Yawn

Yes, I just made you yawn just by typing that. You're welcome!

Why is it that the "spring forward" part of Daylight Savings Time seems to take a week to get over? Is losing an hour really that much of a shock to our systems?

I'm gonna go out on a limb, and, from my totally unscientific research (a.k.a. talking to people I know) I'm gonna say "yes."

I should have had no trouble at all sleeping Saturday night, too, because I'd spent the day helping Amanda move into her new SECOND FLOOR WALKUP apartment.

Did I mention that it was on the second floor? That it's part of an old house that was converted into apartments, and the only access we had was a three-foot-wide back staircase because the downstairs peeps weren't home?

I don't think it was the actual moving that did me in, though - it was the painting. Amanda found a can of sky blue paint in the attic, and decided that her room need not be bright lime green any longer. Anna Marie and I did a big bunch of the work - she had an itty bitty little edging roller - and my arms and back are still recovering.

But despite the intense manual labor, I still tossed and turned.

(Oh, did you wonder about my weigh-in on Thursday? Yes, I weighed in at the gym, but I think I'm going to invest in a scale all of my own because I don't know if that one is being calibrated on a regular basis. As you can tell from my distrust, it did not give me good news, but Jason and Amanda have both assured me that NO WAY did I gain five pounds in one week. They assure me that it's all the muscle I'm building.)

(Because they're experts, of course, and I trust them implicitly.)

I'm on my second week of Couch to 5K, and so far, so good. I almost skipped this morning because my muscles are still sore, but then I realized that 1. I won't get to go for the next two days because Jason will be at work, and 2. My legs weren't hurting, just my arms, and I don't need my arms to walk on a treadmill.

I realized this morning that, while I don't enjoy getting up at 5 a.m. to go to the gym, I do enjoy going, and I enjoy getting it over with for the day, so I guess 5 a.m. it is - at least until summer, when I can sleep in until 6.

My iPod is loaded with all 10 weeks of the PodRunner Intervals, so I should be good to go. What am I going to do once that 10 weeks is up? I don't know, but I should be in MUCH better shape by then so we'll see what happens.

I really do need to take some measurements, because that scale completely freaked me out Thursday morning. I've got to have some other criteria to measure my progress by than those numbers.

I know for a fact that I wouldn't have been able to do the manual labor I did on Saturday back when I was 90 lbs. heavier. Good gracious, that back staircase was a better workout than I've probably ever had at the gym!

So here's to keepin' on keepin' on, and measuring our progress without being tied to the scale!

There are no words

see funny english mistakes

To describe how funny I find this sign. Especially when I imagine Barry White saying it.

Aw yeah, girl.

Guess it's a good thing I went to Walmart this morning and spent $23 on four pair of workout pants and one shirt, and plan on joining a $15 a month gym later today.

(And why did I only buy one shirt? Two of the pants had a white stripe, so I can wear a white shirt, and the other two had a bright pink and a turquoise stripe, respectively. I could only find a shirt for the turquoise stripe.)

For an extra $10 a month, I could have a tanning package at the gym too, but really, who am I kidding? I need those cancer-causing UV rays like I need a hole in my head.

But I do need to get down to that gym - because I've had the misfortune to meet a few hamburgers in my lifetime, and it's looking pretty impossible to make my waist slender.

But I don't want to give up!

Where to begin?

The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and it's like 70 degrees outside.

Yes, that's February in Dixie, y'all. In a few days, it'll be subzero again. Enjoy it while it lasts!

We took full advantage of the weather this weekend, and Jason forced Anna Marie to finally learn to ride her bike sans training wheels.

Here's his clever, five-step process:

Step 1: Make your wife almost have a coronary, simply by suggesting that the family take a walk together - because in the last 13 years, the only time he's suggested walking with her was the night he asked her out for the first time.

Step 2: Get the kid on the bike. Not hard at all.

Step 3: After a couple of blocks of frustration at the kid's penchant for leaning to one side, take the training wheel off that side so she has no choice.

Step 4: Fuss a bit more, really lose patience, and take the other training wheel off.

Suddenly, she's working without a net.

Step 5: Take the kid to the empty bank parking lot next to your house, and don't let her go back home until she's learned to balance.

See? Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

So she's learned to balance but she's now working on the turning part. The weather is still nice, so hopefully Jason will take her back out this afternoon so she can practice a bit more. We weren't home for long enough yesterday afternoon to bother.

(And let me just interject - I think that's part of the problem with kids getting into the out-of-doors these days. Gear! Head-to-toe armor is now required to step out your own front door! Back in my day, there was no gear. There was just getting on the bike, and if you fell off, you fell off. A few scrapes and concussions never hurt anyone, right?)

I've also had a minor phone crisis this weekend. I felt like that Verizon guy, except instead of saying "can you hear me now?" I was saying "Hello? Hello?" The folks on the other end could hear me, but I couldn't hear them!

(Speakerphone was fine, but really, I'm not trafficking in international secrets, but I can't very whttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifell go around on speakerphone all the time, can I?)

I called customer service today, since the phone is still under warranty. They led me through a series of tests, and had me jump through a few hoops. Finally, I was instructed to do a "hard reset" and well, that fixed it. Except, now I have to replace all my data, and I don't even have a new phone to show for it!

And, I've come to a decision. It also involved a step-by-step process.

Step 1: Hear a friend brag that she's paying half what you pay for your data plan, on the same carrier, and with a comparable smartphone.

Step 2: Attempt to get ATT to lower your data rate, using a combination of logic, pleading, and slightly veiled threats.

Step 3: FAIL

Step 4: Decide that since you're paying for a data plan, and you've found a website that does basically what Weight Watchers online would except for free that you're going to justify the cost of said data plan by quitting Weight Watchers.

I said it, yes I did.

I had already been considering dropping the meetings and joining online, because I wanted to make better use of the technology stuff they offer. I've also tired of tying up every Thursday night, and have realized that I've put a lot of my life on hold for the past three and a half years because of those meetings. Now that Anna Marie is in school, there are lots of functions on Thursday nights that preclude me from even going and weighing in, much less staying for the meetings. Add that to the nights I already have to work, and you see where I'm going with this?

I'm going to buy a scale, and weigh myself first thing in the morning on Thursdays - that way, I can't make excuses for myself about the amount of sodium I've eaten that day affecting my weight, or wonder if I drank some water too close to weigh-in time.

I've also tracked everything I've eaten so far today on Sparkpeople using their mobile site, something I haven't done on a paper tracker in an embarrassing long time. That mobile site offers tons of information, like nutritional info (including popular restaurant foods) and it's FREE.

So yes, I've made my decision. I do intend to call my WW leader this week, to let her know what's happened. I had a bad weigh-in last time I went, and I don't want her to think I've quit because I'm discouraged.

I have to go it on my own some time, and after three and a half years, I think that "sometime" is probably "now."

I've got to keep myself honest, because really, I'll only have myself, and not super-salty lunches, to blame if I fail.

Interesting.

Study: Women less able to suppress hunger than men

I knew it!

A quandry

I have been mulling over many things lately, and - don't fall out from shock - but my continuing with Weight Watchers is one of them.

Don't get me wrong - the tools I've gained there over the past three and a half years have been invaluable to getting my eating, and the eating of my family, going in a better direction.

And I love me some WW ladies. I enjoy celebrating when they lose, or comforting when they gain.

I am beginning, however, to not love tying up every Thursday night of my life, as I've done since August 2005. Especially when Anna Marie begs me to "weigh in and leave" so I can come back home to her, or I have to rearrange my other plans to make it.

For instance, I missed three weigh-ins in a row in December, two of which were on the holidays, and one of which was because Anna Marie had to be at school at 5:45 for a program.

This week, I had to weigh in and go back to work. The first week of February, I probably won't weigh in at all because that's the night of the Winter Jam concert, and I have a date with TobyMac.

(Oh, and Jason too.)

And its time for confession, which I was told this morning (by a text message from one of my friends at church, who has a text message scripture ministry) was something that I needed to do. I'm not journaling, and by "not journaling" I mean "not even really keeping up with my healthy guidelines, or my non-CORE foods."

(All of this comes as no surprise, if you've been looking at my abysmal weight-loss over the past few months.)

And, I haven't been exercising as regularly as I should. Yes, Jason bought me that wonderful Gazelle a couple of years ago for Christmas, and yes, it sits in my living room, ready for me to watch TV while I use it. But guess what invariably happens every time I step on?

"Mom! Mom! Mom!"

Yes, while I wanted exercise equipment at home so that I could not spend so much time away from my family, guess what - the family is interfering with my ability to exercise.

Does it matter that I wait until she's playing on the computer, or in the tub? Nope. It's apparently some unwritten law of nature - the moment I step on (and put in my earphones or turn on the tube) she's going to need my assistance with something. How am I supposed to get my heart rate up when I keep having to stop?

And no, Jason can't assist her. Invariably when he tries, she insists that I come to her aid.

I do live in a "walkable" neighborhood, and when the weather clears up, I can take Anna Marie out on her bike, but that also includes lots of stops and starts. The sidewalks are not conducive to bike riding, and she's still on training wheels, so it's hard for her to get any speed.

(Besides, the weather won't be clearing up for another two months, and then we'll only have about six weeks until it's too hot to be outside safely for any amount of time.)

With the 24-hour club, I could get up and go before Anna Marie got up, while Jason was still at home - well, on the days when he doesn't get up at 2 a.m. to go to the auction. No, I don't get up that early now, but I think the draw of a bright, well-lit club might help with that.

It would also give me some variety, like weights and a treadmill, instead of just the Gazelle. On the days when I couldn't go because he had already left the house, I could get up early anyway and use the Gazelle at home.

The club would also offer some of the same "social" benefits as Weight Watchers, since we're in such a small town and I know so many of the people who would be there.

I know what you're thinking - "Just do both! It's just $15 a month!" That may not sound like a lot, but in our current economic situation, I don't know if I could justify the extra expense without cutting back somewhere else - and I'm spending $11 a week on Weight Watchers.

I'd actually make money on the deal, some of which could maybe go towards saving up for the Wii!

(Hey, I just thought of that!)

I TRULY hate to leave Weight Watchers just a few pounds shy of my goal weight, but I think it might be time to move on. I'm going to talk this over with Jason, and maybe by the first of February I'll have made my decision.

Then I won't have to be late for my date with TobyMac, er I mean, Jason, at Winter Jam!

Friday Funny

Or, Friday Frightening, however you'd like to look at it.

I found this picture a couple of weeks ago when I was cleaning off my hard drive at work. It was taken oh, a month or so before I started Weight Watchers:



Yeah, the girl in the middle was five months pregnant, but at least SHE could hide behind the newspaper. This picture ran on the front page with an article announcing the new staff here (the girl in the middle is the publisher's daughter, and served for a time as our editor.)

And this was taken today:



The girl in the white is from France. She's in PR and marketing, and she's here on an exchange with the Rotary club, so she came and spent the morning with us. Poor thing - she has a five-year-old son she's been away from for a month while she's been in the US!

Now, I can look back at this post whenever I get discouraged, or maybe just when I get tempted to eat a Reese's.

O RLY?

Really, Mr. Paul McKenna, sir?

You can make me thin, with your four simple rules that include eating whatever I want?

You think that I, the reclusive couch-sitter than I am, can eat chocolate, and chips, and pizza, and lose weight?

I watched your show Sunday night.

I'd been waiting for weeks, ever since my sister clued me in.

I thought that maybe you'd have some insight that I'd missed in the 2+ years of my weight loss journey, but no.

(No offense, but I'm pretty glad I didn't buy your book, because I've paid Weight Watchers a small fortune and already learned at least three of your rules.)

But I have to admit, it was refreshing to see some of the tenants of CORE reinforced that way. And, I'm trying to eat more mindfully, but I was doing that already.

So, unless you have something else to offer, I'm not impressed.

I don't need someone to make me thin.

Organized? Better rested? Less prone to procrastination? Yes.

Thin? Not so much. Not any more.


•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

In other news:

I finished The Memory Keeper's Daughter!

So now, when I go to the library for my book club meeting today, I have to find another book to place in the "What I'm Reading" section. So all those folks in Blogland thing I'm well-read!

(Well, of something other than Nick, Jr. books.)

I stayed up way too late finishing it last night. The first few chapters, I could read a bit and then put it down, but then - Friday night - I got to the really juicy stuff.

Aruba. Those who've read the book will know what I'm talking about.

After I put Anna Marie to bed, I got out the book. I was determined to finish before my book club meeting, so I could tell those ladies that yes! I'd read something! Something that wasn't a 20-page Dr. Seuss book!

Problem was, I hadn't read enough before last night.

Three hours. That's how long it took me to finish! It was nearly midnight when I got into bed!

And then, my mind was swirling with how one man's actions, and the lies he told as a result, had a ripple effect over everyone in his family.

And Paige, no, I wasn't impressed with the ending. I thought it came a little too abruptly at that point in the story, and could've been done a bit better.

So.

Now what do I read?

Guess you'll have to wait until after lunch to find out!

If you're scared, say you're scared.

I'm terrified.

(That was an homage to my late cousin Cary, who died in a train wreck nearly nine years ago, still in his 20's - just a month after our grandmother died. It was one of his favorite sayings.)

Anyway.

I'm terrified, y'all.

Terrified to go to weigh in.

Oh, I've learned so much this week - like that I eat way too fast, and that I feel so much better without all those processed foods.

And also, that plain yogurt with blackberries can be a good stand-in when your husband sends you to Sonic to fetch him some ice cream.

I know I've done well. At least, I think I've done well. I've learned to prioritize my treats, because I only get so many of those flex points per week.

I've also decided that, no matter what the scale says when I weigh in in a mere two hours, I'm not giving up. I'm giving myself more than just a week to learn this new program, more than just a week for my body to adjust to this change.

Weight Watchers Scale of Destiny, here I come.

CORE list

So, Wendy asked me to post a simplified CORE foods list.

Here's the gist of it: there are 10 CORE food groups.

• Vegetables and fruits

• Soups (non-cream based)

• Whole wheat pasta, brown rice, potatoes, and grains

• Whole grain cereals, without added sugar, nuts, or dried fruit

• Lean meats, meat substitutes, poultry, fish, and eggs

• Coffee, tea, and sugar-free beverages

• Condiments (like ketchup, mustard, etc. - not full-fat mayo!)

• Healthy oils (olive, canola, sunflower, safflower, and flaxseed)

• Fat-free milk, milk products, or dairy substitutes (like soy milk)

Yes, that's only nine groups. The other includes Weight Watchers smoothies and Fruities, their chewy-fruity-snacky things.

You can eat what you want from those groups. The idea is to learn your own hunger cues, only eating when you're hungry, and stopping when you're satisfied.

Not full. Satisfied. That's going to be my biggest challenge, I'm telling you now.

You do, however, have 35 POINTS to eat stuff that's not CORE each week. And, if you have a food with several different items, you see if everything in it is on the CORE list. If it's just a couple of things (like reduced-fat cheese on top of a dish that's otherwise CORE, instead of fat free) you just count those POINTS. If it's more than a couple of ingredients, you count POINTS for the whole dish.

In addition, you are limited to one serving per day, in total, of whole wheat pasta, brown rice, or potatoes. And bread, apparently, is never a CORE food.

It's relatively low-carb, yes, but in a more South Beach Diet type of way.

Know what you can have, though? 94% Fat Free Popcorn! The whole bag! And you don't have to count POINTS for it!

I'm still learning all this, and I'm constantly referring both to my materials and to the CORE message board at www.weightwatchers.com. And, if you want to know more specifics on the food list, you can Google it. Seriously. I would, though, limit my searches to pages updated in the last six months or so. That way you're assured of getting the most up-to-date information because WW sometimes changes their materials.

Hopefully, the novelty of this won't wear off before its done my body some good.

It's time.

Today is the day.

It's "C" day.

As in, CORE.

As in, I'm in completely new (to me) diet territory.

I don't know why, but I'm kinda excited. Maybe it's because it's a new challenge, and I've been at WW so long that it's no longer a challenge to me. Maybe it's because its giving me some renewed hope of getting off this last 20 pounds.

Maybe it's because I won't feel "penalized" for eating fruit.

I've read and re-read the materials. I've packed up all my info and put it into my purse.

(I've made a Walmart run this morning, only to discover at the cash register that I'd left my wallet on the dining room table where I was counting out Anna Marie's lunch money.)

(Thankfully, I had the check book, and thankfully, the computer didn't randomly ask for my ID.)

I'm on a roll - I had a bowl of Fiber One (CORE) with 1% milk (non-CORE), some veggies (oh-so-CORE) and four glasses of water.

I've used one of my 35 points so far, and gotten in several of my Healthy Guidelines (water, veggies, milk, etc.) If I'd had some skim milk this morning, I wouldn't have used any. I can't bring myself to make Jason and AM drink skim, any more than they can bring themselves to drink it, so I may just buy a half-gallon of each.

(They drink milk straight up, and I only use it in cereal, so I shouldn't notice the difference. Much.)

Will I stick with CORE forever? Who knows. I know it can't hurt to purge the sugar and refined starches from my diet.

The experiment begins…

I've discovered the answer to my weight-loss woes.

Plastic surgery!

Yep.

If I could afford it, I'd go under the knife.

Jason and I were watching one of those medical shows the other night - the kind he is obsessed with, and I just tolerate - and I had an epiphany.

There was a man who'd had gastric bypass surgery, and had lost 160 pounds in one year. Naturally, he had lots of loose skin left. So he had a tummy tuck and something done to his chest (whatever that might be called.)

The doctor told his wife that they'd taken off 20 pounds of skin.

20 pounds!

That's what I have left to lose - and even though I didn't lose this weight overnight, I bet I've got 20 pounds of skin hanging around here somewhere!

I mean, getting my boobs lifted should take care of at least 10, and then there's that "dunlap" (you know, my belly dunlapped over my belt). That'd be good for another 10, I'm sure of it.

Not to mention my upper arms - man, I could come in under goal!

Now, to get a second job to pay for it all…

Official Thursday Weigh-In!

Ok, so I found out that last week I actually gained TWO AND A HALF POUNDS!

That actually pushed me to 175.5!

Now, I've lost two of those pounds, and I hope to never find them.

Tonight's weight: 173.5!

Let's see if I can finally get out of this up/down/up/down cycle, shall we?