I’VE OFFICIALLY LOST 50 POUNDS!

50!

Five-to-the-OH MY GOD, you guys!

Yes for real. I’m over the moon happy (PS – is that still a saying?!). This week’s weigh in:

WEEK 37 WEIGHT LOSS: – 2.8 lbs

TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS WITH WW: – 51.2 lbs (somewhere around 58 since the start)

This is the biggest loss I’ve had in one week since…well, I don’t know when – I can’t find my first book (sooo sad, surely it’s around here somewhere…under something). But it’s definitely been a while.

What am I doing differently, you ask? Couldn’t tell ya. Not a damn clue. It sure makes up for all those weeks in November where I felt like I was working my BUM off and not seeing any results…so I’ll take it.

Tonight my mom, Evan and I went down to the Poudre School District’s HQ for a recognition ceremony, of sorts. Evan’s artwork was the ONLY one chosen from her entire school to be hung in the Superintendant’s Office; it’ll stay there until Spring of 2011. Let me tell you, she is SO very excited about this…and I can’t blame her. In the life of a 4th grade aspiring artist, this is thrilling….comparable, maybe, only to getting 5 Bagel Bites as an afterschool snack – instead of 4 – or getting first place in all four of her Mario Kart Wii races (I clearly don’t know how to talk about video games).

My little Van Gogh…or Georgia O’Keefe (hopefully sans all the psychological problems, eh?). lol

So very proud of her.

Not much else is new, really. The Super Bowl is on Sunday and as I haven’t heard about any Super Bowl parties, I’m not too fearful of the GOBS of disgusting food that I’ll have to avoid. *PHEW* Mini-crisis averted. Jacques may be coming up and we’ll watch some football together…since the Broncos aren’t playing, I’ll really only be watching for the ads. Old habits die hard.

Some random pics that were neglected:

Bouquet of flowers that Jacques surprised me with last weekend…just because.

Jacques going McGuyver on Monument Rock (during our hiking excursion)

Shadow hikers

Much love, Pro

I’ve somehow gotten back into the habit of posting sporadically – I was doing so well there for a while, posting on a semi-regular basis. Oh well…such is life sometimes.

The past week hasn’t really produced anything worth writing about. The biggest thing that DID happen is not really something that should be discussed via blog because I don’t really see this as a DEAR DIARY type thing so I’m not gonna go there. I know, I know…so why’d I say anything about it at all? Because I didn’t really just tell you anything. Meh. Maybe after it gets worked out…

In other news, I went to weigh in today with a new friend (whose name I will not disclose because I’m not sure how she feels about everyone knowing she’s doing WW). It was her first meeting and she seems to be really excited about it. It’s also nice to have partner in crime again, someone to hold you accountable for GOING to weigh in. I find it kind of fun because it’s kind of my chance to show her what I’ve learned over these past 9 months.

Aaahhh, the student has become the teacher. Yes.

Weigh-in results? But of course!

WEEK 34 WEIGHT LOSS: - 2.0 lbs

TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS WITH WW: - 48.4 lbs (about 55 since the very beginning)

Well you know what THIS means, right? Of course you do…it means that I’m 1.6 lbs away from “officiallly” losing 50 pounds! Thrilling. Awesome. Amazing. I’m ecstatic. My jaw dropped when the lady behind the counter told me; I thought it was going to be a maintain week but resolved to go anyway because I’d told the friend we’d be going. What kind of an example would I be setting for her if I didn’t go just because I thought the weigh in wasn’t going to be good?! Yes…hypocritical, I know. Because I do that ALL THE TIME. But not this week. I went and to my surprise, it was a loss!

The lady that weighed me in was SOOO excited for me. She asked if I had a “before” picture with me because she “just couldn’t imagine me with all that extra weight”. Uhhh yeah lady. I TOTALLY keep a picture of me at my HEAVIEST with me at all times. Sick, no thanks. It was nice though, because the shock factor for me is pretty much shot by now.

After weigh in, we were both STARVING and decided to go out to sushi. Yum, and not horrible for you. Double yum.

Now I’m spending some time going through the list of hotels Jacques has suggested for Valentine’s Day (isn’t that just SO NICE?). We’re planning on spending one night in a hotel – in either Downtown Denver or Colorado Springs (links to follow) – and enjoy a nice dinner along with each others company. Lovely.

Here are a couple of the places we’re looking into (seriously check out the links for each of these – AMAZING):

The Cliff House (Colorado Springs)

Hotel Teatro (Downtown Denver)

The Brown Palace (Downtown Denver)

A couple more options:

The Ritz Carlton (Downtown Denver)

The Westin Tabor Center (Downtown Denver)

I know so many people HATE Valentine’s Day…blahbedy blah blah. “Hallmark-contrived” BS….whatever. I like it. Ttthhhppp. It’s our first one together and we’re excited

Much love, Pro

To catch up on weight loss over the past few weeks:

WEEK 33 WEIGHT LOSS: – 1.2 lbs

TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS WITH WW: – 46.0 lbs

WEEK 34 WEIGHT LOSS: n/a (not a good week so I skipped weigh in)

WEEK 35 WEIGHT LOSS: – 0.4 lbs

TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS WITH WW: – 46.4 lbs (somewhere around 53 lbs over all)

Let’s start with the good news here, shall we? So I’ve officially hit – 45 lbs lost with WW which is THRILLING. It was a big deal in the meeting which always feel nice; everyone clapped. They asked how I’ve done it, you know. The usual. I feel guilty these days answering that question because while I am still paying attention to points and such, I’m no longer tracking and I’m certainly not following it to a tee. My main point nowadays is exercise. When you do big things in WW, the leader hands out these little “bravo” stickers and you keep them on a bookmark. Why? I don’t really know…as a reminder of how far you’ve come; little things to be proud of along the way I guess.

Leader: “Have there been any behavior changes that you might be able to attribute some of your weight loss to? What are you doing differently now that perhaps you weren’t doing before?”

Me: “Well, I guess one of the biggest changes besides paying attention to portion sizes a bit more would be that if I don’t *LOVE* what I’m eating, I just stop. It’s not worth the points if it’s not delicious.”

Leader: “Oh my GOSH! That’s incredible. I hope everyone heard that! Say it again, Lindsey!”

Anyway…after I said that she pulled out about 30 of those little BRAVO stars and gave ‘em to me. Sweet, what the hell do I do with all these stickers!? Anyway, I kept em because it was funny:

As for today’s weigh in…blah. -.4 pounds. It’s a loss so I’ll take it but I was obviously looking for more. Fingers crossed for next week.

One of the biggest things I would say might contribute to the fact that my weight loss has slowed down considerably over the past few months, is the fact that I’ve been stressed. Now, for those of you who are thinking “Oh hell, she’s not working, she doesn’t have kids, she’s not paying a mortgage…what has she got to stress about?” Right, all fair points. But I am.

Now I’m not sure how much I should divulge but it’s out there already, for the most part. My mom and stepdad are getting a divorce. This has been hard for my mom as she’s scared and nervous for how things are going to turn out. They have a 10 year old daughter together, my little sister Evan, so my mom is constantly worried about her. She comes to me to talk and to cry and to express her fears which, don’t get me wrong, I’m so very happy that I can be here for her through this whole thing. I’m trying to be strong for her, which – especially when it comes to my mother – I’m just not used to doing. It’s difficult but seems to be getting better.

I would say that without a doubt, this has definitely had an effect on my weight loss. I don’t know how that works exactly. Is there a chemical that comes from being stressed (either directly or indirectly) that might make it more difficult? I’m trying my very hardest not turn to food when I’m upset as I KNOW that would have a negative effect…not to mention the fact that I would just feel worse emotionally after that too.

Bless his heart, Jacques has been amazing from the very beginning. He calms me down when I’m freaking out, with or without reason. He’s thoughtful, even suggesting things that we can do make things easier for my mom. For instance, when he was up at my house over the past few days, he suggested that we take my little sister bowling with her best friend. I think he wants Evan to know that she’s got a friend in him through this whole divorce thing – too cute. And of course, my mom thought that was great. Yes, he’s certainly helpful.

Hopefully things get settled down fairly soon and I’ll get a job, which will take away part of the stress. In the mean time…it’s back to the gym. Whooopi dee doo.

Much love, Pro

I know, I know. It’s been a week since my last post. To put it simply, I haven’t had a whole lot to write about. That last one took it outta me…sheesh. Scary stuff. Topping it off, nothing has really happened to me in the past week that I felt compelled to write about. I spent the weekend in Colorado Springs with Jacques but we didn’t do anything spectacular. It was a lovely weekend, don’t get me wrong…just not…how should I put it? Eventful? Exciting? So here we are. A week later…

In my endeavor to run more (goal: to run a 10k and eventually a half-marathon this summer) I’ve decided that it really is all about the music, for me anyway. I don’t get nearly as good of a workout in without my music; I slack and don’t workout as hard and I’m certainly not nearly as efficient as when I bring my iPod and listen to my carefully selected workout mix. Title: Make it SWEAT.

Some people prefer to listen to slow but steady music. Some prefer hip-hop or heavy metal. I’d say I’m somewhere in between. I need something with good beat and fairly intense to keep me motivated. I like to rock a good fist pumping song (well, several) as I kick my own bum on the elliptical or do my intervals on the treadmill. It really does even help while I’m lifting weights too! I swear sometimes I probably do look like I fist-pumped my way right out one of those iPod ads from a couple years ago…

I probably have been caught singing too (quietly, I hope) if I’m really into it and here’s the thing…I’m doing my thing and the other people at the gym are doing theirs. Music helps me get into my groove. Hopefully they’ve found whatever it is that helps them kick it up a notch too.

For whatever reason, I’ve been asked by several people what I listen to when I workout. It might not interest some people which is fine. In which case, now might be the time to catch up on your other blog updates but I thought I’d just post a few songs that get me in the mood to workout…and workout hard.

Chevelle – Still Running

Breaking Benjamin – Had Enough

Three Days Grace – Riot

Flyleaf – I’m So Sick

Linkin Park – One Step Closer

Trapt – Headstrong

Chevelle – Get Some

Rage Against the Machine – Killing In the Name

Red – Breathe Into Me

System of a Down – Chop Suey

Rx Bandits – Decrescendo (couldn’t find a good cut of this one but it’s good, trust me)

Coheed & Cambria – Welcome Home

These types of songs work well for me because most of them have a good message that motivates me in some form or another or just has a good beat that I’ll try to align with my strides. Also, and man I don’t know how to talk about music…but the verses are often a bit more mellow – again with good beats – and then the chorus’s (would that be chori plural??) are usually a bit faster which works well with my intervals whether on the treadmill or the elliptical. My entire workout list is about 40 songs (almost 2.5 hours). I know this type of music isn’t for everyone but it really gets me motivated.

Yes I know…it was random but for some reason it’s come up with several different people so I thought I’d post it. Next time you’re working out, give these a try. Or if nothing else, notice the effect the music you listen to has on your workout. Maybe it’s time to switch it up.

Much love, Pro

My heart is P-O-U-N-D-I-N-G right now at the very thought of what I’m about to disclose to you all (all 7 people who read this blog regularly, lol). I’m pretty sure my palms just got sweaty – I know, so cute, right? – and my stomach might just crawl up my throat and out of my mouth. Nevertheless, I absolutely believe that it needs to be done.

The intention was to do this on January 1st. Starting a new year, facing this weight loss thing head on. The truth of it is that after not stepping on a scale for more than a week, not being able to work out for 9 days and being a house guest for 6 days…I gained a few pounds. Let’s talk about this for a second.

Being a house guest is difficult. You’re not *really* in control of what you’re eating because these people are feeding you for free. Yes, we ate lots of salads but there was also pasta and cookies and pie. Sure I drank milk and water when I could but there was also lots of wine and egg nog – boy, did I partake in that! However, I also find it kind of RUDE to turn down food even though we discussed this EXTENSIVELY in our WW meetings before the holidays. I, in truth, simply was not prepared.

When I got home I stepped on the scale for the first time in 9 days and I gained just about 3 pounds. EEEEEK. I was so upset and mad with myself…really Linds? You couldn’t take care of this, of yourself? I was so disappointed. Yeah, it could have been worse and for many, I know it was.

Here’s the deal: I am about to disclose how much I weigh and what size I am. This is terrifying. TERRIFYING. It’s not that I’m not proud of where I am now. I am IMMENSELY proud of where I am now, especially because I feel so good about myself. I have gained confidence back in myself and who I am…I am finally starting to feel good about my body and I’m more in shape now than I’ve been in years. It’s more that it’s difficult to admit where I was. Back in October, I grew some balls and posted before/half way to after pics of myself (I was 1/2 way to my goal at that point). At the time, that was SO difficult. In retrospect, I’m proud that I did it and it was kind of liberating. I’m hoping that I’ll have similar feelings about disclosing how much I weigh – other people do it all the time!

I think to move on in my weight loss journey, I need to fully address where I was when I started so I can GET OVER IT. It’s just another step in the process and I’m gonna take it. Here goes.

CURRENT WEIGHT: 177.8 lbs

CURRENT SIZE: 12

STARTING WEIGHT: 228.4 lbs

STARTING SIZE: 18

Uhhh, yeah. I still wanna throw up.

I have about 35-40 lbs to lose in order to reach my goal weight. I would like to end up right around 135-140 and a size 6 would be nice. I’m not sure if that weight will get me into that size but we’ll see.

Other *NEW AND EXCITING* announcements:

Morgan mentioned to me that she wanted to do the Bolder Boulder (for those of you who aren’t familiar with it, it’s a 10k race through the heart of Boulder, CO on Memorial Day weekend). A 10k is about 6 miles which shouldn’t be too bad. It’s kind of a strange race as it’s all on paved roads (uncomfortable on knees and other lower extremity joints) and it’s not like there are any GREAT views. Yes, the flatirons are right there but is it worth people coming from all over the world to race it? I don’t know…but I’m gonna find out It’ll be a great challenge as I fully intend to run the entire way and I think it’ll be a great thing for Morgan and I to do together.

I’ve also decided that I’m going to train for a half-marathon. I mentioned this to Jacques – because I would really like him to do it with me – and he said that during the summer time, there are half-marathons almost every weekend in Colorado. Perfect. This is going to take some MAJOR training…and training = weight loss right? Fingers crossed.

Season 9 of the Biggest Loser started last night and it looks like it’s gonna be good! I’m not sure that I’ve picked a favorite yet as we haven’t really seen personalities but I think this season is going to tug at your heart strings. It seems to be quite a few young people who are doing this to better themselves and find love. Awwww…

One thing I wanted to ask – for those of you who watch it, so last season there was a “Where are they now” episode. Do we remember this? OK, during the episode they showed the previous winner, Erik Chopin, who had gained it all back…do we remember THIS? I had thought that on last season’s finale, he was supposed to come on and weigh in with the rest of the contestants since he accepted the challenge from Bob and Jillian to once again, lose the weight. I watched the finale…and I don’t remember him being there NOR do I remember them even saying anything about it! Anyway, apparently there’s a Discovery Health 1 hour special about him tonight at 9pm EST. I was just wondering if anyone else had noticed the lack of mention of him during the season finale.

Much love, Pro

As promised…there are a few more adventures from Chicagoland I must share. Hmmm, where’d we leave off?

We’ll start off with Cantigny which is a big memorial garden/museum place not too far from Jacques’ grandparents house, where we were staying. We decided to walk over there and take a stroll. Obviously, since it’s winter time, the gardens weren’t “flourishing” per se, but it was still beautiful. It was however, a big wintry wonderland. They had a bunch of tanks from various wars which was pretty sweet and there is a big gorgeous mansion on the property but it was closed so we didn’t get to go inside. Pictures, you ask? But of course!

The next day we ventured into the city yet again and well, that’s when the bad luck started. First off, we missed the earlier train into Chicago and the next scheduled departure was an HOUR AND A HALF LATER than the first one. Before 8am, trains leave every 6 minutes or so. Then there’s one at 8:30a and then next soonest was at 9:50a! What the…I know, right? Anyway, we caught the 9:50a train and it’s about an hour long train ride which brought us into Chicago just before 11a.

There were two things we wanted to do that day: the Shedd Aquarium and the Art Institute. I had heard GREAT things about both and thought we’d be able to go to both. We might have actually been able to, had the following tidbit not ensued. Deep breath…

We go to the Aquarium and there was a line of about 200 people. Uhhhh. Shit. In the beginning it was moving quickly enough so we decided to wait it out. Okay, okay. I really wanted to see it. I’m sure Jacques would tell you he would have been happy enough to turn around and head straight to the art museum because – and here’s the kicker – we had FREE passes to the art museum. I KNOW! I’m horrible. The aquarium was going to be $25 each and we could’ve gone to the museum for free *slaps forehead*. Duh. Hindsight is 20/20.

So we waited…and waited…and waited. After an hour and a half we got within about 10 people of going through the door when it stopped. We just stood there. Nothing happened for about 15 minutes…until a little lady poked her little head through the door and very quietly said “We’ve reached capacity. We’ll be letting people in soon, though.” Um. Um. Um. OH MY GOD. Did I mention that it was freezing? And snowing? I was so mad. Jacques is far more patient than I and seemed to be handling it better. I was SERIOUSLY considering just turning around at that point and going to the art museum. Or crying.

After about 15 more minutes, we were finally let through the door to go buy tickets. The guy behind us in line had been very vocal about his annoyances and as we waited in line, he called one of the employees over to put his two cents in. I chimed in, just a bit and well, needless to say – we got free admission.

Let me tell you – after waiting for two hours and even after getting in for free, I still wish we would have gone to the art museum and skipped the aquarium. OH well, lesson learned. A few sweet pics from the aquarium:

A really REALLY big turtle…or tortoise. I didn’t pay attention (story of my life).

Him’s thinks him’s hiding.

I mean it was a good experience and we saw some cool stuff. Would I go back? Probably not. Moving along.

At this point it was too late in the day and we knew we couldn’t make it to the art museum so we decided to head home. We had to catch a bus to get back to the train station and I’m not going to point fingers…but we ended up getting on the wrong bus. For some reason we decided to ride it out, hoping it would turn around at some point…to make this long story short, we ended up in South Chicago (not the BEST part of town) and about 45 minutes south of where we needed to be. Uhhh, right. We got off, caught the RIGHT bus and headed back to the train station. At this point I was feeling sick – motion sickness, ugh. It had been a long and ridiculous day and I just wanted to get home.

Our flight back to Denver was at 7am the next morning (New Years Eve morning) which went well enough….until we landed and Jacques was missing a bag. It never made it on the plane. Super awesome. They delivered it later that day…but it just added to the frustration we’d experienced over the previous 24 hours.

We had made plans to go up to Breckenridge to ring in the New Year with Jacques’ friends, most of whom I’d never met so I was excited. Plus, I LOVE Breckenridge – for those of you who have never been, it’s an adorable little mountain town. Just gorgeous. To be honest, I didn’t get any good pictures from the evening but we got to see fireworks, his friends were great and we had an overall good time. We spent New Years Day snowshoeing which was fun (and hard!). Awesome view:

Gorgeous.

We headed down the mountain to enjoy some pizza at Beau Jo’s, which was yet another unfortunate debacle: 40 minutes waiting because they skipped us, then another 45 minutes waiting for the pizza because of a computer issue and to top it off, they made the wrong pizza. We told them about it, very nicely of course; they remade the pizza and comp’d everything but the beer. We tipped VERY well because hey, none of that was the waiter’s fault, right?

At this point, neither of us had been home for about a week and boy, were we ready. I’d like to say the bad luck was over, but no. Far from it, actually. We were on our way back to my dad’s house so I could get my Christmas stuff and head home…when Jacques noticed that the engine heat gauge was being goofy and then his heater stopped working. As we rolled up to my dad’s house, we were hearing funky noises coming from under the hood and upon inspection there were some MAJOR problems under there. We ended up staying the night at my dad’s and Jacques worked on it a bit in the morning, discovering that’s it’s actually a bigger problem than he initially thought. A $200 tow bill and what will probably be about twice to three times that amount in repairs, we were finally able to get home.

Happy 2010, huh?

Still sending love, Pro

Let’s first begin with me saying that I missed my blog. Is that weird? If you say yes, that’s okay because I can’t hear you Seriously though…when I started my blog, I had to FORCE myself to do it and now it’s become a bit of a habit. I haven’t blogged in two weeks and I missed it! Man, it feels good to be back.

Alright…where to begin?! I guess Christmas would be appropriate. After packing what seemed like my ENTIRE wardrobe as I knew I was going to be gone for a while, I headed down to my dad’s house in Littleton to celebrate Christmas Eve. We did it simple: pizza and beer (This was only the first of what would be many holiday diet transgressions; don’t judge). We opened gifts – as always I got some wonderful things including a picture of my sisters and gift cards to Bed Bath & Beyond. I stayed up entirely too late playing cards with my dad and Christina…it was perfect.

Our flight to Chicago was at 8am on Christmas morning; I woke up at 4 to get everything ready then waited for Jacques to come pick me up so we could head to the airport. That all went pretty smoothly and from there it was just BUSY BUSY BUSY. As soon as we got to his grandparents’ house we were meeting and greeting then eating…and eating some more. His aunt is a chef and all of the food was superb. OH! I suppose I should mention that I met his dad and his dad’s girlfriend for the first time, both of which were VERY nice and welcoming. *PHEW* What a relief!

After dinner we opened presents…his family even included me in their traditional STOCKING BONANZA. Check this out:

Please note the presents both on top of and below the mantle…there wasn’t enough room IN the stockings. Serious.

I got some amazing things from Jacques: Ralph Lauren “Romance” perfume, a repair manual for my car, a Camelback water bottle, an adapter for my Nalgene, a customized Broncos jersey and diamond (yes, that’s right…DIAMOND) earrings. He did such a good job…a bit overboard, but everything he got me had literally been mentioned at some point over the past few months. What a guy, eh?

“Pro”…awww, and 19 was my soccer number.

Perfect.

I guess here is where I’ll just post a few of my favorite pics from our outings in Chicago. It was really amazing and I loved it…can’t wait to go back!

The Willis (formerly Sears) Tower

Pretty awesome view from the Skydeck in the Sears Tower. It puts Denver’s skyline to shame, really…Lake Michigan in the background.

We’re cute.

View from the glass-bottom Skydeck. Yeah, that’s 103 floors straight down…

Just a cool picture…I liked the reflection.

…for those of you who prefer your trees INDOORS.

A river runs through it. The city, that is. What a view!

I dunno what building that is, but I just thought it looked cool…something straight out of Gotham City.

Jacques and I had a few more adventures that I’ll dish about in my next post (tomorrow). This is good enough for now. I will say though that I really enjoyed the trip and I’m so happy that we went! It was the first time Jacques and I had spent any significant amount of time together (I think the longest prior to this was 4 days or so?). He was great…I’m so very lucky.

I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas! Happy 2010 too!

Much love, Pro

Week 31 Weight Loss: - 2.2 lbs

Total Weight Loss with WW: – 44.8 lbs (a smidge over 50 lbs in total)

Can I get a “Hallelujah!”? It’s been a LONG TIME since I saw a number like that and let me tell you, it felt SOOO good! I was so excited at weigh in today that I gave the lady who weighed me in a high five, which then inspired the lady behind me to offer me a hug (I accepted!).

This past week has not been easy though, let me tell you. I wanted to see a number like that SO BADLY that I’ve been KILLING IT at the gym lately and eating VERY well, not to mention limiting portions big time. It’s not really “following the plan” per se, but I saw the number I wanted and I’m happy. Now I need to get back on the program and do things the way I’m supposed to be doing them, even if it means not losing 2 lbs a week.

I can’t put my finger on it. I guess I just wanted to SEE this kind of a number (ie: -2+ lbs) as a reminder of what I’m working toward. I needed to know that this wasn’t it and that I wasn’t going to be perpetually stuck at this weight. Realistically, I *know* this is a process, and often a slow one at that. I know that as one gets closer to their goal, it gets even MORE difficult. I also know that I’m gaining muscle but let’s get real here: I still have fat to lose…and not just a little bit. There’s PLENTY.  I needed to prove to myself that I still have the potential for big numbers and that my body is still willing to do this.

Turns out – we’re all in. And thank goodness for that.

With that, it’s back to baking cookies (I’m not even letting myself lick the spoon!). Talk about your will-power.

Much Love, Pro

Talk about your last minute plans. Well, I guess it’s not THAT last minute but just yesterday, I found out that I’ll be going to Chicago for Christmas! CHICAGO!

About a week ago, Jacques and I were discussing what our plans were for Christmas; since I spent Thanksgiving with my mom, Christmas – traditionally – would then be spent with my dad. Oh the joys of having divorced parents…trading off holidays and such. *sigh* Anyway, Jacques told me that he and his dad might be going to Chicago to go visit that side of the family. A few days later, and after making sure that I’d be invited, he asked if I’d like to join them.

My answer: an enthusiastic ‘HELL YEAH’!

I’ve never been to Chicago and I’ve always – ALWAYS – wanted to go. Jacques offered to pay for my ticket (he’s the best <3 ) and we’ll be staying with his grandparents so it won’t break my budget, which is quite pleasing. We’ll leave on Christmas morning around 8am so we can make it to his grandparents’ house for the Christmas festivities, stay a few days and hopefully do all the touristy things in the city and head home on New Years Eve morning. I’m so excited!

Things I’d like to see while there:

• Navy Pier – there’s some Winter Wonderfest thing going on right now with ice skating and fun holiday activities. Maybe I can talk Jacques into it, eh?
• Willis Tower Skydeck
• The Chicago Theater – I don’t need to see a show there, I just want to SEE it.

I’m sure I’ll think of other things I MUST see while there. If you’ve been before and enjoyed something in particular, let me know what it was because I’m up for anything!

I finally went to weigh in last week. Results?

Week 30 (I think) Weight Loss: – 0.8 lbs

Total Weight Loss with WW: – 42.6 lbs (still just under 50 total)

So it wasn’t a great loss, but it was something which was really what I needed to see in order to be semi-optimistic. Thus far, this week has been infinitely better as I saw the lowest number yet on the scale yesterday morning – 1.5 pounds less than the number I saw 3 days ago! Eeek! That’s thrilling. I’m trying my honest to goodness hardest to see a good number this week. I spent 2.5 hours at the gym last night doing cardio, then a class and then hitting up the sauna. I got my bum outta bed this morning at 7:30a and met a friend for a workout; this afternoon will be back and biceps with Badass Trainer Lady and my mom.

I am DETERMINED to make this happen and will be going to weigh in tomorrow at noon. Fingers crossed.

Lastly, a few wonderfully awesome items** that I’ve found that I may be asking Santa for this Christmas:

How I want this scarf…

…and we all know that I love a hat. Adorable.

I love watercolor…but I can’t paint it myself.

Peacock earrings? Yes please.

**Most items found on etsy.com

Much love, Pro

“You can have your cake AND eat it too!”

This has pretty much been my motto since starting Weight Watchers this past May. I have always seen it as “not really a diet” because you really can have cake – WW just teaches you where to cut out the other stuff and stay on track. It doesn’t really feel like a diet.

But…here’s the kicker – maybe it should.

*GASP* OMG….I know. I’ve been doing some thinking and I think I’ve been looking at this the wrong way. Maybe not all the time…but definitely lately. I’ve been complaining about how I haven’t been losing any weight (PS – I’m going to weigh in tomorrow no matter what my scale says. EEEK) and obviously something has to change. The gym is still my best friend; we hang out 4-6 times a week, sometimes (like today) twice a day.

So, by process of elimination, the problem has to be my eating. Truthfully, I don’t eat poorly. I’ve learned what foods equal how many points and I’m sticking to the program. I haven’t actually been consistent about counting points in MONTHS but two weeks ago I counted points for a whole week, eating the typical amount of food that I’ve BEEN eating and I was right where I’m supposed to be. What’s going on then?

I think I’ve gotten comfortable with letting myself cheat. As I mentioned, with WW you CAN cheat every once in a while. If you have a slice of pizza, it’s not going to RUIN everything. With the program, you have 35 extra points you can use per week that I hadn’t been using but if I had to guess, I’ve probably been using them lately. I do let myself eat out and I do let myself have cake – watching portions and being realistic of course but this clearly isn’t working. So what’s next?

Here’s a little secret: WW is actually a diet. There’s a reason I was tipping the scale at *** (BREAKTHROUGH – I think I’ll be ready to reveal weights and sizes by the first of the year) and it’s because I wasn’t paying attention to what I was eating and I wasn’t working out. Compared to how I WAS living my life, this is absolutely 100% a diet and it’s **OKAY** that it feels like a diet. Back in September, I had the realization that Hungry is OK because it means that your body is burning excess calories. I think NOW I need to realize that I AM on a diet and need to pay even closer attention to what I’m eating, along with sticking to my workout regimen.

One of my goals for November was to start taking classes at the gym. While I’m a bit late on this, I did actually go to a class tonight. It’s called Body Pump and it’s a total body workout with weights but it didn’t have cardio. I really enjoyed the class and feel like I got a great workout so I’m sure I’ll be doing it again soon. 24Set will probably be my next class as it seems to incorporate some cardio into the mix – splendid.

For anyone checking in on goals from November:

1.) Group Classes at the Gym: see above

2.) Improve my Mile Time: I’m running about a 9 minute mile right now which is assuredly better than it was…I’m still hoping to – realistically – shave at least another minute off.

3.) Swim Laps: because of the skin medication I’m currently on and the reaction my skin is having to it, I don’t think laps in the pool would be good right now. I’ve already got SEVERELY dry skin and the chlorine probably wouldn’t help so this is being postponed

4.) Lose 8-10 Pounds by Dec 1: I only lost about 3 pounds in November. I’m telling you…this is getting harder *sigh*. No excuses…it just didn’t happen.

**Sidenote: my scale has been doing this REALLY unfortunate and mean thing lately. I step on it and wait for those magical (and sometimes NOT SO magical) numbers to appear. Now, I’m not joking this has happened every time I’ve gotten on it for the past 2 weeks. It says I weigh about 2 pounds less than I’m expecting to. I get REALLY excited…until I remember that it’s been playing this horrible trick. I step off, let it zero out again and then step back on…only for it to tell me that I’m now 2 pounds heavier than it JUST told me. Example: let’s pretend I weigh 150lbs. I step on…all of a sudden it tells me I weigh 148. OMG. Amazing. I step on again and it says 150. Not so amazing. It’s just really mean and I need for it to stop because that split second where I actually believe it’s true is Just. Killing. Me.

Don’t you fret.  I’ll be back at it again tomorrow, you can bet on it.

Much love, Pro