More cool stuff

So, I'm loving this - averaging my scale fluctuations, I'm doing really well. I usually hate how the scale bounces, but this makes it all feel ok... :-)

Thanks to Kristi for tipping me of to this google widget (on igoogle) and helping me figure out how to paste it here. I LOVE this widet. It makes those crazy scale fluctuations ok... (note - of course my "goal weight" is not 215, but I'm taking it 5 lbs at a time).

Good week!!!

220.0

THURDSAY

Before I forget, here is where you too can get a "word cloud". Just click "custom". You can go through the process without having to pay anything. It's really cool.

So I've been having a good day today. First off, I'm not as "low" as I was this weekend when I saw 219.4 on the scale, but I'm very happy with this morning's weigh in. I also had a 3 lb loss at my WW meeting, mostly because I haven't been there for 3 weeks, but I'll take it. So long as it's going DOWN. :-) I'm pleased.

So far this morning work-out routine is going well. I did 30 minutes on the treadmill on Monday & Wednesday & 25 mins of weight training on Tuesday. I plan to do 30 more on the treadmill tomorrow morning and hopefully will be able to sneak in a little weight training tonight. I definitely think this is a big part of the scale being so friendly. I hope I can stick with it.

Of course one of the reasons I've been able to stick with it is that work has been pretty light this week. I generally don't like that, but I'm leaving town for 2 days next week so I don't feel comfortable taking on more work this week. Hopefully after my trip I'll be able to kick things up again.

On that note, I'm really excited about my trip. Erik & I are going to California for 4 days next week. We fly out Thursday morning and come back on Sunday. It's really exciting as Erik is getting honored at his company. He's one of several people country-wide getting the "President's Award". This is really cool because they're flying both of us out to Indian Wells in California for the weekend, giving him a $300 amex gift card, $200 towards hotel services (can you say SPA) and a few fancy dinners. I'm very excited as I've never been there. So that'll be fun. It'll also be hard to stay OP while out there, but I'm definitely going to do my best.

On wedding news, I went to pick up my invitations on Tuesday and of course they were wrong. They were all right except for the accommodations card. They put the wrong "face" on it and didn't even give us our thank you cards we ordered. So, they're correcting it and are supposed to have it to my by next Tuesday. We'll see.

Also on the wedding front, we're doing hopefully only one more trip to bridal shops this weekend to look at dresses. I'm so ready to buy one and be done with this. Which is a horrible attitude to have, but as I've noted before, I'm not a "shopping" person so I get bored with it quickly. Hopefully I'll fall in love with a dress this weekend!

That's about it. I'm very committed right now so I need to ride that wave!

Word Cloud

Becky's blog had something really cool, so I did it to. (monkey see, monkey dooo.) This is a word cloud of my blog. Think I talk about weight & weekends enough? lol. The real question, though - why do I use the word "down" so much? Odd.

More dress shopping

220.2 (at home)

TUESDAY

Well, holly and I went to another bridal shop yesterday at lunch. This one was a sort of fancy-schmancy one in Atlanta. Unfortunately, though, I found another dress I LOVE. And another designer I want to stalk all the styles of. Oh - and I also got the pressure sales talk that I need to order NOW NOW NOW or I'll never get it in time and be able to do any alterations, even though I'm over 6 months away. I'm not going to go crazy though. I'm giving myself another 3 weeks or so to pick the "winner". Unfortunately I have a hard time just buying off the rack for two reasons 1) I'm a big girl and, even more troublesome, 2) I'm really tall - so none of the dresses hit the floor on me. So I've resigned myself that I'll have to order the dress. I'm just not ready to commit yet.

In other good news, I've done day 2 of my 'get your ass up early and work out' plan. I got up at 6:30 this morning (crazy unheard of) and did 25 minutes of strength training. Boy I know I'll be sore later this week. On tap for tomorrow morning...another 30 minutes of cardio! 2 days down, 187 days to go. :-)

So today the scale is down a bit more, though not where I want it to be for Thursday's weigh-in. If I don't go crazy today or tomorrow (no plans for that!) I should definitely see a loss, but I want it to be a good 3 lbs! It's been 3 weeks since I weighed in at WW and I want to see 3 lbs for that 3 weeks. To ensure that I really need to see the scale at 219.0 or lower, so I don' t know if that's going to happen. All I can do is chug the water, make the good decisions and pray like crazy. Honestly if I see under 220.0 thursday morning, I'll be satisfied, if not happy...

Not much else going on. Work has slowed a bit, which is a little disappointing. I do have a few small reading projects that need to get done eventually that will keep me busy if necessary, but I'm hoping to pick up a few more assignments this week.

Funny how I post so much when I'm on track... :-)

Dress Shopping

220.8 (at home)

MONDAY

This weekend Holly an I went dress shopping for my wedding dress and her bridesmaid dress. I was really down about it at first because I hate trying on clothes knowing I won't fit into them. Dress shopping is like the worst of that because many of the stores only carry "stock" sizes of 10 in all styles. But I agreed to give it a go anyway.

We started at a small bridal shop near where my new house is on Saturday. They had some "discontinued" dresses in my size (16/18) that were pretty, and at least two of their designers had a really cool thing where even though it was a 10, they had additional zippers inside that would let you zip it up in bigger sizes. That was neat. It made the back look weird, but at least you could see what the front looked like. So, we spent about 2 1/2 hours on Saturday and found a couple good ones and one that I really liked. Of course it's $1300...

Sunday we decided to hit David's Bridal. A big chain with 3 different locations in Atlanta. We hit the southlake one, closest to where we live. The great thing about this store is that they STOCK lots of sizes. The encourage buying off the rack, so they carry lots of styles in all sizes. I think I tried on about 15 dresses in my size. A few we had to go down or up a size, but we could still zip them (with a lot of holding of breath) and I got to see lots of styles. It was great. I found one I absolutely fell in LOVE with and I think might be the one. I always thought I'd get a "simple" dress, long and poofy but mostly just satin with minor embellishments. Not at all what I found. Once I started trying them on, I realized I wanted mine to be different. I didn't want my dress to be "similar" to anyone else's I know. I want to "wow" the people at my wedding. So I found one that is very different, and I totally love. It's very flattering on me (at least as much as can be expected). I didn't buy it, but I've definitely tagged it #1. here's motivation for me though - the "regular" sizes only go up to 16 which I could get into but was very tight. The "plus" sizes go from 14W-26W so I can definitely get it in my size. Thing is - plus sizes are $100 more. So, I need to make the 16 work.


The ladies at the store said I need 16 weeks for the order to come in. 20 weeks to be safe with alterations and stuff. So, I'm going to give my self about 3-4 weeks to drop a few pounds and try it on again. Then I'll hopefully be able to order the 16 in good conscience.


Other than that things are going well. I saw 219.4 on the scale yesterday morning (then had a big steak dinner) so I think I'll see a loss this week at WW. I also have a "new" plan (again) for work outs. Now I'm going to try to do them in the morning. Which is just unheard of for me so we'll see how it goes. Thing is, unless I have an appointment at work, which is rare, my "start" time is flexible. I can come in when In want. I just have to get my hours in. If I want to be here 10-8, that's cool with them. So there's really no excuse for not getting it out of the way in the morning.

So this morning I hit the treadmill. I did 30 minutes. I only "ran" 1/2 mile, but I did some speed walking on increased incline. I know if I get into a routine, my fitness will improve rapidly and I should be running the entire 30 minutes within a month. So that's the plan. Mon, Wed & Fri, I'll do 30 minutes on the treadmill before I leave. Tuesday and either Sat or Sun I'll do weight training for 30 mins. One day down, 188 days to go. :-)

Been away for a bit

No weights.

FRIDAY

Ok, I just don't feel like posting weights. Not happy with how things are going, and as expected, only myself to blame. I've not been horrible, but I've been "maintaining" since I had one good week after getting engaged. That's NOT going to get me into the wedding dress size I want.

I'm starting to think it's hopeless, that I'm destined to be around 220 for the rest of my life. Hopefully no more. It seems like my "efforts" only serve to keep me from gaining anymore, which certainly is a good thing, but I can't seem to stick to it for more than a day or two in a row. What gives?

I keep thinking back to those first few months on WW. I first started when I was an intern at a law firm between my 2nd and 3rd years in law school. I continued on through my first semester of my 3rd year, all the way to goal and lifetime. It took 6 months to go from 208 to 167. Now I'm at 220, and can't seem to MOVE. I don't know what's wrong. I've done all the things they say - recommit, do what you used to do, treat it like the first time, etc. But for whatever reason, I can't. I find excuses. Why was it so easy back then? Why was I able to make the "tough" choices every day, day in and day out?

Now that was in 2001, so I know my metabolism may have slowed a bit, turning 30 and all, but that really doesn't explain this. That's really just a cop out.

I don't have the answer. I feel like I've tried everything. Today is just a really tough day. I went shopping with Holly today at Dillards. They're having a big shoe sale and she wanted to go. While I was there, I walked through the misses department. This is such a tough time for me shopping-wise because I'm a 16. Now that is possibly the worst size to be shopping-wise. It's the top of the "regular" clothes and the bottom of the "plus-size" clothes. Translation - they never have my size. In the women's section, they always have 18W and bigger. In the missus section, I'm lucky to find a 14. In all the styles I looked at today I found 2 16's on the whole 2nd floor. No I didn't look at every rack, but I looked at a lot. So frustrating. One didn't fit, and the other (a white dress) made me look like a ginormous 50's house-wife. Not good.

So I left there trying to explain to the oh-so-skinny, I can wear anything, Holly, why I hate shopping. She doesn't get it, though she tries to be sympathetic.

That's the other thing. She's my matron of honor, and has been pressuring me to go wedding dress shopping for a month and made me commit to tomorrow. I'm totally dreading it. I know I will hate the way I look in any of them. I also know that I can't put it off forever and it doesn't look like I'm losing the weight as planned. Shocker. I really don't want to do it. I'm so excited about the wedding but really feel self conscious about the whole thing. I'd love to be where I was in law school when I felt so confident at 167 - a solid size 10, tall, thin. I let it all go and then some though. I really didn't appreciate it enough.

Grrr.

So this became a rant blog. You can see, now, why it's been almost 2 weeks since I've been on. No good progress to report. That said, I still need to do this. It's theraputic in many ways, even when I'm off track.

Back on the Exercise Wagon

Last WI: 222.2/WW WI 223.2/At Home WI: 220.8

MONDAY

So I was very good this weekend until last night, but I'll get to that. Friday night I actually worked until 8:30. It wasn't planned, just something that happened. Another associate needed help getting a project out the door and I had no major plans (Erik had Daniel) so I agreed to help out. Not bad for the hours anyway. I did hit McDonalds on the way home, but hadn't eaten much all day so I call that an "ok" day. Saturday I kicked butt. It was a VERY productive day. Erik had a Toastmasters meeting so I agreed to watch Daniel for a few hours during the day. After a bit of Wii (he is addicted, that boy) we went out and ran all the errands I had on my list. When we came home we played a bit more Wii (I rented two games, so I encourage his addiction I guess). Then Erik came home and I ran out to meet Holly to look at invitations for the wedding. I ended up ordering very cute poker invitations. I'm very excited about them, I'm supposed to get the proof today. I'm not excited about the price, but everything about weddings seems expensive.

After invitations, I met with my realtor, and signed what I think will be the final contract on our house. They accepted our final offer that went out on Thursday. We are set to close on March 18, so the next month is going to be CRAZY. After meeting with the realtor, I came home and ran on the treadmill. Nothing fabulous, but I did make a whole mile before walking. Considering my significant lapse in exercise commitment, I'll take it. I ended up covering 2 1/2 miles I think. not bad.

Sunday I got up before church (the EARLY) service even, and lifted with my new weights I bought at Walmart on Saturday. Boy am I feeling it today. I did just upper body and I knew I'd be sore in my legs from the run. Then we went to church. Then Holly, Erik, me and Daniel went back to our wedding facility for thier "wedding extravaganza". Basically I got to try their food, make some final decisions on chair covers/centerpieces, and show Erik the whole place. I think he liked, but I also don't think he cares too much.

After that Erik & Daniel went home and Holly & I went to IKEA. I LOVE IKEA, but I just get very overwhelmed in there. We were there b/c Holly need to by a dresser, and I wanted to look at bookshelves for the new house. I didn't buy any because obviously we haven't closed, but I think I know what I want if things all go as planned.

After that Erik and I went home and played Wii baseball until 12:30 in the morning. I had rented a baseball game because I know he likes the Wii Sports baseball game. I don't love it and should have known it would frustrate the hell out of me. He beat me 3 games in a row and we did one more that I think he let me win. I was SO frustrated. I hate being a sore loser, but I'm so competitive, it's hard to stop sometimes. I appologized for being so frustrated and I know he forgives me and understands, but sheesh. Get over it cindy - it's just a GAME.

Ah - can't stop my competitive nature I guess.

But yesterday was full of bad food choices. I didn't do so bad for breakfast - had an egg on a english muffin, but lunch was burger king and dinner was the Varsity (a really greasy drive-in in Atlanta) with taste testing in between on the site. Oh and 4 beers while playing Wii w/Erik. So not necessary. I'm so mad at myself, especially for the beer, because it really is a waste. Yes, I like the taste of beer, but 4 beers over 4 hours isn't going to affect me at all, and it's just wasted calories. When will I learn....

Today I plan to have a very low point day. I saw as low as 219.2 yesterday on the scale, so today's number is understandable but a disappointment. I really want to see a good loss on Thursday so now's the time to get things in the right direction. I do have dinner plans with my "mentor" at work, but I've already vowed to order a salad. Hopefully I can stick to that....

Another Day Logged

Last WI: 222.2/WW WI 223.2/At Home WI: 221.2 (ok)

FRIDAY

So yesterday was WI day. On my morning weigh in (WW and this site) I weighed in at 222.2 or + 0.4. Not horrible and probably deserved since I went way off program Thursday -Sunday. Tried to get things back in line Monday on, but succeeded in basically minimizing the damage. Not bad. My meeting WI was an exact maintain which isn't surprising since I didn't eat or drink anything before the 12:00 meeting (was STARVING, won't do that again).

Busy week work wise. I spent too much time on Monday doing wedding stuff, but the rest of the week was pretty productive work-wise. Last night I was here till 10:30 finishing a project, so I should be able to leave on time today. Plans for this weekend - pick out invitations on Saturday, wedding site tasting on Sunday and update website & guest list in between.

I think we may have a final contract on the house we're looking at today, also, which is pretty exciting. We're waiting to hear back from the seller on a few final details, but I expect to be signing docs this afternoon!

Other than that, just living and loving life. I'm very blessed. If I could just start LOSING weight, my life would be perfect. :-)

So much going on

Last WI: 221.8/WW WI 223.2/At Home WI: 222.2

WEDNESDAY

I've got 3 weights above because I'm not dually tracking my weekly WI's. My "last WI" is my at home Thursday morning WI that I'm using to track my ticker above and WW online. My "WW WI" is my actual live meeting WI that is always at noon on Thursday's at work, and I feel will be less "acurate" becaues of work clothes, timing, etc. My "ate home WI" is that morning's WI.

Oh numbers. I'm totally OCD about tracking stuff, so this makes me happy - how ridiculous.

So my life is CRAZY. Now I've always loved being busy and generaly am much more productive when I am, but damn I'm juggling a lot of balls right now.

1) House Hunting. We've been offering/countering/etc. on a georgous house for the last 2 weeks. We got a "final counter" from the seller on Monday that is still almost 10K higher than where we had planned to cap out, so we went to look at the hous again yesterday, and of course LOVED it. We've made one final "counter" even though they said they weren't going lower, but I'm afraid we might go with their last number if we have to. It's WAY more than I planned to spend, WAY more house than I need. But I love it. It has everything I want, and really is a place I could see myself in forever - raising my kids, etc. It's perfect. We'll see what happens.

2) Wedding Planning. Last weekend we went and visited a resort in north georgia that I fell in love with and booked straight out. I have them an obscene amount of money on deposit and basially signed my life away. We have a location and a date (August 31, 2008). Yesterday I went and looked at invitations, and fell in love with one that is, of course, ridiculously expensive. So we're going back on Saturday to talk to the "in house" people to see if they can do it cheaper. I am NOT spending $1K on invitations. That is obscene! Also, Sunday we're going back to the resort for their vendor "tasting". They'll have the food and all the local favorite vendors there. Should be fun, even if it's another 2 hour treck each weay.

3) LASIK. I've wanted LASIK for years. I've just not been able to justify the cost. I have worn contacts since high school, and have semi-bad allergies, so I have a hard time wearing them more than 12 hours a day. Also, Erik had Lasik almost 10 years ago and still has very good vision so I'm super jealous. My prescription isn't that bad - no coke bottle glasses or anything - but bad enough that I can't drive without glasses or contacts. Anyway, with this new job I got a flex-spending account which basically allows me to have my employer take out up to $3K pre-tax to pay for something like this. So I set that up starting in January. They take out $125 out of each paycheck pre-tax and put it into my "account". The good news is I don't have to wait until the end of the year to spend all $3K. I can get it now, and just pay it back over the year. So I decided I wanted to get the surgery done before the wedding and honey moon and before wedding planning got all crazy. So last month I booked my consultation that was yesterday. Things went well, and I'm a good candidate. Due to "thin" corneas, I'm going to do a less common procedure of "epi-lasik" instead of traditional lasik. Same result and cost, just a little longer recover time (like a week instead of a day). But it's safer considering my thin corneas. (Weird, nothing ELSE on my body is "thin", why do my cornea's have to be?!?). I've set my surgery appointment for March 28 (between closing, travel, etc). Hopefully it'll go smoothly.

4) WW. Of course through all this I'm trying to stay on track to lose between 1.5-2 lbs a week. I have NOT started exercising and I have not excuse except being busy and too lazy to do it at 10:00 pm at night. I totally could put in 30 minutes though and NEED to start. The weight will NOT come off with WW alone. I'm not dedicated enough. I HAVE to put in the time working out. I'll start tonight.

5) Work - oh yeah, that thing that PAYS for everything listed above. I'm "trying" to put in 45-50 hours a week. It has been difficult with wedding and lasik apointments this week, but I have GOT to make this a priority. Without this job, I cannot afford any of the above and I need to do a good job here.

6) Travel - We have so many weekend trips planned in the next few months. Erik won a trip at work for being such a good employee and the second weekend of March we're taking 4 days to go to California on his company's tab. We fly out Thursday and come back Sunday. So nice and should be totally comped, but wow I don't feel like I have time to travel right now. Also, my work has 2 retreats planned in the next 2 months. One for "mid-associates" (i.e. 4th & 5th years) in March about 2 hours from Atlanta, and one for all associates in April in Miami. Again all of these are paid for, but they pull me away from 1-5 above. Crazy.

I think that's about it. It's surely enough. Needless to say I'm going to TRY to continue to blog every other day or so, but if I disappear for a week, you'll know why.