I Like Pretty Things

David B has been blowing my phone UP! He keeps calling...asking me out...and I say "NO DAVID BECKHAM.  NO!  I LOVE HEATHER".  He just won't get the picture though.

But I am not kidding when I said I stared at this picture for at least 60 seconds, elbow on desk, head in palm, mouth slightly opened.  He's pretty. 

What's funny though, is if I just look at the midsection-above the package, or at the quads, below the package-I could mistake him for my girlfriend. 

It's true.  I live with a ridiculous peace of muscle.  And during the winter, one may not be able to see what I am dealing with on a daily basis, but it's motivating.  Not like I think for a moment that any amount of working out would make me resemble her body, but she has spent many years working on her muscles and their placement.  For example, she has one of those butts.  You know.  Pokes out but sets high.

And this may have just turned into a Heather compliment fest, but I really had a point until I got distracted with Davie up there...

and of course the point is ME-focused.  I have been working on my lower half with squats, lunges, and the such...as I have discussed before.  And I am pretty sure that my quads AND my ass are getting bigger (not due to the few pounds I am up).  And both of these things are good...but they are almost counterproductive to one of my lifelong wishes (since puberty anyways) that pants shopping was easy.  Because my hips...well ladies and gentlemen, seem to be stuck in weight loss purgatory.  Meaning...fat doesnt seem to ever leave them.  And so now I am adding muscle bulk, not really trading that fat bulk...and holy Pepe jeans people...the fit of my slacks is getting weirder.

Sigh.  A trade off I suppose.

Anyways, those are my thoughts.  And one last thought about Heather.  The girl was off work for practically 2 weeks, barely worked out, and ate and drank like the end of the world was right around the corner.  She LOST weight.  Mmmmhmmm...saw 121 on the scale.  I almost stabbed her with my SonicCare the morning she skipped off the scale.  But I would miss her too much.

Or at least her ass.

The end.

My Playlist

It didnt show up for some of you, so here you go:

T.H.E (the hardest ever)-Will.I.AM (dirty version)
Break Stuff-Limp Biskit (dirty version)
Sugar-Kid Rock (again, dirty version)
So Hott-Kid Rock (dirty version)
Fish-Craig Campbell (country)
Nookie-Limp Biskit
Hell on Heels (country)
This is Why Im Hot-Mims (great reminder of why you are working out)
Stereo Hearts-Gym Class Heros
Work Out-Cole World J. Cole
You-Chris Young (country--might be too slow)
Pause Zumba Mix-Pitbull
Wobble-VIC
Walk This Way-Run DMC
Booty Wurk-Joey Galaxy
Shake Ya Tailfeather-Nellie
No. 1-Nellie
Sexy and I know it-LMFAO
Moves Like Jagger-Maroon 5
I do-Toya
Faded-Soul decision
Hurts so good-John Mellencamp
I wanna be bad-Willa Ford
Hit Em Up Style-Blu Cantrell

There you go kids!

My Quads Need A Sedative

I am not sure why, but my run on Monday has made me very sore.  Perhaps it was the wind, or just the added distance running outside, but I have run over 5 miles before on the treadmill and do not remember being hobbled.

Having to wear high heel shoes to work doesn't help.  I could barely walk out of the gym today, make the 20 feet trek to my office, and throw myself in my chair.  I thought someone would find me, laying in the parking lot, hugging my gym bag and whimpering.

We were supposed to do bootcamp this morning, which is a torturous 45 minutes cardio/ab thing Heather designed to break up the monotony of circuit....but no one showed up so I just ran on the treadmill.  Did I say this the other day?  Who knows.  I find the lack of the soda hooch is sucking my brain power...but the number one reason running outside is better than running on the treadmill?  You can't just stop when you are running outside.  I mean you can STOP, but you have to run back...or else make a phone call for a pick up.  But when you run outside, you have to run back.  On the treadmill, when you want to quit...you can just hop off.

So I did.  After 36 minutes and 2.72 miles.  Damn...I should have just made it to 3 miles.  But I did burn 400 calories.  So score! 

Tonight for dinner I will be trying a new vegetable called brussels sprouts.  I am scared.  They look very vegetable like.  But last year I fell in love with broccoli, so anything is possible.  I believe I will roast them the oven with salt, pepper, and olive oil.  Any suggestions are welcome.  Remember, the goal is to get me to like them.

Happy Wednesday my friends!  Go forth and conquer!

Why Dieting is Like A Gfit From Santa

It's NOT.  IT'S NOT LIKE A GIFT AT ALL OKAY?!

And for those of you who want to tell me...."It's not a diet, it's a lifestyle change"...I dont want to hear it okay?

I have decided that LIFE is a DIET.  If we can't eat whatever we want whenever we want, than it's a damn diet.

AND IT MAKES ME CRANKY!

sigh

There.  I feel better.  But only a little.  Only if we are measuring in sparrow farts.  Tiny.  That's tiny dude.

Can you tell it's day three of my detox from crap?  Or shall we call it "Food Freedom".  Oh how I miss thee Food Freedom.  I havent had a drop of pop (soda if you insist on saying it wrong) since 11:59pm of the year 2011.  I was thinking I would get through the withdrawal headaches, but they showed up last night.  Bastards.  And I ate 3/4 of an apple today because I read that apples are better than coffee at waking you up...and I don't drink coffee, so I cannot accurately compare, but I know they aren't as good as a nice cold can of POP!

DUDE!

This morning for breakfast I had half an Atkins bar and a cup of 2% milk.  Then for a mid-morning snack I had some pear pieces in lite juice and my vitamins.  After which, I took a big swig of water and then threw all that up.  Awesome.

For lunch I had some peanut butter and mr. apple, and a soup to go. 

jabckhvo;ivo;ernaoeb;ib*&@%*&^

tonight for dinner I will be enjoy an all beef frank, on one half a wheat bun, smothered in my chili with spicy mustard and cheese.  Now that's tasty.

Full of sodium you say?

I say suck it.

Just kidding.

Well.  Only a little.

Questions From The Un-banded

I received a FB message from one of my coworkers, who I love because everytime we run into each other she says "You've lost more weight", and then I get to tell her that I am in fact getting fatter...and we argue briefly about how good I look.

But I digress...

She of course knows that I am banded, has found my blog, and asked me the following questions.  And I thought I would answer them here for any of you newbies or those who are considering WLS.

 I am really thinking that this is the route I want to go but I have so many fears... will I loose the weight, be able to resist the temptations, tone up?? How did you do it, and were you not scared?

I hesitate these days to tell someone that the band is the most amazing weight loss tool ever.  Because even though for me, it certainly has been, over the past several years, I have seen those who succeed, those who don't, those who really want to but...for what ever reason...the band was not the right choice.  But I do not hesitate to say that for me, making the choice to a) have weight loss surgery and b) going the route of the band versus other options, has been the best decision of my life.  It has freed me.  It has given me things I never thought were going to be possible.  It has allowed me to live my life to the fullest-physically speaking anyways.   I would do it again in a heartbeat.

But, medical issues aside (bc there are those in our fold who have had to have the band removed and chose other options) I know the band CAN work.  But it only does about 50% fo the job.  And maybe that's why it worked for me.  Because I knew I could do HALF the work at least....just don't expect me to do 100%.  (Heather says I like to do things half-assed.  She may be on to something).  Once Dr. Friedman told me that I could have the surgery and NOT lose any weight, I knew I wasn't going to be THAT girl.  If I was going through with it, I was going through with it.  And it helped Dr. Friedman was smokin' and I wanted to impress him.

And like I have said before, having a good doctor-regardless of hotness-but one that you trust, can work with, let's you get fills when you make the case for one, etc...can make you or break you even before you get started.

I don't really remember being scared.  I remember being scared the day of surgery, just bc you get that fear that you may die :) But after that...I was good.

And the toning up thing.  Well, that depends on SO many factors, but I believe that if you start working out and then actually start WEIGHT TRAINING, that over the years...it does start to look better.  I have been lifting now regular for at least two years.  And it's not THAT bad.  You can't just lose the weight and THEN start toning.  It will be too late.  You can't just do cardio and expect your body to tone up.  It's a mix.  But you have to do it.  And that can be one of the hardest things.  Because the band doesnt help you work out.  Damn it.

But regardless of what you choose, do your research.  Be honest with yourself.  But don't wait.  Don't let your fears keep you from something that potentially could change your live for the better.  The unknown doesnt have to be scary.  It can be full of great things, new things, and the beginning of a new lease on life.

Hope that helps!

Running Against the Wind

Part of my "new" exercise routine for this new year will be changing things up just a little...and sadly...for me...that means adding more cardio to my workout and possibly cutting back on my weight lifting just a tad.  Instead of 4-6 sessions of weights a week, I am going to cut back to just 3 times a week, and add 2 sessions of cardio.

Mommy hates cardio.  I've even grown to hate Zumba.  I know.  It's true.  But, for ME to LOSE weight, I know I need to up my cardio and keep it consistent. 

So this morning, I went for a run.  I made my little playlist to go along with my Nike running gps app...which I have talked about before, but it is well worth the $2.99 to purchase it.  I love that it tracks my route, I can play my playlist through it, it tracks my pace, shows a map, etc.  I have tried other free apps in the past, and none are as accurate or user friendly. 

Anywhoozle, I started running to Will.I.Am's new song...so I got a little excited out of the gate and thought I may have to start walking just 1 minute in.  I made it though, without stopping, 3.13 miles...half of thosse against the wind.  The wind is no joke my friends!  I did pass this cute jogger man twice, and managed to say "This wind sucks" to him like I knew what I was talking about.  My pace is slow, but it was steady.  Upon entering the house I grabbed my water bottle and the bottle of IBprofen.  My knees were really hurting for some reason this time...they usually dont bother  me.

Hell.  I am old.

But I am feeling good spirit wise.  I feel like I can stay away from the diet hooch for the day, drink my water, make positive choices.

Here is my Nike GPS app for today:


I am also using Daily Plate/Livestrong app to track my calories.  Heather uses it religiously, and I have used to from time to time.  We pay for the $2 version...and they recently  made it tons more user friendly.  Here is the home page on my iphone app:


Some of the songs I have on my running playlist are:



Happy Monday folks.  It seems like a lot of us bloggers are recommitting.  Let's do this together.

The Holidays: Gifts That Keep On Giving

Apparently, I am storing up for a long cold winter.  Like a squirrel collecting nuts for a snowstorm that will never arrive, I have been packing on the pounds over the holidays.  10 pounds to be exact.  And I have reached an all-time PB (post-band) high of 180 el-bees. 

That's right.

180

It is official.  Perhaps I can blame a residual counter gravity effect due to the winter solstice...but...probably not.

And seeing as how January 1st seems like a good place to begin....I shall begin again.  I have been thinking about my plan of attack for several days now, mulling over my grand ideas and possible goals...whilst eating large amounts of ice cream and swigging Pepsi straight from the 2-liter bottle.

Here is what I've got.  What worked for me during the first year of weight loss?

1.  Goals
2.  Blogging
3.  Water consumption
4.  Self-discipline
5.  Proper Restriction

And as of late my friends, I really can't claim to have possessed any of the above 5 mention items.

So here is my goal.

By May 1st, that is five months from today, I will have lost...

wait for it....

wait for it...

30 pounds. 

So I will weigh in at 150 on May 1st, 2012.  Awesome. 

Am I scared of not reaching this goal.  Wellllll....sure.  30 pounds is a lot for where I am, how I eat, how I work out.  But you have to set a goal.  You have to make it public.  And so it is.

I will also be blogging more regular.  I will be updating my weight using the tracker ticker every Monday, just like the good old days.

I started drinking water again today.  I remember when I used to be religious about the old H2o.  I would preach the virtues of it.  And then slowly...the demon soda pop took hold of my heart.  As of midnight last night, I am giving up drinking my calories (well, at least pop with calories)...although I will be cutting way back on adult beverages and diet soda as well.

As for the self-discipline, I need to be more aware...be more present...you know...make actual healthy choices.  I did this once.  I shall do it again.  This part, for my old bandsters...is all up to us.  The band does not make the healthy choices for us.

And finally...proper restriction.  I still get stuck...but that doesnt mean I have good restriction.  It means I am probably trying to shovel a full sized hamburger down my throat like a normal person and it gets lodged.  My band is actually pretty loose. I am coming up on my three year anniversary, so it is time for a visit to Hot Doc anyways...but I moved it back until the beginning of February...bc I am not dragging my ass in to see Dr. Friedman having gained 10 pounds.  OH hell no.

So there you go.  I'm feeling good about it.

Of course, it's just the end of day one. 

Happy New Year to all of you.  May it just keep getting better :)