Thursday, January 21, 2010

16 Weeks

This past Thursday was my 16th week at Weight Watchers. That's considered important because after that amount of time they believe you are more likely to stick with the program (or something like that). In 16 weeks I have lost almost 25 pounds! I'm very excited about the 25 pounds, but I'm more excited about how much losing the weight has already changed me. In this short period of time my confidence has doubled and made me try things I've been too scared to try before.

Before the meeting I decided I'd try on a pair of jeans that haven't fit for a long time. They zipped up easily and fit quite comfortably. I was so excited! When I got home later that day I decided to try on some other pairs of jeans to see if they fit. I was shocked to discover that I was able to put on a pair of my size 14 jeans and they fit great!! It was amazing to get back into that size!

I was on a roll! I started going through everything in my dresser drawers to see what fit and what didn't. I managed to completely empty one drawer and seriously narrow down several others. I also went through my closet and cleaned out a ton of things there as well. I ended up with a giant garbage bag of clothes that were all too big! It was such an amazing feeling! I can't wait to get rid of even more clothes as even more pounds fall off!!

Monday, January 18, 2010

Turning 30

Sorry I've been a little absent. School has started back up and I'm already a week behind! I'm taking four English classes and a psychology lab. The English classes mean I have to read twelve novels and countless works out of various anthologies! Needless to say I'm a little overwhelmed.

But, that's not what this post is about. I'm turning 30 this year! That exclamation point at the end there means that I'm excited about it. I wasn't excited about it a few months ago. I haven't been excited about it since I turned 29, but I'm excited now. My life is completely insane right now, but I really can't complain. I've made more strides toward the life I want since getting laid off almost a year ago than I ever would have if that hadn't happened. Going back to school to finish the degree I started in 1997 was the fist step toward becoming who I really want to be, and things have just been falling into line ever since. Joining Weight Watchers was another huge step, which led me to meeting my friend Diane who is teaching a writing class which I will be taking and who has pushed me to start becoming the runner I always dreamed of being. I've wanted to write my whole life, and haven't done it for a very long time. I'm not sure why, just afraid I guess. Afraid that whatever came out would suck. But now I don't care!

That's another big thing that's happened recently...I've realized I don't give a damn! I used to worry constantly about what others thought of me. If someone was talking quietly near me, I thought they were talking about me. If someone was the slightest bit off when talking to me I thought it was the end of the world. But, now I just don't care! This could have something to do with getting older (or my happy pills) but it's happened and I'm glad! I truly am happier than I've ever been in my life and while there are things that I'd like to change, for the first time in a long time I feel unstoppable! I feel like anything I want is within reach and that turning 30 is going to be spectacular!

Monday, January 11, 2010

Diet Smugness

I'm starting to develop a bit of diet smugness when it comes to Weight Watchers. I've been at an unhealthy weight for most of my life, so I know how hard it is to lose weight. I also know that a lot of the time it's no fun, and you want it to go a lot faster than it ever does. I see the appeal of the fad diets and diet pills; I really do. But as we all know, the only true way to lose weight is through a proper diet and exercise. It's the ONLY way to keep weight off. Even if you do something really drastic to get the weight off, you won't keep it off without proper diet and exercise.

Today while out buying some staples for my weight loss efforts, I overheard a woman telling a friend that she was on NurtiSystem. She didn't look like she had very much weight to lose, maybe twenty pounds at most. The friend asked her how much it cost and she said $150 for three weeks of food and she could eat whatever she wanted on the weekend.

I couldn't help but mentally chuckle. How does that work? Are you really going to eat one of their food items for every meal of the day for three weeks? Really??? If you can, good for you, because you are a lot more disciplined than I am. But, I eat out sometimes and sometimes I want something really specific. I also like my food to taste good, but that's just me.

Now I do pay money to do what I might be able to do on my own. I pay $40 a month for WW because I use the online tools and it's the cheapest way. I get to go to as many meetings as I want, and you would have to go to the meetings to see how great they are. I didn't think I would like them, or that they would make a difference, but they really do. It's weekly accountability as well as support and ideas. Not to mention that I've made a great friend there who is now my running buddy and someone who has already learned so much that she helps me out a ton.

So, now I'm a WW snob, I admit it. I can eat real food every day. I learn how to manage portions, I learn what foods make me overeat. I learn why I over eat. I learn how to incorporate everything I enjoy into my life without overdoing it.

I didn't get fat hating food. I got fat loving food, and I have to learn how to manage my love of food forever, not lose a bunch of weight depriving myself only to gain it back plus more!

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Do you ever just know something?

I mean really know it, down in your core. I KNEW that I was going to marry my ex-husband when I first met him. I was only 14-years-old but I knew it. We had our struggles to finally get together, but I married him when I was nineteen. Now, it didn't work out, but it gave me two wonderful kids and a great friend. For the five years prior to our marriage deep down I never questioned that it would happen. How or when wasn't important, I just felt it.

I used to write, loved to write. I haven't done it in a long time and I just keep buying book after book about writing. I was reading a book written by a woman who teaches writing workshops and she was talking about her classes and I thought about how I wanted to find a local class. The next day my friend Diane told me about the classes she was going to teach. They start soon and I'm signed up!

That happened to me recently with something a bit less important. But, the idea came in my head and less than a week later it happened. I wish I had a little more control over this, but I'm working on it. I need to trust my gut a lot more and not worry so much about the how or the why of it all.

Tonight it dawned on me that I did it again the other day with something that could be important. It was like I just walked out of the house knowing exactly what I needed to do. I even tried to do something different and I couldn't. I won't tell you what it is yet, I'll wait to see the outcome and let you know then. Telling now puts too much pressure on it.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Hair

I have issues with hair. I know how that sounds. But I have issues with hair. This is generally limited to MY hair, but every now and then I get a bit obsessed with someone else's hair too...or lack thereof. Like if I see a woman who shaves her eyebrows and then draws them back on with a pencil, I get a little nuts.

But, I'm always a little nuts about my own hair. I am one of the few women in the world who must shave her legs every day. I just can't not do it. I didn't today because of how fast I needed to get out of the house and it has bothered me ALL day!

This isn't limited to leg hair. I'm obsessed with the hair on my head too. If you know me, you know I don't have great hair. But, if you've known me since I was very young then you know what I have now is a HUGE improvement over what I used to have. If you are my hairstylist....then you really know! I have had some really bad hairstyles, but we've all had those. The problem with my hair is the texture. It's like a horse's main. It's awful and it sucks up any products that are put into it. My hairstylist is the only person who can make it feel normal and not like I've poured gasoline on it. Lucky for me, it stays feeling pretty good for a while after a visit to see her. This woman is literally the only person I trust with my hair. She's also the only person I will ever allow near my eyebrows. Once, she tried to quit doing hair and I almost had to be checked into a hospital!

I know I'm rambling, but there is a a point. I got my hair cut today and bought some new shampoo while at the salon. Now, if you know me, then you know that I'm a huge bargain hunter and that I refuse to pay full price for most things. So why would I pay $27 for a bottle of shampoo? Because it works! There isn't a reasonably priced product out there that I haven't tried. Lots of people can use things like Pantene or Suave and their hair looks great. Mine does not. I pay a LOT of money to have my hair taken care of and it is worth every dime! There are a lot of things that I will give up, but my hairstylist and products (really I only use shampoo) are not among those things!

Productivity

It's amazing how much a job contributes to your productivity during the day. I certainly didn't miss working, but having a job helped me keep track of my days of the week and schedule errands. Without a job I tend to waste a lot of time. Even with my classes, I still waste too much time. I'm working part-time as a merchandiser for American Greetings. I'm the person who puts all the cards in the displays, and now I get even more irritated when I see cards in the wrong spot! So, try to put them back in the right place when you are looking at them!

Anyway, it's a good job and I'm really enjoying it because I work alone and the schedule is flexible. It also really helps me keep track of my day. Today I managed to work at Wal-Mart, go for a run with my friend Diane, get a haircut, work at Dollar Tree, stop at two stores, and still get my kids on time. Normally I'd have spent half the day on Facebook, hung out the other half at JDI, and then picked up my kids. Now, I still enjoy that type of day, but days like today make me feel more productive. They also get me prepared for all the school work I'm getting ready to jump back into!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Damn Doctor

He didn't say a word about my weight loss. But, the nurse mentioned it, so I still paid them,

I had to run over to Books-A-Million (which should not be named that because it makes me want to buy a million books) to pick up a book for classes. After getting my book I decided to walk around the mall a little because I hadn't been there in a while. The whole time I was trying to keep my pants from falling down and making me look like a plumber. These were pants that had just been moved into the "they finally fit" pile and now they are too big. So I stopped into the Gap outlet and found four pairs that were cheap enough that they won't bother me to get rid of when I can't wear them anymore. All were a smaller size than I've seen in a while, and when taking two of them off the rack I told myself they were never going to fit. But they did!!!!

Monday, January 4, 2010

Doctor in the AM

So I have to go for a yearly physical in the morning. My doctor is very nice. He tends to remember me from one visit to the next which is impressive since I usually only see him once a year.

But, if he doesn't mention the fact that I've lost nearly 20 pounds I'm not paying him!

Weight Watchers

I've been very hesitant to mention my weight loss efforts anywhere online. Part of me felt like if I told everyone then I wouldn't be able to do it and people would just shake their head when they saw me eating a bag of chips.

In October I went to my first Weight Watchers meeting. I told myself I'd go to a few meetings and if I lost anything after following the plan I'd stick with it. Well here we are in our first week of January and to date I have lost 19.8 pounds. Once I reach 21 pounds (which I'm hoping for this week) I will have lost 10% of my body weight. I still have a long way to go but I have lost an average of a pound and a half a week since joining. I've had two weeks where I've gained a very small amount, but I made it through the holidays with no major setbacks.

This is not the first time I've tried to lose weight. I've tried and failed miserably for many many years. I think the last time I was a healthy weight was 1996, but I really don't remember. While I do have an underactive thyroid, I make no excuses about how I got to this weight. I ate whatever I wanted, drank a ton of regular soda and didn't exercise. Weight Watchers has really changed all of that for me.

I still eat things that aren't good for me. You may see me chowing down on some Route 11 potato chips from time to time and while writing the beginning of this post I was eating some dark chocolate. That's the beauty of Weight Watchers though, I can have those things if I want them! I haven't been deprived of anything since joining, I've just learned how to factor these things into my eating.

I have never once felt hungry on this program (except for weight in days when no one eats before the meeting). I've also become so much more active because of losing the weight and because of the great friend I've made at the meetings. My new friend Diane and I are training for a 5K and a half marathon! More to come on the running later, but I just wanted to share a little bit of my weight loss journey!

Sunday, January 3, 2010

What Every Woman Needs

I guess this should read, What Every Single Woman Needs, but I think married women could probably benefit too. Every woman needs a male friend who lacks the ability to connect with women emotionally. I know that sounds kind of terrible, but if you know a man like that then you know he's perfectly happy with his life. I spent some time with my emotionally unavailable male friend last night and as usual it was an eye opening experience. A man like this can tell you things about yourself that you aren't willing to admit, or that you don't see in yourself. They also have great insights into the male brain (being as they have one) and so you learn a lot about what really matters to men, and what doesn't.

Now, I'm not saying that just because you learn these things you are any more able to accept them or deal with them, but they are still handy tidbits to have. So what did I learn? I'm not as ugly as I think I am, nor are men as picky as I think they are. I also learned I'm incredibly clueless when it comes to the signals men give. OK, so I kind of knew that stuff already, but he made it a lot more clear.

My Theme Song

Everyone needs a theme song! You know, that song that every time you hear it you get a really good feeling about life in general. Taylor Swift's Picture To Burn was my theme song for quite a while after my break up with my ex-fiance. I haven't had a really good song for a while, but this one is my song for 2010!

Defying Gravity from Glee

Welcome

Welcome to my blog! This isn't my first time, but I took a break from personal blogging to work on my bargain blog. Now, I feel like I have a lot to say that doesn't fit on that blog, so here I am. This is also a joint project with my best friend. We are both turning 30 this year (1 week apart from each other) and we decided it would be fun to chronicle our 30th year together. So, I'm already late to the game being as we planned to start on the first (she did, I didn't) but here I am.

My last personal blog was very political and I'm going to try to stay away from that here. Not that it won't creep in, but it's just not something I want to focus on. I've got a lot of things going on, and a lot of plans for this year so I want a place to share that with others.

I don't really like to make New Year's resolutions because they never seem to work out, but setting goals seems to work pretty well. So I will be using this blog to talk about some of those goals and where I am with them.

Hope you enjoy!