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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Weigh in Wednesday

I didn't lose or gain this week.  Arguably a good thing.  I know I gained weight at my parent's house over the weekend, so I'm happy I wasn't up on weigh day.

February 29, 2012: -0 pounds, -36.7 pounds total

Also, big congratulations to Katie for her 50 pound loss!

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

You know you've lost weight when...

When your underwear is too big and sags and falls down.  Not cool.

I think it's time to throw out this pair. 

Monday, February 27, 2012

A few photos.

Man hand.

This is my left hand today.  Sean and I went and picked out our wedding bands tonight.  His is already in our possession because Arthur's had the ring in his size.  My ring has to be custom made so it fits my engagement ring.  So, for the next week or so I will be without my engagement ring.  When we got home, I took stock of all of my rings and only two fit my left ring finger.  This one and another crazy one.  At least with this giant ring, my finger won't feel so naked. 

Mmmmm, beer.

This is Sean taking the first drink of his first batch of home brewed beer.  It has all been drank by now with a second batch brewing.

We're cheesy.

This is Sean and I before we were going out to celebrate my birthday.  I don't remember why we were laughing.

Delicious.

Long overdue picture of my birthday cake.  This was the only requirement for my birthday this year.  And next year.

That's life, in a nutshell.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

You got some splainin' to do.

Oh Ricky Ricardo, what a great line.  Side note.  I tried to find a video of Ricky saying that to Lucy, but sadly, I couldn't find one.

So, this no candy for Lent thing.  Let me explain how it's going to work.  Katie and I talked about giving up candy for Lent and what it all includes.

This is what constitutes as candy:
  • Individually wrapped sugary deliciousness such as a root beer barrel.  I enjoy a good root beer barrel from time to time.  There's some in my car.  They've been there since the summer. 

Image via Kaboodle.com

  • My mother's delicious candies.  Mama, you have no idea how long it took me to find a picture of your truffles.  Very long time indeed.
  • Clearly, candy bars are strictly off limits.  That includes Reese's eggs -- only the best type of Reese's.  Others will agree.
  • Anything not listed in the what is allowed section below.
This is what is not considered candy, or the Lent Loopholes as Sean pointed out:
  • Cake.  Cake is dessert.  Candy and dessert are not the same thing.  Katie will back me up. 
  • One gray area we found was a M&M cookie.  We both say that is a dessert.  Sean completely disagreed when I told him that.  I don't eat very many M&M cookies, so I'm not too worried.
  • Cookies.  Homemade cookies, not pre-packaged ones.  See the above gray area.
  • Pie.  Again, that is dessert. 
  • Did I miss anything?

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Weigh in Wednesday.

It's Wednesday.

February 22, 2012: -.2 pounds, -36.7 pounds total

I haven't been exercising, so it's no surprise I haven't lost any more weight.  With it being Ash Wednesday today and all, I think I'm going to give up candy.  I like candy.  Can I give it up for 40 days?  I guess we'll find out.  This will also inadvertently assist the weight loss.  It's a win-win all around.

P.S. Dad, I'm not spilling the bacon and telling you what your Christmas present is.  You'll have to wait and see.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Planning ahead.

You know what one of my favorite things is?  Figuring out Christmas gifts for family members well before December.  I like to have most of my shopping done before Thanksgiving.  If I see something someone would love in June, I totally buy it and save it until Christmas.  It's awesome. 

I just thought of the best idea for my parents and Travis and Becky.  Good thing I thought of it early because it's going to take a few months of planning.  I am a genius.  You people will know why in a few months, like 10.

The weekend.

Sean and I had a pretty busy weekend.  We attended our first of two pre-marriage classes. 

We had class on Friday night from 7 to 9:30.  Then, on Saturday from 9 a.m. to about 6:30 p.m.  Saturday was definitely a long day.  But, there was some good things we learned.  It was a Catholic pre-marriage class, so there was plenty of religious stuff.  Below are some things we learned.  Note:  This is completely from my perspective, not his.  I'll do this in a bullet list.
  • Couple time.  Time spent to work on the relationship.  Also could be called date night.  It is time spent communicating with each other.  Sean and I are going to bring back our Sunday dinners.  We used to cook a nicer meal together, but stopped because we got too busy or there was too much of my junk on the kitchen table.  We're bringing that back.
  • Put your relationship first.  The relationship must be a priority for marriage to work (obviously).
  • Communication is key.  We learned that we tell each other things, but we both forget important information.  Example - I tell him we're going to Sleepy Eye a particular weekend and Sean may not remember, or I wasn't clear enough.  Solution - we now have a whiteboard calendar hanging on a wall in our kitchen so we can each write down things going on. 
  • Natural family planning.  I learned more about what it is, but we don't agree with it right now.  There was a couple awkward sessions that I don't want to think about or talk about again.
  • Classy.  So, there was a panel discussion with three couples that had married varying amounts of time.  One couple was telling the story of how they met and got marrried.  They had a rocky and not very Christian relationship at the start and the husband would chime in and say "classy" at times they were clearly not being classy.  It was humorous.  This isn't really something I learned, but it was comical.
  • Three good full body hugs a day keeps the therapist away.  There was an older man that is a marriage therapist and he was very entertaining.  It said a key to a good relationship and marriage is to share three good full body hugs a day.  I agree with him.  A good hug from Sean definitely puts me in a better mood and makes me happier.
Those are some of the main points that are sticking in my mind right now.  Overall, we learned some things and I thought it was interesting.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Heartwarming.


Sorry for the blurry picture, but I just had to share this.  I'm scrolling down in my Facebook newsfeed and I see my picture from the alumni column I wrote earlier this week.  I follow Nick's Hamburger Shop on Facebook and they linked to my column.  Very nice of them to do.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Alumni column.

Sunday night my friend Jamison texted me.  He is at SDSU and is the Opinion Editor for the Collegian.  He asked if I would want to write an alumni column for Wednesday's paper.  He suggested I write about how I made Brookings, South Dakota, home while I was at SDSU and memorable places.

It took me .2 seconds to decide that I would of course write the column.  My column writing could always use some brushing up.  Adding a fresh work sample to my writing doesn't hurt either.

Anyway, if you'd like to read a little bit about how I made Brookings home and some college memories, feel free to click here.  If not, please ignore my shameless self promoting.

Weigh in Wednesday.

I'll just get right down to the skinny of it.

February 15, 2012: -1.1 pounds, -36.5 pounds total

A little perspective...

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Apparently I like pain?

I did Extreme Shed and Shred again last night.  Well, the first workout.  I'm terrified to do both workouts at once.

While I don't hurt as much as I did over the weekend, I definitely felt some muscle tightness on my walk into work this morning.

Keep on keeping on.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Booty, booty, booty, booty hurting everywhere.


Yes, that is Ms. New Booty by Bubba Sparxxx.  Yes, I really posted that.  It brings back the memories.

The point of the booty video, is to tell you how much my booty hurts right now.  You see, I had the crazy idea to buy Extreme Shed and Shred by Jillian Michaels yesterday. 

Ass kickin' workout.  Ha, kickin'.

After doing the first work out last night and second this morning, my hamstrings, glutes, and quads burn.  Every step I take hurts my booty.  The workout is intense, but I know it's working my entire body, which I like.  I normally don't really like work out videos.  I hate the sound of Jillian Michaels's voice.  But, my muscles are telling me they've been worked.

I am thinking about doing both workouts tomorrow.  I'm a special sort of crazy.  Sean and I went to the gym today and I did some weight lifting.  I will do some more strength training again tomorrow when we go.  Then, I'll get my ass kicked again by this workout.

So, yes.  Booty, booty, booty, booty hurting everywhere.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Working on my fitness.

Sean and I finally went back to the gym after a two week hiatus.

I did some strength training.  My quads burn, but it's a good burn.  Feel the burn.

I think I'm quitting running for a while.  I'm so sick of it.  I can't wait until it is warmer so I can ride Lenny to work.

I'm kind of in a rut.  An eating and fitness rut.  Ho hum. 

I've been saying that a lot lately haven't I?

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Did you notice?

Did you notice I didn't blog about Weigh in Wednesday this morning?  After all, it is Wednesday.

Let me tell you why.  Seeing as yesterday was my birthday, I don't think calories should count on your birthday.  I know, what irrational thinking.  That is exactly why I am overweight now.  Trust me, I know.

But.  My one wish for my birthday was that Sean get me an ice cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery.  Boy, did he come through.  He got me the six inch sized cake.  It layers red velvet cake with cake batter flavored ice cream.  It was amazing.

Not only did Sean get me a fantastic cake, he also made my birthday a thousand times better.  You see, yesterday I was feeling pretty blue.  I totally wanted to have a pity party by myself for the entire day.  I think I've figured out the reason why I was so upset, and no, it's not only because I discovered my first wrinkle.  I've been having a mini quarter life crisis.  I'm still trying to figure out exactly what I want to do with my life and I can guarantee it is not what I am doing now.  I want to find something where I am genuinely happy to wake up and go to work every day.  Yesterday and the days leading up to it I was completely freaking out.  I still kind of am, but I will find my way.

Anyway, about my birthday evening.  I got home from work and Sean showed me the cake in the freezer and the bottle of wine he picked up for me.  He cooked me dinner: steak, roasted veggies, and baked potato.  I drank my bottle of wine over the course of the evening.  Sean gave me Adele's CD so I can belt it while in the car.  He let me watch Glee, New Girl, and Raising Hope.  He let me fall asleep on the couch with a lap kitty.  It was a fantastic end to the day.

Of course phone calls from my parents, Becky and Charlie, and a text message from Travis were very important to me as well.  Katie even sang me happy birthday when I got to work yesterday morning.  All in all, my 24th birthday was pretty great.  It was definitely better than last year's recovery from my appendectomy surgery.

Today though, calories totally count.  Now it is all focus on losing weight for the wedding dress and reminding myself of how badly I want to reach my goal weight. 


Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Birthday.


Photo via Designer Wife

Happy birthday to me!  I'm not excited.  I convinced myself last night I have a wrinkle on my forehead.  I used to be so excited about my birthday, after all it is my favorite day of the year.  But not this year.  Katie said it's a sign of getting old. 

Ho hum.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Wedding faired out.

I've attended a wedding fair the past four weekends in a row.  Don't get me wrong, they're actually kind of fun and I enjoyed the four fairs I went to. 

But.  I'm totally burned out on them.  I don't want to try any more free cake or be polite when I'm not actually interested in the spiel someone is giving me.  I'm so over it.

Thank goodness yesterday's wedding fair was the last one I plan on going to this year.  Sean even went to the fair yesterday, so he got to see what they're all about.  I know he was mainly there for the free cake though. :)

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Here's to hoping.

Community garden meeting was tonight.

I think it went very well.  There is definitely a lot of community interest in District 10 (the district subdivision of Saint Paul I live in) and not a lot of spaces we could potentially garden.

Now, each member contacts some people/organizations for potential garden space.  We'll meet again in a month or so.

I really hope this works out this time, instead of like last time.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Weigh in Wednesday.

Awwww, yeah!

February 1, 2012: -4.4 pounds, -35.4 pounds total

Weekly goal update. Last week, I set goals of walking to work every day and logging all of my food in Lose It.  Well, I walked to and from every day, but I failed horribly at logging in Lose It.  Literally, all I logged was my breakfast Wednesday morning.  I need to get better at that.

This week's goals.  Walk to work every day but today (because I need my car for work today).  Log in Lose It for four days this week.

Ready, set, go!