40 minutes achieved

Hi all -

My face is red and I'm dripping sweat, but I am smiling because I did make it through the full 40-minute DVD today, yay!

 

While I was out...

On my last post before on of my "breaks" I was granted an award from Genie . Thank you so much Genie!

Being the slacker blogger I am, I am going to only complete the first part of the rules (since I am so uber behind on reading blogs) I will nomiate folks soon.

Six outrageous lies and one outrageous truth:

1. I am married with 10 wonderful children.
2. I am Facebook friends with the Dalai Lama.
3. I strip on weekends for extra cash.
4. I own well over 500 books.
5. I have a degree in animal husbandry.
6. My favorite fruit is tomatoes.
7. I won the lottery and donated it all.

Reading crazy,

Cardio Party?

Hi all -

Trying a new workout this week - The FIRM Cardio Party. It is a 40-minute workout with no equipment needed. I was an idiot and tried it after I had breakfast and got a cramp pretty quickly, I may try again this afternoon. AnyWAY the first 10 minutes kicked my butt, I'm not very coordinated and they change it up pretty quick. I'm hoping by the end of the week I won't be cussing them out nearly as much. From what I can tell though it will be fun...eventually. (link to pic)

For breakfast I had brown rice, chicken and egg - it was actually really good. I need to make it to the grocery store today so I not eat out all week. On Friday and Saturday I am working tech for a dance show (hanging lights and such) from about 8am to 10pm so I will try to still do my workouts so that the hanging light burning calories bit will be a bonus.

I have a music festival to go to in August so I am hoping to do some major FAT damage in the next couple months.

Happy FAT blasting you all,
 

Still alive

Not sure how life gets away from me so quickly. I am maintaining the loss I have so far, but haven't been able to up the workouts I have been able to do.

My mom has moved back to my state, and was living with me for about a month before she got her own place and I have an ex-boyfriend who knocked on my door...still deciding what to do about that.

I am transferring schools so that is good, I feel like it is going to be a better path to where I want to be long-term. The big goal is to some day run my own theatre, so X your fingers!

I'm a horrible blogger and someday I hope to be a better one.

Good news, is that with mom in town I can buy bulk stuff at Costco since she has a card. My favorite find so far is frozen Edamame, it is so easy to heat up for a quick meal/snack.

 

Weigh In

I finally did a weigh in (which I haven't done in a couple months) - I've lost 4 lbs, which I really wasn't prepared for. I was sure I was back up to my starting weight and would've started over on my weight loss ticker and weigh in tracker. Since I have lost weight I am going to not start over. I'm happy, really happy I haven't gained.

Pack Rat

Today I tried an "alternative" to a 30 minute standard workout. One of my "getting my life in order" projects is to get my house to an organized place it hasn't been two in over two years. What makes this task difficult is that I am a pack rat - close to hoarder, but luckily I haven't crossed that threshold yet.

I am ashamed to admit that the pile of clothes at the bottom of my stairs (to sort, clean and donate) should belong to a family of 4 and not to one person. I have filled this house to brim with all sorts of things - but I will probably have to donate a few more weekends to clean out all the crap that seeped into the crevices of my home.

I made huge strides today. Which included walking around my house most of the day and picking up stuff, going up and down the stairs and lifting various and as-sundry things. I definitely feel the workout, my legs are a little shaky and a couple of times I caught myself sweating. So, I didn't do 30 minutes but of the cumulation of cleaning (and taking a few breaks) since 8am this morning probably adds up to as many (if not more) calories I would've burned during that workout.

Of course I still have a lot more to do, so I will probably continue this workout plan through the weekend. My dream is to diligently go through every cupboard, shelf, drawer and closet and get rid of everything that I don't want/need/desire.

What are your favorite "alternative" exercises?

Blog you later,

Surprised I still have followers and I missed you all!

I admit it, I have slacked, completely and totally. I have fallen, jumped, flown, ran and lurched off the wagon. I am ashamed...but not really.

Sometimes life takes a detour and you have to focus on something else, not by choice (well maybe the not excercising was a little by choice).

Do I have a story to tell? Not really. I have been focusing on getting my house and job back in order. After two years of constantly being on the go both had kind of fallen off track. It has been nice to take the time to rest and organize, but it is time to get back on plan.

This week's goals:

• Start working out in the morning for 30 minutes everyday
• Stock the house with good food and start planning the weekly food on Sundays
• Start blogging again.

Simple enough, right? Anyways, really looking forward to catching up on the happenings of blogworld.

Day 9 - Something Witty

Have been racking my brain to think of something witty to say today...since I haven't said anything witty yet, I assume you have figured out that this has been a fruitless task for me.

Maybe I will just tell you something about myself...

7 Random Facts About Me:

1. I was accepted into Up With People right after high school. I was there for officially 2 days before feeling like I had not been told the truth of what my experience would be.

2. I have had more than 50 jobs in 15 years. One of my least favorite jobs? Snow shoveling.

3. I made my first move from California to Colorado when I was 3 weeks old.

4. I once drank three sailors under the table.

5. I name all my cars - so far there has been MacBeth (jinxed myself with that one, that car had a horrible death), Shrew Tempest and Rizzo.

6. I played the oboe in Jr High and High School.

7. One of my favorite songs is Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen - I love to sing at the top of my lungs to it. Google the Muppet's version - it is super cute. (photo link)

Hope you have a wittier day!

Day 8 - Did I Say Every Day?

Ok, so I didn't blog yesterday - but I did make it to the grocery store, so that is good. I got some chicken,  eggs, fruits, nuts and veggies. Nothing fancy, just some fresh food to get me through the rest of the week. Luckily, there is a salad bar at work, so I don't have to worry about lunches. It is Day 8 of working out 30 minutes everyday and I am feeling great. I feel like I am getting closer to where I felt before getting sick. I forgot to weigh in last weekend and update my stats, so I will do that over this weekend.

(photo link)

Do you have someone in your life that drives you nuts? Pisses you off for no good (or sometimes good) reasons? Be it boss, friend, co-worker, family member? I have a couple that I work with that just piss me off. Why? They're mean. They say mean things, but can't handle it if you say mean things back. I am trying to get better about my reaction to their comments, but last night I had a major setback. They said something rude and I snapped back (with something like "bite me" - I know, how very mature of me). I don't want to be like that, and I especially don't want to still be pissed about it the next day. I am trying to let go - it will be healthier for my body to let these things go and not stress about them. It is something I would like to acheive in my journey to become more well-rounded. I am repeating to myself "only I control how I feel" to try and regain my sanity before I have to see said person again tonight.

I think it is working...maybe...maybe not so much. One person's advice was to only surround oneself with positive people and maybe I should cut this person out of my life. Which I have done with bad friendships in the past. However, if I cut this person out, then I am leaving a part-time job I love - but maybe that will open up another opportunity? I'm not sure.

How do you deal with rude people in your life?

Struggling to let it go,

Day 6 - Something Completely Different

Thanks for all the nice comments on my last post! I am going to work on not putting anything off just because of my weight.

February was no where close to a perfect month with working out (only 11 workout days) - but it is what it is. It's March now and I am excited. I think it is going to be a perfect month for working out. My goal this month is going to be to blog everyday (to keep myself on track) and workout everyday. I think I can do it!

This week is going to be rough, I didn't get my grocery shopping done yesterday so I am going to have to pick up healthy food where I can. I have work each day and also go to rehearsal three hours each night for a show I am working on that opens next week.

Anywho, back to work - talk to you tomorrow and have a wonderful day.

Day 2 - The Brutal Truth

In order to start on this arduous journey of weight loss, one of things I think that everyone has to face is The Brutal Truth about oneself. As least, at first, in terms of eating habits and workout routines. Just before I started this journey, I really had no workout routine. Zero. None. Zilch. I also ate a lot of fast food, my remedy for my constant excuse of “no time to cook.” There was a part of me that had to see this reality before taking the plunge to change my lifestyle. Have I regressed the past couple weeks while sick? Yes, but not completely and now I am even more determined to live a healthy lifestyle that I can maintain for my lifetime.

A side effect to this journey, is that you start to think about all the other areas of your life that need improvement as well. From things like “I need to stop biting my nails” to “What am I doing with my life?” Now let me say that I have always over-analyzed, stressed and worried about most everything in my life. I can’t remember a time in my life where I didn’t always want to dissect every minuscule details. So, it is normal for me to questions where I am going in life. However, now that I am taking on the body issues, I feel like I am also starting to shed some of my excuses for why I haven’t accomplished certain things in my life. FAT is a really great excuse to not try something new. Do I want to go to Europe? Of course – when I lose some weight, I don’t want to be the FAT American. Do I want to change my career? Why yes I do – but I don’t want to interview for a new job until I lose weight – no one will want to hire the FAT girl. Do I want to find a boyfriend? Ummm, yea, its been almost *cough* years since I’ve had one, but no one is seeing this body naked.

Those excuses will hopefully be no more within this year – am I ready to start living the life I have been telling myself that I want? Am I ready to deal with the emotional, spiritual and mental issues that I have avoided for so long? Will those issues be easier to deal with when I am living a healthy life? I would like to say YES to all three. (Photo Link)

Time to move forward,

Day 1 - My Lotion Is Making Me FAT

Hi all - Decided to start at "Day 1" again - I haven't hopped on the scale yet, but I think it will be better for my sanity just to start over with counts as I am fairly sure I have gained most (if not all weight) back during my illness. I will make my tracker updates this weekend.

(Photo Image) Anywho, as to the title of the newbie post? Well, at work today one of my co-workers informed me of the hcg diet she is on. From what I can tell, hcg is a hormone produced by the placenta during pregnancy and regulates your metabolism. She is taking this and only eating 500 calories a day for 23 DAYS. You are supposed to lose anywhere from .5 to 3 lbs PER DAY. This seems a little insane to me - of course you are going to lose weight when you are basically starving yourself and won't you gain all the weight back when you start eating normally (even if healthy) again? What brought on this topic was she had this really odd looking bottle of some kind of lotion on her desk. Why does she have this odd bottle? Well, allegedly any lotions you use with oils seeps into you body as fat and you are not allowed to have any fatty oils until towards the end of the diet. So, by that logic, the oil from greasy fries on my fingers is also to blame for my FAT. I am sure I was looking at her like she was a little crazy, so I thought it was funny when I was telling her about my lifestyle change of working out everyday (back on plan today, YEA!), portion control, avoiding processed foods and blogging - she was looking at me like I was crazy.

As mentioned, I did workout for 30 minutes this morning and I actually feel like myself again today (Hi ME, I MISSED you!). Excited to be back in the game!

On my "crazy" journey,

Do you ever really "catch up"?

Photo Link

OMG! So now that I am feeling like myself again, I feel like I need a vacation. The past few days have been nuts trying to get caught up with everything. I've decided to withdraw from school the rest of the quarter, there is no way I am going to get caught up in the next few weeks and I feel like even if I did I wouldn't get what I wanted out of my class. This, of course, is going to be a huge pain in the a**. As is trying to get paid for the time I was out - I basically have to use short-term disability and the paperwork and hoops are unbelievable. I figure I will be back on track by the 20th of March (isn't that the Ides of March or something? Oh no wait, just looked it up, that is the 15th).

Since I am feeling pretty good today, I think tomorrow will be Day 1 back on the workout regime. I am excited to start working out again. No I haven't lost my mind. I'm not actually looking forward to the workout, I am looking forward to be able to post about it again. I think tonight I will sift through my workout DVD/Wii and see what I want to start back on, since it has been a few weeks I may have to work up to the harder stuff again.

Still been eating like crap, but since I started back to work yesterday, my lunches are on track. We have a "bistro" at work and there is a salad bar that always has fresh vegetable goodness. I won't make it to the grocery store until Sunday so I am just going to have to do my best until then. Once my eating is back on track I think I will start posting my weekly menus. I know, I know you are really excited for that :)

Anywho, just wanted to put a quick post out there so you didn't think I forgot about my BlogLife.

Here is to playing catch up,

Woozy Wednesday

I'm still kind of a mess today, but I am definately getting better, so that is exciting.

On Day 30 I happily posted a picture of my calendar where I put two stickers for every day I worked out. I had hoped to have a perfect February, but that is not going to happen. I will still take a pic of February, it will be really good except for two weeks in the middle :) Maybe March will be perfect!

Anywho, I am running low on my sticker supplies so I went on the hunt a few weeks ago for a buttload of stickers and I found them at a this website. There was a lot of variety and I can't wait to start using them to give myself some sticker love!

It's hard to tell what they are from the photo, but basically there are bugs, smiley faces, sea creatures, snowmen, balloons, kids, stars, apples, dogs, cats, suns and ones that say things like "Top Notch." I know it is a silly thing, but it makes me feel really great to have a two sticker day!

Have a two sticker day,

Richard Simmons Made Me Cry

During my prolonged illness, I have been watching a lot of crap TV. Today, I was lucky enough to catch the 100th episode of Dr. Oz and he was celebrating folks who had lost over 100 lbs. Some of these amazing folks shared some tips on how they lost the weight, here are some of their thoughts:

• Losing weight is persistance + patience. We didn't gain the weight in two weeks and we won't lose it in two weeks.
• Losing weight turned my fear into freedom.
• When I'm hungry in between meals I set the kitchen timer for 15 minutes. When it dings I reevaluate if I am hungry, 9 times out of 10 - I'm not.
• I drink the juice I crave out of the small bathroom paper cups, or I put that amount into my water.
• If I am at a party or event I rate the food from 1 to 10. If it is a 10 then I have a little of it.
• Get rid of your "fat" clothes when you shrink out of them.
• If I have a treat, then I do an extra 10 minutes of physical activity.
• I know my trigger foods and I have found healthy alternatives for them.
• 15 calorie sugar free popsicles for my sweet fix.
• Automate your life, create routines to maintain your healthy lifestyle.

Richard Simmons was also a guest on the show, it really is amazing what he has been doing for the past 30 years. He has a huge heart and got weepy a few times when talking about his journey. He, of course, has been made fun of a lot for his antics, but at the end of the day he only wants to support people along their weight loss journey. Anywho, one of the things he said was just so sweet, "know that you are worth more than all the rainbows in the sky." I admit it, I am a total sap and cry and the drop of the hat, but I think it is really important that in order to be successful in this journey to lose weight and in life, it is imperative that we all know that we are important. If we don't value ourselves nobody else will.

Since we have all started on this journey we have decided that we are important. It is important that we live as healthy as we can so we can accomplish all the amazing things on our bucket lists.

Hopefully, I will soon be able to resume my workout schedule. I did some walking today, but it wore me out pretty quick. Tomorrow will be a better day.

Here is to being worth more than all the rainbows in the sky,

Doctor, Doctor!

Went to the doctor today and they are not going to release me back to work until Monday. I was trying for sometime this week, but then they freaked me out about getting worse so I decided to stick with the doctor's advice.

How's my eating? Terrible, when I was miserablely strolling the supermarket after I was released from the hospital I got mostly pasta, because that is easy to eat. I hope to make it to the store tomorrow to pick up some mushy healthier options.

How's my working out? Non-existent. I barely have the energy to sit upright at the moment so I haven't worked out. As soon as I am feeling better though it will be full steam ahead.

I have to say that being knocked on my a** with this illness has pissed me off. The good news is, is that I am excited to get back in the swing of taking better care of myself. Maybe tomorrow I can do at least a 15 minute workout, or just take a long leisurely walk, we'll see. I am just crossing my fingers that I don't gain back the weight I lost in January, but if I do, you better bet your bottom that it will come off again!

Love to you all!

Gird Your Loins

Girl Scout Cookie season is upon us folks, stay strong for me and I will stay strong for you!

What's best

Trying to take care of oneself is hard with the responsibilities of your life circling in your mind. I didn't get as much rest as I should've today because I was stressing about what needs to be done. I am going to try and do better tomorrow.

Didn't work out today, I think the combination of Percocet and aerobics wouldn't be the most genius move on my part. But I have been trying to stay as mobile as is comfortable for me. Since my bed is on the 2nd level and the kitchen is on the first level, it has kind of been forced on me :)

Down, But NOT Out

Hi all - So this has been a crazy fun week - NOT :)

I've been sick and was admitted to a hospital on Tuesday. Just made it home after the 2 hour long discharge and 1 hour of waiting for my new prescriptions to be filled. The insurance company wouldn't pay for one of the prescription, because it was for the same antibiotic I got on Sunday. Mind you I threw out that first prescription because the Dr. wrote me a new one and we all know you have to finish a full round of antibiotics. But anyway the prescription was only $17.50 so F* the insurance company,  I paid for it my damn self - they don't own me!

There are a lot of things you think about while laying in a hospital bed (other than why daytime TV is so horrible). One of the things that I kept thinking about was that I am still fairly "healthy" for a fat person. I don't have any of the diseases or symptoms that WILL eventually come along with carrying the extra weight. The key word of course in that last sentence is WILL.

*Warning very personal info in the next paragraph*

On Sunday when I was in the most pain I've been in in a very long time. I kept thinking "What if this kills me? What if after I finally I make the decision to change my lifestyle a tooth infection kills me? Who does it really affect if I die?" When you're single with no kids that tends to cross your mind when faced with death. We are constantly reminded how important family is, and it is not that I don't think having kids and a husband would be great, but that just hasn't been my path in life yet. Now, of course, when I was in the hospital my mom, dad, brother, BFF, 3 bosses, a few friends and the teenagers that I work with let me know I am important to them, which means more than anything in the entire world. Even if just one person would be hurt by my leaving, isn't that enough? I think so, because if you were that one person, it would matter to you.

Anyway, I am not going to weigh in this week, I am going to take care of myself and listen to my body (I have the most genius ideas sometimes) and do what I can. When I am able to get my 30 minute workouts done again I will, until then all I can do is my best.

Sorry, if this is a little scattered, I am sure I will have more fluid thoughts in the days to come. Can't wait to catch up on everyone's blogs tomorrow!

MIA

It's been a bad week, will catch you all up later, but I wanted to post so that you didn't think I forgot about you all. Hope everyone's journey is going well, I will let you all in all the "exciting" activities of the past week once I am back in the saddle.