Weigh In: Week #23

It's been a while since I posted one of these.

It's up! My weight is .8 pounds more than the last time I weighed in, three weeks ago. This isn't much of a surprise, given my last week's seven day unhealthy food bender. Sure, Chris and I walked around Disney all day, but we also ate at Firehouse, Carrabba's, my restaurant, Chick-fil A, Disney restaurants, Krystal, and more I'm forgetting.

But oh, it was fun! Alright, back to the grind of calorie counting, macronutrient ratios, and (maybe? finally?) exercise!

The Biggest of Big Big News!

 

Notice anything new, besides my terrified expression? Yep, that's an engagement ring! Mr. Sapiano and I are getting married! Anyone who has heard me talk for any amount of time or has read my blog should know how wonderful this is, how special and terrific this guy is, and how happy we make each other.

I'm so, so happy. I don't consider myself a pessimist, just a realist. Still, I didn't really let myself hope for a relationship that could make me feel so fulfilled. Good thing I went and accidentally found one. I am the luckiest girl in the world.

Yeah, yeah, I'll shut up and show you the ring.

It's a little unexpected and not what everyone else would choose, but it's EXACTLY what I wanted. Is there some kind of metaphor there or what?

Happy Father's Day!

For Dad's Day this year, I got my dad some Nutella, a candy he likes and hasn't had lately, and an mp3 player I loaded with some comedy specials and music he likes. Courtney got him a mortar and pestle and a gift certificate to Picasso's, his favorite Italian restaurant. I'm not sure if we'll be doing anything for dinner because he's usually not super hungry these days, but even if we eat at home, I know it will be special.

Father's Day at the restaurant was pretty darn lucrative. I only worked three and a half hours, but I ended up making more than $15 an hour, even before my server's minimum wage. Sure, it was SLAMMED for a period there, but all my tables were fun and tipped reasonably or better, so yay for dads is what I'm saying.

Chris is Coming!

I'm so excited. Chris is coming to town on Monday! We're going to spend time with my family, meet up with a professional contact/potential employer guy for Chris on Tuesday, go to Disney on Wednesday, and have a big family meetup on Saturday. It's all a very big deal.

I've got a week off from work and Mom and Dad have graciously approved the borrowing of one of the cars when we visit Orlando. In the meantime, we're tidying the house, washing sheets, and stocking the refrigerator in preparation for his arrival.


I'm excited to snap some new pictures of our adventures together for the first time in two and a half months. I think a fun vacation is just what's needed to get the spark of life back into my blogging, and who knows, I might just have new and exciting things to talk about after his visit.

A picture of me from our last trip to Disney World, exactly one year before this year's trip!

So Excited!

This guy:

is coming to this place:

in this many days:

Weigh-In: Week #20

Since last week I've lost .8 pounds for a total weight loss of 32 pounds since January! Sure, I only lost a bit this week, but I'm still at 1.61 pounds of weight loss per week!

Unfortunately I didn't get my exercise situated this week and I did have a five-cookie bingey meltdown yesterday. The rest of my eating was pretty in line but a bit lax, and I had a normal workweek's worth of running around in the restaurant. I had my mind on other things, and am coming back to fitness shortly, you have my word.

Hey, it's another week of success, and even without Biggest Loser numbers, I'm happy to keep losing while living my life!

My Fascinating Friends #2

This is my second fascinating friend in this series of posts where I highlight someone awesome who does awesome things that you, dear reader, can check out on your own. Her name is Kristen, and besides her knack for finding exceptionally large citrus, she's also a funny gal, a great blogger, and on a totally awesome adventure in Japan.

See, she's just setting up her new life in Japan after having lived in California the last few years. Her husband's in the Navy and was stationed there, so they moved as soon as they were cleared after the travel ban was lifting following the earthquake earlier this year. She has so many interesting posts before and after she arrived in Japan, that I recommend you read them all. If you want a taste of my favorites from her blog, I'd suggest reading about her first great success in Japanese literacy, her personal introduction to elite Japanese athletes, and her recent blog post about her new position on the Yokosuka Sushi Rollers roller derby team.

My favorite things about Kristen's blog are her frequent updates, all the cool pictures she takes, and the subject matter. She's in Japan! That's so cool! It's so interesting to read about her experiencing new things over there and hoping one day to do the same. Her approach is humorous and informative, and above all honest. Things might go how she expects them to, but she tries to explain them to her readers because she figures they'll be just as interested in how things work as she is. She's so right.

Click here to check out Kristen's blog, Adventures in Yokosuka!

Watch Me Get Beaten Up by a Dog

Today I trimmed Daisy's nails. She absolutely hated it. Lucky for you, Chris was watching on Skype and took pictures as she flailed like I was trying to kill her. Dad and Mom make appearances.

Eventually, we got all of her nails, and we only have to do this again in another month or so. Send help.

Looking Back on My Weight Loss

When I started losing weight for this blog, I'd already lost some weight. At my heaviest, I was 212 pounds. I lost a dozen pounds and then participated in a Biggest Loser-style fitness competition with some friends, then lost 15 more. My weight went up a bit and down a bit and then I found huge huge success through a combination of three things: weekly weigh ins, tracking my calories, and increased physical activity.

After a few weeks of this, I settled into a rhythm and have lost more weight more consistently and with less effort than I expected. Oh, there's effort, but it's less than I thought there'd be, especially after a few months, when I knew the basics and just had to stick to them.

The fact is that counting my calories allows me to see exactly what I'm eating, and has opened my eyes to what foods break the bank and what foods are calorie bargains. Even if I stopped counting calories today (which I won't!), I'd be better prepared to cook for myself and go to restaurants because I have a much more accurate picture of just what I'm consuming.

As for this blog, while I haven't always been as diligent as I'd like in updating every week, it has been a persistent reminder. I publicly committed to losing weight and checking in every week until I reach my deadline or my goal, and it pops into my head every day.

When it comes to being more active, that's something I've tackled intermittently and without the routine or dedication I've given logging my food or even updating this blog. It's something I've gotten away with neglecting, but I suspect these last ten pounds I want to lose won't come off without increased physical activity on my part. Yes, I walk around at work, but I really want to incorporate in some strength and more intense cardio. Also I really liked yoga. Between my personal tendency toward spontaneity and my irregular work schedule, I haven't had a lot of success nailing down an exercise routine. This week I hope to improve that.

So that's my not very secret secret. Food, exercise, goal setting, goal sharing, and record keeping. I've got a ways to go, but I've come so far. I'm really, really proud of my success and hope for anyone who wants to accomplish this to actually do it. Certain parts are easier than I expected, like tracking my food (a food scale and measuring cups sure help!) and certain parts are harder (like making myself work out). It's all attainable, though, and you do get partial credit, so don't think you have to be perfect from the get go. I wasn't and I'm still not, and look what I've accomplished!

Weigh-In: Week #19

Hey look, a weigh-in!

AND I'M IN THE 150'S! Solidly in the 150's, even! This week I'm weighing in at 155.2, which is 5.6 pounds less than my weight three weeks ago and 31.2 pounds down from when I started this challenge back in January. That works out to a loss of 1.6 pounds a week, which is right on the target I set for myself back when I started. Only 9.2 pounds left until I hit my goal!

It's too much to calculate just how many calories I've eaten/burned these three weeks, so I'll just say that I'm eating a few more restaurant calories than I'd hoped from work but that I've been good at only drinking water when on the job. I am going to make an effort to get back into the gym this week since I haven't seen if in a few weeks and I have a pretty light work schedule.

Look out for another post today about fitness, but it's more about the whole journey than just these few weeks, so I decided to separate the two for ease of reading.

My Fascinating Friends #1

It's probably not surprising that, having met a large part of my close friends online, they tend to have an online presence. What might be a little more of a shock is just how fascinating and enjoyable these endeavors are, even to people not lucky enough to be buddies with these folks themselves.

Over the next week or so, I'd like to share a handful of the creative projects of my friends whom I met over at the mc chris forums. Since then many of us have quit that board, but we've remained friends through a new forum, Twitter, and Facebook. Except I don't have Facebook. Everyone else does, though. The point is that we keep in touch, and I'm so thankful for that.

This week, I'm going to introduce you to my friend Jesse Kline through his gorgeous photography website and his much more extensive Flickr acount. He has some images of very different subject matter in his two sites, but I think what really shines are his nature photos. This is probably because animals, weather, and vegetation are his passion even when he's not holding a camera.

Hopefully you'll check out Jesse's work and stick around for the next time I turn the spotlight on other talented, interesting, an funny people I'm lucky enough to call my buddies.