The shrinking arse

I haven’t given up!  I’m still losing, although, at a very slow rate.  But hey, that’s how it’s supposed to be done, right?  That said, I haven’t exercised in the past two weeks.  Work has been killing me.  I come home mentally and physically exhausted to the point of depression, and wake up in the morning the same way. 

After next week, I’m taking a week off.  Hopefully, the time off will refresh me and put me back in a positive frame of mind.  If not, I’m takin’ this job and shovin’ it.

I’m extremely proud of myself for getting up again this morning and doing the 45 min TJ Cardio Party.  It kicks my arse every time (well, I’ve only done it twice… I’m just sayin’), but what a sense of accomplishment when I get through it!  My abs are killing me.  I can’t bend over, so keep your fingers crossed I don’t drop anything important.  Like body parts.

Regardless of the fact that I feel 1000 years old at this moment, I WILL get up and exercise again tomrrow.  I can’t quit now.  I have to make sure this sticks as a habit.  I’m in my 3rd week of not only exercising, but eating healthier… and as of Sunday, I will have been smoke-free for 3 weeks.  In truth, that’s really the most amazing thing of all.  If I hadn’t quit smoking, I doubt very seriously I’d still be exercising.  I know I sound like a corny yutz, but I still can’t believe how good I’ve been feeling, both mentally (OMG! I’m a positive person now? Noooooo!) and physically (except for the fact that I can’t bend over). 

Oh!  In all my yammering on about how oogly-moogly wondermous I feel, I nearly forgot the reason for this post.  I actually got flowers today!  I absolutely abhor Valentine’s Day, and I got flowers. 

I’m pretty sure this is a sign of the end of days.  Duck and cover, y’all.

I’m happy to say I’m back in the saddle - the exercise saddle, that is.  I didn’t get back on it Tuesday, as planned, but Wednesday morning, I was up and at ‘em with TJ Cardio Party.  That workout nearly did me in, so since I’m a glutton for punishment, I think I’ll do it again tomorrow.  No pain, no gain!

Today is VD.  I like to call it VD because if you’re not selective with your Valentine… well, it’s probably best if we don’t go into that.  It is a day of chocolates, balloons, flowers, and being naughty.  I don’t have a feller, so I’ll be dirty dancin’ with myself.  Did I really just say that??? Yes.  Yes, I did. 

Happy VD, every-buddy!  Keep away from the chocolate!!

Well, maybe just a little… to get me in the mood.

Well, I lost 1.5 lbs this week, but I got a little carried away today.  The boss just HAD to bring in one of his wife’s famously delicious cakes - raspberry & chocolate, no less - and I just had to eat a piece (or two).  I’ve made a pact with myself not to use food as a reward, so me eating the cake was not a celebration of losing weight.  I’ve been on enough diets to know that’s a lose-lose kinda thang.  I ate it because I wanted it.  One of the greatest lessons you can learn when trying to eat healthier is this: If you really want something and deprive yourself of it for too long, chances are, you’ll overdose on it in the not-too-distant future.  So I ate the cake, but I didn’t OD on it.  I think I was within my WW points, but work was such a beyotch today, I didn’t have a chance to track my points.  I’ll do better tomorrow.

Another confession: I didn’t exercise this morning… but I have a good reason for that.  My DVR died!!  I think I might die with it!!  How will I live without my shows this week?!?  I guess now I have no choice but to learn to read… or exercise more.  Sigh.

I also didn’t meet my goal of eating 5 servings of fruits & veggies per day last week, but I have every intention of doing it this week… starting tomorrow.

So.  Tomorrow.  Wake up and do TJ Cardio Party.  Eat a healthy breakfast.  Snack on fruits & veggies instead of evil 100 calorie packs (yes, I’m still buying the damn things).  Take a salad and a serving of WW yankee pot roast to work for lunch.  Come home and watch… nothing… because I have no DVR.  Play on the computer until I get tired of it.  Read for a bit.  Go to bed.  Wake up and start all over again!

Yep.  I ate cake today, but I’m keeping my chin up, and I’m NOT giving up!

How long can this motivated, inspired, revoltingly happy attitude last?  I’m still feeling it, but always in the back of my mind, I’m wondering when it all ends.  When will I fall off the wagon and hit the drive-thrus?  When will I say “the hell with it” and have a huge slice of that scrumptious peanut butter and chocolate cake baked by my boss’s wife?  When will I give in and have pizza & beer with the gang and decide I never want to go back to healthy?

I just hope I can remember to take it one day at a time.  Keep exercising.  Stay focused.  Baby steps.  Small victories.  That’s what it’s all about.  But I know me, and I know a day will come, and probably soon, when I will wander from the path and have a helluva time finding my way back. 

I’d leave a trail of bread crumbs, but if I fall off the health wagon, I might eat them.

Right now, I’m sitting in front of my computer (obviously, since I’m posting), and eating a grilled tuna steak with a homemade mustard-marmalade (low sugar, of course) marinade, steamed vegetables, and a small wheat roll.  I do believe this is the best tuna steak I’ve ever tasted, and I’m the one who cooked it.

I feel absolutely fantastic.  I’ve come to a point where I’m not worrying myself into a frazzle over what the scale says.  I’m concentrating on making it one day at a time, eating right, exercising, and just enjoying the changes in not only my body, but my mind.  I’m being motivated and inspired by my own good feelings. 

Oy.  That was soooo new-age and cornball.  I’m usually the negative nancy and here I am being all positive and feel-goodie and motivated.  I don’t know who I am anymore, but I sure am glad to meet me! 

Feh.  Enough with the good vibrations.  I have a tuna steak to finish!

You wish you were here right now.  I know you do.

Yep.  I’m a loser.  Of 3.5 pounds! 

Now, I know I won’t be losing this much every week.  I’ve been on enough diets to know that initial weight loss is greater, and if I want to keep those pounds from coming back I’ve got to do this slowly.  But it’s still 3.5 pounds, and no one can rain on my parade today.

My goal this week is to exercise every day but Sunday (just like last week), to eat more fruits and veggies, and to avoid buying evil 100 calorie packs with “Hostess” on the label.  I’m also changing up my workouts a bit.  I’m doing Hip Hop Abs Fat Burning Cardio 4 times this week (M, T, Th, F), and Turbo Sculpt 2 days (W, Sat).  I’ll probably change it up again next week, just to keep things interesting.

How was YOUR week?

I’m not sure that 100 calorie packs were such a great invention.  I guess they would be if I could stop at one, but when the word “hostess” or “cupcake” is on the label, portion control doesn’t enter into the picture.  Bright side?  There are only 6 servings per box.

I still exercised this morning, and I still am well within my points for the day.  And I will be tomorrow, as well, because all of the 100 calorie packs are gone (in my belly) now.  Good thing I only bought one box!

Best of all, I’m still cheerfully annoying to my overworked, underpaid minions!  Yay for exercise endorphins!

Due to the fact that this is the third day in a row that I’ve exercised, I’m thoroughly convinced that the real me has been replaced by a pod-person sleeper agent.  This is probably the work of the temporal agents from the future.  They’ve got it in for the big girls!

I feel good!  This is a completely new feeling for me!  If I’d known how energized exercising would make me feel (and how annoying it would make me to tired people), I’d have been doing it all the time - even in my sleep!  Why didn’t anyone tell me?  I mean, besides all the infomercials, internet health sites, magazine articles, and TV specials about it… besides those inconsequential conveyances (and who really watches TV or reads or surfs the internet anyway?) there’s just no awareness about this amazing discovery.  The skinnyboppers have selfishly been keeping the magic of exercise a secret all these years so they can remain at the top of the food chain!  I’m incensed!

Bleh.  I gotta stop talkin’ smack about the skinny folk.  I plan to be a supermodel next year, and they might not let me in the club if word gets out that I’m doing the late night slender-slander circuit.

This post was a little… (mentally) empty.  I might need a snack.

I did it again this morning.  I actually got my lazy arse out of bed and exercised AGAIN this morning.  I have a feeling the space-time continuum is in complete disarray and I’m sure temporal agents from the future will be contacting me shortly begging me to cease and desist this aberrant behavior, but they can’t make me!  Screw the temporal prime directive!  The future belongs to ME!

Yeah.  I’m a geek.

I tried a new WW recipe last night - vegetable egg rolls (baked, of course).  They were huge and delicious and there wasn’t even dipping sauce involved!  What?  No slathering of goo on my food?  Say it ain’t so!  They really were yummy.  And only 1 point.  That’s the best part.  I’m thinking maybe WW shouldn’t have listed the points value on that recipe because I ate three for lunch. 

I have a lot of egg roll wrappers left.  I think I’ll try the southwestern egg rolls next.  They’re 2 points a piece, but they have MEAT in them… and I loves mah meat. 

I was going to check out some blogs on this here buddyslim thangamajig, but work has blocked the entire site from my viewing pleasure.  The nerve!  I wish I could quit them.