Marathon Mom

Weight: 154.6

Skye woke up every four hours last night, that’s when her pain meds would wear off. Being woken up by a sobbing 5 year old several times does not make for a restful night’s sleep. Difference is, she gets to stay home and nap all day. I have to go to work. UGH. At least it’s Cali’s day off, so I don’t have to bring Skye in to work with me today like I did yesterday. Though she is good and took a 3 and a half hour nap on the floor of my office!! She hasn’t been sleeping well at night since her surgery. I was hoping she’d be more on the mend by now. I need a decent night’s sleep!! It’s like having a newborn all over again!

I was just too tired to get up and work out this morning. Part of it was attitude, I admit. Tuesdays are supposed to be a run day and since I have that 6.5 mile trail run coming up on Saturday, I need to rest my knee as much as possible. So running was out and I was going to hit the elliptical. I like the ellip ok, but I miss running in the morning. I guess I just wasn’t into it today. I’m going to be sure to hit the gym at lunch today, though, to make up for it. Its good cross-training anyway.

I better get moving. I still have to get Sean to school on time. And I promised Skye I’d run and pick up Monsters vs. Aliens on DVD this morning before work, since it was just released today. Very cute movie. I highly recommend it!!

I’m getting ready to head out on my run this morning. Just 3 miles… it feels weird saying just to that. But three miles has become my default run. I think that bumps up to 4 miles on my small run days next month. And by November, I’ll be running 6 miles on my regular days and my long runs will be up to 10 and more. It starts to increase pretty quickly. Which is actually good, I’m still planning a half-mary the first weekend in December. It involves running across the Golden Gate Bridge, twice (coming and going) and a run through Golden Gate Park. I live just north of the GGB, just 20 minute drive from the City (SF) and the race starts and ends up here, on my side of the GGB. I guess that might be weird to some people, that I live so close to one of the major travel destinations in the world. Just like when I hear people talking about walking near the Eiffel Tower which is just down the street from their home. That just blows me away that people LIVE there! Or someone I know who lives in the Bronx and goes bike riding all over NYC and Manhattan and other landmarks that I think of as famous and exotic and she just calls home. I try not to take it for granite, and do touristy stuff peroidically, like a tour of Alcatraz (which is very cool, by the way!) or just bum around Fisherman’s wharf and Pier 39. We take the ferry, go to Ripley’s Believe it or Not Museum, eat clam chowder in sourdough bread bowls and get bags of salt water taffy. It’s fun to play tourist in your own backyard. I recommend everyone do it!

OK, I guess I’ve stalled lacing up and heading out the door long enough. It’s time to literally hit the road!

UPDATE 7:11 AM

Well, my knee decided about a quarter mile into my run that this just wasn’t going to happen this morning. Oh, I am PISSED. I’ve never had to stop and walk back home before. But powering through was not an option. GRRRR!!! I am not a happy camper… er… runner. I’m going to do a little google research and see if I can figure this thing out.

UPDATE 7:15 AM

Well, that didn’t take long, did it? First result on Google search hit it a bullseye!

What is it?

Kneecap pain or runner’s knee, known to doctors as patellofemoral joint pain or patellofemoral pain syndrome, is characterised by pain at the front or middle edge of the knee or under the kneecap.

Symptoms

Pain at the front or middle edge of the knee or under the kneecap. The pain can often be felt while squatting or going up or down stairs, and when a person gets up after having sat for a while.

Causes

The pain can be caused by any imbalance or dysfunction of the stabilising forces that keep the patella (kneecap) tracking smoothly in the patellofemoral groove on the femur (thighbone).

These causes include overly tight thigh (quadriceps) muscles, tightness of the iliotibial band – the strong band of thick tissue running down the outside of the thigh, weakness of one of the large quadriceps muscles – the vastus medialis oblique (VMO), and faulty biomechanics, such as that causing excessive pronation (rolling in of the foot during the gait cycle).

Treatment

Initial treatment may involve taping of the kneecap to hold it closer to the midline of the body to relieve pain. Rehabilitation usually involves stretching and strengthening exercises to achieve correct balance of the stabilising muscles around the kneecap. If there are biomechanical abnormalities, orthotics may be needed.

The full article can be found HERE.

So, I basically need to go back to the gym and resume my knee physical therapy exercises (I haven’t been doing them the past couple of weeks, I thought I didn’t need them anymore. That’s what I get for thinkin’! And until it’s restrengthened, I need to put my knee brace back on. I haven’t worn them in at least a month. In other words, it’s the same cause I’ve always had, it’s just manifesting itself in a slightly different way.

I will never learn. Ever.

UPDATE 10:09 PM

I am so tired. I hope I get a really good night’s sleep tonite. I need it. It was a long day and I got nothing done that I wanted or needed to. I am so behind, I’m almost in front!!

Tomorrow is another day.

Weigh-in: 165.2 (down almost a pound, how awesome is THAT?!)

So, it seems that eating a ginormous omelet is the key to weightloss! Ok, so there’s a bit more to it than that! Like the fact that I divided up that omelet and ate it thoughout the day. So the fact that there were a days worth of calories in that breakfast, then divided up and spread out throughout the day, were still a days worth of calories. And I hit the gym. And did my 60 on the elliptical when I got home last night.

I’m feeling pretty strong these days. As I’m getting back into it, my candy cravings are nearly gone. No, that doesn’t mean that I’m a recovered Junior Mints addict. But I can now turn down candy at the movies, whereas before I just could not. And my mom’s office with her stashes of snack no longer calls to me. It took those Slump Buster Challenges (and really DOING them this time, not just committing and then checking out) to sort of jar me back into my routine. Now that I’m back in it, it’s not so hard.

The kids start back to school next Thursday and much as I love having them home, I desperately miss the school year routine. I get up earlier, I get more done. I feel more in control of my day. Having kids home all day, I can’t even describe the chaos of the house. It’s surprisingly clean, but its still cluttered. And I’m not going to be a nag about it. Not for the last week of summer vacay. We’ll spend a couple of days next week putting it back in order, but for now I’m ok with just letting it go.

Confession-time: I only ended up having 1 and a half Coke Zeros yesterday. And I was FINE with it. Didn’t even realize it til the end of the day!! Can you imagine? ME? Just like, oh yeah, I guess I didn’t ever finish that second one! I KNOW, I’m totally shocked too!! I am trying to drink other things during the day: water, tea, water with Crystal Light in it, stuff like that. It’s good to mix it up.

On the knee front: elliptical is definitely helping. I’m still getting the occasional twinge, but no actual pain anymore. I’m keeping up on the knee PT exercises. I’m thinking I’ll be ready to start running again next week. I’m trying to take it slow and gradually build it back up again. If I do this right, I’m going to have knees of steel! STEEL, baby!!

I’ve also decided to do my own Booty Camp. I’m going to start it the Monday of the kids first full week of school, so that’s August 24. I’ve wanted to do this in the past, but I haven’t been in a good place and I’ve let it slide. Well, I’m ready now. That gives me almost two weeks to develop the plan.

I need to seriously give up the juice fast notion. I ended up eating four turkey burger patties last night. FOUR! Just the patty, no bun or condiments. But still, I did not sleep well last night. So, that totally nullified the whole POINT of the juice fast. Ah well. Life goes on.

While I was writing this, I had to stop to go deal with a few things. One of which was taking a box out back. I missed the curb step off the sidewalk and dropped down hard, locking my knee so that it super-hyper-extended when I hit the asphalt. HARD. OMG the pain shooting through my leg is almost unbearable. Ok, not really THAT bad, but OMG it hurts!! It’s been about 20 minutes and it’s not swelling or anything, so I don’t think I’ve done horrible damage. But man oh man, The PAIN!! Stupid Stupid Knee!!

I still have the gym thing today. I brought my bag and was all set to go at lunch. Now I don’t know what to do. SHIT. Guess I’ll just skip the warm up and focus solely on upper-body and abs. No fast food and I’m in the clear!

Did I mention PAIN?! Cause yeah, I have lots of it. Gotta run and check on my grandparents. Back later!

UPDATE 8:08 PM

Knee pain GONE! Awesome. Guess I didn’t jack it up with my idiocity as much as I thought. Excellent.

Gym - DONE! Yep, I did 30 minutes. I rock.

Just got back from G.I. Brendan… er… I mean Joe. Ahhhhh… Brendan Fraser was awesome, all 5 delicious minutes of him! The rest of the movie was pretty good too. Lots of things blowing up. Much hand to hand combat. Cool gadets. There’s a Wayans brother in there for some one-liners. It was miles better than Terminator: Salvation and pretty on par with Transformers 2. If you liked those, you’ll like this.

Well, gotta run - Julie & Julia starts in a half hour!

UPDATE 12:02 AM (REALLY NOW SATURDAY MORNING, BUT IF I HAVEN’T GONE TO SLEEP IT’S STILL FRIDAY NIGHT!)

Just got home from seeing Julie and Julia. What an incredibly fantastic movie!! An awesome cast, great script, and just a really endearing film. I am in love with it! I will be buying it the moment it comes out on DVD - it’s an instant classic and one of my very favorites already!

Tiny2B and I have a mini weekend challenge. I’m committing to an hour on the elliptical both Saturday and Sunday and at least one trip to the gym. And no JUNK food. The no fast food was too easy cause I could still eat all the cookies, candy, and crap I wanted as long as it wasn’t from a drive-thru (essentially.) So, I’m upping the ante. And you better believe I enjoyed every single Junior Mint I had at the movies tonite!!!

My reward will be a pair of earrings from Claires (mini challenge = mini reward, but I do love me some new ear bling!) Failure to meet the challenge will be the same as last time - shame, embarrassment and mortal humiliation… bathing suit picture posted both here and on Facebook. Seriously, that threat can get me to exercise for hours on end and eat nothing but lettuce if it came down to it!

Some day, someday I am going to proudly post a picture of myself in a bathing suit on here, Facebook, Myspace, my blog and anywhere else I can think of. However, today is not that day. Neither is tomorrow. So until then, I do whatever it takes to avoid it!

I did it. And more importantly, I didn’t do it!!

I DID go to the gym today. I realized today why I fight going. While I like working out on the equipment, I’m EXTREMELY self-conscious. Everyone at my gym is fit, we are talking toned arms and 6-pack abs. I’m not exaggerating. I feel like a big, fat flab. I was having to share the machines today with a bunch of ripped 20 something guys. I have never felt older or less cool in my life. UGH. It took imagining myself in that bathing suit and having to post it on here for me to even stay and do my workout. Even the women in their 50s and 60s put me to shame! It’s hard being the fattest person in the gym. I know that may shock some/many of you. That at just 30-40 pounds over my ideal weight, I’m the fattest person there, but these people have like NO body fat. One of the biggest draw-backs of living in Marin County. Everyone here is fit, health-obsessed and very trim and toned. The average sized woman in the rest of the country may be a size 14, but here it’s a size 6. I’m like that line from the Devil Wears Prada “A size 2 is the new 4. And 6 is the new 14!”

So, on to what I didn’t do. I didn’t have fast food today. First, I was super-stressed and really wanted a burger and fries. Really badly too! But I didn’t. I had some grilled fish and a big bowl of edamame (it’s what I had in the freezer upstairs at work.) Then my mom had to drop off her car for some repairs and when I picked her up, she wanted to drive thru McDs for an ice cream cone. I love McDs soft-serve ice cream and I almost craved, I mean, is that REALLY fast food?? But then I thought, no I better not. I’ll just get a Diet Coke. And then I was all, WAIT does that still count? I mean, it’s still from a fast food place? So does that make it fast food??? So, I didn’t get anything. I didn’t want to end up in a bikini on Facebook on a technicality!!!

So, to sum up: gym - yes! Fast food - NO!

Tiny2b - it is still ON!!

I also did 50 minutes on the elliptical this morning before work.

Unfortunately, not all non-fast-food is good for you, as I will demonstrate below:

Breakfast: sugar free oatmeal (2 packets)
Snack: half a bucket of Red Vines
Lunch/Dinner: 2 Gorton’s grilled fish fillets and a ginormous bowl of edamame
Snack: big ole handful of TGIFriday’s cheese pizza chips (kids found these at the dollar store, they are awesome!)
Movie: box of frozen Junior Mints

I keep thinking I ate something else in there, but that’s basically because I ate those Red Vines all morning. You know the worst part? I HATE Red Vines. But I’m addicted to them. My mom loves them and goes through serious buckets of ‘em. So I’ve inherited her addiction. Plus, they are handy as she usually has a big bucket on her desk. Which is just a few feet from mine. Harsh.

I’m propped up in bed with the bags of frozen veggies on my knees again. And I popped a Vicodin (I have for the past few nights. It helps me sleep. I’m hoping the knee pain will eventually lessen and I won’t need to anymore. The pain keeps me from falling asleep. It’s gotta get better eventually, right???!!!)

Tomorrow morning I have a 3 miler. Outside. I’ve learned my lesson. No more treadmill until my knees get stronger. Promise!

So, it’s Monday. Time to start AGAIN. Actually, I would have done pretty good yesterday except for the frozen Junior Mints at the movies. Hey, they were FROZEN. That’s like totally my kryptonite. Can. Not. Resist.

The protein bars are gone (I ate the last box one day last week. Yep, you read that right. The whole box. In one day. I have nothing more to say about that. Other than I strongly do NOT recommend doing that.)

So I had a banana upon waking. I’m out of No Doze and not planning on buying anymore. The habit has been made and I’m able to wake up and get moving in the morning without it. Which was the whole point.

I ran 3 miles yesterday. Sorta. I ended up walking more than I care to admit and my time was shameful. That’s what I get for skipping a week. No more cutting running days. My right knee is hurting, it kept waking me up last night. My knee hurt more as the week went on, like the longer I went without running the more it hurt. Which probably is related to the loose kneecaps and that running strengthens the knee muscles that support them and I was just starting to really build those muscles and then suddenly stopped. And now I’m jumping back into it after a week. I think I’ve really screwed this up. It’s going to take a while to fix it. And I need to stay on track and focused.

So, even though I’ve been saying it. Today I’m going to the gym during my lunch hour. I have to. My knees need the extra strength training. I was going to elliptical this morning, but my knee is so bad right now that I can’t put any weight on it. It’s starting to pop and crack a bit and I think the kinks will eventually work out. I also took a mega Advil a bit ago and I’m hoping that will kick in soon. So by the time I need to hit the shower and get ready for work, I should be good to go.

Food-wise, I’m trying to focus more on fruits, veggies and lean proteins. Yeah, I say that about once a week, don’t I. But I have to keep trying. Failure is when you give up. I’m not there yet. I’d love my epithet to read “She never gave up.”

I’ve also decided I’m not going to weigh in until next Monday. I’m going to give myself a week of good, healthy eating and exercise. The day to day fluctuations are getting to me. I need to look at the long-term. We’ll see if I can stay away. I admit that I’m addicted to my scale and will often weigh in multiple times a day. I’m a bit psycho, I’m totally aware of that.

Looks like Rush Limbaugh lost 90 pounds in five months (Good Morning America is on). Not really surprising, when you spew that much bullsh*t it’s gotta come from somewhere!

Speaking of GMA, Meryl Streep is supposed to be on today too! I love her and can not WAIT for Julie and Julia to open this Friday!

UPDATE 5:27 PM

I’ve taken Tiny2b up on her Mini Slump Buster Challenge. That means I’ve commited to the following:

1. Run Tuesday and Thursday
2. Go to the gym (and workout) Monday, Wednesday and Friday
3. No fast food Monday through Friday

Reward should I complete this task: a new pair of sandals

Punishment should I fail: posting a current picture of myself in a bathing suit here and on Facebook. Cause Tiny2b knows how to make it HURT!

And so I will report that I did go to the gym today. AND WORKOUT! Cause I’m guessing that’s sort of the point. Otherwise I could just go hang out at the gym for an hour and read mags, they have tons. I could get all caught up on my Jon & Kate plus Michael Jackson’s love child news. Get tips on the latest Jessica Simpson diet (ok, so I actually bought that one!) But no, I WORKED OUT. Did some leg curls and ab crunches. Spent some time warming up on the treadmill and cooling down on the elliptical. It was all good, baby!

Take THAT, Tiny2b! Ha!

Meant to post today’s menu:

1st thing: banana
Breakfast: sugar free oatmeal
Snack: Yoplait Light Key Lime Pie & Special K 90 calorie pack crackers
Lunch: Big ole salad
Snack: Yoplait Light Lemon Cream Pie, Special K 90 calorie pack crackers, 3 stolen handfuls of White Cheddar Cheez-Its
Dinner: 2 pieces of Gorton’s Salmon (100 calories each)

I’m trying to cut it off there. Note: crackers are not fast food. No, I’m not proud of them, but I didn’t break the whole Slump Busters Challenge rule either. And I didn’t realize how hard this rule was going to be. Cause tonite I’m taking the kids to the beach. And we usually get In ‘n Out Burger cause there’s one like right by the beach we go to and none really close to us. And also, In ‘n Out has gluten free options and they’re sort of on the healthier side of the whole fast food spectrum. But alas, they have a drive thru window and wear little paper hats and ask you if you’d like fries with that, ma’am, thus fully qualifying for fast food status. Damn.

A.M. weigh-in: 158.2 (and that’s a good thing?!! how sad, so very sad!!)

I did 45 minutes on the treadmill at the gym last night. I also went over some of the leg weight machines with my trainer there and booked an hour appointment for next week. Because…

I do NOT have torn cartilage in my knees!! YAY!! However, I was told that I am double-jointed (who knew?!) and because of this I hyper-extend my knees whenever I stand. Which is ALL.THE.TIME. I am over-stretching the ligaments and tendons. And my kneecaps are loose and sliding around too much because of the over-stretched ligaments and tendons. And if I don’t build up those muscles around my knees and in my thighs PRONTO, MY KNEECAPS ARE GOING TO DISINTEGRATE!! And when I told my mom this, she’s all Yep, that’s what’s happening to me. And I’m all WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME?!! And my sister is all, oh yeah, I have that too. That’s why I had to drop gymnastics. And I’m like, why doesn’t anybody tell me anything?! And they’re all “well, we’re telling you now.” Gee, thanks! So helpful!

Instead of sending me to physical therapy, my doc told me to make the most of that gym membership. Hence the meetings with the trainer. Oh, and running. Running is GOOD. He loves that I want to train for a marathon. He says that will help a LOT (if I do it right!) So, I’m back to doing that. Yay!!

And just as he was walking out the door, he turned back and said “whatever you do, do NOT take TaeKwonDo!” and I just about fell off the exam-table laughing, which was not the reaction he expected. I told him that I just signed up for that very class last month, which he thought was a funny coincidence. He said that TKD, karate, kickboxing… all those types of classes involve movements that I need to avoid. Forever. Because of the double-jointedness and tendency to hyper-extend, they will only exacerbate it. Which sucks, because I really wanted to keep on with the TKD and I was really looking forward to starting the kickboxing class offered at my gym!! Total bummer!!

I’m planning on leaving work a little early tonite so I can hit the gym before I go to my daughter’s performance at the high school tonite. I believe it’s the last one. She’s singing a solo (it’s a solos only performance, so basically all the kids are singing solos. It should last around 3-4 hours.) Then we are going to a late showing of Angels & Demons because she has turned out to be a Dan Brown freak! Who knew!!

Today’s intake:

Breakfast: 1 c. frosted flakes (eaten out of the box, yeah, let’s just forget that, shall we?!)
Snack: half of banana (the half Skye didn’t want)
Lunch: Eating Right BBQ Chicken Pizza (not as good as Lean Cuisine’s but about half the price!)
Snack: Slim-a-bear 100 cal. ice cream bar (cause I still have a few in the fridge here at work)
Dinner: pasta feast fund raiser at high school while watching solo performances fund raiser (so much for the theory of a free public school system!)

My two biggest goals for today: not coping out of the gym & not snacking at the movies!

UPDATE 11:28 PM

Crap. Did great at the pasta feast fund raiser - had about a 1/2 cup of penne pasta with tomato sauce (meatless) and most of the plate was a green salad. Oh, and a dinner roll. And then, cause I totally have school spirit, I bought a piece of spice cake at the bake sale. Yep, who’s got team spirit - I DO!

But then, I had my daughter grabs snacks at the movies while I ran to the bathroom before Angels and Demons started… and even though I told her just a Diet Coke, because she loves me, she grabbed me Junior Mints too. Now, if you were lying at the bottom of a pool and someone offered you oxygen, would you refuse? I didn’t think so. So you can understand why I had to eat the Junior Mints! Like until oxygen - absolutely!!

I DID hit the gym on the way home from work. 12 minutes on the stairmaster and 20 on the elliptical. My quads are still spasming a bit, so I’m thinking GOOD WORKOUT!

When I logged into Facebook tonite, one of the ad banners was for Novato Adventure Boot Camp. I have often wondered about doing one of these, and now there’s one right down the street from my house (basically.) I am totally going to do this!! It looks awesome! I may have to re-think the date of my next trip to Disney. I may bump it up a week so I can do the end of May/beginning of June one. I’d do the 5 day a week program and I won’t miss even a day. I’m going to totally commit. Which means I need to make sure my calendar is clear. Oh, I am SO excited about this!!

A.M. weigh-in: 157.4

Had a great day with my mom and sis yesterday. And then last evening with the kids. I blogged about it with pictures HERE. If you want to skip straight to my review of Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, click HERE.

Today is my day to get things finished up at work. Tomorrow I have the knee MRI follow-up appointment and will FINALLY get to find out what the plan is from here on out. I’m anxious to get that over and done with. It’s seriously cramping my style!

Tomorrow afternoon, we leave for Anaheim. My mom and I talked my sister into coming with! We are so excited - we’ll be driving to Roseville to pick her up on our way down. When we’re at Disneyland on Wednesday, one of my childhood best friends who now lives in Temecula will be coming up to meet us in the afternoon. It’s going to be one very busy day. Then we’re driving back that night after Disney closes at 8pm. Talk about a whirlwind trip - we’ll be gone about 36 hours. Yikes! I think I’m too old to do this! At least we’ll have plenty of drivers to take shifts. It’s only about 7 hours away, not horrible.

Tom Hanks is on Good Morning America right now. Watching him sitting in the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile singing “Oh I wish I were an Oscar Meyer Weiner” - that just totally made my day!!

I’m determined not to eat my way through SoCal again! It won’t help that my mom and sis will TOTALLY eat their way through SoCal - its all they talked about yesterday at lunch! Cream cheese filled pretzels and churros were mentioned repeatedly. I better bring my sweat pants so I’ll have something I can fit into on the way home!

UPDATE 7:49 PM

The worst thing I did today was eat three Slim-a-bear 100 calorie ice cream bars. Not in a row. Like one at 11, a second at 2 and then a third one at 4:30. Still, 300 calories for ice cream bars in a day - not the worst thing I’ve ever done. Heck, not even the worst thing I’ve done this weekend, not by far! I had a Healthy Choice bowl - a cajun style thing with chicken and shrimp. And then for dinner a Lean Cuisine panini. A banana and 1 packet of sugar-free Quaker oatmeal. That’s a damn good day… now if I can just keep from noshing any more today. Tomorrow I am so looking forward to… and dreading. I just know I’m going to eat and eat and eat… especially since knowing my mom, we’re going to hit at LEAST 3 In-n-Out Burgers on this trip!! Animal style fries… ooooooohhhh, my mouth’s watering just THINKING about them! And they are the worst - like 1000s of calories. THOUSANDS! Heaven help me!

A.M. weigh-in: 151.0 (I can literally see the 140s just around the corner!)

Lately I’ve been eating 2-3 meals a day with a snack. Or I’ve been eating Weight Watcher 1 point mini bars ALL DAY (I think I ate 10 of them yesterday!) This is not effective for me, even if the daily total points are correct. My body functions more efficiently if I eat 6 mini meals a day, spaced out every couple of hours. It keeps my metabolism stoked and my blood sugar level. I just flat out FEEL better and there’s the added bonus of never being hungry cause I’m basically always eating. This is how I’ve lost weight in the past. It works for me.

Going to the gym is great. I’ve got a routine down and I look forward to going everyday. I’m a bit sore, which is good. It means that I’m doing something! I should start seeing some results in another month or two. I would really love to have some arm definition. That is my number one goal.

But going to the gym for 45 min to an hour everyday isn’t quite cutting it. My body is used to a harder workout schedule. And I’m not seeing the weight loss results that I would like. So I’m back to 45 minutes on my elliptical in the morning. No more staying up til midnite surfing the web so I’m too groggy to get up in the morning until I absolutely have to. I used to love my morning time - it was my “me” time. And I feel so much more organized and in control of the day when I can operate at a leisurely pace instead of running around like a frantic freak trying to get everything done before I rush out the door, late as usual.

So, that’s the plan.

UPDATE 1:42 PM

Decided to springify the page. Much better!!

I’m headed off to the MRI for my knee. Fingers crossed that I get approved for surgery QUICKLY!! And that it doesn’t interfere with my summer plans!

UPDATE 9:13 PM

I am EXHAUSTED!!! I did an hour at the gym right before my hour Tae Kwon Do class. OMG! The class has one man in his late 40s and the rest are kids in their teens (and a couple of black belt 11 year olds.) I am SORE. I feel old… and I need to remember to wear bladder control protection from now on!

Currently watching Yes Man for the umpteenth time - this movie was life-changing for me. I’ve heard it called recycled Liar Liar, that it’s not even Jim Carrey’s best work (and it probably isn’t.) But it’s the message of the movie that really resonates with me. Say YES to life! Embrace it! Don’t be afraid to really LIVE! That’s why I said YES to the Tae Kwon Do class. This is WAY outside my comfort zone, totally intimidating, and potentially really embarrassing. But I’m doing it - and I’m LOVING it!

And then go away again for who knows how long. But at least we have sun today. I’ve missed it! I swear I have that seasonal depression thing - I just can’t handle the grey skies for too long. Makes me want to curl up in bed, read and eat warm comfort food… or cookies… brownies, cake, ice cream… oops, got carried away there!

A.M. weigh-in: 148.6 (back down to pre-NYC weight, 4.2 lbs to pre-Vegas weight. Man, too bad what you eat in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas!)

I EXERCISED THIS MORNING!!!

45 minutes on the elliptical. Knee started “clicking” about 10 minutes in, but I pushed through. It didn’t hurt, I would have stopped if there was pain. I’m not stupid, just stubborn. Which often is the same thing. But I did it and worked up a bit of a sweat and feel really great. I missed this. I feel fired up and ready to take on the day instead of dreading and dragging through it. I need to figure out how to keep up this exercise. Since I didn’t have any trouble walking around NYC, maybe walking on my treadmill will be ok. I’ll give that a try tonite. Just 30 minutes, I’ll see how it goes.

I’ll update more as the day goes on.

UPDATE - 2:18pm

Swamped at work. Just managed to scarf down an order of grilled chicken strips from Jack in the Box. Not delish. Not yummy. Quick, easy and available without ever setting foot out of my car. This is not a recipe for weightloss success, I can tell you that.