Day 12 - And the scale addiction....

I woke up this morning... the sun... well, the sun wasn't shining. In fact, it was raining. But that's beside the point.  I groped my way to the bathroom.  And there... in the corner... was The Scale.  It was just sitting there. Taunting me.  Reminding me of the almost crack-like high that comes from stepping on that little platform. (Not that I have ever done crack, but I imagine it would feel like that.)

I tried to resist.  Really.  I did.  But yes, I gave in.

Now, keep in mind that my official weigh in day is Thursday. But as of today, I lost another 1.6 pounds. YAY ME!  We'll see if that was a fluke weigh in or not on Thursday.  But cross your fingers for me!

Thank goodness Monday is over. On to the next!

Day 11 - Weekend Antics

So I've had a busy, but fun, weekend.  And guess what?  I didn't go beserk on my eating!  I know - it's shocking.

Saturday, I slept in.  They say that to lose weight it is imperative to get your sleep.   I must have taken it to heart because I woke up at 11am.  I had my coffee, which is a must!   Here's a tip for coffee drinkers!  I, as you might now from one of my first posts, am addicted to coffee.  And my favorite is a Starbucks Venti Iced Caramel Latte.  Oh.  My mouth just started watering. Damnit.  But in order to cut back calories, and money, I have switched to making coffee at home.  I use the Via packets from Starbucks (the medium strength, in the orange box), which are instant coffee packets, but actually quite good.  And then I add a hot chocolate packet to it.  I splurge and use the Swiss Miss milk chocolate packets, which are 120 calories.  But you can use sugar free which will cut down both calories and sugar.  And it's really good!  At least I think so anyway.

After my late start, I ran out the door without much to eat.  Bad. I know.  I made my way to the hair salon.  Purple hair no more!  It looks really great, if I do say so myself!  But as much as I love my stylist, she takes her sweet time on things.  So after 4 hours at the salon, yes I said four hours, I had to go directly to Yuri's Night to see the planes fly.  (Did I mention I'm a plane/flying fanatic?)  I didn't stay long because, well, I was hungry!

Even with my bad eating habits that day, I still didn't go home and binge eat because I was starving.  So yay me!! So at the end of the day, I'm feeling pretty good.... I had a good day... got ready to snuggle up in bed.  You know that feeling of anticipation before getting all comfy and snuggled in bed??  Yeah... well, I sat on the bed and..... *SNAP* *bed goes plop*  *insert tons of cussing here*

Yup -- you know you need to lose weight when... YOU BREAK YOUR FREAKIN' BED!

I believe it is fixable, but in the meantime, at least I found a use for some of my old text books:

At least it allows me to sleep in my bed right?

I did a lot of running around today, returning things to store in the mall.  (I hate the mall.)  But this evening, I went over to a friend of mine's for dinner.  I was prepared to kind of blow my diet.  But the great thing is, Jessica is already healthy and fixed a healthy dinner.  I am hoping to get some recipes from her and I'll post them if I'm allowed.  We had some french bread de la campagne with this really great sun dried tomatoes pesto that Jess made. Omg - I could have kept eating that forever. It was so good! For dinner we had pork chops and couscous.  And some chardonnay.  It was so good!

Guess what??  Even with all of the deliciousness of dinner, I came in on my target calorie count for today!  WOO HOO!  I'm telling you... if I don't do well on the scale this week, I'll be very frustrated.

So that was my weekend in a nutshell.  Hope you guys had a good one!

Day 9 - Holy s***balls Moments - Part 2

Wow.  Part 2 came right on the heels of "Holy s***balls Part 1".  Didn't see that one coming.
 You know, today started off as any other day, except that this seemed like a blah kind of Friday.  I'm in the lab this morning, doing mundane stuff, wishing I was outside in the sun.  Still bummin' about my 1.5 pound loss this week, but trying to be appreciative.  And then..... I read MrsFatass' blog for today.


Go ahead and go read it.  I'll wait here.


I know right?!?!  
*bangs head on desk*


Let me tell you what this reminds me of....  (Warning: I am getting serious here.)  A little over a year and a half ago, one of my best friends was diagnosed with cancer.  

 (Good looking guy, huh??)

I wanted to go visit him where he was living as he was getting treated etc.  In preparation, I got my butt on the treadmill because I wanted to lose some of the chub before seeing him again.  Every time I was on that treadmill and wanted to quit, I would think "You know, Scott is having chemo right now.  He'd kill to be on this treadmill." And I'd keep going.


He passed away that October.  And did I honor him by staying on the path to get myself healthy again?  Nope.  In fact, I let things go to hell in a handbasket.  And MrsFatass reminded me of that.  Not in a bad way... it wasn't like she was saying "Jules.... you know, you are such a slackass.  You should be ashamed of yourself."  Well....... maybe she was saying that, but the MrsFatass in my head definitely wouldn't. :)  


The point is: her acknowledgement of those who have the spirit and the personality, but whose body doesn't allow them to do all of the things they want to do reminded me that I have a body that is capable and willing to be active and healthy.  She reminded me that I need to appreciate the health that I have and that I am capable of living a healthy life.  She reminded me to stop punishing my body with crap food and to cherish it with foods that are good for me and that will fuel it for what it needs to and wants to do.  She reminded me that I need to appreciate that I can get on the treadmill, or elliptical, or heck, just go take a walk - because there are some many people, like Scott, like my dad, who would have given anything to have the abilities that I have now.  


So thanks MrsFatass.  Today's cardio session is dedicated to you.

Holy s***balls moments - Part 1

This is Part 1 because I'm sure there will be other holy s*** ball moments.  There always are. :)


It's all skinny jeans and cute tops until you realize your health is involved.......

Day 8 - Weigh in Day. Are you kidding me?!

I'm trying to remain calm, cool, and collected here. I really am.


I've been really good this week.  Seriously.   Using Daily Plate, I've been following the calorie count to lose 2 pounds per week with my normal lifestyle activity level.  (Not including any exercise.) On top of that, I had 4 days of cardio.  So I should see a bit more than 2 pounds right?  In fact, I figured it out.  I should lose around 2.5 pounds. But I'm shooting for 2 pounds.


I got up this morning and was pretty excited to be honest.  What's that scale going to read??


I climbed out of bed.  Groggily (I'm so not a morning person) made my way into the bathroom.  Did my normal morning business. (You know what I mean.  Everyone makes sure they pee before weighing.)  Pulled off my clothes, because seriously - who wants to see excess poundage from clothing.  Step on the scale.


1.5 *BLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP*in' pounds? Are you kidding me?? I worked that hard for 1.5 freakin' pounds??


*deep breath*


Well, I guess that 1.5 pounds lost is better than 1 pound... or losing nothing... or heaven forbid GAINING.  But man.....  it's hard to shoot for something, think you've got it, and see it fall short.


But I will endeavor to be happy about my 1.5 pounds and not be disappointed. It is, after all, 1.5 pounds less than I weighed last week.  I think I'm going to start tracking my inches so that I know that I'm losing inches even if I don't lose a lot of pounds.


Hope you guys are having a good week!

Day 6 - And the battle against stress eating

DAMN YOU TAXES!!! DAMN YOU!!!!!


*deep breath*  Okay, now that is out of the way....  *clears throat*  I'm sure that when our founding fathers thought "We should have some taxes to pay for government programs" they weren't thinking about little 'ol me 234 years later and the possible effect taxes could have on my diet.  If they were.... shame on you Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and all the rest of you founding parents of our country! 


But the point it, I've been doing well... chugging along on the weight loss path.  I'm feeling good.  And then..... I had my mom's tax person check my return.  And BAM!!!!  What?? What do you mean I have to add this checkmark on my return?  It's going to add HOW much to my taxes owed??  Where's the nearest cookie? Seriously!  I need a cookie.  NOW.  Don't stand between me and my cookie!  If I have to,  I will mainline it.


But really, what is it that makes you want to chow down when things get stressful?? The urge to shove anything (well, anything available anyway) in my mouth was so overwhelming.  However, I did realize what was happening and I ended up having a yogurt and getting on the elliptical for 20 minutes instead. *pats herself on the back* 


I hope that I can continue dealing with the stress in a somewhat healthy manner instead of shoving food in my face!  Cross your fingers for me!  


And if you are betting on if I will cave in or not, put me down for $10 that I'll stick with it.  (I need the money anyway. :)

I'm FREE!! I'm FREE!!! - Day 5

So... the two people who read this might have noticed I haven't been around.  I had been working 14 hour days trying to get my part done for this project at work.  But I'm done!!!!  I'm FREEEEEEEE!!!


*Jules imagines herself running and leaping through a field of wildflowers singing "The Hills are Alive... with the Sound of Muuuuuusssiiiiiic..." while her incredibly good looking, smart, funny, accomplished, and great in bed boyfriend waits for her with diamonds and champagne* 


Dreamworld screeches to a halt when reality raises its ugly head as my dog sitting beside me farts.  Oh life. *sigh* OH! My lungs! They are burning!


Okay, I just had my oxygen feed going to help my lungs after Farty McFartenston Dog tried to kill me by gassing me to death.  He doesn't mean it.... no really, he doesn't really snicker in his little doggie way as I'm gasping for breath and diving through the window screen to get fresh air. He's a good dog.  *cough*  Moving on!


So as I said, my work has been KILLING me lately.  But I am finally done with this project. Just in time to save my sanity.  And good news boys and girls. I actually got off my toosh and started doing something about my weight.  I know! I'm shocked too.  But it definitely feels different this time around - like a part of my life. 


 I decided that I was going to start this journey on April 1st.  (How weird is it that I picked April Fool's Day to start this journey?)  So I'm only on day five, but I'm feeling pretty good.  I'm using Livestrong's Daily Plate to keep track of what I'm eating and counting my calories. And I'm not even cheating!! (You know we all say "Ummm.. it's that many calories? I bet I didn't have a full serving.")


I also started working out on my elliptical too.  My friend, Katie, came to visit a couple of weeks ago, and I'm afraid to say, she used the elliptical more in her 5 days here than I had in a couple of months.  *hangs head in shame* I know!!!  But, I have since corrected this situation.  This is day 3 on the elliptical, but I'm taking tomorrow off.  I do love having an elliptical in my apt so I can watch the tv and no one can see me huffing and puffing.  


Now that I have bored you guys... let me pose a question... When you guys work out, what do you like to watch??  Do you need something action packed, or can you watch the grass grow?


Okay - off to sleepy time!