The Biggest Loser!!!!

Guess what, cats and kittens???  The Biggest Loser is holding auditions at the MOA!!

I'm honestly considering thinking about the possibility of convincing myself to go.  Just for S and Gs.  And because I could win the shit out of that contest.

Coworker A is a huge fan of the show, and pointed it out to me today at work.  It's kind of intriguing to me, in that I think I could genuinely have a fair shot at totally winning it.  I just don't know if the weight requirement would be conducive to me winning (I would be plenty skinnier than I want to be...).  And seriously - why would I even CONSIDER spending weeks on TV in a sports bra and Spandex if I weren't going to completely win the thing?!

Right now, I'm trying to connive ways to demand that I get to wear a muu muu for the whole show - until the end, when they're handing me a huge $250k check in my hot pink catsuit - so as not to damage my pride *too* much.  The idea of the entire world seeing A) how much I weigh, B) what I look like pretty much in my Birthdays thanks to the aforementioned classy bra and Spandex combination platter, and C) having that information out there for all of eternity actually makes my stomach hurt.  I don't know if I could convince myself that it was worth it, even if I won the thing.  Especially because it's being used as entertainment for other people.  I can just hear A saying that it's inspiring and that she loves seeing the transformations of the contestants.  ha.  But to me, that's pretty embarrassing stuff.

I don't know what I think just yet.  I'm warming up to the possibility of just going, just to see what happens.  I can always say no at the second call-backs right?

Any thoughts on this one???

Grrrrrrrrrreat(ful)!

So, my bestie J over at Pseudo Boricua snagged an idea from one of HER frequently-read blogs about posting a weekly gratitude list.  I like it.  I, too, shall steal it (with a little shout-out to Love, Life, Lace).

I think I’ll make them a Monday post about the previous week.  Because, let’s face it.  Mondays can often need a little extra something to keep them from sucking so much.  A nice little post about all the things I’m grateful for that week should do the trick.  Now, the other trick:  making myself start a post every week that I write things in because LORD KNOWS I have no brain for memory.

And on that note…

·         My DS Lite.  I love you and your Brain Age program.  Perhaps I should bust that puppy out more often?  Also, Super Mario Bros 2 is pretty great.

·         Glee soundtracks.  I KNOW.  Nerd.  I get it.  But, I just can’t help myself; I love listening to them.  There’s just something I love about a show that takes “Poker Face” and turns it into a poppy, sweet song.  Plus, I love Puck.  Soooo…  Where was I going with this??  OH.  Right.  On my trip from my sister’s, I listened to all four of the albums I have in their entirety, and it almost got me home (plus an HOUR LONG conversation with the hubs!!).  It reminded me of my “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” days.  The tape (yes, tape) was exactly long enough to start it when I got in the car and have it finish as I turned on the road to the farm.

·         Being able to get my wedding and engagement rings off without having to drench my hand in lotion first.  Holla!

·         Knowing my body well enough again to know exactly what crappy thing(s) I ate this weekend to be giving me this intense, irritating heartburn.  I’m looking at you, French Onion Ruffles.

·         My family.  Those guys are just so stinkin’ awesome.  We may not see each other as often as we like (it’s hard when the closest trip is around two hours), but knowing that we have each other is just about as great a gift.  On that same line, my in-laws.  I love those guys too.  I count myself as one of the lucky who adore the in-laws.  Um…I don’t think we have very good reasons for not seeing each other as often as we could.  Can we blame it on the dogs??

·         Jillian Michaels.  Yeah, she’s the devil.  But she’s helping me make it possible to tug off the rings, so she deserves some gratitude.  Just this once.

·         “Real” motivation.  Sister-mine is getting married next April (MAJOR SQUEAL!!!!).  I am the Sister of Honor (I REFUSE to call myself the “Matron” of Honor, as I am not an old lady).  I thusly need to squeeze into a cute little dress.  I will NOT be in another wedding as a fat person.  I’ve done it four-ish times already, and that’s plenty for me.

I think that’s enough for the first round.  There’s a lot more than these listed that I could go into, but I’ll go ahead and stop there.  Don’t want to jump out the gate too quickly and end up a loser!

It's the little things.

I did 27 minutes and three seconds of the Yoga Meltdown today.  And, having gone through 27 minutes and three seconds of this workout, I have come to some conclusions.

1. Jillian Michaels is trying to kill me.  I'm not sure what I did to her (other than being a chub, natch), but I'm really, really sorry Jillian.  I hope you can forgive me.
2. I am SERIOUSLY out of shape.  You know how you think "Meh.  I've just gotten, you know, less flexible.  I could totally still lift a small car and run a mile in 8 minutes."  NO.  No, you can't.  And Jillian, Bashira, and Maddie are here to show you that.  You're out of shape.  You cannot do those things anymore, much less perform a chataranga push-up.
3. On the same line, I have no balance.  My coworkers know this - especially the poor one who has to sit next to me, and listen as I nimbly bang into the cube walls just about every time I come out of my cube.  This is different.  This is absolutely no balance.  I have no concept of how to not fall over when I'm doing Warrior 3.  Fail Warrior 3.
4. My head sweats.  My head.  I have learned that I can tell just how much of a workout I'm getting by how much my head sweats.  Today, the sweat started at the nape of my neck and got all the way to the crown of my head.  Conversely, my fivehead (in my family, they're not foreheads - they're fiveheads because they're HUGE) is not sweaty.  Go figure.
5. I like my stretchy yoga pants.  I feel like Jack Black in Nacho Libre:  "Chancho.  When you are a man, sometimes you wear stretchy pants in your room.  It's for fun."  I *get* leggings and yoga pants in public now.  I heart my yoga pants.  NOTE:  I will not be wearing them in public.  Maybe when I go for walks with the dog (I SWEAR he just perked up when I typed "walk" - he's a "Walk" ninja!!), but no grocery shopping in these babies.  I ain't no Edina Mama (sorry if you are...)
6. There's something deep in my soul that wants to stop doing the "beginner" version of this DVD and start doing the "advanced" version.  There's a fantasy in my head where Jillian Michaels comes to my house and screams at me "I'M GONNA MAKE YOU ROCK THIS WORKOUT!!!!!"  In my fantasy, I calmly lay down my yoga mat, and Downward Dog her ass off.  Naturally, I'm already in my stretchy pants, sweat band on.  I want to beat her.  In my fantasy?  I do.  I know I can be a competitive person.  I just didn't realize that I could be THIS competitive.  I kinda like it.
7. There is still a LOT of that workout left, past 27 minutes and three seconds.  A lot.
8. I want the body of any one of the women in this video.  I really do.  I *realize* that it's never gonna happen (God did NOT Grace me with any kind of genetic pre-disposition to have any kind of a butt.  Dang.), but I want it.  Strong arms, great arses, amazing abs...someday, I could have my own version of these bodies.  That's my overall goal.

I just spent the last 15 minutes trying to find a decent pic of "Bashira" from the video, BTW.  She's ah.may.zing.  Strong, confident in her moves, and not afraid to get sweaty.  I *might* just have a lady crush.  ha.

Oh, PS - despite falling off the wagon repeatedly, I've somehow managed to lose a couple of lbs in the last couple of weeks.  Take that Metabolic Syndrome.  WOO!

UGH.

So, we had a holiday day today (yay!).  Hubs and I decided to go bowling.  We played for two hours, and had some lunch in between.  It was kind of nice.  Especially when I kicked Mr. P's butt.

Speaking of butts.  Mine is SORE.  I don't know how I manage to always pull my glutes when I bowl.  Usually, it's only the left one because of my crappy bowling stance, but today it was both.  TMI?  Meh.

When we got home, I had a little project I was taking care of (finishing scanning my Nana's old photos), so I spent an hour or so doing that, then I decided to try out the Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown video for a little extra workout (you know, since I had the world's greatest bacon cheeseburger for lunch today...whoops).

As coworker A's little man says:  Ah. Mah. Gah.

I got through 7 minutes and 6 seconds of the video before I had to just stop.  I just couldn't do anymore.  Now, I have to take just a sec and make myself not look like such a lame-o weakling.  Like I said before (yesterday?), I'm not feeling 100% lately.  Plus, 2 hours of bowling made me tired.  But really, most of it is that it's a seriously rockin' workout.  I've decided that, instead of being unbelievably frustrated by the fact that I can't get through the thing, I'm just going to keep doing it until I can get all the way through it.

This could take a while.  ha...

Burnin' it up!

Ever the fan of fun new things, I went and bought Jillian Michaels' "Yoga Meltdown" DVD the other day on the recommendation of coworker S.  I've been dying to try this baby on for size, but I just haven't been able to do it yet.  Big reason is that I'm illin'.  I don't know what's wrong with me, but I'm not feeling well at all lately.  I blame it on all the people I know who have kids - they're all little germ factories.  :)  JOKING.  Kidding aside, once I have a chance to try this thing out, I'm givin' a full synopsis of its awesomeness.
I watched some of the other day, just to see what it looked like, and I'm awestruck.  Jillian Michaels is an ANIMAL.  She's intense and scary.  I would really like to see her live in action, but only if I wasn't the one she's yellin' at.  ha.  So far, I like that they have two different versions of the workout.  The one lady is doing it at a much more "beginner" level, and the other lady is sweating her ASS off doing it at the higher level.  I can't wait until I move from blondie to the sweat monster.  Excited.

SO, once I kick whatever it is that I've come up with, I'll be kickin' it on the yoga mat.  Woot.

Just a little note.

I've had a strange appetite lately.  Like, it's both there and it isn't.  I'm not a fan of it.  Part of that seems to be a lack of any real interest in food.  Most meals, when it comes to thinking about what I want to eat, there isn't anything that sticks out.  Enter in the less healthy options.  But, that's another post.

Today for lunch I (again) didn't know exactly what I wanted, so I went to our caf at work.  I decided on the trek up the flight of stairs that I didn't care what else I wanted, but I wanted cottage cheese.  Random.  So, I went with a salad.  Got all my greens in there, the cottage cheese, and grabbed a dressing packet.  Let it be known that I DO NOT eat low fat or fat free dressing.  What's the point???  I'm having a frickin' salad.  It's, like, 100 calories.  Another 70 from the full-fat Ranch won't kill me.

What WILL kill me is that dressing packet.  I took a gander at the nutrition info on it and actually gasped out loud.  The packets are 1.5 ounce packets.  There are 250 calories in that packet.  The nutritional information says that packet is ONE SERVING.  Let the record show that I'm not huge on salad dressing.  I actually enjoy the different tastes of the veggies.  My serving of dressing usually sits around 1 TBSP instead of the "serving size" of 2 TBSP.  I use almost none of that dressing, and I'm really happy about that today.

Since I don't eat a ton of dressing, I had no idea what the real impact of a full serving of dressing is.  Holy Spiccoli, is the impact huge!!  I get why other people use Light or Fat-Free dressings.

PS - Unnamed dressing company, you need to make smaller packets!

Check it.

Bowling = exercise, baby.

Seriously.  The Peavs and I did a little VDay bowling this evening, and we got a nice little workout.  Is that lame?  Maybe.  But honestly, I'll take an hour of butt-pulling goodness over sitting on my duffer at a restaurant filling my face with fatty fat.

I burned roughly 165 calories just bowling.  Oh, and I WHOOPED Peavs.  Whooped.

See, that's the thing about hobbies and stuff - you can get a pretty neat workout with some of them.  I think I could turn bowling into a weekly fun time.  I mean, go for an hour or so (dinner not included, because Lord knows that pretzel looked AWESOME) on a Tuesday might do a million things - from blowing some calories to making some new friends, to becoming a "local" for real.

If you didn't notice it, I'm trying to find new ways to work out that don't necessarily feel like a "real" workout.  I mean, I know that walking and using the elliptical or the balance ball or whatever is a workout.  The real trick is to find things that are enjoyable but aren't "working out."  Maybe it's just 29 (EEK) years of being an anti-working-out kind of girl talking, but the idea of being an elliptical person for the rest of my life is really boring.  I don't even like committing to the same thing for lunch every day.  I imagine myself getting awfully bored and jumping ship with working out if it's the same thing EVERY day.  That's where other activities come into play.  Like bowling.  I also want to get walking with my neighbors and our dogs.  I know that's a normal kind of exercise, but walking with the neighbors and their dogs is totally different - it's not just the same walk every day.  Something new to talk about all the time.

For now, I'm going to figure out how to quit pulling my left glute when I bowl.  I gotta work on my technique.

You like apples?

(Imagine me slamming a paper up against a bar window)
I got her number.  How do you like those apples??

Well, I didn't *actually* get anyone's number (boys ask for MY number, thankyouverymuch), but much like Matt Damon's Will Hunting, I DID get something from Harvard.  The Nutrition Source.

Jenny mentioned the tedious nature of counting all the calories and fats and all that other stuff when it comes to tracking food.  While I whole-heartedly agree that it can be tedious, I also have to say that it's really working for me.  In our classes at work, Lynda espoused the importance of writing down our intake and output in some kind of a food log.  Whether it's online, or an Excel spreadsheet system that you created, writing down your intake is a great idea.

BUT, there are times when it just feels like too big of a chore to want to deal with.  The good news is that there are a variety of resources that help push you in the right direction, as far as putting the right things into your body.  I like Harvard's Nutrition Source.  Their Food Guide Pyramid is different.  It's not your Grandma's Pyramid.  For example, I love that the lowest level (the one that takes up the biggest space on the pyramid) is made up of "Daily Exercise and Weight Control."  It shows that this is the most important part of being healthy.  Yeah, that's not exactly rocket surgery, but it's the part that we so often forget.

I think it's no secret that we Americans think there should be an easy way to do everything - from making a million bucks just by being on a TV show to the elusive "fix everything" pill.  The thing that we tend to forget (and I'm totally guilty of it, so don't feel like I'm lecturing everyone else!) is that you have to actual work hard at things sometimes.  It maybe should be easy, but it often isn't.  I mean, if you want to get into "shoulds," I'll start.  I should have been born skinny.  Genetically, the likelihood of me being a chub really wasn't all that high.  Skinny brother and sister, skinny parents, skinny cousins...the list goes on.  But yet, here I am.  Knowing that there have GOT to be some skinny genes in here somewhere, it should be super easy for me to lose the weight.  False.  It's been a strugglefest for as long as I can remember.

The point is that sometimes you have to work at things to get them done.  Rome wasn't built in a day, right?  Losing weight is kind of like that for me.  And tools like meal planning, tracking, and knowing what my body needs are my proverbial chisel and hammer.

Oh, since we were talking about the hassles of tracking to start with, check out this little ditty from the Pyramid web page (when you click on the links on the top of the page, it brings you down the page to the individual sections.  Or, you can scroll.  But, my mouse scroll thingy is loud, so I click.).  It's all about quality, not quantity.  As in, they don't list the amounts of food that you need, just what you need.  Convenient little starting point or reminder.

Happy reading!

What the...?!

Holy Spicoli!

Had you told me even two months ago that I would be running at 3.5 MPH for 15 minutes straight, I'd have laughed at you.  I'd have rolled my eyes and told you in my best 15-year-old accent "Shut UP."

But I did it tonight.

I know that a 15-minute-ish mile isn't a big deal for anyone who can actually run.  But there's the thing.  I CAN'T run.  I DON'T run.  I have never in my entire life run a mile.  Ever.  Not even kidding.  In gym classes, I didn't run anything - I walked the mile.  Difiantly.  Unabashedly.  Smiling, I'm sure.  Probably to the chagrin of my Phys Ed teachers.  Sorry, guys.  But, they get theirs.  I did it tonight (well, almost did it tonight...whatever.  Close enough).

The stinkin' crazy thing is that I wasn't even dying in the end.  I could maybe have finished that whole mile, had I had a mind to.

It's interesting to feel like this thing that I've never been able to hold onto is something that I might be able to finally get a grip on.  I CAN WORK OUT.  And, I'll do ya one better.  I can ENJOY IT.  Who knew??!!?  Man, I'm so stoked to keep this up.  I just feel awesome.  I have a feeling that it can only get better from here on out - as I'm able to do more and more and run for longer and longer.

I hope you guys are ready for this section of the ride, 'cause I am!!

Boo

Currently feeling a little down.  I don't know what my deal is.  Perhaps it's the rush of victory dwindling?  Maybe it's a winter's worth of cabin fever really setting in.  I'm not sure.  But I don't like it.  It's not that it makes me feel like stuffing my face or anything - it just kind of makes me feel like my wheels are turning, and I'm not getting anywhere.

Even though I stepped on the scale Monday, and I'm down a couple of pounds from last week, I just feel like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.  Hmmm.  Maybe that's it?  Maybe I know that I did a pretty crap job of eating well last week, and I'm mopey because I know that sooner or later it's gonna catch up to me?  That definitely keeps me from celebrating my own victory of a couple of pounds lost.  Just knowing that next week it's probably going to go in the opposite direction that I want sucks.

But really, it's my own dang fault.  I knew better when I agreed to pizza for lunch and Culver's for dinner.  I have no one to blame but myself, and that kinda sucks.  Maybe Mr. P just a smidge for not being very helpful.  :)  But no.  Mostly just me.

Fact of the matter is, I need to get it together.  Be more consistent with things like veggie intake and exercise.  Do more meal and schedule planning so that I can know what's coming instead of waiting to the last minute (aka on the way home from work) to figure out what's for dinner.  I know from a little exercise at work that my personality has a smidge of a strugglefest when it comes to actually planning things out ("Perceivers" are better with things like going on a cross-country trip completely unplanned and without any kind of map or saving for the trip or, hey, even a car.  Woooo!).

UGGGHHHHHHHHH

Heartburn city!

Causes:

• Pizza, like, fourteen times last week
• Not enough veggies!
• Coca Cola Classic.  Both my savior and my nemesis.
• Not enough milk!
• Not enough sour cream in my chili for lunch (ha!  Gotcha!  Seriously, though...)
• The wrong kinds of carbs - white processed instead of whole wheats.
• Not working out.  I swear that there's no scientific proof of this (I mean, maybe there is, I'm not going to research it right now), but working out makes me feel so much better in a million ways - I think that it helps my process all the gross and yuck and get it out of my system faster.
• Stressing about Cosmo the Wonder Dog.  I think he's depressed because he's stir crazy...he worries me sometimes.  I need kids (quiet, Moms.  Sisters.  Dad.).

Good thing I'm going to eat just a whole head of lettuce and some milk for dinner.  And then work out for a couple of hours.  I gotta shake this off.

Tonight's workout mix was brought to you by...

...HUH??

It is as follows:

1. Diplo & Don Diablo "Make You Pop"
2. Whitney Houstin "I Will Always Love You"
3. Shaggy ft. Sean Paul  "Hey Sexy Lady"
4. Billy Mack "Christmas is All Around"
5. All-American Rejects  "Swing Swing"
6. Bon Jovi "Livin' on a Prayer"
7. NSYNC "Everything I Own" (personal favorite NSYNC song EVER - especially the Boyz II Men-esque interlude..."You know baby?  My love for you will always be true.  Cause there's no me without you"  HA!)
8. Tom Petty "Free Fallin'"

I don't know what Droid was thinking, but I'll take it.  Kept me rockin' for over half an hour.

Completely off topic, but I would like you to note a few things about this pic:  J Timberlake is roughly 8, Joey Fatone is super skinny, Lance looks like Ellen, Chris is wearing a sweater-vest with no shirt underneath, and Russell Crowe rocked the Roman hair way better than you, JC.  GOD, I love NSYNC.

GOD, kid!

So, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.  NO, I woke up on the wrong side of the HOUSE this morning.  Just a tremendous case of the cranks.  Then, it all started sliding downhill.  Shut the alarm off and slept for another 20 minutes.  Didn't have time to do anything with my hair, so I looked like a beggar at work.  Morning meeting where we learned that there are a few things that'll be shaking up the joint - at least for our team.  Another meeting (with COOKIES!  Which I somewhow managed to avoid...10 points for me), then our last SHAPE meeting, which was sad...THEN eventually, the end of the day and we had to bring Cosmo the Dog to the vet.  Stressful for everyone, I guess.

Naturally, after my early morning pbbbbppttttt (that's the sound of a raspberry, in case you didn't know), I had me some greasy, salty goodness for breakfast, in the form of a bacony, eggy, croissant of deliciousness.  And, I refuse to apologize.  Sometimes, you're the oatmeal, sometimes you're the greasy croissant sandwich.  I know that emotional or stress eating isn't a good thing.  That doesn't, however, mean that I don't get to occasionally indulge in it.  The way I see it, I KNOW why I wanted to eat what I wanted to, and that's 3/4 of the battle.  Controlling the craving or desire or whatever you want to call it most of the time is making sure I keep myself in check.

The good news is, for both the parts of this little story, tomorrow's another day.  I WILL wake up on the right side of the bed, or learn to change my attitude if I don't!  And, I'm having oatmeal for breakfast.

Bravo!

I applaud B for making her hard work public and so inspirational. We all feel better, when we eat better, and seeing the outcome of looser clothing makes you feel wonderful too.

B's going at this hardcore, and it is TOTALLY working for her! I have been doing littler things to make myself healthier. I am a creature of habit, and I have to develop things as a "habit" in order to stick to them. Whole grains, no preservatives, fresh veggies and fruits. Gotta start somewhere, right!?

Fooood. It's good for you.

Dear Eating Well mag.  I LOVE you.  Signed, skinny b.

Sunday night, my super awesome hubby made a "Quick Coq a Vin" from Eating Well's site.  It was pretty awesome.  It's something that I've always wanted to try, and I'm pretty happy that we got to start out with a "quick" version of it.  OH, and it was only 288 calories!  Throw in the green beans (roughly 70 calories with the oil/butter) and some mashed potatoes (somewhere in the neighborhood of 130 calories), and that's a pretty good dinner!  Since it came from Eating Well, I don't have any trouble thinking that it's going to be really good AND it's going to be good for me.

One of the things that I'm figuring out is that it's totally still possible to have food like Coq a Vin and mashed potatoes and still push onward to get skinny.  Sure, it may not be exactly the classic (often, I've found that "classic" = "less healthy") version, but it was healthier and still delicious.  Knowing that there's gotto be a way to make just about anything good for me is a big deal, since I looooove food.

The hiccup though is that, even though the item is better for me, I still need to pay attention to the portion sizes.  Just because it's fewer calories for the portion size doesn't mean that I can sneak in a little extra and be like, "It's cool - it was healthy!"  :)  That's cheating.  It's cheating that's just really easy to do when you're learning how to properly portion food.  It's really easy to justify eating more when it's better for you.  That's where the whole portion control thing comes into play.  It's kind of hand-in-hand:  eat better, eat less.

The good news?  While I'm struggling just a smidge to eat the right sizes of everything (my personal exception:  healthy - read:  not butter-coated - veggies.  I'll eat two cups of those bad boys if the calories are right.), my belly, which is my trouble-zone has gotten smaller.  So much so that a jacket I bought just before I went to Europe is now baggy on me.  Sleeves are too long (guess my shoulders are getting a bit smaller!), the jacket is just baggy and looks totally slovenly on me now.  woop, woop!  :)  I'm now stuck with debating whether or not I want to get it taken in.  I got it for a buck at a consignment shop.  So, spending $20 to get it altered might be worth it since I really love the thing.  We'll leave it as TBD for right now.

While we're on the subject, I'm also kind of kicking myself at this point for only relying on weight and clothing fit to determine my losses.  I KNOW there are fewer inches on my frame now.  I think, starting this week, I'm going to start measuring (better get me a measuring tape!) to see what kind of progress we're making.  Stay tuned, it's gonna be exciting!