Quick Update

Now that the weather has thawed out, and the sun is shining, I have been going out on my bike again. I went out on Sunday and Tuesday this week, for an hour each day, and I came back feeling lighter each time. Not physically lighter, mind you. I would love to see instant results in that department, but I know better. I felt spiritually lighter. Biking helps me to get all the garbage out...all the daily stresses, and even some of the bigger stresses, too. How can I forget so easily that exercising does so much more than just tone the body?

Additionally, the hubby bought me an iPhone when they came out on Verizon. I have to say, I really do love that little thing! I've got a calorie counter app on it, and the Map My Fitness app, which runs a little GPS type thing while I ride my bike, times it, and tells me how far and how fast I biked. It also logs them all and gives a rough calorie estimate on what I burned. It is awesome! Not to mention, I can set up a playlist right on the phone and have my workout music right there. It really is just the best thing ever. Also, the camera takes way better pictures than my last phone did.

I have not weighed myself this week, at all. I'm trying to eat better. Truly, I need to stick to using the calorie counter app, and make better choices overall. I think I'll step on the scale Friday. I like Fridays the best for weighing in, for some reason.

That's all for now!

Hmm...

I've really got to stop posting once every six months. My weight is still hovering in the same general area, so obviously I have not been doing what I should. I'm trying an eating plan that a coworker gave me. It's a clean eating thing, which means no processed stuff. Following that is surprisingly easy to do...it just involves a lot more kitchen time on my part!

I've got to find my motivation for exercise. I have found that I really like being out on my bike, as it does not feel like punishment (ahem, jogging) and is actually fun. The only problem is this pesky crazy cold weather we have been having. I am the world's biggest baby when it comes to cold, and we have had a lot of it even here in Houston. I mean, hello...roads are iced over right now, there is no way I'm leaving my house. I know I should do a DVD, but it's hard to do when everyone else (dogs included) are milling around the house. I am unreasonably self conscious about it.

The bottom line is...I need to do something, and fast. Not only are we going to the beach this year, but there will be a wedding on the beach this year. I really don't want it to appear as if a whale washed up on the beach for the occasion. Sigh.

After a long absence...

I'm currently weighing in at 229.3 as of this morning. Bleh. Obviously, I have not been doing what I need to. However, the silver lining is that while I have not lost, I have not gained either over the last few months. I have started going back to school, too, to get an Associate of Applied Science in Computer Programming, and should be finished next August since I got to carry some prior credit hours into this degree plan.

We already had the beach vacation, and it was tons of fun. I think my victory from that was not being so self conscious that I ruined my own good time. I had fun, swam with the girls when I wanted to, and took lots of walks. The downside was that I ate very poorly the whole time, but it is in the past. Nothing I can do about that now.

For the last week, I have been eating better than I did before vacation. Those weeks leading up to it saw a change in my daily routine because we are doing more driving than we did before, and there was some dinner laziness happening, and several nights of fast food. This week, however, I have been taking fresh fruit for snacks at work and eating healthier fare for dinner. We did have a Chinese food night for Rhea's birthday, and it was fun, and deserved. I'm trying to balance things as much as possible. We have been getting loads of rain from hurricane Alex this week (we are not getting the hurricane, just rain from the outer bands of the "dirty side" of it), so I have not been able to go walking outside as much as I would like. Hopefully, next week will be better.

I have also cut down on my coffee habit. I have at most 4 cups a day now, which is still a lot, but it is a lot less than what I was drinking before. I drank coffee in such a way that I counted it as my vice like others do with cigarettes. I've also upped my water intake (from nearly none) to about 8 cups a day.

It's been a while

So...yes, it's been a while since I posted. Life has been crazy. I had the flu one week, and then the next a recurring stomach issue sent me to the doctor, and they are still not sure what it is only at this point that "it's not life threatening," which, while reassuring, is not really as much of an answer as I'd hoped for after submitting to an upper and lower scope and CT scan, and bloodwork. Oh, yeah, the scope thing? SO not fun!

Anywho...I'm ringing in at 229.9 right now, even in spite of the ridiculously decadent Valentine's Day/Anniversary dinner my stud muffin and I had at The Melting Pot last night for our 7th anniversary. This would also be the first time we really did anything big for our anniversary, and I honestly wish we had started sooner. The coolest thing was, right when we had our champagne toast, I realized that the song playing softly in the restaurant was OUR song..."Everything I Do" by Bryan Adams. It was just ridiculously perfect!

Anyway, I'm home from work today watching my girls, who are out of school, and plan to get back started up with the gym. Hopefully, I can refrain from getting sick any time soon so I can make some actual progress. Rhea asked me this morning who she was getting presents from, since it was Presents Day. I laughed and told her no, it's President's Day, and not a day for presents. Kids are fun!

My List

Okay, so Natalie over at Natalie's Sentiments, which I follow, posted a neat idea, to make a list of the superficial things that are unique to you. It was neat to read her list and see how these things changed at the different stages in her life, and made me want to do my own. So, without further ado, here is my list:

The List

Childhood
Little Mermaid VHS
Barbies
Books
Roller skates
Skinned knees (I was a major tomboy)
Ninja Turtles and X-men action figures
Bead loom bracelets

Teenager
Black t-shirts
Boots
Novelty socks
Blue jeans
Books
Ever changing hair color
Handmade jewelry
Terminator 2 on DVD
Unfortunate leopard print accessories (hat, boots, cuff bracelets from Hot Topic)
Nike sneakers and matching Nike swoosh socks

Adult – 1st 4 years of Marriage and Motherhood
Insanely large purses, usually with random items from my children stuffed in them
Diaper bags and double stroller
Camera constantly in hand
Not nearly enough sleep
Wardrobe consisting of primarily jeans and sneakers
Books

Adult – Now
Large shoe collection
Terminator 2 on Blu-ray
Comic books
Books
Lots of pink stuff
Coffee addiction
Gym bag
Sonic diet coke with diet cherry and lime
James Avery charm bracelet
Magazines everywhere - I'm addicted to them, especially fitness ones!
My Terminator action figures....the more things change, the more they stay the same.
My Toyota Matrix “mom car” – Also the first car I bought myself.

Progress so far, and new ambition

The scale readout this morning was 230.4, which means I’ve lost 6.4 lbs overall so far. Considering that it’s been a little over 3 weeks, that’s not a whole lot, but it’s better than nothing. Now, I have more motivation than ever to really kick things into gear, because we just found out that we are going to be going to the beach house on vacation with the in laws this year. I’m super excited, but stressed about the weight issue…I mean, a week of living primarily in a bathing suit, hello?!?

In other news, I’m finally getting over some yucky bit of something that’s been going around. I spent the weekend in bed and lying on the couch with loads of head congestion, a major headache, and a very sore throat. This meant no gym time for me, which makes me sad. I find myself looking forward to my sweat sessions more and more, and I am generally in a much better mood afterwards. Now that I’m well enough to rejoin the world, I’ll definitely be hitting the treadmill tonight.

The vacation is 5 months away, to the day. I’m hopeful that I can drop the remaining 75 or so lbs by then. We’ll see how that all works out. I’d need to spend much more time in the gym, and cut back on “cheat nights.” I think I can do it.

On that note, I went to the gym tonight, and sort of on accident spent 50 minutes on the treadmill. I did 3.35 miles, and according to the calorie counter on the treadmill, burned 540 calories! Go me! The accidental part was that I was waiting for the hubby and kids to join me, since my stud muffin was cooking dinner and had to wait till the fish was done to come up there, so I started without him. I just kind of hit a groove, and kept on going. It was nice, especially since I had not been since Wednesday and had really missed the gym. It's nice to be among the living, and not curled up in bed or on the couch.

Weigh in, Biggest Loser musings, and redecorating

So, I weighed myself yesterday in the morning, and found that I am down another 1.2 lbs since last week, bringing me to a total of 4lbs in these last two weeks. I know everyone says you're supposed to lose it slow and steady, but as happy as I am about losing weight consistently over the last 2 weeks, and not binging like I have in the past, I can't help but feel like I can do better, lose more faster. Meh. That's just me though, the over achiever.

I've been cooking more, and I'm proud to say that when we were offered pizza for lunch at work, I brought a side of broccoli with I Can't Believe it's not Butter on it, and had only one slice of pizza. I'm not saying it was easy, but I managed not to go back for seconds, and for that, I am pleased with myself. Pizza is a big time trigger food for me.

I've also started watching the new season of The Biggest Loser. I figure it's a good motivation, and I'm trying to lose weight while watching them (I know all of what they are doing happened like 2 months ago real time), so it kind of feels like we're all doing it together. Silly, yes, but still effective. I'm a big time snacker at night, and it's hard to dig in to the chips or cookies or whatever while watching these people bust their butts to lose weight. I know everyone says they could do it given the attention of the trainers and the ability to focus only on that, but those people are impressive. To be in the shape they started at, and still be able to complete those brutal workouts...wow! I'm definitely feeling that my treadmill routine needs a kick in the pants. I'm thinking I'll up the incline when I go today.

Oh, yeah, I'm off work today, and I'm going to use the time to finish a few projects...painting my bedroom, which is the only room I have not gotten to the way I want it in the 3 years we've been in the house. It's still the putty-bleh color that most of the house was when we bought it. I also need to complete my work re-finishing a dresser for my room that my mother gave me, and painting my nightstand pink. Nothing like a little physical labor to burn some calories, right? Plus, when I'm done (and when I make my pilgrimage to Ikea at the end of the month) it'll be super pretty!