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The Deal

October 13, 2009

So here’s the deal.

I’m just not into blogging anymore.  At least, not solely personal blogging. I realized recently that I need to treat blogging like I treat a bad book… if it starts to feel like a chore, then it’s time to let it go.

If you’re interested in following my goings-on, I will still be blogging at my book blog, Confessions of a Bibliophile. In fact, the amount of time I spend keeping that blog is probably 90% of the reason why I’m not keeping up this one. Also, I reserve the right to bring this blog back from the dead at some point, like if I start seriously writing and want to document that, or actually have a kid, or something.

But until then, find me at the other place. 

Thank you for reading!

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Twenty-Three

September 15, 2009

Puddin’ update!

Puddin’ was still having issues getting around last week, though I’ve been giving her the glucosamine daily.  So, on Thursday after work I dragged her (almost literally) to the vet.  Two hours later, I had a prescription for a pain/anti-inflammatory medication for her, pending a successful liver/kidney levels test.  Friday I picked up the medication, and started giving it to her on Saturday.

And she is a different kitty! Or rather, an almost-back-to-normal kitty.  She’s now jumping up on the bed with us again, though not as often as she used to, and asking to go outside, and just generally changing her hangout spot more than once a day.  So I’m really relieved.  And, starting tomorrow, I only have to give her the medication 2 or 3 times a week, so it’s not a real heavy dosage schedule.  I’m also going to keep giving her the glucosamine every day, though she’s starting to catch on and resisting a bit.

She may be aging, but dammit, she’s gonna be mobile!

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Twenty-Two

September 14, 2009

I haven’t been very good about blogging, but I have been good about watching my food!

We went to Nashville Labor Day weekend, and had a great time, but I came back 2.2lbs heavier.  Boo! I figured it was just a temporary travel bump, because I ate pretty well and played 2 rounds of golf and even walked a mile+ in downtown Nashville.  So, I didn’t give up, and went immediately back to counting everything.

I was pretty spot-on again this week, with the exception of dinner on Saturday which I think I will continue allowing myself to use as a free meal.  And it shows, because I was down 3lbs when I weighed in this morning.  Yay! That makes it a total of 4, which is a pound short of my pre-vacation goal, but I’m sure if I weighed myself before we left on Friday I would meet it.

Btw, Wicked: the Musical is AWESOME. The scene where Elphaba first flies and escapes from Oz was just simply breathtaking. I actually thought the musical was much better than the book, because I find Maguire to be a bit of a dry writer. I would see it again in a minute.

The weight-loss group I signed up for at work starts up officially this week.  So I’ll actually be weighing twice a week – on Mondays for me and on Thursdays for them.  And to bring in the accountability portion of the process, we have to have someone witness our weight.  AAHH! I’m teaming up with one of my coworkers, which I think will be okay.

I’ve been mulling over the possibility of starting the Couch to 5K program after we get back from Utah. Now, I’ve never been much of a runner.  I was the queen of the 13 minute mile in high school, and have probably only run a mile without stopping to walk once in my life, when I was playing soccer.  So I don’t know if this is going to work for me.  But I see so many people having success with this, and running is such an easy exercise to commit to (you can do it anywhere!), that I think I might be okay with it.  My biggest problem right now is figuring out *where* to do my running. 

I don’t really want to run on my street, mostly because of three reasons: 1) there are hills, 2) there’s not a lot of road to run on unless I go on the main road, where there isn’t even a sidewalk, 3) I don’t want to run in front of my neighbors yet.

There’s a really nice running/walking/biking trail between Christiansburg and Blacksburg, but since I wouldn’t be able to start my run there until at least 6:30pm, I’m afraid it’ll be getting dark too soon, especially as we move into winter.  And I’m a little skeeved by the thought of running/walking the trail by myself at dusk.  And, since it will be cold soon, I don’t want to set myself up for running outside all the time.

Option 3 is to run around the track at the rec center.  Embarrassment factor is mid-level, though I suppose it’s not any more than when I go and get all red-faced on the elliptical.

Option 4, and the most probable one right now, is to do it on one of the nice treadmills in the fitness center here at work.  I can go after hours, so there won’t be that many people there (theoretically), though there may be people there that I know.  Also, I’m a little nervous about doing the intervals on a treadmill because I have no experience changing the speed while in the middle of a workout, but I think once I do it a few times it’ll be fine. 

So, the plan, in my head, is to start the week after we get back and run on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.  We shall see.

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Eleven

September 3, 2009

I was so wrapped up in the saga of Puddin’ during my last post, that I completely forgot to report that I lost 3.2 lbs last week! So yay for me!

I feel like I’m in a really good headspace right now, regarding doing what I need to do to lose weight.  Yes, I’m still not exercising, but I will. Eventually.  However, I’ve been within my range every day so far with the exception of Saturday (which I did on purpose) and I was a slight bit over on Wednesday.  But less than 50 calories, so I don’t feel too bad about that. 

How long will it last? I have no idea, but I’m going to keep going with it. In fact, today at work I got an email about a weight loss support group that HR is starting (think Weight Watchers, but for free) that is going to include online discussion, and I signed up without hesitation.  I’m hoping it’ll get me into the fitness center at work.  We’ll see… I’m weird about people I know seeing me work out.  I get serious red face.

Puddin’ has neither improved, nor worsened, so I think she’s okay to leave for the weekend.  She’ll get up if she gets enough motivation, so I feel pretty sure that she won’t let herself starve to death before we get home on Monday.  Next week I’m going to see about getting her into the vet for some sort of anti-inflammatory medication so she can get over this initial hump.  Cuz between my anxiety about her and Scott’s anxiety about her and about flying in a few weeks (he’s NOT a good flyer), we’re a mess over here.

Which probably means it’s good that we’re taking off for the weekend, headed to Nashville to visit my parents.  We’ll play golf, watch football (GO HOKIES!), and my mom and I have tickets to Wicked on Sunday night.  And I plan to make a pilgrimage to Trader Joe’s for some goodies.  I may have to drug myself to combat the anxiety and get to sleep, but a little Tylenol PM never hurt anyone, right?

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Nine

September 1, 2009

Work is ca-razy right now. I’ve got a major project that I’ve promised to have done essentially by Thursday, so I’ve been right out straight. I’m in a very tedious portion right now, moving data from one database into a completely new one, which requires extensive massaging of the data.  I’m hoping it doesn’t take me as long as I’m afraid it will.

On top of that, I’m a gigantic worry-wart at home.  On Saturday, I noticed that Puddin’ had spent her entire day in the living room, mostly in one spot.  I didn’t think too much about it until after we got home from dinner and after I drove Scott downtown and dropped him off for the evening.  I poked and prodded her until she got up, and then realized she was limping on her front left leg.

Let the worrying begin! The limp itself didn’t concern me that much — I figured she had probably just hurt it jumping down from somewhere — but as I thought about it more, I knew she hasn’t eaten or drank anything or even gone downstairs to go to the bathroom all day. The bathroom part especially concerned me, so I then went downstairs and scrubbed up a litter box to put in the bathroom off the kitchen.  Finally got her to pee.

Sunday, things didn’t seem much better.  So I continued to worry all day.  I called and made an appointment to take her to the vet yesterday afternoon.

Scott took her to the vet, and, of course, she didn’t limp while she was there.  They poked and prodded at her, and the only thing they could find wrong was that she had a fever.  So they shot her full of antibiotics and sent her home.

Today, things still don’t seem much better.  I know she’s moving sleeping spaces at least once a day because she’s somewhere different when I come home from work, but I don’t know how often she’s eating, drinking, or peeing.  She does still have her breakfast in the morning.  I’m suspecting arthritis, so I went and bought a glucosamine supplement this morning and will start giving that to her daily.

She’s still purring, she hasn’t lost weight, her coat feels fine, and she obviously doesn’t hurt so much that she can’t jump up on our (rather high) bed, so I think I’m worrying a little too much.  If she gets hungry/thirsty/etc enough, she’ll get up and do something about it.  The real kicker is that we’re supposed to go visit my parents in Nashville this weekend.  My mom and I have tickets to see Wicked on Sunday night!  I guess I’m just going to let the Puddin’ be for now… if she needs something, she’ll say so.

puddinThe Puddin’ disapproves of current events.

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Six

August 29, 2009

Whoops, missed blogging yesterday.  I got caught up in a project at work and blew right through my designated blogging time.  So we’ll cover two days today.

THURSDAY

Total calories: 1,585

Hits: Staying under 1600 calories even while eating two meals out (Subway & McAllister’s Deli)

Misses: No exercise

FRIDAY

Total calories: 1,525

Hits: salad for dinner

Misses: no exercise, 2 rolls when I could have had only one

Thursday night I stayed in Roanoke and had dinner out because I had book club.  I like to take my laptop to McAllister’s or Panera and eat dinner and try to get some writing done (yay for free wi-fi!). We discussed Engleby by Sebastian Faulks, which is an unusual book.  We had a pretty good discussion about it.  I’m by far the youngest person in the group right now (with the exception of the library employee that runs it), so the reactions of the older women and their interactions are almost as interesting to me as the book discussions.

Friday was pretty low-key.  We went to Best Buy so Scott could daydream about camera equipment, and then had dinner at Texas Roadhouse, which is our usual Friday night dinner location.  Personally, I’m a little over it, but it’s Scott’s favorite so I acquiesce.

No big plans for the weekend… I’m trying to do some work on my master recipe collection.  We’ll see how far I get with that.

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Four

August 27, 2009

What? Four days in a row?  Is that a pig in the sky?

Deets from yesterday…

Total calories: 1,759

Hits: Leftover stirfry for lunch; still getting all my liquids in

Misses: Still no exercise.  Two keebler rainbow cookies after dinner.

So far so good this week! I’ve been within my range every day, and if I stick to my plan today, I’ll be good there too.  Despite going out for dinner tonight.  I have book club, so I’ll be staying in Roanoke and eating dinner at McAllister’s.  They have free wi-fi, so it’s a good place to kill the hour+ I have between leaving work and book club starting.

Didn’t do a whole lot last night, but I had to rush home and cook dinner quickly because I had a fantasy football draft starting at 7. I asked Scott to start marinating the chicken when *he* got home, so I just had to throw it on the grill and then put together sides (mac & cheese for him, leftover cheesy rice & broccoli and salad for me). And, I have a leftover chicken breast to make a sandwich for lunch tomorrow.

Yay for leftovers!

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Three

August 26, 2009

Day 2 in the bag!

Total calories: 1,584

Hits: Made an awesome stir-fry with broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, carrots, and my fake chicken, with chow mien noodles. Leftovers for lunch today.

Misses: No exercise again. 

Yesterday evening, the writing group I’ve joined at the library met.  This was the first meeting I’ve been able to go to (missed the first one) so I took the plunge and shared two pieces.  One was something I wrote in college, and the other was the beginning of my work in progress. I emailed the pieces out ahead of time, so people had their own copies. 

I was late getting to the meeting (it starts at 6, and I don’t leave work until 5:30, so I can’t get there until 6:15), so it was a little bit surreal to walk into a room and see everyone with a piece of paper with the title of my work in progress on it.

(The title? Snoop & Salad.  Maybe a little cheesy, but it fits the genre…)

Overall, I thought it went pretty well.  At least, no one came right out and said "THAT SUCKS!". And they gave me some stuff to think about that I hadn’t considered. So I’d do it again!

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Two

August 25, 2009

Yesterday went pretty well.

Total: 1731 calories (I’m aiming for 1500-1800)

Hits: 80 oz of water & CL iced tea, only 12 oz of diet pepsi; salad, corn and broccoli with dinner

Misses: should have just had half of my kashi pumpkin spice flax bar; frozen chicken cordon bleu wasn’t worth the calories; no exercise (except grocery shopping)

I usually do my grocery shopping at Wal-mart, but since classes at VT started yesterday, Wal-mart is still a CRAZY PEOPLE ZONE. So, I decided to check out the newly remodeled and expanded Kroger in Blacksburg (even though there are 2 Food Lions and another Kroger closer to my house). I think there’s enough stuff there that I can’t get at Wal-mart to justify the trip at least once a month.

Things I can get at Kroger that I can’t get at Wal-mart:

  • good fruit, including cantaloupe & watermelon cut up in bowls (for < $2, even)
  • a bowl stuffed with cut-up vegetables, for < $3
  • LightLife fake chicken strips (which I like to use in stir-fry)
  • Cheesy Hashbrown Hamburger Helper (for Scott – it’s his favorite)
  • multiple flavors of couscous
  • ultra-pasturized milk
  • Plus, there was a great sale on boneless, skinless chicken breasts yesterday… $2/lb!

Overall, I probably spent a little more than I normally would.  I wouldn’t buy toiletries or household cleaning supplies at Kroger. But man, there’s so many more food choices!

Now, if I could just figure out why I can’t find yakisoba noodles in my area anymore.

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One

August 24, 2009

After what has essentially been a year off from counting, planning, and heck, TRYING, it’s time to get serious again.

I’m tired of being at this weight, and I’m tired of wondering if I’m ever going to have a child. I’m tired of shelling out the money needed to try to have a child.  I’m tired of worrying about my knees and my feet.  I’m tired of my shoulder feeling jacked up (though my weight probably doesn’t have a whole lot to do with that).  I’m tired of wanting more.

My plan this time revolves around two things: journaling, and calorie counting.  I’m not worrying about fat, protein and fiber.  I’m not worrying about points.  I’m just counting calories. I’m writing down everything that goes into my mouth, no exceptions.

I plan on tracking online somehow, I’m just not sure where yet.  I’m going to look around a little for sites that I haven’t checked out before (and if you have any suggestions, please share!), but I may just end up wiping out my SparkPeople account and starting fresh there.  I’m also planning on blogging every day, but we’ll see how that goes.

No specific goals yet… I will work those out later.

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