A Big Thank You For My Virtual Ass-Kicking!

I'm staring out my window at a steady downpour and a sky so gloomy it practically demands an afternoon nap. I just have to ask...is this any way to spend the unofficial last day of summer? I think not.
Yet, here I am inside, working on (ugh!) homework and watching the rain, wishing I was doing anything but the afore mentioned activities.

I'd be lying if I didn't admit that the grey gloom of the weather kind of mirrors the mood I have been in for the past couple of days. One look at my "Chub Reduction Meter" to the right of my blog, and you can probably guess why. Maybe I should re-title it to read Chub Induction Meter???? With yet another pound added to my ass for this week, I'm thinking I'm less suited for writing a weight loss blog, but maybe the Paula Dean Fan Club would be happy to have me?

I'm not here to sugar coat things (maybe Splenda-coat is more apropos for our group?) - I've been on a roll around here (pun intended - I think it's a hot dog roll to be exact). It isn't pretty, friends. I'm not sure exactly what it was that sent me over the edge (School starting? Hurricane Irene?? My dwindling bank account??? My mentor teacher backing out of our agreement for my last 30 hours of observation at the last minute????) but without a doubt, I seem to have found myself in some kind of evil place that forced me to leave my better judgement at the door and feed my panic and stress with things that aren't exactly on anyone's "healthy eating list".

Yesterday was the first day I didn't feel akin to Alice falling down the rabbit hole, and realized that in the light of day, strawberry cream pie is not the answer to my stress, and that I need to get a grip, and get refocused. I must say that all of the comments I received from Thursday's post helped TREMENDOUSLY! Thank you from the bottom of my (no doubt artery clogged) heart. I asked for some ass kicking, and I got it - in a gentle, supportive way. I see all of you working so hard to meet your goals and I know that if I want to remain a viable member of this blogging community, I best start showing up to the game, if you know what I mean. And I think you do.

The funny thing is, that even with the less than stellar eating, I HAVE been walking - quite a bit actually. Today is the first day I have missed a morning walk since last Tues or Wed. So, yes, some calories have been burned - but they have also been consumed. Oh, yeah they have. And so I have been giving the Fall Challenge a bit more thought. I'm sort of doing the Amp challenge (I think), in that each day I have met my 3 miles (except today, which I can still do on the treadmill) - but I haven't been timing myself or doing anything else other than logging distance - and I haven't been officially posting anything about it because I guess I don't know the exact details of the challenge or what I should be doing. Still, a three mile walk, is a three mile walk - so I won't discount my exercise - even if it's not following official challenge rules.

I still fear Jillian like she is the devil herself - and although I am not sure of the exact details of her workouts, if the Biggest Loser is any indication, I am pretty sure squats, jumps and other demands-of-the-knee-type exercises are a part of it. My biggest fear is that my knees may not accommodate those types of exercises, if the clicking and cracking mean anything. But after reading the reviews of the DVD, I have decided I need to go balls to the wall, and in the words of Nike and Rachellabelle at My Hips Don't Lie, "Just Do It!!!" With that said, I am going to join Taryn at Fat Girl in a Skinny World and Miss April at 30 Before 30 in the 30 Day Shred Challenge starting September 12. Wish me luck.

Taryn, if you're reading this, I WILL be e-mailing you for details!!!

So that's really it in a nut shell - I'm trying to take the advice of those that have paved the "weigh" before me and have shown me that my choices dictate my success. I'm sending a special shout out to MB at Why The Weight? for being especially inspiring and encouraging. She has taught me to take a moment to ask myself if the choices I am making will benefit me in reaching my goal. One decision, one choice at a time. I can honestly say, since the end of July, I had not been asking myself that question - and it shows on the scale. So, thank you for the virtual ass kicking - Lord knows I needed it!
And really, thank you to EVERYONE who takes the time to read my blog and leave a comment - your words means more than you know!

Ok - whew - feeling better already. (Amazing what a little cyber-therapy can do for a gal).
Let's get this fat-shedding party started for good!

Weighing In After Vacay...

Oh, hello there!

Remember me?

Yeah, I'm back - finally -  after what seems like the world's longest hiatus from Blogville. Someone should hand me an award for Worst Blogger for the month of August because it's been a long post-barren month for sure. All the wonderful ideas I had about blogging from the beach fell through and here I am, back home (as of Sunday evening) and I am just getting to posting something now. (BIG SIGH.....)

So, how was vacation, you ask? Did I eat myself into a sugar and fat filled food coma - is that what you want to know?????

Mmmm, not exactly. I weighed myself when I got home and sure enough, I had gained some poundage during my vacation - but it was not what I consider excessive (today my weight is 231.5) and I contribute that in part to being much more active at the beach than I normally am here at home (which frankly is a huge problem since I spend most of my time, NOT at the beach, but here at home). We got in lots of bike riding, swimming, and of course, walking - although not as much walking as I would have liked. It seems I have an annoying case of plantars fasciitis - or as I like to call it, Plantars FAT-She-itis, that has been causing me a bit of pain when I walk. Biking seems to be the best exercise alternative right now since it puts minimal pressure on the bottom of my foot. And while I know I am not really supposed to wear flip flops because it just exacerbates the problem, I refuse to give up my beloved summer foot wear until I absolutely have to - pain be damned. Sometimes I can be so non-compliant.

I am having a very hard time with coming to terms with summer's end and the beginning of another semester looming in front of me. Although it is my last semester of classes, it is going to be pure hell, and knowing this makes it VERY difficult to get jazzed about what the next 3 1/2 months hold. My biggest fear (of the moment) is that once Monday arrives, I am going to get completely lost in my school work (as I have been known to do) and forget that I am trying to  meet some weight loss goals before my body completely becomes one big gelatinous mess. It is a very real fear.....I have soooooo been down this road before.

So, I need to get a routine started early this semester that will be maintainable through December. I don't want to feel consumed by school work and not provide myself with some kind of outlet where I can recharge my batteries so to speak. I have to move - I cannot stay chained to my laptop from now until it's time to deck the halls with boughs of holly. I just CAN'T!

Since I have never been to my college's gym, today when I go to buy my text books (which may or may not require me selling a kidney to pay for them), I am going to try to get in there to check it out. I know they offer Zumba classes (the thought of which petrifies me just a bit), but I really have no idea what else they have there in terms of equipment, classes, etc. I figure since it's free, I have absolutely no excuse not to go (then again, I have been enrolled at this school since 2009 - so obviously I have made some excuses). I tend to be a little bit weird about the gym - I need to know where everything is (the lay of the land, so to speak) and that I will be able to shower (comfortably) after I work out and get to my classes in time (they're all in the evening so this should not be a problem). In theory, this plan for the gym and school sounds good...here's crossing my fingers that I stick to it.

Of course I am heading out to do my book purchasing and gym investigating when the weather here is about to become super nasty at any moment. Note to self: Take large umbrella - not puny little one stashed in the car. It looks like we'll get a slight reprieve tomorrow (which is good because we are getting new carpeting installed) and then we are expecting another deluge of rain over the weekend as Hurricane Irene passes through town. Good times.  At the very least, I'll get some house work done and maybe prep a few meals for the upcoming week, and jump on the elliptical machine - barring any floods or power outages, anyway.  Let's hope it's not Mother Nature's time of the month and she shows a little mercy....stay tuned, my good people!

Shame is the Name of The Game

Hello?.....hellooooooo....???? Is this thing ON????

I know, I know... it's been a while. But rest assured, I'm not dead - NOR have I completely abandoned my weight loss goals (although admittedly I was way off track with them) - I've just had a busier than usual week and weekend with minimal opportunities to get in front of the old laptop and dedicate some serious time to updating the blog. I've tried to hop around and visit some of my faves and post comments but haven't had the chunk of time needed to make an actual post myself....until now....

I wish I had good news to report after my near week departure from the blogospehere.....I owe you guys a weigh-in report for starters. I have to tell you, it isn't one I am proud of but one I will post it anyway, because lying about it doesn't make it go away, right? So - I gained 1.25 lbs this week - that's right - I said I gained! (Again). And frankly, the gain comes as no real surprise.

Why is it that when I make all of these promises to myself and get gung-ho about starting a regimen that the slightest little thing can lead me off course???

This week the "thing" that got me off course came in the shape of my 7 1/2 year old niece who was visiting us from Wed evening through Friday evening. Since I have no kids of my own, I feel like my whole mind set is thrown off when she comes to visit. What I mean is, as much as I love having her here, I tend to let her appetite for "kid food" give me the green light to eat it, too. And that, as I well know, is a huge no-no here in Fatreductionville.

We did manage to get in some decent activity though....morning walks and hours of swimming. But I didn't get on my elliptical or do my weight routine and my eating was, uh, a-hem... less than stellar. Unless, of course, bacon, blueberry pancakes and ice cream are diet foods these days. No, you say? Ok then...I didn't think so. In that case, I failed this week big time.

We also had a family picnic on Saturday that essentially amounts to table upon table filled with heart attack inducing foods....Heavens to Mergatroid! I wouldn't say I ate terribly there, and I didn't stuff myself silly or anything asinine like that - but again, I did indulge in things that had bright red glaring and flashing lights that screamed NO - DO NOT EAT/DRINK THIS!!!! My inner Mr. Magoo pretended not to see them.

Yesterday, to cap off an already long and tiring weekend,  Josh and I decided to attack our living room and finally paint because the fireplace is now finished (will be inspected tomorrow)....so now the real fun of redecorating can begin! I can't wait to get the new furniture and carpeting installed. Things can finally start to go back to normal...no more contractors! Meaning the house can start to look like a house again and all the stuff we had to disrupt in order to have the house work done can go back in it's place - or better yet, tossed if it no longer "fits". And that can apply to both clothing and house wares as far as I'm concerned.

So, while I had a gain this week, and my actions belied my words from my last post, I'm not giving up. It's a new week, and I'm ready for it. I woke up determined to give this week my all. I take each day one step at a time...and today started with walking a 5K so I guess that's a good start. We have no junk in our house to eat and tonight we are having garlic and ginger rubbed salmon, steamed sugar snap peas and a baked sweet potato. Planning will be essential to my success this week.....no doubt about that.

Anyway, I'll try not to disappear for such long lengths of time in the future. If I do, you can send in the dogs after me. If this past week is any indication, I'm bound to be doing something I shouldn't.....