Setback

Well, I've had a small setback over the past couple weeks. I've gained 2.7 lbs. Boo... I was 10 lbs. down. Ten is such a nice round number and in the double digits. I like that. But then I had to get off track and overeat and gain some weight back. I should probably think about what triggered the binge over the past couple weeks. I suspect it's stress. The past couple of weeks have stressful for a number of reasons that I won't get into. I am a stress eater. I need to get over it. I want to lose major weight before July 31 and only about 12 weeks in which to do it. I also have 3 showers and 1 more birthday to get through this month. Including this past weekend, I have 1 event per weekend this month. Craziness. Must get back on track.

Okay, I totally didn't see that coming. I was watching The Biggest Loser and I was bummed because Sam got voted off. Not shocking. What was shocking was that he and Stephanie started a relationship while on the show and he moved to L.A. to be with her. I definitely didn't pick up on that during the show. Like I said, totally didn't see that coming. I'm completely jealous though :-)

True silence is the rest of the mind; it is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment. ~William Penn

That's my excuse for not posting anything substantive recently. I was nourishing and refreshing my spirit....NOT. I just haven't had anything to say. Weight loss is going alright. I survived the advent of the Girl Scout cookies. I can't really complain since I've lost 10 lbs. On the other hand, it could be going better. I could have lost more weight over the past 14 weeks. My average weekly loss is 0.6lbs. I wish it were closer to 1.5 lbs. per week. So that's my goal for the next 14 weeks before the wedding - 1.5 lbs. per week for a total of 21 lbs. That would mean a total of 31 lbs. lost by July 31 or 75% of my original goal of 40 lbs. lost. It's good to have goals.

However, one goal that I've had to shelf is conquering the half marathon. I have completely stopped training for the Capital City Half, which is in 2 weeks. I'm still having issues with my foot. It hurts when I get up in the morning; it hurts after I run; it hurts after I stand on it too long; it hurts after I wear heels. Stupid foot. I hate it. I guess it's time to find a new form of cardio exercise. I keep thinking about swimming, but I keep finding excuses for not going. I imagine my weight loss would be going better if I were doing some cardio in addition to weights.

On a completely different topic, I rented office space last month. I'm officially a real lawyer with a real office with real office furniture. Yay! It's exciting and terrifying all at the same time. Hopefully, I can continue to pay for the office and my bills. Fingers crossed.

Oh, Girl Scout Cookies...

I love you so. Definitely, not WW friendly. I got my GS cookies this morning. It was all I could do not to rip into my box of Tagalongs before I even got out of the gym. (I bought my cookies from my trainer's daughter.) I managed to make it until lunch time before I broke open the Tagalongs. Then, I got into the Thin Mints this afternoon. I need to hide the other 2 boxes from myself. It's a good thing GS cookies only happen once a year.

Hello, 2010

It's been a very, very long time since I've done anything with this blog - about 8 months. And I can't guarantee that I'm going to return to blogging faithfully. I've done so in the past (pledged to blog) and haven't followed through, so I make no promises. If you look to the right, I have updated the information.

Yes, it's true. I have to wear and look good in that clover green dress on the right. Everyone keep their fingers crossed! To that end, I've gotten back on the WW wagon after an unsuccessful 8 months away in 2009. But shhhh...don't tell my mother. She hates WW with the passion of a thousand fiery suns. There's no reasoning with her. I'm doing WW online to keep it hush hush.

As you can see, so far, so good. I'm down 4.4 lbs. in the 3 weeks since I started. I've got my goal in mind. Ideally, I would like to be down a total of 50 lbs. by 7/31/10 (the wedding). That would mean a loss of 46 lbs. from today and an average of 2 lbs./week. Unlikely. Right now, my average is 1.5 lbs./week. If I can sustain that average loss, it would mean I'd be down a total of 40 lbs. by the wedding. So that's going to be my goal - 40 lbs. down by the end of July. Go me.

I'm training for another 1/2 marathon - the Capital City Half on 5/1/10. It's not going well. I haven't run in a week. Things aren't hopeless by any means, but I really need to get on track this week if I want to have any hope of finishing better than my last half. I did the Columbus Half Marathon this past fall. It was ugly and that's putting it nicely. Mentally, I just wasn't in the game. My legs decided they were only running 10 miles and they didn't want to run any of the last 3.1 miles. That meant I finished only 1 second faster than my very first half when I had the gimpy, sprained left foot. Very embarassing. I'm determined to conquer the half marathon. Any by conquer, I mean run/walk the entire 13.1 miles and finish in under 3 hours. Not wimp out at 8 miles or 10 miles like I have in the past 2 halfs I've done.

Though my half didn't turn out as I'd hoped, I was proud of myself last year with my running. From April to November, I did a race per month. I did 5Ks, 4 milers and a 10 miler. I think this year I'm going to start racing in March with the St. Patty's 4 Miler on 3/13/10. It keeps me motivated.

Ok, I've blathered on enough for now. I'll try to be back soon.

Strawberry Picking

My mom and I went strawberry picking yesterday for the first time since we left Maryland, so the first time in 13 years. It was very exciting. I love going strawberry picking. We went to Jacquemin Farms in Plain City.

It was a lot of work though. As you can see (and no, your eyes aren't deceiving you), the strawberries were very tiny. They were baby berries. Apparently, the lack of rain here in the Cbus area has contributed to the small size of local strawberries. I wasn't sure if I believed the people at the strawberry patch yesterday when they told me this. I thought maybe they were just being defensive about their strawberries. However, it was proven true today when I saw very small strawberries by another local farmer at the Powell Farmers Market.

My mama made fresh jam and mini strawberry pies (see below) with some of our freshly picked strawberries. Shockingly, we picked 11 lbs. of strawberries despite the small size. In any case, yay for fresh strawberries!

*Note: It was very lowering this morning to discover that I was sore from picking strawberries for about 1.5 hours. It felt like I had jogged a gajillion miles and not stretched afterwards. Just when I thought I was starting to get into shape...

FFC: Week 6 Results

FFC Week 3

Here are the official Week 3 results for the FFC. I have totally fallen behind in the standings...curses!

Things have been kind of hectic lately, which is the reason for the lack of posts beyond the FFC results. My baby brother graduates from high school this coming Saturday (I can't believe it!) and we had his graduation party yesterday. So things were crazy the past couple weeks between trying to get everything ready for the party, my mom's birthday, and mother's day. I promise more in-depth posts soon!

I completed my second race of the year this past Sunday - the Habitat for Humanity Home Run 5K. I think I'm cursed when it comes to races taking place in Dublin. It was unseasonably and ridiculously hot and humid during the race just like it was for the Dublin Irish 4 Miler last year. I still did ok, though my time was about a minute slower than my time from the Fisher 5K a month ago.

Not too mention, I only got lapped by 2 people (the course was 2, 1.5 mile loops) - the top 2 male finishers. I managed to get my fat arse across halfway mark/finish line about 30 seconds before the top female finisher crossed the line. I guess I'll take comfort in the fact that I wasn't the last "runner" to cross the finish line. There were still a couple stragglers after me and the walkers. Hopefully, I'll have better luck in my next 5K in June.

FFC Week 2

Here are the results for Week 2 of the Fabulously Fit Challenge. Kumquat is leading the charge! You may also notice some changes from last week. Jackfruit is no longer - she didn't like her name, so she is now Jujube. We also have a challenge newcomer. Welcome Java Apple!