Isn't everyone today? But I really don't care about turkey - take it, leave it, not dark meat (ever!) - so tomorrow's centerpiece just doesn't do much for me. It's the side dishes, friends - THE SIDES. Scalloped corn, cranberry relish, cranberry salads (not the cranberry jelly that actually still tastes like the can), pumpkin pie, and dinner rolls, dinner rolls, dinner rolls. I've never met a carbohydrate I didn't like, so tomorrow will be like nirvana for me.
I have plans to work out first thing tomorrow morning, before heading to my aunt's house to help her with her banking, then heading to ANOTHER aunt's house for the annual feast. Let's see if those plans actually come to fruition. Check back and see if I did it!
I'm trying (inspired by my fellow weight-loss blogger Sarah) to come up with a fun challenge to do in 2011. Sarah's been baking her way through The Bread Bakers Apprentice, but my aforementioned carb addiction makes me afraid to do that. I love this site - GreenLiteBites - so maybe challenging myself to make a new recipe (or three!) from that site each week will help? I need to get much better at planning and preparing healthy meals, rather than defaulting to whatever is in the pantry or on my way home from work.
Additional inspiration for weight loss - Sarah's getting married! My goal is to be the second-hottest woman at her wedding; Sarah being the first. :) She hasn't set a wedding date yet, but I'm telling myself she's getting married in April so I can kick it into gear.
Oh yeah - the scale. I'm up about 1.5 pounds this week, which isn't bad considering that I haven't really tracked anything this week. And that ain't likely to start again anytime soon. But I can't just coast through the holidays, as tempting as that might be - after all, Gerard Butler is waiting for me in Dublin and I can't run the risk of my squishy bottom lapping over the bar stool in the pub and scaring him away. Yep, my fantasy life is almost as rich as my dessert preferences.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Slowly...
So, I'm slowly climbing back on the wagon. I haven't done much by way of exercise this week, but the scale this morning showed I'm down 3 pounds from last week. I love it when the Weight Watchers site gives me those "you're losing weight too fast" notices from week to week. Yeah, not so much. :) I'm down 8.2 pounds since I started the program at the end of August, which gives me an average loss of 0.8 pounds a week - totally healthy, and PAINFULLY slow. Oh well.
I leave for my birthday trip to Dublin on Feb. 15 - that's 90 days, or just under 13 weeks from now. Averaging 1 pound per week, I could be down 20 pounds before I go. That's less than I'd like to be, but I'll take anything right about now. I had a dream the other night that I met up with a Gerard Butler look-a-like in Dublin, and if that isn't motivation to keep losing weight I don't know what is. :)
I leave for my birthday trip to Dublin on Feb. 15 - that's 90 days, or just under 13 weeks from now. Averaging 1 pound per week, I could be down 20 pounds before I go. That's less than I'd like to be, but I'll take anything right about now. I had a dream the other night that I met up with a Gerard Butler look-a-like in Dublin, and if that isn't motivation to keep losing weight I don't know what is. :)
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Scenes from my morning
Editor's note: Every thing in this post actually happened this morning. NOTHING has been embellished. Even I couldn't make this stuff up.
5:30 a.m. – Alarm begins blaring across the room. Fall out of bed (literally: roll over too close to the edge, slide out of bed and land on backside) and stumble over to turn off alarm. Head back to bed “for just a few minutes” because it’s cold and dark out here. Vaguely remember setting alarm for this unholy hour so you could get in kickboxing workout this morning, as brother’s birthday party is tonight.
7:26 a.m. – roll over and look at clock. Realize you must leave by 8 a.m. to get to work on time, and your unshowered state cannot continue. Run to bathroom.
7:46 a.m. – Showered. Teeth brushed. Now moisturizing all parts of face and neck that you are terrified will begin sagging soon, making you look like a shar-pei dog without the cuteness factor. Carefully pat eye cream around eyes to take away puffiness.
7:48 a.m. – Realize that application of eye cream has irritated left contact lens, and now feels like a railroad tie is lodged between contact lens and eyeball. Begin squinting and blinking furiously. Getting worse. Hop around bathroom, chanting "Ow ow ow!" Finally remove, rinse, and reinsert contact and realize all this has completely counteracted application of eye cream. Left eye now bloodshot, giving you the appearance of having been on an all-night Johnny Walker bender. Very professional.
8:03 a.m. – Remove new tights from package, realize they have a snag. Thanks, Target. Gamble that snag will be hidden under knee-high boots. Gamble pays off. Spend four minutes coaxing faux-leather knee-high boots to zip over your calves, which are roughly the size of Christmas hams. Are successful, but now rather sweaty. Sacrifices must be made for fashion.
8:16 a.m. – Climb into car, snagging hem of long skirt on heel of faux-leather boots. Manage not to slam head against steering wheel while removing boot heel from hem. Fortunate, as head wounds would enhance Johnny Walker bender appearance.
8:28 a.m. – Hear the song “Jesse’s Girl” on radio, making you think of that jerk you dated five years ago named Jesse, who made you really like him then decided he’d rather date the woman who set you up with him. Try not to cry. Remember he's now married to that woman. Try harder not to cry. Long desperately for chocolate. Or Swedish Fish. Possibly both.
8:42 a.m. – Arrive at work. Find small container of Swedish Fish in desk. Remember stash of chocolate VitaTops in work freezer (100 calories and SO GOOD). Salvation. Remember brother's birthday party is tonight, complete with fantastic freaky family and adorable niece.
Gonna be an all right day.
5:30 a.m. – Alarm begins blaring across the room. Fall out of bed (literally: roll over too close to the edge, slide out of bed and land on backside) and stumble over to turn off alarm. Head back to bed “for just a few minutes” because it’s cold and dark out here. Vaguely remember setting alarm for this unholy hour so you could get in kickboxing workout this morning, as brother’s birthday party is tonight.
7:26 a.m. – roll over and look at clock. Realize you must leave by 8 a.m. to get to work on time, and your unshowered state cannot continue. Run to bathroom.
7:46 a.m. – Showered. Teeth brushed. Now moisturizing all parts of face and neck that you are terrified will begin sagging soon, making you look like a shar-pei dog without the cuteness factor. Carefully pat eye cream around eyes to take away puffiness.
7:48 a.m. – Realize that application of eye cream has irritated left contact lens, and now feels like a railroad tie is lodged between contact lens and eyeball. Begin squinting and blinking furiously. Getting worse. Hop around bathroom, chanting "Ow ow ow!" Finally remove, rinse, and reinsert contact and realize all this has completely counteracted application of eye cream. Left eye now bloodshot, giving you the appearance of having been on an all-night Johnny Walker bender. Very professional.
8:03 a.m. – Remove new tights from package, realize they have a snag. Thanks, Target. Gamble that snag will be hidden under knee-high boots. Gamble pays off. Spend four minutes coaxing faux-leather knee-high boots to zip over your calves, which are roughly the size of Christmas hams. Are successful, but now rather sweaty. Sacrifices must be made for fashion.
8:16 a.m. – Climb into car, snagging hem of long skirt on heel of faux-leather boots. Manage not to slam head against steering wheel while removing boot heel from hem. Fortunate, as head wounds would enhance Johnny Walker bender appearance.
8:28 a.m. – Hear the song “Jesse’s Girl” on radio, making you think of that jerk you dated five years ago named Jesse, who made you really like him then decided he’d rather date the woman who set you up with him. Try not to cry. Remember he's now married to that woman. Try harder not to cry. Long desperately for chocolate. Or Swedish Fish. Possibly both.
8:42 a.m. – Arrive at work. Find small container of Swedish Fish in desk. Remember stash of chocolate VitaTops in work freezer (100 calories and SO GOOD). Salvation. Remember brother's birthday party is tonight, complete with fantastic freaky family and adorable niece.
Gonna be an all right day.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Hear that?
That strange sound? It's kinda like... "WHOMP...thumpa...thumpa...thumpa..."
That was me, falling off the wagon and landing in a giant pile of Chinese food and Tootsie Rolls, then bouncing. Halloween was NOT good to me. Strike that - Halloween was VERY good, but not for my weight loss efforts. I pretty much went off the rails until this past weekend, eating any and everything that crossed my path. And that path seemed to intersect with lots of mini Three Musketeers bars.
So - onward. :)
Sunday I walked the Iowa State Fairgrounds 5K with Sarah Jane. Sarah is an awesome walking partner, and cheered me on as we chugged up the hills through the Fair Campgrounds. Thank you, Sarah, for keeping me going while I sucked wind like a defective balloon. I am still feeling those hills in my quadriceps today.
Have I mentioned how much I love the Fair and the Fairgrounds? That place and the events that happen there are some of the main drivers (besides my fantastically freaky family) for my still being in Iowa. Sure, there's an apparent dearth of tall, single men in their 30s who love Jesus, and airfares out of Des Moines to anywhere cool are (for the most part) ridiculous - but WE HAVE THE FAIR! Hands up if you agree with me...
The Fairgrounds 5K was a great event, with fantastic November weather. It was neat to see the Fairgrounds without the crush of mullet/tank top-sporting people packing the streets. There are some beautiful green spaces there that you usually can't see during the Fair because they're packed with caramel apple stands - which are also beautiful, but in a different way. The helpful signs at the mile markers told us when we'd burned off a bag of cotton candy, then a caramel apple (thereby extracting most of the enjoyment out of them for me), and finally a corn dog at the three-mile mark. Not helpful, Iowa State Fair people, if you want to keep your corn dog sales numbers increasing. :) Nevertheless, I had a blast and will be back for next year's event - but probably won't be sporting a swimsuit entirely covered in State Fair ribbons like one participant. A brave woman, she.
Now Sarah and I are looking for more race events in the coming months. Next up - the Jingle Jog at Gray's Lake in December, then the YMCA's Red Flannel Run in February. We will have quite an impressive collection of brightly-colored long-sleeve t-shirts by spring.
I also hit (quite literally) the kickboxing hard last night. I could only make it about 25 minutes, but they were a good 25 minutes. Sunday's walk really highlighted how far out of shape I'd gotten. Sarah made me feel better by pointing out that Sunday was the first really strenuous exercise I'd done in about eight weeks, and I was feeling it. Now it's time to claw my way back, and I started last night with a great session of bag work and some push-ups/sit-ups. I can still do full-on sit-ups, which is a point of pride for me. I am woman, watch me struggle to hoist myself into a sitting position!
Oh, yeah - the scale. I am up two pounds from my post-Vegas weight, which means I've gone back up about four pounds since the end of September. Easy come, not-so-easy go. But they'll go - until I fall off the wagon into a vat of Christmas cookies. :)
That was me, falling off the wagon and landing in a giant pile of Chinese food and Tootsie Rolls, then bouncing. Halloween was NOT good to me. Strike that - Halloween was VERY good, but not for my weight loss efforts. I pretty much went off the rails until this past weekend, eating any and everything that crossed my path. And that path seemed to intersect with lots of mini Three Musketeers bars.
So - onward. :)
Sunday I walked the Iowa State Fairgrounds 5K with Sarah Jane. Sarah is an awesome walking partner, and cheered me on as we chugged up the hills through the Fair Campgrounds. Thank you, Sarah, for keeping me going while I sucked wind like a defective balloon. I am still feeling those hills in my quadriceps today.
Have I mentioned how much I love the Fair and the Fairgrounds? That place and the events that happen there are some of the main drivers (besides my fantastically freaky family) for my still being in Iowa. Sure, there's an apparent dearth of tall, single men in their 30s who love Jesus, and airfares out of Des Moines to anywhere cool are (for the most part) ridiculous - but WE HAVE THE FAIR! Hands up if you agree with me...
The Fairgrounds 5K was a great event, with fantastic November weather. It was neat to see the Fairgrounds without the crush of mullet/tank top-sporting people packing the streets. There are some beautiful green spaces there that you usually can't see during the Fair because they're packed with caramel apple stands - which are also beautiful, but in a different way. The helpful signs at the mile markers told us when we'd burned off a bag of cotton candy, then a caramel apple (thereby extracting most of the enjoyment out of them for me), and finally a corn dog at the three-mile mark. Not helpful, Iowa State Fair people, if you want to keep your corn dog sales numbers increasing. :) Nevertheless, I had a blast and will be back for next year's event - but probably won't be sporting a swimsuit entirely covered in State Fair ribbons like one participant. A brave woman, she.
Now Sarah and I are looking for more race events in the coming months. Next up - the Jingle Jog at Gray's Lake in December, then the YMCA's Red Flannel Run in February. We will have quite an impressive collection of brightly-colored long-sleeve t-shirts by spring.
I also hit (quite literally) the kickboxing hard last night. I could only make it about 25 minutes, but they were a good 25 minutes. Sunday's walk really highlighted how far out of shape I'd gotten. Sarah made me feel better by pointing out that Sunday was the first really strenuous exercise I'd done in about eight weeks, and I was feeling it. Now it's time to claw my way back, and I started last night with a great session of bag work and some push-ups/sit-ups. I can still do full-on sit-ups, which is a point of pride for me. I am woman, watch me struggle to hoist myself into a sitting position!
Oh, yeah - the scale. I am up two pounds from my post-Vegas weight, which means I've gone back up about four pounds since the end of September. Easy come, not-so-easy go. But they'll go - until I fall off the wagon into a vat of Christmas cookies. :)
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