over, so it wasn't particularly enjoyable. The least enjoyable was the picture. I look like I just consumed an entire pie. I do NOT like how I turn out on photos, and this one in particular just bugged the bejesus out of me.
But, I figured, I owe it to my reader to post a picture. See the sacrifices I make for blogdom?
This picture is from June I believe, early June or late May, so I've dropped some weight since then. Of course, unless every ounce has been lost only from my face, I probably don't look a whole lot different.
I'm going to try and post weight loss progress pics. That seems to be something that my WW boardies do, and it's so inspirational, and I should just swallow my pride and do it. Baby steps. It's all about baby steps.
Gearing up for the weekend. I'm off like a prom dress. Peace out amigos.
Results
Hola Amigos,
Well, after my week of debauchery, I still posted a loss! .4 lbs. I know, it's not even a 1/2 pound, but frankly, I couldn't be happier, because I was able to contain myself, ramp up my exercise and account for some overeating on my part.
The best part is, there should be no stumbling blocks for me this week. No birthdays. No state fair. I am going out with one of my New York friends who's in town visiting family, but he and I tend to be very active when we're together. I'm not worried about food when I'm with him. Then on Sunday I'll probably be going to breakfast with my usual crowd, but I can plan for that. I figure I can ride out those 2 things in my schedule, and follow the plan faithfully for the week, and hopefully knock one out of the park at the next weigh in.
So, all is well!
I have to say that this WW plan is pretty smart. I'm losing, but I rarely feel deprived. The online tools make it so easy to track what I'm eating. And the whole thing with earning activity points for exercise is nothing short of brilliant. You are actively rewarded for getting out and moving, rather than just having a plan tell you how important exercise is.
The meeting last night was about the history of weight watchers and how the plan used to be compared to how it is today. I came to the conclusion that the part of the plan that works has stayed the same. The group dynamic is probably one of the most important things about the whole plan. And they have been constantly working on the meal plans since they started.
We had some good laughs over that. I guess years ago it was required that you eat liver once a week. And you had to bake it. It makes me gag just thinking about it. Back in the day I would eat liver, but rarely and only when eating out. I'm one of those weird people who likes liver. Though I'd never dream of making it.
It's amazing how things have changed. I can remember the very first program I ever joined, the now defunct Diet Workshop. The first week, the intro to the plan, consisted of 750 calories per day. I remember feeling like I was starving. But I stuck with it and lost 10 lbs in one week. And I thought that was great. And there was so much I couldn't have, and so little I could. I remember eating iceberg lettuce and imitation crab legs and little else. I wouldn't last 5 minutes on a plan like that today.
That's what works with WW. Nothing is off limits. It's built so that you have enough food, but not so much that you won't lose. You have room to indulge yourself because you are given extra points for the week that you can use any way you want. And you earn points by exercising. I've said this before, but it's brilliant.
So, here's to next weigh in!!!
Well, after my week of debauchery, I still posted a loss! .4 lbs. I know, it's not even a 1/2 pound, but frankly, I couldn't be happier, because I was able to contain myself, ramp up my exercise and account for some overeating on my part.
The best part is, there should be no stumbling blocks for me this week. No birthdays. No state fair. I am going out with one of my New York friends who's in town visiting family, but he and I tend to be very active when we're together. I'm not worried about food when I'm with him. Then on Sunday I'll probably be going to breakfast with my usual crowd, but I can plan for that. I figure I can ride out those 2 things in my schedule, and follow the plan faithfully for the week, and hopefully knock one out of the park at the next weigh in.
So, all is well!
I have to say that this WW plan is pretty smart. I'm losing, but I rarely feel deprived. The online tools make it so easy to track what I'm eating. And the whole thing with earning activity points for exercise is nothing short of brilliant. You are actively rewarded for getting out and moving, rather than just having a plan tell you how important exercise is.
The meeting last night was about the history of weight watchers and how the plan used to be compared to how it is today. I came to the conclusion that the part of the plan that works has stayed the same. The group dynamic is probably one of the most important things about the whole plan. And they have been constantly working on the meal plans since they started.
We had some good laughs over that. I guess years ago it was required that you eat liver once a week. And you had to bake it. It makes me gag just thinking about it. Back in the day I would eat liver, but rarely and only when eating out. I'm one of those weird people who likes liver. Though I'd never dream of making it.
It's amazing how things have changed. I can remember the very first program I ever joined, the now defunct Diet Workshop. The first week, the intro to the plan, consisted of 750 calories per day. I remember feeling like I was starving. But I stuck with it and lost 10 lbs in one week. And I thought that was great. And there was so much I couldn't have, and so little I could. I remember eating iceberg lettuce and imitation crab legs and little else. I wouldn't last 5 minutes on a plan like that today.
That's what works with WW. Nothing is off limits. It's built so that you have enough food, but not so much that you won't lose. You have room to indulge yourself because you are given extra points for the week that you can use any way you want. And you earn points by exercising. I've said this before, but it's brilliant.
So, here's to next weigh in!!!
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Busy weekend!
Hola Amigos,
I haven't posted in nearly a week. Sorry about that. I have been insanely busy and it sort of slipped right out of my mind.
I went to the fair again, for a total of 3 visits this year. Each one was different and each one was fun. I always have a sense of melancholy when it closes. Not that I think it should go longer, but it's sort of an end of summer thing, and I hate coming to the end of summer.
I was at the fair on Friday, went to a party on Saturday and did an event for the adoption center on Sunday. So I was quite busy this entire weekend. Didn't do so great on WW. I didn't do horribly, but I wouldn't say I've been 'on program.'
I don't feel totally lost about it, though. I didn't revert to my worst behaviors, those being buying donuts for breakfast, buying coffee instead of making it at home, buying deli food for dinner, having drive through, snacking all day long.
No, I didn't do anything like that. I just ate too much. So I'm preparing myself for a gain tomorrow. It's OK. I know what I did wrong and I know how to make it right again. It's the unexpected gain that gets me, and I hope not to see one of those again for a while.
I discontinued my membership with match.com yesterday. It has nothing to do with the fellow I've been seeing (and we're still seeing each other). It has to do with the matches they keep sending me, or that keep showing up in my searches (no matter what parameters I use for the search). I'd say a good 98% of the matches that I get are not looking for women with my body type. They don't give us that many options to describe body type, and I'm not even sure which one applies to me anyway. A few extra pounds? Curvy? BBW? All I know is that the vast majority of guys who show up in my searches are not looking for any of those types. They're almost always looking for someone who is 'athletic and toned' or 'slender.' I could never, ever be mistaken for either of those body types.
I've contacted the people at match.com several times about this issue. They seem to think it's not a big deal. Well, it is a big deal. And you can talk to me about this until you're blue in the face and you won't change the way I feel about it. Guys who are looking for a slender or toned woman are not going to want to waste their time on a large woman. And frankly, I can't blame them. I do wish more men wouldn't be so hung up on a girl's size (in the same way that I'm not; my criteria for guys is any body type; it's just not that important to me) It's not what they're looking for, and it's one of those things that isn't easy to budge on, but at least they're being up front and honest about it. Hair color isn't that huge of a deal, I'm sure, or eye color, height, etc. People make compromises. But body weight just isn't that way. Or maybe it is, for some guys, but not so many that it would be worth my while to contact all these supposed matches to find out who is willing to give me a chance.
No matter how you look at it, the odds of it being successful are slim, and I worry enough about rejection to deal with having it essentially built in to my matches.
It's OK. I don't really care very much at all, frankly. I'm seeing someone so I wasn't looking anyway, and if things don't work out I know that I'm not interested in finding someone else. I've got other things to concentrate on.
Match.com assured me that someone would be in touch with me regarding my issues. I haven't heard from anyone. So, I sent them another email and told them that if they can't see my points and find some validity in my suggestion, maybe they're not the right place for me.
Now the bad thing is that while I cancelled my membership, I'm paid up until the end of the year (no refunds after the first 3 days or something). So it's just sitting there. I'll probably check back occasionally to see if they maybe updated something so I can tailor my searches to match me better. But right now I'm not investing any more time in it than I already have.
I'd say that's about all that's going on with me lately. Oh, I've been staying up WAY too late to watch the Olympics. Drat these time zones. I've been dvr'ing some of it, but there's so much coverage and so many great events that I can see live. So right now I'm literally fighting off a nap!
How about that Michael Phelps!? Wow. My favorite sport, I think, is diving. I'm not wholly into synchronized diving. I watch it, but I think it's odd. I surely do enjoy the individual dives though. I like rowing too. Ooo, and equestrian!!!
I'm off to catch 40 winks. I'll be sure to let you know how my weigh in turns out tomorrow. No matter what, I'm going to my meeting, and I'll take my lumps.
I haven't posted in nearly a week. Sorry about that. I have been insanely busy and it sort of slipped right out of my mind.
I went to the fair again, for a total of 3 visits this year. Each one was different and each one was fun. I always have a sense of melancholy when it closes. Not that I think it should go longer, but it's sort of an end of summer thing, and I hate coming to the end of summer.
I was at the fair on Friday, went to a party on Saturday and did an event for the adoption center on Sunday. So I was quite busy this entire weekend. Didn't do so great on WW. I didn't do horribly, but I wouldn't say I've been 'on program.'
I don't feel totally lost about it, though. I didn't revert to my worst behaviors, those being buying donuts for breakfast, buying coffee instead of making it at home, buying deli food for dinner, having drive through, snacking all day long.
No, I didn't do anything like that. I just ate too much. So I'm preparing myself for a gain tomorrow. It's OK. I know what I did wrong and I know how to make it right again. It's the unexpected gain that gets me, and I hope not to see one of those again for a while.
I discontinued my membership with match.com yesterday. It has nothing to do with the fellow I've been seeing (and we're still seeing each other). It has to do with the matches they keep sending me, or that keep showing up in my searches (no matter what parameters I use for the search). I'd say a good 98% of the matches that I get are not looking for women with my body type. They don't give us that many options to describe body type, and I'm not even sure which one applies to me anyway. A few extra pounds? Curvy? BBW? All I know is that the vast majority of guys who show up in my searches are not looking for any of those types. They're almost always looking for someone who is 'athletic and toned' or 'slender.' I could never, ever be mistaken for either of those body types.
I've contacted the people at match.com several times about this issue. They seem to think it's not a big deal. Well, it is a big deal. And you can talk to me about this until you're blue in the face and you won't change the way I feel about it. Guys who are looking for a slender or toned woman are not going to want to waste their time on a large woman. And frankly, I can't blame them. I do wish more men wouldn't be so hung up on a girl's size (in the same way that I'm not; my criteria for guys is any body type; it's just not that important to me) It's not what they're looking for, and it's one of those things that isn't easy to budge on, but at least they're being up front and honest about it. Hair color isn't that huge of a deal, I'm sure, or eye color, height, etc. People make compromises. But body weight just isn't that way. Or maybe it is, for some guys, but not so many that it would be worth my while to contact all these supposed matches to find out who is willing to give me a chance.
No matter how you look at it, the odds of it being successful are slim, and I worry enough about rejection to deal with having it essentially built in to my matches.
It's OK. I don't really care very much at all, frankly. I'm seeing someone so I wasn't looking anyway, and if things don't work out I know that I'm not interested in finding someone else. I've got other things to concentrate on.
Match.com assured me that someone would be in touch with me regarding my issues. I haven't heard from anyone. So, I sent them another email and told them that if they can't see my points and find some validity in my suggestion, maybe they're not the right place for me.
Now the bad thing is that while I cancelled my membership, I'm paid up until the end of the year (no refunds after the first 3 days or something). So it's just sitting there. I'll probably check back occasionally to see if they maybe updated something so I can tailor my searches to match me better. But right now I'm not investing any more time in it than I already have.
I'd say that's about all that's going on with me lately. Oh, I've been staying up WAY too late to watch the Olympics. Drat these time zones. I've been dvr'ing some of it, but there's so much coverage and so many great events that I can see live. So right now I'm literally fighting off a nap!
How about that Michael Phelps!? Wow. My favorite sport, I think, is diving. I'm not wholly into synchronized diving. I watch it, but I think it's odd. I surely do enjoy the individual dives though. I like rowing too. Ooo, and equestrian!!!
I'm off to catch 40 winks. I'll be sure to let you know how my weigh in turns out tomorrow. No matter what, I'm going to my meeting, and I'll take my lumps.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Another day at the old state's fair
Hola Amigos,
I'm back to work after a very busy, fun day off. I started out by picking up a friend at the airport. He's in town to visit family (none of whom could come and get him which is how I got involved). We went out to breakfast at one of our favorite places, Beans and Barley. I had the eggs to order (over medium with whole wheat toast) and he had the egg burrito. This place is awesome. They have many vegetarian and vegan options, and a great store attached. Just a nice place all around.
So then I dropped him off. Then I went home and watched some television and took a nap (hey, days off are a thrill a minute when I'm in charge). Then my friend T and I went over to my brother's house and proceeded to go with him and my nephew to the state fair. We had a blast. My nephew is only 5 so we started out on the midway. We got him a wristband which meant he could go on anything where he was tall enough as many times as he wanted. So much fun watching him enjoy the rides. There was one, though, a kid's ride, that we adults wanted to go on, but since my nephew was afraid of it we didn't. We tried not to look to disappointed, but deep down, we really were. I think it's called a rockin'tug or something like that, it's a little ship that rocks around and goes awry. Too cute. We all went on a big ferris wheel, 2 to a car, so we would shout to each other at the points where we could see one another. It was a blast.
T and my brother went on a ride called Extreme, while my nephew and I watched. It was insane. I'm pretty sure my brother was going to barf, but managed to keep it together. They did go home for a bit of a lie down after that. While they were gone, T and I went on the tilt-a-whirl. I had read my good buddy Alabaster Mom's blog about her experience with the tilt-a-whirl, and I wasn't going to go on it. I was all about the bumper cars. But I knew that T really wanted to go on the t-a-w and I always did think it was a blast. So we went. I'd say maybe 30 more seconds on that thing and I would have lost my eggs to order. It's amazing, the spinny rides just get to me now. I don't know if it's age or if it's that I don't go on them very often. I love roller coasters and never feel sick on those. But the tilt-a-whirl? What's happened to me?
Then we went and looked at some cows. There was a petting zoo too, we looked at but didn't go into because the lines were too long. The animals, oddly enough, all looked relatively happy. Spacious areas and such. I was thrilled because there was a humongous tortoise there tooling around. It's a dream of mine to have one of those some day. I like the idea of coming home and having a tortoise roaming around the house. A couple guys walked past with a 60 pound python they held between them so I gave him a pat (the python) and that was cool.
Then we had corn. Then we had fried mushrooms. Then we met my brother and nephew and went to see the Chinese acrobats (who were INCREDIBLE) at the expo center. Of course, being in the expo center we had to look at chotchkie too. Then we got a cream puff and watched the 'ejector seat' extreme thrill ride that I decided you'd have to pay me at least $50,000 to go on. No kidding. I wouldn't do it for a penny less. Actually, looking at it today I may move that number up to $75,000. This is the one where 2 people are strapped in and literally catapulted into the air by some type of bungee cord. Yikes! I said they'd have to hose the seats down when I got off. So, we watched that for a while. Then my brother and nephew took the sky glider and T and I walked to the other end of the park. Then there were a couple more rides for my nephew, and then we split. We didn't leave the fair until like 10:30. What a day! So much fun.
I'm sorry I went through literally everything we did, but that's sort of what the fair does to me. I like to remember all the stuff I did and ate (oh, I ate some candied almonds and cashews too) because there's just so much to do and eat.
So, that was this year's trip 2 to the fair. And tomorrow? You guessed it. I'm going to the fair. I still have ride coupons left over, so maybe my mom and sister and I can go on something. Our tradition is to go on one of the spook house things, you know, with the car that goes into the dark area and stuff jumps out at you. Last year we went on that. I didn't think it could possibly have been worse than the last time we did it, but it was. Pretty much nothing happened. There was a loud noise and a buzz. And a flashing light. And somewhere a piece of string brushed across my face. And then we got spat out the other end. It reminded me of when Bart and Lisa Simpson went on something similar at a carnival. They came out and glared at the carny, who apologized. It was that bad. So maybe this year we'll go on something different. Just not the tilt-a-whirl.
I'm back to work after a very busy, fun day off. I started out by picking up a friend at the airport. He's in town to visit family (none of whom could come and get him which is how I got involved). We went out to breakfast at one of our favorite places, Beans and Barley. I had the eggs to order (over medium with whole wheat toast) and he had the egg burrito. This place is awesome. They have many vegetarian and vegan options, and a great store attached. Just a nice place all around.
So then I dropped him off. Then I went home and watched some television and took a nap (hey, days off are a thrill a minute when I'm in charge). Then my friend T and I went over to my brother's house and proceeded to go with him and my nephew to the state fair. We had a blast. My nephew is only 5 so we started out on the midway. We got him a wristband which meant he could go on anything where he was tall enough as many times as he wanted. So much fun watching him enjoy the rides. There was one, though, a kid's ride, that we adults wanted to go on, but since my nephew was afraid of it we didn't. We tried not to look to disappointed, but deep down, we really were. I think it's called a rockin'tug or something like that, it's a little ship that rocks around and goes awry. Too cute. We all went on a big ferris wheel, 2 to a car, so we would shout to each other at the points where we could see one another. It was a blast.
T and my brother went on a ride called Extreme, while my nephew and I watched. It was insane. I'm pretty sure my brother was going to barf, but managed to keep it together. They did go home for a bit of a lie down after that. While they were gone, T and I went on the tilt-a-whirl. I had read my good buddy Alabaster Mom's blog about her experience with the tilt-a-whirl, and I wasn't going to go on it. I was all about the bumper cars. But I knew that T really wanted to go on the t-a-w and I always did think it was a blast. So we went. I'd say maybe 30 more seconds on that thing and I would have lost my eggs to order. It's amazing, the spinny rides just get to me now. I don't know if it's age or if it's that I don't go on them very often. I love roller coasters and never feel sick on those. But the tilt-a-whirl? What's happened to me?
Then we went and looked at some cows. There was a petting zoo too, we looked at but didn't go into because the lines were too long. The animals, oddly enough, all looked relatively happy. Spacious areas and such. I was thrilled because there was a humongous tortoise there tooling around. It's a dream of mine to have one of those some day. I like the idea of coming home and having a tortoise roaming around the house. A couple guys walked past with a 60 pound python they held between them so I gave him a pat (the python) and that was cool.
Then we had corn. Then we had fried mushrooms. Then we met my brother and nephew and went to see the Chinese acrobats (who were INCREDIBLE) at the expo center. Of course, being in the expo center we had to look at chotchkie too. Then we got a cream puff and watched the 'ejector seat' extreme thrill ride that I decided you'd have to pay me at least $50,000 to go on. No kidding. I wouldn't do it for a penny less. Actually, looking at it today I may move that number up to $75,000. This is the one where 2 people are strapped in and literally catapulted into the air by some type of bungee cord. Yikes! I said they'd have to hose the seats down when I got off. So, we watched that for a while. Then my brother and nephew took the sky glider and T and I walked to the other end of the park. Then there were a couple more rides for my nephew, and then we split. We didn't leave the fair until like 10:30. What a day! So much fun.
I'm sorry I went through literally everything we did, but that's sort of what the fair does to me. I like to remember all the stuff I did and ate (oh, I ate some candied almonds and cashews too) because there's just so much to do and eat.
So, that was this year's trip 2 to the fair. And tomorrow? You guessed it. I'm going to the fair. I still have ride coupons left over, so maybe my mom and sister and I can go on something. Our tradition is to go on one of the spook house things, you know, with the car that goes into the dark area and stuff jumps out at you. Last year we went on that. I didn't think it could possibly have been worse than the last time we did it, but it was. Pretty much nothing happened. There was a loud noise and a buzz. And a flashing light. And somewhere a piece of string brushed across my face. And then we got spat out the other end. It reminded me of when Bart and Lisa Simpson went on something similar at a carnival. They came out and glared at the carny, who apologized. It was that bad. So maybe this year we'll go on something different. Just not the tilt-a-whirl.
Monday, August 4, 2008
pics/updates?
I think maybe I need to stop being such a wuss and put some progress pictures of myself up here. I don't know. I haven't decided. As I'm sure my 2 readers have noticed, I'm not real big on the whole picture in the blog thing. I don't have a problem with pictures in a blog. I have a problem with pictures in MY blog. Or, that is, pictures of ME in my blog.
I used to love taking pictures and having my picture taken. But as the years passed I became increasingly unhappy with how I looked in any pictures that were taken of me, so I started to avoid them like the plague. There are very few pictures of me anywhere, by design.
But, maybe I need to grow a pair and just do it. It does seem to be the thing to do amongst my other WW bloggers. I mean, is losing weight really just about me, or do I want it to serve as an example, even inspiration, for others?
I do find reading their stories, seeing their pictures, finding out their numbers, to be incredibly inspiring. Am I so vain that I can't put myself out there?
I don't know what the deal about it is, but I think maybe I just need to do it.
Bless these folks, they're right out there telling their start weights and their progress, and I don't even have the cojones to do that.
Maybe I will amigos, some day. I think part of it right now is that I'm so trying to just lose, to just do the right thing, and not get hung up on numbers (because the numbers are daunting to say the least).
So, let's just say I've made the first step toward being a bit more revelatory on my blog. I've talked about it.
That's the most I can do right now.
I used to love taking pictures and having my picture taken. But as the years passed I became increasingly unhappy with how I looked in any pictures that were taken of me, so I started to avoid them like the plague. There are very few pictures of me anywhere, by design.
But, maybe I need to grow a pair and just do it. It does seem to be the thing to do amongst my other WW bloggers. I mean, is losing weight really just about me, or do I want it to serve as an example, even inspiration, for others?
I do find reading their stories, seeing their pictures, finding out their numbers, to be incredibly inspiring. Am I so vain that I can't put myself out there?
I don't know what the deal about it is, but I think maybe I just need to do it.
Bless these folks, they're right out there telling their start weights and their progress, and I don't even have the cojones to do that.
Maybe I will amigos, some day. I think part of it right now is that I'm so trying to just lose, to just do the right thing, and not get hung up on numbers (because the numbers are daunting to say the least).
So, let's just say I've made the first step toward being a bit more revelatory on my blog. I've talked about it.
That's the most I can do right now.
Crazy weekend!
Hello Amigos,
I had a crazy busy weekend, but fun. I didn't do the best eating wise. I didn't completely tank either, but I'm going to have to rein it in before my weigh in. Hopefully I'll be able to do that, what with the state fair and all.
But the weekend, yeah, it was nuts. One of my roommates from college was in town with her family to go to the fair. I wasn't going to go initially (I had so much other stuff to do) but the weather was just too beautiful this weekend to say no. So I met them and had a blast. I haven't seen her in about 5 years. Her children (she has 3) are all different people now. 17, 15 and 13. That was a big reality check! We did a lot of reminiscing and laughing and generally had a fantastic time. I did eat a few things at the fair. First off I had a frozen banana. It was covered with chocolate, but not disgustingly so, it was just the freezy stuff like they have on dip cones. They asked if I wanted more chocolate or nuts or any of the other goodies on it. I actually didn't want anything else on it, I just wanted the frickin banana. It was great, and being a sunny warm day it was very refreshing. I also had a cream puff. That's right, you heard me. I had a cream puff. BUT...and this is almost always the case when I have a cream puff, I actually eat the pastry part and leave the majority of the cream. I love the cream, but there's just TOO MUCH of it. So I take the top off and dip it in the cream occasionally.
I also had a turkey burger that was only so-so. I'm not 100% sure it was completely cooked so I ended up throwing away about 1/2 of it. And that was all I ate at the fair! I got a lot of activity in. I walked and walked to get from my parking space to where my friends were. I did eat too much at other times though, just not fair food. I don't know, I was super duper hungry. But today I'm being very conservative and have already gone for a 20 minute walk and will be taking another soon. I really don't want a gain this week!!! So I'm going to try my darnedest not to.
It might not be easy. There's a birthday in the family coming up this week, plus I believe I'll be attending the fair a couple more times. I can honestly say that the fair isn't a huge deal for me, food-wise. There are many foods I love, but none that I get all busted up over if I don't have. I don't need funnel cakes or elephant ears or deep fried anything. I can easily pass on deep fried cheese, although I really do love it. Just don't feel compelled to eat it. So it's not so much the fair that worries me. It's just the fact that I will be weighed on Thursday and I need to straighten up and fly right until then.
I also attended a bachelorette party of sorts for a coworker who is getting married soon. We started out at a bar in a restaurant and I was pretty surly because having a large group at a bar is not conducive to conversation and since I was the last person there I was sort of the odd one out. Plus I thought we were having dinner but we weren't so I was hungry on top of it. As the day moved forward I became less and less surly. See, these are some incredibly sweet people and there's no way I could be surly toward them. I wasn't mad at them, just surly about the situation. So soon I was yucking it up with everyone else.
From the bar we went to a piano bar that was...it was fun because I was with my friends and they're all hilarious. But I would have never chosen to go to this place. It was crowded and smoky and loud and there was nowhere to sit. As the evening wore on it just got worse. And one person in our party just got drunker and drunker and he was SO obnoxious I thought we'd get kicked out. I ended up going home after that. They were all going someplace else, but I was all in.
The piano bar was pretty funny, lots of singing along, etc. But it was loaded with bachelorette parties and young women who all dressed and looked the same and I felt old and strange there. So I was happy to leave, but I would never say I didn't have fun, because I did. We started joking about requests we'd make (they have song request forms on the table, with spaces for song title, and the occasion you're celebrating). I think my suggestion took the cake. I suggested "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." Can you imagine someone playing that in a piano bar?
So, here I am again, back at work after another too crazy weekend. I need a weekend from my weekend.
My gentleman caller and I seem to have sorted things out, and we'll be getting together tomorrow night, to do what I don't know, but I'm looking forward to it because I like him and I want to see him.
Alright amigos, (and it's true, I do have 'readers' as the comments to my previous posts can attest), I'm signing off.
Peace out!
I had a crazy busy weekend, but fun. I didn't do the best eating wise. I didn't completely tank either, but I'm going to have to rein it in before my weigh in. Hopefully I'll be able to do that, what with the state fair and all.
But the weekend, yeah, it was nuts. One of my roommates from college was in town with her family to go to the fair. I wasn't going to go initially (I had so much other stuff to do) but the weather was just too beautiful this weekend to say no. So I met them and had a blast. I haven't seen her in about 5 years. Her children (she has 3) are all different people now. 17, 15 and 13. That was a big reality check! We did a lot of reminiscing and laughing and generally had a fantastic time. I did eat a few things at the fair. First off I had a frozen banana. It was covered with chocolate, but not disgustingly so, it was just the freezy stuff like they have on dip cones. They asked if I wanted more chocolate or nuts or any of the other goodies on it. I actually didn't want anything else on it, I just wanted the frickin banana. It was great, and being a sunny warm day it was very refreshing. I also had a cream puff. That's right, you heard me. I had a cream puff. BUT...and this is almost always the case when I have a cream puff, I actually eat the pastry part and leave the majority of the cream. I love the cream, but there's just TOO MUCH of it. So I take the top off and dip it in the cream occasionally.
I also had a turkey burger that was only so-so. I'm not 100% sure it was completely cooked so I ended up throwing away about 1/2 of it. And that was all I ate at the fair! I got a lot of activity in. I walked and walked to get from my parking space to where my friends were. I did eat too much at other times though, just not fair food. I don't know, I was super duper hungry. But today I'm being very conservative and have already gone for a 20 minute walk and will be taking another soon. I really don't want a gain this week!!! So I'm going to try my darnedest not to.
It might not be easy. There's a birthday in the family coming up this week, plus I believe I'll be attending the fair a couple more times. I can honestly say that the fair isn't a huge deal for me, food-wise. There are many foods I love, but none that I get all busted up over if I don't have. I don't need funnel cakes or elephant ears or deep fried anything. I can easily pass on deep fried cheese, although I really do love it. Just don't feel compelled to eat it. So it's not so much the fair that worries me. It's just the fact that I will be weighed on Thursday and I need to straighten up and fly right until then.
I also attended a bachelorette party of sorts for a coworker who is getting married soon. We started out at a bar in a restaurant and I was pretty surly because having a large group at a bar is not conducive to conversation and since I was the last person there I was sort of the odd one out. Plus I thought we were having dinner but we weren't so I was hungry on top of it. As the day moved forward I became less and less surly. See, these are some incredibly sweet people and there's no way I could be surly toward them. I wasn't mad at them, just surly about the situation. So soon I was yucking it up with everyone else.
From the bar we went to a piano bar that was...it was fun because I was with my friends and they're all hilarious. But I would have never chosen to go to this place. It was crowded and smoky and loud and there was nowhere to sit. As the evening wore on it just got worse. And one person in our party just got drunker and drunker and he was SO obnoxious I thought we'd get kicked out. I ended up going home after that. They were all going someplace else, but I was all in.
The piano bar was pretty funny, lots of singing along, etc. But it was loaded with bachelorette parties and young women who all dressed and looked the same and I felt old and strange there. So I was happy to leave, but I would never say I didn't have fun, because I did. We started joking about requests we'd make (they have song request forms on the table, with spaces for song title, and the occasion you're celebrating). I think my suggestion took the cake. I suggested "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." Can you imagine someone playing that in a piano bar?
So, here I am again, back at work after another too crazy weekend. I need a weekend from my weekend.
My gentleman caller and I seem to have sorted things out, and we'll be getting together tomorrow night, to do what I don't know, but I'm looking forward to it because I like him and I want to see him.
Alright amigos, (and it's true, I do have 'readers' as the comments to my previous posts can attest), I'm signing off.
Peace out!
Friday, August 1, 2008
2 posts in one day?
You bet your ass! Just wanted to keep my faithful reader (Hi Mary!) in the know, that I did indeed lose this week, and I couldn't be happier. :) Thanks for the support and encouragement! Amazing how much good that can do a person.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
