I went to a totally different weight watcher meeting this morning. As in totally different weight watcher center...totally different leader. Totally different attendees. Everything. Actually it was even in a totally different state....which changed up a little bit of the celebrations and stuff like that. Kinda interesting. :-) BUT, that said, let me say that I LOVED this meeting. It was supposed to be an express meeting...so I assumed that it would be a shorter meeting. NO...the meetings that I've normally attended are 30 minutes....this meeting went for 50 minutes this morning. The group of people were great and I liked the leaders energy. SOOO this may be something I consider switching to. We'll have to see. You see, I Loved the leader that I started with...she was absolutely great. Unfortunately she stopped doing my evening meetings. I have been to a few of her morning meetings, however the groups are HUGE and talk to each other during the meeting.....and it was hard to hear her. The next leader I had totally did not understand what it is like to have a problem with food. Her advice was always way off target and I left her meetings feeling more depressed. (I continued because of the people that went to the meetings..they are where I learned things and received my support and advice). The next leader...well, her meetings and leading style is just all over the place. She can't seem to stay with one thought.....there is no rhyme or reason what she is talking about. I walk out of the meetings and have no idea what the meeting was about. SO I'm looking to switch.

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!

Hopefully the final chapter in the mower saga.

180.0 this morning. I'll take it. That's 6/10ths of a pound down from yesterday. I started thinking and realized that I've quickly relaxed on the habit of taking my multi-vitamin. IN fact, it's been a few weeks. I personally feel that my body loses better when I'm taking them (1 multi-vitamin and I also take a calcium pill). Go figure. Maybe it's all in my head. Who knows. But anyway, I'm going to do my best to remember to take them every day. We'll see what happens. I started today!

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 morning boredom

Maintained my weight down to the ounce this morning. Shucks! I was hoping that it would drop off some! What do I need to do to make the weight drop??? Ok ok ok...continue doing what I'm doing. Eating wisely and exercise. Well, maybe kick the exercise back up to where I usually am. I've been a bit of a sluggard lately...exercising only every other day.



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!

Somethings missing!

Well, my weight was up to 181.6 today. That is actually oly 2/10ths of a pound up. So I'm not bummed out or anything. I mean I don't like to see it go up at all, but I can't be upset about a flucuation of 2/10ths. I will say that I was hoping for a drop. I worked out hard yesterday and ate quite wisely also. Oh well....maybe it will show up tomorrow on the scales!

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?

Will the new gym help?

The disgust was still there yesterday so I decided to do something a little un-orthodox. OK, I didn't really set out to do it...but half way through the day i said to myself I've sacrificed and it has backfired.....and now I'm a bit down and depressed about it. So screw it....FOR ONE DAY. So, I ate as one that wasn't worried about my weight. I didn't overdo it. But I ate WAY WAY WAY over my points. Yeah, my dinner alone was a meal that I love....but never make because well, the entree alone uses up my whole daily allowance of points. I didn't eat my fruits and veggies. Milk....what's that? I also had cheesecake (OK, that was low fat....as low fat as cheesecake can be made...but I do try). Water consumption...didn't worry about it (oh yeah, looking back I was probably close by the end of the day). We stopped to get a gallon of ice tea from Chick-fil-A for Todd and I got a diet coke. OK, that's a splurge for me. It is my cardinal rule to not drink anything other than water until after my 64 ounces are down the hatch. Yesterday...who cares! I also popped open a bottle of that Tropicana Light Lemonade (got a 2 liter bottle for free...what can I say). Yep, drank that all night. NO, not the whole 2 liters...but at least 2-3 glasses.

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.

.A dream is make believe until blood, sweat, and tears turn pain to will.

Still feeling blue. But both my husband and I have had a song stuck in our heads since we attended a concert last Wednesday night. It is a song by Chicago, named Stone of Sisyphus. I didn't know all the words but decided to look it up online here a few minutes ago. Well.......I also decided to read a bit about Sisyphus at the same time. To paraphrase, in Greek Mythology Sisyphus was a king that was cursed to have to move a huge stone....and every time he got it 'just about there' the stone rolled back down the hill and he had to start again...and he did this for all of eternity For a more full explanation (and because I probably totally butchered the story) you can check out more here. That struck a chord, because isn't that what I'm doing....I"m rolling that stone up the hill and right when I get it close I lose control (sometimes my fault and others through no fault of my own) and that stone rolls backwards again. And I have to start again.

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

I'm totally down and depressed. Why you may ask? My weight. It's just creeping up for apparently no reason. I was up about a pound and a half today!!! Yeah, I had a sliver of low fat cheesecake last night...I had the points for it! I guess what makes it worse is that the last two days I've made some difficult food decisions and WON the battle with them. The two major things that I'm talking about are the salad when we went out on Sunday versus the heavenly looking and smelling burger and then having a taco salad with minimal bad stuff last night instead of the taco's that I would have preferred. Don't get me wrong, I've actually been satisfied with my decision when I've eaten those meals. And I would have said that they were a worthwhile sacrifice. Will I say that it would have been my first choice? NO, but I was ok with it. SOOOOOO to see my weight go up each day has just been totally demoralizing. I'm up just about 2 1/2 pounds! That does not make me feel as if those sacrifices were worth it at all. I'm just bummed out about it all!

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 EVening update

Feeling blah. My weight is up by .6 pounds this morning. Could be that I had ham and I was quite generous with the salt shaker on my corn on the cob last night. Who knows. I did cave in tonight and had a piece of cheesecake...at least it was a lite version! I was going to make cookies to give to the neighbor that has kindly been taking care of the mowing of our yard. Turned the oven on and stood there. And I just KNEW that I didn't have the willpower to resist the temptation to eat the dough tonight. Oh yeah not to mention the finished baked cookie. So I turned off the oven and walked out of the kitchen.

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!

Sunday of Hometown Tourism

Todd at Jefferson Rock, Harpers Ferry, WV
Me looking disheveled and content while we waited for our lunch at The Secret Six Tavern.
The catholic church high up on the hill was very pretty....I snapped a ton of pictures in and around the church!

Potomac Street in lower Harpers Ferry, WV

Shenandoah Street in lower Harpers Ferry, WV

John Brown's Fort....the Armory Firehouse.

Living in an area that is so rich in history, we sometimes take it for granted and just see it as scenery. And Todd and I realized that some of these places that are in our backyard (quite literally in some cases) have never been officially explored. Yeah, we ride our bikes on the grounds but to actually tour these places, we've never done. SOOO today we went to Harper's Ferry and did the whole tourist thing. :-) We have been there umpteen times...but usually to go to a restaurant or some other business place. But today we actually did the tourist thing. It's so crazy being a tourist when it's pretty much in your back yard. It was fun though. Got a TON of walking in! And of course the walking was up and down hills and steps! So hopefully that counts for something as I didn't exercise today (or yesterday). And I just haven't had the energy to exercise since coming home.

After getting home and downloading my pictures I realized that I had not really gotten and general pictures of Harper's Ferry for my blog. Therefore, the black and whites I pulled from a file from a hike Todd and I took about a month ago when we crossed the bridge for a short time while walking on the canal.

I was proud of myself. We went to the Secret Six Tavern for lunch. The burgers looked TO DIE FOR. But I got a salad. A healthy salad too boot (so many times if you order a salad at a restaurant it is loaded with this and that that adds calories and it in the end makes the salad as many calories as what you would 'rather' be eating.) I was very satisfied with the salad. :-) Why did I watch at lunch you ask. I had corn on the cob at home that I knew we were having for dinner...and ham steak with grilled pineapple. YUMMY. And I"m within my points allotment for food for the day! Very proud of myself.

My weight...it's slowly going down after my fourth of July weekend extravaganza of eating and splurging. I've been careful eating sensibly and conscious of my decisions. Not living like a monk in terms of my eating...but just being wise. And it's working......SLOWLY I just want to get back to my low weight.....arrggghhh One little slip up and I've got to re-lose 6 pounds! (three left)

Not much else new to report here. The mower saga continues. I just want it to be over...give me my money back....which they 'approved' last Wednesday....but then on Friday afternoon they called to say that they had put that on hold again. WHAT? Lets just drag our feet a little more....heck, maybe we can make it three months to get this resolved. Three months of prime mowing time let me add! Can you see my eyes roll?

Reflections

180.6 this morning! You know..I'm kinda getting tired of this up and down pattern that I've been doing with my weight. It's getting old! Don't get me wrong, I'm tickled that my weight is going back down. I just feel super redundant. Like I wrote this post two weeks ago....and then three weeks before that......preceeded by a similar post right before that.

I have been thinking about something recently. And I'm trying to come to terms with it and what it really means to me. I'll use the pre-packaged ice cream cups taht I do as an example. When my husband pulls one out and pops the lid, he lays the lid down, grabs a spoon and eats the ice cream in the bowl. I catch myself looking at the lid...because he literally wastes a bite...ok a lick of ice cream...but it's still wasted. Myself on the other hand. I pop the lid and lick the ice cream off the inside of the lid. THEN I commence with the ice cream in the dish. And I practically scrap the insides clean. OK, I've been found out, I have on more than one occaision used my finger to get all the melted goodness off the side of the bowl. So, what's up with that. I know that I can have more. I could understand if I were eating some once in a lifetime food (or even something I get very rarely).....but this happens on normal everyday things. Stuff that I can easily have the next day....or even the next minute. Whatever. I know that it's sooo good I want to enjoy every little morsel...but why????? It's actually a very greedy trait to have, and not at all a becoming trait!

Woke up this morning when the alarm went off. And I just couldn't do it. I just couldn't push myself to the bike. SOOO now I have to get some form of exercise in after the grocery shopping and the following prep work that I'll do on the food when i get it home. What's up with that?

Dropping!

My weight this morning was down to 181.2. I can't wait to get out of these pesky 180's.....AGAIN. And this time, I'm determined to stay out of them forever! My weight is dropping pretty quickly. For which I'm pretty happy. I guess I was having some water retention issues.

This morning the alarm went off super early, in order for me to get up and ride. I hit snooze TWICE. That is so abnormal for me. Usually when the alarm wakes up, I'm awake. I may still be tired. I may still want to sleep longer. But it wakes me up. I've learned through past experience that under normal conditions that if I hit snooze I simply lay there awake, waiting for the alarm to go off. NOT today. I hit snooze and was back asleep almost instanaeously. I was soooo tempted to throw my bike ride over the barell and say screw it. BUT, I didn't. I got a little itty bitty short 7.07 ride in. Todd works tonight, so the plan is to either get another ride in or do a video or take a jog...SOMETHING!

So, here I sit at work yawning. I have however been productive since I've been at work. Lets see...I've answered my personal email. I've created my menu for the upcoming week...and the corresponding grocery lists. I'll just go through the kitchen tonight and cross off things I already have and add the other things I will need to buy for everyday items. Then of course, being the anal person that I can be when it comes to my grocery list...I'll rewrite the list, organized by how the grocery store is laid out. And the last task will be flipping through my coupons and seeing what i have a coupon for...and notating my grocery list with the corresponding coupon. Ok, it's not as complicated and convoluted as I just made it seem. After I write in my journal, I'll go and pick up any new entries on some of the other blogs that I read. I've got my reading book ready, sitting here on the edge of my desk. I just started the book entitled "First They Killed my father: a daughter of cambodia remembers" by Loung Ung. Tis a biography about a young girl in cambodia when Pol Pot's regime came into being. Very nasty stuff. Dad has been to Cambodia a few times on missions trips...and so I'm familiar with the history and have seen lots of pictures of places such as the killing fields and the prisons and such. So when i saw the book, I thought it would be an interesting read...so I bought it. I haven't gotten too far into it, so I can't comment on it at this time. :-)

Lets see...my menu for the upcoming week. And yes, I plan a meal for everyday. HOwever I know that there will be at least one or two nights that we'll go out or something will happen to render that meal not eaten on that night....but hey, I'm prepared at least. Of coruse I'm making these dishes as light and healthy as possible. And yes, they all work into my eating plan for the week.
**tacos and refried beans (I'll probably do a taco salad....emphasis on lettuce and onions. Yeah, not my first choice...but I'm satisfied when I do that)...this meal a special request by my husband
**Grilled Ham Steak with grilled pineapple and corn on the cob -another request
**Salsa Baked Chicken, baked butter beans
**Grilled chicken, pesto, pasta (I'll have to be careful and measure out my pasta as it's a bad tendancy for me to take HUGE portions)
**Maple pecan Chicken, sweet potato pudding
**Beef Stew
**Chili Relleno Casserole
**Alfredo, (topped with shrimp most likely....at least for my husband...I dont' do seafood) I have the most delightful little recipe for an alfredo.....it's only 2 maybe three points for the alfredo sauce.....which is a HUGE difference from the 'regular' stuff.
**Chili
That takes me about 8 days out, in case I don't get to the store like clockwork next week!

So there you have it.

Wednesday and Thursday all rolled into one

Wednesday Update
Well, yesterday morning I weighed myself and I had dropped down to 182.4. I was quite tickled with that as 182.4 was a 1.2 pound difference. I was on the right track! Since I'm back on the oatmeal kick for breakfast, I ate my oatmeal and Todd and I headed down to the DC metro area to spend the day. Todd and I mosied around. We visited some specialty type stores for some things for his business and hit up a Borders. We went to Bertucci's an Italian restaurant. Yes, it's a chain. But their food is pretty darn good. I got the lunch portion of the Four Cheese Ravioli (described as Home-style ravioli stuffed with a blend of ricotta, Parmesan, Romano and Fontina. Topped with tomato sauce and fresh basil.) and a salad. Uhhh yeah, the rolls....the ones that they bake in their brick wood fired oven...yeah, those delicious morsels of goodness...Uhhhh do I really have to say how many I ate. I'm rather embarrassed and ashamed. I did dip them in the herbed olive oil...so I got my healthy oils in! OK OK OK......so I ate three of them! Why did they put 5 on our table in the first place...there was only two of us there??????? That's not the worst of it though. When we walked in I saw a dessert on their seasonal menu. Strawberries & Lemon Cream. Which is fresh strawberries served with a light, lemon cream mousse. Yeah, of course....fresh strawberries DEFINITELY a fruit serving for the day. My thought was that "I'll focus on the strawberries and leave the cream mousse for Todd" HA How delusional was I???? It tasted sooo good! Todd had eaten a full portion of chicken alfredo with asparagus, a salad and he had had a wine..so he sampled my dessert but didn't eat too much of it. (I'm going to recreate the dessert at home.....with lots less points!). We spent some time at Tyson's corner and hit up both Borders and Barnes and Noble. Yeah, gotta love books. I did buy some books....and I got to read a book while sitting at the bookstore. More on that later. We hit up Tyson's Corner and mosied through the mall. And finally headed down to Wolf Trap. I bought my customary tee-shirt. I bought one that I'm 'barely' into. I did that last year...and the tee shirt now is loose on me. I got it home though and it is REALLY tight. Oh well...gives me something to work towards. By the time we were inside the venue for the concert, it was about 7:15...we had eaten lunch at around 12:30 or 1PM. I was only slightly hungry...but I know that skipping meals is not a good thing. Well, I didn't really have a meal. I did however have a soft pretzel. Man, I could have just licked the salt off the pretzel and off the paper that they had it wrapped in.....oh wait, I did! YUMMY. I drank three glasses of water with my lunch and drank a bottle of water at the concert. Oh yes, I had an italian soda at the Barnes and Noble cafe also. SOOOOO, while my eating wasn't the greatest.....it wasn't TOTALLY out of whack. Well, what I mean to say is that at least I didn't eat two huge meals....splurging on both of them.

The concert! Chicago! Sadly enough Jimmy and Walt were not with the group tonight. (They were both there three weeks ago when we saw them.) That made me sad because Jimmy is one of my favorite members. Their replacements though.....WHEW! Spectacular! Let me tell you, there was a vibe or an energy on stage last night that just made this one of the better shows that I have seen them perform. Todd also felt that way.....and we see them usually at least twice a year.. for me for the last 10 years...for my husband...for the last 20 years.

We had a safe trip home. Uneventful. We saw a bunch of deer on the edge of the road, so I had to stay super vigilent. For some odd reason, we also saw a ton of cats foraging on the side of the road. What's up with that?

Todd and I both discussed on the way home how we felt rejuvenated after our day way from the normal humdrum. And how relaxed we were. Well, we got home and checked the messages on the phone. Low and behold, Lowes called. And they seemed all happy with the news that they had to give us. They are scrapping our mower. They are going to no longer attempt to repair it. (after 6 weeks they made that decision...6 weeks of me having to get someone else to mow my yard). They will give me such and such amount of money for my BRAND NEW MOWER (that I had used exactly 4 times). They were all happy. Of course they were. When we actually looked into this... we can't even buy the replacement for what they are giving us. To get a new mower up and running again on my property......the SAME model mower...literally the same purchase....We will have to invest another $400. WHAT????? But they will send me a gift card for what they ARE willing to give me. I have called the service plan people...the managment at the Lowes where I purchased it...and the Lowes Customer care center. Not sure I'm going to get anywhere. HOWEVER, I told them that I want a check....not a gift certificate. Honestly, I don't know that I will EVER go to lowes again....I'm that bothered by this whole mess. I guess it will totally depend on what kind of satisfaction that I get. ARRGGHHHHH

The book that I read at the bookstore. The book is titled 90 minutes in Heaven. I've always been fascinated with the stories of people that have been pronounced dead.....but then 'wake' up and go on to describe a visit to heaven. (I heard one first hand account...and the lady actually woke up in the morgue..with a toe tag!) This book was griping. I struggled wtih tears at one point. His explanation and description of his visit to heaven was actually very short......most of the book was based on his recovery and how he has used his experience for the good..and what he learned through this experience. It's a bit religous in it's presentation...but hello...the guy says he was in heaven, how could it not be.

Thursday and back to the normal grind

Ok, I guess I already talked about my Thursday morning early phone calls. We had the message last night. I woke up at 6:30 and started making my phones calls. I just want this mess to be over and things to be back to being hunky dory! I don't like this one bit.

I got off the phone at around 8am...and realized that I hadn't weighed myself for the day. I'll be honest, last night I had seriously contemplated not weighing myself for a few days. BUT, I decided to just go ahead and do it. 182.8. That is only 4/10ths of a pound up from yesterday! I will be honest and say that I ate so poorly yesterday (the choices were better than i would have made in previous years..but still not overly healthy).....I'll also be honest and say that it was so muggy and I did have that wonderful salt on those pretzels...so water retention may have affected me a bit. Who knows. Regardless...I'm still up overall. I've got a bit to lose to put me back on the 'winning' side of things. But I will get there.

After I ate, I did go for a ride. So I did get some exercise in. And then I went into the library and worked on cataloging all of our books. I had already done my fiction a while back..and I don't put any fiction on the shelves until it's been added. But still only puts me less than 1/5 of the way through the library books....twill be a long project! Never ending as we are always buying books! I had lunch (healthy) and then I did a few more chores around the house. The laundry is just about done, the dishes have been washed (at least until I start cooking dinner and dirty some up again) and other little things like that.

Dinner tonight.....picked up a steak for Todd at the meat market this morning. Since I dont' like steak, (yeah yeah yeah...I'm a nut) I'll have mostly veggies. Todd asked for mashed potatoes....s I will make some. (homemade, real of course...is there anything else?) I may throw together a pb&j sandwich for me to eat with dinner. 1. Because i love pb&j's and 2. Because I need some protein for today...I'm sorely lacking!

Tuesday morning bike ride

Hey! What's up with that?!?!?!?!?!?! Tuesdays are supposed to be my day of 'rest'! So why was I on the bike? Well, Todd wanted to go for a ride. He wanted to go on the canal. So I thought it would be a nice relaxing ride. I mean, the canal is shaded and it's flat. What a wonderful combination. Well, we went down to the canal about 10 miles downstream from the general area that we live in. Hopped on the canal and commenced with our ride. It was a mud bog! Terrible mud issues. So Todd is like, "hey, lets get off at Snyders landing and go up to the town, and swing down on the roads." Uhhh Todd, hello, that is a climb. Oh we, had a bit of a disagreement. (Why, he's lived in this area all his life...he should know these things!) I had to remind him that I had come down that hill on my bike yesterday...coasting doing about 35 mph. Which reminded me to tell him about my bug on the sunglasses incident that happened on that same stretch. I thought he was going to fall off his bike laughing. I won that round...so we rode on further and then swung up on the road back to our house. My legs felt like iron! It was not a good ride for me.

I weighed myself today. How in the world can I gain 5 pounds in one week? I'm up to 183.6. Wait....that's closer to 6 pounds!!! This is just not funny! I'll get it back off...but how daunting is it to realize that one little slip up and it's that bad on the scales!

I ate healthy today. I did splurge and have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch instead of the toast with jelly that I normally have. I wanted to have something with a bit more protein for my lunch.

Well...I went to take my shower after i ate lunch and I was looking at my hair that had come out of my ponytail and was wispy around my face. That got me to thinking about bangs and how i've had bangs in the past on and off. And that made me realize that it had been a long time since I had bangs. I stared for quite some time...and finally picked up the scissors and snipped away. I didn't do a heavy bang.....but it looks pretty good. For something so simple, EVERYONE has noticed immediately that something is different. Apparently it makes my whole hair cut look differently. Todd kept insisting that i did something to all of it.....and my co-workers asked also. My co-workers told me to wear bangs all the time because it looks good. Hmmmmm

Monday's ride from hell

The holiday weekend is officially over, I'm back to work. ...... uhhh ....... hmmmm ........ Well, that's all I can really say about that. Other than to say that this year just seems to be flying by at warp speed!

This morning, I woke up so gung ho to make another day of healthy eating. Well, Todd wanted pancakes. Not exactly healthy eating. But I made them. I'll just watch what I eat the rest of the day. I did go for a ride. A section of my ride was on the towpath...which was extremely muddy! A bug hit my sunglasses and squashed up against the lense. AND I switched up and did a new route.....hillier than I'm used to. Oh my word, toward the end...on that last hill up from the river, I thought I was going to toss my cookies, er pancakes, on the side of the road. And I only went 10 miles!!! I'm hoping to have time tonight to hop onto the exercise bike and get a little more exercise in. We'll have to see about that one though!

I've got 7 points for dinner tonight. That should be doable. :-)

Sunday Shenanigans

Happy Sunday! I'm really tired and can't seem to get my thoughts together to actually write out a complete journal entry. At least not one with complete sentences AND paragraphs! So here's the alternative:

**didn't do tooo badly today. I did have some more of that cake. BUT it's gone now! No more temptation from that cake!

**Last night I felt miserable. I forgot how yucky excessive eating makes me feel! I actually woke up still feeling yucky! Probably a good reminder for me. Especially when I remember that I used to always feel that way. Why did I do it to myself? Well, I can answer that. I was stupid and didn't realize that I was doing it to myself through my eating habits!

**Knocked our 16.2 miles today. That puts me at right around 75 miles for this week....with two more days to go.

**Went raspberry picking in the woods this morning. I'm happy to say that I came across no snakes and gathered a plethora of raspberries.

**Spent the afternoon making jelly and syrups....seedless of course. 63 jars of wild raspberry jelly and 23 jars of raspberry syrup. I'm set for raspberry jelly for the upcoming year now. And yes, I'll use most of that (and actually already had about 30 jars done before today). I give it away as gifts. And if people come to visit, many times they leave with a jar of jelly. It's just fun to do.

**Accidentally (like I would do it on purpose) poured scalding/boiling hot water on my left hand. Mostly got my three fingers....(not the thumb and pinkie). It didn't do too much damage. Thank heavens I was at the sink and had the cold water on.......and my hand was pretty much right there beside the cold water as the hot water hit it...so immediately it was under cold water. So luckily no blisters or anything....(but I feel good that it wont happen now). The skin just feels really tight on my fingers and they hurt a bit. I did take off my engagement and wedding bands. In case my fingers swelled. Feels crazy without them..

**Oh yes, went to town also today. Went to lunch with husband, hit up Sam's club and the grocery store. I got a new tee shirt at Sam's club. (Yeah, I still frequently wear some 2x...and maybe every once in a while a 3x tee shirt.......so buying a tee shirt that actually is my size is a big thing). Oh yeah, and I got the hungry girl cookbook. Looked like it was 'normal' food and not 'health foods' that the average person would NEVER eat. And then the rest was normal Sam's club purchases. Same for the grocery store....normal and boring.

**I forgot to get gas in my car while I was in town. That means I'll either end up stealing it from the gas cans we keep for the lawn mower, and equipment or I'll have to suck it up and go to the one gas station in town and pay the outrageous gas prices....made worse because they are the only gas station and they charge about 10-15 cents more than every where else.

OK, I think I'm all typed out! Hopefully I'll be more cohesive and coherent tomorrow!

Report on the festive, shindig, eating event.

First and foremost let me answer a question that was asked about my pics that I posted earlier. I recently bought myself a Canon Digital Rebel XSI as a reward for a weight loss accomplishment. I'm having a blast taking pictures in a variety of different locations, lighting and whatnot. I was quite happy with my fireworks pics from last night.

Well, best laid plans. Well, I can honestly say that I probably would have done worse in previous years. NOt that that is any consolation. But that's all I can say. I'm thinking that I'm going to simply ignore the scales until Tuesday morning and just focus on keeping myself on track with my eating. Oh yeah...and exercise like a banshee!!!! I don't even want to go into what I ate...all though I will say that the 'jello cake' was scrumptious. I have been so hungry for one for a while. It was one of my grandmothers favorites. A jello cake......take a regular cake in a pan, poke holes in it. Prepare a box of jello as directed on the package and pour the unjelled jello over the cake. Put in refridge. Cover with cool whip. SO, I got the bright idea that I could make the diet coke cake. Then going one step further I could use fat free/sugar free jello. ANd of course I used fat free cool whip. I was a bit nervous because there are a few things that the fat free and sugar free stuff just doesn't cut it. BUT this was soooo goood! Yeah, I ate a little bit too much cake.

More Fireworks

Mindless Ramble

Well, the fourth of July for the year 2008 is officially over. Todd and I worked around the house all day. I spent much of my time cleaning the house and working in the kitchen on the food for tonight's festivities at our house. Yesterday it started to rain at around 3 pm. By the time we left the house at 4:45 or so, it had already rained an inch. I didn't look to see how much rain we got by the time we got home...or even this morning. It is still raining on and off today. We'll see about tonight. Our party is in conjunction with the Antietam Battlefield Celebration...which is tonight. However, in recent years, most of our guests have actually ignored the battlefield activities. So, even though we moved (very close to the other place...but further away from the battlefield) we are still holding our party. Our party is rain or shine. We were originally planning on having the food outside on that newly re screened porch...but I'm scrambling...I'm thinking that I'll probably end up setting up the food tables inside. We'll have to see. (I'd rather have it outside...but I don't think the weather will cooperate)

Oh yes...the pictures posted above. Last night we went to dinner at mom and dad's. Dinner was yummy. We had a nice evening with my parents. And then we watched the fireworks that they set off in Hagerstown. They have pretty decent fireworks..which I find somewhat amazing...we are talking about Hagerstown. :-) I took my camera and played a bit. I dumped my pics onto my computer this morning early...and quickly chose 4 to stick on here. I'll take a closer look at all of them when I get home from work.

Ok, I guess it's obvious that I'm dragging my feet about talking about the weight thing. Lets say first of all that I really didn't eat too awfully bad yesterday.....I was actually right at my points allotment. Using one or two flex points at most. BUT, this morning I was up on the scales. ARRGGHHH

Yesterday I knocked out a 21 mile ride...so I did at least I can say that I did exercise. This morning I also got up and rode. It was difficult this morning. For some reason, they started the fireworks last night an hour late. So they were not even done until after 11. And then of course getting our stuff from mom and dad's house...and getting out of town and home....We didn't get home until midnight or later (didn't look at the clock when I got home). SO this morning when the alarm went off at 5:30 in order for me to ride......it just wasn't happening. I laid in bed for about a half hour or so.....and then decided that enough was enough. I got up and did a short ride on the exercise bike.....7 miles or there abouts. So at least something was done today.

The big question is about tonight. We will have TONS of food at the house. Will I be able to resist the temptation of the yummy fattening things? Should I simply ignore the bad stuff...knowing that to start eating will trigger my desire for more...and trigger that uncontrollable eating? Or should I stay firm and eat the healthy options and ignore the bad stuff?

I was talking to Julie the other day about temptations of food and how she was just not able to stay away from the chips and taco dip at a potluck at her job. I realized suddenly that for me, once I get the taste, I can't stop. I'll keep going back for 'one more' until I realize that I've had like 5 million chips (ok, so I exaggerate..but you get the point) Where as if I simply do not indulge in that first bite, I am ok. I have more willpower BEFORE I taste the food. Once I taste, it's not a losing battle....it's a LOST battle! Tis better for me to just not partake.

Back to that gain...what's up with this today? I worked HARD yesterday. I drank a fair amount of water (ok, probably close to a gallon). I know that in the middle of the night I was thirsty...and thirst was my first thought this morning....so maybe it's water weight. Not sure......but that means I have to be more careful tonight!

And here is the final thought for this entry. What a messed up entry. I feel as if I've not kept one thought in my head for more than a brief second. Oh well................

Tax time!

Oh joy...just when we recover from the ickiness of paying in income taxes (oh the joys of self-employment) then it hits again. Went to the post office this morning. Joy of joys, the bill for our property taxes. Does the fun ever stop??? ROFL

Saw the funniest video on youtube this morning. Oh my word, I just sat and laughed. Tis of course about cats!

Lets see, my weight first of all. Yep, it's up 1 pound today. I'm not shocked. While I worked my tail end off yesterday....I did splurge a bit at dinner. (more on that later). I'm not worried. It will come back off. No problems.

My splurge. Well, we went out to eat and I got a cup of soup and the salad bar. We were at a restaurant where the salad bar is that...salad. Not all the desserts and hot foods....none of that. Salad fixin's. Oh well..there was potato salad and some grapes on there also! So my splurge.....it was from the salad bar. So even though I went over my points, it was healthier foods. I feel no guilt what-so-ever about it either.

But while we were eating, Todd and I got to talking about how we are eating now versus how we WERE eating and then it rolled the conversation around to how we think we'll be eating in the future. Well, of course we used to eat ourselves silly....we'd each get an appetizer, an entree and we'd each get our own desserts. Many times we'd get a salad also. I mean..TONS of food. We talked about the future and what our eating will hold once we get to our goal weights. I couldn't help but laugh and say that I will STILL love food then. I'll STILL be addicted to food. But the difference is that I realize that I will have to 'earn' my right to eat the foods. Basically I will have to exercise to eat. I will NEVER be able to go back to eating the way that I used to. Nor do I want to. But I know that the more I exercise, the better I'll be able to handle any little eating situations. My brother has commented many times to me about how he has many friends (guys and gals that he bikes with) that say that they started biking because they simply loved food and that when they bike, they can eat what they want with less worry about the reprocussions. Now of course there is a downside. The downside? His friends tend to gain weight during the winter when it's cold outside and they are less apt to bike! I think he once told me that it's nothing for some of his friends to gain between 10 and 15 pounds during the cold months (I actually want to say it was 20 pounds...but that seems awful high).

Talked to my brother the other night about my desire to buy a new bike. Yeah yeah yeah...I don't really NEED a new bike. I just want another bike. NO WAY am I getting rid of my current bike. I love my bike! Well....after talking to him...and really thinking about the money that I'd be spending (yeah, lets not forget I just dumped close to a grand down for a new camera......and I'm not made of money...NO WHERE CLOSE) I'm going to stick with my bike. He recommended gettings slicks for my bike so when I do ride on the road. NOW....this is the new dilema. Do I want to just change out my tires.......or do I want to get whole new rims......and keep my current rims so that I can change out wheels for whatever/whereever I'm going to be??? I stopped by the bike shop yesterday......new wheels, i'm looking at just under $200. New tires to put on my current rims....I'm talking about $40. Don't chastise me....I know, I know I know! New tires...keep the old rims. Well, no matter. I'm not gonna purchase anything now. Getting a new re-railer is actually first on my list of things to do for my bike. BUt you know what...I've ridden with it out for a year and a half now...and it's just annoying. I still have 7 gears at any one time....and if I get tired of those 7...all I have to do is get off my bike and move the chain with my finger. (uhhh that doesn't happen often...lol)

Last night I just cringed. I went to bed and Todd was like, 'set the alarm for 6AM'. I just groaned. of course, the days that I dont' need to wake up, he wants to wake up early. And typically the days that I have to wake up early for work, he lays in bed sleeping the whole time I'm tiptoeing around the house. AND of course he can sleep through it all...but me, when that alarm goes off..I'm awake...no more sleep for me. To make matters worse....half the time when we have to wake up early for him, he rolls over and goes back to sleep...leaving me wide awake. Well this morning he did sleep for maybe another half hour. But that's not too bad. I however was super productive. Before 8AM, I'd had breakfast, re-upholstered the chairs that go with my glass top table that's on the screened in porch, scoured the drip pans (all of them) on my stove (and of course the stove got a good scrubbing also), the dishes had been washed, the kitchen cleaned (except for the floor, which I'll do tomorrow when I do all the floors), and the guest bathroom thoroughly cleaned....spotless. (I told Todd that we are not using that bathroom until the party...haa haa haa...I'll probably be the first to use it..forgetting my edict). By 8:30, I was tired and worn out. Didn't do much else of use this morning.....haa haa haa Oh wait, before I showered and got ready to come to work, I did go for a ride......just shy of 10 miles today. Tomorrow will be my busy day in the house...getting stuff ready....and some light cooking and baking. Yep, I'll get my normal ride in first thing in the morning!

Two rides and a half day off.

Did two rides today. One in the morning before work...my normal ride. And then one this afternoon with Todd! The above picture is from after my second ride. We rode out of Williamsport on the canal (I'm standing on the east wing wall of the Catoctin Aqueduct).

I didn't weigh myself this morning. I should have. BUT, I didn't. I didn't eat all that great today...but I wasn't way overboard if that makes sense.

I only worked this morning and then Todd and I had a half day together. I can't wait until we are fully staffed once again at work so that I don't have to work on Wednesdays! That will be a huge relief!

I feel as if I've not held one thought together in this blog entry....so thus I will end it now!

Week three of mainenance done

Something interesting that I realized about myself today. When I'm eating a larger or even a 'normal' portion of food, I find myself taking bigger bites and mouthfuls of food. As compared to when I'm eating something that is strictly portion controlled. I noticed it earlier when I was eating my 1/2 cup of ice cream (which is STILL working great might I add). I was taking teeny tiny bites. ANd now I"m splurging and eating a 100 cal choc bar. And I'm taking baby bites. I know it's simply because it's so 'small' and I want it to last! And I'm enjoying it a heck of a lot more than if I were taking huge honkin' bites!

Weighed in officially today.....1.4 down! WOO HOOO! 177.6 as my official weight! 3 mores weeks left before I become a lifetime member. What a relief financially at least!

Today was my day off from riding. Tomorrow it's back up at 5:30 to ride. Weird thing. The last few mornings I've had to DRAG myself out of bed to ride. SO this morning when I could sleep in a bit.....I woke up raring to go! What's up with that???

I've been on a mission lately. I'm tired of all these little errands and jobs that come up in life. The ones that you put on a pile on your desk and say , "I'll get to that soon" And sometimes its ultra important things. (one of my things was upping the personal property insurance on our place....we were grossly under insured!). I'm tackling one or two things each day. Sadly enough, a good many of these things are turning into multi-day projects/tasks. But I'm determined to get through them! Tomorrow I'm going to tackle the boat and it's registration. I've sent in the registration papers for this stupid thing 2 times now...and DNR keeps sending it back saying something is missing the last time I put everything they said was missing...a signature from the seller..and resent it. NOW supposedly it's missing something else! Go figure. And each time it gets sent back, it ends up on that 'soon' pile. Well......I think that will be tomorrow's project...start working on getting the 'missing' piece of the puzzle and sending it in! Well, and following up on the other things I've started this week! I will get this list of 'to-do's' eradicated!

URrggghhhh...why oh why did I just eat that portion controlled 100 cal chocolate bar?????? It's sitting in the pit of my belly. I'm not feeling sick from it...but I'm not feeling overly great. BLECH!!!

Monday Madness

Ok, my weight was down a few ounces. SO I feel much better about my day yesterday. It wasn't down by much...but it was down by a bit...and that's what counts!

Got a nice long ride in this morning. 19.7 miles. My knee is still acting up....but I'm simply working through the pain. Ate wisely for breakfast and lunch (an egg and cheese sandwich..and with my ingredients....3 points). A salad (three points), strawberries and a small banana for lunch. I'm making chili for dinner....so I'll be in good shape point wise. This week is just a terribly busy week. I think I've worked it out that I'll be able to get to a meeting. I'm kinda worried..because I won't be at my normal meeting...and attendance has fallen WAY off at that meeting...as in it's probably in danger of being closed. BUT, I can't worry about the fact that I'm not goign to that meeting this week. I need to focus on ME and what I can do, and which meeting I can most reasonably go to. (I could go to my normal meeting, but it would require me to either make two trips to town thus wasting gas. OR go into town at lunchtime and stick around town pretty much doing nothing until my normal meeting at 7PM). For me, missing more than one meeting in a row is not an option. I know that for me, I need to go to meetings. ANd I realize that I will most likely need to regularly attend meetings the rest of my life. My plan is to make an effort to attend weekly even after I hit lifetime.

Well, the mower saga. I called the repair place and got the run around once again. And when they finally called me back, they made it clear that they A. think troybilt is a pain and B. don't consider me their customer. IN their words, "You have to understand, we contract this stuff." HELLO....you have my mower...that makes me your customer. Just because the money is coming from someone else..I'm ultimately your customer! Well, of course I got off the phone with them and turned right around to call Lowes (the place I bought the mower from and the people that I purchased the service plan from). They are going to see what I can do. They also told me that they have a fix it fast program...the mower should have been returned to me within 3 weeks of my first call. HELLO....this company didn't even pick it up until 2 weeks after my call. And that was three weeks ago....we are talking 5 weeks! Well...at least I"m going to get a $50 reimbursment for having someone else have to mow my yard (since it's been over three weeks) This is just nutty!

Lets see I also called the insurance company that holds our homeowners policy. Before we moved in we only had minimal insurance on the contents of this place. Well, now that we are living here, we have tons more stuff here.......as in we are GROSSLY under-insured for contents for this place. We need to get that fixed ASAP. I called and they said that they 'could' do it over the phone but would prefer not to....so Todd and I are going to head in there on Wednesday and get that done.

Ok, researched the cancellation thing with my monthly pass for weight watchers. I had looked and realized that they bill me on the seventh of each month. SO I was gung ho to cancel by that time, to avoid being billed again. I had calculated that I would have just enough time on my current pass to make lifetime. But I read the paperwork that they gave me when I signed up. They will refund if you make lifetime apparently. So I may delay cancelling it a bit. I guess I"m just nervous about cancelling it until I know that I'm not going to need it. It's kinda my safety net!

What is it with Todd and I???? Is there any particular reason why we've had such incredibly bad luck this year? We are almost exactly at midpoint in the year. Will that be the turning point to our year??? Or are we going to have a full year of this crap???????

I was talking to Todd and wanting to get a different bike...a road bike. His words were to start checking out these used sporting goods places. Good idea! I was looking at road bikes last night. My oh my......I saw some that I was literally drooling over. The drool dried up when I saw the price tag though. :-) I've always said I want to eventually get a recumbant bike also...for 'cruisin'. Oh to actually have enough money to get what I want, instead of dreaming!

Sitting with my leg elevated

Well...between the two rides I got in today, I logged 34.2 miles. I'm happy with that! I probably shouldn't have ridden that much. I'm really suffering. ON Saturday while at work, I went to move and whacked my knee against the panic button underneath my desk. NO, I didn't set off the alarm (although that would have been funny). I felt that terrible pain for a few minutes. (you know...the pain like when you hit your funny bone). But it passed relatively quickly or so I thought. BUT, when I stood up and went to move...eii yiii yiiil......hurts hurts hurts. I do feel as if it just irritated the good old arthritis...as that's what the pain feels like. AND I've had a few instances where my knee has just buckled under me. I haven't had that not so pleasant experience since about 100 pounds ago. I just want to lay around with my knee propped up becaues that helps ease the pain. However, I didn't do that all day....just NOW. Beyond logging 34.2 miles today. I reorganized the screened in porch (I had moved everything to finish painting the floor yesterday). Oh yes, the screened in porch is now truely screened in again! WOO HOOO! I got a bit of chipping done also...before the rain at least!

Now for the bad part. I've been sooo hungry today. I'm hoping that all my miles and my outdoor work. (and even this morning, I was moving at the grocery store and then at home while I took care of all that) is the reason my body was demanding food and that it won't show on the scales tomorrow. I hate this part of weight loss!!!!!!!

Speaking of weight loss...I"m goign to go on to cancel my monthly pass tonight. I just got my renewal card...and I"m paid up until July 21. That is on a Monday. If I go in on MOnday the 21st instead of my normal Tuesday night weigh in that week, I SHOULD meet my lifetime goal that night....that would be the 6th week of maintenance. And if I don't make it on the 21'st...I can simply pay for that last meeting.....or if I have to...last two or three meetings! As long as it is only 2 or three meetings I'll be ok. But if it segued into more than three, I'd be losing money. OK, I just checked my credit card statement...they bill it on the 7th of the month. I"ll wait until a day or so before that....that way I'll have another weigh in under my belt and I'll also be right around the corner from yet another weigh in...so I'll be reasonably sure how that one will go. :-)

My weight was up a bit this morning. But I pretty much expected it. We went out to dinner with mom and dad last night. And while I ate sensibly there, I did come home and sample (ok, I ate) one of the chocolate muffins that I made for my husband (at his request). That pushed me over my points for the day. So it pushed me from 177.2 to 178.4 Not a big deal...I'll get it back off...no problems.

This morning I got up early and read a bit in bed. I then headed to town and ran into Lowes to get one or two things for Todd and then into the grocery store. I brought everything home and I spent the time washing, chopping, slicing and separating everything. My salad 'mix' that I create is ready for me this week. My fruits are washed and in some cases sliced. I made homemade croutons from my low cal high fiber bread. And the ice cream is divied up into the 1/2 containers for this week. I'll admit to tasting the Bryers Cookies and Cream Ice cream. 2 points for 1/2 cup! YUMMY! After everything was put away and the kitchen cleaned.....I headed for the exercise bike. Gotta get in my ride! Shortly I'll be heading to eat my lunch....a salad! YUMMY!

Hopefully I'll be able to get some work done around the house outside this afternoon!

Saturday Ramblings

177.2 This morning I've once again hit uncharted territory in my weight loss journey. Yes, 177.2 is the lowest I have ever been since I was a teen...or whenever I hit that weight on the way up.



I'm pretty tickled about my weight this morning. However, I can't get too excited. Why you say? Well, because I feel miserable! I woke up in the middle of the night not feeling well. And this morning when the alarm went off I all of a sudden realized the most probable reason why my body has been craving sleep so much. It's been fighting off getting sick. And apparently last night, it gave it up. Right now my main complaint is that my throat hurts like a demon. I feel washed out and just out of it...I can deal with that though. I have no congestion of anything like that. We'll see how this shakes out. I just don't have time to be sick! Not this week.....tee hee hee...like I have a choice of when I get sick.



Even not feeling well this morning, I got on the bike. As I got on I made a conscious decision to ride and not worry about the odometer or whatever. I just wanted to get "something" in on the exercise log. My first thought was back to April when I had a sinus issue.....I stopped exercising that week. I don't want to do that. So I decided that even if I do light rides or light workouts that I would be happy with myself. SO I rode for 27 minutes. I was actually shocked, because I assumed it would be about 4-5 miles. I actually knocked out 6.89 miles in that 27 minutes. Not my normal pace...but definitely nothing to sneeze at.



Well, I work this morning. After work I'm coming home and hopefully I'll be able to get the porch painting finished this afternoon. Todd has a friend that will be over here helping him wiht the insulation under the house today. So I'll have to run and pick up lunch for them before I can start working myself. And no...as tempting as it will be to pick myself up a sub when I pick up theirs, I have already written down my lunch foods into my journal and I'm planning on sticking with it. I'll be eating mostly fruits and veggies for lunch :-)

A while back I was looking at biking events and such. I talked to Todd and with everything that's going on this year, I knew that I didn't have the time to train for one this year. But there are some out there that I SOOO badly want to do. The Covered Bridges ride looked like something I would LOVE. Not to mention the fall ride in Staunton, VA. BUT, yesterday I was introduced to a different kind of ride. It's not a race.....but it raises money for a really good cause....cancer. Which many people in my family has battled, and some has lost the battle (go dad....cancer free now for 9 years!) The 24 hours of Booty sounds SOOO interesting. Basically you go to this event and they have a track/path/route set aside, no traffic in which you ride for 24 hours. You are not required to ride the complete 24 hours, you ride what you want to ride..and what you can ride. I'm really tempted to ride in it this year....even though it will be a bit close for me to get my fundraising done in time. I've already run it by a co-worker (my manager) and she seemed interested in getting a team together for next years ride. (that way we can get our employer involved as a sponsor for our team!) I may go for it myself this year...however I need to get my bike fixed...I'm having a problem with one tier of gears. It's been on my list of stuff to do, I just haven't gotten around to it...and meanwhile, when I ride that bike, I just ride without that tier of gears. LOL Makes me work harder..tee hee hee Actually, if I'd start to do these rides, I'd have to invest in a road bike. My hybrid would be ok, but a road bike would be better. :-) Ahhh expensive hobbies. Well...maybe not...my hybrid is now 7 years old......and still going strong except for that gear issue (and that gear issue is because I was stopped on a trail at one point and my dearest husband ran into me and bent up my rerailer...yeah, I just need a new rerailer).

Oh well......I'm going to keep myself on my pace of training and see what happens! :-)

Drastic drop

WOO HOOOO! Man, I knew that sodium could wreak havoc...and I knew that the ick did the same thing...both in the name of water retention. BUT I've never been stupid enough to pair the two together. Until last weekend! Well, in defense of myself, I wasn't expecting the ick for another week. But, woah, my weight jumped up about 3 pounds! ANd nothing I could do would get it down. I admit that during that time I did snack a bit more than normal. BUT nothing out of control....and still right around my point range (using maybe one or two flex points per day). SOOOO this morning when I stepped on the scales and that weight was just magically GONE! Whew, what a relief! There is nothing more troubling than seeing your weight jump.

Morning ride is in....16.1 miles. I've been quite productive since my ride. I've sat and entered foods onto the fitday program. With my points that I currently get with weight watchers, I'm eating about 1300 calories. That is good. I'm happy with that. I'm curious though....because weight watchers will keep having me drop my points and I know that everything I've ever read says do not go below 1200 calories. So I want to keep a close eye on that! I've also sat down and created my menu for next weeks meals. I've checked the cabinets for what we have and made up the grocery list. AND while looking to see what we had, I cleaned and organized the cupboards! And I've still got an hour before I need to leave for work! WOO HOOOO!

On to other news. Todd told me last night that he went ahead and called the non-emergency police number yesterday. WHen I asked why, I flipped out! Turns out that he has been receiving calls from a guy that is insisting that Todd work with him. Now number one, he doesn't work with the type of music that this guy is into, for two reasons....one he doesn't like that style and secondly the typical musicians in stereotypically in the genre are very disrespectful and just out of control. So he has turned the guy down and actually referred him to a recording studio that actually does work with that style of music. Well this guy has continued to insist and badger and apparently yesterday it came down to death threats!! WHAT????? Someone has made death threats against my husband????? They actually made some of the threats via email. Our only recourse at this time.....print the emails and notate everything and get it up to the police station to have on file in case this guy does something. OHhh yeah, I feel comforted! Yes, I know that most likely this kid (he is in his late teens early 20's) is blowing smoke and just threatening. However, there is no way to know for sure! Yeah, I"m not comforted. Ahhh life....isn't it grand?????

STarting the downward thrust!

Well....at least my weight went down a little bit this morning. It WAS 181.6. Today it was 181.4. I've been a very good girl thus far today. In fact, I still have about 2 points left for my day...and it's 7:30...so as long as I can chew away on my gum (to keep me from wanting to actually eat food), I'll be good as gold! WOO HOO. Lets hope that the scales show something positive tomorrow!



Last night Todd and I were watching tv together, laying on the couch. We both fell asleep at around 7:30 to 8 PM. Todd woke me up at 9 so that we could go to bed. I stumbled to the bedroom and fell back asleep. I slept straight through until the alarm went off at 6AM. That is a LONG night's sleep. I got up and I got mad at myself because I should have set the alarm for 5:30.....because today was a long ride. I decided to go ahead with the longer ride and just make up the time difference in my morning preparations for work. SO, I took a shorter shower.....left my hair just a bit damper, rushed my breakfast along....and did my longer ride! Yeah me!!!!!!! I may try to jump on the exercise tonight.

Ok, exercising tonight isn't an option anylonger. As I was typing earlier, I heard a beep. My parents stopped by for a visit. Ok, I live out in the country..there is not 'stopping by' they drove down specifically to see me. SO it was a nice little visit. But now it's 9:30....so I'll be honest and say that exercise is a no go for me tonight. But hey, I rode this morning! WOO HOOO!

My job is starting to bore me to tears. The only reason I'm still ok at the job at this point is the fact that I can surf the internet, write, and read books all day! Why can I not find a job that I adore???

A synopsis of my downward spiral

You know, I made it through Hershey Park with flying colors. I headed into the weekend strong...and on Saturday I ate foods REALLy high in sodium. My weight jumped. I was like, "I know why" so I wasn't really worried. Then Todd made plans to eat with friends at a CHINESE restaurant on Sunday....MORe sodium. (oh yeah, we worked outside a lot on Saturday and Sunday...hard to stay hydrated ANYWAY). Well...of course Chinese is a food that just doesn't stick to my bones. So even though I had no points left...by 6:30 (we had eaten at like 4) I was STARVING! I ate and ate! Oh, I had a PB&J, some pretzels, a hundred calorie pack, a pudding cup, ohhh and a little bit of ice cream. Oh yeah, and the ick hit the same day! (A week early...what's up with this every three week thing???? I don't like it!) Since Sunday evening I've struggled with eating. I haven't done too badly. I've stayed relatively 'close' to my points. I've had one or two over each day. (yeah, those flex points are supposed to be there for such occaisions...but I don't lose if I eat them...sucks to be me!) So my weight is UP UP UP! I didn't go to my weigh in this week........probably because I would have not been considered 'maintaining'.

This week....STRESS city. On Monday, todd had a front tire blow out on his car. Ended up buying 4 new tires. Then his pump on his coolant in his computer (basically his computer is cooled with antifreeze instead of fans) blew up....there goes another $100 (actually probably more when all said and done). AND last night we went out to work trying to get ready for our 4th of July party (actually it's on the 5th).....SOMETHING crawled under the house (in the crawlspace) and died! We started looking for it at 6AM this morning....and we ended up and had to call in a professional! $100 bucks more to find this HUGE cat and drag it away! What else??????