Is it over yet?

So, this week has been something else.  Even though I made an entry or two concerning being “on diet” with the Shred Diet plan, I really think this week has been a wash as far as my diet progress goes.  I worked out once (with Samy) with some random jumping rope thrown in during the overnight shifts I worked.  So, I think I will reset on the Shred Diet to where I started this week starting on Monday next week.  Obviously I won’t be able to start it tomorrow because I’ll be at festival again with Amanda and will be eating festival food.  But, Monday I can hit the reset button and be “on diet.”  Also, next week, the majority of my overtime (2 out of 3 shifts) is on the morning shift, and one of those 2 days is on my day off (Monday) so, only 2 double shifts next week.

So, on top of being able to be “on diet” the majority of next week (6 out of 7 days), I’ll have more chances to get structured workouts in.  I’ll have my Samy workout Monday afternoon shortly after getting home from working the morning shift.  In addition to that, I’ll be able to workout Wednesday and Thursday mornings before work.  I figure I can do a 30 minute run of 3-to-1’s on the treadmill on Wednesday.  Then, on Thursday, I’ll go and do a “Paige workout.”  Then, Friday night, when I’m working the overnight shift, I can do some random jumping of rope.  Let’s cross our fingers I stick with this plan.  Haha.

I need to come up with a game plan for while I’m on my 2+ week vacation for my birthday next month.  On the 7^th, I have plans to drive back to Spring, TX with my friend Mark to buy another corset (YAY!).  The 8^th is the Brown Santa 5K (part of me wishes that I was doing the Decker Challenge half marathon).  Then, of course, Monday the 9^th is a Samy workout.  Then, on the 12^th I plan to go to Walmart with a friend that has the ability to fit my new TV in their vehicle and help me put it in my apartment go with me to pay off my new TV and bring it back to my apartment.  On the following Monday, I again have my Samy workout.  Then, on Friday and Saturday I will be attending union Christmas parties (I have 1 dress, I still need to buy the second one…already have it picked out, just need to buy it).  I have tentatively made plans with my friend Jessica for a sewing date.  She has some sewing projects she wants to do, so I can pack up my machine and go to her place and we can sew, sew, sew.  But, she’s a bit of a flake, so it’s up in the air.  Then, the following Monday is again a Samy workout.  Those are my only definite plans. 

Among all those definite plans, I want to sew up 2 more of my pixie skirts (a blue one and a red one).  I’d like to get in 2 workouts in addition to the Samy workouts each week…preferably 3 additional workouts.  I’d like to have the Samy workout, a 30 minute treadmill run of 3-to-1’s, a “Paige workout,” and then a long run.  I have no overtime scheduled for the weeks following my return to work after my little vacation.  I’ll be checking my work email throughout my vacation to see if I can land some overtime for after I my vacation.  Fingers crossed. 

Anyway, even though I’m chalking this week up as a complete wash, I’m still going to weigh in tomorrow morning.  This past Sunday I weighed in at 177.2…we’ll see where I stand after all the turkey day indulgences.  Hopefully it won’t be too bad.  But, it’ll be what it’ll be and I’ll just have to work from wherever I stand when I step on the scale tomorrow. 

After eating all that thanksgiving day food Thursday and Friday, when I woke up today I just did not want to eat “off diet” today.  So, even though it made me almost 20 minutes late leaving for work (I leave early, so it’s okay), I got my stuff ready so I could eat “on diet” today.  YAY!  I’m not going to eat all the food for this day of the Shred Diet so I’ll be repeating it on Monday.  And that’s completely alright.  I’m just happy that I hit a point where I really just wanted to be back on my diet again.  That makes me feel good.  And I hit that point after only 2 days and I didn’t even super over indulge, in my opinion.

I was so tired today after working 16 hours a day 2 days in a row.  I just wanted to continue to lay on the couch and sleep when my alarm went off.  But I didn’t.  I got up and I sucked it up.  One more week of work and then I’m on vacation for a little over 2 weeks.  I can do this.  And my paychecks will be quite nice as a result.  I’m hoping to pick up some overtime the week of Christmas and  New Years.  I’m sure that with it being the holidays that they’ll need overtime.  I hope I’m right.

Late FMM, Shred Days 17 & 18

So, Sunday I wasn’t “on diet” because I was at the renaissance festival with my friend Mark.  We had a pretty good time.  It wasn’t a great time simply because it was cold and as the day went on, it seemed to be getting colder.  Ugh.  We finally decided at a little after 2pm to head back home.  We have great timing because about 3 minutes after we got in the car and started leaving, it started raining.  Anyway, I wore a renaissancey-type dress with a renaissancey-type shirt underneath it.  I layered strategically.  I was wearing 2 pairs of running tights, 2 pairs of socks, thigh-high boots and I cut up a long-sleeved white shirt to wear under the renaissancey-type shirt I was wearing with the dress.  I wore my new red wig.  It looked great.  However, about an hour after we got there, I took it off because it was annoying me.  It kept slipping back on my head.  I need to buy some small hair combs to hand sew to the front of the wig so I can affix it to my hair and it won’t slip while I’m walking around. 

Monday, I had planned to be “on diet,” however I forgot to eat after I ate breakfast, so by the time I got done with my session with Samy my trainer, I was super hungry.  I had to stop at the mall to do a little Christmas shopping for a friend, so I just ate at the food court.  I went to a place called ThaiMax.  It was pretty good.  Then, Tuesday morning, since I had to get up early (see next paragraph as to why) at 8am instead of sleeping in until 11 since I was working a double shift that afternoon/night.  So, since I had to make sure that I could properly space out my food for that whole long day, I was originally not going to eat until right before I left for work…around 12:30pm.  But, when I stopped at Starbuck’s for a trenta iced coffee (one of 2 I had on Tuesday…can you say Tigger?), I decided to get a sausage, egg and cheese English muffin.  Then, when I got to work, someone had brought in doughnuts.  And not just ANY doughnuts, but Round Rock doughnuts…my favorite.  So, of course, I had two.  I had meant to be “on diet” the rest of Tuesday, but that did not work out for me.  I think I was feeling “vulnerable” due to the stress of having to buy a new sewing machine and printer.   No excuse, but I think that was the issue and I didn’t recognize it until it was too late.  After the doughnuts, I had a chicken and guacamole taco from Taco Cabana, some fried rice with chicken in it, some chocolate covered raisins and a few soft citrus candies.  Ugh.  It could DEFINTELY have been worse.  But, I could have also been a lot better.  I just need to pay more attention to what I’m doing and exercise my control “muscle” a little more effectively in the future.

 

Alright, so on Sunday, after getting home early from the festival, I ended up at Target.  I have been wanting a new blender (a Ninja) because my current blender (an Oster) doesn’t do well with frozen things…and for the Shred Diet I make a lot of frozen fruit smoothies (in its defense, when I did a vegan cleanse a couple years ago and made fresh fruit/veggie smoothies, I had no problems with it blending everything just fine and without help from me).  Target had the full shebang Ninja blender for about $100 but it also had a “mini” blender that was the pitcher and a little 2-cup capacity container for food processing where the motor sets on top of the lids and operates the blades for $50.  So I got that one. 

Then, Monday, I went back to Target to get a few things.  I ended up with some new curtains for the bay window in my living room.

And a new printer.  I had to get the new printer because when the free upgrade to Windows 8.1 (for people that had Windows 8) came out last week and I downloaded it, my printer that I’ve had for about 5 or 6 years decided it didn’t like it and refused to communicate with my computer anymore.  So, I bought the new one and it’s awesome and it communicates with my computer just fine.

I also, on Monday, ordered a  SodaStream and a new KitchenAid knife set in a block off JC Penney’s website.  I got the email Tuesday morning that my knives had shipped.  Those take 4-7 days to arrive.  The SodaStream and related products will ship anywhere from 1 week to 2 weeks from the date of my order because they don’t ship from the JC Penney warehouse, but from the manufacturer itself.

 

I finally got around to doing 3 sewing projects on Monday that I’ve been somewhat procrastinating on.  One was hemming some curtains for a friend, the second was hemming some sleeves on a co-worker’s work shirts and the third was making my new xmas pixie skirt for festival this coming Sunday.  I got the curtains done, but I noticed when I was about 10 (out of 12) curtains into the job that my machine was starting to operate slower.  So, I started turning it off between curtains to let it cool down a bit.  I got the curtains and the shirt sleeves done, then started work on my skirt.  About a third of the way into the skirt, it died.  I could have went and bought a new machine Monday night, but I didn’t get paid until Tuesday and had already spent the remainder of my free money on the blender and the printer and had to wait.  So, I got up early (8am) Tuesday so I could go buy the new machine, have time to finish the skirt and get my couple errands I needed to do before getting ready for work.

 

 The Holidays and More: Part 2

1.  What state/country do you live in?  Texas/USA
2.  Where were you born?  Were you raised there?  I was born in a little town called Dallas, Oregon (nope that is NOT a typo, I did NOT mean Dallas, TX) and yes, I was raised there.  Lived in the same house until I left for boot camp shortly after graduating high school…in fact, my parents still live that same house.
3.  How do you feel about stores like Wal-mart opening on Thanksgiving Day for pre-Black Friday sales?  Will you participate?  I think it’s ridiculous.  Let your employees have their holiday for crying out loud!!!  And even if I hadn’t signed up to work 16 hours on thanksgiving, I would NOT be participating in that.
4.  Have you ever participated in a Turkey Trot?  No, I haven’t.  I had planned to do a Turkey Trot this year, but I signed up to work overtime instead, so maybe next year.
5.  What was your favorite toy as a child?  I think I would have to say my My Little Ponies were my favorite toys.  That and my Pound Puppy
6.  Will you count points/calories on Thanksgiving Day?  No, it’s a special day so as long as I don’t go super overboard, I don’t really watch what I eat. 
7.  Will you watch football Thursday?  If I’m in a spot at work where there’s a TV, then I’ll sort of watch it, but I won’t be actually watching it.
8.  Do you decorate inside/outside of your home for the holidays?  No.  I live in an apartment and no one ever comes over, so there’s no point.  If I lived in a house, I would decorate for Christmas starting the day after turkey day
9.  Do you have allergies that prevent you from eating traditional holiday meals? Nope
10.  Is it snowing where you live?  Nope.  I live in central Texas.  It doesn’t snow here.  Which is good because the people here lose their minds when it rains…they would have a complete conniption if it snowed.

On to my meal/snack plan for Tuesday….

Meal 1:

• 1 cup lemon water

• 1 piece of fruit: ½ cup strawberries

• oatmeal

 

Snack 1 (100 cals):

• spicy black beans

 

Meal 2:

• fruit smoothie

• 1 piece of fruit: 2 clementine oranges

 

Snack 2 (150 cals):

• mozzarella stick w/sesame crackers

 

Meal 3:

• protein shake

 

Snack 3 (100 cals):

• hardboiled egg

 

Meal 4:

• bowl of soup:

• 1 serving veggies: asparagus

 

I forgot to drink the lemon water.  Oops.  My abs, inner thighs, quads and calves were all quite sore on Tuesday from my session with Samy Monday evening.  Usually, when he has me do abs at the end of my session, he just has me do 3 sets…but this time, he had me do 4 sets.  That 4^th set got me.  I love it!  The inner thighs are sore from the bear crawls he had me do.  Those really kicked my butt, let me tell you.  He only had me do 3 sets of the exercise circuit that started with the bear crawl but got switched to a round of pushups, mountain climbers and foot jumps in the pushup position.  Just between you and me, if he had had me do 4 sets instead of only 3, I was going to do the bear crawls again for the 4^th set.  I really like that he doesn’t have me doing the same thing every week.  Now, abs are the same, but they’re really good exercises that obviously still get me good…and besides, you can only vary your ab routine so much…there’s only so many ab exercises out there.

 

I *am* very happy to report that I did jump rope Tuesday night on the overnight shift overtime that I worked, just like I said I wanted to.  So proud of myself.  I started at 1:30am, so 3.5 hours into the shift.  But the beginning of the shift was busy, so that’s the first time I had a chance to do it.  Then, my plan was to do it every hour until my calves burned, then for an additional count of 1-one thousand up to 15-one thousand.  A great way to get a little bit of cardio in when otherwise I wouldn’t have gotten anything.  Anyway, I have no idea just how long I’m jumping rope each time I do it on my own because I don’t have a timer or stopwatch in front of me like I do when I’m working out with Samy, I’m just going by feel with the burning calves.  Haha.  It works.  It’s about a minute with the extra 15 second count at the end because that’s how it feels when I do a minute during my Samy sessions.

 

Now for today…here’s today’s meal and snack plans:

 

Meal 1

• 1 cup lemon water

• 1 cup blueberries

• protein shake

 

Snack 1 (100 cals)

• cucumber sandwich

 

Meal 2:

• fruit smoothie

• 2 serving veggies: peas

 

Snack 2 (150 cals)

• avocado w/sea salt

 

Meal 3

• bowl of soup:

• 1 serving veggies: Brussels sprouts

 

Snack 3

• 8 small shrimp w/cocktail sauce

 

Meal 4

• 5 oz beef

• 1 serving veggies:

• ½ baked sweet potato

 

That “snack 3” was supposed to be one of those “choose one of the following 4 options” but I didn’t realize that when I was getting ready for work today and just assigned it as a 100 calorie snack.  Oops.  It’s okay, though. 

Shred Days 15 & 16

Okay, here’s my second double-day post for the week!  I worked another 16 hour shift yesterday!  I know, I’m crazy, but I love the money…I can’t help myself.  Thursday, the wig I ordered off Amazon.com arrived in the mail.  It looks amazing, don’t you agree?

And it was less than $20…including shipping costs!!!  That’s the best part.  The same company sells a wig that is a dusty pink (aka-mauve) color in the same style as this one that I want to buy.  Since I also want to make a blue pixie skirt to wear, I will also be buying a blue wig.  I already have a green pixie skirt, so I’ll need a green wig to go with that one!  I’ll wear this wig on Sunday when I go to the festival with Mark.  I’ll also wear it the following Sunday when I go with Amanda in my xmas pixie costume.

 

When I was getting ready for work yesterday morning, I was sort of checking myself out in the bathroom mirror.  I do this frequently, as I’m sure most women do…especially women that are in the process of losing weight and are looking for changes to how their body looks.  I’ve relost 4 of the 9 pounds I regained after the close of the fitness challenge on August 1^st.  (It may be another pound or so on top of that, I’ll find out after I weigh in again Sunday morning.)  I can see what a difference just 4 pounds makes in how your mid-section looks.  It’s a huge difference.  My stomach is back to being somewhat flat and my love handles are considerably smaller and my hips aren’t as lumpy.  So, the next time I think that 4 pounds doesn’t make much of a difference, I will remember this and think again…because it really does. 

 

Yesterday was the 50^th anniversary of the death of President John F. Kennedy.  I was watching the special news report of the ceremony they were conducting in Dallas at the site of his shooting and they played some clips from his famous speech “ask not what your country can do for you…”  There’s a part of that speech that I want to paraphrase and get tattooed on me: “We choose to do these things not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”  That will pair nicely with the other quote I want to get tattooed: “They didn’t say it would be easy, they said it would be worth it.”  I will get one on the underside of each of my upper arms.  I’m hoping to get that done next month while I’m on my birthday vacation for at least a week.  I’ll see about making an appointment with my artist on the 8^th or 9^th to get it done.

 

My friend Amanda made pumpkin spice muffins and brought them into work yesterday.  I, of course, grabbed one as her baked goods are famous at work.  Anyway, I allow myself one “cheat” item a day.  Thursday it was a cookie from Tiff’s Treats, yesterday it was the muffin.  I got the muffin from her at about 3:45pm.  I didn’t want to eat it until 4:30 so it would make my meal/snack spacing for the remainder of my 16 hour day at work much easier for me to make it through.  I sat the muffin on the desk in front of me and I could smell it.  Hardest 45 minutes of my day, let me tell ya.  But it was worth the wait.  Like I said, her muffins are famous at work. 

 

FRIDAY

 

Meal 1:

• 1 cup lemon water (8 oz water hot or cold, juice from ½ lemon, 1 packet sweetener)

• 1 piece fruit: banana

• sugar free cereal

• ½ cup grapefruit juice

 

Snack 1 (100 cals):

• 40 Goldfish

 

Meal 2:

• fruit smoothie

• 1 serving veggies: peas

 

Snack 2 (150 cals):

• 3/4 cup edamame

 

Meal 3:

• protein shake

 

Meal 4:

• Bolthouse Farms Green Goodness

• bowl of soup: Campbell's Homestyle Mexican-style Chicken Tortilla

• 1 piece of fruit: apple

 

Snack 3 (100 cals):

• tropical cottage cheese (1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1/2 cup mango & pineapple)

 

The sweetened lemon water was pretty good.  I didn’t use a squeezed lemon to make it, just store bought lemon juice and I used the serving size suggestion on the bottle to measure how much I put in the water.  1 tsp.  It was perfect in my opinion.  I used 8 oz of bottled water, the 1 tsp of lemon juice and 1 packet of stevia.  I finally ran out of canned peas and had to cook up my frozen peas I bought at Trader Joe’s a couple weeks ago.  Just as good…probably a little better. 

 

I was getting my food ready for work yesterday and realized I was almost out of cottage cheese, so I had to run to the store real quick and buy another container of it.  D’oh!  But, I got it done and all was well.  I bought frozen mango instead of fresh for a couple reasons.  1 – I don’t eat mango a whole lot so fresh will probably bad.  2 – have you ever tried to cut up a mango?  Yea, it’s not easy.

 

SATURDAY

 

Meal 1:

• 1 cup lemon water

• protein shake

 

Snack 1 (100 cals):

• 2 oz lobster

 

Meal 2:

• fruit smoothie

• 1 piece of fruit: plums x3

 

Snack 2 (150 cals):

• 1 low fat yogurt w/1 tbsp granola

 

Meal 3:

• bowl of soup: Campbell's Homestyle Mexican-style Chicken Tortilla

• 1 piece of fruit: apple

 

Snack 3 (100 cals):

• 4 slices fat free bologna

 

Meal 4:

• protein shake

• 1 serving veggies: Brussels sprouts

 

My verdict on the bologna...while I grew up eating bologna and loving it, I have to say I don't care for this version of it.  Good thing I didn't buy a couple/few packages of it and only got 1 package.

 

I spent a good amount of time last night on the overnight shift I worked typing up my meal/snack plans for weeks 4 through 6 and deciding all but what fruits and veggies I will eat.  I already decided what choices I want for each meal and what snacks I will partake of.  I love that I can do that…decide what I’m going to eat long before it’s time to eat it.  I just love the feeling of being in total control like that.  But, yea, I spent the first 2.5 hours of the shift typing all that up.  Great way to make the time just fly by!

 

Tomorrow is the renaissance festival with Mark.  It’s going to be COLD.  Like 47° cold.  Eeep!  I’m going to be a hardcore rennie and still wear my costume.  I mean, my costume isn’t scant or anything, but it’s not warm, per se.  It’s a long dress and I’ll be wearing a pair of my running tights underneath.  The shirt I’m wearing under the dress is long sleeved, but it’s a thinnish material.  I have a shawl that will keep me mostly in costume that I can wear.  It’s made of a sweater-like material, so it should be warm enough.  I’ll take my galoshes just in case I need to wear them, but I’d really rather wear a pair of my regular over-the-calf boots.  I’ll wear my black ones that should be easy to clean if they get dirty.  Should…that’s the operative word there.  And, of course, I’ll slip on my pixie ears I bought when Amanda and I went a few weeks ago.  I plan to eat funnel cake (as per usual when I go to any of the festivals) and I think I will eat some fried alligator.   I haven’t had that in years and I’ve been wanting some.

Shred Days 13 & 14

Yesterday (Wednesday), I worked a double shift at work, that’s why I didn’t post yesterday…no internet access at work and for some reason my phone gives me issues about copy-pasting things, so I couldn’t post it from my phone.  I opted to sleep in yesterday so that it would make my meal/snack spacing throughout my 16 hours of work a lot easier for me.  Of course, that meant I missed a chance to workout.  That much I regret.  But, I did burn 2100 calories running the Rock’n’Roll half marathon on Sunday, so I’m okay with missing the chance to workout.  I posted on Tuesday that I would be able to workout on Saturday for sure, however, I forgot I’m working a double shift on Friday evening/night, so that actually won’t be happening.  I could workout Friday before work, but then it would make my meal/snack spacing that much more difficult.  So, I’m sad to say this, but I may not get even a second workout in this week.  I WILL workout on Sunday.  I’ll most likely hit the treadmill for 30 and do the “Paige workout.”  Then, on Monday is my workout with Samy.  And, that will be it for next week as I’m working a double shift on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.  Daaaaaaang!!!  If I’m feeling it, however, I might go for a 30 minute outdoor run Thursday morning just to get in a third workout for the week.  We’ll see how I’m feeling Thursday morning.

Meal 1:

• 1 piece of fruit: apple

• grilled cheese sandwich

• 1 cup juice: papaya

Snack 1 (150 cals):

• avocado w/sea salt

Meal 2:

• protein shake

• 1 serving veggies: peas

Snack 2 (100 cals):

• spicy black beans w/1 tbsp salsa & 1 tbsp Greek yogurt

Meal 3:

• bowl of soup: Progresso Heart Healthy Black Bean & Vegetable

• 1 serving veggies: broccoli

Snack 3 (100 cals):

• 10 cashews

Meal 4:

• large salad, fat free dressing, ¼ cup shredded cheese

• 1 cup beans: pinto

Snack 4:

• 2 rice cakes w/1 tbsp PB

So, my meal/snack spacing for yesterday went as follows: meal 1 @ 12:30 while getting ready for work.  Snack 1 @ 4:00pm.  Meal 2 @ 6:00pm.  Snack 2 @ 8:30pm.  Meal 3 @ 10:30pm.  Snack 3 @ 12:30am.  Meal 4 @ 2:00am.  And, finally, snack 4 @ 3:30am.  I forgot to take a picture of the spicy black beans.  Oops.  In my defense I was in a huge hurry when getting ready for work yesterday.

I drank a BUNCH of coffee yesterday.  On my way to work, I stopped at Starbuck's and got a trenta (30 ounces) iced coffee.  I drank that and then my partner at work made some coffee that he had brought from home…it was “southern pecan” flavored coffee.  Now, normally I don’t like flavored coffee because, well, it tastes horrible and never tastes like what it says it’s flavored as.  But this coffee…wow…delicious.  I had to go back for seconds on this coffee.

So, I was a little “afraid” that after my weekend of indulgences that switching back to the Shred Diet might be a little difficult.  However, it wasn’t.  I had no issues at all with feeling overly hungry or anything like that.  Hooray!  Another little something that makes me love this diet even more. 

Skip to today, here’s what I ate today:

Meal 1:

• Bolthouse Farms Green Goodness

• 1 piece of fruit: apple

Snack 1 (100 cals):

• chickpea salad (¼ cup chickpeas, 1 tbsp sliced scallions, squeeze lemon juice, ¼ cup diced tomatoes)

Meal 2:

• chicken lunchmeat sandwich

• green garden salad

Snack 2 (150 cals):

• mozzarella stick & sesame crackers

Meal 3:

• protein shake

• 1 piece of fruit: grapefruit

Snack 3 (100 cals):

• 10 baby carrots w/2 tbsp hummus

Meal 4:

• tilapia

• 1 serving veggies: asparagus

• ½ cup brown rice

I had to stick a “Day sleeper Do not disturb Please come back after 1pm” sign on my door when I got home this morning because the apartment management hadn’t come through for their annual fire and safety inspection yet (no new tag on my fire extinguisher).  I woke up at noon and started getting ready for work.  I grabbed my usual trenta iced coffee with 3 sweet’n’lows from Starbuck’s on my way to work.  I didn’t sleep great, but I did sleep okay for the most part…once I was able to get myself to fall asleep, that is. 

I forgot to take a picture of the chickpea salad before I left for work.  Oops.  I’m sure I’ll have it again sometime next week…I’ll take a picture of it then for you guys.  So, today, my meal/snack schedule went as such: meal 1 @ 12:30pm, snack 1 @ 2:45, meal 2 @ 4:30, snack 2 @ 6:00, meal 3 @ 7:30, snack 3 @ 9:00, and meal 4 when I got home around 10:30.

I heard the weather report for tomorrow and it’s not promising.  A big cold front is supposed to hit my area by 3am tonight and should drop the temperature about 25 or so degrees and it’s supposed to be rainy on top of that.  Not exactly ideal outdoor running conditions.  And, if I get up by 10, I’m not going to have time to drive to my gym and back to run on their treadmills, so if wake up in time to run, I’m just going to hit one of the treadmills in the little fitness closet (it’s a very small room with a bunch of equipment shoved in it) at my apartments.  They’re not the best treadmills, but they’ll do in a pinch and it will only be for 30 minutes if I go and use it, so no big deal.

Tracy (a co-worker) and I were hoping to put together at least 10 people from our section at work to run as a team and get personalize run shirts for the Brown Santa 5K.  However, today was the last day for team registration in order to get the personalized shirts and it was just me and Tracy that were on board for it.  Phooey.  But!  By the end of our shift, one of the other sections offered me and Tracy spots on THEIR team and we accepted.  The team is called the Jail Birds...hahaha!   

Even though I’m not really expecting a loss on the scale when I step on it Sunday morning, I feel like I have actually lost a little bit this week.  I *feel* thinner…you know?  I’ve discussed this feeling on here before.  I can usually just feel like I lost weight and I’m almost always correct in this feeling.  Sometimes I’ll feel like I lost but in fact I stayed the same which probably means I lost a little fat and gained the same amount in muscle that week.  I hate the feeling of gaining weight.  I feel bloated and sluggish when that happens. 

Friend Making Monday...on Thursday...haha!

Holidays

1.  What are you plans for Thanksgiving this year?  I’m actually working a 16 hour shift on thanksgiving and the day after as well.
2.  At what point do you being celebrating the Christmas season?  I live alone and no one ever comes to my apartment so I won’t be decorating as I would be the only one to see it…and besides, the “kitten” would just terrorize any decorations I put up think I put them up for his own personal amusement.  I am, however, gifting a few more people than usual this year thanks to all the extra money I’ve made from working so much overtime at work.
3.  Do you celebrate Christmas, or do you celebrate another holiday? Yes.
4.  If you could have one present (you know, a material good, not love or world peace) what would you want?  Hmmm…a $500 gift Visa gift card.  Hahaha!  Nah, I guess a race bling holder would be pretty cool.  Other than that, I have no idea.
5.  Share an idea or two that you can plan to do for someone who may need to feel loved throughout the holiday season.  Just buying them a gift that I put some thought into and that no one else would really think to get them.
6.  Would you rather spend the holiday season on the beach or in the snow?  Beach.
7. What is your favorite Thanksgiving food?  I love homemade cranberry sauce, a turkey leg, some good stuffing made with chicken stock, and of course pie
8.  Will you participate in Black Friday shopping?  No, as I said in question #1, I’ll be working a 16 hour shift at work. 
9.  Will you travel for the holidays or stay at home?  If you’re traveling, are you flying or driving or making alternate plans?  Staying home.
10.  List at least 5 things for which you are currently thankful.

• my job and the ability to work as much overtime as I do

• my apartment and my car

• my friends and family

• my cats

• my skills/talents (ie-sewing, being handy around the house, etc)

Shred Day 12

This weekend was amazing.  I was off work for 3 days and it literally felt like I was off for a week!  I love it when that happens.  Even though it was crazy busy, it was a very restful weekend.  I did quite a few things that I absolutely LOVE to do.  I drove from Austin to San Antonio and back between Saturday and Sunday for the Rock’n’Roll half marathon.  While I was there, I got to spend some time with my good friend Matt and met his son, who is a fun kid.  Saturday, we all 3 went out to eat Mexican food…I needed carbs for the half marathon that was happening the next morning, duh!!!  Since he doesn’t read this blog, I feel okay with expressing here that the restaurant we went to was sub-par.  The atmosphere was amazing and looked high class.  The bathroom was horrible.  There was hardly room to do my business and it was beyond dingy and outdated…especially compared with the atmosphere of the dining area.  The service was really good too.  However, their idea of a $6.00 queso was maaaaaaybe a cup (we’re talking a 1 cup measuring cup) of what I’m pretty sure was Velveeta and Rotel.  Seriously?  I could have made that myself at home for waaaaaay cheaper…and I would have made it better than they did.  The fajitas were good.  I got the beef ones.  I had to ask for sour cream, though.  But they did bring it out promptly.  Like I said, the service was really good.

Sunday, on my way back to Austin, I stopped at my favorite BBQ joint – Black’s BBQ in Lockhart, TX.  If you’re ever in central Texas, I *HIGHLY* recommend you find your way there.  Get the extra moist brisket, of course.  Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to find that they had a live person singing and playing guitar in the dining room.  And he was GOOD! 

I got home and was exhausted, but wasn’t able to go to sleep until at least 10pm.  When I did get to sleep, I slept great.  I woke up early Monday morning to take my car to the body shop for an estimate (I ran into a curb last Tuesday night and put a nice gash/dent under the passenger side door).  Then, I went to Dunkin Donuts and got my usual: a powdered sugar coated vanilla crème filled donut and a chocolate coconut donut and a large iced latte with mocha swirl.  YUM!  The filled donuts are star shaped right now for the holidays.  Then, I went to my doctor’s appointment.

After my doc appointment, I made my way to my friend Chris’ apartment so we could head to Spring, TX for my corset!!!  I didn’t realize that he was going to need to drop off his kids before we could actually leave, so I waited patiently while he got the kids ready to go to their mom’s house…I even attempted to help by trying to put his son’s new Spiderman belt on for him but was foiled by a beltloop that didn’t want to allow the belt to go through it.  Phooey.  I had some sparklies on my shirt and his daughter (who is an adorable ginger…LOVE her hair!!!) touched my shirt and said she loved the (I think she called them) diamonds on my shirt, then ran her hand over my front and said she liked my boobs too.  HAHA!  Anyway, then we left and made our way to his ex’s place.  Dropped the kids off and started toward Spring.  We’re both “at least” a little ADHD so you can only imagine how this trip went.  Hilarious comes to mind.  Anyway, we were driving along HWY 71E and we’re driving past this store that is locally famous for its pecans and pecan-related items.  They have expanded quite a bit since I last drove through this area and now have a large red building next to their original shop.  As I’m making a vocal note of this new building I happen to notice the LARGE squirrel statue next to the shop.  I stop mid-sentence and exclaim “SQUIRREL!!!”  Oh wow.  In that moment I was the poster child for ADHD.  So funny!

We get to Spring and arrive mere minutes before the lady who was to do my fitting for my new corset.  My black corset that I bought a couple years ago is a size 29.  The corset I bought yesterday is a 25.  That means it gives me a 25 inch waist at the smallest point of my waist (just below the ribcage, in other words).  I will be buying a new corset next year to replace my black one and I’ve decided I will go to the shop and pick out the fabrics I want and have them make a custom corset for me!!!  How exciting is that?!?!?!?!  Before leaving Spring and heading back to Austin, we went to a Mexican restaurant where ordered pork fajitas.  The pork was a little overcooked, I had to ask for sour cream (even though it specifically stated on the menu that it was included in the order) and shredded cheese to put on my fajitas.  The queso we ordered was made with REAL CHEESE!!!  It was delicious.  This restaurant was about 10 times better than the one I went to Saturday night.  Oh and they had not one but TWO excellent salsas that they brought to the table with the chips.

So, today, I am back on the Shred.  I won’t be heartbroken if I don’t show a loss on the scale Sunday morning.  I will understand.  There was a weekend of indulgence and I’m okay with that.  So, this is what I ate today:

Meal 1:

• Bolthouse Farms Green Goodness

• 1 cup low fat yogurt

• ½ cup juice: guava

Snack 1 (150 cals):

• stuffed tomatoes

Meal 2:

• fruit smoothie

• 1 piece of fruit: grapefruit

Snack 2 (150 cals):

• chocolate pudding w/5 sliced strawberries

Meal 3:

• medium green garden salad, fat free dressing

• 1 cup of soup: Progresso Heart Healthy Black Bean & Vegetable

Snack 3 (150 cals):

• ½ cup cottage cheese w/1 tbsp almond butter

Meal 4:

• salmon

• 2 servings veggies: broccoli

Snack 4 (100 cals):

• blueberries w/2 tbsp Cool Whip

Tomorrow I was going to go to the gym and do the “Paige workout,” but since I’m working a double shift tomorrow, I think I’ll just sleep until about 11 instead and start my day later so that I don’t have an issue with my meal/snack spacing throughout my 16 hours of work without feeling overly hungry for an extended period of time (more than 30-45 minutes).  I know I will workout Saturday morning…I’m hoping for the “Paige workout” with 30 minutes of my 3-to-1’s on the treadmill to start off with.  I don’t know if I’ll get another workout in this week.  But, I’m okay with that.

Marathon Foto sent out the email today that the race photos from the Rock’n’Roll are now available for viewing and ordering.  I think I might actually order at least one or two of the pictures.  I’m going to wait before doing so because if they do what they did with the Capital 10K, then they’ll have some sales on the photo purchases.  There’s 2 that I’m pretty sure I want to get and those are these two (the one with me flexing is actually a part of a group picture I had with that group of wonderful ladies that let me be a temporary part of their group before the race):