Make your Own Christmas

I have so much to say on this... but I am cramped for time. I have company coming over in less than 45 minutes.

But I will say, I've been hiding from the zombies more than outrunning them this month. I'm trying to make sure I don't gain back everything I have lost so far. I STILL haven't gotten back to the gym as either hubby or I have been bedridden with injuries all month.

HOWEVER... it's a good month. Despite the weightloss set back.. the house set backs... having zero money this year... it's a good month. More on this later...

A quick one

Okay.. the scale went the wrong way on Monday. I need to pick up the pace. I refuse to be zombie food... and I really really want to make my goal. I've noticed myself slipping into some old habits that are not good. So I am making extra sure to work on those things right now.

Today I walked all over the place picking out the perfect Christmas tree... and THEN... we cut it own ourselves and now it is having a well deserved drink in my living room.

This is my first real tree ever. I am ever so excited!! And I wanted to let you all know I am still out here. Novemeber was very busy wiht the writing of my first novel. For those of you who know what NaNoWriMo is... I WON this year. Hurray!! There was celebrating, and now I am ready to work off those celebratory calories. ;) But hey, how many people who say they are going to write a novel actually do it.

Can you guess what it was about?




ZOMBIES!

A little behind again.

I am a little behind for my 1lb a week goal for this week. My official weigh in day is tomorrow, but I am pretty sure I am going to be a little over where I wanted to be. I am not surprised. I have somehow destroyed my knee, and I coming down with something nasty that started n my throat and has turned into the sniffles. So there has been a lot of couch lying.

However, I am determined to not see a weight increase from this. I've been woefully neglecting the gym despite the fact I have FUN when I am there and miss going. I can come up with a whole bunch of excuses for this, but really it comes down to lousy follow through.

I have been meaning to put together a food plan for ages and I haven't done that either. So despite being sick, and wanting to be snuggled on the couch with blankets, I have decided to be productive instead.

I pulled out my Weight watchers program again. I absolutely still intend to food log and check my calories so I know what kind of deficit I am looking at each day, (see how positive I am being there) but following the points program was working really well for me in the past. So I am going to try it again. I also find, that switching things up once in a while keeps me interested. So I've been straight food logging for a while, until I got bored and stopped doing it. I'll add the points into the mix and see how I fair. :)

The zombies are tricky you know. They shuffle around in the background and seem like they aren't a threat. But they will creep up on you. If you're not careful, before you know it you've got the walking undead helping itself to your wishbone while you're trying to pour a cup of tea. Don't let this happen!

No no no. It's time to keep things interesting. You shall not tricksy me Zombies!

Thank you

First of all, I would like to thank each of you who offered condolences on the loss of my Orion. Thank you so much. I'm sorry I didn't respond to each one individually, it's been emotionally very difficult.

Things right now are just hard. I am going to endevaor to update more regularly. I do however as for your patience. Right now I've just lost my cat, I'm going through a foreclosure, I'm getting sick and I've hurt my knee.

So... I'm greeting each day with a smile and hoping that if I am stubborn enough, the day will turn out positively anyway despite how I've been feeling. The good news is that after my weigh in on Monday, I am back on track with the weight loss. I am now .1lb ahead of where I wanted to be. I'm very proud of this.

Oh another triumph! Last night we had chili with rice for dinner. I love this. But I had 1c of rice despite the fact that hubby made 2 cups for me... and the real triumph here... I only ate 5 crackers. I can , and have in the past, eaten an entire sleeve of crackers with chili. But this time I portioned out five, and I never went back for anymore. You better believe I added a star to my poster for that!

Sadness

Remember way back in the beginning I told you this journal was also going to be about life and sometimes it would be emotional? You've been warned.

Yesterday was not a good day.I didn't count calories, I didn't watch what I ate. I took comofort in chocolate and potato chips and I am sure it was another 3000+ day.

Yesterday, out of the clear blue my Orion passed away. He was only nine and that is still quite young for a cat. I won't get into the details, but it was horrifying and it's still very raw.

He was laying on the doggie pillow. Got up, stretched himself out. Laid down on the carpet... and then it happened. And within a minute... he was gone.

I'm crushed inside. My other kitties and my puppy keep looking for him.

Roger said that some stars burn out faster than others, but they burn all the brighter for it. That made me smile... I asked him who he though Orion's Evangeline was? He said... maybe the kittie on the other side of the dish washer. I cried forever.

Orion used to play with and box his reflection in the front of the dishwasher.

I miss my kitty.

Control

I am starting to feel slightly in control again. I don't want to jinx it or anything, but I am beginning to think that I am on an upswing here.

I tracked all of my food for the second day in a row. Today, I had a deficit of 1437 calories. This makes me feel so much better about the 3000+ calories consumed yesterday. I wasn't even trying to cut back on calories today. All I did was try to concentrate on eating only when I was hungry.

I think it's more than that though. I'm working on a schedule for myself. I have things I need to get done. It's November, so I am working on NaNoWriMo. Also, the bad news I mentioned briefly? Hubby and I have been spending time looking for a lawyer to help us deal with it. This has taken up time and energy too.

I'm just reaching that point where I am tired of having bad days and I am ready to move forward and feel powerful and in control.

Did I mention that for NaNoWriMo I am writing about Zombies? I bet you could have guessed it. So far, no corn-dogs though. I want to win this battle.

I took some pictures of food today. I was enjoying journaling about what I ate that day. Tonight I made spicy shrimp over rice with a garden salad on the side. Dinner was amazing. I'll post the recipe and pictures tomorrow.

Oh my late night snack tonight though? Absolutely indulgent. A bowl FULL of pomegranate seeds. How I love this time of year!
****************
BLOG HOP!

*whistles inocently*

So I am avoiding the scale. I really don't want to know what kind of damage I did. Halloween was a bit of a splurge, but I planned for it. The days that have followed... not so much. And really, it was emotional eating. I know that.

My husband and I received some bad news that we knew was coming... but it doesn't soften the bad news any. That lead to a few days of being angry, a few days of crying, and a lot of just not caring what I was eating. That leftover Halloween candy that I planned for, and planned to freeze so that it would be an occasional treat.... yeah...

::shuffle shuffle::

BRRAAAIIIINNNNNSSSSSSSSSSS

But today I made a step in the right direction. I have for the first time in ages, tracked all of my food for the day. I'm still in range despite not having made the best choices today. Wow, it feels good to actually be acting in control again.

Also... I am missing the gym something fierce right now.

But it sounded good at the time...

First of all, Hello to my New followers!!

Dinner tonight was about as far away from healthy as you can possibly get. It sounded so good at the time. Now I feel like a run over slug. Live and learn though right? Next time this particular thing sounds good, I am going to remember this feeling.

Tomorrow is Halloween, and do you know what? I am going to be indulging in chocolate. I don't even feel guilty about it. Do you know why? Because I am allowing myself to have it. I refuse to go through this life without chocolate. So there.

That being said... I did quite a bit of thinking tonight. Most of my relevant thoughts came to me while sitting in the restaurant of obscene unhealthiness actually...

I've discovered I need a plan. I have all of the tools that I need to succeed. But I need a game plan. When I first started doing curves, I lost 25lbs in 3 months. All I was doing was going to curves religiously and doing Weight Watchers. I haven't had that kind of success since. I'm somehow fitter and fatter now then I was then. I don't know how that happened. But my heart and lungs are in a better condition than they were then I think.

You know what is upsetting though? When I did that... lost 25lbs in 3 months... I didn't celebrate it. I couldn't see what a tremendous achievement it was because of how far I had to go. I want to kick that girl. Those thoughts in and of themselves don't help very much. But it does make me realize that I need structure. I abhore the idea of making meal plans, but it WORKS. Knowing what I am going to eat, how many calories it is, and where I have room to sneak in a snack when I simply must munch something works for me. I don't know why I have this rebellious person inside of me that just refuses to do it. It's stupid and it makes me feel out of control.

I am in so little control right now of anything that I don't want my eating to be another one of those things. I've nearly never been in control of my eating. Right now there isn't a whole lot I can take control of. So this (the eating) and getting my cheeseburger butt to the gym are two things that I can control.

I need control and a plan... and for my partner in this to kick my into gear when I am shirking my responsibility. Everyone needs someone to remind them why they are working so hard sometimes.

Also... I need to get off the fence and make a decision. Either I am going to make the effort to sit down and learn the ins and outs of the bodybugg food recording system, or I am going to record all of my food on spark and my calories on the bodybugg site. I love everything about them except the software for recording food. It drives me insane and makes me not want to do it. I wish there was a way to just tell it how many calories you ate at the end of the day rather than needing to input every meal. It's so much easier recording food on Spark.

I need to come clean to myself and admit that I don't measure anything anymore. That is one of my issues right there. I don't know my portions well enough to just wing it. I think I have given myself a few more things to think about.

Happy Halloween everyone! And watch out for those zombies!

Look out shins!!

Today was a gym day. I WENT! HA! So there is some success already. Also, we took our good friend Sandy with us, since she wanted to see what the Y was all about. You can never have too many folks ready to whip some zombie booty. Be prepaired folks.

I showed her around and we put our junk in the locker and I was just about to suggest we go hop on the ellipticals when we saw the class schedule. She happened to notice that we were just in time for cardio kickboxing. I was a bit leery about this. I just didn't know if I could handle it. Well she really wanted too, and of course my hubby enthusiastically said he would do the class too... so naturally, I did the class.

I got a bit freaked out when one of the trainers told us not to forget that we could rest when ever we wanted to. The instructor was new and would work us hard.

oh god...

Well I am still here! I am very proud to say that I made it through the workout and it was actually really fun. I don't kick very high, but I'm just starting. I overdid it a little bit and ended up with a slight headache, but I was able to figure out how to bring my intensity down and that helped. The instructor was really great and friendly and upbeat and gave us alternative moves if we need to be at a lower intensity than she was running.

After that we did about 15-20 minutes of elliptical just because I was really looking forward to it and wanted to. I needed to stop though.

I am so proud of myself. I did a 55 minute cardio class. I can freakin rule the world!!!

Now... watch out for your shins zombies, here I come!

According to my bodybugg, the time of the class, from 4:30 -5:30 I burned 506 calories!!! I was actually really floored as I noticed at one point I was burning 14.2 calories a minute. In the grand scheme of things, I don't know what it all means yet. But I do know that I am feeling a bit more confident in my body and just really proud of myself right now.

It is official...

I am awesome.

The last two months I've been feeling... well...

::shuffle shuffle::

:BBBRRRRAAAIIIIIINNNNNSSSSSSS:

Pretty much sums it up. Today we were scheduled to go to the gym with a friend of ours who is interested in joining. Unfortunately she's not feeling well today. But do you know what????

WE WENT ANYWAY!!!!

Oh yes we did. I am now home from a nice workout at the gym! Here are the particulars of it all. I decided to start C25K again. This time though, I am doing it with a twist. I'm doing it on the elliptical. Sure it won't work exactly the same, but who cares really?

So I put the elliptical on 'Weight Loss'. It runs a series of intervals at 4/1 and 10/8 ? (I think it's 10/8, I'm not 100% sure now. It looks right though) Because the intervals for the C25K are off sync with the elliptical intervals it kept things really interesting. It was FUN. I was pouring buckets of sweat and enjoying it. How did this happen?

Those zombies are in trouble. Let me tell you. Okay, so step 1 is avoiding corndogs, and step 2 is keep the elliptical fun.

So I did a total of 35 minutes. In that time I did 2 miles! I was slowing down for cool down at the end, and went slowly for just another few minutes and did an additional .02 miles or something like that. But I wanted to see how fast I could do .10 miles. So for my last .10 I hustled!!! I did it in a little over a minute! It was a minute and 20, or a minute and 30... I have nothing to write with there so some of the numbers end up as ranges, you know?

Anyway, to sum up.... I am crazy proud of myself. I am about to go add stickers to my poster of awesome, and then go have lunch!

Success Starts Today...

I am the first to admit I fell off the wagon. I'm coming to terms with a lot of life changes right now. That very steady slow loss I was seeing? I shot that up into a gain. Ugh. I am the heaviest I have been in recorded history of my weight. You know what? That's okay. It is okay because I refuse to beat myself up over it. I messed up. And I decided I am ready to do something about it. So I HAVE been going outside.

I haven't been breaking a sweat, or running marathons or anything. I have been getting UP OFF THE COUCH and out into the sunshine and the breeze and fresh air. I have been working on thinking positive thoughts about myself. Word on the street is, that zombies are attracted to self loathing.

Ok.. ditch the cheeseburger butt, and negative self thoughts on the double please... thank you.

Tomorrow we actually have scheduled to go back to the gym, with a friend even! It will be after a two month hiatus. I would feel guilty for saying that. But when I feel guilty, I hide and hope the issue goes away and rights itself. So I have decided not to feel guilty. Instead I have decided to feel proactive.

I have been inspired but a lot of things. I've been inspired by The Unexpected Sandilightful's 'Want Power' and by ...Like a Fat Kid Loves Cake's 'lego tower'. I've been inspired by I go Through life In Inches and Pounds' compassion and success. I want something I can look at and track my goals. So I have made a poster of awesome. Do you know what is awesome about it already?


I started.

Success starts today.

I restarted my bodybugg program. It suggested a 12 week goal. This time I am taking it's advice instead of trying to go for a long term goal. My first goal is to lose 12 pounds in 12 weeks. That will mean reaching 269.5 by 1/11/11. I can so do this! It's a darn cool date too don't you think?



Annnnnnndddd...... It's blog hop time!

Picking up the pieces

Okay... so I didn't get out and walk yesterday. Yesterday ended up being really rough, emotional, and teary. However, I have come through the storm, and here I am.

It's funny you know... emotions are so tied to weightloss, even more than I understood before. With everything that is going on, and I know I have been pretty vague to a degree, I find the only thing I can concentrate on is keeping it together from one moment to the next.

I did some thinking though, and I have concluded that concentrating on doing well for my body will give my brain something positive to concentrate on. So I will be restarting my efforts to really lose this weight. The zombies are getting closer, I can see them out of the corners of my eyes. Stupid Zombies.

Though, in a way, I think the demons that have been floating around lately are keeping them at bay. Not for long though... Zombies love slow food. I need to get moving...

Where is my water bottle!?

Weather

The weather is absolutely gorgeous right now. This is perfect walking outside weather. This is perfect weather, to shake off the depression I am feeling, and get outside and walk around. This is the absolute perfect time for that.

Now... Want power... don't fail me now.

Restless

I feel restless today. I can't really concentrate or sit still. I feel like I need to eat, but I'm not hungry. I only woke up a little over an hour ago, but I'm tired again.

This feeling has to go away. I'm tired. I'm tried of dealing with it for months and months. So I want you to know why I am not as on track as I want to be.

See, my husband has been out of work for ever a year. He's educated, honest, hard working, smart, talented... but I am sure many of you know how this goes. The jobs just aren't there.

Well, we're in danger of losing our house now. It's very very stressful. Despite the fact I eat a lot less these days... I'm not losing anything. Stress always makes me retain weight.

I'm ready to catch a break.

If the zombies come, at least there will be no dust bunnies...

I ate decently well today. I did have a hamburger and fries for lunch, but we got them at a little local restaurant so they weren't 'fast food' burgers. Dinner was chicken sandwiches and corn and I had a strawberry Greek yogurt as my other side.

I am feel so queasy in my tummy now though. I am not sure if it was the hamburger, or perhaps the chicken, but man. I feel gross.

On the positive side though, I got my exercise today. We are cleaning the house... and I mean CLEANING. It was move the couches and vacuum the base boards kind of cleaning. I ache and i am tired but Hell yeah my living room and dining room rock. Tomorrow afternoon we tackle the kitchen before we have company over.

Hellooooooooo

Hello out there my intrepid followers. Thanks for sticking with me during that radio silence. Sometimes, when there is no where to run, you just need to hunker down in a hiding spot. If you've been avoiding the corndogs, you shouldn't smell toooo appetizing and the zombies might just pass you by.

As it turns out, I've been hit with a case of LIFE HAPPENS. Things have been really stressful, and kind of painful. I just haven't been in a good place to talk about it. So I'm not going to. Not right now anyway.

But I am still progressing. I've lost another pound.. HURRAY!!! And I am still working on not turning to ice cream and potato chips for my comfort. I don't always make it. I'm working on it though. Also, being down a pound is an accomplishment as there were a great many parties filled with wonderful foods. I have done well.

How about you? Are you still doing well? Where is your hiding spot when the zombies get too close and there is no where to run?

OMG stop TIME!

Where is this month going!? Seriously!? I feel like I get up, the day whirlwinds around me, and then I am in bed again. I am negletting my poor blog and my awesome readers! I am not getting to read the blogs I love to follow! I have missed the last two blog hops! What the heck is going on here?

Is this some kind of mutant zombie ploy to catch me unaware? I have news for you ZOMBIES... I may be busy and kind of confused, but I'm not gullible!

On that note. A Success. I lost 2 lbs! Hurray! This is a huge success since i haven't been to the gym in about a month now. I just cannot fathom where the hours are going?

I love my bodybugg. It's seriously amazing. I'm getting off to a slow start, but it just feels GOOD. I feel like I am doing it. That is the important thing right?

Also, TheEducatedRabbit and I have been talking about schedule and routine a lot the last few days. We need one badly. We haven't had a good solid schedule in a year since he was laid off. So many things are suffering because of it. As it turns out, kids aren't the only ones who flourish with a routine. So we will be working on implementing one. It is going to help so much with cleaning, exercising, eating properly, and generally just feeling really good.

Now off to read some of the blogs I have been missing!!

PS. If you are following my blog and I haven't followed yours yet, please leave me a comment and let me know so I can hop over there and do so!

The zombies have not eaten me!

No they have not. I have succeeded in thwarting them! So you might ask, where have I been? Well my best friend was here for a week visiting. I don't go online when she is here because my computers are also in the guest room. We've decided the cardinal rule is to never wake a lseeping baby and as her little man is growing every day, he needs a lot of sleep. It's better to just unplug while she is here. :)

I will admit there was temptation. In celebration of the visit, we baked a tray of brownies. We don't get to see each other nearly often enough. But I am proud to say it took us the entire week to eat them.

This is a huge achievement when not too long we would have polished the tray off the same night we baked it. I'm really proud.

Also, I have lost 2 lbs! Hurray! That is pretty awesome for not having been to the gym in almost a month. I miss it fiercely.

I am waiting for a phone call to have my Bodybugg coaching session this afternoon. Then, since the weather is actually nice today, I think I am going to go to the track. I might alternate days at the Y with days at the track now that the weather is turning nicer. I do love walking outside.

I am also hoping to be back to regular posting. I do have some dates coming up that I will be offline again as I don't have a mobile blogging device of any kind. This weekend I have a day away at my Aunt and Uncle's house, and the following weekend I will be away for a wedding.

It will be a good test of my new WANT power. It's all good practice. Progress is slow, but I'm learning quite a lot.

PS... I am so behind on everyone's blog. I will be trying to catch up!

LAUNDRY!!

over the last few days I have been fighting the dread beast. No, I don't mean the zombies. Once you get past the infected brain eating nature of them, they are relatively easy to handle. Blow them up or run the heck away!

I'm talking about Laundry. The beast is immortal. Sure, you might kill it for a time, but it always rises again! It's like some stinky clothes phoenix without the cool flames and healing properties.

Well, we do not have our own washer and dryer. It is a long story that I shan't get into right now... I might cry.

We do our laundry at my parents house. Most of the time we are in maintain mode. So we ALWAYS have a pile or two... Or five... of laundry about. However, when my parents go on a trip, we commandeer their house and get all of the laundry done!

I've been scarce the last few days because I am trying to tame this beast.. for now. Also, we have company coming over the weekend! So naturally, I need to clean my house too. The good news is. I am doing pretty well with eating and burning over 2000 calories a day total. My deficits aren't nearly the 750 they need to be yet, but they ARE deficits.

As soon as I get my butt in gear and back to the gym it's going to totally rock! I'm doing well at writing my food down, just not importing it into the BB website. I'm still trying to find the easiest way of doing that. It takes me a couple of hours to input a days worth of food right now and that is just too much time.

Sooooo that is that!

Bodybugg Day 3

This is the information for the 3rd. I didn't track yesterday. I wrote it all down on paper, but I didn't enter it. It was an emotional eating day yesterday. We all have them. I am going to just stick my chin out and realize it happens and move on.

9/3 calories consumed 2319
Calories burned 2336
Calories deficit 17

Well at least it was a defecit. Part of the reason the calories are so high, is the emotional eating actually started the night of the 3rd. There's a couple of scoops of ice cream in there. But I am paying for the naughty food with a very upset stomach today. And honestly, I am ready to feel better by eating better. Tomorrow's numbers should be much better.

A question for you. How do you go about tracking your food. Do you use the bodybugg site? So you use another site like spark and do the math yourself?

I find the bodybugg tracker very restricting after using the sparkpeople one. I want the best results though. What do you do?

BodyBugg Day 2

Yesterday I recorded all of my food for the day (it was a light eating day for me) and I wore my bodybugg for the entire day (minus the time to shower) Here are my results.

Calories Consumed 1300
Calories Burned 2622
Calorie Deficit 1322

Wow. That's amazing for me to see. That short walk I have been doing during the day is actually making a nice difference. I am starting to feel a bit stronger for it. Next week it's back to the Y.

I am going to walk all over those Zombies!!

Also. It is time to tame the yard outside. I live in a jungle. Our yard isn't grass. It is shrubbery and wilderness. It's the rainy season here, which means everything is growing rampant. We also do not have a lawnmower. So the plant life in the yard is well over my head. We do however, have a machete. This is a prime weapon for exterminating both zombies and weeds.

When the horde comes, don't reach for a katana... reach for the machete. Seriously.

But it is time to tackle the yard anyway. There are too many hiding places for the denizens of the undead. And I think I would like to perhaps clear a designated spot to try gardening again. The zombie apocalypse shall not stop me from having fresh veg.

BodyBugg Day 1

Okay. Today was a slow start. i am still getting used to wearing the body bugg. I'm having difficulty finding the correct tightness between kind of uncomfortable and sliding off. I'll get it. I'm sure of that, but it's frustrating today. Also, I am still sick. However, because I have decided I am going to win this war over the fatness, I got up and went for a short walk. It was only to the mail box ans back, but I got up and did it. I also didn't record food because it was the end of the day before it suddenly dawned on me.. DUH. I need to weight and measure things again.

BUT I burned nearly 2000 calories doing nothing today. That is a bit of an eye opener. Anyway, tomorrow will be awesome and I will be able to update you on my progress!

It's here!

I have been feeling pretty run through the mill the last few days. I have a couple of issues going on that I am sure you don't want to hear about. But needless to say that plus lack of sleep plus reoccurring earache, has not made for the most pleasant of moods.

However, yesterday we went to the post office, we even took the puppy with us. I enjoyed the car ride. And waiting for me was....

MY BODYBUGG!!! I am so excited it's here. Today I plan to follow the instructions to get it all set up. I cannot believe it's here and I cannot wait to start using it. :D

Another huge thank you to both Kyokocake and fatgirlvsworld!

Those zombies aren't going to know what hit them!

Let's Talk About Fear

Yes, I am going to post another one of those entries where I talk about what I am afraid of, so that I can deal with it and try to overcome and move on. This isn't exactly new for me, but I haven't really talked about it on the blog before. I did address it briefly, however covertly, when I invited my zombies to tea.

I have great fears about not being able to have kids. It's one of my greatest wishes. I want to bring forth the next generation of Zombie Slayers!!!

But in all seriousness... I've wanted to be a mom for as long as I can remember. When we were finally ready to start our family, I wasn't prepared to face the obstacles we have. We've been trying for close to three years now. I have 'unspecified infertility'. My doctor tells me he believes my infertility issues are because of my weight. I have a small host of other weight related issues and they seem to tie together. He very much wants me to lose weight before I get pregnant. in all honesty though, it is most likely that I will not be able to get pregnant UNTIL I lose the weight. I've talked about fertility treatments with the doctor. My body however absolutely hates hormones being pumped into it.

Yet another reason I must avoid the zombie plague. My body doesn't like weird foreign things inside it. You hear that zombie virus? Back off!

It's one of the reasons I literally burst into tears when I found out I won the Bodybugg. I've been reading about them and trying to figure out how I could possibly afford something like that as soon as I found out all about Robby's. I have been working on losing weight and getting healthy for about the last year. I may not be much lighter than I was, but I am healthier and much more knowledgable. I 'need' to be able to see what I am doing. I need to be able to see the data of how many calories out versus in. It's something I need to be successful. I know as soon as it arrives I am just going to adore it.

I guess this is all here for posterity as I hope this time next year I can make a post talking about how I'm finally pregnant. It would be such a dream.

WATER

I thought it was time for a bit of an update. Let's talk about water for a minute.

I try very consciously to drink 8 cups of water a day as a minimum. Occasionally, I don't make it, but that is rare. Then there are days where I drink more like 12-16 cups of water during the day. Sometimes I just have a thirsty day! these days precede nights where I sleep very little. This is because I need to pee every 2 hours on the hour. Annoying.

But here is a query for you. Why is it that if you are used to drinking 1 or 2 cups of water in a day, you can do that and feel fine. But if you are used to drinking 8 cups of water in a day, if you are short and only hit 5 or 6 you feel like a dried up sponge? After I drink 10-12 cups if I only hit 8 the next day I begin to feel like burnt toast.

Is this really a good thing? What if you indulge the crazy water desire. Eventually won't you drink so much water you will simply float away?

I don't think the zombies particularly enjoy water, but I don't think they are opposed to it either. They are for the most part pretty damn dry though.

Parting thoughts..

Drink you water, don't become a zombie.

MMM Brains

My most excellent followers, I thought you would appreciate this humor.

I'm telling you. It's coming. It's already effecting our good friends the legumes!

On a side note, I appreciate all of the comments on the shoes post. Many of them were supportive and kindly told me to suck it up and get on with it. :D See, thats love right there. Thanks for that because while I wasn't able to do walking, I DID so a strength workout. The day was not wasted!

This has been a busy week for me as it startws with my annivversary and ends with my love's birthday. So next week I will be back to blogging more regularly and telling you of my explaints at the Y. :) Miss you all!

Oh... on a side note.
While walking through the Publix (a grocery store)
Theducatedrabbit - "You know... I used to like those corndogs. But now whenever I look at them all I can think about is Zombie deterrent"
Me - "Mhmm, they aren't real food. They are just there to give you time to get away..."

But I love those shoes!!

Today I am hobbling around like the living dead. I seriously spend so much time avoiding the buggers, it's amazing how often I end up looking like one. Yesterday, hubby and I went out with some friends. I wore my cute black flat sneaker looking shoes with swirlies on them in pink. I call these my street shoes. They look like sneakers, but they really aren't they are just for being ou in the street. You know what I am talking about?

Today I am limping and dragging my feet. I find my poor feet want to curl on themselves when I am trying to take a step. I think it's pretty clear my street shoes just do not have the proper support for my feet! My sneakers, (my running shoes) have been fitted to me at the sports store. So they have the proper support for my feet. I walk on the outside of my feet. This is interesting because when I was younger I used to walk on the inside.

But anyway, even the fitted ones hurt my feet after a while. But my poor beloved awesome street shoes... I only wore them four a couple of hours last night. Most of that I was even sitting as our good friend surprised us with dinner for my hubby's birthday. Oh man the pain.

I had every intention of going to the Y today but I can barely walk. I may have to push it back until tomorrow.

I think I hear zombies banging on the window. I need to get my tush in gear!

Beating the 'Oh Blah'

I just read on another blog, all of the health benefits of walking. I love this news! This is fantastic news. As it turns out, I love to walk! To gain these awesome health benefits, one only need to walk about an hour a day. Awesome! I can walk an hour a day! To gain these awesome benefits one only need walk at a 4 miles an hour pace...

:SCREECHING HALT:

Excuse me?

The blog goes on to say that walking at this pace is not hard.

Umm for who?

Walking at a brisk pace for me is a 2.5 to a 3... I RUN at a 3-3.5... I run at a pace slower than people walk for fitness. Oh bother...

Needless to say, I feel kind of deflated after that. I mean I know comparing myself to another person is not helpful. How do you stop doing it though?

How do you handle the 'Oh Blah' of feeling deflated?



On a slightly different note, my anniversary was amazing as I knew it would be. I love being married, I love my husband and I love spending time with him. We went out to eat and I didn't track what I ate, I just had a good time. Now it's back to the Y and back on track and I am okay with that.

I didn't see a loss this week despite how hard I am working and working out. I'm kind of okay with that too right now. We're in a tight situation and to make the budget stretch there has been a lot of pasta, and ramen and other very inexpensive but not super nutritious foods. This will probably continue until next month when we (hopefully) will have some money again. So, maintaining for a very light weight gain... I guess means I am doing okay.

We all deal with the obstacles we're given in the best way we can at the time right? I haven't stopped trying. I'm still working and still struggling to make it. That means I am still winning.

MUST HAVE!

I am going to post more tomorrow, (today is my anniversary!!!), and respond to the lovely comments that have been left for me. I HAD to show you this though. I absolutely MUST get this shirt. It is the epitome of perfect workout shirts. I must must must have it.


Isn't it just -the- perfect shirt!

For my reference...: Zombies Hate Fast Food

Ah, knees... how you spurn me!

Yesterday I went back to the Y. Two days in a row folks. Two Day! Those zombies are in for a rude awakening. I decided I wanted to try and get an hour of working out in yesterday instead of the 30 minutes from the day prior. So I started with walking on the treadmill. I walked on average about a 2 for 30 minutes. Sometimes faster and sometimes slower. Then I got on the elliptical.

My knees were having none of it. While I had been walking on the treadmill, me knees just started HURTING. My knees never hurt on the elliptical, but evidently, they were mad at me for making them take the treadmill. So I did a total of 40 minutes instead.

I am fearing my dreams of running may be coming to an end because of the knees. At least I am making excellent progress on the elliptical and burning twice as many calories. I can't wait to be able to say for sure how many calories I am burning. I am so excited I am giddy in my chair. Another huge thank you to Like a fat kid loves cake, and Fatgirlvsworld for the Bodybugg. I am stalking my po box. :)

Anyway, Enjoy the blog hop today!

Well hello there Y

After a hiatus that went on for far too long, I got my butt back to the Y today. It was CROWDED. At our Y, they ask that during peek hours (4-7) that you limit yourself to 30 minutes at a time on any of the cardio machines as they are very popular. So I put my headset on and cranked up a little Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I set my machine for interval training and off I went. I did 30 minutes at a 10/8 -4/1 interval on the elliptical. I am so prpud of myself.

The last few days my body has been hurting because I went grocery shopping. Yeah... I let things get so out of hand that walking around the grocery store made me ache like I had worked out all weekend. NO MORE OF THAT. I am so proud of myself. The machine says I burned about 359 calories. It's going to be amazing to be using the bodybugg and actually get to know for certain.

Now. Next thing to learn. Bring healthy snacks to the Y. I got very hungry almost he moment we arrived, and by the time we left hubby was too hungry to make it home. So we stopped. I was pretty good. I opted away from some of the super high fat items, although I did have french fries with lunch... but next time I would rather not stop. :)

Anyway, it was a great day. I didn't see a zombie in sight. Wow..

No More Excuses

I nabbed this article from Sparkpeople.com. I have a membership there, but have been avoiding it lately. I am just much more enthusiastic about posting here on my blog, talking to all of you then I am posting over there. They don't understand the Zombie threat. The would simply not even fathom the rest of the denizens of the dark waiting to derail our healthy living habits.

No More Exercise Excuses!

Busting 5 Common Workout Excuses

-- By Leanne Beattie, Health and Fitness Writer

We begin a new fitness routine with the best of intentions—telling ourselves that we’ll hit the gym three times a week—but actually accomplishing what we set out to do can be harder than expected. Combining a busy work week with other obligations and a list of errands can be a recipe for fitness failure. Exercise has to be pushed to the bottom of the list since there are only so many hours in the day, right?

Wrong.

Everyone has the same 24 hours to work with every day. It’s how you decide to spend and prioritize your time that’s the real issue. It’s easy to make excuses and kid yourself about why you’re not reaching your fitness goals, but until you take responsibility for your actions (or lack thereof) you will remain in front of the television for one more evening, all the while moaning about how you can’t fit into your favorite clothes any longer.

"But I’m tired," you tell yourself. "I’ve had a long day and I deserve to sit back and relax. I’ll just take it easy tonight and I promise to work out tomorrow." Then tomorrow comes and you’ve got to work late and you’re out of milk so you have to go buy groceries and before you know it, another day has passed and still no exercise. Why is it that you can hold down a job, make it to class, run a household and put everyone else’s needs ahead of your own, while you disappoint yourself every time you miss your own appointment with the treadmill?

Of course there are legitimate reasons to not exercise. But unless you’ve just given birth or had surgery, most of these reasons aren’t reasons at all—they’re excuses. If you’ve been allowing these excuses to keep you from the gym, it’s time to refocus.

Exercise Excuse # 1: I’m too tired.
It takes energy to produce energy, so while you may be tired now, even a short 10-minute walk will get your blood pumping and will boost your energy levels for up to two hours after. And regular exercise helps improve the quality of your sleep, meaning more energy throughout the day. Some research suggests working out can help regulate your sleep cycles, so you’ll fall asleep easier, sleep more soundly and wake up more rested. A morning workout—not a cup of coffee—could be just the ticket you need to feel more awake and energized all day long!

Exercise Excuse # 2: I don’t have time.
Eliminate 30 minutes of television viewing each night and exercise for half an hour instead. Unlike couch time, this method will strengthen muscles, burn fat, lower your cholesterol and reduce your risk of diabetes and heart disease. Record your favorite shows and watch them while lifting weights or running on the treadmill to multitask. Get up an hour earlier in the morning and go for a walk before you start your day or bring along your sneakers and go for a walk during your lunch break. There are many little time stealers in your day, from surfing the Internet to watching reruns to accepting calls from people you don’t really want to talk to. Getting rid of these distractions can add hours of free time each day—time that can be spent improving your health.

Exercise Excuse # 3: I can’t afford a gym membership or equipment.
While going to the gym is a great way to get in shape, you don’t need to spend a lot of money to get a good workout. Either sign up for the bare bones membership package (are you really going to use all the perks the gym offers anyway?) or exercise at home for free with help from SparkPeople’s exercise demos, workouts, videos and other fitness resources. Push-ups, lunges, crunches and aerobics can all be done in the privacy of your own home and cost no money at all. Don’t forget to borrow some fitness DVDs from your local library to ensure you don’t get bored with your routine. Exercising at home also eliminates another avoidance excuse—the weather. Your home treadmill is available rain or shine, 365 days a year.

Exercise Excuse # 4: I’m embarrassed by my appearance.
It’s tough to the gym if you don’t feel good about your appearance. A well-fitting pair of yoga pants and a new T-shirt go a long way towards making you feel better about your body. Baggy, oversized shirts and track pants may be comfortable, but they make you look bigger, so find some fitness clothes shaped to play up your best assets. If you are afraid of being the biggest person in the exercise class, sign up for a class specifically designed for overweight individuals or a beginner’s class where there will be others just starting out, too. And remember: Everyone at the gym has the same goal in mind and everyone had to start somewhere. You may feel self-conscious, but chances are that no one is really paying attention to you and if they are, they’re probably silently cheering you on for working toward your goals!

Exercise Excuse # 5: I’m too depressed.
A Harvard University study found that after 12 weeks of weight training, nearly 90% of seriously depressed seniors no longer met the criteria for clinical depression. And just 20 minutes of aerobic exercise boosts the levels of your brain’s feel-good chemicals, making you happier and more invigorated. So exercising will actually improve your mood, even if you feel like biting someone’s head off before you begin. Many bad moods are the result of stress and exercise is a proven way to relax and lower the amount of cortisol (which is produced in response to stress) in your system. High cortisol levels have been linked to the accumulation of harmful abdominal fat.


We are all busy and have lives outside of the gym, but we all need regular exercise to help us stay healthy, lose weight and cope with the stresses of everyday life. By making excuses to avoid exercise, all we’re really doing is telling ourselves that our physical and mental health is not important and doing the dishes, driving the kids to their activities or watching mindless television is a more worthy endeavor. And nothing could be further from the truth.

I felt like this came at the right time today. I am feeling so much more positive since learning I won the bodybugg. I'm so excited I can't wait.

Today I weighed myself (not as bad as I thought) and took my body measurements so I have something other than the scale to go by. I went to bed with enthusiasm to go to the gym, but I woke up without it.

It's took hot to drive there...
My stomach hurts...
Hubby is very busy with homework...

EXCUSES!!! The zombies will eat you if you keep sitting there girl, get yourself up and go get on the elliptical.

Well yes, I think I will.

Amazing!

I am sort of beside myself right now. You may have seen me mention that there was a give away going on over at ...like a fat kid loves cake. She was giving away a body bugg! I of course entered. I wished, I hoped, I made as many entries as I was able to. Do you know what I found out today?

I WON!!!

I can't even believe it! You know else was really amazing though? I won because of my wonderful and supportive friend Robby. She made an entry on my behalf and it was chosen. I feel so lucky! Thank you for helping me on this journey!

I cannot wait. I am so excited!

A little me time.

The other night I sat down for a little 'me time'. My hubby wasn't feeling well, so he went to bed early. I had some thinking to do, and really just decided to spend some time with myself enjoying myself. It was then I decided to invite my zombies to tea afterall.

I also decided to face the fact that I haven't been trying very hard lately. As a result I am not seeing the results I want. So, I really need to get my butt in gear if I want to get anywhere.

But I thought I might share a little bit of my evening. I think it's important to spoil yourself now and then. So I hopped on the couch with my snugly crochet blanket. Next to me was this..

On the table...


In my lap...


And on the tv...



It was a very enjoyable evening.

But do you see that there in the stack of books. Zombies for ZOMBIES!!! An instruction manual!! They are coming my friends, and they will attempt to fool you into thinking they are harmless. I am researching this to be better prepared!

I'm inviting Mara to tea.

In a conversation discussing facing your own demons, Robby told me...

"In buddhism, they'd say I'm inviting Mara to tea -- have your demons sit beside you while you enjoy your tea. Pour them a glass. But deal with them as they come, and do it on your own terms."

So I'm having a bit of a tea party here. Meet my Zombie guests Around my small table we have Chuck, Rex, Obi, Baroness, and Di. I don't normally have zombies over for tea. I mean what would you server them really? Do zombies drink tea? Are they so fixated on brains that they would notice if it was hot or cold? I am rather fond of my brain. So along with the tea, I am serving a heaping portion of Corn Dogs. If all else fails and I end up running my tail off, I know I can throw them behind me to give myself a little extra time.

So folks at the tea table. You lot scare the crap out of me. So many of my health goals and struggles and fears revolve around you five.

Chuck, Rex... I am so afraid of running into you two. I know many people have. I know you can be fatal for anyone who hangs around in your presence too long. I have a natural aversion to both of your natures, but... Sometimes I am afraid that I will be so desperately trying to get away from Obi that I will run into you. Will I feel like you are the lesser of many evils?

Obi, man I have been dealing with you for ever. When will you ever get off my back. Any and every time I turn around there you are! Even times when I have felt like I am doing alright, and the way might be clear of zombies... BOOM Suddenly, you're there. And then I realize, or at least I feel like I do, that you have been there all the time. I just didn't notice you for a little while. I got used to your presence. But dude... your a zombie. Go Away.

Baroness, you scare the hell out of me. You weren't there from the beginning, but you've begun to tail me the last few years. You're good friends with Obi. Don't think I don't know this. I'm running from you almost as fast as from Obi. I keep running into dead ends... or worse, into fast food restaurants. Obi is your shield though. I can't get rid of you until I get rid of him. Then at least I know for certain why you are hanging around.

Di... you are scary too. In a tea party of scary monsters though... you aren't tooooo bad. You're still a zombie. I still don't want you around. But I might need you for a little while. You're a tricksy one though. See, you're not long gone, and you look mostly human still. You might even still have control of your speech, so you seem encouraging. But your selfish and self serving, and really you don't care about me. You just want to use me like I want to use you. No, this isn't the way I wanted to go about it... but I just might... for a little while.

Alright zombies... there you have it. Now tuck into to this tea and corn dogs while I run like hell before you figure out this is Tetly and not brains served hot with sugar and milk.

Blog Hop!

It's time to see more folks battling the denizens of the Undead and Fat Cells all in their own way! Plus these are some cool peeps! I hope you check it out!

I decided last night to make some changes. I mean after all, if we don't keep changing the zombies will eventually figure us out and get us! I even found a training manual for them at the library! More on that later though.

But I don't intend to diet for the rest of my life, but I will be following one for a little while. I am really enjoying my exercise, but it isn't enough. I must get a handle on the foods I am eating and the portions I am eating and I seriously need some help. So this will take a little more though, but I'll be trying.

And if you haven't checked it out yet, be sure to head on over to ...like a fat kid loves cake and check out the bodybugg give away!

Plus, get yourself on the list!

BodyBugg

So obviously I like a blog with a good name, no? There is a blog I follow called ...Like a fat kid Loves Cake and right now she is doing a giveaway! It's a super cool giveaway none the less. It's for this system called BodyBugg which monitors your calories burned during the day. How awesome is that! I mean seriously. I would get to know exactly how many calories are burned in sprinting away from a zombie as opposed to trying to throw things in their shambling path! Or when tracking other denizens of the night, how many calories burned while stalking vampires, or fishing for mutant grasshopper fish or something.... what?

Seriously awesome.

Three Things

If the zombies were to invade right now, I would be in sorry shape. While I am happy to report that I have stopped gaining after I put those few pounds back on, I am sad to report I have not lost any weight again yet either. This is because I have not gotten back into working out, or eating properly. I could make a bunch of excuses, but it really comes down to the fact things are just hard right now.

Money is tight. We've been on unemployment for 9 months now. There really just doesn't seem to be anyone hiring in My Educated Rabbit's field that doesn't require either a bachelors degree or several years of experience. Shopping is aggravating. Groceries are so expensive. It is so much cheaper to eat crap, then the healthy fresh things I want to. I'll need to reapply for food stamps soon.

This has basically lead me to a lot of escapism. I've been knitting quite a bit. I've been playing video games. I've been watching movies. I've been doing those things that engage my mind so I don't have to think about what is hard.

I've been neglecting my workouts. I've been neglecting my house. I haven't visited my parents or asked them over for tea in far too long. I realizes last night that I am kind of avoiding life so I don't have to feel stressed out and worried about all of the STUFF going on. While it might work for a little while, I know I'm only really hurting myself.

So last night I came up with the list of three things. Every night before I go to bed I need to write a list of three things I must acomplish before I can do the fun things I am using to escape.

3 Things 7/30

1. Gather Load of Laundry - Done
2. Wash Laundry - Done
3. Clear Coffee Table - Done

I have to say. It felt pretty awesome to be able to write done after each of those things.

I'm really not looking for solutions. I know I just need to face up to it all and start working through it. I mainly wanted to put this here to work through it and sort of get an honest picture of what is going on out there. Fatgirlvsworld talks about honesty in her writing quite a bit. And I am very good at lying to myself when I don't want to really face the issue. So here it is, me being honest with myself about why I am not being successful right now.

Here I am giving it an honest try to get better.

After all, who will protect the world from the zombie invasion if I don't!

I tried to figure out how to join the blog hop this week. I didn't quite figure it out. Maybe next week.

Stove of Doom

The vegetable cook book was awesome. I was starving just reading it. Admittedly, not all of the recipes were healthy ones, but they were all vegetable based. Now I am going to have to re-nig on my statement of making a certain amount of these recipes a week.

My oven has died. The burners on top still work, but the actual oven part has given up the ghost I think. I timed it. The last time I turned it on it was over three hours from turning the dial to when the gas actually kicked on. Mind you, my pilot light is lit and healthy as ever. I just don't feel comfortable gambling with a gas stove.

Now. If my house were invaded by zombies and I had an amazing throwing arm with a lit match, that would be another story entirely.

Contingency?

Okay, so we all know I am going to rid the world of the Zombie threat... but just in case, its good to have a contingency plan, right? Well according to this ever all knowing internet quiz...

Created by Oatmeal

I would have about an hour and a half to administer the cure, before submitting to the forces of the flesh eating, brain lusting, throng. Not bad really. I could totally come by the cure in that amount of time.

Well I could if I could run fast enough. Dang... guess it means I better get this tushy of mine back on the treadmill.

Let me out of this thing!

Do you know what is worse then being stuck on a rut?

Being stuck in a rut with the smelliest of undead. Let's face it. When it comes to undead, zombies probably rank amongst the top contenders for STINK.

But maybe even worse than that, (yes there is such a thing) is feeling like you are ready to pull yourself out of the rut and you remember the Y is closed. Blah.

It's alright though. Tomorrow the Y is open and I am ready to get myself back in gear. I was trying to prepare myself for the damage I did by not eating properly and not having worked out in two weeks. But it wasn't as bad as I had thought. I really only put back on about 4lbs. At least I know that trying to make healthy choices most of the time means that I am starting to make some sometimes even when I am not trying.

But on that note, as I try to make healthy decisions. I borrowed a book all about roasted vegetables from the library! So I am going to make a goal to browse through this book tonight and update my blog tomorrow with a vegetable goal! I was tempted to make a goal of one recipe from the book a night for the next week, but fresh veggies can be pricey and I don't exactly have the funds all the time. So I will look through it and come to a decisions. I will probably make it a goal of three times this week and next week. :)

I need to get back to the Y!

Award!!

I earned an award! It's my very first blogging award. Thank you so much Midori Mighty Warrior.


Now, here's what you need to do!
1. Thank the person who gave you the award.
2. Share seven things about yourself.
3. Nominate fifteen newly discovered blogs.
4. Let your nominees know about the award.

Seven Things About Me:
1. I am a craft-a-holic. I must be creating something.
2. I can't wait to be a mom and start the next generation of Zombie assassins.
3. I struggle with feeling like a slave to food.
4. I actually like my watermelon warm and fresh from the field instead of ice cold from the fridge.
5. I adore being married. I still feel like a newly wed.
6. My aspirations are to be an awesome stay at home mom/wife... they always made me feel like there was something wrong with me in school for feeling this way.
7. I love dancing... like seriously... no really... more than chocolate even.

I will continue to list blogs I follow as time permits!

1. I go through life in inches and pounds,
2. Knock-Off Wood
3. Attic24
4. LucyRavenscar - Crochet Creatures

Ear Plague

I am still here folks! I'm just fighting off the plague of ear doom! See, the zombies fo after your ears, so you can't hear them coming... or maybe it's just the close proximity to the brain... this requires further study. But when I get back on my feet I am setting a goal to get on here and blog SOMETHING every day! More Zombie Fighting Mayhem! More personal insight into whatever I am thinking! More emotional outbreaks because losing weight is emotional! More articles because Robby does it and I think its cool! MORE MORE MORE!!!

But first... back to bed.

Curse you...

Red Baron! Alright, it was not Zombies nor dust bunnies... It was in fact, this ear of mine and we had plans today that I had forgotten about. I've had a little bit of a breakdown. I believe you should be able to eat what you want, maybe just not as much as you might want. ;) And I've really kind of said screw it.. to my nutritional goals this last week.

I am feeling the effects. I just don't feel well. So, I am aiming to get back on the horse and back to the Y, and just get on with it. Talking about it, and getting it out there makes me feel less guilty, and then I don't try and hide it. This is good!

So here I go... I am eating some cherries. Yum! Cherries!

Consipiracy!

It's been one thing after another this week! I haven't been to the Y in forever and I feel like a slug. First we were away all weekend getting fat. Then when we got back, I didn't feel well plus something was going on with my leg where it felt like I had a pinched nerve or something. THAT finally goes away and I wake up with an earache?

AND....

I still feel nauseous... this is going on about 4 or 5 days of bleck...

So clearly, it is time to start eating properly again. Obviously my body is very angry with me. The last thing I am going to let it do is ofter me up to the Zombie Horde. No thank you. No cheese with this booty.

So I had my shake for breakfast, it was fabulous. :) And we're planning a healthy lunch and dinner. And come zombies or dust bunnies, it's back to the Y tomorrow.

Back!!!

I am back from the land of sun, and fattening food. Actually, I didn't really go anywhere. This past weekend was the tri annual family reunion. Let me tell you, if the zombies had invaded there would have been a brain buffet! While there weren't corn dogs, per say, they were plenty of other fattening treats to make you stop and say MMM... and then be munched by the mindless undead.

However, with the heat and the blazing sun, perhaps they might have baked to ... undeath?... in their tracks. I mean, I reapplied sunblock all day long like you are supposed to and I got burnt to a crisp! However, that huge blister I had on my foot that was perhaps the impending zombie plague coming to claim me, is not completely gone. It had healed, and the rough stones of the patio and pool exfoliated it to soft wonderful newness! I just can't move my shoulders now. HA...

But today or tomorrow marks my return to the gym. It was going to be today, but I am having shooting pains down my right leg and it's pretty painful to do anything right now. I;m afraid to check the scale, but I also want to know what kind of damage I did. So off I go to scare the pants off myself, and then hopefully motivate me to push through the pain and get moving.

I love this list...

Here are some weight comparisons...What equivalent have you shed and what will you be shedding?

1 pound = a Guinea Pig
1.5 pounds = a dozen Krispy Kreme glazed donuts
2 pounds = a rack of baby back ribs
3 pounds = an average human brain
4 pounds = an ostrich egg
5 pounds = a Chihuahua
6 pounds = a human's skin
7.5 pounds = an average newborn
8 pounds = a human head
10 pounds= chemical additives an American consumes each year
11 pounds = an average housecat
12 pounds = a Bald Eagle
15 pounds = 10 dozen large eggs
16 pounds = a sperm whale's brain
20 pounds = an automobile tire
23 pounds = amount of pizza an average American eats in a year
24 pounds = a 3-gallon tub of super premium ice cream
25 pounds = an average 2 year old
30 pounds = amount of cheese an average American eats in a year
33 pounds = a cinder block
36 pounds = a mid-size microwave
40 pounds = a 5-gallon bottle of water or an average human leg
44 pounds = an elephant's heart
50 pounds = a small bale of hay
55 pounds = a 5000 BTU air conditioner
60 pounds = an elephant's penis (yep, weighs more than his heart!)
66 pounds = fats and oils an average American eats in a year
70 pounds = an Irish Setter
77 pounds = a gold brick
80 pounds = the World's Largest Ball of Tape
90 pounds = a newborn calf
100 pounds = a 2 month old horse
111 pounds = red meat an average American eats in a year
117 pounds = an average fashion model (and she's 5'11")
118 pounds = the complete Encyclopedia Britannica
120 pounds = amount of trash you throw away in a month
130 pounds = a newborn giraffe
138 pounds = potatoes an average American eats in a year
140 pounds = refined sugar an average American eats in a year
144 pounds = an average adult woman (and she's 5'4")
150 pounds = the complete Oxford English Dictionary
187 pounds = an average adult man
200 pounds = 2 Bloodhounds
235 pounds = Arnold Schwarzenegger
300 pounds = an average football lineman
400 pounds = a Welsh pony

At this point, I have lost a chihuahua

Working out

Thursday I forgot to write about our workout at the gym! It was a running day, but my knees were hurting and I decided not to push it. Today is another running day so when I go to the Y I will be implementing my new C25K workout and see how it goes.

So while at the Y I did 30 minutes on the eliptical, about 10 minutes on the treadmill and the yellow curcuit. (strength training) In total, I burned about 330-350 calories. We forgot our little notepad so I couldn't record all of the details. I'm excited. My consistency excites me. I'm working towards being able to do a 5k on the elliptical.

I really never thought I would get to the point where it was fun. The running is still really really hard. I do manage to feel powerful afterwords though. But the elliptical is just FUN. I listen to my book on mp3 and just sweat. I use the weight loss setting on the elliptical and it gives me periods of high and low intensity. I am huffing and puffing through them, but having a great time.

I am expecting a good workout today as we'll be doing about an hour and a half instead of about 45 minutes. Ugh.. then I have to go to Sams Club...

Sweat is good!

Sweat is good! I mean unless of course yuo're hiding. Because lets face it. If your sweating like I have been while I am at the gym, they will find you. It doesn't matter who they are, but they will find you.

The good news is however, that the sweat and the stink means I am getting something done! Hurray!

Here are today's statistics.

W2d2 C25K = Fail. I wasn't able to complete it. My body gave out after the third run segment and I had to walk the rest.

Treadmill: 30 Minutes. 1.26 miles. approx 246 calories burned. Avg Cal per Hour 492, Avg Pace 23.48 min per mile. vert distance 159. Avg heart rate 137.

Elliptical: 35 minutes. 2.05 miles. approx 357 calories burned. avg heart rate 142. max heart rate 157.

I felt amazing when I finished.

The only downside today was the stretching room. I think I just posted about how wonderful it is out YMCA has a room for stretching that is cool, darker and quiet. Well today this woman had her two kids in there and she was loud, and her one child was unruly and annoying. It's very hard to listen to your body and stretch when your worried this woman's brat child is going to strangle you with a jump rope. Grrrr

I have a plan for c25k. I have yet to be able to complete w2's workout days in a row. So I am going to try shuffling it up a little bit. I will try w1d1, w2d1, w1d2, w2d2 etc. I want to find something to keep my being successful so I don't get discouraged and stop. I think this might do it. Wish me luck for Thursday!

Oh I also did my weight training routine again. WOW. It was harder today. Apparently I am still feeling all of the activity I have been doing lately. I've burned over 500 calories on the last two gym trips. That was previously unheard of for me. So I am not holding it against myself. I think I am doing dang awesome if I do say so myself. Watch out world, I got your back. :)

Success and then Confessions...

Today going to the gym was absolutely fantastic. First thing was first. I hadn't done my strength workout since APRIL. *Hangs head in shame* I know, I know. I know how important it is to build muscle as well as shed fat. I know this. I just tend to get tunnel vision. I have decided to widen my tunnel.

I mean let's look at this practically for a moment. Just RUNNING from the zombies isn't enough. Invariably you are going to run down an alley with a huge fence at the end, or one of those giant trash thingies. So what do you do? Make yourself cozy on a table cloth and welcome the horde to the buffet? No of course not! You're going to vault yourself over the huge trash thingie, or pull yourself up over that big fence. And you will run to your freedom!!! Or even better, run to the nearest Amunation and blow the unliving crap out of the horde following you. But this is still better done from the safety of somewhere high. Be careful not to fall, I don't want to be sued because your clumsy. After-all, all of the lawyers might have been eaten by then.

So I started out with my strength workout. There are several circuits at the YMCA. The beginner circuit is called the green circuit and I got all set up on it with a personal trainer when I first started. I am happy to report I have not LOST progress since I stopped doing it. I was still able to complete my circuit and feel good about it. I even discovered one or two places where I need to increase my weight.

After the strength training came C25K training. Since I couldn't complete it last time, I am back to counting this as W2D1. I did it! I learned from my mistakes last time. I slowed my pace back down to what was comfortable, but still challenging for me. I positioned myself between Roger and a Machine that wasn't working so I wouldn't have to deal with weird creepy people. I kept pep talking myself the entire time. The first two run sections were easy. It got hard after that though. So all through the runs I kept chanting in my head... "This is easy. You can do it! Your body is capable of great things! Only another few seconds. Just ten more seconds..." You get the picture. It helped carry me through the really rough pars. I am doing it though. I really am. I went 1.31 miles in 30 minutes. Yey!

I was experiencing some pain in my right leg and ankle though. So from there it was to the quiet room to stretch. I love that our Y has a cool, darker, quit room for stretching and AB work. I spent the next few minutes stretching out my legs, and that really seemed to help with the pain. While this was going on, Roger ran into a friend of his who stopped in.

It got me thinking. Working out is probably the last place you want to run into someone you know. You are sweaty, you stink, and if you're like me, look like hell by the end. But then, if someone can see you and hang out with you while you are in this state, you KNOW they have got your back when the invasion hits. I mean there's not always time for a shower when you're protecting the world from brain lusting aberrations, now is there. roger sees me in my 'I've been at the gym for a few hours' state and still loves me. That's true love right there.

Anyway, after stretching it was elliptical time! It was AWESOME! I did a weight loss program on the elliptical. Basically, it varies the levels of intensity. I did the entire thing on a resistance of 4, but my cross ramp height switched between a 4 and a 10 depending on if it was high or low intensity. OH MAN can you tell when it switches to that 10! For the first 30 seconds or so, each time, I almost felt like I couldn't do it. But then the discomfort faded and I was gliding into the sunset. I did an additional 35 minutes on the elliptical. 2.05 miles! 325 Cal. Whoo!! I'm excited.

Okay. Celebration and excitement... and now time for the confession.

I should have felt on top of the world. I did feel on top of the world. I felt on top of the world until I got home, showered and waited for Roger to shower so we could decide on dinner.

Ah food... my love... my nemesis. We spent the next several HOURS... and even now still to a degree being miserable. MISERABLE. Why? Well... because food is a sensitive subject. Times are tough right now as they are for most people. So we NEED to eat the food we have in the house. Yet, there is noting in this house that we want. What we WANT is to go out, eat whatever we want, have someone else serve it and someone else take it away. Tonight, it wasn't even the old fallback of 'I don't want to cook'. I didn't mind! But there was NOTHING. NOTHING. NOTHING I wanted that we had. I have an issue. Eating something I do not want, does nothing for me. Oh I know it's feeding my cells, but I -feel- completely unfulfilled and therefor want to keep eating until I do feel fulfilled. So I don't eat if its something I don't want. I know it's just going to trigger an awful cycle. However, not eating leads to crankiness, and eventually nausea and headaches for me. Not to mention I just burned over 500 calories. I need to refuel. So Roger did the smart thing and just made something... ANYTHING. It was healthy... brown rice, chicken breast and mixed vegetables. It was even tasty. However, I didn't want it. I ate it, but I didn't want it. So therefore, I didn't really enjoy it, and now I still want to go eat because I don't feel fulfilled in anyway.

I feel so stupid for feeling this way.

I have a list of goals that I want to accomplish with this weight loss journey. Some of them are physical, like I want to be able to cross my legs, or I want to be able to wrap a normal size towel around me. Some of them, however, are deeply emotional to me. One of them... is to feel in control of food instead of feeling it is in control of me.

I feel controlled... I don't like it.

If I glide, they won't hear me coming...

Because zombies are notoriously bad of hearing, right? No... not really. Notoriously bad at staircases? Yes!! Ah, well then. My training was not for nought then.

I went back to the Y today and attempted w2d2 of c25k. Today did not go well. I made it through one and a half run sessions. There were several factors working against me.

1. My right foot and leg were hurting me by the end of the first run section. I have noticed that I seem to 'lead' with my right foot. I always feel as though that leg is striding forward and my left foot is just catching up. The Educated Rabbit tells me he cannot see a difference in my stride, so it cannot be as bad as it feels. However, I am always suffering fatigue in my right leg because of it. If I am thinking about it and concentrating, I can shift my leading leg to the other leg. I wish however, there was a way I could just run evenly on both legs.
   
2. The creepy guy on the treadmill next to me. This isn't entirely accurate. There was girl on the treadmill next to me, and he was hanging out at her treadmill. I am not sure what it was about the guy that totally gave me the willies, but he did. Also, he was so freaking loud. I had to have my headphones turned up almost to painful to block him out. The comments he was making to the girl he was with just bothered me. He was constantly yelling at her to go faster and trying to adjust the controls on her machine to which she was screeching and whining shrilly to get him to stop.
   
3. I over did it. I tried to match T. E. R's pace from our last session. His stride is remarkably longer than mine is however. By trying to match his pace I burned myself out very quickly. My body just needed more time to recover.
   

So, things to work on. Run on BOTH legs. Learn to block out creepy individuals. I mean, he was not nearly as bad as the zombies, you know? The second tactic of course being, train hard enough to out run the creep. I think outrunning creepy men might even take more training then outrunning creep zombies. Go back to my comfortable pace, for now. There will be plenty of time and opportunity to push myself, but right now, I need to make it through the workouts.

The good news is when I felt like I was going to fall down foff the treadmill, we went to go stretch. I stopped to use the rest room and was actually feeling calmer and less pain in my legs than a few minutes earlier. So T. E. R and I decided to hop on the ellipticals for a little while.

When we first started going to the Y we tried these. I kid you not, after 2-3 minutes I felt like I was going to die. DIE. DIE a horrible undeath of zombie agony... But this time... Well. I ran on the elliptical for 20 minutes! TWENTY MINUTES after 30 minutes on the treadmill! I am so freaking proud of myself. I am so thrilled at the progress I have made. Best of all... IT WAS FUN!! Now we have two machines at the Y that we have a good time on. It's been a good day!

Progress

I returned from the YMCA successful! Tonight was really a test in determination. I didn't go to the gym at all last week. As you might notice, its Wednesday now, and I hadn't been at all this week either. Last night I was trying to think of a way to get out of going today, I admit it. Well, I didn't get out of it, and I managed to get myself excited about going. Then the car died.

This is how it will be in the end you know. They will evacuate the area, because of the zombie invasion. You'll holkd out just like people do during hurricane evacuations. When you finally decide... you know, the begonias just aren't holding back the legion of undead like I thought they might, we really should evacuate... You will find out your car battery is dead. So what do you do? Do you go back in the house and start clearing off your kitchen and coffee tables to block the windows off? Of course not! You grab yourself a machete and go steal a car to get theheck out of dodge!!

So in the spirit of not being defeated, we manually cleared the shrubs, bushes and wild foliage around where we park so another car could be driving up. This was an upper body workout in itself and got the car jumped. Then we hauled our sweaty mosquito bitten bodies to the gym and ran. Oh yes my friends, this chubby chica completed Week 2 Day 1! It was my fourth attempt and I did it! YES I DID. WHOO!

It was totally worth it.

But seriously... when they say the zombies are coming, its time to evacuate... just do it. :)

An anti zombie weather forcast.

I found this on accident and it was to fumy not to share...

A quote

Even those on the right path will be run over if they just sit there.

I am paraphrasing this quote because I don't have it in front of me. But I need to take this to heart. I didn't go to the gym or running all last week because of my injury. Today I didn't go because we didn't get up until 2pm. This was because my poor Educated Rabbit was working on his Team Assignment for School until 6am. This is no fault of his however. I refuse to speak poorly of these people as it could negatively effect y beloved. So I will leave it as it was no fault of his.

Tomorrow however come rain shine or Zombies, I am going to the gym! I am working too hard and not willing to risk my success. Besides, I need to work off this fabulous seafood dinner that we made tonight!

A Repost With a Good Message

From fatgirlvsworld.blogspot.com

Some great quotes from Jewel in the July 2010 Shape Magazine cover story:
On being called "the chubby Renee Zellweger" in the media years ago:

"My feelings were so hurt by that story, I ended up bingeing on an entire cake. Afterward, I actually tried to throw it all up, but thankfully I couldn't do it. It made me think, 'I can't go down this road.' I had seen so many performers develop eating disorders or try to control their weight with drugs, and I decided I would do no harm to my body."

Her advice to women:
"We should be more like men, God bless 'em. They can take their shirts off and show their man boobs, and they don't give a hoot. But women are so critical of themselves. We can be gorgeous and hot and still be embarrassed to wear a tank top. So if you can't stop looking in the mirror, at least try to not think badly about yourself when you do."

So let's all promise two things to ourselves today...

1. I will do no harm to my body.

2. I will not think badly about myself when I look in the mirror.

I'd love to see you all repost/link this to your blogs and/or to send me a comment that you'll do the same.

Let us rise up and be thankful,

for if we didn't learn a lot today,
at least we learned a little,
and if we didn't learn a little,
at least we didn't get sick,
and if we got sick,
at least we didn't die;
so let us all be thankful. ~ Buddha

Back You Beasts!

I have figured it out. This huge blister on my foot is part of the plot to slow down my fitness progress! The creatures of the night, and dark... and really just creatures of the 'ewww' (I mean seriously, have you seen some of these guys?) ... are uniting against me!



Resident Evil goes on to explain that when one becomes infected with the T Virus, you can gt huge blisters that cause you to drag your feet around. Clearly I am too awesome to become infected, and if I were, I keep on of these... around anyway.


-BUT- This insiduous plot agsint my poor feet has not gone unnoticed Zombies! I've got your number and I'm coming for you! You know, as soon as I can put weight on this foot again! DAMN YOU ZOMBIES!!!

I've been tracking what I am eating over the last week and I am doing well. I've managed to stay within caloric range most days! I am still working on not skipping meals. I need a schedule something fierce. I did however, break down and have a soda yesterday. It's a very personal gol for me to be able to do without soda. I was addicted for a long time and then I have it up. I went two years with out it and now I am drinking it again. So my goal was to go two weeks without it. I made it just over one. It's not the having ingested the thing that is bothering me, it's not being able to reach my goal. But I'll just try again. I know I can do it.

I am hoping to be able to get back to the gym tomorrow. The blister burst today so I can actually put my foot down flat. I was in no shape to run on it today though. We'll see how it feels tomorrow.

On a side note, I am completely overwhelmed by some of the other obligations I have going on right now. I need to hit AT LEAST the 50% mark on Sylvie and Swallowtail, Yeesh...

EXTREME.... walking?

I decided to hit the trail head again today. I'm really rather proud of myself for this. I was all excited to go and managed to maintain that excitement all throughout the hot part of the day. Walking the trail in this weather means waiting until the sun is getting ready to set. Between 6:00 and 6:30 is the earliest I would try and go out there.

Well I had intended to run today. However, the left side of my face once again feels all funk-da-fied and I can't breathe out of my left nostril. So no running for me right now. Seriously, I was huffing and puffing like the undead already, running might just have finished me off.

Since I was not doing my run, I decided to go ahead and walk the 5k. I've done this before. What the heck was my issue today!? It was a great workout certainly, but I somehow broke myself. I have a MASSIVE blister on the ball of my right foot, and certain other parts I wont mention here got chafed like CRAZY. I mean it was hot out and all, but what in the world...?

I am proud of going and walking. I mean, I had to push through even if I didn't want too... being miles away from the car will do that to you. But dang... oww!

Where it all began...

I did not go to the Y on Wednesday....

But don't come down on me yet. Just listen...

One might say I am zombie obsessed. (I would never know where this notion came from...) Or, at the very least, that I have a fondness for them.

This is thanks to the Resident Evil franchise. It's a fantastically wonderful game series which spawned an entertaining movie series. We're not talking academy awards or anything, but if you like zombies, and watching people blow them up, it's a good time!

So then a little over a year ago, The Educated Rabbit and I were walking at the trail head. WE are both Role Players, and have been for years. We're also extremely lucky to have a couple live near to us who are our very good friends, and also very good role players. Trust me, as role players you find yourself to be blessed when you actually have a group near by, and extremely lucky when all of the players are GOOD. So the idea was spawned to create a RPG about Zombies and taking place in the Resident Evil World. The Educated Rabbit runs it, and the three of us are players. It has been a booming Success.

It has also fed my Zombie Mania...

I also have a new appreciation for Polynesians, Pineapples, Cars, and big guns... but that's another story.

Anyway... As we all know, I am secretely training for surviving the Zombie Apocalypse by Avoiding Corn dogs... and learning to run. Yesterday I went for my first run outside... in the place it all began. I ran at the Trail Head. It was amazing to have finished my run. I almost completed w2d2 of c25k. I didn't QUITE make it. But I'm getting better.

I am sure I would not outrun the zombies yet. Not even a little... but I'm getting there!

No I am not a vampire!

I infact, CAN be seen outside during daylight hours! It's just been too darn hot here in Florida to venture outside while the sun is still hanging in the sky. It has not been uncommon for it to hang out around 90 degrees in the shade, all the way until the sun sets. Now add the fact our humidity is out of control... and we have a complete avoidance of the outside.

This really upsets me, actually. In New York, where I grew up, the early evening hours of spring and summer were some of my favorite times. I love the blue grey light and the warm gentle breezes. We, of course, had humid days too, but not to the constant extent that we do here in Florida.

Yesterday started out as one of -those- days. You know the days I am talking about. You wake up sad or angry, have a headache, feel under the weather, and generally just want to spend the day doing nothing waiting for tomorrow. It started out as one of those days. I spend most of the day doing not much, and waiting for tomorrow. But then around 7:00 I decided I wanted to go for a walk. Far be it for me to turn down an opportunity when I actually WANT to go outside.

So the Educated Rabbit and I got dressed in appropriate 'outside' clothes; grabbed our MP3 players and headed out to the trail head we like to walk at. I lucked out completely. The weather was fantastic. It was warm, but not unbearably hot, and it was humid, but not terribly so. (This is Florida afterall) So not only did I walk, but I actually continued my training. -ON TIME-

I almost skipped a training day. Thankfully, I actually managed to kick my own rear into shape to get out there and get going. The exciting news is that I was almost able to complete the whole thing this time. Technically, I still consider myself to be on W2D1 because I haven't 'completed' it yet. I am -THIS- close though. The only thing was, I had to pause it in between my last two run sections. I just needed a few extra minutes to recover before finishing strong. I am really proud of myself.

Take that world!