Pink Bunny Foo Foo

yeeeehaaawwww....

I survived my mega day. Barely. I taught an Adult Education evening class last night and the room had NO AIR CONDITIONING - it was 100 degrees. Add 40 computers and no air circulation...yah, I pretty much wanted to die. My cute outfit went to sweaty shit in a matter of 10 minutes, team that with my flat hair and yeeehaaawww, I was ready to teach.

It took me about 20 minutes to label all of the students in my class. I had Chester the Molester in the front row, Harry the Hacker in row 2, Paranoid Patty in row 3, It's F-ing Hot in Here Helen also in row 3 and I don't understand F-tards in between. It was supposed to be a full class with a waiting list of 90 - yes, I'm that popular - but attendance was low. My guess is that people bailed because of the weather. Pussies.

My plan was to cannonball into the pool the minute I walked through the door. I was going to swim laps to unwind. Class ended at 9:00 and I drove like a maniac with my sunroof open, air conditioning blasting and Sting molesting me through my speakers.

I pulled into the driveway, stripped in the entry way, great room, master bedroom doorway, etc. Clothes were flying everywhere. DH had just returned home from a ride and it was a mad race to get his gear off as well.

We ended up eating mango and strawberry sorbet on the couch in our underwear...not so much swimming go on there. We watched TV and just chilled - with the fan, air conditioning and our own personal brain freezes. Good times.

I am definitely going to get my swim on tonight. It's supposed to be a hundy again. There was no way I was waking up early again for walking. I just couldn't do it.

We don't have plans tonight...but I double booked for tomorrow. I have a girlfriend lunch  and then we have a couples party - just mutual friends/BBQ-ing and drinking - no fishbowl of keys involved in this adventure.

The plan is to go walking tomorrow morning - early, before the desert like heat hits. I'm positive there will be lots of pool time - I'm trying to get rid of my horrible sock tan. Looks like I am borrowing someone else's feet. Must fix that ASAP.

I'd like to fit in a pedicure, I know...rough life. So yep, that's it...TGIF.

Why we do this...

I am working a 14 hour day today. I won't get home until after 9:00 p.m. I planned ahead for this and got myself out of bed at 5:00 this morning to spend some time on the treadmill. All of this is because of a phone call I got last night.

My best friend all through high school called me crying. We have both always struggled with our weight. She's 5'9" and about 285 lbs. (I'm sure she would just love me posting her weight on my blog) - but that's o.k., it's important.

She began her weight loss program (smaller portions, daily exercise, lots of fruits and veggies, whole grains, lean meats, etc.) in March. We emailed back and forth daily to keep each other on track. She lives about 4 hours away with her two kids and her boyfriend of 5 years. She got the whole family involved with exercise. They were walking every night after dinner and really trying to focus on outdoor activities. Her 14 year old daughter is also overweight and teased at school. She is athletic and really involved in karate, but bigger than her girlfriends - oh how I know a bunch of us can relate to that.

3 weeks ago my friend's back started really bothering her. She was walking nightly and using her elliptical and doing Tae Bo - rotating days. She called in sick to work, iced and took Advil until she could get in to see her doctor. She loves her doctor, but hates going. The pain increased and she ended up in the ER. They gave her muscle relaxants and pain meds.

She got in to see her doctor 2 days later. Her doctor ran blood tests and ordered x-rays. Her doctor walked back into the examining room with a look of horror on her face. My friend is 39 years old and she said the x-rays could easily pass for those of a 90 year old woman. She has arthritis throughout her entire spine. She has lots of bone overgrowth and bone spurs - more than the doctor has ever seen on someone her age. One of the growths was pressing on a nerve. She was referred to a specialist.

The doctor told her that she would like for her to consider having a breast reduction. She wears a EE bra and has wanted surgery for a very long time. All of the doctors have told her that she needs to lose weight before they can do the reduction. The doctor said she would also like her to go on a diet (shocker) - she said that obesity and the excessive weight places too much stress on all of her joints and the pain is only going to get worse over time.  She cried...she sobbed and was super scared about the road ahead.

I told her about heated pool aqua therapy and she is going to look into that. Her doctor is sending her to regular physical therapy as well.

She went back to the doctor yesterday for a follow up appointment to go over her blood test results. More bad news. She has type 2 diabetes. She has high cholesterol and she already knew that she had high blood pressure. Wow...she was devastated.

I just let her cry on the phone with me. She was doing so well and then to be slammed with all of this at once, it just took her over the edge. She sat her 14 year old daughter down and talked to her about the importance of the two of them really working together to keep each other on track with healthy eating and daily exercise. Her daughter said she would do whatever her mom asked of her.

She then went off on her boyfriend. She had a conversation with him about the new diagnosis and he sympathized, but then went into the kitchen and ordered a pizza for himself for dinner. She took that as a slap in the face. I just sat in silence on the phone.

I tried to explain that maybe he also turns to food when he's stressed. (He isn't overweight and drinks tons of soda and eats crap every day) She is planning a family meeting and while I understand the importance of that, I also know from experience with my own husband, that this is my own personal struggle - I own it. I am the one with food issues. I am the one that uses food to squash my emotions. I am the one that has intense cravings...not him.

Expecting someone else to change their own lifestyle is just as rude as them trying to force you to go on a diet. Sure, it would be so much easier to have the support and sure, it would be nice if they recognized that eating crap in front of you wasn't very supportive...but the reality is that only you control what goes into your mouth.

Would it be easier? Yes. Is it required to get started? No. I think fixing healthy meals for her kids and monitoring their snacking, etc. is fine, but her boyfriend is 40 plus years old. If he doesn't recognize that a pop tart probably isn't the best choice for breakfast...then that is on him. I know a lot of people feel differently, but my feelings are that you will be waiting around forever if losing weight includes getting all of your family and friends on board.

I had a slightly crummy day yesterday and I almost let the 100 degree (no joke) weather convince me that I didn't need to walk after work...my neighbor and I complained the whole way. It was hot, we were sore and tired...but we completed all 5.5 miles. I am aiming to be healthy and sometimes it SUCKS and some days are HARDER than others, but they are definitely not as awful as getting bad news from the doctor like my friend.

So get on those workout clothes/shoes and continue to put healthy things into your body. Our reward is a healthy future - we can do this!

Hi, I'm 4...

This weekend was filled with mass amounts of exercise and equal amounts of jealousy. Good times.

So my brother's girlfriend started WW (for the first time) about 9 weeks ago...just a week before I started getting my own plan together with exercise and eating. No surprise there, we all know that when someone close to us jumps on board with a weight loss or exercise plan, we get in the game...because seriously, she is NOT going to look better than me.

The hub and I hosted Mother's Day at our house - Swimming, BBQ and family time. I cleaned and prepped like the freakin' president was slated to make an appearance...but whatever with that. My brother and his girlfriend showed up and I instantly thought...bitch has totally lost a lot of weight. Nice...but I'm being real here.

Later I find out that she's about to get her 10% key chain at this week's meeting. My brother and her talked a little bit about what they were doing for exercise. Walking a mile to a mile and a 1/2 - 2 days a week and riding their bikes for an hour once a week. That's it folks...that is all of the exercise being done.

She has not stopped drinking alcohol. She had a glass of wine and 3 sangrias at the house. She snacked on appetizers and acted completely normal...shocker, you mean there really are people that can handle weight loss without freaking out? Hah...

We treaded water in the pool for over an hour while we chatted...the whole time I was thinking, she looks way better in her bathing suit than I do. She shared that she is down close to 20 lbs. WTF??? I wanted to shout, ARE YOU SERIOUS? but just congratulated her with a huge smile...the better thing to do.

I had to fight back the tears. I was totally jealous. My 6 lb. loss (I'm up a pound this week) and all of my walking seem like such an effort in comparison to what she is doing. I know, I know...never compare. Sounds good in theory, but it's very hard not to do.

I recognize that she is on the newbie WW high...I do get at least that much. I also know after reading an article that a reader sent (Thanks Lora) - that my body is jacked because I was doing mass amounts of exercise the first time around. The article stated that exercising inconsistently may make dropping pounds more difficult. If you lose weight walking 10 miles a week and then stop your workouts for a while, you won't drop pounds again until you exceed the 10 miles a week number.

Um yah...I was working out for about 3 hours a day the first go around and then needed to stop because of my back and tailbone pain. Start, stop...and there is no way I could increase back to an unrealistic number like...4 hours a day.

Baby steps back to health...that is the only road I can take right now. I am being really consistent with my workouts...and they haven't slowed in 8 weeks. Like I was telling Lora in an email, I do think I could keep up a 5-6 day a week walking pace for the rest of my life. It is such a great stress reliever and I look forward to chatting with my neighbor...total girl time. Sure, some people think 5 miles is excessive, but it's really only the recommended 5000 steps a day.

The other thing that pissed me off over the weekend is that we changed up the regular menu because my brother's girlfriend is counting points. Um, excuse me??? Did they do that for me when I was doing WW by myself? NOPE. I seem to recall many family events that were filled with eye rolling and OMG, there she goes with her point counting.

It's just very interesting to me how things have shifted. I really did benefit from the changed up menu, grilled fillets and veggies, 1/4'd baked potatoes and sorbet and small sugar cookies for dessert. I did make fruit and veggies for appetizers...along with chips and salsa, it turned out to be a perfect healthy meal.

Some days I get tired of fighting the battle, but other days when I find something inspirational in a blog, or read something on a website, or feel the high I get after having completed a monster walk...it just starts to feel good. Good and normal...can't ask for much more than that.

I will eventually get over my "it's not fair" 4 year old behavior, it's just going to continue to take some time. I appreciate all of you sticking around for the ride. Your comments, feedback and emails have really kept me going this time around. Thanks so much.

There is NO finsh line...

"There is no finish line" needs to be my new mantra.

Big huge sigh...I have been avoiding coming on here to share the WW ish news. On one hand, I'm not super upset and disappointed, but on the other hand...frustration is rearing it's ugly head again.

I purposely didn't report last weeks at home WI because I just wasn't feeling like sharing. I was super excited to see yesterday's number because I scale hopped on Sunday and I couldn't stop smiling after getting on the thing, I almost posted about my numbers here.

It's been 7 complete weeks of eating healthy (tracking points - even though I said I wasn't going to - this started after the 3rd week.

My 7 weeks have been filled with daily 5-7 mile walks and crunches and other back stretching exercises. 2 weeks ago I added resistance bands, my weighted medicine ball and swimming to mix things up.

I am very satisfied with my overall progress. We are really picking up our speed with walking - pretty soon we will be in the 15 minute mile range - which is pretty good seeing as we are walking on uneven trail like surfaces for a portion of our walks.

My clothes are definitely fitting better - I'm getting out of some XL tops and into Larges - no where near my smalls, but I really think that is an unrealistic goal for me right now. I'm definitely a true size 12. My size 14's were tight before starting all of this.

As of last week - I was down 7 lbs. for 6 completed weeks of my newest endeavor. Basically 1lb. a week - sucky compared to my previous rate of weight loss, but those huge numbers were a result of me not doing things in a healthy manner and I know my progress this time around falls into the "recommended" amount for long lasting maintenance.

When I scale hopped this past Sunday - it had been after not working out on Friday or Saturday, I needed the break. The scale was down another 3 lbs...bringing my total to 10 lbs. in nearly 7 weeks. Finally a decent number. I was stoked. I didn't celebrate by eating crap, I didn't use the new number as a reason to slack - I counted points religiously for Sunday and Monday. Sunday evening I walked 7 miles.

I went into Monday feeling really good. I got home from work at a decent hour, checked the mail and WW had sent me a lifetime member/staff recruiting card - they were having an informational meeting in my area. I remember back when I thought it would be really cool to work for WW - I just kind of giggled to myself and thought - I'm so glad I'm back on track...because if this card would have come 2 months ago, I probably would have cried.

I wanted to share my Monday with you...because I've received a few emails from new readers asking what I eat.

Monday's journal entry consisted of the following:

Breakfast - Fuji Apple (1), String Cheese (2) and Green Tea (1)
Snack - Yoplait light yogurt (2) and raw almonds (3)
Lunch - Mixed green salad (0) with shredded chicken (3), hard boiled egg (2) and yogurt dressing (2)
Snack - Frozen grapes (1), laughing cow light cheese (1) and celery (0)
Dinner - Fiber One Raisin bran clusters (4), soy milk (2) and fresh strawberries (1)
Snack - WW ice cream cup (2)

27 points, 72 oz. of water, 5 aps.

Yesterday's WI showed that I remained the same - 7lbs. down in 7 weeks. What happened to the 3 lbs. I showed down from Sunday and Monday scale hops? This is the part that frustrates me. Damn scale hopping, it's like I have no control. It gets my hopes up and crushes them in an instant.

I'm pretty sure the 3 lb. loss reading was a result of not working out on Friday and Saturday. My muscles actually had time to repair themselves...so the water weight was down. At least that is what I've convinced myself of. 

I am in a much better place physically and mentally than I was 7 weeks ago. My outfits are getting cuter by the day, I'm smiling more and I really look forward to the exercise every single night. When we first start our walks I think - there is NO WAY I'm going to make it...next thing you know, the Garmin is chirping at mile 5.

It is clearly evident that this is going to take some major time this go around. I just need to learn how to be patient. I am not used to the slower (translation - normal) progress and I can't let that get to me. For those of you that work your asses off and loose a 1lb. a week or less, how do you keep yourself motivated on a daily basis? Do you have clothes and measurements that you prefer to use? How often do you weigh yourself? Do you continue with the thought process that eventually the body will give up the weight - I mean seriously, I have over 30 lbs. to loose, it's not like I'm close to my goal and that I've hit a plateau. I have either lost or maintained each week...so far no gains.

How do you train your brain into believing that this really is about living a healthier lifestyle? I think I've been conditioned to "finish" things in life. Going back to my "to do" list obsession. If I don't check this thing off, then I can't claim success in this area. It's twisted, but honestly...it's what I currently believe and how I feel.

I want to change. I want to see the bigger picture. I just micro manage the heck out of this one area of my life and I'm really struggling with changing the way I think.

Uh yah so...

I had an amazing weekend that went by way too fast. Friday night was dinner out with my SIL to celebrate her birthday - Ahi salad, totally healthy, no bread. Go me.

Saturday was spent getting my hair cut, colored and highlighted while DH helped friends move. Sweet, got out of that one...

We stayed in Saturday night and made tuna sandwiches for dinner - much healthier than the pizza we both wanted. We watched Tivo and just kicked back - it was so nice to not have major plans. Yesterday was spent with friends - We did lunch and movies. The guys BBQ'd and went to Iron Man, the girls went to sushi and saw Made of Honor and then we hooked up later.

Made of Honor was Lifetime Original Movie cute - typical chick flick, wasn't thinking it would be anything else...not giving away any major plot spoilers, but Patrick Dempsey's character invented the Coffee Collar/ Coffee Cozy, whatever the heck you want to call the cardboard thingy around a paper coffee cup.

Let me just take this opportunity to list my #1 complaint when it comes to TV and movie props. Starbucks type coffee cups - They are never FULL of LIQUID. These fuckers are so light that people's arms literally fly over head when they lift them. How HARD would it be to put some sort of weight in them? How about plain water? Are they worried about lips getting wet? Newsflash people...they are supposed to be after drinking.

I'm o.k. with the thought process of hot liquid being too risky, but lifting and drinking air is so damn distracting...There is no way you can turn sipping air into anything believable...fuck this bothers me more than you know.

Some shows/movies take the time to create the coffee steam if they are in cold weather...um, how about adding actual LIQUID to the damn cups? Forget the high tech other crap, wet lips and weighted cups people...do you hear me? Speaking of hearing...Yes, we can HEAR the echo when the cup is placed on a counter, table or desk...the EMPTY CUP echo...but oh god...let's make sure the steam works in cold weather...and don't forget the coffee collar, because protecting people from fake burns is oh so important.

That will be all.

Dog whisperer...

Saving dogs...one walk at a time.

Yes, that's me - neighborhood doggie saver. 5 dogs in 5 weeks. What is with people not putting colors/tags on their dogs?

5-6 mile walks cover a really huge amount of neighborhood streets and walking trails. I swear, I am a dog magnet.

The first 2 dogs had wandered only 3 blocks from their owners. We could hear them yelling the dog's names. We ran towards the yells and the dogs followed us. They were welcomed by their owners and we got to watch them yell at the dogs for getting out. Wow...after a few sentences, (because we all know dogs understand full sentences instead of one word commands) - we got a simple and short - "thanks".

The 3rd dog was a little corgi. He was walking in the middle of a busy street. We called for him to get out of harms way. He ran towards us and seemed a little less than friendly. He was a growler as we neared. I stayed with Barky McBarker while my neighbor knocked on doors. Nobody recognized the dog, so we moved over to the next block. There was a mother daughter at the end of the cul-de-sac. They were looking in our direction, so I yelled from the end of the street -"Do you recognize this dog?" - the Mom yells...OMG, is that Tobey? The daughter ran towards us...she screamed "Yes" back to her Mom. She scooped Tobey up and gave us both hugs...the Mom came down the block and thanked us as well.

Last night we ran into dogs 4 and 5. We were about 5 miles into our walk. We left a little later than usual...it was chilly, so I switched out of my light jacket and into something a little heavier...forgetting that my cell phone was in my first jacket. UGH!

We were admiring a newly landscaped front yard when my neighbor yells...oh FUCK! I look up and there is a huge Shepherd mix and a Pit Bull running towards us. My neighbor got bit in the face by a Rottweiler as a child, so she is very fearful of big dogs, especially when they are running towards her.

We were pretty close to a community mailbox, so I told her to jump on top of it if she was really scared. I stood still and let the dogs approach me first. They had a good crotch/butt sniffing and I talked all crazy in my ridiculous dog voice and the pit bull started licking my running pants. My heart was racing, but I felt o.k. about things. The Shepherd jumped on my neighbor and it scared the crap out of her...she totally panicked and starting pushing him down with her arms. I told her to stop and I gave the dog a sharp "down" command...he listened - obviously he had been trained. I had both of them sitting in no time. My neighbor was visibly shaken...so I sent her door knocking.

We covered about 6-8 blocks of door knocking and NOBODY offered to help us, everybody was scared of the dogs. We then got the brainiac idea to walk them to the nearest vet - about a mile away - we thought we would get them scanned to see if they had micro chips.

The vet is on a pretty busy street and again, we didn't have collars or leashes to hold on to. The dogs kept running in the street, I was yelling at them like a fool and then the Shepard mix starting running full force at my neighbor while jumping at chest level. She's 5'2. She was pushing him down with her arm and yelling for me to help her. She panicked again. A Ford Explorer stopped and the guy jumped out to help her. I had the Pit on the sidewalk across the street about 5 houses down.

The guy checked on me to make sure I was o.k. He called animal control from his cell phone and it broke my heart. I wanted to try the vet first, it was so close to where we were.

Animal control was closed, so he offered to take the dogs the mile to the vet. He wasn't at all interested in getting the dogs into his Explorer - He was afraid of them. I coaxed the Pit Bull to jump up into the back but couldn't for the life of me get the Shepherd to follow. He jumped up and met me eye level...I'm 5'7" - he then put his paws on my chest. I turned him around and lifted his ass up into the back of the vehicle.

The guy and his girlfriend were headed to the airport, so they didn't have much time. They took off and my neighbor and I sprinted...like crazy speed sprinted the 1/2 mile left to the vet. I thought I was going to have a heart attack...all of this after walking 5 plus miles...nothing like wind sprints after that.

We got to the vet...I was so out of breath I could barely talk. I grabbed two leashes off the wall (This happened to be Hig's vet - so I knew the people and where things were) - we looped the leashes around the dog's necks - I had to crawl into the Explorer because the guy and girl were too scared to do it. We got the dogs out of the car, I thanked them for helping and then we waited. A vet tech came outside...I knew they were gentle around people, but I didn't know how they would be around other animals...so I kept my distance from the front door.

They brought the Shepherd in first - no chip....sigh. She then took the pit and HALLELUJAH, the pit had a micro chip. Huge sigh of relief. They put the dogs in holding cages and moved forward with contacting the chip company to get the owner's info. I just pray that it's current.

We filled out paperwork and left feeling pretty good about what we had done. We walked the last mile plus home and that ended our 2 plus hour /7 mile adventure.

The whole time I was thinking that I am storing up good doggie karma in the event that Higgins ever gets out of the house or yard without me knowing. He is collared, tagged, licensed and chipped...but you never know what could happen.

I was cold, hungry and tired. I took a hot bath, got into bed and fell asleep watching TV. It was quite the evening.