I don’t how many times I’ll restart, but eventually something is going to catch. It’s a new Sunday, and I’m back with my nose to the grindstone on working out. Now I really don’t have any good excuses. My house is pretty much clean, I’ve got plenty of room in my bedroom now that I’ve emptied almost all of it out and have spent the past week doing laundry and cleaning. I can spend 30 minutes in the bedroom with a few DVDs and get some exercise in, as well as cleaning the cobwebs off my stability ball and weights. And now the family is a little more willing to help clean, which will so be helpful.

We had to really clean our house last week due to the fact that our AC was still not working and it was starting to hit the 90s here in Dallas. We got a guy scheduled to come out Friday afternoon, which meant all last week was spent focusing on getting the bedroom completely cleaned, as well making a path through the mess in the garage so he can get to the breaker panel if necessary. I also made sure the hall was cleaned (I still need to scrub and mop though) and the laundry room was looking good. Yeah, our house had gotten bad enough that in order to fix the AC we needed to spring clean. Terrible. Anywho, they called us Thursday afternoon and said, no, we can’t come out Friday afternoon, but we can be there between 10a-1p. Well, we had bought our tickets for a 10a showing of “Iron Man 2″ to make sure we were back by 1p. We were able to convince them to come around 1230p (thank you, hubby’s nagging cough!), but an accident got us there around 1245p. The guy had another call in the area, so he said he’d stop by afterwards. 230 comes, he’s there, and we find it is simply a little connector switch thingy that takes all of 15 minutes to replace. All that headache for a little 15 minute fix. Ah well. We have cool air now, and I’m sleeping well again.

I bought a fife online last week. It’s in the key of C, unlike my Civil War replica fife, which is in D. It also have a total of 8 key holes, while the other only has 6. And I tell you, the extra 2 holes coupled with the odd lip riser make it a bit difficult to play. But I’ll get there. I have the sheet music for The Boondock Saints theme and I’m using that as my gauge on where I am as far as learning to play. It’s hard. *lol*

Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays will be my run days. I’ll bring my running gear here to the office with me, change as I leave, then hit the park at home. That way there is no stopping, changing, and finding something that will distract me and give me an excuse to miss. Due to orchestra and flute choir rehearsals, for now Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays are reserved for my kickboxing DVDs (I’ll change them up every few weeks I think) and my free weight routine. I think this, coupled with journaling what I eat will help me get the weight off over time. We are also cooking more at the house, which also helps.

This week’s goals-

1. Keep to my exercise routine. Start out slow to build my endurance back up, but at least adhere to the schedule.

2. Journal every bit of food or drink that passes my lips. I think once I see exactly what I am consuming it will make it easier to make adjustments and stick to them.

3. Increase my water intake. I’ve gotten really bad about drinking sodas again, which I know contribute to my expanding waistline. Adding water back in to flush out my system will be a great change.

THIS WEEK’S WEIGHT LOSS GOAL- 3 lbs

In the 2 months since I’ve been off the Daniel Fast, I’ve managed to effectively put back on all the weight I lost on it. This of course is due to the fact that I was eating out almost every day, to include lunch AND dinner, and I have not worked out one lousy bit since my 5k in March. I feel like a completely worthless human being when I realize how well I was doing, and how quickly I crapped it away. Oh well. No use crying over spilled poutine (my new quest to make). I just need to get back up on my pony and get going again.

I have packed my lunch this weekend, and will continue during this week, as I am on my 7-day stretch. Today’s lunch is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on white bread, mini pretzels, unsweetened natural applesauce, and a fruit punch Juicy Juice. I may throw in a double chocolate Milano cookie this afternoon, but I may not. Breakfast was pretty light. I had a 100-calorie English muffin with a frozen scrambled egg patty, and a cappuccino. Just a small one too, but it was good. Dinner tonight will be some brown rice with teriyaki meatballs. Good all around. I’m going jogging (nothing too hard), just to get my blood going and get back into the habit of training. I’m also back to drinking a lot of water as well. Gotta get skinny again!

And of course in my quest to get skinny, I found the ultimate site for food porn. Behold!

http://www.thisiswhyyourefat.com

And with that, I am so out….

I had my 5k on Saturday, and I have to be honest- I was mortified with my time. My official time was 41:05, and I learned a powerful lesson- I need to train on some steep hills. There was one hill at the mile point of the run that was so steep, I ended up walking halfway up it. And from there my run was pretty much shot. Add to that the mix of drunken people running and trash all over, and it made for one lousy run. I have already said that next year this will probably not be a run I participate in. Oh well. It gives me a look at the areas I need improvement (hills) and where I’m okay (making it to the end, albeit slowly). It was not great, but you have to start somewhere.

On a lighter note, the hubby, kid and I met up with a friend and his family and we went to Medieval Times in Dallas yesterday. I had spent the morning nursing an upset tummy courtesy an all-day gorge-fest the previous day filled with IHOP and Twin Peaks. When I woke up, I had a big shot of Pepto Bismal, followed by some chicken ramen about an hour later. I figured that would be enough to tide me over until we reached MT. It was correct, if I hadn’t have decided to have the biggest margarita I’ve ever drank in one glass. We decided we wanted some souvenir glasses, so Mike got a pilsner glass, Rach got a red hurricane glass, and I got a giant margarita glass. Drinking on an empty stomach when you are already a super-lightweight is never a good idea. I was already buzzing before the show started. Thankfully that subsided as I ate (great food there!), and by the time I got to the car afterwards, the only evidence I had been drinking was the glass in my hand. I tell you what, watching the jousting while buzzing is so fun. Our knight, The Green Knight, was the “evil” one. He was also a page the last time we were there lol…

I’m thinking of taking this week off of training to adjust my internal schedule. I am going from working Wednesday-SUnday, 230-11p to a rotating weekend schedule working 6a-230p. I have to get up between 330-4a in order to make it out of the house by 5a. So harsh! But this gives me my evenings, and now rotating weekends back. We work 7 days, have the weekend off, work 3 days, have 2 off… Not too bad for a 24-hour office. It just takes some getting used to.

We had our orchestra concert last Tuesday, and I think it was our best one yet. We flutes had a part in “Capriole” that requires us to hit some 4th octave notes (ie super high up). It’s terribly squeaky especially with one girl playing piccolo, so we made the decision as a section to drop it an octave. Needless to say it was so much better! Rachel talked Mike into letting her join the orchestra with me with the understanding that her math grade needs to come up, and the rest of her grades do not come down. Once the do, or the math doesn’t come up, she is out. I am also in the process of buying a secondhand Gemeinhardt flute. B-foot, open holed, about 10 years old- and about 90% cheaper than I have found anywhere else. Once I snag that puppy up, I’ll tell you how much I’m paying. I’m meeting the lady on Thursday to get it. *fingers crossed* It’s not a Yamaha, but I can’t find a good Yamaha for under $500 used. So my next step after this will be a piccolo for me and Rachel to share, or find a deal on a pair.

Only an hour left on my first day shift. I think I got my second wind because I’m a little more awake than I was about 2 hours ago, and that is a plus considering I’m going to drive home, pick up Rachel, then drive back into North Dallas to drop her off with her Nana for a few days. Lots of driving (which also led to my no-training decision). I’m going to be pooped when I finally get home and can rest. There will be some grocery shopping, considering we really don’t have anything in the house to eat. Unless you count the Easter Basket Snack Cakes Mike bought yesterday. And I don’t.

Not that I’ll be watching. I’m here at work alternating between watching my friends’ internet show from an Oscar watching party, and the first season of “Torchwood” via Netflix’s instant download. It’s a pretty good show (both of them actually). And it certainly helps pass the time. I’m now of course having problems accessing the RBR chat, which blows. Darn firewalls or whatever here.

Today has been a grand day. It’s raining, but that is certainly something I can live with. I was up at 7a and laced up my cross-trainers for my run. Since I overslept yesterday, I did my race length run today instead of taking a rest day. Last time I only made it half the distance. Today, however, I made it the entire way! My time was fantastic, too. 32:07, which averaged out to a 10 minute, 20 second mile. Needless to say I was rather proud of myself, considering my time for the Elvis/UCP 5k run in 2007 was an 11:19 mile. Knowing how I am when I’m running in a group, I’m sure my time will be even faster come Saturday. The hubby and kid are going to take me to the race, and will greet me at the finish line. I’ll pick up my race packet on Wednesday before I come in to work, so I’ll be able to post my bib number. I’m looking forward to this run. I’m thinking after this, I’ll do a few more 5k’s, maybe throw in a 10k or two, then by next summer, when I turn 36, I should be able to run at least a half marathon, if not a full.

All this planning means I need to totally adjust my lifestyle. This means cleaning up my eating, which I am working on, as well as committing to working out. This, too, has been something I am working on adjusting. I did feel tired when I got up this morning, but after my run I felt so amazing. I’m finding that when I’m working out, I do tend to feel so much better about myself. Maybe that will help with my overall esteem, if I get to a manageable weight and get a routine set up that I can totally stick to. With the way I’m progressing now, it really shouldn’t be too hard, right? I hooope…

Next Sunday we’ll be taking Rachel to Medieval Times, along with our friend and his family. We’ve been there a few times before and it’s a really fun time. Rachel is like me and loves things like that, which makes taking her to Scarborough Faire all the more fun. Once we decide with the scout troop what weekend the girls want to go, Rach and I will begin costume construction that will be weekend appropriate. I’m thinking, after last year, that Pirate Invasion Weekend is going to be it. The girls had a blast, and all the pirates- so fun! I’ll have to do some extra running to ensure I can eat a few Scotch Eggs while at the faire. It’ll be a blast.

I haven’t watched many of the movies that are up for awards tonight, but I looooooved Inglorious Basterds, and I thought District 9 was well done. And Up was good, if not sad for the first half of the movie.

It’s been a pretty good week, once I got my butt into gear. This morning I didn’t run, but instead cleaned my kitchen. This of course was all due to the snowball effect of wanting to make some muffins. My mixer was broken what seems ages ago, and I finally got it fixed. The redneck gene kicked in and I couldn’t wait to make something. I picked up some banana nut muffin mixes from the store last night on my way home and made them this morning. Before I could make them, however, I had to clean up the kitchen. Again. It seems that my family doesn’t really know how to rinse out their dishes and put them into the dishwasher. They also don’t know how to pull out a full trash bag from the can and put in a new one. Nope, they just pile the trash on top of the full bag and hope nothing falls on to the floor. So I had to go through and clean out my sink, wash a few dishes, and empty the trash before I could FINALLY cook. The muffins turned out great, very moist, and the 2 packages made a total of a dozen. Once that was done and I had cleaned up the muffin mess, I was finally able to try a recipe I found in the March issue of Runner’s World. Take a whole what waffle, heat that puppy up, then top it with a mixture of 1/4c pumpkin and 1 Tbsp ricotta cheese. Sprinkle on a little brown sugar and some pumpkin pie spice, and you’re good to go. It wasn’t bad- I think I need to tinker with the recipe just for personal taste, but it certainly did its job. Lunch was a bit bad- I heated up 3 small pieces of pizza and had some black cherry-lemonade Kool Aid. My mid afternoon snack was some coconut vanilla yogurt, and dinner is going to be some roast beef flavoured ramen. Is it sad if I kind of miss ramen? So simple to just toss a package into my bag as I’m heading out the door, and there are flavours I really like (roast beef being one of them).

Work is well. I should hopefully be moving shifts here soon. I’m finally at my own desk instead of having to constantly find a spot to work. This also means I can start bringing in items to make the space Mine. I like that. I’m trying to finish up Courtney’s hat. The fu fur stuff is a pain to work with, and after finishing Arlene’s blanket, I’m finding that it is the fun fur that is making my hands hurt so much when I knit. So after the hat is finished, it may be a looooong while before I use it again. It does look neat, though. I’m currently in the middle of “The Reader”. Interesting book. I’m on the fence as to whether I’ll see the movie or not. I do like Kate Winslet., so I may watch it on cable. And our Scouts are still working on their surgery dolls. I need to cut out some patterns over the weekend so Rachel and I can start sewing on them before Monday. This will also give me a chance to show her how to use my machine properly so she doesn’t kill it like the other girls tried.

I’m starting to get my playlist together for the Dash Down Greenville on the 13th. I’m thinking some Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys, and some Mighty Mighty Bosstones. If Mike ordered the CD I sent him the link for, I’ll have some White Trash in there too. Any other suggestions? I want something fast, upbeat, and super catchy. Bonus moxy for Irish or Pirates.

I survived my fast with only a few slip-ups. It ended on the 11th of February, and in the week since then, I have NOT watched what I have been eating. I’ve also only run sporadically, and I’m back to the sodas. Looks like I’ve got to get this trolley back on its tracks.

I signed up for the Dash Down Greenville 5k run on 13 March here in Dallas. I’ve only got about 23 days until it’ll be time to run. Can I be honest and say that when I realized that, I went into full panic mode? So I’ve begun paying attention again to what I’m shoveling into my gullet, I’m slowing down again on the sodas and hitting up the water, and I have run twice this week. Last night I was wide awake when I got home from work, and when I run I’m ready to hit the sack. So I got up this morning, dropped the kiddo and her band mate off at school, then hit the concrete. I’ll do the same tomorrow using the C25K podcast I have downloaded on my MP3 player, but Saturday- oooo, Saturday is going to be some fun. I have a route mapped through Runner’s World that is 3.11 miles and I’ll be using my own music. I’ll run as fast and hard and far as I can, then time the run. Hopefully I’m looking at a sub 35 minute run pace. The Friday before the run, I’ll do some light yoga and stretching to keep myself limber, get some rest, and be there bright eyed and bushy-tailed. I’m ready for this. I can do it.

I’ll also have to revise my running schedule here soon, like within the next 3-5 weeks. I’ll be moving from the second shift, to first. I’m just not sure what my hours will be yet. More than likely, though, my rest day will be on Tuesdays in order to accommodate orchestra rehearsals. However it goes, I’ll get it all rescheduled and rearranged and just make the best of it.

On a side note here- I picked up the “Twilight” series and am currently on the last book. I hate Edward and Bella. With a passion. I love the fact that Jacob is a hothead who will find your button and continuously push it as much as he can. But Edward and Bella are ruining the books. And so far, Stephanie Meyers has ruined the last book. I’m 300 pages from the end (egads!) so I’m still hoping beyond hope, but I have a feeling that what I’m hoping for does not happen. I just wish it would.

Breakfast this morning was some Egg Beaters with Mrs Dash garlic and herb seasoning, some feta and sharp cheddar cheeses, and some crushed red pepper. Lunch was a 6-inch spicy Italian on Italian herbs and cheese bread from Subway with lettuce, tomato, spinach, cucumber and green peppers, and a dash of oregano, as well as a bowl of chicken noodle soup. Dinner will be some chicken ramen. Getting back on track. So far I’ve had about 40 ozs of water and a 20-oz Coke Zero. One more soda for later tonight on the drive home so the need for the bathroom won’t be so harsh. I’ll just have to go back to cutting them out except for special occasions. No big deal anymore

Nah not, really. That’s just someone I played in an online writing game a few years back. But I think I’m going to channel her to aid in the whole weight loss thing and maybe, in the process, get to writing again. Now I warn you, the tale I’m about to tell will totally expose my residence in Geekdom. Don’t judge.

A few years back, I was searching online for a Star Wars related game that I could play, preferably one that dealt with being a bounty hunter, as my favourite SW characters are Han Solo and Boba Fett. I found one titled appropriately “The Bounty Hunters Guild”. In this game, you assume the role of a bounty hunter in the BHG. You are sent through a “basic training” where you learn all the rules of the game, the various chains of command, et cetera, and then you take your Core Exam. Once you take the exam, you are then courted by the various kabals, or groups. Depending on what you wanted determined usually which kabal you chose. My character, Simoree Fleury, was a fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants type of pilot who was working to find who killed her fiancee. It’s was a lot of “shoot first, ask questions possibly later” type stuff, so naturally I got into Thunder Kabal. My kabal leader gave me the nickname of Smee (at the time he decided he had a thing against the letters I, O and R) and it’s stuck ever since.

Smee is a slender girl, pretty strong, too. Of course you kind of have to be in order to be a successful hunter. So she works out, and watches what she eats, practices her fighting skills daily- things that I can easily bring in to RL. I can also pick up her story line from where we left off in the BHG 2+ years ago when the guild was shut down. This will have me writing AND working out. Good idea? We’ll have to see.

I went shopping with the hubby this morning to get some groceries for the coming weeks. I got 2 boxes of the Morning Star Asian veggie burgers, as well as one of the spicy black bean burgers. I also picked up a box of the buffalo chick’n nuggets. They weren’t too bad, really. I just added a little of the Louisiana Wing Sauce I love, and that was lunch. Now I”m snacking on some peanuts at my desk while I work. It’s a slow day so I get to knit and blog. Yay slow days! I printed off a weekly chore chart and wrote in not only the chores I need to accomplish during the week, but also my workout schedule. This will be posted on my fridge so I can just look at it to know what needs to be done. I am also using it as my weekly calendar. Birthdays, anniveraries, scout meetings, orchestra- all on there. And if the hubby needs me to do something during the day while he’s working, onto the calendar it goes. Maybe this will give me the sense of accomplishment I need to not get sidetracked.

Okay, onto this week’s goals. I officially weighed myself this morning, and I am at 199.2.

1. Lose 2 lbs

2. Drink 64oz of water minimum daily.

3. Do some sewing on next Sunday morning.

I’m on Day #6 of the Daniel Fast, and I haven’t strayed too terribly bad. I had sausage and biscuits on Sunday for breakfast with a glass and a half of Pepsi. And I don’t think I’ll be doing that again. I had some serious jitters from the caffeine in the soda, so that was the last time I had any. Now all I’ve been drinking is water, and occassionally some of my fruit juice. Breakfast on Monday was half a cup of oatmeal with only some raisins and a pair of prunes diced up in it. It was actually really good. For lunch yesterday I had 2 veggie fake chicken patties, and dinner was some brown rice, California vegetables, and an Asian veggie burger. The day before I had the other fake chicken patties and some baked fries. With them both I drank nothing but water. Breakfast yesterday and today was a whole Texas grapefruit. Now lunch today- can I say I was disappointed? I made a peanut butter sandwich, but I could only finish half of it. The bread tasted a little funny, and I don’t know if it was because we keep it in the fridge or not. I heated it up in the microwave for a few seconds, then slapped on some peanut butter, but it just didn’t taste right. So half went into the trash when I got to work. Dinner tonight was just a repeat of last night- brown rice, California veggies and an Asian veggie burger. Throw in some fruit punch, and it was perfect.

I haven’t been exercising. I’ve been waking up lately feeling pretty run down and headachey. The migraine yesterday morning was bad enough I was feeling nauseous, and this morning was no better. I don’t know if it’s simply from the dietary changes or the fact that I’m back to not sleeping well. Maybe that will improve if I just say “Screw it” and exercise anyways. At least some yoga or something, anything to get my blood moving. 

I’ve kind of stopped knitting for a while. I picked up some straight needles today and tested a baby bootie pattern that I think may be cute once I work the cuff differently. I think throwing in some other colours as well will make them cute. Maybe make some that look like tennis shoes. Little knit Chuck Taylors and knit Doc Martens… Yeah, that’d be cute.

 I think I’m losing my craft room, unless I clear out the guest room and put everything in there. We bought a large indoor pen for the boys, since they’re in this “territory marking” phase- which they only do when either me or the hubby are not in the room. The pen right now is in the middle of the living room, and with the tree still up, there is just no room to move. So we’re clearing out all my crafting stuff in the front room and moving it- and possibly their bed mattress- in there. Sads. I guess I’ll just have to find a way to incorporate the guest room things in with my crafting things. It’ll take time, but it can be done. May take a match and lighter fluid, but it’ll be done (I think we’ll just get a storage unit and work from there- no pyros here!)

I still have 45 minutes until dinner, and I’m starving. I had a cupof peanuts at 4, but it’s just not sticking. I was really proud of myself last night. I went home and was still feeling snacky. The hubby had made some awesome baked chicken for dinner, and kept saying “Have one… it’s just chicken, not real meat”… I almost gave in, but decided not to let him sabotage my first day. Instead, I had a whote Texas grapefruit. I think that little victory made it all the more satisfying, too.

But right now- damn, I’m like way hungry. I’m graving some sweets, too. I could totally bury my face in a sheet cake right now. But I also know that I can not let this diet slide. I’m tired of being fat, and tired, and just overall lazy. And I think this fast is just the ticket to kickstart everything, considering one of the things I can not have is the one addiction I’ve never fully kicked. Stupid soda. And even though right now I have a can of Sunkist and a 20oz Coke Zero in my desk drawer, they’re going to stay in there.

I bought some more Morningstar veggie things, this time the Asian veggie burgers. OMG- talk about way awesome! Only 100 calories a piece, so I popped a pair in the microwave and ate those for brunch. I also had a bottle of 100% orange juice- can I say I’m not a fan? Don’t get me wrong, orange juice is good for you, but I’m so partial to my grapefruit juice. Tomorrow I’ll have to get up earlier so I can make either some oatmeal or grits for breakfast, then I can come in and have the other 2 Asian patties for lunch. Dinner will be ramen with veggies and the Fake-talian sausage all mixed up. Filling and satisfyingly yummy.

I think I’m holding my own here with the Daniel Fast. I still need to hit the store and see what else I can get to eat when I’m at home. Maybe some large salads with veggie chick’n or something. I’ll figure it out. Either way, I’m sticking to my guns on this.

I made it home last night just in time for the countdown in Dallas, so we watched a big fireworks display that was done right over Victory Park and the AAC. Very nice. The hubby was in a mood, so there has been no New Year’s kiss. Hrmm. Oh well. We watched a movie afterwards, and we all went to bed. The kid is spending the evening with the MIL, then tomorrow she’ll leave to spend a few days with her Nana before she has to go back to school on Tuesday. The drive into work went really fast. I had more than enough time to stop and pick up a few items for the new diet.

So with the diet. I did bring in a package of ramen for dinner, but I’ll only be using the noodles, not the seasoning packet. I grabbed some dry roasted peanuts to snack on, and some little juice boxes that are 100% fruit juice. (I got the fruit punch- very good too!) I grabbed a gallon of spring water so I can accurately gauge how much I’m drinking through out the day, and I also grabbed some of the Morningstar Italian sausages. I’m going to cut them in half, and then chop up each half as I use it and toss it into the ramen noodles. I also brought in a dish of frozen peas and carrots that will be tossed in with the noodles. That bit of protein, noodles and veggies should fill up my belly pretty well, I’d think. Using only half the sausage will 1- save on calories, and 2- save on cash. It was almost $4 for 4 of them. Not what I like to spend considering we’re pretty tight, so I’ve got to scrimp as much as I can. I also brought in a can of fruit salad in light syrup that I’ll have a little later tonight as a snack.

Breakfast wasn’t as good. In all actuality, the Daniel Fast starts at 7p tonight, but I didn’t have anything in the pantry that wasn’t on the non-approved list. So I went ahead and had 2 of these sausage biscuit sandwich things that the hubby likes to take to work, and chased that with a prenatal vitamin (I’m anemic) and a class of Pepsi. I tried to enjoy it, as it’ll be my last until at least the Fast is over. In all reality, I didn’t. I’m going to miss it. But I can do this.

I’m giving my body time to adjust to the new diet and will be starting my exercising on Monday. I like beginning on Mondays, I think. I’ll be following the plan from an earlier post. I still think that it will be easier to follow. I’m also using a daily calendar to get a better hand on my time management. This will allow me to fit in all the various things I need to do throughout the day, including household chores and practicing. I’d like to be good ernough to transition from preperatory orchestra to progressive in August, and I think with a new flute and plenty of dedicated practicing I’ll be good enough.

So here’s to a new year, a new plan, and a new me.