Uggly

I can't help myself.

I am loving Uggs!!! After much complaining yet admiring, and a lot of back-and-forth in my mind, Hubs took me out last night to feed me delicious food and to shop for Uggs. Here's the thing: I get that they're ugly. I really do. But let me tell you something...I put my foot into a pair of black Classic Talls and I thought I saw Jesus. Oh my God, the warmth and the comfort... It was love.

And with that successful trial, my mind was made up. There was only one problem - Bloomingdale's didn't have my size, the bastards! But that's okay, ordering them online is where it's at. And in preparation for the boots, I ordered two fabulous pairs of skinny jeans from Gap today. 

You read that right.  The (formerly?) fat chick bought skinny jeans.  No need to applaud.

---------------------------------------------------------

Hubs and I got back from a hiking trip to the White Mountains a few weeks ago.  I meant to post pictures but of course I found better things to do.  So here are some highlights:

Lonesome Lake, which is actually a mountain tarn.  We'd already hiked to 2740' at this point.

The view from Lowe's Bald Spot.  This was a LONG hike - 5.5 miles round trip, lots of elevation gained, lots of rock climbing involved.  Exciting!

Square Ledge, one of our favorite hikes.  Short but very steep - a lot of elevation gained over a short distance.  Rock scrambling/climbing involved here.  Love it!

Here I am doing a little scrambling:

 Don't mind the look, I'm a bit tired.  This is after our Lowe's Bald Spot hike...I'm eating a veggie sandwich with hummus on multi-grain bread.  Delicious!

Lowe's Bald spot again.  Yeah, we had to climb that rock.  :)



So what's the point?  The point is that I am so grateful to my body for allowing me to do things like this - for not failing me, for treating me so well even though I spent a lot of time treating her poorly.  It's not quite an unconditional love - Lord knows we CAN do enough to ourselves to cause permanent damage - but it certainly is a forgiving one.

-------------------------------------------

Who's up for a challenge?  My sister and I are!  Our challenge is to lose 15 pounds by Christmas.  Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Huh?

All right, all right.  So it's been a hundred years since I blogged.  I just wasn't feeling it, quite honestly.  I'd like to say that I was doing something fabulous like changing the world, but it really was just that I got into a really enjoyable book or three, had a few trips here and there which knocked things off schedule a bit, and at the end of the day, blogging just wasn't on the list.  But better late than never, right?

So, diet-y stuff first.  Depending on your perspective, things could be going well or not so well.  I'm holding steady at 235-240, and I'm not really upset.  I'm eating healthy meals for breakfast and lunch, getting in my 5-9 fruits and vegetables, and then coming home and eating for dinner whatever it is that speaks to me.  Sometimes that means soup, cereal, healthy organic frozen dinners, or  not-so-healthy takeout.  But the truth is, I feel good and my clothes still fit and I look good, and so this makes it a little tougher for me to care about the number on the scale.  Although sometimes I DO care, and then I get furious with myself...but that generally goes away.  ;)  Plus, I've been celebrating my birthday for the past week!  My birthday is on October 9th but I celebrate for a whole week, because why not?  So last weekend we visited my parents and brother and sister, and my grandparents joined us for cake.  My grandmother is an honest woman - too honest for her own good sometimes, like the kind of woman who will give a compliment like this:  "Oh, your hair looks nice...today."  And she really doesn't do it to be rude, she just thinks she's doing you a disservice if she's not brutally honest.  I can't tell you how many times she's gone up to people and said things like, "Oh, have you been eating more?  Your clothes look tight."  She has absolutely no qualms telling you what she thinks.  So imagine my surprise when she said to me last weekend, "Wow, you look great.  You're still losing weight, aren't you?"  So I smiled and said, "Well, of course!"  And I think I mentioned before, although the number on the scale is holding steady, I'm tightening my belt and my watch keeps getting bigger and bigger on my wrist.  Who knows!

Check out this great birthday gift from my sister, and don't mind my badly-in-need-of-lotion hands:

And another fun gift from Hubs:

To answer the question I know you must be asking yourself, no, I'm not into owls.  Or at least I never was before my birthday.  I do find myself quite drawn to them now...  As a matter of fact, after I got my owl ring last weekend from my sister, I heard my VERY FIRST OWL that night when Hubs and I were sitting on the porch.  I'm like the Owl Whisperer.  Hubs got the big owl for me while out running errands yesterday morning - I was getting a pedicure from my little Asian guy Charlie - and now I've decided that I'm going to put the owl in my office tomorrow.  It's going to freak the hell out of my patients.

On a fun note, I was invited to join a raw Ramen-eating contest here in the blog world.  I was about to do it until I realized two things:  1) Ramen has MSG in it, which I really don't eat voluntarily anymore, and 2) We didn't have any left anyway!  So that ship has sailed, unfortunately.

On an even more fun note, Hubs and I recently bought kayaks and we took them out for their maiden voyage yesterday for my birthday.  It was the most beautiful day of the year, which must have been put together just for me.  ;)

And now, on the most fun note ever, Hubs and I are headed up to the White Mountains next weekend for a week's worth of hiking and kayaking.  It's badly needed...can't wait!

Happy Sunday!



A Giveaway...Just Not Here!

Hi folks!

Emily over at Eating Chalk has a super cool home improvement giveaway going on right now.  Besides that, she has a really fun blog with lots of pictures and so many every day things that I think we all can relate to.

Good luck!

Objectified

So...I'm getting honked at again. 

Allow me to explain.

I spent most of my adult life so far getting honked at, catcalled, and just generally being objectified.  I'm not telling you that because I feel special, I'm telling you that because an interesting thing happened when I porked up a few years ago.  Well, maybe not so interesting...expected, really.  I stopped getting honked at as much.  I wasn't really getting whistled at.  And truth be told, it was a bit sad.  Do I want to be objectified?  Well, I'd like to always be able to say no and mean it, but I can't.  What can I say?  Approval is nice.  Of course, Hubs has always approved of me, and he makes me feel sexier than any other man in the universe could, but it still makes me feel a little powerful when someone else finds me attractive.  It's pathetic, I know.  So yeah, if I'm being honest, I was a little disappointed when I wasn't getting as much attention.  Isn't that so sick?  It is...I realize that.

But hey, good news.  Probably since I was at the 50-pounds-lost mark, I started getting attention again.  Yesterday when I was on my way to the spa, I got honked at twice on the highway and once when I got out of my car in the spa parking lot.  While I have no desire to turn on any men other than Hubs, it does make me feel pretty good about myself.  I know, I know...feeling good should come from inside.  But I firmly believe that anyone who says outside approval doesn't give them at least a little pleasure is lying through his/her teeth.

Well, this may be my most self-centered blog entry yet.  I may lose a few readers, but at least I'm being honest!

I'll leave you with a few pictures from our recent mountain climbing trip.  We hiked a 4,000-footer in the White Mountains, plus a few other mountains/trails.  It was a good time, and just like once before,  I was proud of my body for allowing me this pleasure.  I've come a long way, number on the scale be damned!

(You'll notice I have no number for you.  I'll be weighing in next week...got back from vacation on Tuesday and didn't particularly want to see the damage this week!  LOL)

Yuck...

I've forgotten how awful it is to detox from sugar.  Crushing fatigue, pounding headache, tunnel vision, and diarrhea.  If I hadn't gone through it before I'd think I was dying!  Just goes to show you how awful that stuff must be for you.

Since I'm here, I'll tell you that I choked down the most disgusting salad in the world today for lunch.  It was raw spinach, steamed broccoli, and some black beans...doesn't that just sound gross?  I meant to put salmon in until I realized we didn't have any, so I figured the beans would be a good substitute.  They're not...this I now know.  Oh, and no salad dressing - thought the beans would make it okay without it - which made it extra-hard to consume.  But on the bright side, it was 4 servings of vegetables.

I'm not sure that makes me feel any better.  ;)

By the way, I got on the scale this morning.  Couldn't help it.  I'm down 4 pounds from yesterday morning.  Obviously "water weight", but I still feel victorious!

I'm a Superstar!

...well, at gaining weight, anyway.  ;)

This morning I weighed in at a whopping 240.6  That's a 3-pound gain from last week.  There's no sugar-coating it.  It's just disgusting.

And it's all my fault, by the way.  Pizza for dinner three nights during the week plus two trips out for ice cream PLUS a huge, fried Italian meal with dessert in there...that'll do it.  Oh, and no exercise - the piece de resistance.

So what now?  Well, I have to do better...this falls into the "No Shit" category.  I'll be honest though, I am sick to death of counting calories.  REALLY, really sick to death.  I just can't flipping stand the thought of adding up the components to one more meal.  But hey, I'm doing it anyway, because sometimes we just gotta do shit we don't wanna do.  To combat my complaining, however, is a real action.  I've taken a page out of the book (forgive the pun...you'll see) of a gorgeous friend of mine who has lost nearly 100 pounds, and I've started reading Fit for Life.  I began reading it yesterday morning and am only 40 pages from the end, so I hope to finish it tonight.  I'm not sure exactly how I feel about the science behind the book because I'm not sure it's truly sound, but what I do know is that people have gotten huge results from using the plan.  It's nothing extreme or crazy like Atkins or any of those other nutty plans.  And again, I really don't know if what he proposes makes sense, but it certainly doesn't seem dangerous or unhealthy.  He's not advocating a crash diet or a weird, motor-oil-and-eye-of-newt detox, but rather a diet made up of 70% fruits and vegetables.  He's against dairy entirely...I'm not really one for cutting whole food groups out of my diet, but I'm willing to be no-dairy for a bit to see if I feel better.  Truth be told, the only dairy I really eat is yogurt and cheese, so that stuff is just gonna have to go for a while.  Hubs and I use almond milk for regular purposes and So Delicious Coconut Milk Creamer for our coffee, so we're kind of halfway there as it is.  Plus, Hubs is lactose-intolerant and I'm actually finding that dairy upsets my stomach as well.  I didn't realize this until we started using the coconut milk in our coffee.  (There's not one bit of difference in the taste or the texture, by the way.)

But for now, until I familiarize myself with the plan, I'm counting calories.  I did adopt one important part of his plan already, which is to not eat anything but fruit before 12 PM.  Is it weird?  Yeah, kinda, and I don't know if there's any good reason to do it other than the one he gives (which has to do with elimination - a euphimism for shitting).  Is it unhealthy or dangerous?  Hell no, so why not?  This morning I had a banana, a nectarine, and a V8 Fusion.  Two things with this - he says to stay away from bananas unless you're very hungry and to stick with water-based fruits.  Well, bananas were what we had, so a banana it is.  We'll fix it the next time we go to the store.  LOL  Also, the V8 Fusion is not entirely fruit, as there's some veggie juice in there, but there are no other bizarre ingredients in it.  Still and all, he prefers you drink fresh-squeezed juice if you're going to have it, but for now it's a V8 Fusion.  I was going to make a blueberry-strawberry smoothie this morning but didn't have the time.

So that's the deal.  I'll get on the horrible treadmill today because I have to do it...I'm feeling a little out of shape lately.  Not abnormal considering I haven't been on the treadmill since May.  ;)

Happy Monday!

That'll Learn Me!

Okay, folks, I'm (mostly) recovered from my surgery, back to work (boo!), and back on the wagon.  I've been off the wagon now for a good month or so but the party's over now.  Are you dying to know how much I weigh?  Because I'm dying to tell you!

237.4.  Isn't that fabulous?  That's only a nearly 10-pound gain since Christmas.  I mean, really...couldn't have gone any better than that.  [Insert eye-rolling here.]

So what did I learn?  Well, I learned that I'm not as good as I think I am!  I'm not anywhere close to an intuitive eater like I thought I was - I'm more of a donuts-cookies-brownies-ice cream-every-day kind of eater.  I ate a lot of high fat, high calorie foods and don't think I even ate one fruit or vegetable on purpose.

I used my handy little Lose It! app on my iTouch this morning and it said that if I stick to my recommended calories per day to lose 2 pounds a week, I can be done by January.  To think that I'll hit the Christmas season and be 10 pounds within my goal weight is a great incentive to just commit and quit stalling!  I'm tired of dieting and I want to be finished, but I'm not going to finish until I hit my goal of 190 pounds.  I have two vacations, a birthday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas in there, so while I might not reach it exactly by January, I'll give it till February.  I'm having an awesome get-together in the city with friends this spring and I want to look even more amazing than I do now.  ;)

Part of the challenge before I think was my calorie intake.  I usually wasn't allowing myself to have anything over 1300 calories a day...considering that we need 1200 just to be alive, I know I wasn't eating enough.  No wonder I was ravenous and the came home and scarfed food out of the pantry.  My LoseIt! app tells me to eat 1701 a day but I subtracted 200 for a total of 1501 a day.  I think that's reasonable, and so far I don't feel hungry today.  It's amazing what a little extra food can do, eh?

I'm also changing my weigh-in day back to Monday.  As I mentioned here, the Friday weigh-in is a bad idea...yet somehow I still got back to it.  Bad, bad idea.  No more!  I'm going to get back into the exercise game as well, I just have to get the green light from my surgeon.  I meet with him this Wednesday so hopefully he'll have good news.

Hubs and I will still be having one dinner and one breakfast out during the week.  This helps me keep my sanity and doesn't pose a problem for my weight loss.  It only becomes a problem when twice a week out turns into 4 or 5 times a week.  This Friday we have reservations at Rainforest Cafe - love it there!

Happy Monday, folks!