Goodbye Fast Food, Hello Exercise

Fat Bridesmaid has inspired many of us to join her in a Lenten challenge. For my part of the challenge, I have vowed to exercise 6 days per week for at least 30 minutes per day during Lent. As you can probably tell by my slight weight increase the past 2 weeks, I have been eating too much junk food lately. To help curb this problem, I have also vowed to quit spending my weekday lunch hours at our local dining establishments and bring my lunch from home.

Random Thought #1 ~because life is about more than weight loss

I’m not a big fan of reality dating shows, but I am a faithful follower of Rock of Love with Bret Michaels. The show is a silicon-filled train wreck, but I haven’t ever missed an episode.

Am I pitiful? Yes. Do I care? No.

I have been quite proud of the progress that I have made since starting anew 5 weeks ago. I have been eating better, exercising and losing weight at a steady rate. As I mentioned in a previous post I have been completely focused on weight loss and not dealing with anything else. My routine has been pretty straight forward--wake up in the morning, prepare my food for the day, go to work, come home, exercise, go to bed. I have been quite fortunate that I haven't had many outside distractions to detour me from my goals.

I believe that this week is going to be the first big test I have had on this journey. I am meeting friends tonight for dinner and bowling. I am attending a meeting tomorrow night after work. I have family coming to stay at our house this weekend, and I am hosting a dinner party on Saturday. Those of you with really busy schedules are thinking "What's the big deal?" For me it is a big deal because I am easy thrown off track. It only takes a meal or two of bad eating and I am right back to where I started--eating junk and hanging out on the couch instead of exercising. I am determined to not let all of this hard work go to hell in a handbasket!

Wish me luck this week. I know that luck isn't really going to help me, but it definitely can't hurt.

The Weighing Game - Feb 9, 2009

I am happy to report that, as of this morning, my current weight is 211.4. I was hoping to see 212 on the scale, so I was pleasantly surprised. That brings my total weight loss to 11.2 pounds.
Only 8.8 more pounds to go until I can get my new cell phone*.

*I decided that it's time to upgrade my cell phone so that I can surf the web and view my email while on the go. I am known for just impulsively purchasing items on a whim, but I thought it might motivate me to earn a new phone. I made a deal with myself that I can purchase a new phone only after I have lost my first 20 pounds. Seeing that it's only a matter of time until I reach my first 20 pound goal (yes, I'm getting cocky now), does anyone have a recommendation for a great cell phone?

Everything but the Kitchen Sink

I am nearing the end of week 5 of my new and improved weight loss journey and have been quite proud of my progress so far. At my week 4 weigh-in, I had lost just slightly less than 10 pounds (9.8 to be exact). I have starting to actually enjoy and look forward to exercise (boy, would my old high school gym teacher be shocked to hear that). I still have a long way to go, but I can already see small changes in my body which only fuel my desire to keep going. Just when I think that I might finally have what it takes to beat the fat monster this time, I am faced with reality. In this instance, reality is my kitchen sink.

You might be wondering what a kitchen sink has to do with weight loss--nothing if you're an average person, but I'm not normal. My kitchen sink is currently packed to capacity with every dirty plate, bowl, fork, spoon and pyrex dish that I own. The laws of physics will simply not allow me to place another object in the sink without having my world come crashing down. Unfortunately, the sink is yet another reminder of how I've let my daily obligations be pushed aside in order to lose weight. I can feel myself becoming frustrated with the way I have let everything get out of control. Normally, this would be the time when I would throw in the weight loss towel.

I have always had a hard time successfully balancing several tasks at once. My full attention goes to the project at hand and the rest of my daily activities are left to pay the price. In the past 5 weeks, I have focused so much on healthy eating and exercising that I have had no time for housework, friends or other extracurricular activities. So, while I've been burning calories like a fiend, I have desperately been neglecting my other duties and things are starting to get out of control.

It just seems as though there are not enough hours in the day to get everything accomplished. I have a dear friend that has managed to lose nearly 100 pounds while working fulltime, chasing her toddler, finishing college and managing a household. What's my excuse? My excuse is that I'm full of excuses.

I need to find a happy medium--a way to continue with my weight loss efforts but not neglect my other obligations. Perhaps I need a time management course. Perhaps I need to hire someone to clean my house. Perhaps I need to put on my big girl panties and deal with it and find a way to make it happen because I don't have any other option this time around. I won't give up on my weight loss journey and I won't let my other obligations go to hell in a hand basket.

So, I'm going to go slip into my workout clothes and hit the pavement, but first I will be stopping by my kitchen sink to pay it some much needed attention.

Welcome Back!!

Everyone sing along (ok, only those of you that remember Welcome Back, Kotter need to sing, and the rest of you will just have to read along)

Welcome back, your dreams were your ticket out.
Welcome back to that same old place that you laughed about.
Well the names have all changed since you hung around,
But those dreams have remained and they’re turned around.
Who’d have thought they’d lead ya
Back here where we need ya

I have been thinking a lot lately about this blog, but for some reason I couldn't bring myself to start blogging again. So, just for shits and giggles, I logged on today and it has been exactly one year to the date since the last time that I blogged. You may be wondering what has happened in the past year. I would love to tell you that I stuck with my weightloss efforts and am currently typing this in my perfectly-fitted string bikini which shows off my new kick-ass body......but that's not the way the story goes. In the past year, I managed to gain a few more pounds and topped out at 222.8 on January 5, 2009. As of February 2, 2009 I and am currently tipping the scales at 213 pounds.

Now you may be thinking that 213 pounds isn't all that different from the 214.2 that I weighed a year ago, but you're wrong. I have really begun to overhaul my lifestyle. I have eliminated most processed foods from my diet and am exercising 6 days a week. And get this, I actually like to exercise now. While running (yes, running) on the treadmill the other day I caught myself saying "God, this feels good!" I said that!! I have never thought that exercise felt good, I always felt that exercise was like hell on earth, but I'm changing and things are different this time...AND I MEAN IT!!!

I've heard people say that sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before you want to help yourself improve. I think it finally happened. I turned 35 and couldn't believe the person that I had become. I didn't control my life, food did. I was embarrassed and ashamed of what I had done to my body. I had finally run out of excuses. I could no longer look at myself in the mirror and say that I'll start tomorrow or next week, the time was now!

So raise your glass and toast me and my new lifestyle. It's not an easy road, but I'm taking the journey and enjoying the adventure.

No, your eyes are not playing tricks on you!!

It has been a year since the last time I posted.

February 5, 2008, I would like for you to meet February 5, 2009. You both have so much in common, but yet you are so very different.