03/19/2010 01:44
Hmmm
I'm trying to change my background and its all white. My beach has disappeared and I'm trying to put something springy but its not working! :( I hate technology!
I think I'm in good standing with the EP community! I hope! I tried to catch up with everyone who has been nice enough to leave me comments over the past few months! Unless they aren't blogging anymore...lots of my friends are not. But I'm back. I'm going to stop messing around so much on Facebook and start focusing on blogging, weight loss, and eating healthier. My husband bought and read Managing your Metabolism by Jillian Michaels and I'm about half way through it now. I swear, if it wasn't for him reading it firsthand, I never would have been able to convince him to go 100% organic with our food!!! We've done that now, and next will be to toss out all of our plastic storage containers and go with glass. After that, I need to go through the cupboards and throw away anything that doesn't "grow from the ground or has a mother". Thats Jillian's advice and I love it!!! Now that I'm not sick any more and I'm feeling amazingly wonderful and the weather is gorgeous and inspiring, I'm totally onboard this weight loss train! :) I wish I hadn't gained 9 pounds in less than a month, but I did. I was 140 when I left for Palm Springs on 2/12 and I think I came back at 145. Lost those 5 pounds and then gained 9 between going to New Orleans and being sick for 2 weeks. I'm down to 145 as of yesterday and today, and I'm hyper focused on getting back down to 140 as soon as possible, then I'm gonna work on getting down to 135. Then 130. And maybe even 125! Thats only 20 pounds and I really think I could stand to lose 20 pounds. I used to think that would be too thin, but I don't think so any more. However, I'm just taking it 5 pounds at a time.
I've exercised 3 days in the past week: Saturday we went hiking, Monday my daughter and I did the 3 miles, and yesterday I played tennis for 1.5 hours. I've walked the dogs every day this week, and thats all I've done today so far, but I'm about to do sit ups and light weights. (just did a set of 10 reps..need to do 2 more).
I've set myself a goal of doing 200 situps every single day until I leave for So. Cal. in just under 5 weeks. Its going to be tough, but I think I can do it. And I'm not going to be focusing so much on just running anymore. I'm cool with the walking/running C25K that I'm doing with my daughter, and I'm going to try to mix it up. Its full on tennis season as of this week. However, I do need to train for my next half marathon. Yes, its true. I'm doing another one! In June, in San Diego, with GirlNextDoor. But the race is just an excuse to go to San Diego and see Donna. I love that city and I love that girl! :) Unfortunately, my husband has invited himself along. Ugh. He's already doing the SF Marathon in July, the Malibu Marathon, and the Bay to Breakers..both in November...so why does he need to come spoil my girlie fun in San Diego? Well, at least I get to go. And at least I get my solo trip in April!! More on that in a minute.
So, the country club that I belong to has new owners! This is such great news because they are fixing it up...it was really falling apart...the stairs down to the tennis courts have been under construction and blocked off since July...really inconvenient that I have to step down 18 inches to the grass, really dangerous for my knees. But anyway, not only are they fixing the stairs and making a new walkway, but yesterday they put in all new machines in the gym!!!! I think I'm going to go check it out soon because it would be really cool if the treadmills have those mini personal TV's on them!!!! I would totally go work out more if they did!!! And I think I'll put a suggestion in the box that they put in a steam room!! :) We have a dry sauna, but I want wet steam!! I'd probably go there every day!! :)
Ok, my trip in April. I'm sooooo excited!!! I'm driving down alone, its an 8 hour drive, and I'm staying in Newport Beach for 2 nights and shopping at Fashion Island, then I'm staying 1 night in Costa Mesa and shopping at South Coast Plaza. I used to go down all the time in the Spring, but then I gained weight and figured whats the point. So the very first Spring that I got to my goal weight I reinstated my annual shopping trip to my old stomping grounds and this will be my 4th annual trip since losing weight! :) So, I really need to get this 10 pounds off, at least!
Ok, enough rambling. I'm feeling very motivated these days! :) Hope everyone is excited and ready for Spring!!!!! I know I am!! Its 80 degrees here today!!! 
If only it could stay that way.....no 100's, no 50's....just a perfect 80 degrees!
Cheers!
Shelley
03/15/2010 23:45
Finally did my measurements
Sort of...I haven't weighed myself in about a week, so I'll have to do that tomorrow. But I went for a "run" with my daughter today and when we got back she wanted me to update her user profile in CalorieKing. She's only 17, and the last time we did her measurements was 11/07. She's grown taller and has lost weight and inches. Not that she's been trying; she has always been a healthy eater, but has always hated to exercise. Suddenly she wants to run with me. I took her out Saturday and we did 1.9 miles in 1:04, but it was all uphill and more of a hike, as opposed to much running. Today we did 3 miles in 46 minutes, which is about 16 minutes longer than it would normally take me if I were running by myself, but since I haven't run in 2 weeks, except for Saturday, Its not that bad! I'm a fast walker and she was trailing behind me the whole way, but it was fun and I think I was pretty motivating for her. :) Anyway, I'm psyched that I have a new walk/run C25K partner! :) Its a good way to get me out, thats for sure!
So, as previously promised a few posts ago....now that I'm 100% well again!!!!!.....here are my measurements:
- 36 Bust
- 33 Waist
- 38 Hips
- 22 Thighs
So, clearly I need to lose a few inches on my waist and hips! I'm guessing I need to lose about 12 pounds, but I'll know more tomorrow. I do know that my clothes are tight. :( Its all the eating and lack of exercise, all the travel, and then me being so sick. I've been doing better the past few days and I feel really good today, so maybe I'm headed back in the right direction. Honestly, I'm just so grateful that I'm not sick any more!!! And I'm loving the gorgeous Spring like weather!!!! Only 5 days til the first day of Spring!
03/11/2010 21:08
No no no no.....
So, I'm feeling better today.....however, I have cramps now!! Ugh. I was 3 days late and woke up with cramps this morning. Great. Oh, well. Whats one more day of feeling like crap. Tomorrow I have a tennis match. I have an alternate player who could sub for me if I need her to, but I am just going to bite the bullet and hope that I still feel well enough tomorrow. Its been a long 10 days of being sick. I've gained about 6 pounds...I think? I never did weigh in on Tuesday! Why? I've just been eating my way through being sick. I even had ice cream last night! So unlike me. I'm really uncomfortable and need to get back down to my 5 pound range.
So, I'm feeling somewhat better, yet, I'm still in bed doing nothing. Its sunny outside and I should go out and take the dogs for a walk or something. But I really need to get my house cleaned up. I've tried to do a little something every day and my oldest daughter has been helping me, but I need to do some deep cleaning.....and am still feeling too weak to tackle it. Maybe I just need to force myself into action. I've been such a sick, weak, slug for so long now, its like all I remember. I can count on one hand how many times I've left my house in the past week and a half.....and I can count on one finger how many times I wore makeup! lol Oh, no, wait, two. Once to the movies and once to a tennis match on Sunday that I had no business playing in. I was like a zombie.
Ok, enough complaining. I'm gonna go jump in the shower, put on my ham pants, and take these poor doggies out for a walk. Somewhere......then I'll do the dishes and vacuum. Tomorrow, real life begins.
03/07/2010 00:59
Sick of being sick
I've been so sick since my last post. Just logged on to read my comments; thank you so much. I'm going to make it my number one priority to respond to all messages/emails/facebook/EPinbox asap...just gotta get over this weird illness. I've had everything in the book: sore throat, achy body, headache, chills, fever, vomiting, and congestion. I was tripping out when I spent Wednesday throwing up...I cannot remember the last time I've ever thrown up, years, I'm guessing. I think I went from being dehydrated, to possibly having food poisoning, to having a stomach flu, to now just a common cold. I'm just really weak and congested now. I have slept so much the past several days and yet, I'm still tired. Today I've managed to do the dishes, take a break, take a shower, take a break. I think its the ultimate in grossness to skip a shower....I've had one every day except for yesterday. I just couldn't muster the energy to get myself out of bed. I laid on the couch and watched two movies last night to be sure that I could sleep through the night. Course, I was falling asleep the last 15 minutes of A Serious Man (a big snore of a movie, anyway!) We also watched The Hurt Locker last night. Trying to knock out as many nominated movies as possible. I'm forcing myself to go the movies tonight with DH. Its taken me 2 hours to get dressed, but I'm gonna make it! lol I can't imagine that I'm contagious at this point. We're gonna see Up in the Air. That will leave us with 8 movies unseen before the Oscars tomorrow. Sucks that I've been sick because usually this is the week that I do a movie marathon. Oh, well. I love the Oscars and always do a huge spread. This year its going to be simple because a) I don't have the energy and b) I don't need to add insult to injury (see below).
One thing about me when I get sick is that I don't even remotely lose my appetite. No, no, no. I eat everything in sight!!!!! I get ravenously hungry!!!! I refuse to weigh myself until Tuesday, which is my normal weigh in day, and I'm hoping that I'll no longer be sick by then, and that my body will have settled down a bit. My husband bought one of those Tanita body compostion scales. Fun. I know from experience that its going to be at least 2 pounds higher than my current scale. I'm just not really sure I WANT to know my body fat or water weight or whatever else it does! I think I'm in for a rude awakening. However, having said that, assuming that I am no longer sick on Tuesday, I intend to record all that the Tanita keeps track of, in addition to including my measurements. I have a goal date of 4/20 since thats when I leave for my annual Spring shopping spree in Southern California and will be reuniting with my ex-best friend who I have just started speaking to a couple months ago, after not having spoken for 6 years, after 11 years of being best friends. Some of you who have been reading my blog for a few years, may recall me driveling on about this relationship. I need to look and feel my best for this reunion. She saw my article in Health magazine a few years and apparently it inspired her to lose weight, too.
I am ready to get serious about running and watching what I eat again after spending the week sick in bed. I cannot believe I have a tennis match tomorrow. I was hoping it would get rained out. I should think about contacting the alternate to maybe take my place. Or I can forfeit. Tennis season is upon me big time, so its also time to think about fitting into my skirts! :0
Catch up with yall soon! :) xoxox
03/02/2010 21:37
New Orleans
We got back from New Orleans yesterday afternoon. We had a blast! We got in late Friday night and went straight to dinner at Emeril Lagasse's restaurant, Nola. Loved it! My rib eye was not the best, but overall, it was an awesome dining experience. The staff are pros!!! I did not save time for dessert, even though I wanted the banana bread pudding with drunken monkey ice cream and caramel sauce! :( After dinner, we took a cab over to a place called Check Point Charlies to listen to some blues and have a beer. Interesting crowd. Very dead. Must've been early (11:30 pm!) or late? lol This town never sleeps.
Saturday we slept in longer than we had hoped, but we were jet lagged and didn't get to bed until late. I was having a hard time sleeping and didn't feel very well, so It must've been about 4am by the time I fell asleep. We left the hotel around 11:00 and walked over to Cafe du Monde for beignets and cafe au lait. OMG delish! I can't stop dreaming about them!! I'm going to order some online so that I can make them myself at home and indulge! :) After that, we walked around the French Quarter for a bit, went in some shops on Royal Street, and then headed on the 45 minute walk over to Parasols, which is a place we had seen on Drivers, Drive-ins, & Dives on the Food Network with Guy Fieri. It was an interesting walk! We went through some eery neighborhoods in the Garden District to get there, but it was well worth it. Its this tiny little dive (the restroom was so disgusting!) with about 9 tables all crammed together on one side and the bar is on the other side. I ordered the roast beef po'boy and DH had the Italian sausage po'boy. I wanted him to get the ham, because on TV it looked awesome, but whatever. ;) It was sooo good. I slathered it with Louisiana Crystal hot sauce. Yum.
After lunch we headed back over to the French Quarter and Bourbon Street. What a sight! Bands playing in the street, people walking around with open containers....you can order your beer or whatever "to go"!! This was shocking to us and took us a bit to get used to! But we had fun people watching. All together, we walked for over 6 hours. We went back to the room and changed for dinner, which was at Ruths Chris. Yum. We wanted something more local but didn't plan in advance and couldn't get in anywhere within walking distance! lol I was done walking at that point. Got to bed around midnight, cuz I can never sleep the night before a race. I got about 5.5 hours, so it was fine.
Sunday we got up at 5:45 to get ready for the race. I was feeling pretty determined. We walked 15 minutes to the starting line and ran together for the first 2.5 miles, then Corey took off and left me in his wake. I plugged along and was doing pretty good until about mile 6 when my left knee started hurting really badly. But I just ran through it and just kept telling myself to put one foot in front of the other and keep running. The pain intensified around mile 11 and I was getting kind of worried but I knew I had to keep running because walking would a) make it worse and b) I was afraid I wouldn't be able to start running again. I stopped at mile 4 to use the restroom but thats the only time I stopped. No walking this time. I was very happy to cross the finish line and although I thought at several points throughout the race that I would be able to make my personal best, I missed it by 5 minutes. So, I finished in 2:25 and it was my second best time out of the 6 half marathons that I've done in past 2.5 years. My best time was my first half in San Jose 2007 (2:20).
After the race I hung around the finish line a bit....iced my feet, went to the medic to have ice packs taped to both my knees (my right knee of course started killing me eventually, too, especially when I stopped), went to pick up my tote bag with my sweatshirt, got a beer (at 10:00am! lol it was free), then sat down and cried for a few minutes. I get so emotional when I finish a race!! I have thoughts like "I run because my mom can't" but then I think, heck, she couldn't even run when she was alive! lol But for me, the emotions just race to the surface....relief, happiness, sadness, etc. I knew that my husband would be a couple hours (he did the full marathon) so I took the shuttle back to the hotel and took a shower and a nap. He got in about 2 hours after me; his time was 4:33. We got dressed and hobbled (I could barely walk but we slowly made our way the few blocks) to get some lunch. We shared crab cakes and a muffaletta at Pierre Maspero's near Jackson Square, grabbed a beer in a to go cup (because we can!!! lol) and then went back to the room and took a 4 hour nap!!! We woke up at 9:30, ordered room service, watched a show about haunted houses in New Orleans, and then went back to sleep because we had an early flight in the morning.
And now we are home! I loved New Orleans, I'm proud of myself for doing another race, and I'm happy with my time. I might not be doing a half marathon any time soon....I've learned that my knees just cannot take more than 6 to 8 miles, so I might be only doing 10K's in the future. I had a rest day yesterday and might rest my legs some more today....we walked sooooo much and then ran and then imagine being on an airplane all day yesterday....yea, my legs hurt!
02/25/2010 00:32
wow time flies!
Where in the heck have I been? (on facebook! lol) Hows everyone doing? Is anyone blogging anymore? I keep saying I'm gonna blog more....I started a new WordPress blog in January but its pissing me off. I get more "comments" (read: spam) there than I care to receive. Its really annoying. I wanted a place to write about stuff a little bit more anonymously and not necessarily about weight. This one is for weight maintenance, but I have a food blog, too, and then my new one that Ive only posted a couple times. So much for streamlining. I like you guys here so much better anyway!! :) You guys rock. Its hard to believe that in May I will have been blogging here for 4 years!!! 4 years ago I weighed 180!!! Crazy. So, I've had my ups and downs, currently experiencing a slight "upage", but I don't want to go into it right now. I've been struggling with my eating lately. And exercise. I don't know why I expect to see the scale go the other way! Basically, I've been traveling a lot and eating out. Thankfully I've been able to avoid fast food for 63 days now!! :) I try so hard to avoid bread, but once I eat even a little, its like crack for me and I can't stop. We recently went from buying only organic produce and dairy to now meat & poultry. I don't worry so much about bread and grains, though. I buy whole wheat bread for sandwiches and I figure thats good enough.
So, I had the luxury of going down to Palm Springs for Valentines Day Weekend to meet "GirlNextDoor"!! I adore her!! She was so sweet and pretty and happy!! Even after running 13.1 miles!!! Anyway, we ran the first 10 miles together and then she ran like the wind and left me in her wake! LOL My knees were killing me so I had to stop and walk a few times. Plus, I had the misfortune of ToM that day, so I had to stop at the porta potty twice. Anyway, my time was 2:40 and I was only behind Donna by about 3 minutes. I sure wish I could have forced myself to catch up and cross the finish line with her, but it wasn't meant to be. :(
I'm leaving for New Orleans on Friday to run another half marathon. I'm excited about it because I've never been to NOLA before and I've always wanted to go. After Katrina, I had pretty much given up on that dream, but they are working so hard to get tourism up...so much so that they are doing their first Rock & Roll race!! Which is what brings us finally to The Big Easy.
.......my dog just bumped my arm and made me accidentally post before I was ready....
Oh, well, I guess I'm ready afterall. I need to go start making my spaghetti sauce for dinner and I need to walk the dogs and go for a run. I'll try to be better at blogging and keeping in touch.
01/26/2010 21:55
Dreary
Ok, so I never got a callback on the Gordon Ramsay thing. I'm sure its because I was nervous and just not outspoken enough. I was too reserved and polite. I should have been like the girl next to me and claimed to have dreamed of having my own singing chef show! lol There were some real whack jobs there. They loved my prawns, though. It was a fun experience.
So, my stupid husband woke up sick this morning. Ugh. I look so forward to Tuesdays and Thursdays when he actually goes into his office!!! So, I'd been looking forward to today since last Thursday!! And now I will just have to look forward to this Thursday and hope and pray that he feels better!! I need my space!! He was very sweet to go with me to the audition on Sunday, though. I wanted to go alone, but he thought I'd like to have his company while waiting 4 hours in the rain. I will admit it was nice to have been dropped off in the city downtown and not have to worry about parking. Plus, he held the umbrella. lol So, it was fine.
Today begins week 2 of me and my husbands little The Biggest Loser challenge. I was 140 last week and 140 again this morning. I got ahead of myself by putting 139 in the other day. Wishful thinking. I had a stressful week and ate too much. Do you know that the last time I had fast food was well over a month ago??? It was the Monday before Christmas, so December 21st. And it was a Double Double cheeseburger from In N Out and some fries. Thats about the last time I played Farmville on Facebook, too. Anyway, my loss for week 1 was 0 and my husband, being sick, did not weigh in, so his is "?" He is so puffy and swollen. Freaky. He is not a good patient. I think I will read for a little bit then head out to see who might accept my $50.00 Amex gift card. ERG!! No one takes Amex. Whats the point?? Oh, and I'm reading the most boring book by Elizabeth Gilbert. Its called Committed. I don't recommend it. I'm about 75% through and I need to be done.
I am going running at 5:30pm. Period. Tennis has been rained out two weeks in a row. I think we get a break in the rain for a couple days. It just stopped a minute ago. I am so behind on emails. I need to sit down and respond to everyone here and on Facebook. Sorry, just got busy! I took my daughter out for a little shopping and a movie yesterday. It was nice. She loves to shop with me. We got cupcakes at "Frosting" and I got some Valentines.
Alright, rambling over.
01/24/2010 08:38
Big day tomorrow!
Tomorrow morning I am venturing into the city to submit my prawn
dish and application to participate on Gordon Ramsay’s new show,
MasterChef! I only just found out about it on Thursday and it was on a
whim that I decided it might be fun. The first and most important
question is: can I be gone for potentially 5 weeks????? My answer is: I
will miss my dogs and my family. I only put the dogs first because I
know that my dogs will miss me soooo much and my kids and husband will
be fine without me. I’ll miss them so much, though. If I get chosen, I
don’t really expect to make it too far, and I certainly don’t expect to
be the last man standing! It just sounds like a great opportunity and I
won’t know if I have a shot unless I try! So, wish me luck! I’m
bringing my Chile-Cilantro-Lime Prawns. I did two presentations and am
still undecided on which one I’m going with.
01/22/2010 23:56
Ouch!!!
I have a really bad kink in my shoulder and it got 100 times worse when
I put my T-shirt on after taking a shower today. I am in debilitating
pain right now and I can't even believe I can type! In fact, its one of
the few positions that it doesn't hurt quite as much. Anyway, I am in a
lot of pain. I took a pain pill that I have for my knees. I don't take
pain pills unless I absolutely have to. I feel like crap today. I was planning on going out to run a few
errands, but I don't think driving is a possibility. I'm going to have
to get my husband to pick up my daughter.
Exercise? What exercise? Pretty much non-existent. I wanted to go
running so badly yesterday, but it rained all friggin' day. 4 days in a
row of rain! Crazy. Its not raining now, but hello, my shoulder! Theres
no way I can go running in the pain I'm in. What I need is to get a
really good nights sleep and tomorrow will be a much better day. Except
that its 2:30 pm.....and bedtime is a ways off. I might take a nap.
Oh, my list. I ordered some new sheets last night and I have the paperwork filled out for the cap and gown. Just need to write a check and mail it in. I also ordered her announcements and instead of a ring, we decided on a necklace. A whole lot cheaper, too!! So, I'm very slowly getting stuff done. I love the sheets I ordered. I think I found a comforter, too, but god they are expensive! Just the sheets alone were $100.00. I don't think I've ever paid that much for sheets, but I had to have these. They have coral colored shells on the hemming. Cute.
To Do List:
- Take my jewelry in to be
repaired
- Update my running song list on my iPod.
- Drive up to the boot consignment shop.
Ok, I'm going to try taking a nap now. The pain pill is making me drowsy. I have a big weekend ahead that I need to be at my best for. I'll write about it later. Oh, and my weight was 139 this morning. Getting there.
01/17/2010 07:29
Updated List (for me)
Things I need to do:
- Take my jewelry in to be
repaired
- Buy new sheets, bedspread, pillows
- Order my daughters cap, gown, & class ring!
- Update my running song list on my iPod.
- Drive up to the boot consignment shop.
