Recovery

I'm not feeling too hopeful for this weeks weigh in.   I believe last week I was on a "sick low" when I weighed in.   A weigh in skewed by fever!   I know that toward the end of the week I was about 2 pounds higher.  I'm still tickled with that weight though....it's lower than it has been!    

So how could I label last week?    Lots of different ways.  Different titles for last week could include:

Continually Tired

Never Ending Cough

Come again...and again....and again fever

I miss that Man

I think I can....make it through a work day

Keeping the Pharmaceutical Companies afloat

Yes, that was one nasty bug that I somehow contracted!  Last week was LONG.   I was tired, exhausted really.  I slept long hours but that cough and fever knocked me for a loop.   The medicine just didn't seem to help.....and I tried different concoctions and potions.  I'm like my own little pharmacy.  (I'm still taking Mucinex D trying to keep the chest congestion from settling into Bronchitis or Pneumonia......is that even possible?) 

I did make it to work after a day or two, but those first days back were a example of willpower as I struggled to make it through the workday.  

The worst part of the week?  Jason and I were both sick....apart from each other and that made the week seem SOOO long to not see him!

So I did make it through the week of being sick. (Love sick too since I couldn't see my sweetheart! ha ha ha)

The victory for being sick??????  I tracked ALL of my food!   Every bite!  Every morsel!  EVERYTHING!   

The weekend FINALLY Arrived.  And luckily, I wasn't feeling 'too bad' on Friday.   But I still took it easy!  There is no way that I want this illness to rear it's ugly head again!

Jason and I hooked up on Saturday early afternoon and headed down to Rockville.   The reason?    After the hike the previous weekend, I knew I was going to be investing in new hiking boots.  Rockville is the location of the closest REI store.   I tried on pair after pair of boots.  I could FEEL my feet slipping in the shoes.  One pair were so heavy I felt like I had lead weights on my feet! 

 I finally did settle on a pair.   I settled on a pair of Salomon hiking boots. I was originally looking at a pair of mid ankle boots....but ended up going with more of a backpacking boot....with a higher ankle support.  It feels good on my ankles (that roll quite frequently) and it helps keep my feet more firmly strapped up in the shoe....more secure and more support.  

Jason and I made our way back to Hagerstown and we parted company relatively early...we each had family functions/dinners that we wanted to attend.

On Sunday I lounged around a bit in the morning, I hit up Panera Bread with my parents, Brother and nephews for lunch and then Jason and I headed out together.   I had put on my new hiking boots when I left the house. I know that the more I wear them, the better it will be when I actually hit a trail.  Jason and I are both still recovering though, so we went to the City park to simply walk.  It was perfect...nothing too strenuous but still a bit active.   We circled the park a few times and managed to rack up 5 miles.   

I also managed to pick up a geocache that I had for some reason never gotten at the park.

And I saw the wonderful texture of this box along the railroad track.   

So the verdict on the new boots????????    My heels feel WONDERFUL!   (thus far at least)   The sides of my feet have some hot spots and slight bistering though!   (Really??????   GRRRRR   Jason says it just proves how unique I really am!!!!  ha ha ha) I am hoping that it is just a 'breaking in of the boots' feeling and that my feet will toughen up and all will be well.  The hot spots are kinda where this picture is marked....

If not.....back to REI I will go and we will try another pair of boots.  No biggie (that's partly why I purchased them at  REI.....because of their wonderful no question asked return policy!)

So that brings me to Monday.  Back to the grind!    What are my plans and goals for the week ahead of me????

1.  RUN

       I plan on attempting to run at least 2-3 miles on Tuesday and Thursday morning.   I have 3.5 weeks until            the Cooper River Bridge Run......I am TOTALLY not trained and ready for this....but I have 3.5 weeks!  

     I was running 2-3 miles the weeks before I blistered up.....so if I can run 3 miles a few times this week, I             SHOULD be able to add one mile each week and be ready to run 6....or at least interval run 6 on April 2!

2.  TRACK (my food)!    

 

     Ok, not even just track my food...but keep my caloric intake as close to the goal of 1200 calories.

3.  HIKE 

      On Wednesday I get off work at noon.   I have plans for right after work, but I am hoping to get out at some       point to get a hike in.  (Might I also mention that the weather is supposed to be in the 70's on Wednesday!)

4.  WATER 

      Drink drink drink!

Weekly weigh in

Wow....Lets just say that this week has been NUTS.

Wednesday I made it to work.....but I have to be honest and say that I probably SHOULD have stayed home.  It was a ROUGH day to get through.  My head was HEAVY and in fairness, thank heavens it was a SLOW day because I rested my head quite a bit. 

I DID weigh myself though in the morning.   Are you ready?     I weighed in yesterday at 225.8.   That is a 6 pound loss!   Go me!

I'm cautious about celebrating.  I have been sick.  Not puking sick though...and I have eaten.  With the exception of one day (Tuesday) I have actually eaten right at my caloric goals.  I've been spot on...accidentally it almost seems.  I ate what I wanted... and put my food into my tracker each evening and surprisingly, my food intake has remained right at my goal.  GO ME!!!

So 6 pounds lost!   Thank you Jason....hiking 3-4 miles up a mountain and then 3-4 miles back down a mountain apparently did the trick.  And the difference this week?  I didn't come home and screw it all up by eating like a starving pig!

Jason has told me that if we can hike religiously on the weekends that the weight will drop.   I think he is right! 

Meanwhile....I have less than one month before the Cooper River Bridge Run.  That is a 10K on April 2.   I had been starting to run again.  But then missed last week due to those massive blisters.   This week I can barely walk, let alone run.   I'm starting to get nervous!!!!

Oh heavens....if I can hike AND run 2-3 times a week imagine how healthy I will be!!!!!

We talked quite a long time this past weekend about hiking and fitness and eating healthy.   We are both in our forties. He talks about being out of shape.  I'm DEFINITELY out of shape and need some fine tuning (aka to lose weight).    The best motivator?  Our age.   I don't want to be bedridden at age 60 or 70  or even 80.  I want to be the 70 year old that is running marathons, teaching zumba classes (like the amazing zumba instructor Anita that I have talked about so many times), competing in triathlons and thru hiking the Appalachian trail.  Not that I WILL do any of those things.  But I want to have the OPTION to do them.  I want to be fit enough to enjoy my life to the bitter end.    Jason talks about running into a trail runner a while back on a hike.  He stopped to chat with this man....who was 70 years old and running a mountain trail....UPHILL.    Jason said "I hope I'm like you when I'm your age'  and the guys comment was 'Start now and you will be"    

Now is the time!   

(And just for the record...the scales dropped again this morning!!!)

Catching up

Where to begin!!!!!  I guess I'll just start where I left off.....which was Friday morning.  

Friday Jason and I decided on driving a few hours south and exploring Douthat State Park.   It looked gorgeous.  I looked for hotels and we decided to stay in Staunton, VA and just drive the extra hour to the state park to hike.  (the park is kinda in the middle of nowhere...but well worth it!).   We actually made plans to be off of work on Monday also.  Plans were made and we were both excited.

Friday afternoon and evening I was hungry as a bear that just woke up after a long winter of hibernation!  And sadly enough I indulged.  :(

That night I slept HORRIBLY.  My chest was hurting...I wasn't sure if it was indigestion because I ate so poorly or some kind of chest congestion. I woke up tired as all get out.  I had little or no voice and the sinus pressure in my head was incredible.  No worries...sinus problems.  I trucked through the few hours of work and then we headed out for our weekend!  By the time we got the few hours south to Staunton, I was running a pretty nice fever.  (No, I do not know what it was....I know I couldn't get warm and Jason later told me that I was radiating heat  ha ha ha)   I still didn't feel too bad...a bit congested...just tired and feverish. We checked into the hotel and I dozed on and off all through the evening.  (This guy really is a keeper because he took this all in stride....calmly amused himself while I slept and talked and kept me company when I was awake....and tucked me in when I drifted off again)  Finally at about 8PM I fell asleep for good and slept until 8 in the morning.  I woke up and other than a tightness in my chest and some phlegmy coughing I felt fine.  I judged where I was physically and decided that I could hike.  Off we went.

I smeared a thick layer of vaseline on my blistery heels.  I covered that with a square of gauze bandage and then affixed that to my body with duct tape.  I wore a thin pair of socks over that....and when we got to the trailhead, I added a nice thick pair of socks over that before donning my hiking boots.

We hiked about 6-7 miles.  Half of it uphill and the other half downhill.   When the tail got more strenuous and challenging we decided to turn around.  It was a good call.  I was feeling my heels and my body was getting tired.

 We went down to the lack and looked across at the mountain thad we had just been on. Very cool.

And then we moseyed our way back to the hotel to rest up for another day!

We got back to the car and I was immediately made to strip off my boots and my extra socks and Jason visually inspected my feet.  They were hurting....but I did no more damage.  I will DEFINITELY be buying new boots in the next week or two though!

On Monday we awoke and we were both feeling sluggish.  So we spent some time in Staunton.  I have always loved the old building that used to be an insane asylum.    So we went over that we and hiked a local trail there...and then yes....moseyed up around the building to grab some pictures.

This is the DeJarnette Insane Asylum built in the 1930's

Sadly this building will probably be torn down....the owners I believe are hoping it falls down.  I was told it's all cinder block construction and basically 'jail cells' so it would be way too costly to save.

We left the DeJarnette Center and we were heading to the historic downtown area when we passed the old Western State Lunatic Asylum. Yup, we had to stop here and visit that one also. These two asylums worked in tandem for the first part of their lives.

Look at these wrought iron rails!!!!

Luckily, they are slowly turning these old buildings into condominiums.  It looked as if they had two of they buildings completed with people living in them....and one more being worked on.  HOpefully someday they will have totally remodeled and saved all of these gorgeous buildings!

At this time we started homeward.  We thought it would be fun to take route 11 north instead of the interstate.  Wow...that most than doubles the drive time.  But it was pretty...it was definitely more fun.  We even got to stop at a covered bridge where I was able to pick up  a cool geocache there also!  

By the time I got home I was exhausted and collapsed on the couch.  I had made sure I got home in time so that I could accept an invitation to go to dinner with my brothers family.   I couldn't make that.  By the time I hit my bed (which was EARLY)  I was feeling quite ill!   

Yes, the chickens came home to roost....I should have taken it easy this weekend after being sick on Saturday.  I didn't and now I'm paying the price of being sick again!   And what's worse?????   I feel horrible because I have infected Jason.    He has texted me that he is running a fever and is coughing up a lung now also.

So this morning I grabbed a slice of toast and then thought about weighing myself.  I normally do NOT eat before weighing in...but I did today. And I am showing a FABULOUS loss for this week. Lets see if I can hold it until the official weigh in tomorrow morning!

Bring it on!!!

The good news?   I had that weigh in on Wednesday for my I Pity the Fool Challenge.   I walked into the bathroom and went to weigh myself the next morning.  THIS time I had my glasses on.   I noticed that the scales were cockeyed on the tile floor.  I learned long ago that my digital scales don't handle the fluctuations of an uneven floor and the tile floors in the bathroom where I am currently living is notoriously horrible.  I can move the scales from one tile to the next and my weight can fluctuate by POUNDS.  I'm not talking about ounces...POUNDS.   So when I actually looked at the scales while wearing glasses it didn't take me long to notice that the scales were NOT in their proper location.....I weighed myself without moving the scales and my weight was the same as Wednesday.  I moved the scales back to their rightful spot and voila....my weight was the same as it had been on Monday (and the week previously)  WHEW!!!!!

I know, I know....the scales shouldn't rule me.  And I'll say that they don't rule me.....I don't base my life off of them.  I use them as a guide for how I'm doing.

  

My eating hasn't been too bad since the rough day of Snack food on Tuesday.  I've managed to keep my caloric budget in check.   And I've done it honestly!!!  Hahaha

The blisters?  The one foot is fine (the skin is tender but it doesn't hurt at all) ...the other one still hurts a bit.  The weather is supposed to be fantastic this weekend.  The weekend plan?  More hiking.  Not sure where yet...but I'm sure I'll be sharing pictures next week.  What is the plan with the blisters?  I've been keeping it cleaned (hydrogen peroxide) and creamed (Neosporin) and covered (band aid during the day....either sock or aired at night when I'm home).   For the weekend?   Slathering the area with Vaseline, covering it with a gauze pad and taping that on with duct tape.   A thin pair of socks over that and then my normal socks over that.  On both feet.  And then bring on the trail.  

Jason has vowed to inspect my feet to make sure I am not hiding any new or worsening blisters on my feet after each day of hiking.   ha ha ha.  I TOLD him last weekend on the first day that I had picked up some blisters.  He knew that I had covered them  to protect them for day two of hiking......but he didn't know how bad they really were.  Ha ha ha ha  His words were "I followed you on the trail at times  and you didn't limp or walk with a weird gait or anything...I had no clue!"     Yeah, that stunt of mine will only work once I think!   He's got my number now!

A Vicious Fight

I fell and I fell hard yesterday.   It started in the morning at work.   I was hungry....and I knew I had those pesky cheddar pretzel bites in my drawer at work.   Well....they are gone now at least!!!!   

Junk food 1

MaryFran 0

The afternoon rolled around.   I had eaten my lunch but it hadn't hit the spot.    Or maybe I was bored...I don't know.  All I know is that I headed to the snack cabinet at work.  I opened the doors and I peered in.    Why yes...cheese puffs sound delightful!

Junk food 2

MaryFran 0

After I ate those cheese puffs I sat there thinking about the BBQ chips on the cabinet.  Oh yes...I could hear them calling my name!!!!  I caved!

Junk food 3

MaryFran 0

Come on now...all that salty food.  I was drinking water but I wanted ...no I NEEDED something sweet.    I looked over at the counter and there lay a bag of Cadbury Eggs. 

Junk food 4

MaryFran 0

It wasn't pretty.  I'm not proud.   I know I have to clean it up if I want to lose this weight.

I DID order a salad for late dinner. So I guess I ended my day at...

Junk Food 4

MaryFran 1

I was talking to Jason and jokingly told him that he needs to stop me from eating junk food and bad food.    He immediately almost reared back at the suggestion and said 'no way!   I am not falling into that role.  I'm no Hitler and I do not agree with a Nazi regime'.   (Smart boy!)  we laughed some about how in the world he would keep me from eating junk...outlandish ideas that had us cracking up.      But the end result was the same as it has always been for me......this is MY battle to overcome.  He made it clear that he will support me 100% and has reminded me on many occasions that the weight will fall the more long hikes we do.   So he's in my corner...but it is totally MY battle to fight!!!!

So my weekly weigh in....not good.   I glanced at it in disgust and then walked away...and honestly I can't remember the exact numbers......but let's just say a pound or two....I'm not going to dwell on it....I DID fight a battle with salty foods yesterday...and lost.  

My one heel is feeling good...the other blistery heel still aches.   So I haven't been running either!   Grrrrr

Sixteen

Well.....it's been a while.  (just shy of a week)  Let me go back to where I last wrote and start from there.  In my last blog entry I weighed in and talked about my slow start to my "I Pity the Fool Challenge"   I didn't come right out and say it, but I totally implied that I would be shaping up and knuckling down to actually show a loss and get this challenge moving.   Yup...that was the plan.

Plans Shmans!!!

Ok, so it didn't work out that way.  I ate.  I was hungry as all get out.   I couldn't stop eating.   I think part of it is that I let myself get hungry (beyond hungry) and then I just gorged on food.  Not a good method.  Although the Fried cheese bites were tasty, the tater tots were fresh out of the fryer, and the.........I just better stop right now!

By Friday/Saturday morning I was absolutely petrified to weigh myself!  I felt bloated and icky.  In my mind I was SURE that I had gained sixteen pounds in the few days since I had last weighed in.  I was too afraid to check....so I just moved on and VOWED to not eat junk food over the weekend!  I figured next Wednesdays weigh in would be time enough to face the music!

So we move on to the weekend. 

It was my Saturday to not work in the morning so we were able to get an earlier start to the fun.   What fun did we have planned?   The weather was forecasted to be GORGEOUS.  Like REALLY pretty.  (The weekend before we had dealt with temps in the teens as a high....this weekend they were calling for 60 degrees!).   We decided to go hiking at Mason Neck State Park in Lorton, VA.   This is part of a nature preserve (and borders more preserve land)   The weather was just what they called for, fabulous!   Some of the trails were in great shape...some were a bit muddy.   Not an issue.  We were wearing water proof hiking boots.  We didn't go into the visitor center....and instead opted to try to hit as many of the trails as possible in the time we had. 

We managed to hit up almost all of the trails!  A bit shy of 10 miles of hiking.  WOO HOOO  

Through the woods and by the bay....it was all pretty.

Through wetlands too...

We were at the tail end of the day.  We were both getting tired.  I was starting to feel some hot spots on my heels from my hiking boots but we decided to push onward  to take the Eagle Spur trail another one of their out and back hikes.  What a DELIGHT!   We had went out to one of the other bird blinds and checked that out.....but we figured a bird blind/observation point on a trail named the Eagle Spur Trail HAD to be a good bet.  Ohhhhh was it ever.  It was the most serene and beautiful spot!    (Yes, we saw some eagles....and YES, I WILL be returning with my good cameras instead of a simple no frills cell phone!!)

By the time we got back to the car it was right at sunset.  We decided to go to the bay to watch the sunset.  More beauty!

How was my food on Saturday?   I had an English Muffin for breakfast.  For lunch I had a Kind bar and a block of Cheddar cheese.   After hiking for a few hours we hit dinner HUNGRY.  I had about 4 hot buffalo wings, a slice of pizza and a 1/4 of a stromboli.   My calorie Count for the day.... 1397 calories eaten.....rough estimate of calories expended through hiking?  1337.  There ya go.   I was wiped out and I slept like a log!

Sunday was still warm but it was overcast.  We pondered our choices....and had settled on trying to find mostly indoor activities but I had found a park near us that offered a 1/2 mile boardwalk hike.  I kept it in the back of my head because I knew that if it was only drizzly that we could do that just to stretch our muscles after the previous days hike.   We got in the car and it looked like any kind of outdoor hike would be a bust (yeah, better rain gear may be on my list of future expenditures!).    A mile or so down the road the rain stopped.  YAY!   I threw out the idea of this short boardwalk hike.   Jason jumped at it.  So off we headed to Huntley Meadows Park.    What a great little discovery!!!!    The boardwalk took us right through the wetland preserve. 

Love seeing all the beaver dams!!!

When we stepped off the boardwalk we were walking through a nice tree cover (well, it would be nice tree cover were it a season that had leaves on the trees!). 

  

So much interesting fungus and  mushrooms

This was a wonderful hike.  We were able to link some of the trails together to pick up just over three miles on the one series of trails (the other series of trails were not interconnected and we didn't go over there on this trip).  It was pretty enough that we traversed this same path a second time and we vowed to hit up this park three more times...at least (it is about 2 hours away from home).   Why three more times?   There are three more seasons that we want to experience at this park!   The grand total for day two?   Just over 6 miles!

Sundays food?   Not as good   I ate 1530 Calories and expended about 689 calories.  I actually picked up mixed fruit and had a banana instead of junk food when we stopped!   Soooo proud of myself on that one!!!!

16 miles in two days.......and two pretty decent eating days........ I faced the music on the scales.   I am almost exactly the same as I was last week (within 2/10ths of a pound!)

My feet are TORN up.  I've been wearing these boots on almost weekly hikes for the past almost three months....but this weekend tore up my heels.  BAD.  (Day two they were covered and protected and I pushed on....ha ha ha...I just didn't tell Jason how bad they were until AFTER we were done day two of hiking otherwise he would have put his foot down and we would have missed the beauty of Huntley Meadows Park!!)   

Soooo....the question remains....do I hope that my feet and the shoes have reached an understanding?  Or do I go buy new boots.  I have had a few slight blisters as I started to wear these boots...they ARE leather so they do take a while to break in.    However, I like shoes....new boots for hiking may be the most fun option!  :-)  (and i would continue to wear these....on SHORTER hikes..as the blisters didn't kick in until about mile 6.....and just general use as they ARE comfy!)  ahhh  decisions decisions decisions..... 

I Hate It!!

Have I mentioned on this blog that I absolutely HATE running on the treadmill?  

I woke up this morning and I knew what I had to do.  I knew that I needed to get to the gym to run.  The only way I would forego the gym?   If the weather was bad.  I looked at my weather app on my phone.  I don't know if I should call what I felt upon seeing the report  disappointment or excitement.  Yeah, the weather was clear enough for me to travel to the gym.   Off I went.

Have I mentioned that I absolutely HATE running on the treadmill?

The sidewalks and roads were a bit slick with a fine sheen of ice.  I didn't have any issue driving, but it was treacherous to get to and from my car!  And while I may or may not HATE running on the treadmill, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that running on the treadmill was definitely the best choice for the morning.   

You see, I have plans.  I have a 10K that I am registered to run.  It is the Cooper River Bridge Run......I did this one last year and ended up walking it.  I vowed to return and run it.  So I am a girl on a mission!   So in foul weather treadmills are kinda necessary.  I have reconciled myself to doing it....and have even tried to turn it into a way to better myself!  

I made it though and I pushed out two miles.  Nothing extraordinary.  I SHOULD have gone longer.  I was aiming for anywhere between 2 and 3 miles, so I am OK with hitting the two mile mark.  I did it in my overall average pace.  HOWEVER, I am happy to say that I did it while doing intervals.  I would walk a song...and then run a song.   So how did I manage to do this run in the same (a few seconds better a mile) pace as my typical run/jog  pace?   I cranked up the speed on my run segments.  Not so much that I thought I was going to die....but enough that I felt it.   I also walked at just a hair below a run...so a fast walk.  So a shorter run, but one in which I pushed in order to better myself. 

As I drove home I went down some of the roads that I typically run when I'm outside.  Ahhhh I want to run outside!   (Because Yeah, in case you didn't catch on....I hate running on the treadmill)   I am sooo looking forward to a pleasant outdoor run!   I was scooping out the sidewalks and alleys and I could see the slick ice and chunks of icy snow dotting the paths that I like to run.  Ahhhh sooon.....so soon!  (and then I will lament that my membership at the gym is costing me money and I'm not using it....as I run by the gym on my glorious outdoor runs!)

That said....I KNOW that I need to start using the gym for more than a place to go and run a few miles on the treadmill.  I KNOW that I should be utilizing the classes......and the other equipment..... I should be doing some toning too!    Yeah, I'll get right on that!

So today was my weigh/reporting day for my Pity The Fool challenge.  I didn't start out as strongly as I was planning and hoping.  I didn't gain...so that is a victory.   I DID actually lose.......2/10ths of a pound.  Yes, I dropped to 231.6 pounds.    Not looking at it as a failure......just a slow start!

My plans for the week ahead of me?   I plan on running tomorrow....yeah, probably the treadmill again. (Have I mentioned that I hate the treadmill?)  This weekend the weather is supposed to be FANTASTIC and Jason has already talked about getting outside and doing something!  YAY.  So that will be activity.     I will get to wear my new water resistant/quick drying pants. (May even get some benefits from the sunshade properties to protect my skin from the suns damaging but oh so good feeling rays!)  That will be a bonus because some of these other hikes have been 'WET'  as my pants soak up the water and NEVER dry during the hike.

Noooooooo

Noooooo!!!  The weekend can't be over yet!   I just don't think this is kosher!!!!   The weekend can't be over yet can it!    

Yeah yeah yeah...I had off today (Monday...presidents day) so it was already a long weekend!

It was a good one!   I did fairly well with eating until this evening when I was hungry and kinda went off the rails!!   

I did splurge and I had quite a few chocolate covered strawberries....part of my Valentine's Day gift.   But seriously....it's strawberries!  That doesn't count as bad does it?  Shush....don't think about the chocolate....that is totally unimportant!!!  

Let's see...the weekend.   I did get some time in on the treadmill.  Only a mile...but hey that's better than nothing!

We did the audio tour of Manasses battlefield (the second battle tour).   Yeah the audio tour for this battle was way lack luster and disappointing...the other ones we have done have been great!  But oh well...you win some you lose some!!

It was cold...only got one picture of the battlefield.  Oops

We got some snow...which turned the hour and a half drive home into...ohhh....5 hours.  Nothing major.   Ha.   I wanted to get a picture of the snow but I was focused on driving!

Weight wise?   We shall see!   In the middle of the snow and before I went home I did stop and stocked up on some  fruits and veggies....I was craving them!!! So I am set for the week...kinda!  :-)

Why

Oh yeah, my Chinese lunch was DELICIOUS yesterday.  The conversation with my friend was even better!  It was a perfect lunch!   

My weight on the scales though?   Not so perfect.  I was up by about a pound and a half.   At least I know why.  Chinese food is a bit high in sodium so I'm sure it is a water retention issue.  Yes, I'm pounding the water today!

So my self mini "I Pity the Fool"  Challenge is being joined by some friends and some readers.  There is nothing to the challenge...other than just focus on the short term goal of April Fools Day.  Focus on that short term time frame and create a nice doable goal (no more than 14 pounds because anything more than 2 pounds a week isn't exactly recommended!)!   Well, for those actually 'playing along' they will be hearing me babble about progress and what is happening....and of course the weekly reminders when I have my weigh in!   

One of my friends asked what my plan of attack was going to be for this challenge.  I am going back to the basics.  Calories in versus Calories out.   Plain and simple.  I have a set amount of calories....I eat those calories and when they are gone...I am done eating, even if I run out of calories at 11 in the morning.     And by golly, if I run out of calories at 11AM, I sure as heck better exercise to earn something  small for dinner.    

Strict tracking and calorie counting!!!

Chocolate can be part of the plan......but I have to work it into my plan!!!!

Exercising will be part of the basic and simple plan.  The earned calories will give me a bit of peace as I don't plan on being a Nazi about remaining at exactly the caloric goal.  But I will be a little more loose on days I exercise.....by maybe a 100 calories or so.  I don't want to actually eat my earned exercise calories...I just want to have them in the can so that I don't have to worry so much about measuring out every nibble of food I eat. 

The other thing that came up was that I somehow started to think about the reasons that I want this.  What will losing the weight mean for me.......

1.  Awesome clothes from ANY store

2.  Energy....amazing energy

3.  Sense of pride and accomplishment

4.  Smoking hot body

5.  Health....I want to live

6.  I want to be active and not have my weight hold me back

What other reasons are out there?   Tons more I know!!!!

I pity the fool challenge

Well.....here we are at the end of the Love Bites Challenge.   That was a seven week challenge that began at Christmas.   I can happily say that I have lost during the Love Bites Challenge.    I weighed in at 231.8   A whole whopping 2.2 pounds lost.    Hey, it's better than none!   So I was about 11.8 pounds shy of reaching my goal.    I refuse to look at this last challenge as a failure!  A failure would have been if I had GAINED weight.  (and let me tell you....I don't know how I didn't at some points!)

So up next?   The "I ain't no fool"  challenge.   Yes, I struggle using the word ain't.  It's never been a vocabulary word that I found acceptable.  "Ain't ain't a word and I ain't gonna use it!"   The other week I lightly called this next challenge the Foolish Fat Against Fat challenge.     That was just a mouthful and I didn't like it.   Maybe I should make it the "I Pity The Fool"    (if your old enough to remember the TV show A-Team, you will totally get the reference!).    Hmmm...that could be more fun....

Sooooo  "I Pity the Fool"  challenge.   Starts this week....runs the seven weeks until the weigh in before April Fools!  (yeah, makes sense now why I have the fools thing in there doesn't it!).   7 weeks.....14 pounds!   That will put me at 217.8 pounds.  Totally doable!    (hmmm...and that said...if I can make it to 217.8 by April Fools.....the next 'holiday' would be memorial day...and I think that is about 9 weeks after Aprils fools.....9 x 2 is 18 pounds......could I really be at 200 pounds by memorial day????   Holy cow, YES!   My word...and then i would simply be 20 pounds from my lowest ever adult weight!!!!).

No fiddling around.  This is it!  My blinders are on....this just got real!   I am eating lunch out with a friend today....and we are eating Chinese.  (Remember the other day I turned down Chinese food...I knew that Terri and I were going out to eat somewhere today.....so when I crossed off my order, I almost immediately texted her to suggest Chinese......and I'm STILL calling it a victory!)  But I will pound the water to counter act the effects of the delicious Chinese food and I will move on with wise choices this evening....can we say lots of fruits and veggies for me tonight!!!!

All things happy.....except for one

Well......I had a few victories today.

The first is kinda not a victory but kinda a victory.   I have a few pairs of pants...in varying sizes.  What size am I?   I have some 18's that are falling off of me (who knows if the zipper works anymore, I don't unzip them but rather just pull them off)  but I also have 18's that are skin tight.  I have 16 womens that fit perfectly.  Really?   So I decided that after work I was going to hit up the outlets.  I was looking for a pair of water repelling/quick dry pants to wear whilst hiking. (I am SOO tired of being wet while I'm hiking!)   I first went into Eddie Bauer.   I tried some on and I liked them...but I wanted to hit up another store or two...specifically Columbia Sportswear.   I ended up buying the ones at Eddie Bauer.  They were a bit pricier than the Columbia ones that I tried on...but they fit me better and had more features.   So what in the world is the victory?   They are tight, but I can TOTALLY fit into the 16's.   Weeee.    Moving along.  (and yes, I know....if I lose 'too' much weight the pants I bought today will be too big and baggy to really wear...I bought them as tight as I felt comfortable with wearing!)

But the even bigger victory?   Today was the Chinese New Year.  Big whoop right??   Nope...they decided to order Chinese for lunch.  They typically order from one place.....and I don't like that place.  But NO...today they ordered from the place that I actually LOVE.   I had my lunch packed and I was ok with the food I had with me to eat.  But that place is SOOO good and I haven't had it in a long time.  I wrote my order down on the order sheet and went to count my money to give to the gal that was going to pick up our food.  Yup....I caved.   But then I started thinking about money.  I am trying to put money aside......and even more importantly....I didn't want to kill my calorie count for today.   SOOOOOOO...I went over and scratched my order off the list.

Yes, I did!

Lets see if this helps me show a bit of a loss for this weeks official weigh in!  One can hope!

So my ankle has been bothering me a bit more today.  This is FRUSTRATING.  I do have it wrapped today...so maybe that will help matters a bit!!!!   Frustrating is all I can say about it though!

Mud bogging

Well here we are, the weekend is rolling to a close.  Again.    Seriously, this really needs to stop happening!  At least I can say that I had a wonderful weekend!  How could it NOT be fabulous....I got to see friends....I got to spend a lot of time with Jason...and I got some hiking in!!!    Lets start with the friends........(not that Jason isn't a friend...but he's a bit more than a friend ha ha ha)

On Saturday morning I had the opportunity to meet up with some friends (gals that I used to work with).  I've got 19-20 years on these girls but we had a wonderful time!    We laughed.  We covered some important topics of conversation (Someone needs to give these girls some advice!!!  ha ha ha), we had breakfast together  and we hit up some stores and did a bit of shopping!   It was just what the doctor ordered and it's amazing how things like this works.  The one gal showed up and we could see that she was just not herself.   By the end of the first hour we could see that the conversation and girl talk had helped her. That's what friends are for! We did shop a little so I got some walking in at the mall....not enough to really count though, even though I'm really tempted to do so!!!!  See, if I do that, I could possibly say that I counter acted the Cinnamon Supreme Sweet and Stuffed Pancakes.  Seriously, I am embarrassed to say that I ordered those things!   They were tasty...but all sweet and totally NOT healthy!   I'm not even going to write down the calorie count....isn't it enough that I put the link in there??  ha ha ha.    The only good thing?  I was soooo full and just not at all hungry the rest of the day that I ate some cheese, some strawberries and a hard pretzel in the evening and I was not hungry the rest of the day.  And yes...I heeded the voices that my body was saying...and that was 'For heavens sake, please don't eat!'

Yeah yeah yeah....it is obvious in the picture, I was drinking diet soda.....I know, it SHOULD have been water!!!!

Jason and I got to spend a fair amount of time together this weekend.  Lots of time relaxing together in nice warm and relaxing places where we could have long conversations.  But we were also able to get two hikes in.

The first hike was at the Martins Mill Bridge and around the park.  We stayed off the hilly trails and walked the road from the bridge down to the actual park area and circled that snow covered area and then went back to the bridge.  We did that loop a few times until the wind knocked us for a loop and we were too cold to continue.  (ok, until we decided to retreat to the car and the warmth.....I"m sure we could have continued if we had wanted to...but 2.56 miles isn't bad!  It wasn't a bad walk...there were areas that were a bit snow but nothing too intense.




We also decided to hike at Balls Bluff Battlefield/Regional park.     Last weekend was the event of the Snow hike...this weekend we had another snow hike but I think I will refer to it as Mud Bogging instead!   The trails there were a LOT more intense.  Yes, there was a lot more ascents and decents on the trail.  But it was the snow that made those up hill intense....snow is slippery...and going up and down a trail on slippery snow is interesting to say the least. (especially the parts of the trail that were on the edge of a drop off!)  The snow was actually NOT the worst part.  The worst part....when we were NOT climbing up or descending a hill, we were walking on the flat riverbank.  That sounds peaceful and serene doesn't it?   Yeah....not when that said river was at flood stage a few days ago.    Walking through a couple inches of mud is.....interesting, fun and DIFFICULT!  Totally different muscles than normal hiking and different muscles than snow hills.   It was  a GREAT workout!     I didn't get any pictures from the trail...but I did get a few pictures of the National Cemetery that is housed in this park and the sight of a Civil War Battle.  This is one of the smallest National Cemeteries in the United States.  It has 25 graves and there are 54 men buried here, all of them unknown but one.  Sobering to think that 53 families (so many more in the Civil war overall I know)  lost sons who were buried with an unknown gravemarker.  All in all.....3.68 miles at Balls Bluff Park!

So a good weekend with some activity

So....it's 7:30.  I'm home.  Showered up (I wasn't exactly cold but I wasn't exactly warm....and I wasn't exactly muddy but I wasn't exactly clean!) and sitting here watching tv.  Nope....not watching the Super Bowl...does that make me un-American?????