Christmas + Family + Vacation = FOOD.

I love my family. A lot. They live in Florida and I live in Mississippi, so when we get together, we do it up right with copious amounts of beer, foods (fried and otherwise, I mean, c'mon, we're in the South), and family time.

These things are a recipe for disaster when it comes to getting healthy (and we wonder why my entire family has weight problems??). We ate so much seafood that I swear my blood is now probably super salty. And I'm pretty sure I drank my weight in Michelob Ultra Lime Cactus (it's why my dad happened to have around) and I also only managed to work out once while I was in FL - even though my dad has an exercise room RIGHT THERE on our property. Lazy - party of me.

However, somehow, I managed to weigh in this morning at 198.8. I guess I didn't do any seriously significant damage to my weight loss endeavors. But I'm just not sure how!

I ate these on Monday:

Please. Stare at their delicious cheesiness. Check out that homemade ranch dressing at the top left. Now, imagine the smell. I'm so upset there isn't a Cruisers anywhere near me. HELPFUL HINT: If you ever go to Jacksonville or St. Augustine, FL - you need to go to Cruisers Grill. But don't expect to stay on your diet. You need to eat those fries. And a burger. NOM. Please give me a moment, I need to wipe away some drool. ::Insert Elevator Music Here::

AAAAND WE'RE BACK. 

Basically, Christmas was great. I got to see my family, I got to eat yummy food, and my clothes still fit when I came back. Now, did I eat healthy food? No. No I did not. Did I exercise enough while I was there? No. No I did not. But dammit, It's CHRISTMAS. Jesus just likes me and wanted me to indulge in some yummy food before I get back in the saddle for 2012 - with my dad in tow (and hopefully Brian too)

I hope you had a wonderful holiday! Its almost 2012 - what are your resolutions?

It's Official

I doubted myself and my ability to actually complete this half marathon thing all week. Okay, more than all week. I've been doubting it since I had the idea to do it. As you can see by this ticker - it's getting close to decision time.

I weighed all of the pros and cons. Con: I haven't been able to train like I wanted. Pro: I have a friend coming from Oregon to do this with me. Con: 13.1 Miles is a LONG way. Pro: If I finish, I can SAY I've finished and feel like I made a huge accomplishment. Con: I don't exactly have the right equipment (attire, shoes, etc). Pro: I can GET the right equipment.

Eff it. I signed up and forked over $75 to run/walk 13.1 miles on January 7, 2012.

Now I guess I need to get my butt into as good as shape as I can before then. I went to the gym last night - did just over 5 miles and felt great afterwards - but my hip was a little sore. I need to look into what that's all about and how to fix it. I think getting new shoes will definitely help.

So now I need a playlist! I normally listen to TMR, but I think 13.1 miles calls for some constant pumped up music - anyone have good suggestions?

HOORAY!

I finally reached my under 200 lbs goal! I weighed myself this morning at a slim 198.8 lbs! WOOT!

No, seriously, I did a dance. I also woke up my sleeping husband and he gave me a high five. I then proceeded to text a huge number of my friends that I had finally made it under the 200 mark and I was 1 minute late to work because of it. Whatever - I'M UNDER 200 POUNDS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FOREVER!

CELEBRATION TIME!

5ks and December and New Pants - OH MY!

Greetings, world! It's been a bit of a busy time for me recently, so I apologize profusely for not blogging as much as I should.

First off - It's December. I have exactly one month to get my butt somewhat in gear for this Half Marathon thing. I'm scared. I can't run forever. 13.1 miles is forever. I haven't been able to run as much as I'd like because of this stupid cold/sinus issue. I did, however, run a 5k on Saturday! The Jingle Bell Jog benefiting the Children's Cancer Center at Blair E. Batson Children's hospital in Jackson, MS. I finished a few seconds faster than my last 5k, and I was sick and there were hills, so I'm not complaining too much.

Jingle Bell Jog 5k - 12/3/11

In case you were wondering if I won a medal this time...no. No I did not. Check out all of these people - and that's not even close to when the race was supposed to start! I didn't have an easy age group to compete again this time, so just finishing and getting a bag o' swag and a cool t-shirt was my "prize" this time. I'm okay with it.

I did the whole thing by myself. I don't think I like running races alone. I need a running buddy. Someone to keep me motivated or at least be waiting for me at the finish line. I also got kind of jealous because other people had husbands/wives on the sidelines cheering them on at different points in the race...I wish Brian would do that for me, but I get that it's early on a Saturday morning usually. Maybe one day he'll surprise me.

Anyway, thanks to all of this running I've been doing, I was in need of new pants to wear to work. I showed a friend of mine that I was able to dance like MC Hammer in my old work pants. These are even long enough, hooray! I love Loft. Fitting in Loft (and Anthropologie) was one of my motivators for losing weight. I haven't tried shopping at Anthro, but I can't wait! I hope something will fit *FINGERS CROSSED!*.

Oh and since it's December, here's me this morning. Sorry I didn't do this on the 1st...and I'm sorry my boobs look wonky, that bra sucks, it's more for sleeping.

Damn you, Texas.

Brian and I went to Dallas/Arlington/Ft. Worth for Thanksgiving. While it was a pretty cool place to visit, we did nothing but EAT CRAP the whole time we were there. I won't lie. I was scared to get on the scale this morning - so I didn't do it.

As most of you know, Thanksgiving is traditionally a day to stuff your face, wear your fancy elastic pants and watch football (while probably snacking on some leftovers or snacking on food before it's put out for the meal). Well, we did all of that. (We also played kickball. Kickball on Thanksgiving is now going to be a tradition - that was SO fun!) Plus, the whole time we were in Texas, we ate fast food and Mexican food like we needed it to survive.

I tried my best to get the healthiest option that was offered at Taco Cabana, Jack in the Box, El Arroyo and Sonic, but dammit, it gets rough. Especially when every one else around you has greasy tacos and french fries. I gave in, but just a little bit. Okay - a medium bit. Jack in the Box has delicious burgers - and they don't kill you anymore! Yay!

I will say, however, that I did get some running in while I was there! I even took the kids from Brian's family with me once - bad idea, but at least they got moving. I didn't do as well as I would have hoped (stupid rain) - but at least I got my butt moving when I was gorging myself; just not as much as I would have liked.

I've got just a few more weeks left until my death (erm, my Half Marathon). What's on tap this week training schedule wise?

Monday: Jog 60 sec - walk 90 (Repeat 11 times)
Tuesday: Rest - Walk X as long as she can go
Wednesday: Walk 60, Jog 38, sprint 22 (Repeat 11 times) **THESE DAYS ARE THE WORST!!!**
Thursday: Jog 60, walk 70 (repeat 12 times)
Friday: Rest - Walk X as long as she can go
Saturday: Jog 60, walk 55 (Repeat 40 times or 4.75 miles)
Sunday: Rest

Wednesdays and Saturdays suck! But, hey, it's all in the name of health, AMIRITE!?

I've got a training schedule!

Thanks to my amazing friend Chrissy, who will be coming to good ole' Jackson, Mississippi to run the Mississippi Blues Marathon with me - I officially have a training schedule! It looks difficult. For example, let's take a gander at what I need to do the rest of the week, shall we?

Wednesday: Jog 60 seconds (50%), walk 40 seconds (10-15%), sprint 20 seconds (85%), [walk 60 seconds (10-15%), jog 40 seconds (50%), sprint 20 seconds (85%)] - repeat 10 times.

Thursday: Jog 60 seconds, walk 90 seconds - repeat 10 times (easy peasy!)

Friday: Rest - walk X as long as she can go (probably a mile - then she'll be begging to go home b/c she's lazy!)

Saturday: Jog 60 seconds, walk 60 seconds - repeat 16 times or 2 miles. Do more if you're feeling good!

Sunday: Rest!

Okay, I take it back. This first week doesn't seem too bad. I can handle it. However, then we get into next week and the week after and so on. Less than 2 months until I run a half marathon - can you believe it?! I know I can't. I'm pretty sure I'm going to die when I cross that finish line, but dammit, I will finish and that's what matters. I look too pretty with medals hanging around my neck not to get another one.

Oh yeah! Speaking of medals and "another one" - if you're not my FB friend, you might not know! Remember that 5K I ran a few weeks ago? I won 3rd place in my age group - and my time was 41:08! I got my time messed up - woot! There were 11 people in my 20-29 age group and I got third! I may have freaked out at work about it. Maybe. IT WAS THE BEST FEELING EVER! See for yourself!

I'm so proud of myself. But before you get all "WTF? You won something with a 41:08 in a 5k!?" trust me, I think I was the slowest person not pushing a stroller lol. But that's okay because dammit - it felt good! I'm sure it'll take quite some time before I'll win another, but I don't care. I have my medal hanging on my desk for the world to see! I'M  RUNNER, BITCHES!

I'm trying really hard not to be mad at the scale. I can tell my clothes are getting way loose and I can tell that my double chin is receding, so I know I'm losing weight. The f*cker just won't go under 200. This morning I was 201. I've been eating like a boss, too. Tracking all of my calories in and calories out. I even got Brian to start doing MyFitnessPal! Everyone follow him! MrKrinkle69 (classy, eh?) and if you aren't already, follow me! BRenkwell - I'll be your friend and I promise to cheer you on!

My first 5K!

Right after the race! 44:08 - woot!

Well, it's official. I'm a runner. I did my first 5k this morning with my boss for the Blackbird Run in Brandon, MS. Roughly 3.1 miles in 44 minutes and 8 seconds. Not too shabby! I definitely loved running with others - it was nice to be able to sort of pace myself with someone and it was great that I had my boss motivating me and saying "okay, time to run now!" when I took a break to walk a bit. It really felt wonderful when I crossed that finish line.

I even did a little jazz leap over the finish line. I'm quirky like that.

My boss, Nicki and I after the race

I can't even describe how excited I was that I actually completed the race. Sure, there was no way I won anything, but dammit, I finished. I made that race my bitch and my boss and the owner of the company I work for were both there to witness it and cheer me on. It was a great feeling. I'm pretty excited to get back in the swing of things starting Monday morning. FRIENDS - feel free to text, call, e-mail, facebook, whatever and bug me about going to the gym or working out. I do better when I think people are pulling for me. My friends are my motivation. I don't want to ruin more pictures with my chunk-ness.

I'm still working on my eating habits. I don't know why this is the hardest part for me. Last night, Brian was asleep at 6:15 for some reason, so I had to make my own dinner. I'm trying my best to eat some of the random stuff around the house so I ate a bowl of rice. Yeah, that's it. Weird huh? Well, after that, I ate a Reeses peanut butter cup, then a piece of bread with peanut butter, then a biscuit left over from Brian's breakfast with spray butter. WHY DIDN'T I EAT SOMETHING HEALTHY!? It makes no sense. I need to do a better job at keeping healthy foods around the house.

Weight loss doesn't happen with exercise alone. I need to eat healthy food!

Ups, downs, and getting stuck

RAWR! F*ck this week. Seriously. 

I don't know why, but this whole week I've been worthless. I went to the gym Monday morning and got my run on, and since then? Nothing. Nada. Actually, I lie. I've been eating. A LOT. I can't seem to stop! I got rid of the tons of left over Halloween candy I had because it was just dangerous to have around (especially all of the chocolate), but I swear I've done nothing but gain weight all week and I can seem to get motivated to do anything about it.

I actually cried Tuesday morning (I'm calling it a mix of PMS, just waking up and being pissed) after I weighed myself. I was SO sure I could get under 200 lbs by Halloween. It didn't happen. Tuesday morning I was 202.4. WTF. I did SO well up until Tuesday morning. I've switched to green tea instead of coffee, I steered clear of 'bad for me' foods last weekend and I didn't even drink at my best friend's wedding b/c I wanted to hit that 199 mark. F*CK ME. Seriously. I was so upset. Obviously I'm still not thrilled.

I need someone to yell at me when I put bad things in my mouth. I need to gain more self control. I need someone to MAKE me go work out when I don't want to. Brian pokes me every morning at 5:30 when my alarm goes off and I've just been waving him off saying I'll work out in the afternoon. I haven't. I've been a lazy bum - but I attribute it to my attitude. I'm so bummed right now about not reaching my weight goal.

But, I do think I'm physically looking better. Check out my November 1 pics here.

I seem to be capable of running...

Last night at the gym, I did something I didn't realize I could do. I did an hour of cardio straight. I walked for 5 minutes, then ran for 3 - wash, rinse, repeat. I didn't think I'd be able to run for 3 minutes, but I did it! 7 times! *I will now wait for you to cheer, dance, and generally just shake your groove thing for me for a minute*

Thanks. You can stop cheering now.

I realized yesterday - with the help of wise words from Emily including "are you done feeling sorry for yourself now?" - that yesterday's blog post might have been a bit melodramatic. (Who am I kidding? I was going for a whining Academy Award, apparently.) I CAN DO THIS.

I've actually sort of prided myself on the fact that I'm being such a realist when it comes to this whole half marathon thing. I'm very aware that I won't be running the entire 13.1 miles. I get that. I'm not trying to tell myself I'm some super athlete that can go from not running (period) to being a half marathoner. But I AM an athlete. I've always been an athlete and I CAN eventually be one hell of a half marathoner. (Off topic...is 'marathoner' even a word? Get back to me on that one, will ya?)

My friend Stacye made me tear up a little bit this morning because it's like she always knows what to say. She put up the same picture I posted on yesterdays blog - this one and included this on my Facebook page:

Right now it's hurting, it's taking time (it won't be overnight), you are dedicated, WE will be your will power when you need help, you will see the sacrifices you've made, maybe not today, or tomorrow, but you will! You are pushing your body to a breaking point, but it's WORTH IT. Because soon you'll look back and today's breaking point is tomorrows starting point. You've got this because YOU ARE WORTH IT! Love you!

 Things like this make my day. I love you, Stacks!

Defeated.

I'm feeling so defeated. I can't get past the feeling that I'm not eating well enough (I know I'm not...) or working out enough and I'll never be able to do a half marathon.

I haven't officially signed up for the 1/2 in January - and now I'm scared to put my money towards it. I'm not trained. I'm not in good enough shape. I'm going to look like a fool.

But I want this feeling:

I want to feel awesome once I'm done and be able to say I've done it. I want to be able to be proud of something that I've told myself I'll do. Maybe I should push this off until 2013.

I don't know what to do, but I'm just feeling really defeated right now.

Halloween is quickly approaching!

And I'm still not under 200 lbs. I'm sitting pretty at 202. WTF, Body!? I can't say it's my body's fault, actually. Brian and I have been terrible with our diet in the last week or so. I blame the McRib - he heard it's back and we've had McD's 3 times. I also blame McD's because two of those three times, I tried to order a grilled chicken sandwich. Once they were out of chicken breasts, the other time, I waited 17 (yes, SEVENTEEN) minutes for my grilled chicken sandwich, then they said I still had to wait 3 more minutes b/c they hadn't started cooking it yet. Brian was done. Stupid McDonalds.

I think I'm also thinking that I'm somehow sabotaging myself. Its as if I'm telling myself "hey, its not a big deal if you eat that cookie, you worked out yesterday!" a lot. Way too often. And beer - I need to not drink beer, or plan for it or something.

I love beer. Why can't beer be healthy?!

Not enough of a "runner" apparently...

So a few people have told me to go into running stores and talk to the people who work there and see about group runs, etc.

Close to my house, there's a store dedicated to runners called "Stinky Feet." I was really excited to go in and talk to runners who know what they're talking about and see if they could give me some info on group runs, etc. It wasn't exactly a welcoming environment. In fact, I got the feeling they didn't understand why I would be in there.

I walked in and went to the desk, explained to a very nice redhead and a gorgeous brunette that I was just starting to run and I'd been told by a few people that I should check and see if they have any running groups. The brunette said "Yeah, we go 4.5 miles every Tuesday night - you'd have to train a lot to run with us" Gee, thanks, yo. How did she know I can't run 4.5 miles? Maybe I'm a ninja under all of this fat.

I admitted that 4.5 miles was a bit much for me to run right now and asked if either of them knew of more "beginner" types of running groups. Brunette said "We cater to more serious runners so not really..." thankfully the redhead spoke up and mentioned that she knows of a group than runs in Clinton (too far) but at least she was helpful.

I left that store feeling defeated and like I wasn't good enough to be a runner. And it's not like anyone took the time to ask me about my goals or anything - I was the only customer. I could have very easily bought a pair of shoes or some other equipment while I was there. But I didn't. I didn't feel like I was good enough to be in there.

This is the exact opposite from what I've experienced from runners online. The runners I've spoken to online are full of enthusiasm, encouragement and knowledge of running and what it takes to be a runner. I wish I had a running buddy in the area. I can't wait to take my business somewhere other than Stinky Feet and then walk my skinny butt in there one day and show them I AM a runner.

Bumps in the road (or my calf...whatever)

I don't think I've ever been able to do anything worth doing without hitting a few snags; honestly though, who has? I hit one of those snags this week.

Thursday morning, I was motivated (by a swift smack on the back from my husband and my alarm) to get my run on at 5:45. I stretched a little bit before I got on the road, but it wasn't anything major (side note: I never stretch before a night run, no idea why, but I don't. I realize that's bad). Anyway, I did a little stretching and then I was on my way.

I had my Tony Mann Radio playing as I walked out the door and did my typical 5 minute warm up walk, then went on with my 1 minute run/1.5 minue walk training. I was about half a mile from my house when I felt my right calf getting a bit tight. I was in the middle of a run section, so I figured I'd just stretch for minute and a half instead of walking once the run was over.

Didn't work out that way. In mid stride, it felt like someone stabbed a knife in my calf and it stopped me in my tracks.

Now, I've pulled muscles before - so I knew that was what this was. Just a calf strain, no big deal. Painful, yes. Keep me off a feet a bit? Definitely. But damn, this one was ROUGH. I've had a huge knot in my calf muscle since that day and I've been limping. It's just now starting to feel better.

Great timing, eh? Just as I feel like I'm getting into my "stride" - ha, get it? - I get hurt. Rawr. I'm hoping to be back to 100% by Wednesday so I can get my run on again.

In other news, I love morning running (sans injury) it was so quiet and peaceful and I got to watch the sun come up. Plus, I got in the shower before Brian, so that's pretty awesome. I'm going to continue to try to force myself out of bed at about 5:45 and see what happens. So yay!

I've also started getting compliments from friends/family that I finally "look" like I'm losing weight! I can't even explain how great it makes me feel that people are finally able to notice. I'm feeling great - I can't wait until it's really obvious in pictures.

Is it narcissistic that I'm wanting to wait until about mid November before we get pictures taken for Christmas cards so I can be as skinny as possible? Yeah, oh well. I don't care lol.

Wedding festivities involve a lot of food...

Saturday night was my friend Leah's bachelorette party at my house. We had LOTS of food - and none of it was healthy. There was supposed to be a veggie plate and I was planning to huddle around it, but it apparently was forgotten, so I did my best to consume the apples and protein (okay, so they were meatballs and pigs in a blanket...but my options were limited) and did my best to steer clear of the cake balls and penis shaped sugar cookies that I baked...but yeah, it was inevitable that I was going to overindulge a bit.

And boy did I overindulge! Just not really with food. Alcohol has a bunch o' calories - and unfortunately, it can also make you puke...which I guess is good for the calorie intake? Maybe? Probably not.

On the bright side, I'm down to 202.8 - just 2.9 lbs to lose if I want to make my under 200 lbs by Halloween goal! I CAN DO IT! I woke my husband up this morning telling him the good news - he didn't seem excited about it, but I don't think I'm overly excited to be woken up either. Clothes I haven't worn in a long time are fitting and it's SUCH a good feeling!

Tuesday night I ran for the first time in about 5 days - yikes. It was rough! I need to come up with a schedule, but my life is never scheduled, so how do I make sure I get home and have time to run!?

I can't believe it's going to happen...

In exactly 3 months and 1 day, I will be running a half marathon. Okay, I guess I should say "running." Last night, I spoke with some friends of mine who run and we decided that a good strategy for me would be to do something similar to what I've been doing with my couch to 5k program...walk 5 minutes, then alternate doing 1 minute running with 1(.5?) minute(s) walking 8 times and then repeat. Over and over and over. Any other runners out there want to weigh in on this strategy?

As for other goals outside of this whole running thing, I'm still in my 204 lb rut. I haven't really moved from 204 in about two weeks and it's starting to bum me out, however, I do feel like I LOOK better. Check out the pics!

I went shopping this weekend and tried on about 12 size 16 dresses...none of them fit me right - YAY! However, many of the size 14 didn't quite fit right either. I don't enjoy being in between sizes, so I guess this means I just need to buck up and lose those last 4 lbs! I'm going to be under 200 by Halloween if it kills me!

"From that day on I was going somewhere...I was running" - Forrest Gump

Forrest Gump wasn't always a runner - that guy used to have braces on his legs. His momma called them "his magic shoes." One day, a miracle happened under some old oak trees in Greenbow, Alabama: Forrest Gump learned to run.

Okay, so we all know Forrest Gump wasn't real - but there's something about that whole "miraculous running" thing that I'm going to say I sort of relate to right now. This week, I found out that I actually kind of enjoy running. SHOCKING.

It happened when the music gods got together and said "let's make this girl have fun." I'm walking around my block and I hear the first few measures of "PYT" from the one and only King of Pop, Michael Jackson. Well, that most definitely got me going. Something about it just made me want to run! The full version of PYT is pretty long, so I didn't run the whole time, but I'll say I did run a good bit.

Next "I was made for lovin you" by KISS came on. Holy crap, you guys. I had a boyfriend back in the day who LOVED Kiss...this made me laugh uncontrollably for a bit and really made me want to run more.

Next? "Dirty Pop" from my high school sweethearts, 'NSync. It was like someone out there was thinking about me and wanted me to have a freaking blast while I was running.

I'm a night runner right now. I can't decide if that's a good thing or not. I've been coming home, eating dinner, doing a few things around the house and then going out to run, walk and jog. Basically, I've been walking to warm up, then I'll start running until I can't run anymore and then I'll walk again. Eventually the "running" turns in to more of a jog. After about 30 minutes to an hour, I'll come inside, shower and crawl into bed.

It's kind of creepy being out there so late at night though. Brian doesn't see an issue with me running in our neighborhood, but I definitely get creeped out when I see someone outside of their house or in a slow moving car. I've flirted with the idea of running in the mornings, but honestly, it's just so damn hard to get out of bed. I've never been a morning person - I can't imagine that now is the time to start. Or is it?

Workout and running people...do you prefer to work out in the morning or night? Is there a reason one is better than the other?

I'm pretty terrified of this half marathon in January. I'm not kidding myself into thinking that I'll be running the whole thing. I'm actually rather sure I won't be running much of it at all. I'm scared of how much and how far 13.1 miles actually is. I'm scared I'll be the last one to cross the finish line (if I cross it at all) and I'm scared that I'll be the fat girl and everyone will be like "um...what's she doing here??" If anyone moos at me I might have to cutabitch. Just sayin'.

I'm thinking about signing up for a 5K that normally happens in October...that way I'll actually have one event under my belt, even if I can't run it completely. We shall see!

RUN, BRITTANY, RUN!!!!

DAMMIT! Failed again.

I suck ass at challenges apparently. I took one picture of my food all week...and when I just went looking through my phone to find it, I realized that I have deleted it. AWESOME!

My meals don't really change so much though. I literally eat the same thing almost every day when I have what to eat in the house.

Typical Day:

Breakfast: A Jimmy Dean's D-Light's breakfast sandwich (english muffin, turkey sausage, cheese and egg whites).

Lunch: Sandwich (one piece of whole wheat bread, light mayo, turkey), Yogurt/Fresh fruit, something crunchy

Snack: Granola bar or Yogurt (if I didn't eat it at lunch)

Dinner: Whatever we have at the house, chicken or ground turkey is typically the main event.

This makes it seem like I never eat junk. I totally do. I love junk food. I need to stay away from it! Oh well. It's one of those things I guess. Learning moderation.

I also haven't worked out, gone running/walking, or hell, even lifted anything too heavy in about 2 weeks (maybe 3). My motivation and drive to succeed is waning and I'm not liking it. It's like I got to 10 lbs lost and my mind was like "great job, you don't have to try anymore!" WRONG. I'm still hovering at right at about 10 lbs down.

Ugh, I really need to get back out there and start training for the half marathon I'll be doing in January...13.1 miles is going to SUCK if I'm not ready for it. Speaking of...check out this kick ass ticker!

Yep, I've got that long to train my ass off and gain some endurance! It's going to be hard. Any tips and tricks would be appreciated!

Wanted: Willpower - can I get some on CraigsList?

This whole week has been a blur of bad food and laziness. Seriously. I'm not exactly sure why either. It just means I need to do better.

I was a co-hostess of a wedding shower for one of my best friend's, Leah, this weekend. There was SO MUCH FOOD. Bacon wrapped weenies; fruit with a crack dip made with cream cheese, sugar caramel sauce, heath bars, and chocolate chips; chocolate covered strawberries; something called Captain Rodney's dip that you spread on a cracker; mini quiche; pinwheels; and lots and lots of alcohol. Oh and I forgot the cake. Basically, we had way too much food so we all sat there and ate it. And then we continued to eat it.

I am terrible in settings like that! I tried so hard at first to not eat the stuff that was bad for me and stay close to the bottles of water and fruit (without the dip) but you should have seen this spread. It was amazing. I really need to figure out a way to keep myself from eating or "grazing" when there is just food lying around! Any ideas?

Like I said earlier, this week was rough. I went walking twice, but it wasn't much at all. I really need to make some improvements.

The challenge I've made for myself this week (not that none of yours were good, but this one popped into my head, sorry) is to take pictures on my phone of everything I eat. If I'd be embarrassed to take a pic and show the world what I'm eating, then that must mean something. So basically, you guys are going to get to see all of the food I eat this week! YAY!

Please do NOT hesitate to tell me I'm eating crap or tell me that I could have eaten X instead of Y. I'm still learning! And if you can think of some challenges for me, please let me know! I fell off the wagon again - I don't like it! HELP!

Challenge #1 - FAIL

Remember my oh so simple sounding challenge to myself last week? Yeah. I failed that night. I don't even remember what we ate for dinner, but it wasn't until after I ate it that I remembered what I had promised myself - and I was too ashamed to come on here the next day and say "yeah, I already ate (instert deep fried goodness here)  - I suck."

However, I've been praised for my honesty here in my blog and dammit - I FAILED. Miserably. So I guess it means I need to challenge myself again.

READER INPUT TIME!

Whatcha think? What would you suggest I challenge myself to do? I think I'm going to start a weekly challenge that I will complete and blog about. If I know people are pulling for me or are interested in if I can do it or whatever, I'm more likely to take this stuff seriously.

SERIOUSLY, you guys. This is the internet. I have to make you all like me. KIDDING.

But yeah! What should my first challenge be? Leave a comment! These are going to be WEEKLY challenges (I don't trust myself to do Vegan March, like my friend Sam - who has a HILARIOUS blog) so give me something I can do for a week - or more!

COMMENT NOW - or I might have to hunt you down and tickle you til you give me ideas.

My skirt is falling off!

I'm pretty excited about this - a skirt that I bought and very vividly remember being too tight for me, is literally falling off! I keep having to pull it up as I go on with my day. I'm feeling like a bad ass. Look how cute I am (ignore the mess, please. I need to clean my bathroom)!

I also purchased a pair of size 14 jeans this weekend. If they don't fit when they get here next week, I might cry. If they DO fit, I might also cry.

So, my "training" for the half marathon in January is going. Nothing too spectacular, but I definitely need to get my endurance up. I need to be awesome at walking because 13.1 miles isn't a walk in the park! I'm also still working on my running, which I'm still not very good at. Oh well.

Has anyone used the "Nike Training Club" app? I'm kind of loving it! It's like a step by step workout - it made me do lunges. I HATE LUNGES. But, I kind of dig this app! I definitely suggest it if you're just looking for something to change up your workouts. There are workouts where you don't need any equipment at all and others where you need dumbbells, medicine balls, jump ropes, etc. I'm really enjoying throwing it in with my walking/running workouts. SO DOWNLOAD IT! I think it's free. Or it was when I got it. I don't pay for apps - Brian would kick my butt lol.

Speaking of Apps, I love love LOVE my My Fitness Pal App. I know I've said it before, but damn, this thing is great and you can even scar bar codes of the stuff you're eating to make sure you're getting the right nutrition information. Be my friend on MFP! BRenkwell is my username.

Speaking of My Fitness Pal - look at a screen shot I took of my App the other day! Yep! That's me at the top - I've lost 11.6 pounds so far! YAY! I'm excited. I hope it keeps coming off. MFP even moved me from eating 1740 calories a day to 1680 - I'm surprised how much faster I'm reaching 1680 than 1740! But hey, I'm okay with it. I'M LOSING WEIGHT!

I guess that's about all I've got for this update...anyone wanna make me a cool graphic for the top of this thing? My blog is kinda blah compared to all of you fancy bloggers.

I'll love you forever!

Half Marathon!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Blame my friend Chrissy, but yes. In January (as long as she doesn't bail on me) I'll be signed up for the MS Blues (Half) Marathon.

If you're like me and have no idea how long a half marathon is, well, let me tell you:

13.1 Miles!

Sadly, you read that correctly. I will somehow drag myself across the finish line after 13.1 miles in January. Why, yes! I have lost my mind!

This is what I call motivation, kids. If I don't have something to work towards and a set deadline, well, it ain't happening.

Now, as I've said - I plan to walk most of this crazy half marathon thing. I'm not kidding myself into thinking that in 4 months I'll be able to run 13.1 miles without stopping, oh no. But, I do know that my ass isn't going to be huffing and puffing to get to the finish line either - I need to pace myself! Start walking/jogging a lot more.

I CAN DO THIS.

Challenge #1

I, Fry Lady, will be staying clear of fried foods for an entire week - starting today 9/6 at 9:30 AM.  

This week, I will not eat a single fried morsel of deliciousness. BUH BYE FRIED YUMMIES!

Oh God, this is gonna be hard.

I live in Mississippi, y'all. We fry er'rything - and we're fat; just check out this map! We're the fattest state in the Nation! Yeehaw! I can't say that I'm surprised. Seriously, I swear this state has more fried food than I've ever seen. And it's all so good! Have you ever had a fried pickle? No? You're missing out. Don't get the spears, get the pickle chips. Dip that awesomeness in ranch dressing. YOU'RE WELCOME. Trust me on this one.

So yes, this week I'm giving up my love, the food that takes a bath in bubbly hot grease and is oh so delicious. Can I do it? We shall see. Wish me luck!

Weakness: Weekends

I've said it before and I'll say it again - EFF WEEKENDS. I do SO well during the week normally and then Friday night rolls around and it's as if I haven't been working hard to eat healthy food all week. This Friday night, Brian wanted to eat leftover turkey tacos and I wasn't feeling it, so I ate more veggie buffalo wings - I love you Morning Star Farms! - and some french fries, with ranch. I was okay with portions so I didn't blow my diet out of the water, but I definitely should have eaten something a touch healthier. *sigh*

Florida Gator Football - you will NOT make me fat!

Saturday morning I was asleep. We didn't get out of bed until 1:30 and it was amazing. I told myself I was going to eat a healthy lunch and I did, I had a turkey sandwich and it was delicious. I even did okay for dinner Saturday when I made personal meat loaves for us with ground turkey. What I didn't anticipate was that some friends would come over Saturday night for the Florida Gator football game and bring beer.

Beer! You WILL make me fat!

I'm an American, people. Football and free beer? Yes please. I can't say no. I'm sorry. Asking me to say no to football, friends and free beer is like asking me to tell my country to eff off - ain't happening - 'MURRICA!

Anyway, so our friends came over with beer. It was a dangerous time - but hey, like I said, I'm an American and I will drink free beer - who am I to say "Ya know, I appreciate you bringing beer, but I'm just not gonna drink it"? Anyway, since I haven't been drinking as much as I used to, my tolerance is laughable. I had 4 Bud Lights and I was on cloud 9. Here's the kicker, I was already over my calories after beer #1, but Brian said "Let's call my sister and have her take us to Waffle House!" - BAD MOVE...but a delicious move.

Here's the thing, my dad raised me in Waffle House. Some of my earliest memories are singing "Tear in my Beer" - a song I've never heard anywhere but pumping out of a Waffle House juke box. I can't say no to Waffle House when I'm sober, let alone when I'm super excited to be drinking beer.

So, we went to Waffle House. I got what I always get there. A Patty Melt on wheat with extra onions, with hashbrowns scattered, smothered, covered and chunked. For all of you who aren't lucky enough to have the Waffle House hashbrown menu memorized (I'm sorry) that means: scattered on the grill, with onions and ham mixed in and then a piece of cheese melted on top. Why yes, it is heaven! I'm glad you were able to realize that! However, it was no good for my diet. I need Waffle House to come out with some healthy hashbrowns. Please - and thank you.

Weekends are evil. I NEED to change this pattern. Any suggestions? I think keeping up with my MyFitnessPal food diary is imperative. Plus, I need to find a way to get at least a little bit of exercise in one day per weekend. But SOMEHOW I need to figure out how to expect the unexpected on weekends - friends coming over spur of the moment, etc. Maybe I just need to keep some liquor around and some mixers so I can make low calorie drinks and still get buzzed with my pals. *sigh* Something's gotta give, weekends!

It's September 2nd...

Aaaand I forgot to post my topless pics for the month yesterday when I took them, whups!

The official monthly tally is showing that I've lost 9 lbs. I can't really tell in my topless pic (it'll be below the break, I don't want people just popping up and seeing this scary stuff, at least if I make people click to see them, they'll know THEY DID IT TO THEMSELVES. But before we get to me all half nekkid and stuff, let's have an update, shall we?

I'm feeling a bit better, after my friend Katie recommended the Neti Pot. This blue sucker has had me breathing free and clear about 75% of the time. YAY Neti Pot! It was a little strange at first, yes, but it was so cool to feel all rinsed out. I don't know much about these things, so I'm not sure exactly where the water with the saline mixture went while it was on it's way from one nostril to another, but my allergies have been better already. I'm pretty sure I owe my breathing to Kate - so thanks, yo! Everyone needs a Neti Pot. No joke. This thing is amazing.

I still haven't been to the gym all week. Something about sinus pressure and physical exertion doesn't seem very appealing, but I definitely need to get back on it. I hate that I messed up my habit forming process because of ALLERGIES. I feel like a wuss. I really need to bust tail next week at the gym - excuses be damned.

My boss has decided that I HAVE to leave the office every day when I go on lunch. I think this is bullshit, but hey, what can ya do?  It's been difficult not to get fast food every day - extremely difficult. I don't want to just sit in my car with the a/c running (which is a must in this heat) and driving home and then making lunch and driving back gives me a total of about 20 minutes at home, which is just a waste. THERE WAS A REASON I ATE AT MY DESK EVERYDAY. Rawr. Anyway, I was bad and went to Wendy's the other day for lunch, but I really didn't do very bad at all. I got a grilled chicken sandwich (I really should have taken off half of the bun - oh well) and APPLES instead of fries! I was proud of myself and the apples were only 40 calories, instead of the 320 in a SMALL Wendy's natural cut french fry! That's a 280 calorie difference. Holy crap.

It's little things like that - swapping one healthy option for an unhealthy option - that I really feel has been a big thing for me when it comes to this whole weight loss/get healthy journey. Such a simple swap, I was just as full...and I didn't have salt all over my hands afterwards. One of the first pieces of advice I can give to someone who wants to make a change is START SMALL. Swap those fries for some apples!

Okay, I guess I've delayed this long enough. WARNING: Do NOT click the "Read More" link if you don't want to see me with my gut all out.

Allergies can bite the big one.

There is literally so much snot coming out of my nose I should change my name to Kleenex. I've been taking Kroger's version of Claritin, but I think I need something else. I'm dying and I don't like it. I rarely get sick. It's driving me crazy.

The worst part about these allergies is that they're knocking me on my ass. I haven't been to the gym since Tuesday the 23rd. I've tried to get going, but when I run, my nose kinda chronically drips anyway (does anyone else have this problem?!) and my sinuses have so much pressure building up in them that I can't imagine I would really be comfortable working out for a long period of time. I'm honestly kinda stuck.

I don't feel sick necessarily, just clogged up? Whatever. Either way, I don't like it. Add my stress from work this past week and a half and you have a pretty blah feeling Me...unfortunately, many times that means I don't make the best food or lifestyle choices.

I definitely had (veggie) buffalo chicken nuggets and french fries Monday night for dinner. It was delicious! I definitely recommend them! They're by Morningstar  Farms and, while they're not the greatest things ever to be eating, I mean, at least I baked them right? But I didn't bake the french fries - whups! Oh well, it was good.

However, I do have to say, I noticed that eating the junk food didn't really make me "feel better." Sure, I enjoyed eating the crap I was eating, but I didn't feel the happy "WOO HOO! I ATE FRENCH FRIES!" feeling that I've gotten before. It was more of a "I shouldn't be doing this...but whatever, I 'm mad at the world" feeling. I have to admit, I actually was a little ashamed to add it to my MyFitnessPal diary.

I guess it all boils down to the fact that food doesn't make you feel better, food doesn't help when you're depressed and it's never nice to feel fat because you're eating too much.

I do have happy news though! I've officially lost 8lbs and yesterday I bought a dress in a size 14 because the 16 was too big (we'll ignore the fact that the size 14 pants I tried on were still a touch too tight).  Look how cute I am! (My work bathroom is kinda hot, right?)

I guess tonight I need to take some more topless pics so you can see the dwindling gut after just over a month of eating well and attempting to exercise. It hasn't gotten too much smaller, but hey, maybe we can make a cool flipbook of these things one day and it'll be like "Honey I Shrunk the French Fry Lover!"

Wanna be my friend on My Fitness Pal? I know I have recently been in need of some serious motivation, but I've been bad about reaching out for it. If you're my MFP friend and I see you do something awesome, I promise to tell you so! My My Fitness Pal username is BRenkwell and I'll be your friend. Just tell me who you are somehow and how you found me! 

Oh and another random factoid: I love eating cucumbers. I think they might be my new favorite veggie.

Apparently I suck at updating...

Or at least that what Mandy says. But trust me, there's a good reason for it! What's that reason? Well, I guess there's a few reasons. 1) I'm boring. 2) I've been working out! 3) The scale isn't moving much and it's starting to piss me off.

I guess everyone hits the point where the scale stays put...I just didn't expect it would be this soon. I guess I need to change up my work out routine. I'm trying to talk Brian into letting me get a trainer once a week or something. Just to set me up with a workout plan instead of me going into the gym and saying "Oh I'll do this today!" I mean, I've been doing okay, actually, but still. I think I need to be doing more lunges or something (b/c I will never do them willingly), or maybe more weights or something? I really don't know.

I had a trainer for a while before we got married (BTW - we've been married 10 months! That's so insane to me) and I wasn't doing my part outside of our sessions to really make any strides to make the most of it. I think Brian was annoyed that I was spending so much moolah and I wasn't losing any weight. I'll have to suck up majorly to him to get him to agree to this.

Anyhoo - on to the important shizz going on. I'm doing MUCH better on my diet than I was this weekend. I'm still not doing great, but thanks to the support of friends that I can call at 7:50am and ask what I should get for breakfast from McDonalds because I'm running late, I'm pretty sure I can continue on this track. I just need to stop myself from eating the delicious chips and dip I stupidly bought at Kroger this weekend and I think I'll be okay.

I finished week 1 of "5K Runner" it wasn't SO bad, but week 2 day 1? Yeah, it kicked my ass. Hard. I'm pretty sure it's bruised. I didn't enjoy it. I think I want to do week 1 again and when that gets easy, move on to week 2. I'm really scared of pushing myself to the point where I literally can't do it anymore and then giving up. I can't wait til November when it might actually be cool enough to run outside at night.

Oh and in case you were wondering, my morning workouts that I was planning on doing back in my first post? Yeah, that didn't happen. What can I say? I love sleep.

THERE. I UPDATED. You happy now?!

Falling off the wagon...I did it.

This weekend kicked my ass. Unfortunately, it wasn't in a "I sweat so much at the gym and I feel awesome!" kind of ass kicking. It was a supreme food binge that I still can't believe I went on. Let's start from the beginning, shall we?

Friday - I was doing SO well until lunch time. I had heard great things about the new chicken sandwiches at McDonald's so I went and gave it a shot. McDonald's (around here anyway) still doesn't have a way to swap out fries for another healthier side. Of course, I wasn't all that upset about it. We all know my affinity for french fried potatoes (insert Slingblade "mm hmm" here). Anyway, I mean, that wasn't SO bad, my lunch consisted of just over 700 calories. Then, there was dinner. Brian's friend was in town and bought us sushi. A LOT of sushi. ----->
That was only for 3 people!!!!! Unfortunately, I probably ate 20 pieces...if not more. I love sushi. I also had 5 Mich Ultra's that night. It was the start of being bad for the whole weekend.

Saturday - I was determined to do well! I woke up, had a blueberry waffle with some spray butter and lots of water. I was counting calories and I was going to stick to it. But, of course, then Brian needed me to meet him at work - and he wanted to go out for gyros afterwards. Apparently, Greek food isn't the best in the world for you. Which sucks, because I love me some gyros! However, I tried to make the best of it. I got water to drink, a turkey gyro and no fries (however, I did sneak a few of Brian's - I'm telling you, you can't trust me around fries!) Sadly, those few fries were just the beginning of bad decision day #2.

Saturday - PM - I ended up taking a 5hr nap Saturday afternoon, so we'll consider this part 2 of Saturday. Brian's family and I went Bowling! Fun! Exercise! Right!? Well, I guess, yes, technically. However, I decided to drink some beer. Blue Moon to be exact (out of a Shock Top glass). I got drunk pretty fast because I really haven't been drinking much at all. I've been trying to be good and alcohol seems to make me want to munch...and munch...and munch. We ordered seasoned fries at the bowling alley. I tried to say it was to soak up the alcohol, but no. It was totally because I wanted fries. Frick. After the bowling alley, we went for BBQ! I love BBQ! We had BBQ at our wedding! Again, I tried to make smart decisions. Again - I failed. I got a small pulled pork sandwich, fried pickles (doh!) and coleslaw (doh!). Oh, and I ate some chili/cheese tamales (DOH! DOH! DOH!). I didn't do very well at all. But there was still Sunday!

Yes, Sunday! Today! I was planning on going to the gym, eating healthy and basically just making up for this weekend's messed up eating.

Today I did jack and shit.

I did laundry - yay! I ate a healthy breakfast - yay! I ate tacos for lunch...eh. We had burgers, fries, chips, salad and CAKE for dinner. CAKE. Omg, the LAST thing I needed for this weekend was cake.

I guess this means that I really need to get to the gym and get back on my diet this week. I need to be super tight on what I eat. Can I do it? Sure! Will I do it? Yes I will! Will I fall off the wagon again next weekend? God, I hope not. I feel like CRAP. Eating healthy food really does make an impact on how you feel. Eating junk makes me feel sluggish and poopy.

This week WILL be better...I hope.

Sometimes I even surprise myself...

Ladies and gentlemen (okay, no seriously, there's gotta be ONE guy who's found this by now, right? No? Damn.), I have an announcement to make.

Um...I got this pic from google...but this'll link to her MySpace

Today, lunch ran late because of a conference call, so I ended up needing something FAST - and I went to Sonic. I got a grilled chicken wrap and thought to myself "oooh...tater tots...french fries...onion rings...drool..." but NO. No. Know what I ordered (and paid extra for ::eyeroll::)? APPLE SLICES. ---->

No, that's not me. But that's how excited I was when I got my apple slices instead of tots. Seriously.

I kinda dig her glasses.

Okay, not really, but I was proud of myself, dammit. It wasn't long ago that I was making mid afternoon runs to this SAME Sonic for mozzarella sticks.

Which now makes me want mozzarella sticks. Eff. Deep fried breaded cheese is healthy, right?

In other news, I'm down another 2 pounds! I'm officially down 6.2 lbs. Not a huge accomplishment, I agree, but seeing that scale go down is such a huge confidence boost on a Tuesday morning that I did a little naked dance this morning after I stepped off the scale.

It was a lot like this one from Charlie's Angels - thanks for the inspiration, Cameron!

In OTHER, other news, I finished Day 2 of "5K Runner." It was hell. However, I plan to do it again tomorrow instead of moving on to day 3. I figure it's probably better that I don't feel like I'm dying when I step off of the treadmill after one of these run things.

Death would really bum me out right now - I'm kinda on a roll.

It's the little things...

I'm a big believer in the power of little changes. I've made lots of small modifications to my daily life that, looking back, were seriously no big deal. It's really about making smart choices. When I make a better choice, I get a little feeling of pride and typically text my husband or some of my more motivational friends so I can get a virtual "pat on the back." I'm a total attention whore, but without cheerleaders, I would still be noshing on chips instead of apples and would probably be busting out of my size 16 clothes. Yeah - I've been wearing a size 16. I'm 5'11 - which I guess helps a bit, but seriously. 16 is too big of a number. I haven't been a single digit since like 8th grade, so I'm not too worried about getting into an 8 or anything, but a 12 would be nice. =)

Anyway, back to these little changes and smart choices. When I walked out of the house this afternoon, I was SO tempted to just grab a can of coke and a bag of chips and head out the door with my mother-in-law. My hand was literally moving towards the coke - and I said out loud "No! Just drink some damn water" and I went and made myself a bottle of water. Then, instead of going to the pantry to get chips, I made a ziploc bag of grapes to take as my snack.

IT FELT SO GOOD. I can't even explain how proud of myself I was. I know it sounds stupid, but for someone who is a salty food addict and a slave for convenience...well, making a bottle of ice water and steering clear of the chips and eating fruit instead was a decision that I didn't want to make. BUT I DID IT!

I wish I literally got a gold star every time I make a good choice. Something about shiny things always makes you feel good. I also think Brian should increase the amount of sparkly things I own...preferably white gold however. (Does anyone else appreciate the fact that I just started my Christmas requests in August...and in my blog? I'm a loser)

Anyway, my workouts are coming along nicely. I did my first day of "5K Runner" the free iPhone app for starting out a couch 2 5k program. I didn't die! YAY!

<------ Proof!

I even walked an extra 5 minutes before just because I knew it was a 25 minute workout. I'm not gonna lie, I'm proud of that too. Dammit. I'm proud of me in general. I just need to keep it up!

I haven't really noticed a big weight loss, but I HAVE noticed that some of my clothes are getting bigger. However, when I was trying on clothes today, of course there were still things that I wanted to fit that didn't, but hey! I'm headed in the right direction at least.

Back in the saddle - sorta.

After a nasty cold? case of weird allergies? sinus infection? bout of bronchitis? whatever the eff it was that I was sick with for a week, I finally hit the gym again Tuesday night!

Obviously, I was a little excited.

Unfortunately, I think I may have hit it a bit too hard - my sore-ish throat came back Wednesday and I had a slight fever again. RAWR. My appetite is back in full swing though, but I attribute that to the fact that it's the most wonderful time of the month at my house this week. Yay. :-/

The deal I gave myself for not going to the gym last night is that I didn't get ice cream after dinner and I'm going to start a Couch 2 5K program with my friend Stacye today! She's in Ohio so we won't be running together, per se - but she's been such a huge motivator to keep me going with this whole thing that I can't wait to motivate her too! I really hope to be able to run a 5K by the spring. How cool would that be? ME! Running a 5K! Yeah, we'll see if it happens.

Speaking of that - I've set a few goals for myself. I don't think that starting out on a journey of any substance can be successful without goals. So here goes:

1. Run in the St. Patty's Day 5K in Jackson
2. Get back under 200 by Halloween
3. Get to 190 by 2012
4. Eat fried foods no more than 2x/week
5. Try every veggie in the produce section at Kroger

I hope those are do-able goals. I think they are. Any suggestions?

Making the most out of a crappy situation...

So, I still feel like crap, no surprise there, but I've decided to at least do something healthy with my down time. I've spent the last hour or so coming up with and finding healthy (okay, healthier) meals than the husband and I have currently been eating - while simultaneously trying to use all of the ingredients in our pantry! Let's just say it hasn't been easy.

Our pantry is kind of this black hole of side dishes and sauces - and the occasional can of fruit, veggies, or hey! A George Foreman grill! I've got lots of ideas when it comes to clearing out the bad stuff - like giving the food away to friends and stuff - but most of this is actually decent food that just never got used in recipes or for meals. So my goal is to get it all used and cleaned out and re-stocked with healthy foods.

I mean seriously, folks. I'm sure Brian and I had the best intentions to eat all of this stuff and it hasn't happened yet, so I might as well go to town on creating recipes or finding recipes that use this stuff so I can finally get to cleaning the CRAP out of our pantry before I get 100% hardcore on our diet again.

Oh, hey, did you notice I said OUR diet? Brian has actually been doing a stellar job when it comes to eating well. Of course, I'm sure most of this has to do with the fact that I make his lunches and do most of the grocery shopping, but still. My hunk of man meat is down 15 lbs since his doctor told him to lose weight. While I'm INSANELY jealous, I'm also quite proud. Way to go, Brian!

Of course, he's done this basically by just eating healthier (you're welcome, honey) and using his AMAZING willpower to just stop eating. Yeah, that's right he just stops eating when he's full.

Just stop eating when you're full. Well...duh. You would think that this would be a relatively simple idea. Yeah, not for me. As I've said before, if there's food in front of me, I'm gonna eat it. I don't know what has caused this compulsion to just keep eating - maybe it was college when I was broke and I'd see a free meal and just eat and eat because I wouldn't have money for a meal that didn't consist of ramen noodles for another day or so? Maybe I've still got my mom's voice in my head saying "Clean your plate!"? Speaking of which, I found this picture the other day and holy crap, I wish I had had this on a stick when I was a kid so I could raise it at the table and shut my mom up when she tried to get me to clean my plate.

Thankfully, Brian is pretty good at noticing when I'm just picking at food because it's in front of me and he's started snagging my plate from me instead of just letting me continue to overfeed myself. God, I love this man.

I guess I'll head back to finding some recipes and slowly removing the junk food from our pantry. You kids have a good weekend. I hope to be back at the gym Monday afternoon - we'll see!

                                                             

A shot in the butt didn't do it...

Welp, I don't have strep throat, but my throat feels terrible. I mean, I yawn and squeak because it hurts, I can't stop drinking because it hurts, I don't get it. Oh and my energy level? Zilch. Needless to say, I haven't been working out - and I'm NOT happy about it. I'm also not happy that I put back on 2.2 of the el-beez that I had dropped. CURSES.

Is a Z-Pack supposed to be some magical medical miracle? Or maybe when it's paired with a Decadron shot, it's supposed to have mystical healing powers? Why is it that when I go to the doctor, this is almost always the course of action?

IT DIDN'T WORK, DOC.

 For serious.

I guess I should be happy that I'm staying pretty hydrated. Basically, if I'm not drinking water, juice, whatever, I'm kinda miserable. Of course, when I'm working out, I try to drink water and keep hydrated and yada-yada, but this is just crazy. We saw my water bottle that I keep at work in a previous post, but I'll take another shot of my friend Big Red.

Ah, there she is. 28 oz of my best friend H20. There's a water cooler on the other side of the office that I typically visit twice a day. That's 56 oz of water just at work on average - not too shabby, right? Well, I counted the number of times I went to the water cooler yesterday and today; yesterday - 5 times. Today (and I've only been in the office 1/2 of the day) 5 times.

Now, people who know me well know that I'm about to have to pull out my calculator to figure out what 28 x 5 is...so hold on  a sec, kay? HOLY CRAP - I've had 140 oz of water PER DAY for the past two days. How the eff am I not constantly in the bathroom - and WHY am I still thirsty!? The little mysteries of life, I suppose. Or one that my doctor friends (okay, who am I kidding, I don't have many of those) can answer for me.

Anyhoo - the gist of this entire long winded blog entry is to tell you that I've re-gained some weight (thanks, ice cream) and I still haven't worked out since Monday. But I'm wearing my new "motivation kicks" thanks to my fabulous husband. Wanna see? I kinda love them.

OH YEAH - The REAL reason I wanted to blog today is because I have gotten some amazing feedback from rando-readers and friends. It is astounding to me that this stupid little blog that I don't keep up with nearly as much as I should has been an inspiration to people. That is just overwhelming to me. I'm not a motivational person. I'm not someone that others strive to be. I'm most DEFINITELY not someone who is typically someone who inspires people, so this is new to me, but seriously, I can't thank all of you enough for the support, inspiration and motivation you've given me already. This is unreal.

NOW GET YOUR ASS TO THE GYM!! I'm going to finish another bottle of water and go home and rest up. I've got some gettin' well to do. Later, gators!

Sometimes your body tries to tell you things...

I think my body is trying to tell me some stuff. I'm dead tired. I have a sore throat, runny nose and pretty constant dull headache. I generally just feel extremely tired.

I think I need to blame it on not eating enough. I'm eating a lot of low calorie stuff - my current favorite is cucumbers with salt and pepper - but not much of anything else. I had over 900 leftover calories from MyFitnessPal yesterday. I'm sure my friend Angela who's studying nutrition will kick my butt when she looks at the food diary I just sent to her. I need to eat more, but I just haven't been very hungry!

I've also been sleeping like crap. I wake up a few times each night and wake up super early on week days. I'm not sure whats going on, but I don't like it.

I'm skipping the gym tonight (begrudgingly) because I think I need to fuel up and get some rest. I'm not happy about it, but I can't be productive at work like this and if I'm not productive at work, I won't have a job and if I don't have a job, I'll sit at home and get fat - food makes the sads go away, right? JUST KIDDING.

Either way, somethings gotta give! Maybe I should make Brian pick up a burger or something unhealthy tonight and then we can sit on our butts and watch The Glades or True Blood or something. Or maybe I'll just go home and CRASH. I do that well.