Back to our regularly scheduled blogging…

Well, after surviving a couple of weeks from hell, I’m baaaaaack!!!! Didja miss me?! The unfortunate part of 2 weeks of being on steroids and insanely stressed out is that I have regained the 6 pounds I had lost since rejoining WW back in August.

Sooooo, this entry basically is a new starting point for me again. I figure it’s the beginning of a new month (basically) and a new week. I’m past all the craziness that has been side-tracking me of late. My work schedule has shifted to earlier in the day which will work better for me getting to the gym after work. Everything seems aligned for me to get on track and see some good progress.

As if all of that weren’t motivation enough, I booked a cruise yesterday with a friend of mine. We’ll be cruising the Mexican Riviera for 7 days the week after Thanksgiving. That gives me a nice short-term goal of 8 weeks to strive toward as a challenge. My goal will be to lose 15 pounds before we sail.

I have also set an exercise goal for myself for October, too. My goal is to walk or walk/jog for a total of 20 miles this month. That means I’ll need to get out and walk at least 4-5 times per week to meet my goal. That’ll definitely help me meet my weight loss goals, too.

Checking In …

Sorry for being so quiet this week, gang. It’s been like a triple whammy for me at work this week. It’s fiscal year end which means lots of out of the norm work, trying to get caught up from having been out 3 days last week with the flu, and there was a launch this morning which always means lots of calls from nervous engineers/scientists leading up to it.

I have to admit that I’m very depressed weight loss wise right now. I stepped on the scale at home this morning for the first time since getting sick last week. I know it’s a combination of having been on meds (steroids & antibiotics) and succumbing to a lot of fast food & takeout this week, but it was VERY depressing to see that my weight is right back to where it was when I rejoined WW six weeks ago. It just sucks to realize that in 10 days I could regain the 6 pounds I’d worked so hard to lose.

I’m actually going to be switching to a Saturday morning meeting due to hopefully getting to switch my work schedule. Since I didn’t make it to my Wednesday meeting this week anyway, I may try to get to a meeting tomorrow morning (although sleeping in is sounding VERY tempting right now — ) and just make a fresh start. It’ll be a good time to get my head wrapped back around eating right and getting back to my exercise plan!

I have to say though, I’m starting to feel like the queen of fresh starts. It just seems like this year every time I start making progress with my weight, that something comes along and derails me. I really need to stop letting things sidetrack me from my goals! At least I keep trying though, which is a good thing. I figure as long as I at least keep trying. I’ll eventually get there. As the saying goes, “the failure isn’t in falling down, but in not getting back up again.”

Thanks for listening to me whine/ramble.

Thanks!

Thanks for all the support, everyone. I promise I’ve not been wallowing in depression all week.

I started the week knowing I was going to be crazy busy at work since it’s the end of our fiscal year. I started feeling like I was fighting a losing battle with a cold, but I just kept trying to push through it. Things took a decided turn for the worse on Tuesday and it became apparent that I had more than just a cold. I went to the doctor who confirmed that I had the flu and a raging sinus infection. So, the rest of the week was spent at home sleeping about 20 hours a day and taking antibiotics and steroids.

I wasn’t able to make it to my WW meeting on Wednesday due to being sick. Given that I’m taking steroids right now, I’m not planning on stepping on the scale for several more days either. I took a peek at my home scale and the number wasn’t pretty. I know it’s a false high due to the steroids though, so I’m not discouraged. I’m just going to keep staying OP and will give myself a couple of days after finishing up the steroids before I weigh in again.

Rough time

I’m going through a bit of a rough time right now, which is why my blog has been very quiet. I’ve been going through some emotional turmoil that has me feeling a bit depressed. Sadly, I gave into it and ate my way through most of the weekend.

I’ll most likely be skipping the scale at my WW meeting this week, but do hope to still try and at least make it to my meeting. Work is going to be very busy for me this week, so whether or not I’m actually able to make the meeting remains to be seen.

Friday’s Feast … a day late

Friday’s Feast

Appetizer
When was the last time you visited a hospital?

That would be back in April when I had my surgery. Well, technically the last time was a couple of days after I was released post-op. I ended up back in the hospital overnight over the weekend after my surgery.

Soup
On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how ambitious are you?

It definitely depends on what area of life to which you are referring. I think I’m fairly ambitious when it comes to my career, but I refuse to get ahead at work at the expense of others.

Salad
Make a sentence using the letters of a body part. (Example: (mouth) My other ukelele tings healthily.)

Feeling Extremely Emotional Today - ok, so it’s not really a full sentence, but it fits the bill for my life today.

Main Course
If you were to start a club, what would the subject matter be, and what would you name it?

Gosh, I have no idea. I have no time to even attend any clubs, let alone start a new one.

Dessert
What color is the carpet/flooring in your home?

Beige - bland, boring, hideous beige since I live in an apartment.

Wednesday, Sept. 12

Just a quick entry for today because it’s past my bedtime. Sorry! I’ll post more about my WI tomorrow, but you can check it out over in the sidebar on the right.

For now, I’ll leave you with this quote for today. It’s definitely something I need to remember for those times when I get stressed out at work.

“You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.”
–Brian Tracy

Points Total: 28.5
Exercise: None - planned day off
Pedometer Steps: 4764
WPA balance: 35.0
Water: 64 oz

Tuesday, Sept. 11

Six years ago today, my life changed forever. I was driving in to work when the radio announcer broke in with the news of the first plane hitting the World Trade Center. By the time I had gotten to work and was walking through the cafeteria, CNN was showing the footage of the 2nd plane. To say it was surreal would be a vast understatement. I work on an Air Force base and everyone was very shaken. We all got sent home about an hour later and didn’t return to work for the next 2 days.

About the time I got home, my dad called and I chalked it up to one of those “let’s all touch base with each other” kind of calls given the circumstances of the day. However, that wasn’t the case. He was calling to tell me that about an hour before the WTC attack that my mom (58 at the time) had a heart attack and was in the hospital and needed quadruple bypass surgery.

That was the day I decided I needed to do something about my weight. It still took me about 3-4 weeks to get up the courage to go and actually walk through the door to join a WW meeting, but 9/11 was the day I made that decision. So, it’s definitely a day I’ll never forget for many reasons.

On a side note, 9/11 is also my mother’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Mom! (Yes, she had a heart attack ON her birthday. How much does THAT suck?!)

I also started something new with my training today. I wasn’t going to post about it initially in case I’m not able to continue with it given my recent surgery. But, as my friend Terri keeps reminding me, this is who I am, take it or leave. I started the Cool Running Couch to 5k training plan today. I did email my surgeon last week before undertaking this plan. I’m taking is REALLY easy. My jogging segments aren’t really that much faster than my walking segments right now, but a girl has to start somewhere. I’m just paying close attention to my body. If I start having problems, I’ll back off from the C25K and just go back to walking again.

Today’s schedule called for doing a 5 minute warm up followed by 20 minutes of alternating 90 seconds of walking and 60 seconds of jogging. I managed to finish the 20 minutes, but skipped 2 of the jogging segments. I didn’t plan to skip the first one, but missed the cue on the C25K podcast I was using. The second one I skipped because I just didn’t think I had recovered enough by the time it was time to jog again. Tomorrow will be a rest day from the walk/jog, but I’ll definitely still walk or do some form of exercise. I’ll have another walk/jog day on Thursday.

Tomorrow will be weigh in for me at WW. I’m hoping for another loss this week. Hopefully starting the C25K the day before WI won’t jinx me at the scale.

Points Total: 30.5
Exercise: Walk/Jog - 26:41 - 1.6 miles - 3 AP
Pedometer Steps: 8143
WPA balance: 35.0
Water: 88 oz

Monday, Sept. 10

I had a GREAT time at the Angels game last night. I would’ve been nice if we had actually won, but it was still fun to get out to the ballpark among the fans to cheer on the team. Here are a few pics I took. The first pic was taken from the opposite side of the stadium from where I sat. My seat was in the area denoted by the white circle.

I definitely had 2 NSV’s at the game. I parked on the opposite side of the stadium all the way in the back of the parking lot so that I could get in a nice walk before and after the game. I also didn’t succumb to the evil stadium foods. I had dropped a Z-Bar into my purse before I left for the game and that’s the only thing I ate. I even washed it down with a 24 oz. bottle of water rather than having a soda or beer.

I was exchanging emails today with a couple of my weight loss buddies and made a very interesting discovery about myself. I’ve realized in my couple of recent shopping trips with Terri that I’ve been buying nicer clothes again and not just my usual casual wear of leggings, jeans, and t-shirts. It lets me know that I’m getting back to a good place mentally with my body and weight loss. Even though I have a long journey ahead of me still, I really believe again that I’ll actually make it and reach my goal. I’d definitely lost that belief over the past couple of years, and having it back again is definitely why I’m feeling better about myself. I realize I’m worth the effort to dress nicely even at my current weight. It’s really nice to feel that way again and it helps motivate me even more to stay on track.

Points Total: 25.5
Exercise: Walking - 2 AP - 1 mile untimed
Pedometer Steps: 6289
WPA balance: 35.0
Water: 64 oz

Sunday, Sept. 9

Wow, it hard to believe it’s already the middle of September nearly. The weeks and months just seem to be flying by since I went back to work in July. I guess that’s a good thing since time seemed to drag at a snail’s pace when I was off work for my surgery.

I had a GREAT time yesterday with my friend Terri. We laughed and giggled so much that I’m actually a bit hoarse this morning. We did several hours of marathon shopping, but I didn’t get too crazy with my spending. I knew how much I had in my budget that I could spend without resorting to using a credit card and I stuck within that number.

My one kind of splurge purchase for the day was a credit card case. I’ve been looking for a new one for about a year and just hadn’t been able to find what I was looking for anywhere. I can tell you based on the experience, it’s not too easy to find just a credit card holder. Everything I kept seeing were wallets and that’s not what I wanted. I just wanted something slim to hold my various cards.

Well, I found it yesterday. Unfortunately, I found it at the Coach store. Thankfully, it was one of their outlet stores, so it was already less than the retail price. The particular color I selected was also on clearance, and they just happened to be running a back to school sale, so I got an additional 20% off the clearance price even. I ended up paying only about 40% of the MSRP. Here are a couple of pics of it that I found online:

I also did really well with my points yesterday, too. I knew that Terri and I would be going out for lunch, so I was prepared to dip into my extra weekly points allowance. I ended up eating very reasonably and actually ended up staying within my daily points target and didn’t have to dip into any of the reserves.

I didn’t get in any “formal” exercise yesterday. I figure that’s OK since Terri I walked around a LOT while we were shopping. It definitely was at stroll speed, but since we were at it for several hours, I’m sure it added up. I just wish I hadn’t forgotten my pedometer so I could have seen how many steps we accumulated.

Points Total: 29.5
Exercise: Walking - 2 AP - 1 mile untimed
Pedometer Steps: Forgot to put it on again
WPA balance: 35.0
Water: 64 oz

Saturday, Sept. 8

Happy Saturday everyone! I was more than ready to say hello to the weekend when I left work yesterday. I was MORE than ready for the work week to come to an end. Why is it that short work weeks always seem longer to me for some reason?!

I have to brag on myself a little about yesterday. I had an EXTREMELY stressful situation come up at work yesterday no sooner than I had walked in the door. I was in a VERY pissy mood the rest of the day and into the evening after I left the office. Where does the bragging come in you may ask? I didn’t eat over it!!

I am the Queen of emotional eating, but I didn’t give in this time. I think that’s in thanks to a very large degree to the things I’m reading in the 100 Days of Weight Loss book I’ve mentioned in the past. I definitely used some of the tools I’ve learned from it to step back from the situation and realize that eating wasn’t going to do anything to change it, so why do it?

I did have a nice walk last night which helped work out the remaining stress kinks from the day. I walked 1.5 miles. I didn’t time the first or last quarter mile as they were my warm up and cool down. I covered the mile in the middle in 17:01 which means I was walking about 3.5mph. Since I’d been a little off kilter with my walking this week, I was happy to see I still managed to hit the pace I was aiming for last night.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m actually in the process of training for a 5k walk on Thanksgiving Day. I had been following the walking challenge that’s in the WW magazine and on their website, too. It actually started back in January, but I just started it about 3 weeks ago. I realized I need to find something else for now though because that plan wouldn’t have me walking long enough distances by Thanksgiving to be ready for a 5k. I’m going to spend some time this weekend searching online to find a proper 5k walk training schedule to use instead.

Hope everyone has a great Saturday. I’m heading down to spend the day hanging out with my dear friend Terri. We always have a great time when we’re together, so I know I’m in for a fun day.

Points Total: 30
Exercise: About 4-5 hours walking around shopping
Pedometer Steps: Forgot my pedometer
WPA balance: 35.0
Water: 64 oz