Monday, December 29, 2014

The New NEW Day One. Sigh.

So here we go AGAIN.  Not just AGAIN, but AGAIN again.

If you look at the word "again" for too long, especially in all caps, it starts to look weird.  Like you're spelling it wrong.



So anyway.....after a fabulous holiday season full of food and drinks and laziness and gaining even a few MORE pounds, I am determined to get back on track.  And I started today.  I had Greek yogurt and a fruit pouch for breakfast.  I would have eaten a bowl of oatmeal as well, but I was running around and didn't ever get around to fixing the oatmeal.  For lunch I had a bowl of chicken tortilla soup and a grilled chicken salad with sweet tea.  I didn't have an afternoon snack (I never got hungry), and for dinner I had one of the specials from Acropolis that included some grilled filet, a grilled lamb chop, some grilled shrimp, a bacon-wrapped scallop, some mashed potatoes and some grilled asparagus.  With dinner I drank one draft Terrapin Milk Stout.

I also ran 2.5 miles on the treadmill this evening.  I would have gone farther (I was shooting for 5 miles) but the inside of my right knee was bothering me and I didn't want to push it.

EXACTLY what I look like while on a treadmill.

My current goal is to lose 15 pounds in 9 weeks.  That's less than 2 pounds a week.  That requires being vigilant about eating better and getting my ass on the treadmill on a super regular basis.  Burn baby, burn.



I went from pregnant, to not pregnant but still in maternity clothes, to being forced to give up the maternity clothes, to buying fat jeans (we ALL have fat jeans....or at least old, nasty, well-loved stretchy pants), to back into my regular jeans, to back into the fat jeans.  I want to get out of these fat jeans for good.  They don't fit all that well because my curves aren't in the right spots, they don't look good and they don't make me feel good.  I also despise having a closet full of clothes that I can't wear.  Super frustrating. 

So there you go.  Welcome to the new NEW Day One.


Tuesday, December 23, 2014

I Surrender (at least for the next 10 days).

I give up.  I surrender to the holiday season. 

......when it comes to food.

We're out of town the entire week of Christmas, at my in-laws' house to spread our Christmas cheer.  Everywhere you turn in this house, there are goodies to eat.  I can't open a single container, cabinet or refrigerator door in this house without finding holiday cookies, bread, candy or snacks of some kind.  Most of it is homemade, though there are also things like Reese's cups, Cheez-Its, truffles and chocolate-covered raisins.  It's purely sinful in here.

Basically what it looks like in here.

Mornings consist of eggs, bacon, potatoes and homemade bread of some kind, with overnight french toast as the plan for Christmas morning.  We had broccoli & cheese stuffed baked potatoes for dinner Sunday night, and beef stew for dinner last night.  Lunches are a free-for-all, so yesterday I ate leftovers from Mojo Burrito (which was what we had for lunch on Sunday before we left town) and today I had a ham and cheese wrap with some cheese and crackers on the side.  Turkey and mashed potatoes and broccoli are on the menu for tonight.

I was supposed to go for a run yesterday (this area of town is fabulous for running and so I love to go run when I visit), but the kids' sleep schedules were off and so I ended up slacking and not going.  I decided to postpone my run until today's afternoon naps (which are happening now, TOGETHER), but it looks like I should have gone first thing this morning instead of planning for the afternoon because Nashville is now under water.

Our current predicament.  And it's moving to the northeast.

If I were hard core, I'd go anyway.  I'd throw on my clothes and hit the pavement and just run in the rain until I was too cold and wet and couldn't stand it anymore.  But I didn't prepare for rain when I packed.  I didn't bring my hat to block the rain from my eyes, nor did I even bring my sunglasses (since I kind of lost them - I know exactly where I left them, I just doubt they're still there).  So instead, I think I'll just put it off (again) until tomorrow.  And this time I'll check the weather radar ahead of time.  I know it's also supposed to rain some more tomorrow, but I'll check to see where the breaks in the rain are and go from there.

Yeah, yeah, Google.  WHATEVS.

So I'm surrendering and throwing in the towel on my weight loss goals for 2014.  I wanted to hit my personal ultimate fit & trim goal weight (123 lbs) by September 26th (Leah's wedding).......it didn't happen.  Time went by, goals were reset, yada yada.....and I changed my ultimate goal date to December 13th (Brian's wedding).  It still didn't happen.  Not only did I not reach my goal or make it even anywhere close to my goal, but I'm back where I started at the very beginning.  I'm pretty sure I'm even a few pounds OVER where I started.  But at this point, with being out of town, and with it being the holidays, and with ALL THE FOOD EVERYWHERE ALL THE TIME, I just quit.  For the next 6-10 days, I quit.  I'm going to eat hearty breakfasts and graze on holiday goodies all day and enjoy my afternoon beer with all of the holiday spirit I can muster.  Because when it's all said and done, I've still gotta start at the beginning to lose this weight!!


We go back home this Sunday.  So I will either start from scratch with a new attitude on Monday (the 29th) or just hold off until January 1st as a whole 2015 New Year resolution plan.

Speaking of resolutions, I need to make mine.  As cliche as it is, I always make them and write them out, though I know they don't typically pan out.  I'm usually pretty proud if I make at least two of them happen (even if they aren't the "big" ones).  In fact, I should look up what my resolutions were for 2014.....they may be exactly the same as what I would plan on for 2015!  Probably very cliche as well......lose weight, run more, get back in shape, and so on.

It sounds so easy on paper.



Wednesday, December 10, 2014

The New Day 8

There are a handful of things I need to be doing right now.  This is not one of them.  But I still wanted to sit on the couch and watch a little trash TV before my son wakes up and screams "NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!  NOT THIS!!!!!" at the TV if anything other than HIS stuff is on.

Life is hard when you're two.



Anyways, today is the new Day 8.  And I haven't lost a pound.  Not a one.  I had decided last Wednesday that I was going to restart and up my game, and it definitely didn't happen.  At least not in the way that I wanted it to.  Boo.  Alright, Week 2, you really need to be better than the first!

Apparently.

On the positive side, I ran 5 miles straight on the treadmill this past Monday!  I wanted to be doing 6-mile stretches by Christmas, so I'm almost there!  I ran a super short run today (one mile), so just MAYBE I'll get those 6 miles in this Friday.

Well, that's it for now.  My show is almost over and so I guess I need to start doing one of those things I actually need to be doing. 

Onward to Week 2!

Friday, December 5, 2014

Breakups Are Hard (Part Four)

If you aren't yet familiar with my Breakups Are Hard saga, here's Part One, Part Two and Part Three.  It may seem daunting, but it's an entertaining ordeal.  And at the point that there was a Part Three, I knew there would be a Part Four.  I just wasn't sure when it would happen.


Sadly, Part Four isn't nearly as entertaining as the rest.  It's quite lackluster, actually. 

However, when I left off with April, we had agreed that she WOULD NOT call me again.  That if we happened to see each other out we could say hi, but that we wouldn't be calling each other or hanging out or rekindling any sort of friendship outside of common courtesies. 

Wellllllll.......guess who's been calling my phone AGAIN?  A "restricted" number.  And I know it's her.  I can block "anonymous" calls on my phone, but I can't block "restricted" ones. 


Here's the history of restricted calls since mid-August:

9/10/14 - once (wow, it started earlier than I thought!)
10/1/14 - once
10/14/14 - once
10/23/14 - once
11/1/14 - once
11/24/14 - once
11/25/14 - once
11/26/14 - once
11/27/14 - once
11/29/14 - once
12/3/14 - once

So in three months, she called eleven times, with five of those calls happening the week of Thanksgiving (I JUST WANTED TO WISH YOU A HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAMNIT AND SEE WHAT YOU WERE DOING AND MAYBE COME OVER AND SEE THE KIDS AND LET'S BE FRIENDS AGAIN).


Oh and once she actually sent a text last week immediately following one of the phone calls.  It said, "Hello".

I haven't answered a single call, and she hasn't left a single message.  In fact, during the week of Thanksgiving, I stopped just ignoring the calls and began to send them straight to voicemail.  A normal person would TOTALLY know when they were just sent to voicemail.......but she doesn't know anything at all about technology, so I'm sure she has no clue.


So.....I finally decided to change my phone number.  And let me tell you, I'm completely disappointed with the ease in which that was possible.

I'm pretty certain I was given my old phone number when I was 18 years old.  That means I had the same cell phone number for 17 years - almost half my life!!  So when I decided that changing my phone number was what needed to be done in order to make the calls stop, I went into the Sprint store, knowing it would take a while.  I mean, MY ENTIRE IDENTITY WAS CHANGING.

The guy at the front door sent me away, telling me to do it online.


So that night (Wednesday night), Lucas and I signed into our Sprint account to see what all was involved in changing a phone number.  Here's basically how it all went down:

Sprint.com:  So you want to change your number?
Me:  I'm looking into it.
Sprint.com:  Here's where you say yes.  Are you ready?
Me:  I think s.........
Sprint.com:  NEW NUMBER GRANTED!  WRITE IT DOWN, TELL YOUR FRIENDS, HAVE A GOOD DAY!  I SAID GOOD DAY!

And just like that, my old number was NO MORE.  Like it never happened.  Like the last 17 years of my life just didn't even happen.


Ok so maybe that's a little dramatic.  But still, I feel like changing my number of 17 years should have been way more involved.  Yet there was no questioning, no cuddling, no mourning......I didn't even have to do it in person.  And if I didn't like my new number (I did discover that they're auto-generated) I could have changed it again with just a few clicks.  But my new number seems pretty easy to remember, so I'm keeping it.

Ya know, for the NEXT 17 years.

At least I won't be missing any more restricted calls, because April definitely does not have my number anymore.  And when she calls my old number again (or if she already has), there's a man to tell her that the number she has dialed is incorrect.  I'm sure that's a doozie piece of information!



So now I shall bask in the glow of my new phone number.  A phone number that only a select few currently have.  A phone number that certain individuals DON'T have.  A phone number that the telemarketers haven't even been enlightened about yet. 

A phone number that I have to look at to make sure I'm saying it right.  ;)

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Day 23....It's Been 23 Days Already???

Holy crap.  23 days???  SERIOUSLY???

I am failing miserably.  Or not miserably, I guess.  But kind of mostly.


23 days into this get-a-little-skinnier-for-the-brother's-wedding plan and I'm not any better off than I was 23 days ago.  Well, that's not entirely true.  I've lost 2 lbs (though at one point I had lost 4.....then gained 2 back) and I did run a nice, solid 4-mile outdoor run over the Thanksgiving weekend in Nashville.  But I'm not fitting into any of my clothes better yet, which was the hope.

***WEDNESDAY MORNING UPDATE:  I can no longer claim to have lost those 2 lbs, as I seem to be right back where I started.  DANG.


At this point, I was hoping to have lost at least 6 lbs (~2 lbs a week), with 9-10 lbs as the goal by December 13th.  Since that hasn't happened (and the wedding is right around the corner), it's time to reset a new goal!  It's starting to get a little cliche, though, with the holidays as an excuse and all.  But the holiday season really does kinda screw it all up, which is why so many people make goals for after the New Year.  Well, here's my new goal:

Tomorrow is Wednesday, December 3rd.....the new Day 1.  Christmas Eve is 3 weeks from tomorrow (AHHHHHH!!!).  My goal is to lose 5 lbs by Christmas Eve, and possibly be able to fit a TAD better into my jeans.  But on top of that, my goal is also to be able to run 6 miles straight by then.  I should be able to run farther than that at this point, but it is what it is.......and I think given my current running mileage, 6 miles is a decent goal.

I'm signed up to run a free half marathon known as the Freeze Your Half Off here in Chattanooga on January 10th.  I know I'm not going to be able to run the whole thing (there will be a lot of walking going on, especially if I'm only running a 6-mile stretch by December 24th), but I want to see what I can do at that point, since the Scenic City Half Marathon (which I'm also signed up for) is 7 weeks after the freebie.  I REALLY want to be able to run all of the Scenic City Half.  As a runner, it's super disappointing to not be as good as I was just a short time ago.  Yeah, yeah....I've had 2 babies as an excuse.  And I wouldn't trade those 2 babies for the entire world.  But it's still a bummer not to have bounced back by now as I had hoped I would.  And I know it's my fault.  There are a million different things I could have done differently the past year.....I could have chosen to eat WAY better....I could have chosen to train harder....I could have chosen to focus on running with the double jogger more when that's my only running option (instead of trying to work more around nap schedules and my mom's availability and weather roadblocks and treadmill opportunities).....the list goes on.  And there are moms who do just that to get their bodies/strength/mojo back.  They want it, and so they GO for it, rain or shine, excuses pushed aside.  I'm ready to be that mom.  Now that Lucy is about to turn a year old, I'M READY TO BE THAT MOM.  I want my mojo back!

We'll see about that.

This isn't a pity party.  Don't think it is.  I'm just trying to pump myself up and get myself motivated.  :)

SO.  speaking of motivating myself.....I was looking at the Half Fanatics Race Calendar the other night, trying to pick and choose upcoming races to sign up for as motivation to get my ass in gear.  I'm doing the freebie in January, and the Scenic City in February.  And I'm also signed up for the Race 13.1 happening in Cleveland on May 2nd, which is 5 months away.  So obviously I decided I should look for a race in March and/or April as well.  On March 15th, I found the Asheville Half Marathon at the Biltmore Estate.  How cool would it be to run around the grounds of the Biltmore??  Totally cool.  So that's a possibility.  It's a pricey race (I missed out on the earlier pre-registration discounts), but it's AT THE BILTMORE.  Another possibility is the Raccoon Mountain Half Marathon happening here in Chattanooga on March 21st.  And in April, I found the Oak Barrel Half Marathon happening in Lynchburg on the 4th.  I don't know that I'll end up doing any of those races, but they're out there as possibilities, so we'll see.

On that note, it's time to go to bed.  Time to wake up tomorrow feeling healthy, refreshed and ready to run.  Who's with me?  ;)

Let's do this!  Just kidding.