Count 'Em!

Thursday's weigh-in was really good.  I hit a milestone!

Count those 5-pound stars!  And FYI - don't try to do the math.  That 5% sticker is just stuck on randomly.  I know someone thought she figured out my starting weight at 300 pounds from this pic.  Nope!  

 This is big news for me, because 35 pounds is halfway to my "high goal" with Weight Watchers.  What's my high goal, you might ask?  It's the highest I can weigh at WW and still make lifetime status.  My "big goal" is to be even below that, but I'm taking it a step at a time.  Oh, yeah, and I'm actually down 36.2 pounds total!!


And now for my Weekend Update...

Friday Night:
Big party animal that I am, I hit the gym.  Apparently I'm the only one in town with no social life this night, if the gym attendance is any indication.  At least I had my choice of ANY machine I wanted!

Lonely gym

Saturday Afternoon:
Back to the gym.  I decided to try to break my record for stats on the elliptical machine, and I did it!  Now, I don't know how accurate these things are, but it looked pretty good to me either way.  I did an hour plus a 5-minute cool-down, and it shows 6.56 miles distance and 912.9 calories burned.  Even if it's off by half, that's not too shabby!

My record high!

Saturday Night:
Casino Night Fundraiser for a local school.

 It was lots of fun, even though I didn't win any prizes.  The food was catered by one of my fave restaurants (Rails), and I think I ate sensibly.   I chose the spring mix salad over the Caesar salad, with vinaigrette dressing (just a drizzle) instead of the Ranch dressing.  I didn't take any bread or potatoes (hard to do, but not that big of a deal).  Then I had a smallish portion of chicken breast and a tiny bit of pork tenderloin, green beans, and a tomato/onion/pepper creole side item.  No dessert (cheesecake and chocolate cake), and a small glass of white wine.

My losing raffle tickets

Sunday:
My birthday!
Went with the family to eat Mexican food.  I wanted to have an enjoyable meal without going nuts, since it was my birthday.  I had chicken fajitas (just ate the chicken and veggies) with pinto beans (not refried) and a dab of guacamole (yum-o!).  I had a couple of chips with salsa, then asked for corn tortillas to dip instead.  That's GOOOOD!  I also had 1/2 of a flour tortilla, because they make them there at the restaurant and are my favorites.  It was a great time, and my kids were good while we were there, even though my daughter was disappointed that I wouldn't let them ask the wait staff to cram a sequined sombrero on my head and sing happy birthday.  (Fear of wearing a multi-use hat, not fear of attention.  Clearly, I love attention.)

Later we drove to Comfort, a little town nearby.  One of our friends was there and mentioned she saw my favorite (red velvet) in little cupcakes at a little restaurant/shop called High's, so we went out on a quest.  I really want to go back to High's for lunch one day.  It looked really cute, and the menu looked tasty.  Click here for the link if you want to check it out.  We took some of these little beauties home.

Red Velvet Cupcake - The Best!

Birthday Chick

 Because I'm still tracking everything I eat this day, I looked up the Points Plus value for red velvet cupcakes.  Uh, yeah, 14 Points Plus!  Yikes!  But it WAS my birthday, so I couldn't deprive myself and just cut mine in half.  Ah, just right!

Half the cupcake, all the flavor!

We also went to Sweet Comfort, a little candy and ice cream shop down the road from High's.  We picked up two of the biggest chocolate-covered strawberries I've ever seen.  I had a little bite of this (just enough) and let the family have the rest.  It's fun to share sometimes!

So.  Good.

 After all that indulgence, yes, I actually went to the gym this evening.  I didn't hit my record on the elliptical again, but I did come close.  It's probably because I had to change my age from 40 to 41 when I set it up, right?

Birthday Stats

 As I was leaving, the girl at the front desk wished me a Happy Birthday.  Then she asked why on earth I was at the gym on my birthday.  As I walked out, I realized something.  I was there on my birthday because I wanted to be.  Because I wanted to give myself a gift I've been denying myself for a long time.  I want to be healthy and take time just for me.  And that's a very good thing, and it was a very happy birthday indeed!

Confessions of a (Non) Stick Figure

Yes, my friends, I'm still here!  I've just been struggling the last couple of weeks.  Initially it really worried me.  I started to doubt my ability to follow through on making changes for a healthier and, yes, thinner me. I started to wonder if I could actually ever get to the point where this would be my lifestyle and not just a diet.  I began to doubt myself.

Now, don't get me wrong -- I realize this has been yet another setback, and I don't like it.  However, I also realize that I'm fighting it out with life-long habits I've developed that did me no good yet still had a powerful hold on me.  And sometimes they still do have a hold on me.

I missed my weigh-in last week.  I was busy, but I could have made it if I'd really wanted to.  So tomorrow I will go to my Weight Watchers meeting and take my lumps like a grown-up.  I will do a better job planning, and I'll stop at the grocery store to make sure I'm all stocked up with healthy and easy options to go to.

It won't be pretty, folks, I promise you that.  But I'll report it honestly, and then I will get busy doing what I have to do to wrestle with my issues so that I can give myself what I deserve.

Now, that being said, I would like to add that it wasn't all bad.  I tried Zumba!  To give you the full effect of how that went, I'm whipping out my awe-inspiring artistic skills.  Now, before you wanna-be artists ask, I can't tell you my secrets to creating perfect form like this.  It's just a gift.  You're either born with it or you're not.  Aaaaaand, apparently I'm not.

I now present "Stick Figure's Fitness Adventures."

First of all, the Zumba class was held in a shopping center, and the building was windows upon windows, to give any passers-by a nice view of the Zumba gyrations.

Despite realizing I was the biggest one there (you know you always check for that too), I was glad to see that everyone was pretty much in my age range, about 35-45 years old.  Onward we go!  I realized immediately my lack of coordination, but I didn't let that stop me.  I just kept moving, pausing to apologize now and then to anyone I might have bumped into.

Wobbly legs?  Check.
Sweating buckets?  Check.
Out of breath?  Check.

But I did it!  I didn't stop once, and I felt like I'd really gotten a great workout and accomplished something new!

We were done, and the Zumba instructor pipes up with this little gem.  She says, "You know, actually, this Zumba routine was originally designed for senior citizens."

(The Devil's Skinny Sister)

That's just fabulous news!  (Read: sarcasm)

It was still a fun experience, despite feeling a little like a doofus for thinking that the old-lady routine was challenging.  In fact, I might go again tomorrow night!

Ta-Daaa!

My eating has been a challenge this holiday, but I did accomplish a goal.

A little backstory:  Because we had people coming in from all over and at different times, we wound up having our big holiday meal Sunday night and opening gifts on Monday morning.  So I had a little delay in the festivities.

Then after gifts were opened and leftovers consumed, my husband and I geared up and went out to walk the hilly road called Holdsworth Drive.

Did the whole thing, baby!  It was about 3.6 miles total, I think.  (Been awhile since I measured it out.)  I know for some of you die-hards, that doesn't seem like much, but at my fitness level and with all the hills, it really was pretty big for me.

It was windy, but the weather was really nice otherwise, and I had my fella with me.  All good!

And now for the photo proof of my quasi-5K:

Wait for me, dude!

Don't know if these pics do justice to the hilliness of this road

Big hill coming up in the distance!

Blue skies and sunshine

I think I might do this again sometime!

Weight Watchers New Program

So as any of you who are doing Weight Watchers already knows, they've gone and changed up the whole system!

A Point is no longer the same unit it was before.  Fruits are free!  You get a higher number of points, but most foods now have a higher point value.  I feel like it probably all evens out, and that it does encourage you to eat more natural and nutritious foods, but it's different for sure.  I have certainly been getting in more produce than before, so that's a good thing.

My meeting is tomorrow, but I think I might wind up not weighing in.  It's kind of a silly reason, but here it is:  I have a Christmas Brunch to attend in the morning.  It's to benefit my little friend Katie, who is in the hospital with cancer right now.  I'm not planning to go wild and eat my weight in pastries or anything like that, but I do plan to participate and enjoy a sampling of what my friends have made for us.  Now, I wouldn't even blink at that if it were, say, tonight.  But I normally don't eat or drink anything at all until after I weigh, so I'm thinking that could affect my weigh-in.  I find that it does make a difference if I have even just a cup of coffee, and I don't want to get discouraged after my first week on the new plan.

I will go to the meeting, though.  I really want to hear what people are saying about it and hear what the leader has to say, as well as to see how the scales are treating everyone.  I will weigh at home on my scales, as usual, but I never count it until it's official at the meeting.

A few days ago my friend Mandy wanted to walk a winding and hilly road here called Holdsworth Drive.  It's really scenic and has nice sidewalks the entire length of it.  It's also just over a 5K if you go all the way down and back.  We started out, but then she started having trouble with her knee, so we had to go to the high school track and walk for an hour there instead, on that flat and level surface.  Before you accuse her of chickening out, let me assure you that she often walks it with no trouble and that it was her idea.  Don't worry though, it's coming!  I'm going  to blaze that trail!

Hope you're all enjoying this busy season and not getting too stressed out about it.  So far, so good here!

Exercise Souvenirs

A couple of weeks ago, while doing my 3.5 mile walk with Mandy, I realized it might get dark before we finished, so I took my flashlight along.  We were walking along and heard a noise in a drainage ditch next to our path.  I whipped out the flashlight and saw a little kitten in there.  Aw, cute.

Every time we passed by there after that, the kitten was still there, and now he has a twin with him!  They were so cute, and the first one was very friendly and followed us every time we passed by.  In fact, one time we had to run to get away from him!  It was sad (the sight of me running, as well as the poor, pitiful kitten).

These two guys were black cats, and it was nearly Halloween, and we often saw rowdy-looking teens passing through this area.  Mandy and I discussed how we really hope nobody messes with these kitties, and how they're so trusting they'd probably go to anyone, and stuff like that.

Cut to two hours later at my house.  I'm telling my husband this story and my concern for these little guys.  Just chatting.  Then he said, "Put your shoes on."  Yes, he sent me back out in the dark to go get those cats!

Casper and Boo

Three-pronged approach to the future of the kittens:


1.) Check to see if anyone has lost them.  Newspapers, neighborhood signs, vet offices, animal shelters, even animal control - All negative.

2.) Take them to the vet and see if they have any major illnesses.  Nope, they're good.

3.)  Introduce them to Stuart (our Jack Russell terrier) and see if he tries to kill them.  So far, so good, but the meet-and-greet sessions have been brief and highly controlled.  If this last bit works out, the kitties can move from the garage to the house.

Stuart

So while some people collect bruises, big muscles, or worn-out shoes when they exercise, I apparently collect stray animals.  I guess the only reason for me to post this is to prove that I have, in fact, been exercising.

Meow!

Jabbering Janes

I love to talk. Sometimes I talk too much.  I'm okay with that. However, there is a time and a place for it, right?

Today at the gym, there were women on the two machines next to mine. They were chatting it up - LOUDLY.  They both had their earbuds in, and were speaking at a volume to allow them to hear one another over their own music.  Now, if they can hear each other over their music, doesn't it stand to reason that everyone else in the gym is hearing them too?  And I have my music on because I don't want to hear anyone else talking.

But wait, there's more!  Since it was impossible not to hear them without causing serious damage to my own ears by blasting sound into my head, this is what I picked up: Their conversation covered several topics, with some of the loudest portions centering on the following: All the details of getting their first period; neighbors and friends who are addicted to drugs and/or in prison; and how much they hate Mormons.  There were several middle-aged and older men in the room as well, and most of them wore that "please shut up" expression.

When they finished with the machines, they stood in the aisle right next to me and continued to chat it up on these subjects, but now they were joined by who I assume was the daughter of one of them.  Oh, yeah, and this pre-teen was in a bathing suit, sopping wet.  Then when somebody wanted to leave, they would not move! Finally, after two "excuse me" attempts, they scooted over half an inch for me to pass, but the soaked kid bent over and stuck her rear end in my face as I walked by.

But enough about my new best friends; it's time for my workout report...

I did 45 minutes on the elliptical, which means I'm making progress!  I've been doing 35 minutes, but I couldn't resist the sparkling conversation around me and stuck around for ten extra minutes today.

Additionally, P90X with my neighbor Denise continues on most days.  When we haven't done the workout, I've gone to the gym or walked, though I do take one or two days off each week.

The tag line for the P90X workout is, "Bring it!"
So I say to you now, you know you've got what it takes, so BRING IT!

Spooky Shindig

I took my three-year-old son to a Halloween-themed birthday party full of preschoolers yesterday.  So cute!

Instead of a big cake, there was an army of skeleton cupcakes  (forgive the photo quality - I took them with my mobile phone):

Beware!

Luckily for my weight loss efforts, these little guys couldn't be quickly and discreetly gobbled down in a corner somewhere, so I passed on the cupcakes.  Instead, I watched the kids play sweet little games like "Pin the Spider on the Web," "Musical Ghosts," "Bobbing for Apples," "Painting Pumpkins," and a mummy game where they wrapped each other in toilet paper.

Smiling Skeletons

This was also served, so I could munch without fear.

Haunted Bunny Food

 Then after partying down with the preschoolers, I headed to the gym, where the elliptical was my evening activity.

Making Progress!

This was a good test run for the upcoming holiday parties, I think!  What strategies do you have for dealing with the holiday festivities?

Pretty in Pink

October is National 

Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

Today I attended the "Baubles & Beads Style Show and Luncheon," which assists local women who might require financial help with their breast cancer treatments, medications, or other needs in order to battle their disease effectively.  This annual event has provided funds to the Peterson Regional Medical Center Breast Cancer Assistance Fund since 2002.

Our Table

Before the crowd arrived

Pink everywhere!

Rose petals on the runway

Baubles & Beads

Naturally, I started thinking about health and wellness during this luncheon.  I thought about how lucky I am not to be dealing with a life-threatening illness, even though I've eaten loads of junky foods and gone long stretches of time being sedentary.  

Sitting at my table were Jennifer and Kacy, who are both runners.  We talked about health and the importance of physical activity.  Jennifer started running just recently.  She has a friend with breast cancer who is beating it and credits that partly to her active lifestyle.  Kacy has been running for about two years, but is really getting serious about it lately (after having major knee surgery, mind you).  She's recently lost almost 50 pounds!  They were very supportive of my efforts to get healthier, and I had a great time visiting with them today.

Jennifer and Kacy

This got me excited thinking about what I might work up to.  I'll be sensible about it, of course.  I've recently recovered from a year-long foot injury, so I won't try to run right now.  I'll need to build up to it.  But already I can see improvement in my abilities.  If I try it and have a problem, I'll just build up more.  But I think I would like to try to run.  Maybe not a marathon, or even a 10K.  But how about a mile?  I know for a fact I couldn't run a mile right now, but maybe someday.

And speaking of physically fit, next up came the local firemen, strutting down the runway to collect money for the cause.  They really knew how to work the crowd, and women were stuffing those boots with cash!

Firemen on the Runway

These little pink gift boxes were at each of our place settings.  What could be inside?  

Open it!

Surprise!

Ah, looks like my two kiddos will each get a little treat!

And speaking of little treats, even the dessert was pink.  Here's where serendipity hit... One guest at our table was not served her dessert.  She asked the waiter for it, but it never came.  So instead of sitting there thinking about how to resist eating the whole thing, I offered my untouched dessert to the other woman.  It worked out great!  

I heard it was delicious!

Today's luncheon was very emotional.  I'd encourage everyone reading this to do what you can to help eradicate breast cancer.  Donate time and money, if you can.  Wear your pink ribbon awareness gear.  Talk about it.  Sign up for events to raise awareness.  This can happen to anyone (and statistically, most of us will be affected by breast cancer during our lifetimes - either personally or through someone we care about.)

So here are my final words (stolen from a t-shirt I saw for sale today): "Feel your boobies."  Check yourselves, and remind others to do the same!

Ouch!

Well, the P90X workouts have begun.  My friend Denise and I started Friday.  I'm still sore from that day, but in a good way.  Not pain like I'm injured, but that reminder that I've actually tapped into some muscles that have gone unused for far too long.  Tomorrow is my least favorite workout - Yoga.  Yes, I know, lots of people adore yoga.  Me, not so much.  But I'm going to do it anyway and try to find that inner peace I keep hearing you can get from yoga.

Yesterday I attended a fundraiser for Young Life.  The event was at an open-air pavilion at one of the many camps located here in the Texas Hill Country.  The weather was perfect, and the pavilion was between a pond and the river.  It was catered by Acapulco Mexican Restaurant, but I still managed to stay within my food range - fajita meat, one tortilla, beans, guacamole, lots and lots of salsa and pico.  No chips,  no rice, no cheese, just one tortilla, no dessert.  No regrets.  It was good, and I enjoyed what I had.

Also, I got my first blogger award!  Thanks to Becky at My Walk From Flab to Fab for the "A Blog With Substance" award.  I'm so excited and so honored!  Becky puts it all out there and is very open with sharing her struggles and successes.  Check her out, and let her know I sent you to visit.

According to Becky, upon receiving the award, I must:

1. Explain my blogging philosophy, motivation and experience in five words.

2. Give the award to ten other bloggers.

Part I - Explaining My Blogging Philosophy, Motivation and Experience in Five Words

Like others, I wondered how in the world I could do this in just give words.  Ask me again in a month, and I'll probably have a different answer. But for now, five words that explain my blogging philosophy, motivation and experience would be this:  Being open grows my soul.  

Part II - Awarding 10 Other Bloggers

I'm still quite new to the blogging community, so I had a really hard time with this.  I don't really know all the etiquette of the blog awards, so I'm going to offer the award privately and will post the recipients after they reply.  

And since Becky said it so beautifully, I'm going to quote her:  "Thank you to all of you bloggers who don't settle for what yesteryear had to offer. Thank you for creating tomorrow anew and inspiring me and so many others to do the same."

Tough Love

People often tout the virtues of tough love.  We say how great it is to have someone to tell it to us straight, someone who won't give up on us.  But really, when I don't want to do something, I'd much rather avoid it and live in denial than face it head-on.  But today I got a dose of tough love.

Here's what started it.

My friend Denise and I used to get up and do the P90X workout at 5:30 every morning at her house, which is conveniently located across the street from mine.  It is described this way:

See that? It says "Our Most Extreme Home Fitness Training System Ever!" And they're not kidding. We did this workout for the 90 days in the plan. I got stronger and in better shape, but I didn't really lose any weight.  Maybe 5 pounds. Why? I continued to eat junk, and lots of it. In fact, I think I ate even more while doing P90X because I thought I was somehow burning off everything I crammed into my mouth.

I finally mentioned this blog to her today, and she checked it out.  Then she realized my foot was no longer injured like it was before (which was my excuse at the time not to continue with another round of the workout program).  And guess what she wants to do?  P90X, Round 2.

I tried and tried to get out of it. It went something like this:

Me: I don't wanna.
Denise: We're gonna.
Me: I'm too out of shape.
Denise: I saw on your blog you're walking 45 minutes at a time.
Me: My foot will hurt.
Denise: You don't have to jump around.
Me: 5:30 is too early.
Denise: We'll do it after you drop your kiddo off at school.
Me: Crap.
Denise: We'll start on Friday.
Me: I don't wanna!
Denise: Okay, good.  See you then!

I'm so lucky to have someone who will give me a kick in the pants when I need it.  And I did need it.  Lucky for me, I have a few friends who aren't afraid to set me straight from time to time.

We've all been there.  There is fear of discomfort or pain or failure, so rather than tackling the obstacle, we run from it.  That's the safe thing to do, but it's not always the best thing to do.  And once in awhile, someone will be brave enough to slap us with a little tough love, and we'll be better for it.

S

Se

This is New!

I hit the gym both Saturday and Sunday for some fun on the elliptical machines.  I managed to go 35 minutes both days (30 minutes, plus 5 minutes of cool-down).  It was hard, but I really am glad I went.  My foot didn't bother me at all, which was an added bonus.

I took my iPod and was really getting into the music.  I found myself applying weight loss ideas to all my songs, even songs that are most certainly not about weight loss.  For example, one song was Colin Hay's "Waiting For My Real Life to Begin," and there's a line that goes, "Just be here now. Forget about the past. The mask is wearing thin."  I started thinking about how often I've doubted myself because of my setbacks in the past.  How often I want to push past now to get to the future.  But I need to just be here now.  I found strength in just being in the moment and focusing on the process.  Also I started thinking about how often I felt like I was just waiting for my "real life" to begin, the whole time overlooking the fact that my real life is the one I'm living right now.

There were other songs, of course, that I managed to apply to weight loss, but really they were probably about sex or relationships or whatever..."I Melt With You" (Bad English) - "You've seen the difference, and it's getting better all the time."  "The future is open wide."  Oh, or what about "Tubthumping" by Chumbawamba?  "I get knocked down, but I get up again."  See what I mean?  If you try, you can do that with just about any song.

So that was it, folks, my first foray back to the gym in a long time.  It wasn't bad.  Not bad at all!

It Counts!

So I've added a whole minute to my walking routine.  I don't want to make any marathon runners jealous, but I did go a full 13 minutes walking tonight!

I'm taking it as progress from my 12-minute walks.  It does count!

I went for months and months with extremely low levels of activity.  First it was due to an injured foot that left me barely able to walk, and then it was due to my complete lack of motivation.  So now, due to my 104 resting heart rate, the doc says to start slow.  Yeah, even if I wanted to do more, at this point 13 minutes is good for me.

Oh, and I took a couple of pics with my iPhone, because the sunset was so pretty tonight after yesterday's hurricane rains.  I also saw a deer (oh, dear!) standing near me, just watching me huff my way down the street.  I took a picture of her too, but it came out too dark to see.  A nice walk.  I'm feeling pretty good about these changes so far.

Onward I go!

Walkin' the Walk

Last night I decided to go for a walk.  I was shocked at how out of shape I am!  I went 12 minutes around my neighborhood.  And, yes, I was out of breath just from that little walk.  My legs weren't hurting or anything.  I could have gone longer if my lungs were in better shape.  Clearly I've let my health issues slide a little more than I realized.

Two positives:

1.  My foot didn't hurt.  This means that my hours and hours of physical therapy and being in a soft cast and medications must have really helped my foot (plantar fasciitis, stress fracture, bone spur, AND ruptured medial band -- When I have an issue, I go all in, baby!)

2.  There is lots of room for improvement.  I like to keep track, so I'm looking forward to being able to do more and more.

And a third positive, just for good measure:

3.  I'm doing something new (moving around, versus being a sloth creature on the couch).  It was peaceful and gave me a sense of accomplishment, no matter how small.  I'll take every victory I can get!