I’m Maryfran, a down to earth, open and honest writer who has had incredible success with weight loss (150 pounds) and also a regain. I’m currently on a weight loss journey and working to lose my weight. I write a little about everything....life is so interconnected and all encompassing! Belief is the key to success in life and how I came up with my name for my sites! Believe!
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Excitement abounds
* I didn't weigh myself today...so I have no clue how I'm doing.
*I did get 50 minutes in on the exercise bike. It's been raining off and on all day today, with intermitent thunderstorms, so my grand plans for an outside jog had to be scratched.
*Got the weekly grocery shopping done. AND all the prep work (cleaning and cutting up the produce so there is no excuse not to eat it!)
*Worked this morning. Was assigned to work in the lobby at the bank...I prefer working drive through...but oh well, we all can't have what we want all the time.
And that's my day in a nutshell. Hell, what am I saying...that's my day period! Wasn't that an exciting day?????
Friday, August 01, 2008
Friday afternoon chat
AUGUST ALREADY?????
Yes, I'll fess up to the PB&J sandwich last night. It was about 3 hours after dinner. It was ALL I could think of. I waited and I just couldn't get it out of my head. I was DREAMING of how it would taste! My mouth was salivating. I just HAD to have that sandwich. SO I did. I'll also fess up to the little Hershey's chocolate stick (2 points) that I ate before the PB& J in an attempt to not eat the higher point sandwich. Yeah, I know that really doesn't work. But hey, the dark chocolate tasted mighty mighty good also!
Woke up early this morning. I had to be at work here at 10AM. I was up at 6AM....made Todd coffee, put last nights dishes away, ate breakfast, packed my lunch for work, etc etc etc. And Todd and I were out the door shortly after 7 to hit the gym. I did about 40 minutes of strength training. While I'm not sore yet, I can feel tiny tendrils of muscle soreness creeping upon me. And then I did about 30 minutes on the elliptical. At that point I was out of time. We had to leave so I could get home and be at work on time. But, I did it! And I feel good. In fact, I welcome the pain if it means I'll fit into that dress!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
I didn't weigh myself today. I've decided to wait a day or two. Optimally I'd like to wait until Saturday or Sunday. However, I know me and I'm thinking that I may give in and weigh myself tomorrow. We'll have to see.
However I did get up early and ride that exercise bike. I pushed up the resistance today quite a bit. I'm still suffering a bit of soreness but nothing terribly bad. I need to get myself to the gym to get my strength training in. I should go tomorrow. But that's going to be a hard one for me. I work from 10Am until 6PM. I could get up early and go in the morning. I know that after work I will probably not go. Yes, I guess tomorrow morning should be it. Maybe I should go this afternoon? I shouldn't because I need to give it a day between strength training workouts. I guess it's tomorrow morning.
Nothing else to post about thus far today. I'm working to eat clean and within my plan. I had oatmeal for breakfast. Lunch is a sandwich (2 points...tis a good thing that I love butter/jelly sandwhiches), an apple, grapes and some raw carrots. Dinner will be corn on the cob and chicken. I'm not sure how the chicken will be prepared yet..but I'll figure something out. Oh yeah, and I have a serving of leftover sauerkraut that I'll have with my meal. So I'll be well within my points range. :-)
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Ramblings from a somewhat feeble mind
Well, last night I couldn't sleep worth a darn. I laid in bed and tossed and turned for what seemed like hours. I finally got to sleep and woke up an hour or so later. It then took me about another hour to fall back to sleep. NOT good when you have early morning plans. You see, we had decided to set the alarm for 6AM and get a move on early. We wanted to bike in Cumberland which is a little more than an hour away by car. Leaving early would get us onto the bikes before the heat and humidity got too bad. I actually woke up before the alarm went off. (What's up with that....4 hours of sleep) I got my shower, breakfast and packed us clothes to change into. I prepared our water bottles, loaded the bikes onto the car and made sure I pulled the money from the safe to put into my purse all before I even got Todd up. We were out the door, in Cumberland and on our bikes by 8:30 or so. We had a really nice ride. We didn't push it. I didn't ride in some super high gear to really push my muscles. Nor did I ride in some easy smeasy gear to garner high rpm's. It was a nice middle grade ride. We were out until about 11:30. I'll admit my constant companion of muscle aches was present before I even got onto the bike. But the aches and pains pretty much 'disappeared' OK, pushed aside in my mind while I was on the bike.
After our ride, we changed our clothes (ahhhhh the train station/visitor center place had some clean bathrooms...what a treat....I hate when I have to change my clothes in some parking lot) and headed to downtown Cumberland where we had been told that there were some decent restaurants. My my my...for a town that is economically depressed, they had a really nice little arts district thing going on. (relative to the town I should say). Todd and I really couldn't decide which little neat looking place to eat at so we literally did rock/paper/ scissors to decide. I got this pasta dish...it as supposed to be hot and spicy. And I got a side salad to go with it (prices were VERY reasonable). Todd got a salmon salad (in a taco shell). The salad was really good. They make all their own salad dressings. I had some Dijon vinaigrette....it was to die for! Todd LOVED his dinner salad. (nope, I didn't even try his as it was salmon and I don't do seafood....well, except for tuna salad). I'll have to admit though that disappointment of all...my pasta dish was...well......lackluster. It was bland. The chicken was tough and well, it just lacked. I ate maybe a 1/4 of my plate and then pushed it aside. No use eating something I wasn't really enjoying. HUGE victory for me! (don't get too excited for me.......I turned around and this evening gave in to my craving for pizza. I've known it was coming and I've been OK with it. I'm not here to deprive myself. I just try to manage it. SO this evening for dinner I got a pizza. Thin crust...even though I prefer a thick greasy crust, I went with a thin cracker crust. Ohh dang, was it tasty! I'm not going to weigh myself for a day or so....and manage my eating very closely the next few days...and I'm sure I"ll be fine!)
After lunch, we walked around for another couple hours. We finally got home at around 4:30. My lower body was TIRED TIRED TIRED! I rested and dang...turned around and went to the gym for a session with the personal trainer. THANK GOODNESS it was to work up a new routine for my arms! I laughed and told her that my bottom half felt dead. She looked at me and laughed and said, "then lets make the arms feel dead also" Oh yeah, I think it's gonna be a whole body thing tomorrow! LOL We'll have to see.
Well, there you have my day. I've not drank all my water that I should have drank. Well, actually upon further thought, I probably have drank my minimum of 64 ounces. Lets see...my main water bottle that I used today is 24 ounces...and I finished that and started on my back up bottle. I think the waitress refilled my water glass at lunch 4 times (they looked to be about 16 ounce glasses....minus the room for the ice of course...so maybe 10 ounces of water each drainage) And looking at my big 'sippy cup' water mug, it shows that I'm 32 ounces down...so yeah, I've done it...but still with the sweating (it was still hot outside) from riding and walking I probably didn't drink enough. Oh well what a boring rambling paragraph!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
My constant companion
As aforementioned, today is my day off from cardio, my rest day. I'm going to try to do my strength training at home this evening to get it in. That will put me down at twice already this week. That's a good thing. Dang, now I sound like Martha Stewart. Todd is still waffling on our bike ride tomorrow morning. I'm pushing for it! I think it would be great. I would like to do it somewhat early in the morning so that we don't have to contend with any of the mid-day sun or anything. We'll have to see. Stay tuned for the outcome of this one.
On a different note. Richard Simmons has recently went onto Capital Hill to try to get people to see that one of the biggest problems facing us today is the rise in the obesity rates, particularly amongst our children. He was urging our country to do something about it. Focus more on physical education in schools, get our kids moving, etc etc etc. HOPEFULLY people stood up and noticed. I'm not saying the more physical education classes in school will cut it. I mean, I found every excuse to get out of PE in school (and look where I ended up...315 pounds) but if parents become more cognizant and schools are more cognizant and everyone is working together then we may get somewhere. The problem, our society has actually forgotten (or never learned) how to be healthy. We have people that don't know how to cook and or don't want to cook. We have whole families that don't know what it is like to get on their bikes and go for a family ride. (or whatever activity would fit for that family). When the family unit started splintering, so did healthy habits. And how do you get it back?
Todd and I were talking today on the way back from H-town. (he rode into town with me to my meeting). His comment was that if our government can't give universal health care (OK, I'll admit it, I don't have health insurance...as a part time employee it is not available to me and we can't afford self employed health insurance......so a universal system sounds mighty nice...and for you nay-Sayers, it works in Canada and other countries) then they should be subsidizing healthy options and programs. Help subsidize gym memberships...IF the person proves that they spent a certain amount of time. Subsidize weight loss programs (ones that are based on healthy guidelines) and visits to nutritionists. Work to make our country healthier and by doing that, our health care costs will decrease. Weight related illnesses (diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol, etc etc )are at an all time high and rising. I can speak from experience with the cholesterol...weight management is the true cure! (yes, there are those cases that weight management wouldn't fix...but I'd wager a bet and say that many of them would be fixed). Even my husband with his IBS. After spending hundreds of hundreds of dollars (when we had insurance even) at the gastroentenologist we are able to control it by eating clean...meaning eating healthy natural foods and by exercise. WHOA! The problem.....and I don't want to say this too loudly because it will reek of political mumbo jumbo and it will sound like I'm on a soapbox but here goes.......people are getting rich off of our poor health habits!
Wow, I had not one iota of an idea that this entry would turn to that subject. I usually have no idea what I'm going to write, I just write away at whatever comes to mind! I guess I just needed to let loose that cannon!
Monday, July 28, 2008
The brutal and honest truth, (now that I have the figures)
I've decided to go to the morning meeting tomorrow. My friend is going to be going to that one, so hey, why not! Plus, I'll get it out of the way and over with. If my weight cooperates tomorrow, I'll be one week from being a lifetime member. FREE meetings!!! WOO HOOOO! And as I still have a pretty decent amount of weight to lose, I plan on attending meetings weekly still, even though I will only technically have to weigh once a month.
Went to the gym again today. I hopped on the treadmill today (I had done the elliptical yesterday). I had a slight headache (still do) but I worked out anyway. For the first thirty minutes on the treadmill I alternated running/jogging with a speed walk. To make it easy for me when I'm reading this later......I jogged 15 minutes out of 30 minutes. Listening to my body, I KNEW that my jogging was done after that thirty minutes. So, I speed walked for another 30 minutes (oh yeah, and I upped the incline during the last 30 minutes). All in all, I feel good about my cardio today.
Tomorrow is my day off from cardio. I think I'm going to try to get in my strength training tomorrow though instead of putting it off an extra day. Probably at home. Because I can do everything but one...ok, maybe two things at home with the equipment that I have. And I can adjust and use what I do have at home for those two things.
Depending on the weather (and my husband) we are thinking about going west on the canal and riding our bikes up near Cumberland on Wednesday morning. It is nice to be seeing things you don't see as often, so we like to drive to more 'remote' (to us at least) locations and ride our bikes. SOooo that is what we are thinking about. However Todd is starting to hedge on this one. His comment, "well, since you are going to the personal trainer at 6PM on Wednesday, we won't do the ride in the morning." I keep trying to tell him that it doesn't matter, the trainer is setting me up on my arm and upper body exercises and we won't be doing anything cardio. I've told him that regardless if we go or not on a ride in the morning, I'm STILL going to have to do something cardio-wise throughout the day. SOOO I'm hoping that we will go! I would want to ride in the morning as early as possible anyway to beat the heat. So I know that getting back by 6PM would not be an issue. SOOO we'll have to see.
I hung my new/old dress up on my bedroom door. I can see it while I sit at the table when I'm eating if I look down the hallway. That wasn't the plan when I put it there. I just put it there so that it would be visible to me as I go through my daily routine. I want to keep that dress first and foremost in my mind, to keep me focused. BUT, now that I think about it, how wonderful that i can actually see it from my position at the table! That should help keep me from shoving more food into my mouth! Maybe I should print up a picture and post it on the fridge also....hmmm now that's an idea!
Focused and ready to lose!
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Friday, Saturday and Sunday all rolled into one
Friday afternoon at work we had a bit of a scare. I was talking to my manager and the other two tellers were sitting at their stations. We heard a noise that was defininitely normal in the area by the back door. Diana's (my manager) and my eyes grew wide. SHe and I went back to investigate. It turns out it was the tray to the water cooler. I put it back and and I had to really snap it into place. I looked at her and I was like, "HOW did this happen". SHe walked over to the back door and checked it....it was unlocked! Ok, this is a bank...not cool! We immediately went back into the main bank area (locking the fire door between us and the back door vestibule). We thoroughly checked the bank over, and when Todd showed up to ride home with me (about 1/2 hour later) we sent him through the bank to double check it all. And Saturday morning Todd followed me to work and he checked the building again in the morning for us. Weird.
Saturday morning the alarm went off bright and early (darn to working on Saturday mornings). I was good though. I didn't lay in bed and read or fall back asleep. I got up and got on the exercise bike. I rode. The legs were still sore, but I rode away! I also push mowed mom and dad's properties yesterday afternoon, so I got a nice bit of exercise in! I also had to run around town and hit up a few stores (Dick's sporting goods for some ankle weights, Sam's club, Martins grocery store, Target and Kohls.)
I hit up the yard sale again. They put out new stuff. This time I bought an antique crock and a bottle. I also found a vintage dress that I fell in love with. Here it is.

I took it home and tried it on. I'm sooooo close to fitting into it! I can actually put it totally on, but it doesn't zip up the whole way. SOOOO darn close. I am totally motivated...to fit into this dress! I love the dresses from the 50's! They are so awesome!
Buying the dress and being so close renewed my motivation. It made me think about something. It made me think about the fact that my original weight loss goals had all been met. At least the main ones. I originally thought that 225 was the poundage goal...I reached that, and I've far exceeded that goal. Yeah, I'd like to go further, but my original goal was met. I had a goal dress.....I wore that in March. I'm wondering if some of the reason that my weight loss has been stalled may be because of the fact that my goals are no longer concrete. My weight loss goal is 'something'. I don't know what it will be, I've never been this low as an adult. I'd like to say 150...but honestly that may be too low (according to the doctor 160 should be as low as I would ever want to go....and only go lower if I was in prime athletic condition). So it's all a very 'loose' goal. This dress is my next goal. I want to wear this dress...BADLY! As I said earlier, it's close...very close!
Yesterday, we had a bad storm, and it knocked our power out for a few hours. We got it back late late late last night. This morning Todd had power in the studio, but alas a tree came down and knocked the power back out over there. Just our luck! So he had to cancel on the clients.
Ok, yesterday, Saturday morning my weight was up about 2.5 pounds! I was hoping that it was down today. However it was only down about 2/10ths of a pound. ARRGGGHHH
Today, Sunday.....Todd and I woke up and hit up the gym. I did 45 minutes on the elliptical, keeping my heart rate at about 160. I then went through my strength training routine. The muscles are sore again. :-) I came home and I did a thorough house cleaning. I mowed our lawn and I did a few loads of laundry, which are hanging on the lines. I just got finished everything, I'm showered and I"m relaxing a bit before I have to get dinner in the oven. (it's a 'long baking time' meal...so I'll be putting it into the oven within an hour...so it has ample time to bake)...and bring the clothes off the line when they are dry. But other than that...I'm just relaxing now! :-) But hey, I"m in a clean house! :-)
Friday, July 25, 2008
PAIN
The scales were up this morning. Dang pesky thing. Tis my fault.....popcorn...with salt last night. I'll beat this weight though! I WILL win this game.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the parking lot here at work is a lady having a yard sale. She has her stuff priced to MOVE. I went over (yep, on the clock) and bought a few jackets. They still had the tags on them! Paid 2 bucks a jacket. Can't beat that. They just fit me, maybe a little tight. Motivation to lose the rest of the weight.....I'll try anything I can!
Thursday, July 24, 2008
50 lashes with a wet noodle for me!
I did wake up and even though I was honestly dreading it, I went to the gym to have my hour with the personal trainer. She wants me to continue (ok, restart) my cardio routine. We talked about varying the intensity level, time and routine of my cardio workouts. (all of which I already d0). She recommended the spin classes. She said that they are a KILLER way to actually burn calories! And then she started setting up a strength training routine for me to work on. I go back next Wednesday to finish up with the arms and all that it entails. We did legs and core stuff today. She actually tailored the workouts and exercises for me. She watched me attempt or to do the exercises like a hawk and then we adjusted them to be harder or easier based on my individual level. MUCH better session than the one at the previous gym. I'll readily admit that I've let my strength training really fall by the wayside in the last 6 months to a year. It's really amazing how quickly you 'fall back' and lose what you did have. I'm here at work and I can feel it in my muscles from what i did today...and you know what's sad??? I only did one set of each thing today. (well, some more as we fiddled with the best level for me).
She is focusing on all the different muscles (of course) but she is leaning toward building my core strength at the same time...therefore she doesn't have me using any of the machines that target the one area.
Funny thing though....she asked me a few times, "You didn't have surgery?" Uhhh no, I lost 130 pounds naturally. The good old fashioned way. That made her setting things up I guess a little trickier...well heck, maybe easier. Because for the last umpteen years (forever it seems) I've focused on reading about health, diet and exercise. SO I know what I need to do. She was also blown away because she made suggestions and I was like, "OK" I finally looked at her and was like, "losing 130 pounds is sheer determination.....what your asking me to do is not impossible or even out of line. If that's what I need to do to get to the next level, so be it. I'll do it." Therefore we made my strength workout as challenging as possible. (some of my instructions are 3 sets or failure...which ever comes first....lol) At one point I was having difficulty with one thing she was setting me up to do. I looked at her and I had said, "I can't" Before she could even open her mouth I looked at her and said, "That's wrong...it's mind over matter" And it was true...my body hadn't given 'any' signal that it couldn't go on...it was my mind messing with me.
Enough about that. I go back next Wednesday evening (6pm) to finish setting up my strength training routine.
Eating wise, today I've been right on target. I've got my points laid out for the evening and I'll be in very good shape points wise as long as I stay to whats in the book. And I'll even be able to have a little dessert or something special this evening should I want...I'll have the points available. For a while back, maybe a year or so ago, before I ate anything I would convert that into how 'long' I would have to exercise or do something in order for me to 'negate' the food that i was eating. It really worked and kept me from eating lots of bad stuff. I need to start doing that again!
Not much else happening here. I did a few loads of laundry early this morning, hung them out and between the gym and work, I've been able to take them off the line. They are folded and sitting in baskets on the bed, ready to be put away. So tomorrow it's just sheets and towels. (and I can postpone those if I so chose....they can sit in the basket for a day or so if I don't want to wash them tomorrow).
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Excuses
Tomorrow I'll be going to the gym....I have an appointment with a personal trainer at our new gym. SO it's a preset appointment....so I'll definitely get to the gym tomorrow. Remains to be seen if she'll work me out or spend most of it setting up a plan for me. We'll see. Either way it will be good. Quite honestly I'd like her to set up a plan and get me started.....I need a kick in the tail end!
OTher than the miserable pouring rain we've had off an on all day......well, that's just about it! Ohhh I did break down and buy a rain jacket with a hood today! I 'fit' into the size medium, which I was pretty darn tickled about...but I decided to go with the size large....it was a bit more roomy for me. BUT I FIT IN A SIZE MEDIUM!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Meeting comparison
Well, I just had my own banana split. Well, not exactly a banana split. I was thinking a while back about banana splits and how good they taste. I started thinking about what I really like about a banana split. Is it the pineapple topping? The Strawberry topping? The chocolate ice cream? THe cherries? What really makes a banana split so yummy for me. I thought about it and it turns out that I love banana splits becuase I LOVE the chocolate that drizzles onto the banana. SOO when I get a craving now, I cut up a banana and drizzle chocolate syrup on top. Totally takes away the craving. Well, not takes away...satisfies the craving...because I'm really craving that chocolate syrup over banana taste. :-) So I just had chocolate and banana. YUM
My weight was actually down a bit this morning. I was tickled about that. We'll see how tomorrow goes! Tomorrow we are going to splurge and have pizza. I will have the thin crust, even though I would prefer to have pan pizza...but I'll save the points and eat thin crust! I can't wait! I can taste the pizza in my dreams! Oh pizza pie, it's been way too long!
Exercise? What's that? I seem to have fallen off the face of the exercise earth today! And yesterday!
Monday, July 21, 2008
After the meeting I went home and put the pirogi casserole in the oven. Why oh why? Ohhh it was tasty. It was super tasty. HOWEVER it was too much carbs and way too much butter....and now my belly is paying the consequences for it. ARRRGGGHHHHH I have to workout tonight. Honestly, if I could work out right now, I'd probably feel tons better! But alas, I have 4 more hours of work!
Weigh in...well. this morning I weighed in at 180.6 on my home scales (which is the weight that I report on here on a daily basis.) My official weight watcher weight was 181.4. Dang, I didn't realize that blowing my nose and spitting before the weigh in would be so crucial! I squeaked by on that maintenance thing. I've got 2 weeks left until I'm free, AKA a lifetime member. I've got to get away from that 180 mark though (I can be 2 pounds over it).
I don't know what I'm going to do for exercise tonight. Part of me says to go to the gym. however, I already drove to Kearneysville this morning...and to drive to town...that's a bit of a waste of gas. So I'm thinking about the exercise bike (heck no to the outside bike...it's hotter than Hades out there) or maybe a step aerobics video. I know I've got to do something!
I'm kind of worried about the next two eating days also. Todd asked for pancakes for breakfast. (high in carbs) tomorrow. And then he wants to get pizza on Wednesday. I can manage......I've got my plan set on how to negotiate (yes, and still indulge a bit). BUT I'm still worried!
Dang.....I just feel yucky! It's a combination of the ick and that heavy lunchtime meal! Ohhh and I've barely drank even 10 ounces of water thus far today. For me, usually by this time I'm close to having finished at least 50 ounces. Wow....Bottoms up!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Hopefully the final chapter in the mower saga.
Todd and I went up to the gym this morning. I did an intense workout on the elliptical for an hour. My heart rate was between 140 and 160 at all times (depending on where I was in the program). I then did a circuit on the weights. Now I'm tired! Ok, I'm not tired from working out....I was tired when I woke up. Tired and just blah feeling. What is this with me. It's not a normal thing for me to feel blah so much!
After working out a the gym Todd and I seriously considered going out to eat. We thought about eating at Mr. D's....it's a locally owned deli style place. Or since one of our quick stops was by our favorite Chinese place, we talked about going to A-Wok. BUT, we chose to be calorically and financially frugal and eat at home. We did stop and pick up a movie from the video rental store. Yeah yeah yeah....kinda crazy, we get netflix, but every once in a while we just like to go into the rental store and get something. And we picked up gas for our mower. Here in a few minutes (Todd is installing anew hard drive in his computer...and I'm waiting for him) I'll go out and fire up that puppy, drop the cutting deck and we'll see if she actually does work. Won't that be a novel concept. Mow my own yard instead of having someone else do it.....even though I bought a mower 3 months ago! The way my luck has gone, it will probably blow up on me! Why I'm waiting for Todd. He has some limbs that he needs to cut down with the chainsaw. We try not to use equipment like a chainsaw unless there is someone else outside. Safety reasons. So I'll keep an eye on him while I mow.
Ok, so people laugh and say I"m accident prone. I've always laughed and said..."NAW". But I'm starting to wonder if it is true. Well, I think I mentioned my accident the other week...where I whacked my knee against the panic button under my desk at work (I work at a bank). My knee hurt for quite some time. (Irritated the good old arthritis). Well, yesterday I was working the drive through and put the money and receipt into the bucket and I depressed the button to push the bucket through to the driver in the car. Well...I wasn't paying attention (don't ask me how.....I have no clue) and my hand was still int he bucket! Yeah, that sucker closed on my wrist! Dang if it didn't hurt! Tore some skin off my wrist...and my wrist was all red.....still hurts a bit. Nothing major......just hurts if I apply pressure to one spot. It will pass I'm sure. Yes, the manager knows...and NO I am not going to the doctor. I immediately told my co-workers...because it is so utterly funny.
That brings me to my next subject....work. I'm starting to feel as if my time working low paying mindless jobs is over.....well at least ones that pay squat. I've enjoyed my last two years of mindless jobs...but I'm thinking it's time to start looking for something else. I've actually even half way toyed with the idea of going back to teaching. But I do throw that idea out! Ok, it's not even the money that I need....it's the insurance.
Ahhhh the mower calls.......Hopefully this will be the final chapter in that saga!
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Saturday morning boredom
Got up early and hung some clothes out on the line. Todd turned on the mower. It's not blowing black smoke and it seemed to have power as he ran through the yard with it. He didn't drop the blades as the grass was super wet...so we won't know for sure until we do that...but the mower seems to be ok as of right this moment.
We are hoping to get to the gym this afternoon. I'm actually looking forward to it. Crazy as that sounds! :-)
Other than that...It's 9:45 here at work...and I'm bored! Sometimes I wish that we'd get really busy because it makes the time go so much faster. But then if I'm busy I don't have time to write in my journal, read blogs, answer personal emails, read books, and surf the Internet! Ahhhh I guess I'm never happy!
Friday, July 18, 2008
Somethings missing!
I've been so hungry for beef stew lately...so I have some in the crockpot for when I get home from work. I'm only working a 4 hour shift...so I just got to work. The stew was smelling heavenly! I'm also trying a low points biscuit to go with dinner. We'll see how that turns out. All the dry ingredients are mixed up, just have to add the wet stuff, mix, roll and bake when I get home.
Didn't exercise today. I spent the morning either on the phone or researching information online. Just a crazy day. Sadly enough, I don't feel as if I got anything accomlished. Well, I did make todd a shrimp salad sandwich, and I made my lunch also. And i washed the dishes....and put dinner in the crockpot. I did get stuff done...it just isn't anything tangible.
Well, the mower. The warranty service called and told me that I'd have it back by Tuesday evening or Wednesday afternoon at the latest. Low and behold it didn't show. SOOO this morning at around 10 I walked around the house (to make sure that there was no mower) and called the warranty people. Within three hours I looked out the window and there sat my mower in the driveway. Thanks guys for knocking on the door to let me know it was there. I actually WAS at home all morning. Well, I was busy (doing those non-tangible things) but the warranty people called back and said to check the mower out immediately and make sure it works. And call them back either way. So outside I trooped. Uhhhhh there sat the mower...but something was mysteriously missing from the ignition switch. Oh yeah, they returned the mower with no keys! I called them back and told them and also called the warranty people. At this point all I can do is laugh. I mean....come on???? NO keys?
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Will the new gym help?
Yesterday we did make it to that other gym. We took the tour and we left. Todd and I had already decided to not make any rash decisions. So as we ran our errands yesterday (Sam's club, the mall, oil change for my car, mowing for mom and dad, etc etc etc) we talked about the pros and cons. There are a few cons to this new gym. It's a smaller sized gym. In terms of space...it's more cramped and crowded. This new gym seemed to have pretty much the same machines....but with the weight machines they had ONE of each...while the old gym had 2 or three of each. The new gym is closed on Saturdays at I think 5 and Sundays at 2. The old gym was 8Pm on each day (the new gym is open an hour earlier if that counts for anything). The new gym doesn't have a cardio cinema (which we like but rarely used anyway) or the sauna's in the locker rooms (at least they didn't' tell us that there were...and I'm sure they would have told us). Todd will miss the sauna (doesn't' bother me). The pros....instead of driving 25 minutes one way to the gym the new one is only 10 minutes away (or less). The old gym was in a section of town that we hardly ever had to go to on our errands. The new gym is RIGHT on the way to town. We pretty much pass it (or go within 1/4 of a mile of it every time we go to town). The new gym is $21 dollars cheaper a month. And I'm impressed that they supply the bath towels....no more wet towels in the gym bag to start getting moldy and icky in a hot car! The new gym also seems to have a much more extensive exercise class and spin class schedule. So we talked about it all day. And we went back and signed up. We haven't worked out there yet...but quite possibly today. We are hoping that having the gym more local to us will help us get ther more regularly. BUT also that having something new and interesting will motivate us to go more often!
SOOOOO waking up this morning, how am I feeling and doing?
*Weight Wise-Well, I stepped onto the scale. I was roughly 183 (I actually think I was a bit higher..but I'm at work so I don't' have my stats with me). This morning after eating like a pig yesterday I am 181.4. WHOA! What's up with that. I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth! NOT AT ALL! I'll take any loss I can get!*Exercise Motivation wise-I'm anxious to get to our new gym and work out. But because of the comfort level (I was comfortable at the old gym....not so at the new one...which will change after I've worked out there...nothing to do other than dive right on in)I'm nervous about starting at a new gym. I'm actually not looking forward to working out period. Just don't feel like it. And I haven't felt like it all week. But I know that I need to! SOOOO I'm probably going to be heading there later this afternoon!
*Eating Motivation wise-After my splurge day yesterday I'm ready to get back to a more 'normal' eating routine. I'm ready to watch what I'm eating again. I know that come this evening when I'm fighting the craving for something sweet or something else to eat that I'll be saying something different. But I'm ready to do this!
*Emotionally- I'm still down about this. How long am I going to have to struggle with this stupid 180 pound wall? I've been within 5 pounds of this 180 pounds (for the most part...I think there was a short period that I jumped up a bit over 5 pounds higher) since NOVEMBER of 2007. I've been stuck here for that long! During this whole journey....through over a hundred pounds, I've NEVER been stuck this long. I know that the 200 barrier was hard to break...but that was only a month or two! NOTHING like this. I'm onto 9 months! So I'm still frustrated and down. I'll make it through though. I'm not going to give up. I'm not going to let it beat me. I'm just going to focus and keep plugging along!
I guess one of the things that got me thinking yesterday was the fact that we were able to jettison $21 off of our budget...money saved by switching gyms. When I can hit lifetime (3 more weeks of meetings where I can be under that stupid number) then I can get rid of my monthly pass for Weight Watchers. That's $40. So we are talking about a total of $61 saved. That's a chunk of money each month. We are talking about $732 a year! That's a savings that I can get excited about!
Looking at my 'splurge' day. Years ago, yesterdays eating would have been murder for me. I would have thought that I was depriving myself. We ate that meal (chicken enchilada's with a creamy white sauce) at least 2-3 times a month (not to mention other highly fattening meals that I no longer prepare....well other than the way way way rare occasion). It's no wonder I had a total weight problem! And I can look and see how even on my splurge day, my new healthy habits and lifestyle changes were still in evidence. :-) (yeah, I only had two enchiladas....in the past I would possibly have eaten 3 or 4!)
After all that mess with the mower, all of a sudden the warranty place decided that 'oh yes, we can have the mower fixed. They are overnighting the part to the repair company and you will have your mower back 'today (which was actually yesterday) or tomorrow (today) at the latest. We didn't' get it back yesterday...so I guess we are looking at today. Darn....could we not have made it 4 more days....to make it an even two months! Sorry.....the sarcasm was uncalled for! I have mixed feelings. Part of me just wanted to be done with Lowes. I mean, what if the mower isn't fixed right and still doesn't work......I'll be back to square one! What if it breaks down again???? I did fax the paperwork this morning to get my measly $50 fix it fast money from them. Yeah, if it's over 3 weeks for the repair, they will give you $50 to pay for the cost of having someone else do the work for you. Uhhhhhh it's been 2 months....how far do you think $50 got me? Oh well...I'm not going to rant any further. I should have a mower by the end of the day! I'm honestly happy that this saga is ending.
So there you have it! The update to my life and my weight loss journey.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
.A dream is make believe until blood, sweat, and tears turn pain to will.
So anyway, I read about this and pulled up the actual lyrics to the song by Chicago. The song really hit a nerve with me. Especially the line A dream is make believe until Blood, sweat and tears turn pain to will. Hello weight loss..that describes it to a tee! I started out with a dream and it truly had been blood, sweat and tears!
Anyway, here are the lyrics, and check out the song, I put it on my sidebar for those of you who may care to listen!
Tomorrow is teasing me.Time seems to run away from the future.But this could be that lucky day.A dream is make believe until Blood, sweat, and tears turn pain to will.It's gonna take some doing for me To show them the way.I'm gonna take the stone of sisyphus I'm gonna roll it back to you.Building a wall of stone.Sometimes you know what's right Sometimes wrong is better than nothing.They cast a stone so heavy to turn.I believe in a love so true.I believe you get what's coming to you.We get so tired of living a dream For some other day.I'm gonna take the stone of sisyphus I'm gonna roll it back to you.Wall of stone around the two of us.That only angels can break through.Looks like it's another of those long nights.Will we always be alone?Let's not stop before it's done.I'm gonna take the stone of sisyphus I'm gonna roll it back to you.I'll take the stone of sisyphus.Wall of stone round the two of us.I'm gonna roll it back to you.
Feeling REALLY blue and depressed
Oh yeah, and then the mower saga...that continues. Last week, it was supposed to be resolved. The check should have been her by tomorrow. Yeah, I wasn't totally happy with the resolution..but at least it was going to be over. OHHHH no....they called me yesterday...the check is on hold. Today when I was finally able to get a hold of them she said that she wanted to work on something different. HELLO! Yeah,I'd like it resolved so that I'm not being screwed out of $400 bucks (the difference in the total price of what I paid for the mower and package.....versus what they want to return to me)...but at this point I just want it to be over. I'm tired of dealing with these people! When I got off the phone this morning, I'll admit that I just wanted to cry. I tried to hold it together, but I'll admit that I let a few tears of frustration and encroaching depression escape.
Other than that....my day is fair to middlin'. Todd and I went for a walk over on the battlefield early this morning before the heat hit. We are planning on touring a different gym tomorrow...one that is closer to our house.....AND $21 cheaper. It doesn't have all the amenities that ours does...so we'll have to see. Personally I'm to the point of saying that we don't use our gym much because it's out of the way....lets save money and be closer to home to boot..because that would probably make us more likely to use it! We'll have to see. At least we are looking into it. That's more than I got when I first broached this subject a few months back. Also on the docket for tomorrow is mowing my parents place. I'm hoping that the weather will be nice so that we can head out with our bikes and get a nice ride in somewhere. We are talking about driving up to Cumberland and finishing up the last section of the canal that we've never ridden up there. Speaking of the canal. Todd and I would eventually like to bike the whole canal continuously. IN the meantime we are working at biking it piecemeal...one bit at a time. From Roughly Dickerson west on the C&O canal, we have biked it all except for some stupid 10 mile stretch at Cumberland. SO we may try to finish that tomorrow. Who knows.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Monday EVening update
I didn't have to work until noon today. So after I rode this morning (I did another short ride...what's up with this? At least I'm doing something..but I just can't seem to get into anything bit. I keep saying that I'm going to do some step aerobics or something..but it just doesn't happen.) Anyway, after my short ride, I did a few loads of laundry. Sheets and the quilt from the bed....laundered and hung outside. I then cleaned the house really good. And while I was doing that moved the furniture in the living room. Yeah, I'm one of those people that can't leave furniture in the same spot. I'm forever moving furniture. I got done, ate lunch and barely had time to get tot work. I worked until 6. Came home, took the stuff off the line and had just changed my clothes when Todd got home. I made dinner, ate, cleaned up and I've been a sluggard since then.
For dinner tonight we had tacos. I did a taco salad...emphasis on lettuce, onions and the 'free' stuff. I didn't put much meat on the salad and crumbled up two taco shells to add. A little fat free cheese, taco sauce and some sour cream and I had a delicious meal! Oh yeah, I had a side dish of re fried beans (fat free version of course) and some more of the lemon mousse/pudding with strawberries.
I can barely keep my eyes opn....sad, it's only 9:20! So I'm going to get off here and mosey on to the bedroom and lay in there and read a bit. Got a phone call to make at 8AM about the mower. They left a message saying that they stopped the check because they sensed I was not happy. HELLO, and stopping the check will make me happy???? ARRGGGHH I just want that to be over!