Tuesday, December 20, 2011

...and now to MAINTAIN!

Yes!  I made it to my weight-loss goal!  10% of my body weight gone in 10 weeks.  Whew!  Now I just need to try to maintain this weight loss for another month and a half.  I'm hoping by that point, I will be used to knowing what to eat and what not to eat to be able to maintain.  That's the idea, anyway.

The one problem with this plan is that I have to move offices, once again.  And this time, the new office building doesn't have a workout facility at all!  I'm really perplexed about what I'm going to do to continue exercising once I move.  It works best for me to work out at lunchtime these days.  Before work is no good because I'm just not a morning person in the slightest.  After work is no good because I have to cook, clean up, and do laundry.  And after that is no good because, seriously, who has the energy to do anything after that?!

I suppose I could break down and actually pay for a gym membership so that I could go to a gym and work out at lunchtime, but I don't really want to do that.  So, this is going to require some serious brainstorming on my part.  I'll let you know what I come up with.

In the meantime, though, I'm trying to enjoy being sort of skinny again.  I went out with some friends on Friday afternoon and bought myself some new pants and I've worn a new pair to work for the last two days.  Merry Christmas to me!  :)

I'm going to have to really watch myself, though.  Last night, to celebrate, we went to Chuy's and I had a margarita and about two basket-fulls of chips.  And tonight is "date night" with the husband, so I'm sure there will be wine-drinking involved.  And THEN the Christmas holidays will be upon us and much eating and drinking will be included in those activities!  Weigh-ins start again on January 9th and if anyone gains back more than 1%, they're out of the contest.  Sounds like it's going to be a week of gluttony followed by a week of starvation for me!

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Ups and Downs and Changes

This past week and a half has been a crazy week of ups and downs and changes.

It all started with my drive to work on Wednesday of last week when I realized that I hate my project so much that I was seriously considering changing companies to get off the project.  I took that as a bad sign and decided to go talk to my department head about the possibility of changing projects or even departments!

He quickly said, "Let's get you off that project tomorrow!"  Well, it didn't (and couldn't) happen that quickly, but I WILL be starting on a new project on Monday of next week and I'm extremely happy about that.  I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted off my shoulders and I'm ready for the challenge of the new work.

I've also had some ups and downs in the weight-loss contest, though, too.  This past Monday when I weighed in, I had gained almost two pounds instead of losing two pounds like I needed to.  That meant I was going to have to lose 5 pounds in the coming week before our final weigh-in on December 19!  I was a little worried.

But, it turns out that most of it was water-weight.  The husband's Christmas party was this past weekend and that involved drinking wine with dinner, plus a friend had a Christmas party over the weekend that involved eating and drinking and I swear whenever I drink alcohol, I retain water for a couple of days afterwards. (plus, it was a bad time of the month...)

This morning when I stepped on the scale, I found that I only have to lose 0.6 pounds to get to my 10% weight loss goal.  I'm so excited, I'm running around telling everyone who will listen.

Tomorrow, I'm supposed to go out shopping with some friends and I'm finally going to be able to buy some new pants for myself.  With the job change and the weight change, I feel like a whole new person.  I really have given myself a Christmas present this year.  Yay, me!  :)

Tuesday, December 06, 2011

Cone of Shame

An integral part of the movie, UP, is a pack of talking dogs.  They're able to talk because their master (who is "a good and smart master") made them special collars that interpret their thoughts and turn them into words.

Anyway, one of the funny parts of the movie includes one of those plastic cone things that they put around a dog's neck to prevent the dog from licking or chewing at a sore or surgery site or whatever.  The dogs refer to this plastic cone as the "Cone of Shame".

Well, Spot got spayed last week and when I picked her up on Friday morning, she was sporting her own feline version of the "Cone of Shame".

I do not like the cone of shame.

Monday, December 05, 2011

Back on Track!

Ok, I weighed myself this morning for our weekly weigh-in and I'm back on track!  I'm down 7.3% from my original weight and I "only" have to lose 2 pounds per week the next couple of weeks in order to get down to 10% on the 10th week.  I think I can, I think I can...

I am NOT on track with Christmas presents this year.  I feel very un-motivated to get them ordered/bought this year.  Last year by this point, I was on fire - I think I'd ordered everything and was almost done with my shopping!

I can't figure out what is not motivating me this year.  It could be my project at work.  I hate coming to work every day because our client can't figure out what they want to do and it's just dragging on and on and on.

Or, it could be that they've blocked "shopping" sites from our computers here at work and therefore, I can't spend my whole day perusing the internet and getting good ideas for presents.

I suppose it could be that I've been eating so much less for the past several weeks that I just don't have the energy to get into the spirit.

Maybe it's the fact that it's still been hot and humid here and I just can't bear to think about Christmas when it's very much not Christmas-like outside.  (Although a cold front came through last night and dropped the temperature by about 30*, so maybe there's some hope for me?)

Whatever it is, I need a kick in the pants.  Send me some fairy dust, hook me up to an electrical shock device, put me in a room with only Christmas songs playing - I'll take anything to get me into the spirit!  Got any ideas?...

Sunday, December 04, 2011

RIP Midas, April, 1993 - Nov. 30, 2011

We had to say goodbye to our long-time friend this past Wednesday. Midas found his special place in our family after the kids came along - he was extremely tolerant of kids as they learned to use their 'gentle hands'. We'll all miss him.