I need a jump start.

So sassy.

As a result of all this adjusting to being a full time working person, I have been eating everything in sight. Sourdough Jack? Yes. Macarons? Let's do this. Hot dog at the corner bar? Yeah - that's happening! And I feel yuck.

Not yuck in the "I'm ashamed of myself!" way, yuck in the physically don't feel great. My energy is suffering, my pants are tight and I am not liking the rear view, ifyaknowwhatimsayn'.

This week is going to be a transition week followed by a detox. I am going to start eating more vegeterian meals, cut down on the drinking (we have two events this week that are drinking-centric) and get down to one caffeinated beverage a day. In addition, I'm going to add a walk two days this week in the morning before work. 

Sunday will be a detox day - I will cut out sugar, caffeine and focus on whole foods. Juice, whole grains and fruit will be happening. So sorry Sunday night crew, I will be cranky and staring at your pizza/cupcakes in longing!

After that I will continue the detox through Tuesday and slowly reintroduce meat and dairy. I know that a jump start like this is what I need to get back on track - I need to reset my palate, eat clean/healthy foods and get back to focusing on my health. 

Weigh in Monday will return next week! 

Happiness and the Little Things

I get to work with these sweaters people every day!

I have been conspicuously absent from this blog for almost a month now - a month! I say conspicuously because I'm the only one who writes for it, not because a lot of folks read it! Hello mom plus 4 other people who are most likely directly related to me!

Where have I been you may ask? I have been working full time, eating awesomely bad things and hanging with with my husband, dog and best friends. Life is good friends - life is good!

First, the job - I am now working full time at my "get well" job and I couldn't be happier! What started as a "come in and help with random stuff a few days a week" has turned into "hey why don't you come on in everyday!" And I love it. I get to do so many different things - some regular office manager tasks like billing and grocery shopping, but some writing, project management and client management as well. It's like a Frankenstein job where all the parts are awesome and I can walk there. And bring Tex!

I struggled a lot with what to do after Sew Crafty. Like many times in my life before, I beat myself up over not being able to decide the right path. Then I just started to let go a bit. Ruthie, a good friend who is one of the wisest people I know, said "Can you just work part time for a while?" When I said yes, she replied "Then why don't you just enjoy it and coast a bit."

So I coasted. I worked part time, worked out, walked, shopped at Target, visited my parents, and hung out with Ryan and Tex. It was a transitional time - some good times, lots of stress on choosing the "right" thing to do with my life, and lots of crying jags. I did this for about two months and had lots of "What will I DOOO!?!?" moments. On day I realized that I needed to find a full time job - it was time to make a choice. I needed to become a financially productive member of my family again.

At a work event called Tuna Infinity and Beyond
with a bunch of neuroscientists
reppin' Charlie the Tuna! You read that right.

In June, I came in to work and talked to my boss/friend (Brind? Fross?) about the situation. It didn't occur to me he would counter with "Well why don't you just work here full time?" Mind blown. That can happen?!? Apparently so. A month later, I'm a full timer!

Since then I have been adjusting to a full time schedule again. After working for yourself on your own time for 3 years, it's a bit of a challenge to get back into the groove of being somewhere every weekday for 8 hours at a time.

When it's the right place it make life much easier (examples: I love the people I work with; I like going to work in the morning - waking up is much easier when you look forward to being somewhere; one of my duties is keeping the office kitchen stocked, so I get to grab a few things for home while I'm at the grocery - multitasking win; they are flexible with stuff like dentist appointments and haircuts). Also, I know I mentioned bringing Tex, but it is just so cool to have your dog with you at work. He snoozes next to my desk and it's nice to take a break to play a bit!

It's all about the little things friends. Through the past 6 months I have learned that the simple things are the best things - which I totally know is a cliche. But as one of my favorite college professors said, it's a cliche because it's true. Happiness is contingent on being grateful for where you are, content with what you have and a dog sleeping at your feet.

I am happy because, right now, I have all three - I hope you are all having the best time ever too.

Weigh in Monday - 6/20/11

Yay! I lost some weight again! After a couple of weeks back to my normal diet, I seem to be getting back to where I was before. 


This week I will focus on tracking every day, adding in more healthy recipes and limiting eating out to 2 - 3 meals instead of, you know, every freakin' meal!


Lost this week: 1.8 lbs
Pounds lost so far: 3.6 lbs

Pounds left to lose: 24.6 lbs

Weigh in Monday - 6/6/11

All abord the gain train! This week, thanks to the weekend of awesome that I had on Memorial Day weekend, was all about gaining like 5 pounds. I knew I would have a gain this week, but I just didn't expect it to be that big - I tracked all week, ate healthy meals and home and did all my scheduled workouts. Thank goodness I didn't step on the scale last week or I would have fainted!


This makes me think of the weight-loss Bermuda Triangle that is vacation gain. Every time I go on a vacation - no matter how long or short - I gain. Sometimes it makes perfect sense - "Why yes I did have bacon with each meal" or "I was on the 12 cupcake a day tour of the East Coast!" Other times, like when I eat well, walk a ton and even hit the hotel gym, it's a mystery! This time was not a surprise - I'm told by many of my co-vacationers on this trip they gained too. I'm officially changing the name of this trip from Ranchcation to Weightgaincation 2011! 


So I'm almost back to square one as far as weight loss is concerned - I say almost because I feel great, have more muscles and better habits in general, but numbers wise I would have been kicked off the Biggest Loser this week for sure. One thing that's certain - you can't out train a bad diet people. Remember this next time you go on a food bender and think "I'll hit the gym later and be fine!" 

Lost gained this week: 4.8 lbs <=== daaayyymmmn!
Pounds lost so far: 1.8

Pounds left to lose: 28.20

Conspicuously Missing Weigh-In Monday!

I just spent the best weekend ever with my best friends ever - and missed doing my regular Weigh-In Monday because of it! It's probably a good thing, as I ate everything in sight and drank a ton of wine - no regrets though, it was 100% awesome.

WIM returns next week! Until then, enjoy the best motivational speech ever.

Weigh in Monday - 5/23/11

I gained a bit this week, but it wasn't anything crazy bad - just 2 ounces! I figured that it would happen - I have started working out again and gaining muscles (yeaaahh!) makes you plateau or gain for a while before you start losing again. It's a worthwhile trade off though - I would much rather be healthy overall and able to lift 10 bags of groceries in one trip (totally did this recently - huzzah!) than make it to my goal without the lifestyle change. 


Speaking of my goal, I don't know if 30 pounds is realistic. I am going to keep it as something to shoot for, but my WW goals are closer to 15 - 20 pounds, so if I make it there by December I'll be a super happy gal anyway! 


Lost gained this week: 0.2 lbs
Pounds lost so far: 6.6

Pounds left to lose: 23.4

Weigh in Monday - 5/16/11

Oh my gosh y'all - I can't count! Or at least, I can't take all information into consideration when making platitudes about my weight loss, etc. I screwed up on my metrics - again! 


Total weight loss so far - from August 2010, is 6.8 pounds. Not too shabby, but not the original 8.8 pounds I thought it was. I was down that far during March and early April, while having some stress issues, but now I'm back up a little bit. That's cool though - I'll bring it down one week at a time in a healthy way, instead of a "too stressed to eat" way!


Lost this week: 0.3lbs
Pounds lost so far: 6.8

Pounds left to lose: 23.2