lessinayear

This week has been a challenging one, on a lot of levels. I did my weigh-in and, for the first time since joining BuddySlim, I’d gained — boo! I got some test results back from my annual checkup, and there are some issues that are going to require a follow-up visit and some more tests — boo (and a little scary)! Work has been monstrous lately (big special events that require a lot of my time and effort) — boo! My boyfriend’s family’s house was burglarized earlier in the week — boo (and again, scary)!

I actually could go on and on; this week is kind of one for the record books in terms of bad, annoying, and/or upsetting things that have happened.

So how have I responded? Well, I’ve used those things as excuses: excuses not to go to the gym (too tired, don’t feel well, need to work late, need to spend time with boyfriend); excuses to eat too much and drink more than I usually do (but I’m so stressed out…this glass of wine will help, cheese is my comfort food). EXCUSES, EXCUSES, EXCUSES!

I’m frustrated with myself, because I’m better than that. Everyone has bad days (and weeks — hell, months and years, sometimes!). I need to get my act together and not let something bad in one small area of my life affect the rest of my life — or my commitment to myself and my overall health.

It’s just gotten me to thinking — if you’re looking for an excuse, you can always find one. And if you’re looking for a reason to be motivated and dedicated, you can find that too. So, the question is, which one are you looking for?

Well, I did my weekly weigh-in (just never got around to it yesterday) and… BOO! I gained FOUR pounds!

Now, honestly, I had expected to either maintain or gain maybe a pound. I didn’t exercise last week, and I didn’t adjust my eating accordingly. But four pounds?! I mean, it’s not like I was gorging myself on cake every night either!

Part of the issue is undoubtedly “feminine” in nature — later this week it will be “that time of the month,” so it’s entirely possible that I’m a little bloated. I’m taking some solace in that. But I’m also pissed, and I’m getting my fat butt in gear and working out tonight. GRR.

Had a good, but busy, weekend - no real time to get online and blog or check in with anyone. Sorry about that!

Friday night my boyfriend got us tickets to the local minor league baseball team’s game. It was fun, despite the fact that the home team lost big time! But there were fireworks after the game, and the weather was nice. We also were sitting right behind a little boy who had a scorebook and was keeping score of the game and really into it - much like my boyfriend. It always warms my heart a bit to see him engage with kids; what can I say?

Saturday we had a pretty early morning - got up and headed to Chattanooga to have lunch with some friends, but ended up spending the entire afternoon with them. Then we went to my boyfriend’s grandmother’s for a big family cookout shindig, which was actually lots of fun. I’m getting way more comfortable with the fam…

Sunday we tried a new church, then had lunch, and then I gave my boyfriend a massage. We spent the rest of the afternoon kind of lounging/napping. Had planned on going on a walk before dinner, but about the time we were leaving, a HUGE storm rolled in and it rained the rest of the night. So, so much for that plan! We watched movies instead.

Anyway, I am a slacker - I didn’t do my weigh-in yesterday like usual, so I’ll have to do that tonight. I’m 99% sure I’ve gained this past week (BOO!). I was nursing my foot injury (MUCH better now - I’ve gone the past two days without wrapping it, and it seems OK), so I didn’t want to exercise and jack it up more… But I also wasn’t eating great, and I only did weights like twice last week… Totally unacceptable.

I’m loving MJ’s 10-week challenge, though, which has me being daily accountable for food, exercise, and my own “personal challenge,” so I’m optimistic about the next several weeks. I’m also already feeling the morning and evening crunches in my abs - lol!

One bummer on the exercise front… I was SO excited about my six-week yoga class that was starting tonight… But it’s been canceled. I got an e-mail yesterday that enough people didn’t sign up for it, so they aren’t doing it. Big-time bummer. I hope I can find something else similar soon. Sigh…

Anyway, that’s my rundown for now. Will weigh-in tonight (and probably post that lament tomorrow)! Happy Monday, all!

I’m still nursing my wounded foot from the long weekend. It sucks, because I can’t really be on my feet for very long - which is ruling out my cardio at the gym. Boo! I feel sluggish and I want some elliptical action!

Anyway, I’m giving it at least today to hopefully heal up a bit more (I’m still bleeding through the bandages with just normal walking around the office and such), and maybe by tomorrow I can get back in the gym.

At least I’ve eaten pretty well this week. I did indulge with a brownie last night for dessert with friends (my boyfriend and I made dinner for some “couple friends” who have a new baby over at their house, and they provided dessert as a followup to our buffalo salmon, broccoli, and new potatoes - it WAS a tasty dinner!), but otherwise it’s been a pretty moderate week on the food front. The past couple of days I’ve gone out for lunch with a friend and we’ve split a sandwich on both occasions, so I’m really doing a lot better with my portion control issues.

Anyway, other than this hole in my foot, I’m doing well, not a lot to report. Happy mid-week to all!

Hope that everyone had a good Independence Day weekend. Mine was great… Tiring, but really good.

My boyfriend and I both had Friday off work in honor of the 4th, so we slept in and then drove to his hometown to see his family. Had lunch with his grandmother, and made dinner that night for his parents (they’re so impressed with me for teaching him how to cook - lol). Saturday we all headed to their place on the lake for 4th of July festivities: boating, Frisbee, swimming, grilling, drinking, fireworks… The whole deal. It was a lot of fun. Got to hang out with friends and family (there were about 35 of us there at one point) and generally enjoy the day.

Sunday we got up before most everyone else (we were the two sober ones at the party) and took the boat out for a while, which was awesome… Except that I managed to step on something and cut the heck out of my foot. I didn’t really notice when it happened…just that I was bleeding all over the floor of the boat. Oops! Anyway, it’s not awful, but it’s just in a bad spot - right on the ball of my foot, so basically every step I take irritates it. After we got home Sunday afternoon I cleaned it really well and I’ve got it bandaged up… It just sucks because it definitely kept me out of the gym yesterday (don’t think I need any “impact” on it quite yet) and probably will again today. I’m torn between wanting to try it, and wanting to be super-safe about it so I know it’s healed enough for me to start my yoga class next week. Sigh.

Anyway, food wound aside, a great weekend, and this week is off to a decent start. Hope everyone is doing well and having a good one!

I got an e-mail last night about a special six-week Kundalini yoga class being offered by the new yoga studio in town. It’s every Monday from mid-July through mid-August. I just skimmed through it, because I thought it was going to interfere with a couple of trips we have planned, and I wasn’t sure when my fall grad school classes started back, but I thought that might overlap too…

But this morning I pulled out the calendar and took a look… And it works! I can still make all my trips, and grad school doesn’t start back till the week after the yoga class ends. I am SO excited! Kundalini is my favorite style of yoga, and of all the types I’ve done, it’s the style that most made the impact on my body in terms of both how I felt and how I looked.

Anyway, to join the class you have to register and pre-pay, and I did it this morning, as soon as I realized it would work with my schedule. I’m so excited! It doesn’t start till Monday after next (July 13); I can hardly wait! Will let y’all know how it is after I get started.

I set up a challenge for the month of June - an attempt to lose 10 pounds. I set up the challenge mostly because I knew my grad school course, on top of full-time work, on top of personal obligations, was going to make it REALLY hard to stick to a healthy eating or exercise plan. And I was right… But having the challenge kept me accountable, gave me something very concrete to shoot for, and offered me some great support from my challenge buddies (yay team!).

So I just weighed in to see what the June outcome was… And I did NOT lose 10 pounds. During June, I lost five pounds - half the goal.

BUT, you know what? That last pound that I’ve lost since Sunday’s weigh-in (actually half-pound, but I only count in “wholes” and round up when I get the .5 on the scale - lol) puts me at 199. Welcome to Onederland!

I’m very glad to be out of the 200s again. This time for good. I promise y’all. More importantly, I promise myself. I feel really motivated about being down into the 100s, even if I’m just barely there. I can’t wait to wrap up tomorrow’s final class (YIPPEE!) and head to the lake for swimming and skiing and Frisbee and all the other exercise that I’ll get there, as well as some relaxing with my boyfriend, his family, and other friends.

I’m feeling good this afternoon, y’all - hope you all are too!

My grad school class wraps up this week - all I have to do is survive till Thursday night at 8, and I get my summer back!

It’s been a long month; I’m tired. I’m also frustrated with having to be so carefully scheduled to get anything and everything done. The weekend (we’re going to the lake for the 4th) will be a nice jumpstart to some relaxing, I hope.

Along with the relaxing will also be the opportunity to spend more time on exercise and taking better care of myself. That’s also something I’m looking forward to.

So, for now, just a few more days of working, reading, writing papers… And then a long weekend away, some plans with friends next week, and my time being MY time again - yay!

I’ve been a little quiet the past couple of days. No blogs, because I’ve been trying to get my work done for the conclusion of my summer class. THANK GOODNESS it’s over this coming Thursday, July 2. But, less cool is the fact that basically my entire grade in the course comes down to that day — I have to give my in-class presentation that day, as well as turn in a short and a long paper, all at once! So yes, I’ve been stressing. This weekend has been full of homework, and freaking out about homework, and more homework…

Anyway, I got up early this morning to get back to work on my long paper (the biggest source of stress) and decided a Sunday that begins at 6:30 a.m. can’t get much worse…might as well go ahead and weigh-in. I was nervous about this week. I’ve had a couple of maintain weeks in a row that have disappointed, and I didn’t get to the gym toward the end of the week like I’d hoped (partially school and partially an unexpected visit from an out-of-town friend Friday that changed my plans). I also had wine with said friend, so I figured those calories might have messed things up…

But I sucked it up, got on the scale, and… 200! I’m down 2 pounds! (OK, just between us, it was ACTUALLY 199.5, and a big part of me wants to just go with 199, but I’ve been rounding up, so I’m going to keep with that… Just SO CLOSE to the success of Onederland!)

So I was reflecting on how that was the case, and I have a few thoughts. First, one of my personal struggles with weight loss is portion control. If you put it in front of me, I’m GOING to eat it, whether I’m hungry or not, whether I want it or not… I’ve REALLY been working on that. For me, I think that’s almost a bigger deal than exercise — recognizing that if I’m not exercising as much, I don’t need to eat as much… And I DID think about that a lot this past week. I knew, for example, that I wasn’t going to be able to make the gym Wednesday because of some meetings and deadlines at work, so I adjusted my food intake accordingly. Even Friday, when my plans to go to the gym turned into a lunch with wine with a friend, since I knew I was drinking some calories, and not exercising, I adjusted what I ordered for my meal, how much of it I ate, and also what I had for dinner that night…

And holy crap! It worked!

I know this isn’t rocket science, but it’s a pretty powerful reflection for me this morning. I feel really re-motivated by seeing that scale movement, and I’m SO happy that I just have to make it through Thursday’s final summer class and then I can throw myself more wholeheartedly into my exercise without the distraction of grad school for more than a month. Anyway, hope everyone has an equally eye-opening, inspiring Sunday!

There is definitely some sort of summer cold going around my office. Two people were out with it yesterday; two more are out today. The last thing I want is to be sick…

I’m wondering if my “off day” yesterday wasn’t a result of a little minor bug. I had a pretty bad headache by the end of the day, and I felt achy — more than I should have based on my workout yesterday at lunch. I took a quick nap between work and class last night (by which I mean, I took a quick nap for the last 30 minutes of work!), and that helped some. And then I just took it really easy last night after class — went straight home, ate a small, bland meal, and went to bed really early without anymore exercise or homework or housework. I feel a lot better today; I’m hoping I’ve staved it off!

I tend to have a good immune system (knock on wood!); I’m not one of those people who catch everything that goes around. I regularly take vitamins, and I do eat a really balanced diet, heavy on the veggies, which I know helps. But I do also work in an environment where people are very on top of each other, and we work in teams a lot, and we have different folks in and out of our office a lot, so sometime we all succumb to those viruses…

Anyway, in honor of feeling better (and just because we both could use a little pick-me-up), tonight my boyfriend and I are treating ourselves to a nice dinner out. There’s a local restaurant that specializes in all natural, organic food, and they have a lot of vegetarian options, and they’re very health-conscious about all of their preparation in a way that your average American restaurant, unfortunately, is not. It’s a little on the pricey side, so we don’t go very often, but it’s easily one of my favorite places… So, that’s tonight’s plan — just the two of us, a good, healthy dinner that neither of us have to cook, and conversation about good things (like our upcoming vacation to Disney World!) and no talk about work or school or the things that have had us down lately. Cannot wait.