Commitment

Today was one of those days where I didn't feel like doing anything but I've made this commitment and I'm going to do this every day. That's the best thing about a blog. I feel accountable to it and it got me up off my ass during Color Splash on HGTV :)

So here it is. I said I was going to post my before pics. I don't even wear a tank top to the gym but I'm putting it on here. I think I've lost my mind.



















I'm not saying anything else except there is a lot of work to be done and I'm very excited about the challenge...oh and check out my new shoes and wall color instead of the fat :)

547,500

The number above represents my new plan. What's a new year without a new plan right?

Actually I've been at it for the last 2 weeks. I'm proud of myself for all the days I made it to the gym over the holidays. I was so sore on Christmas Eve I was in tears by bedtime but I've already made some progress endurance wise. Damn scale hasn't moved at all but like I always say, there has to be diet and exercise involved for me to do anything other than maintain.

I haven't been going nuts with the eating (mostly) but not keeping track and drinking way to much champagne has me weighing in at 252.8 today. We painted our bedroom this past week and I felt every single pound of myself weighing me down. The next day I tried to do Target, Ross, Trader Joes, Whole Foods and Publix and came home having to ice down my knee. I've never had these aches and pains before. As my mom was asking me what happened to my knee (which she stills swears happened from being on a ladder for 2 days) I said to her that I'm just too fat to go to 5 stores.

Now, about the plan. The goal is to eat and track 1500 calories per day for all of 2010 which equals 547,500 calories. I'm interested to see exactly how close I can get to that exact number. I've been inspired (again) by Sean who has been at this for way more than a year now. He says if he can do it anybody can. I'm finally accepting that challenge.

Sure there are going to be ups and downs and yes, it's a lofty goal but I'm going to focus on what next year at this time could be like. I'm not putting a weight loss number down because I'm interested to see just what happens naturally from tracking my food every single day and exercising 6 days a week. Could it be over 100 pounds? How close can I get to the 547,500 calories?

See you all tomorrow! There will be pictures. It will not be pretty.

Merry Christmas to me!

Look at this gorgeous Christmas gift I got from my husband. The gift that keeps on giving ;)
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I got this today with the intention of being 2 weeks ahead of the new years resolutioners. Those people I used to despise when I worked out 7 days a week. Every year on January 1st there wasn't an open treadmill to be found for the next 3 months.

I start tomorrow at 8:30am with a personal coach I will have for 8 weeks. I'm psyched. I feel better than I have felt in a very long time except for the fact that I'm still lugging around and extra friends worth of weight. I can do this. I can stick to it and next year at this time, be 100 pounds lighter.

I'm starting over once again. This time I'm in a really good place. I even gave my blog a temporary makeover.

Stay tuned for a new years post I'm working on. There will be pictures and there will be a fun calorie plan for the year. In the meantime, I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the last few days before Christmas! Happy Holidays everyone!!

40 is the new black

I turned 40 on Tuesday and while I'm nowhere near reaching my goal of having lost 100 pounds by this time, I still feel young, cool and nowhere near my age ;)

My goal for this new chapter in my life is simply to put into practice everything I've learned up to this point. I've gained so much knowledge about myself both personally and professionally. I'm completely out of excuses. I never thought I would say that.

This weekend is going to be freezing and wet and my goal is to go through all my recipes and plan meals for a month. Then it's on to the kitchen cabinets to clean out anything scary that's in there. Even though I do a pretty good job of keeping them neat, if there are 10 year old chocolate chips in there I will find them when I need fix. I've already done the fridge and it looks very bare. Good thing because it will quickly fill up with homemade soup on Sunday.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!!

I need an ass kicking

I'm doing that thing. That horrible thing where you start to tell yourself you are going to start over again in January. I can't believe I even have these thoughts after all I've learned. I'm just glad I'm aware when I'm trying to talk myself into something stupid and can run to my blog for sanity.

I've been working so much at the computer and I'm still having problems getting motivated to move. My eating schedule is all messed up. I don't eat enough during the day and am starving by 6:00. Usually my husband is motivating me but he's in the same funk. We have never been at that point at the same time before and it's making it even more difficult!

I'm not going to whine about it anymore. I'm going to go eat some turkey soup and then at least walk the dogs. I think it's time to dust off some weights.

Thankful!

I know Thanksgiving is over and I have been neglecting my blog but I wanted to stop in and say how thankful I am to have blog friends who miss me when I'm not posting. I appreciate you all so much and thanks for checking in on me.

I made my first ever Thanksgiving dinner. Just us and the neighbors. It was so nice and relaxing. We did see my mom and the rest of the family on Saturday so we didn't completely ditch them.




Please note that is MY turkey that I made and is not a picture from a Martha Stewart magazine :)







I have to say I'm doing really well in terms of dealing with the Situation. Suddenly I feel like I can do this. I have 3 clients already and work to be done so that means I have no choice really! I have been extremely busy but I'm hoping once I get in the groove of a new schedule it will be easier. I tend not to give myself much of a break and feel like I should be working all the time. I haven't been exercising aside from a 30 minute walk every day which helps but doesn't equate to any big loss. I know I have to make time for it but it doesn't make it any easier.

I think I'm going to join the Y for my 40th birthday which is a week from tomorrow. Might as well start at a new gym while everything else is changing. If anything it will be motivating to go to a new place. In the meantime, I'm finally going to use my free pass there to finish out this week. It's always a little intimidating but it's probably better during the day now that I have that opportunity!

I promise to blog more too. I know how much it helps me and I deserve it!

Starting over

I thought I was going to start a new blog but after much thought, I decided I'm not going to let Them take this away from me. Why should I stop after over a year just because They don't have a life.

Emotionally, I'm doing a bit better. Financially, not so much. I had to use every last dime I had to buy a new Mac. My old one was awesome. She was 8 years old though and I couldn't install any of the newest software. I'm hoping to find a school in the neighborhood that could use it. I never thought a trip to the Apple would be so painful.

Believe it or not, I haven't gained much weight. Maybe up 3 pounds from my lowest. Suddenly I'm having to figure out how to eat healthy on a budget. Speaking of which, funny little story about my mom. She down from NC about a week after I lost my job. She always brings tons of food for my sister and I like homemade chicken salad, veggies from her garden etc. Instead of wasting room in her cooler using ice, she used 2 giant frozen beef roasts. One for each of us. It still makes me laugh thinking about that and we ate for DAYS! :)

So what's the plan you ask? The plan is to be the person I wanted to be when I was stuck working in an office. I'm going to work out every day and enjoy the fact that it doesn't have to be at 5:45 am or 6:30 pm. I haven't been exercising much and I know I will never feel good again until I do. I'm going to finish up a logo and then lace up my shoes. I can do this.

I'm working on starting my own business doing simple, affordable design focusing on small to medium size businesses. Know anyone that needs a logo? A website? A brochure? Send 'em my way! I'll have a business website up and running soon!

I've missed you all so much. I can't wait to get my work and workout done and read some blogs this afternoon to catch up. It feels great to be back.

Checking in!

Hey all! Just thought I'd say that things here are fine here and looking up. I've been busier than ever just getting in touch with everyone I know. I'm hoping to be in round 2 of interviews for a fantastic opportunity that could change my life :)

I'm not going to go into to much more detail. The people I thought were my friends at my last job have gone through everything, deleted most everything of mine including wedding pictures, hacked into my Facebook, you name it. I don't trust much that I put out there right now so I'm going to start a new blog soon I swear. I'll let you all know when that happens. In the meantime, send prayers, good vibes etc. that I make it round 2 (of FIVE!) for this job.

unemployed

Just a quick update to let y'all know I lost my job today. Very very long story and I'm going to have to start a new blog soon. I've not given up. I've done so much good for so many people the last few days and I'm not going to let anything take away from that.

Verklempt

I was feeling a bit choked up reading all your sweet comments from yesterdays post. I feel like Linda Richmond....a little verklempt.

Thank you so much for your support as always. Special thanks to Tammy who is a fellow Georgian and unemployed. You're totally right. I hope that me bitching about my situation doesn't offend you or anyone else that doesn't have a job at all right now. I know it could be a lot worse and I need to just keep plugging along. Isn't that what we all do every day anyway? I'm not giving up though. I'm working harder than ever to get myself out there and working on some side projects that may eventually amount to something.

Anyway, it's Friday and it's going to be a fun weekend. It was SUPPOSED to be an upstairs of the house cleaning weekend but I doubt there will be enough time to do the deep cleaning I want to do. My husband desperately wants me to go watch his soccer team play at a pub at 10 on Saturday morning and after all he's supported me this week, I owe it to him! His team isn't one of the big Scottish teams so it's rare they are on TV. He can't watch it on the computer like he normally can so we will be in a bar at 10am. I could probably use a Bloody Mary anyway. It's really like breakfast...especially if it has olives and celery...right? :) After that I will clean and finish my sisters Halloween costume. I swear!

Sunday I'm helping out my girls at Pit Stop 3 on the 3-Day. Here is a pic of the 5 foot tall gingerbread person cutout I did. Walkers can stick their heads in and have a picture taken. I also did the logo for this years theme which is Candyland. I did some funny signs based on the characters in the game to put around as well.

It's supposed to rain on them today and I'm praying it will stay away. Sore feet are bad...wet sore feet are way worse. The rest of the weekend is supposed to be nice If everyone could keep them all in your thoughts this weekend, they could really use it. They will probably have all the food and drink handing out covered so my plan is to head out down the route and walk with single walkers who need a little boost to the pit stop. When I worked the crew a couple years ago I did that and people were so appreciative. I wore a pedometer that day and ended up walking 7 miles. Is it sad that I'm excited to put on all my crazy pink accessories? It's not every day you get to wear a pink sequin cowboy hat!

Today I'm working on a gym schedule. I'm trying to put together a cardio and weight routine that I can follow at the gym during lunch without being able to afford the trainer. I'm checking out some things online and I'm sure I have some knowledge left from when I worked with a trainer before. I'm going to start out with free weights and body weight exercises. Y'all know how I love my squats!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Thanks again for being awesome.