5 days!

I have managed to string together 5 days of exercise (2 outdoor runs, 2 personal training sessions, 60 minutes of elliptical, bike and treadmill) at the same time I counted points (WW) and actually stayed on target all 5 days.

I have also written and submitted a research proposal for '12 summer funding (no teaching), and have nearly finished the work for my Fall classes, except grading.

I have gotten permission (and funding) to go to AUSTRALIA in June. I was asked to teach part of an MBA course this Spring which I'm pretty excited about.

I saw this tree which stuns me with how absolutely in love with the colors I am...stellar 5 days!

Can I do it?

I am talking about NaBloPoMo (now a part of BlogHer, who's site does not heart me, as it crashed twice when I tried to sign up.)


And the half marathon I registered for yesterday (Seaside Half in March).


And the commitment I made to my trainer to really concentrate on health and wellness until the half (with some allowed and encouraged holiday fare).


And finally, can I talk about what caused me to stop blogging?


Yes. I realize that now I could write about what happened that day about 18 months ago when I typed a blog post only to delete it, shut down blogger and rarely return, but I don't need to (while it might make me feel better, it might make someone(s) feel worse, even if they don't know/read the blog). I have gotten some clarity on why I am how I am and what it will mean to be to be at a "normal" weight. I don't need a fat cloak anymore. I think I have finally outgrown it.

Food logic

FINALLY, I have gotten a significant amount of writing done---all on an alternating diet of Milky Way cake and chips and dip. No food to speak of other than those two food groups. I realized that was getting WAY out of control, so I finished off the cake so that I would quit eating cake. I will get to work on the chips after I get another section of my paper done.

If the car falls off the track

I made mention of sabatoging myself on this roller coaster of health that I am on...I derail myself and let the car just plunge into oblivion, every.single.time I get even close to a good place for me.

Year before last, I lost 45 pounds in 5 months, and kept it off for nearly 2 years. Then, last year I ran a HALF marathon, and now I am struggling with 2 miles. I actually just started the Couch to 5K program completely from scratch to get back in the groove and to improve my speed a bit. I joined the gym in August and have NEVER gone outside of personal training. NEVER. NOT ONE SINGLE TIME. NOT ONCE. This gym has a movie room, spin classes, Body Pump, Zumba, tons of cardio machines, etc. I go to personal training, walk on the treadmill while I wait for my session...the whole while weirdly hoping my trainer WON'T SHOW UP. I have my session (because he always.shows.up.) and then I leave. I do this once a week. Since I joined the gym? I have gained 20 lbs. mm. Not really the impact I thought it would have.

OH, wait, there is more: I used to have fruit and yogurt for breakfast every day. EVERY day. Now I have a spicy chicken biscuit and Diet Coke, on the days I EVEN BOTHER to eat breakfast. I do manage to eat a good lunch almost every day. Then dinner? Pizza (but "just" a slice with mushrooms and spinach), fast food salads, wings/beer, you name it, if I want it, I have it. I blame Mr. P because he is a bad influence. WHATEVS, I have been married to him during many bouts of healthiness, this is just the phase where I let him dictate our menu. If I choose, he will oblige, but it is just easier to let him lead me down the path of ever loving fried potatos with cheese and jalapenos or puff pastry filled with cheese and delicious. Our water delivery guy QUIT coming to our house because it took forever for us to drink a thing of water, let alone 3....soda was the only thing flowing in our house. We had to dig out a bill to even find his phone number when we finally ran out of water.

So, where do I go from here?

On Week 1 Day 2 of Couch to 5K, with my jogging speed around 12 minute miles (I am normally 13:30ish). I will have personal training twice a week for the next 2 weeks to get into a routine--Tuesdays and Fridays. I will pick ONE class to attend at my gym this week. I went to the store and bought breakfast stuff, yeah, some of it is prepackaged (Quaker Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies, some yummy looking veggie omelet sandwiches), some of it isn't (Fage yogurt, fruit). Until school is out, I will TRY SO HARD not to have a spicy chicken biscuit for breakfast. I will stick with my lunches as it. Dinner? Tonight we had spicy grilled chicken salads, and the nights we are home (we have commitments FOUR nights this week...end of semester crap), we will 'survive' off of salad and pasta. Our water consumption is back where it should be...I will start my day with water, but have Diet Coke during my teaching hours, then back to water.

That is the easy stuff. The hard stuff? Dealing with why I push my car off the track every time I get SO close to getting where I want to be.

ONLY 1.5 miles

I remember about 9 months ago, if my training called for a 1.5 mile run, I could basically head out in my jeans...wait, while on the topic of jeans, how do you guys feel about PAJAMA jeans? At first I laughed at the mere name, but then I watched the video. Considering my new pants of choice are yoga pants, which are really just like pajama pants, maybe they aren't as stupid as I think that I should think that they are, and maybe instead they are awesome. But to be a better judge I think I need to see some on a regular person...so if any of you are rocking the pajama jeans, will you please let me know?

ANYWAY, I picked out a new running program and I got started today with a 1.5 mile run. It was hard. It took me 24 minutes to go 1.6 miles. YIKES. On the topic of YIKES, I weighed in today, I am back to my March 2, 2009 weight. YIKES. 18 pounds higher than my weight this time last year. YIKES. YIKES. YIKES.

Since I have blogged and posted pictures every.single.day in 2K11, I don't want to wreck my streak, so here is one of my favorite Christmas prizes of this year courtesy of my sister.

May I present the CHRISTMAS CRAWDAD----

Third try at a snack is gonna be a party pack at Taco Bell

was what I just said to Mr. P after my first two attempts at healthy, appropriate snacks went viciously wrong.

First, I tried to heat up the remainder of some organic minestrone. Well, it wasn't liquid and it smelled weird. FAIL.

Second, I tried to toast a low-fat organic whole grain waffle and it burnt 7 shades of black. FAIL FAIL.

FUDGE PACKETS.

Sunday night I realized that all that effort at healthy, healthy, healthy was starting to revert back to unhealthy, bloated, crappy. I gained 13 of the hard lost pounds back. I basically quit jogging on a regular basis. All I was doing was working, a lot, then having pizza and beer for dinner, a lot. Lost my balance. SO, I registed for the 10K with the Christmas Lights that we did last year (with that dreaded Jolley Trolley), found a 4 week 10K training plan, and rejoined WeightWatchers.

So, today, on DAY TWO, after staying in points, but jogging 60 minutes (ONLY 6.16 k's, jeeeez) my dinner salad didn't cut it and I needed another snack before I dove face first into a bathtub full of candy corn---and seriously I was TRYING to do the right thing only to get smacked down. TWICE.

However, third time was a charm and I managed not to burn the waffle and topped it with some natural peanut butter and simply fruit. Now I am going to bed before I rip off Mr. P's face because he has 3 candy bars, 2 zingers and a box of rasberry cookies in his nightstand.

I got a major slump going on up in here

So, last I left you, Mr. P had been laid off and we were headed out for my birthday weekend. Let's see, since then:

• I turned 41. Mr. P threw me TWO birthday parties. One drinky party and one family party. My mom pitched a fit that she was not invited to the drinky party.
• We moved out of tiny apartment into tiny house. The house is tiny. Tiny. t.i.n.y. I got bummed out at the tinyness and the crampedness and quit unpacking about a day in. I am still not moved in nearly 6 weeks later.
• I kept Eli for a weekend. Wow. 4 is tough.
• Went away with my highschool girlfriends for a weekend. Awesome. Laughter. Hugs.
• Joined a new gym and got a personal trainer. Quit running. Quit everything. Even bailed on my trainer this week.
• Mr. P got a new job where he has to travel out of town at least one night a week. It is way harder than I thought it would be. So much so, that I went with him last night. (The job is great, he loves it, he is making more money than before, he is happy and he has a company truck that he digs driving around Alabama.)
• I joined a bowling league and on the first day I bowled a 150 and 141, but now two days later my knee hurts and my middle finger does too.
• I got a health screening and my numbers are good. (Blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, etc.)

I don't know what is going on with me. I feel guilty and shitty for getting behind on stuff. And my new diet of hydrogenated/fructose corn syrup snacks that I enjoy with beers probably doesn't help my attitude or motivation much either.

I took before pictures of the house o'tiny when we moved in. My plan is to be able to take the after pictures on Sunday. Plus, I have a huge harvest of peppers and I want to invite the family over for stuffed peppers next week. Will I get it done? Time will tell.

what I did today

• Slept through the alarm set for 5:30am and managed to drag out of bed at 7am. I set the alarm so early because starting next Monday I have to teach a class at 8am and the heat makes it impossible to run at times other than 7am and 7pm. I like TV at 7pm.
• I weighed in DANGEROUSLY close to scootching up a decade. I immediately logged into http://www.weightwatchers.com/, updated my weight and made a note to self to get shit together. asap.
• Started week 2 (note that week 1 happened several weeks ago) of my half marathon training. AND AND AND, I warmed up and stretched before I ran. Pain free the first mile (well, my hip/knee crap, lungs? different question), then a bit of pain the second mile. Managed a decent time for me. Stretched again. Iced hip.
• Made a frappe with my new Mr. Coffee Cafe Frappe. YUM. (Impulse buy yesterday because I was sure that it would help me through said early morning class starting next week.)
• Watered plants. Fell in love with my baby cucumbers all over again. Tried to decide how many times we are going to have to have Thai food based on the 450 peppers that are growing.
• Showered.
• Wrote three blog posts and deleted every.one. of them.
• Quit the gym. OF COURSE, you have to quit by the 20th so you don't get charged an extra month. I bet they change the form every day so that you are always a day late. fuckers. I want to quit the gym!
• Changed my address at the post office.
• Went to Chick Fil A for lunch and to read to decompress for class.
• Taught an hour and a half class about writing queries.
• Taught an hour and a half class about accounting for corporate bond issues.
• Graded projects while eating a Fage 2% with Honey yogurt thing. I almost threw it away because it was weird. But then it got a bit warmer and blended and then I liked it...but maybe not 4 points liked it. I added some Corn Flakes. Did you know that Kellogg's Corn Flakes contain high fructose corn syrup? Yeah, I didn't either.
• Came home.
• Made HOMEmade salsa/pico. Tomatoes, red onion, homegrown jalapeno/serrano/habanero peppers, fresh corn, black beans, garlic, cilantro, salt/pepper, red wine vinegar. DAMN it is good. and fresh. and delicious.

Now I am waiting for Mr. P to get home from his run, and we are going to eat the salsa/pico stuff on corn tortillas with some refried beans and a bit of 2% cheese. We have 8 days left in this house, and it can't happen soon.enough.

OH.MY.GOD. I have the Bachelorette on and I think one of the dudes got a tattoo with her name on it....what the hell man??? psych.o.

How was your Monday?

EDITED TO ADD: My iPod had died, and when I charged it the date/time was funky, so it logged my run at May 5, so it isn't showing up with my Nike girl. My next run (Wednesday) will be there.

but...I like to eat candy

We had a great weekend. After work on Friday we hightailed it down to the beach. Got up early on Saturday morning and got loaded on the pontoon boat and had a really good day--we snorkeled, floated, ate food, repeat for the entire day. I am so glad we went, the oil is SO close to ruining a really gorgeous area.

Got up this morning, and went out for a leisurely breakfast, then Mr. P drove home like he was trying out for NASCAR so we could get to our school's baseball games. We are in the NCAA tournament, hosting one of the brackets actually. We won both games today, one easily, the other one was a nail biter. I am actually washing my exact outfit now so I can wear it to the championship game tomorrow afternoon!

But I digress, on to where the post title is coming from....

On the trip I was looking through my backpack for a band-aid and found a baggie of candy from when we went to Belize in MARCH. Tonight after we got home from the baseball game, I ate the gummies out of it, which left Mr. P's licorice candies. I handed them to him, and he said he hated stale candy and was going to throw it away if I wasn't going to eat it. Then we had this conversation:

Me: I love stale candy.
Mr. P: I hate it, I am going to throw this away.
Me: Yeah, that is okay, I tried to eat a piece and convince myself I loved licorice and it didn't work.
Mr. P: WHAT?!?
Me: I like to eat candy.

So, what's new?

There is ABSOLUTELY a million, trillion things that I have to tell you, and yet I have opened this window at least 50 times and I got nothing. Until today, I am managing to string some words together.

So here is the abridged version of what is going on with me.

• Last night I realized that I will sleep in this house on the first of June, then our new apartment (yikes) for the first of July, my MOM's apartment (OH MY GOD yikes) the first of August, and then, finally, by the grace of God and MacGruber, Mr. P and I will be mercifully settled into our new abode for the first of September. This is just an update. The story behind it will follow on a later date.
• Actually MacGruber has nothing to do with our move at all, but I paid hard earned money to take my kids to see it last week in an act of goodwill (to my kids, not Will Forte). I laughed. A lot. Ha, ha 'face vagina'.
• On the note of the children, we had a come to Jesus chat where I explained why I cared about the choices they made, and I was okay with them doing whatever it is that they want to do, but not on my dime. Seems like they are gathering their shit together into a nice, neat pile, for which I am extremely grateful.
• Since I really wrote much I have been to the Bahamas, the beach and the lake for weekends. AND, we are going to the beach again this weekend (before the OIL, oh the ever loving OIL gets here). So, please know that my life does NOT suck, I just don't do well when my expectations aren't met, and by the by, my expectations are high.
• After we ran the 1/2 in March, I have probably not run 13 miles in TOTAL since then. I had a little of a weird injured knee, and a LOT of feeling sorry for myself because things weren't exactly.how.I.wanted. and we did a lot of wing eating and beer drinking which is not that condusive to jogging and push-ups.
• Yesterday, I started training for the Rock and Roll Half Marathon in Virginia Beach, VA on Labor Day weekend. Hotel booked. Registration paid. Pat Benetar and REO Speedwagon, here I come. Oh, but can I say that I am pissed at myself that 5K is really hard again? oh well. The journey, right?
• I am the same weight as January, so that is a small victory. However, I am on day 2 of counting points. This is the furthest I have gotten in months. Maybe this time it will stick again, and I get back to talking about how awesome I am at getting healthy, healthy, healthy. That got replaced with moody, moody, bitchy.
• Summer work is going swimmingly. And I am not even being facetious.

So there you have it. I think my head is just about right, and even though I have been quiet, I have been paying attention to the good, the bad and the ugly in your lives. I hope to become more active on your blogs and in your lives again, if you will have me.

crap begets crap

I am so completely in a lazy, McLazy, LAZY status right now I can barely stand myself. I have not run since last Tuesday under the guise that my plantar fasciitis has flared up again and I don't want to be too injured to walk during Relay this Friday. (I call bullshit on myself here, by the way.)

We had friends visiting last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and all three meant I drank and ate too much, which resulted in my complete vegetative status on Saturday that consisted of House and Criminal Minds, playing Zoo World incessantly all while eating Chinese food and pizza. I have done the work I have to do to stay above water, but then I am spending the rest of my time watching television or just looking out the window. I have polished off the Easter candy, and perhaps the most telling sign...since my journey began the beginning of 2009 I didn't weigh in this morning. What the hell ?

But this afternoon, I was thinking about why I am freaking out and completely reverting, and I think I know what has triggered this latest sabotage that kind of started about 6 months ago. I am not quite ready to talk about it, not until I get my head straight about it anyhow. Bear with. However, since I think I know what my problem is, even though I don't really know how to deal with it quite yet, I have told myself, assured myself, promised, begged, cajoled and pleaded with myself to at the very least get my run on tomorrow. I guess we shall see.

ETA: After some effort dragging myself out of bed this morning, and reading the comments that were very supportive and maybe a bit naggy, I did get out there and managed to pound out 4.28 miles. If I didn't have a meeting in 45 minutes I think I would have just kept going and going while I debate myself about what is going in in my brains. Now to see if I can get the food to follow suit.

so. apparently I ate a sticker.

My bed was the exact.perfect temperature this morning. My alarm went off at 7 and I rationalized that I ran nearly 6 miles yesterday, so I probably SHOULD take the day off of running, or at the very least I should wait and run after my office hours this afternoon.

FINALLY, I drag myself out bed, get cleaned up and finally get dressed. Change because the pants I picked made my ass look big. Change again. (NOTE TO SELF: Your ass is big, get over it.) Grab a yogurt, plum and my last tiny box of Peyton cereal. Fill up water bottle. Drive through Chick Fil A to get a giant soda. Park 1/2mile from office because I didn't get to work in time to get good parking.

Decide to multi-task and eat my plum on my walk. I notice the little produce sticker on one side, but decide that I can't really peel it off with one hand, so I will just eat around it.

Get to office and only the plum pit is left.


hmm.

I am a WARRIOR. maybe?

After completing the half marathon, we have been trying to decide what is next on our fitness/athletic agenda. We know that eventually our goal is an adventure trip to the Galapagos, where we snorkel, hike, scuba, kayak, ride horses, etc. We think that trip is likely a few years away (it is super pricey), and we have some intermediate goals in between...one of which was the half marathon. (check. and that still feels awesome, by the way.) And another is the Rome marathon in 2012. (yikes, that is less than 2 years away. SCARY.)

Anyway, Mr. P mentioned the other night seeing that one of his Facebook friends was doing this kind of adventure type race, where there is running and mud bogs, and other obstacles that you have to do and he was thinking that sounded pretty damn cool. Then last night the College Kid posted a link to that exact race on my wall (on Facebook) and with that, begins our adventure with more adventurous racing. Warrior racing, as you were.

So, knowing that I have NO upper body strength to speak of and there are a plethora of things to get over in those type races, I googled the best way to gain upper body strength. Any guesses? Fancy equipment? Personal trainer? no and no. Good, old fashioned push-ups. YUCK.

So today I started the push-up workout recommended. Today 3 sets of 10 push-ups. Rest 48 hours. Then 3 sets of 11 push-ups. Rest 48 hours. Repeat adding one rep each time. After two weeks, rest goes to 24 hours. Repeat infinity. I was actually able to do a total of about 14 "real" push ups and I did the rest girly girl style. Then I did some planks. For good measure. Dude, core/arm stuff is HARD. I would way rather run. So, not to forget good, old-fashioned cardio, I am heading to the park for a run in my new running shoes and cool Nike top.

OH, did I mention our first venture into these races? NEXT Saturday, after we do a regular old 5K. I am both excited to try and scared that I will fail, be too fat to get over some obstacle, and/or look like a giant loser out there with all the fit young things.

That just means I have to try, right?

March Madness

The last three weeks have been insanely wonderful, so much so, that with all the crud going around the regular world and the interweb world I have felt too guilty to post too much for fear of sounding completely douchey.

• I got tenure.



• I ran a half-marathon.



• I went on a dream vacation with my husband of 21 years.

Any of these things in isolation would have made my month, but all 3? I have it pretty damn good. Plus, when we got home, we got to go play Candyland with a precious pumpkin baby, and I came in FOURTH WINNER!

A few snippets of our trip:

First stop, Grand Caymans, where we went to a turtle farm/conservation center. I choose to believe this little dude is going to be released into the wild, not eaten. The turtles were completely cool, but I left a bit sad about the fate of some of them.

Our last stop was Roatan, Honduras. It was really beautiful, and we snorkeled and snorkeled and then snorkeled some more. All of the gorgeous fish and coral made me even more determined to get to my goal of under 200 pounds so that I feel comfortable enough to get SCUBA certified.

SO, this morning, I weighed in after weeks of debauchery and I am EXACTLY where I was on January 4. So before work this morning, I strapped on my running shoes and went on my first real run since the half. (I ran twice last weekend, but didn't push myself, just sort of cruised around.) I logged back into WeightWatchers. AND so far, I am still within my points for the day. I have given myself a hundred reasons not to stick with the eating right portion of my plan to get healthy, and now that I have had time to reflect on all that is great in my life, I hope to start stacking up the reasons why I should be sticking with the eating plan!

If I quit you, then maybe this is why...

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/misspelling

I am buying the poster for my office.

BUT, you don't have to worry about me telling you about how much I loose* each week, since I am GAINING weight. Yup, I am watching my weight go up. Not high up, but a little up, then I lose it, then a little up, then I lose it. I was SO cocky about how I well I would do in January and February that I asked for a large wicking shirt as my prize for THIS WEEKEND'S HALF MARATHON. I am on track to finish the whole thing whilst jogging (albeit, most people can probably walk faster than I jog after 11 miles).

My goal is to get an 'official' time, which means I have to finish in 3 hours. I did a trial half two weeks ago, and I was over by twelve minutes. (I didn't even lose weight THAT week.) However, I am assured that this course is pretty flat, and gorgeous, and I can use my iPod to keep me from holding my breath just so I don't have to listen to myself pant for 3 hours.


*I was just about to post this, and I wasn't COMPLETELY sure that you guys would know I was being facetious and that spelling makes me SO nuts that I decided to add this disclaimer.

Chicken Finger and Fries 1.2, Hotch Potchery 0

So there you have it....I gained 1.2lbs this week. Blech. BUT (here come the blatant rationalizations...beware!) I don't actually think I REALLY gained 1.2 pounds for two reasons.

1. I normally run before I weigh in (which I know artificially lowers my weight, but I do it every week so there) and today I rested because I have a slightly troublesome hamstring that is JUST about perfectly non hurting today. (And it was really chilly this morning AND I just couldn't get myself out of bed at 530am.)

2. Chicken fingers and fries yesterday and NO water (only soda). Bad bad bad. All hail my bloaty bloaty gut.

In spite of all my shortcomings over the weekend I was still within my points and so I think it might work itself out in the long run. Then today as part of my pouty gainy mood, I had Chick Fil A for breakfast, but I didn't go so far as to have hash rounds, and then a sandwich for lunch. However I vow to cap off my day with a HUGE salad, spaghetti squash and lots of delicous water.

Tomorrow is a big day, I will run, go to circuits class and hoop. Glorious activity to get me out of this rut!

and racing season begins!

Our first 5K of 2010 was on Saturday. I had a personal best of 37:11 seconds which is FIVE MINUTES faster than my first 5K of 2009!!!

We have this weekend off from an organized race, then a 10K on February 6, 5K on February 13, and the half is on March 7. I would like to find another one for the weekend of February 20 because one of the races we like is being held on March 6 and we will have already left for the half since it is several hours away.

I would love to think that after logging so many miles that I would have a good loss this week, and things were looking good UNTIL Friday. After the 10'er we went out for Mexican food and then I ate macaroni and cheese. No fruits or veggies to speak of. Then Saturday after the 5K things were going great with banana pancakes (wholegrain with flax seed), then a yummy salad for lunch. Then we met our half marathon buddy for drinks which led to hash browns at Waffle House. Then today I had a salad after I scavenged the house looking for chips, then broke down and had chicken fingers. and FRIES.

I have heard over and over and over this week about how "Nothing tastes as good as thin feels" and since I haven't been thin in EONS I am tempted to call bullshit since cheese dip and chicken fingers taste awesome. I guess recency effects are ruling me for now.

We shall see how the scale reacts to my ode to sodium. But the kinda very cool thing about this being a life.style not a diet is that I always have a chance to get it right the very.next. meal and I never really throw in the towel and completely revert.

Here's to yogurt, Kashi and fruit in the morning!

fried circuits!

If any of you read Shelley's blog you know that she has awesome trainers and she does a bunch of exercises via circuits. I mentioned on her blog awhile back that in her honor I was going to give a circuits class at my gym a try. THEN on Saturday, the instructor for the class was out having drinks with several other trainers (where we were having drinks) and I opened my drinky mouth and said I would be there today.

I was. It was TOUGH. and pretty awesome. I have NO core strength, and the abs/core workout in Body Pump is so thoroughly insane in this edition, I likely won't improve much in that class because it is at the end and I am drained so I don't have great motivation to look for substitute exercises. But back to circuits, It was 10 stations...each one you do for 30 seconds, then cardio for one minute (I jogged around the indoor track, duh), then back to the same station for another 30 seconds then cardio then SWITCH. I was super sweaty and dog tired. I will be back next Tuesday!

On a different, but related note...I am now at TWO days of not going over my daily points. Usually I am into my weeklies on Mondays because I justify working out making me hungry. Tonight, I, for the first time on this journey, made box macaroni and cheese. Annie's Homegrown Organic Whole Wheat Shells and White Cheddar. OH.MY.GOD. (said in the style of Janice from Friends). It was SO good. I stir fried a bunch of veggies to have with it, and I swear I passed out kind of a little bit I was shocked that it was BOX mac and cheese and, and, AND it was well within my points. SO well within my points and what I had already eaten for the day, I could have eaten.the.whole.box and would have only gone over my POINTS by .5 for the day. I logged it. I had it in my bowl. I had it salted and peppered. I clicked open the microwave to heat it up...then I dumped it in a Rubbermaid container and slapped it in the fridge. Instead I had a yogurt breakfast...for dessert, for half the points.

I think I didn't eat it because I have eaten SO many boxes of macaroni and cheese by my.self. that I need to break that cycle even IF the points are there.

How about you? What are your triggers...even the healthified ones?


OH, before I head to bed, a few of you asked about hooping (thanks for caring, by the way)...
No hooping for me today because I had to be at a meeting, but the DVD that I am practicing with is a Hoopnotica trial version that my friend lent me. I requested the next two DVDs from Netflix, and I will let you know how they go. Luckily the hooping class is so popular it is offered now on Tuesday AND Wednesday, so I get to go tomorrow! I have been practicing, so tomorrow I might get to learn a TRICK. I am very CAPITALLY today.

The turtles are out

This morning I woke up to a super bright, gorgeous blue sky. I was a bit tentative when I opened the door for the dog to go out this morning, but I was hit right in the face with a FIFTY FIVE degree day. I couldn't get into my running clothes fast enough--and as soon as I got by the pond, I saw all the turtles out getting their sun and I remembered yet again why I live in the south. I had a great 5K run, and then took the dog for a walk...I checked the weather and the rest of the week is supposed to get even better.

I really need some sun and outside time---nothing new is wrong yet I have been feeling all blue and pensive about mine and Mr. P's mortality, and I am sure the gray, cold skies are making it worse. Plus, this might sound ridiculous, but I took too much time off, and I am having a very hard time getting my ass back into gear!

Mr. P and I had a very nice weekend. We stocked up on healthy foods at Costco on Friday. Saturday morning we went running (in the pouring down rain, booyah), went to visit with Teddy's family, and capped off the day watching the Colts win with some friends (with drinks!). Yesterday I made Goulash soup in the crock pot and caught up on my DVR.

I weighed in this morning with a 1lb loss, which gets me to 83.87% of my starting weight. However, according to my fat percentage I lost 3.26 pounds of FAT! I guess getting back into the swing of weights and Body Pump are beginning to pay benefits, I hope Mr. P and I do better about going to the gym year round, not just the winter this year.

On another healthy front, I am halfway through my training for the 1/2 marathon, and I am getting both nervous and excited. This week's training includes a 10.2 mile run on Sunday. YIKES!!

I wrapped around!

Nope, not a tree while skiing (I actually only fell once getting off a lift!)....but a calendar year while on this healthy, healthy, healthy journey. I have NEVER hung around for a year, and while I basically maintained from April to now, I have made some significant improvements in my life(style):

• Lost 39.6 pounds, which brings me to 85.55% of the woman I was with respect to size, but incredibly I have grown tremendously in the experiences department!



• I put over 500 615.89 miles on my Nike+, and wore out TWO pairs of running shoes. I have logged an EIGHT mile run. I have run in count 'em, 1, 2, 3 10K's, and 4FIVE 5K's that I can remember (I had forgotten about the one the day after the 10K). I registered for my first half marathon (and have since registered Mr. P as well.)



• I took my first Body Pump class.



• I went kayaking AND skiing.

• I got used to eating breakfast.



• I bought and WORE clothes from regular stores...including a bathing suit!



• I broke out of super, extra obese and got down to plain old ugly obese.

However, even with all of these accomplishments that I am super proud of, I have had a six week period of simple debauchery. Drinking too much. Eating WAY too much. Not exercising nearly enough.

So we are wrapped around to this first week of January. Yogurt, fruit, and whole grain bread in the fridge. Gym bag packed and plans to meet Mr. P after work at the gym to get reacquainted with the weight machines and/or Body Pump. Printing out a copy of the class schedule so we can create our schedule...I love a good schedule especially when I have been OFF schedule for over a month.


Thanks for bearing with me for what has been a good year on retrospect, even though I whined an awful lot. I have it pretty damn good.

Thanks for all the well wishes for my friend. I am afraid the prognosis is worse than I expected, although granted, he is alive. I have some stuff I want to write about tomorrow after a critical surgery is conducted today.