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!

Happy New Year!

Well, here we are, it's the start of a new year, and a new decade, too! I weighed myself yesterday in the morning, because last night ended up being my "cheat" night, and everyone knows you don't weigh in after eating cheese enchiladas. =)

Anyhoo...I did end up going to the gym yesterday in the afternoon, making this 3 times so far this week that I've gone. Tuesday and Wednesday ended up being a wash gym-wise. Tuesday I was just tired, and Wednesday I came home to cook dinner, and when I looked up, it was 8pm already. This is not really an issue, since those are the two days that Gameboy (my husband, not the Nintendo toy!) never goes to the gym because of World of Warcraft scheduled events, and I usually go on the days that he goes.

So...back to the weigh-in. There I was, groggy at six a.m., without a drop of caffeine in my system, standing on the scale and willing the number to be lower. In my head, I've got the dramatic music and the concerned looks on the trainer's faces from the weigh in segments on The Biggest Loser as my scale readout adjusts a few times before coming to a rest. Dum-dum-dum! 234 even. I lost 2.8 lbs since Sunday morning! Bob and Jillian are pleased. I leave the bathroom and pour myself a cup of coffee in the biggest cup I can find. Victory is mine this week! Now, if I only knew what I was wearing to work....

Since it is the new year, it's resolution time. Mine are:

1. Go the the gym at least 4 times a week.
2. Drink more water. (At this point, any outside the gym is more!)
3. Be patient. It is a virtue, and I am aware enough to say I don't generally possess it. Time to change that....RIGHT NOW! =)

Anyone else making resolutions? Or do you think it's a bunch of crap, and/or you're perfect as is?

Getting back on track is not as easy as it seems...

Okay, so after a long absence, I am back. I flat out struggled with trying to change my behavior for the last few months, but after seeing some particularly horrifying recent pictures taken of me, and being tired of wearing larger pants, I'm ready to try again. The stats are mostly the same as they were in August…except for the rotten few pounds that crept up during the holiday season. As of Sunday morning, I weighed 236.8. I’ve been going to the gym semi-regularly for the last few months, with the exception of the past 2 weeks. The weeks leading up to Christmas were hectic in Stacyland, with baking that needed to be done, lots of housework, and 2 birthday parties for the chickadees’ classmates thrown on top of the Christmas shopping madness. Bearing all of that in mind, I decided to give myself a pass for the week of Christmas, and rather than waiting until January 1^st to get back on track, I would start on December 27^th.

So far, I’m off to a decent start. I had salads for lunch and dinner yesterday, with leftover turkey on it…only white meat parts. This is not to say that I’m going to exist solely on salad for the next 6 months or however long this takes, but I didn’t feel like cooking after the Christmas Cookapalooza that took place after work on Christmas Eve, and all morning Christmas day. I also went to the gym for the first time in 2 or so weeks, and went back for more after work today. Dinner tonight was scrambled egg whites with spinach, mushrooms and onions. My calves are pleasantly sore. Hopefully this means I can expect to see the number on the scale go down when I weigh in on Sunday.

Week one weigh in, or when not gaining anything is victory enough.

I only made it to the gym twice this week, and we ended up eating out twice, if for no other reason than laziness. The good news is, I did not gain any weight. The bad news is, I did not lose any either.

I'm comforting myself with the thought that at least I'm more aware of it than I have been in weeks past. The two restaurant dinners aside, I really considered whether or not I needed a snack when I reached for it. If I can just get off my butt and make it to the gym before I settle down with my recorded episodes of Chelsea Lately, I think this next week will go so much better.