Wednesday Weigh-In 6/2/2010: The Final Edition

I never set an official "goal" for myself when I first set my mind to lose weight 3 or so years ago. I liked the idea of 140 pounds, but never put a target on that number. At around 250 pounds, I was happy at the idea of just going down to a size 16, ideally a size 14. 140 pounds has been a magical number for me. There's no logical reason for it. I just remember weighing 14o in jr. high/early high school and that I kept getting heavier ever since. And 140 seems reasonable. It's not, like, an anorexic size for someone of my 5'7" body. It's a solid, healthy zone. Yeah, 140 was pretty much the golden grail for me.

So, I finally made it to 140.0 on the beloved Tanita scale. Finally.

Now what?

Well, not much will be changing. I'm still going to work out 6 days a week, the usual program of 1 hour cardio/30 minutes strength training (different muscles on alternating days). As I head into my 40th year, this amount of exercise is about right for maintenance.

I don't think my eating is going to change. For so long now, I've been eating what I want in reasonable portions. And what I want happens to be lots of home-cooked meals made from whole foods, lean meats, veggies, nuts, cheese and fruits. I also have a serving of gelato every night. Of course, I still eat out and don't really fuss too much about what's on the menu because I only eat half of what I order anyway. I don't count calories anymore. I got this. It's ingrained.

I'm not worried about losing weight anymore, and I doubt I'm going to lose any more pounds, although I promised myself I would cut back a little on the workouts if I still lost weight. That's not likely to happen though. Getting to 140 has been a slow and easy landing. This is a comfortable place for my body to settle down.

Just to make sure that all departments in my brain are on the same page in terms of maintenance, I'm going to stop posting my weekly weigh-ins. I do still weigh myself every day, but the concept of "reporting" a weight every week places undue emphasis on weight-loss, which is not the mode I'm in anymore. If, in the future, I start noticing gains or losses of 5 pounds or more, then I'll record it and adjust the food and fitness accordingly.

And so, that's that.

I've been a bad blogger lately in that I'm rarely posting comments on anyone else's blog and just being an overall lazy bitch. I could blame work and hectic real life, but really, I do that enough already. So, I'll just acknowledge my lameness and leave it at that.

Wednesday Weigh-In: 5/26/2010 & Crazy Train

140.6.

I'm hanging on to this blog by my fingernails while the weight of real life is strapped firmly around my ankles, pulling me the other direction.

Work, work, work is driving me insane and sapping all of my free time. Well, except for the exercise. Gotta always make time for that. For example:

I'm supposed to be leaving for an appointment at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow. To accomplish this, I initially resigned myself to missing my first weekday workout in months. *gasp* But I came to my senses and have instead decided to just get up at 5:00 a.m. and fit the workout in that way. Yup, I'm totally sane here.

Wednesday Weigh-In 5/19/2010 and BRB

140.4 pounds.

Bob had dental surgery Monday to get a new implant to replace the broken one. They gave him 12 shots of novocain (no shit!) and had to graft some skin from the roof of his mouth. Poor Bob! But he hasn't taken even one vicodin. What a manly man.

Still working out per usual. Still eating and drinking what I want, but with common sense.

I heart the new laptop now. Just need time to actually enjoy it.

Back to depositions after lunch.

Bye for now!

Wednesday Weigh-In: 5/12/2010 and Yay for Technology. No, really. Yay.

141.2 el-bees.

I have been in 'n out of the internet loop for the last few days as we make another 'puter transition. Got a new laptop, yes I did. Cheap. But what ain't cheap are the unexpected upgrades you have to make with the upgrade. In this case, the new software and printer to make sweet love to the Windows 7 operating system. Or is it Windows that does the screwing?

Anyway, I'm about 90% back to normal. And I learned that computer stress is no longer a food/alcohol/bennies trigger. Yay for exercise!

Wednesday Weigh-In: 5/5/10 & Dip Me In Honey And Throw Me To Anne Klein

Scale was at 141.6 lbs. Sooo close to permanent maintenance.

Regarding clothes shopping, I have HAD IT with most stores (Kohls, Penney's, etc.). Why does everything have to be a pregnancy shirt with hideous patterns? Reconnecting with vintage and consignment shops for clothes (which I will blog about. Some day.) has proven to be at least a temporary salvation. For example, this awesome Anne Klein denim skirt for $8. Yeah, that's right. And I couldn't even find a denim skirt at Kohls. Just "skorts." Ick.

But even more kickass? This baby is a size 6. SIX!



With room to spare.
Maybe it's vanity sizing, but I'm not ashamed to take a bite from that apple.

*BLOGGING BULLETIN*

Tricia, the undisputed Sultana of Snark & Wit, is on her way to amassing 300 followers. While I admit to posting this in the hopes of boosting my chances of scoring the goodies she's giving away, her blog is most certainly worthy of more exposure. If you haven't already, check her out and subscribe to her blog. You'll be hooked almost instantly, and it won't hurt a bit.

Wednesday Weigh-In 4/28/10 & How Much is Too Much or Not Enough?

Posting Wednesday weigh-ins on Friday now. Getting better. I'm hanging on to this blog by a thread lately. Anyway, weighed in at 142.00, about a half-pound loss. No big whoop.

Zombie Walk was, as always, a big party of blood, booze and brains. Our zombie destroya' team double-tapped practically half of the 500+ ghouls, which ain't half bad. Here we are refueling and reloading:

Me, Meg and Mariah

This was the team logo I designed for our clothes. ZWAT...lolz:

WORKOUT UPDATES

Since the beginning of April, I have done a major overhaul of my daily workout routine. Jillian has been shelved, sadly. As much as I loved indulging my Jillian girl-crush and taking on the challenge of completing all levels of the Shred, the benefits did not outweigh some issues. The big drawback is the pounding my knees took. Plyometric training is the foundation of The Shred and Blast Fat/Boost Metabolism: Jump Squats. Rock Stars. You get the idea. While I felt like a badass doing them, I was regularly humbled post-workout by the knee pain that would set in. I had about as much difficulty navigating stairs as I did when I was running.

But not all of the Jillian moves are so easily disposable. Walking pushups, boxing with handweights, and other upper body moves she employs are sure keepers. So, I incorporate them into a new workout plan that I devised and will post later this weekend since I forgot to email it to myself before I left for the office. *slaps self*

Between eliminating plyometrics/intertal training from my daily workout regimen and going back to old-fashioned cardio and reading Merry's blog post recently asking the question How Much Cardio Do You Do?, I got to thinking about how much exercise we really need to get and stay healthy.

Currently, I workout 90 minutes every morning, 6 days a week: 30 minutes strength training followed by 60 minutes of cardio on the bike. Is this too much, not enough, or just right?

The answer depends, I guess, on the type of cardio and a person's age and weight range. The guvment chimes in that adults need at least 150 minutes of exercise every week to maintain good health. Kids/young adults need more, about an hour every day. That is just for maintenance.

As we get older, the amount of minimum exercise goes up. The esteemed Dr. Gupta has cited authority that at least an hour every day is necessary to maintain weight and fend off weight gain. The same amount is recommended for overweight women who are trying to lose weight.

The hour-a-day recommendation mirrors that cited by The Institute of Medicine (click on the internal link on that page to read the full report for free). Not just 60 minutes of any activity, but 60 minutes of vigorous exercise that is in addition to what you normally do day-to-day. So, housecleaning, wrangling kids, and laundry don't count. This is just to maintain healthy weight. For the obese or overweight, while an hour a day is great, you still need to include calorie restrictions in the diet. On the other hand, if you restrict calories, but only walk or exercise 15-30 minutes a day, it still might not be enough for long-term weight gain.

Applying this to my own experience, in the beginning I lost some weight biking only 20 minutes for 3 days a week. But then the weight loss would stop after 20 or so pounds. I increased biking to half hour then 40 minutes 5 days a week. Again, I lost some weight but quickly hit a wall again, even when restricting calories. Long-term, effective weight loss did not happen for me until I upped the cardio to an hour a day. I'm finally at my goalish weight, but does that mean I can scale back? Given my age and weight stats over the last 4 months, probably not. I'm maintaining at an hour a day, with healthy eating.

As for plyometric or interval training, this has become somewhat of a holy grail for those looking to reduce the amount of time devoted to exercising, the theory being that if you work harder for shorter periods of time, you'll achieve the same result. "Get the benefits of 60 minutes of exercise in only 20 minutes!" Really? The effectiveness of interval training remains the subject of much debate, and I'm not convinced that it works over time, especially given that higher-endurance workouts can increase the risk of injury, especially for those of us nearing, at or past middle age.

I tried intervals, loved it, but noticed that I really didn't lose much weight, if any, on an interval/plyometric program. While I sweated my ass off, there were no real results to report on the scale that were significantly different from what I achieved doing traditional cardio for an hour. On the other hand, my physical endurance increased, my muscles definitely strengthened and I lost inches. No small benefit there. But on the other other hand, the pain and injuries around the knees proved too much for me to continue. So in other words, this type of exercise depends on the person and his or her ability to maintain proper form. If it works for you, it works for you.

Developing muscle strength is nonetheless important, so rather than jump around like a kindergarten spaz, upping low-impact strength training seems to be a viable option. Thus the additional half hour of weight training each day. My new fitness goal is to lift my own body weight via chin up or pull up.

Really, everybody should be able to do this in the event of some Poseiden Adventure-type disaster so that we can pull ourselves up and out of a capsized ship or some shit.

Wednesday Weigh-In 4/21/2010 and Gonna Kill Some Zombies--BRB

Wednesday I was down a little over a pound and a half, to 142.6 lbs.

Just a quick check-in, and them I'm outtie. This is my birthday weekend and today is the semi-annual ZOMBIE WALK, the funnest way to get in one's fitness. This time around, a small group of us are storming the walk as a zombie destroyer team. Ahhh...so much better than the NBA playoffs.

Hope everyone stays alive this weekend!

Wednesday Weigh-In 4/14/2010: The Late Late Late Edition

Wednesday, weighed in at 144.4 lbs. Down, what, half a pound or something? Does weight loss even matter any more now that I'm focusing more on strength training? No. But, I should probably still keep a record of my weight, what with accountability and all. Still, it's hard to resist the extreme reactions with a loss or gain. It shouldn't matter anymore. I'm slowly coming around to my emotional separation from the scale and adopting this new way of thinking.

I'm so late posting this because a) Tax Day. Last minute fire drills with the accountant had me sweating late Wednesday, but I'm happy to report that at least my '09 taxes are paid AND I took care of all of my estimated '10 taxes. For the self-employed, that is a "big deal."But even more importantly, b) it was Bobzilla's 40th Birthday!!

There was much planning and side schemes with a few friends to ensure that Bob's entrance into middle age was memorable. Here was the flyer I made a few months ago that sums up this weekend's plans (yeah, that's Bob as a kid, enjoying his passion--music. Probably Captain and Tenille. Maybe the Statler Bros.):

His band was Gimme Dat Shoe (local Clevelanders who grew up watching Superhost on TV will totally get that). They were awesome, as well as the other bands.

The highlight was Bob's birthday spanking. I went pretty easy on him compared to the other spankers.:

Here is the fertility painting featuring Godzilla, Frankenstein and Tura Satana that Lacey so lovingly painted for Bob:

Aside from the old man jokes and the gag gifts of Depends and Bengay, I am overjoyed to see him reach this rite of passage. When I was young, I always wondered what it would be like to "grow old" with him, not knowing what that really meant. I'm still not 100% sure where aging will find us, but I'm happy to put our 20's and 30's behind us and experience a new stage of life. Plus, he has managed to strike the perfect balance between maintaining maturity and stumbling around in adolescent oblivion. I love and respect and adore and worry about this man:

Wednesday Weigh-In: 4/7/2010 and I've Got Some Nice Garbanzos!

145.2. More of the same, more or less. There was no Easter cheatin' by way of chocolate eggs or bunnies or copious amounts of ham. I did share half a rotisserie chicken with Bobzilla, and our dessert was a GF strawberry shortcake--I supplied the fresh organic berries and homemade whipped cream, Mama Zilla supplied the GF cake. There is no shame in that.

My womanly cycle finally returned earlier this week in all its bizarrely gory glory, and Bob is getting excited about upcoming baby-making exercises. File that under TMI.

During one of our mega-shopping trips to Whole Foods, I bagged about 5 pounds of dried organic chickpeas with the idea we were going to make a lot of hummus and Indian food. BTW, once you go cooked-from-scratch chickpeas, you never go back to canned. Anyway, three months later and there is still about 3 pounds of chickpeas hanging around. Today I improvised and came up with a vegan chickpea salad that I could have for lunch. And it was no less than awesome. Even Bobzilla liked it, going for second dips after the first taste.

It is kinda, sorta like traditional chickpea salad, but I added some tahini to give it a creamy-but-vegan texture and generous amounts of cayenne pepper because its compulsory in our household.

Here's the recipe for...um, what shall I call it? Spicy Mediterranean Chickpea Salad? Sounds bland. Garbanzo Glee? Nope.

Anyway, here it is:

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup dried chick peas, soaked overnight

1 green bell pepper, finely diced

1 small or ½ large white or red onion, finely diced

2 medium roma tomatoes, diced

small handful flat leaf or curly parsley

2 small or 1 large clove garlic, crushed

1 tsp kosher salt

juice 1 lemon

2 TB Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/2 TB tahini

1/8 tsp ground cumin

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (I'd use more)

Ground black pepper, about 6-7 twists on the grinder

Drain chickpeas and thoroughly rinse. Put chickpeas in medium saucepan and add fresh cold water to pan, topping the beans by about 2 inches. Add a generous amount salt and boil. Reduce to simmer, cover and cook for at least 1 hour or until beans are tender and divine. More more water may need to be added during the cooking process, depending on how thirsty the beans are, so keep an eye on them.

While beans are cooking, chop up all vegetables, garlic and parsley and throw it all into large mixing bowl. In small mixing bowl, whisk together lemon juice, tahini, oil, salt, pepper and other spices.

Once beans are cooked, drain and rinse with cold water until warmish. Add beans to vegetable bowl. Pour dressing over top and toss until well-mixed. Adjust salt, pepper and spices to suit personal taste. Toss/stir each time before serving to properly distribute dressing.

Optional:

Add finely chopped jalapeno, cukes, kamut or cooked brown rice, feta cheese and/or olives.

Wednesday Weigh-In: 3/31/10 and Up Up and Down Down

I've been so caught up getting crap out of the way to enjoy this 3 day weekend,that I pushed off doing my Wednesday report. Realizing it's now Thursday night, I had to force myself away from playing God of War III to be "responsible." *rolls eyes*

I had been doing the Shred for so long that some parts of it are ingrained in my head, like a bad earworm. Yesterday, I weighed in at 150.00, which is about a half pound gain from the prior week. Immediately, I thought of that part on Level III of The Shred where you're doing the walking planks on the second go 'round while Jillian chants "...and UP UP and DOWN DOWN and UP UP and DOWN DOWN..." Yup, that's me. So what of this gain? It could be water weight. It could be muscle gain from increased strength training, it could be last weekend's Amish getaway where we spent the entire time in a hot tub eating cheese and drinking grossly sweet Amish wine , or a combination of everything. What it ain't is something I should concern myself with. But that's not to say that I don't anyway. Stupid scale head games.

Oh, about that strength training, I found some great new (or rather, new to me) videos on Spark People that have been added to my morning workouts:

1. Crunchless abs! I friggin love this workout, and so does my back.



2. Fun with resistance bands. Now, I don't follow this whole video. However, Coach Nicole does an informative demo of how to do rows and chest flies with bands, which I have worked into my regular strength training regimen.



Tomorrow, we're off for a picnic and romp in the park with the doggy. Then a drive-in movie later on. Yup, it's drive-in season! We're going to milk this good weather as much as we can, since it'll probably snow again next week.

Wednesday Weigh-In: 3/24/10 and I'm An Adult Now

Scale was at a non-Earth-shattering 144.4 lbs. Given I've been going back and forth between 147 and 142 during this last month's baby nugget drama, it doesn't seem all too significant.

So, moving on....

We've finally reached another adulthood milestone: getting life insurance. Yeah, we should have done this sooner, but prolonged adolescence pooh-poohs such mundane expenditures.

During our medical interviews, we were asked detailed questions about drug use, alcohol consumption, smoking, history of physical and mental illnesses and family health issues. Not a single question was asked about what we ate or the extent of our physical activity. Oddly, I was grilled about my weight loss, and not in a good way. My change in diet and exercise was not viewed positively, but as a cause for concern for their actuaries. Apparently, they must think I have a non-diagnosed pre-existing condition. Maybe cancer or a parasite.

Lesson in reality learned: A healthy change doesn't always earn you a gold star.

Wednesday Weigh-In and Boosh!

Still at 143.00 Exciting, eh?

This past week ranks as one of the top ten most anxious, eye-popping, face-in-palm, bite-through-my wrists week of my life. Work. Health. Family. Accountant. Office. Some good. Some bad. Some wtf?!

Yeah.

May not be around much over the next couple of weeks. Or maybe I will. Maybe I'll paint landscapes. Or get another tattoo.

Wednesday Weigh-In: 1/27/10 & Shtuff

I was at 143.00 again yesterday. Fine by me. The scale today actually has me at a lot less, but whatever. I'm getting used to the fact that there isn't going to be much excitement with the scale anymore, unless I purposefully start gaining weight or come down with a terminal illness. Instead, the focus has been on toning and shit.

Didn't get a chance to post the weigh-in earlier because a.) I found out my sister is pregnant. And probably twins. Her first daughter just turned 18. So she has another 20 years of parenting, squared. Yowza! b.) I had to go along with Bob to watch a screening of the new flick When In Rome yesterday. It was horrible and put me in a downer mood the rest of the evening.

I blew my right knee. Again. I put Jillian back in her cage for now and have gone back to my usual 60 minutes of recumbent biking and 30 minutes or so of fun with resistance bands. I still do her knee-friendly-ish core circuits, tho. They rock.

So the H1N1 vaccine (or the "hynie shot" as Bobzilla calls it) is now available at our local pharmacy. We were going to get them yesterday but I wussed out. Even a one in a million chance of a horrible reaction is enough to set off my anxiety alarms. We'll try again today. If I don't post something within the next 7 days, that means I'm probably dead.

Wednesday Weigh-In: 1/20/10 and Don't Look Back

First, the minor stuff. I'm at 143.00 today. Deja vu. I know that number. I think I met it at a pre-holiday party last month.

Been feeling blog-fatigued lately. Haven't read or commented much lately. Just zoning out here. Mostly due to an assload of work that has formed what will probably be a permanent "11" between my brows.

On the workout front, I'm back up to Level Three with Mistress Jillian. I have a few especially tasty, profane words in mind that would aptly describe the "traveling pushups" and the uber-painful circuit of mountain climbers immediately followed by bouncing sumo squats. Now, while the workout is difficult, I still don't feel I'm getting enough cardio in. So I hop on the bike for 30 minutes, which is a breeze compared to the aforementioned torture.

Last week, I met with a friend at my office, and we discussed the cognitive behavior therapy class she's taking. Apparently, this type of treatment--which concentrates on helping to mold effective, goal-oriented behavior rather than analyzing the past--is extremely successful in treating obesity and even drug and alcohol addiction. As she was describing this form of therapy, a spark went off in my head. I think I know now why this weight loss thing has been successful and relatively easy:

YOU CAN'T MAKE PROGRESS WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING BACKWARDS

I'm no weight loss virgin. I have started and failed many times. Common with all those prior attempts was my tendency to think in terms of the past. This could be the immediate past or long-term life history. I dwelled on my bad family life growing up and the bad eating habits formed and reinforced decades before. I was fixated on my old life. For example, I would focus on the many types of crappy food I used to turn to for comfort. I even tied in what is arguably the worst childhood ever with my obesity. I was fixated on finding, analyzing and revisiting the how's and why's of my fat ass.

Did that help me? Uh, no. If anything, this type of thinking sabotaged my weight loss efforts because I (unintentionally) continued to identify my present self with my past self. This backwards thinking made me miserable and my attempts at weight loss impossible because I perceived attempts at "dieting" and exercise to be more difficult than they were or should have been. I would overreact to feelings of hunger or any desire, really, because I wanted immediate gratification. I was greedy and impulsive. When I fell off the wagon, it wasn't just a temporary thing--it turned into a long-term relapse. I made it unnecessarily difficult to get back on track because my response to a temporary fail was to panic, overanalyze what I did wrong and re-familiarize myself with the "old" me. Thinking about the old ways was all that I knew, it was familiar to me and certainly easier to deal with than making changes. If I screwed up once, it snowballed because, hey, why bother if the cat's already out of the bag? Doing new things, of course, is uncomfortable. It's hard to visualize, construct and nurture a goal when you're distracted by continuously looking backward.

This time around was different, though. I couldn't put it into words until after my friend session last week. But now I understand. I've been goal-oriented. I don't know if I hit my head in my sleep or what, but this time around I focused on what I wanted to happen. While the weight loss was slow, every week I lost a pound meant that I was no longer carrying that weight from my past. Once I accepted that this change is permanent, it became easier, over time, to think about where I am going as opposed to where I've been. I guess that's why I don't blog much about my former bad habits. I don't agonize about physical and emotional abuse in the family, or the painful losses. I don't describe in salacious detail the types of crappy food I used to put in my mouth. I don't want to talk about it anymore. When I get frisky with food (don't call it a relapse!) nowadays, I don't talk about or dwell on it either. What is the point?

I suppose this is why the Beck diet books are so popular. I avoided looking into that program because it seemed to "cultish" to me. I'm not a fan of "movements." While I'm not ready to drink the Beck kool-aid yet, this area is more than just a little intriguing.

....EXCEPT AS STATED HEREIN

Now hold up. I'm not a past-hatah. Actually, I've been finding renewed pleasure in old things lately, such as:

1. Vintage Clothing. What finally convinced me that current fashion designers are playing a joke on consumers is when I went shopping for sweaters and found that most of them were short-sleeved or sleeveless. Sleeveless sweaters? I had it, and returned to my roots: thrift stores! I scored some incredible finds, mostly from the 60's. Most of the vintage clothes are made of higher-quality fabric, and are tailored better to bring out a flattering shape. And the crown jewel was a woman's pimp blouse. Trust me, it works.

2. Peanut Butter and Jelly. My mother-in-law gave me organic, natural peanut butter and jelly for Christmas. I swear, it tastes better than what I remember. Even on carrots.

But there is an exception to the exception, as I discovered during my sickness:

Footloose is bad. Real bad. Especially the soundtrack. How did Loggins pull it off?

Wednesday Weigh-In: 12/23/09 & Happy Festivus!

143.2 lbs. Pretty much a maintain and nothing to show for it. I never did have that eggnog this past weekend because Bobzilla has been sick with a head and chest cold. It was a pretty vanilla weekend of homemade chicken soup and movies. Even the candy cane I was going to eat is still sitting unwrapped on the counter. And now I'm fighting off Bob's plague and don't have a taste for anything. It's like deja vu from last month with this sickness. Everyone I know around here is getting sick over and over again. Doesn't matter how healthy or "fit" you are. I swear, we are one rogue monkey away from THE superflu.

Tonight I'm making Italian amarettis, using an original recipe from the family's favorite local baker. We had to get really creative to get the recipe, so I cannot share. Ancient quido secret. But rest assured that these cookies are delicious.

My BFF gave me an early Christmas present: A fetish Zombie Destroyer outfit. I am in heaven. It even has extra pockets along the sides for weapons! And I look pretty bangin' in it. I thought about posting a picture of me wearing the kinky zombie gear in lieu of the standard bikini/bathing suit "after" photo. But really, it isn't appropriate. So, that's that.

Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend. Sin, but in moderation. Yeah, right.

Wednesday Weigh-In 12/16/2009 and Biting Through My Wrists

Down to 143.4 lbs, a little over a pound loss. Things should be leveling off here soon. I'm kind of jazzed about starting the New Year more or less in maintenance mode. Nice timing.

Little Sis is now out of the hospital. She was in there longer than any of us expected, I guess because we all underestimated the seriousness of things. Plus she was isolated from family (limited visiting hours) in a loud wing with an uncomfortable bed and getting more depressed every day. But, she's out and now on a path to a healthy new life. I hope. She has to navigate herself through this. Before her health and then body took a turn for the worse, I picked her up some "fun" gifts. Now I wish I hadn't and instead opted for such things as, a workout DVD, hand weights, a heart monitor, some cool workout clothes. I still feel uncomfortable doing that, though. Most of us don't like the subtle (and not-so subtle) hints that we are fat and unhealthy. I know I didn't. So, I don't volunteer advice, except occasionally on weight-loss blogs.(which is a different context anyway). I don't give gifts bearing thinly-veiled messages. But in this case, when she needs it and HAS to do it, well, that's more complicated. I should just suck it up, put on the bossy big sis hat and do it. The worst that will happen is that she'll be irritated that I'm nagging her. She would take it more personal if, for instance, a stranger did the same thing.

The last two weeks have been a whirlwind in other ways, most of it office -related. I was running around like a mad monkey meeting all sorts of crazy ass deadlines, court appearances, etc. The last of the fire drills ended this afternoon. Shit. I probably shouldn't have said that. My desk will probably hold steaming piles of paper turds when I go back in tomorrow morning.

I realize as I'm typing this that I am tired to the point of being retarded. I haven't thought about dinner and can't remember what I'm supposed to do tonight. Wait, I remember! Watching Food, Inc.

Oh, an advance confession: I will be going to the Velvet Tango Room to indulge in a real eggnog. That's right. Raw egg, cream and all. But since I haven't been engaging in abnormally bad behavior during this season, what the hell.

And for some advance holiday cheer, here's a creepy tree Santa I found at the local Marc's:

He had yellow eyes, so help me God. Yellow eyes!

Wednesday Weigh-In and Pre-Holiday Fire Drills

Well, I'm down another half pound, to 144.6 today. That's perfectly fine. I doubt I'm going to be losing much more for a while, only because it looks like I'm getting close to where I want to be.

You'd think with the holidays, there would be major slacking in legal-land, but not so. I have to finish up my last remaining Continuing Legal Education credits, which means several days of BORE-ing seminars. And there are brief deadlines up through the end of next week. Presently, I have two word processing windows open on my computer screen, my email server up in another window, a browser window open to an on-line legal database and another on a court docket, and then this window is up for my blog. I'm running this computer into the ground. Poor thing.

And my poor sis has been sick and in the hospital since Monday, putting me in anxiety mode for a while. But no boo-hoos or condolences are necessary. She's getting better every day. The food does suck, I am told. So I'm not going to complain about my mediocre, over-microwaved chicken 'n green beans I'm trying to force down at the moment. People in bare-ass hospital gowns would take a dozen IVs if they could have my food. We should all be grateful.

Wednesday Weigh-In: 12/2/09 and Ugh.

145.2 lbs, down about half a pound from last week. Post-Thanksgiving, so I'll take it!

I don't talk about TOM because it doesn't have a lasting effect on my weight gain/loss, but....



....I feel like doing this to my uterus today:

Artwork by the twistedly talented Lacey.

But, with a spork to make sure I've removed everything.

Thanksgiving Weekend Breather

First off, my weight last Wednesday was 145.6, back exactly to what it was 2 weeks ago. I didn't have time to post a Wednesday Weigh-In and update, between office wind-up and food prep. I'm more interested to see what the scale says next Wednesday.

Thanksgiving itself was pretty great. We spent it with Bob's family and it was actually one of the best Thanksgivings we have shared. I handled the turkey and pumpkin squares (made from scratch...including the pumpkin itself), Bob made his GF mac 'n cheese, and his mom pretty much slaved over everything else. The turkey (which I had brined the day before) came out especially tasty and juicy. There were no food disasters or kitchen mishaps. This was also our dog's first Thanksgiving, and she was very well-behaved and goofy. She was the centerpiece of the day.

No, I didn't pig out. But I have a weakness for the gamey dark meat. And Sandi's cranberry orange jello mold. A peek at the scale the next day showed zero gain, so that's good.

For Black Friday, we avoided the big box stores and chains, and instead stuck to all local shops and artists. The highlight was hitting up the Bazaar Bizarre, featuring some of the most unique, neat-o wares by local DIY artists. Artisan glass, found object wearable art, scarab jewelry made from watch gears, marshmallow soap...I was overwhelmed by such talent. And THE coolest T-shirts I ever saw, designed and sold by Psycho Reindeer. I couldn't resist picking up a shirt for myself:

Today, we went to the newly-restored Capitol Theatre and saw The Fantastic Mr. Fox. It was fantastic. Tonight, Master Chef Bob made Vindaloo (basically, Indian hash) from some of the 10 pounds or so of leftover turkey. It was quite tasty:

Yeah, Goji wasn't too far from the turkey. She's developed quite a taste for it. Our cats don't much care for turkey, but this dog goes apeshit for it and will actually go through her whole repertoire of tricks without being commanded to do so. Impressive.

And tonight we are staying in and watching some DVDs, starting off with a zombie movie to get into the holiday spirit. Tomorrow, we'll be taking Goji to the park for a run and some frisbee action. Later, we'll be putting up the holiday decorations and tree, which will no doubt be destroyed by Monday. Goji was already trying to pull down the (empty) pet stockings that I just hung on the mantle.

Still working out every day (except Sunday). I'm up to Level Two on the Jillian shred, which I alternate every other day with the other Jillian vid, with an extra 30 minutes on the bike for cool down. Yeah, the bike's a cool down. It's my recovery after those got dam walking push-ups, plank jacks, squat thrusts and lunges w/bicep curls. *shudders*

Wednesday Weigh-In: 11/18/9

146.8 lbs this morning. About a pound gain. Yeah, you'll have that.

Tonight, we're going to an advanced screening of the new Twilight movie. No doubt the theatre will be choked with teen and pre-teen girls swooning at boys who sparkle. I am frightened to my very core.