Ring out the old and ring in the new!

Hi folks!

Well, I'm back from my little Christmas "vacation."  It wasn't really a vacation but my Mom and my older sister came into town to celebrate Christmas and we did take last weekend off to go up to New York for about 36 hours.  It was the first time my Mom saw the Rockefeller tree and the other well known NYC Christmas sights, so that was pretty cool.  I'm glad that I was able to help make this holiday special for her.

In terms of my weight loss journey this last week, I didn't exercise.  At all.  Unless you count walking around NYC and DC, but I don't count those.  My eating wasn't nearly as bad as far as holiday eating goes.  Sure, I indulged in a few treats here and there, but all in all it wasn't horrible.  I peeked at the scale this morning and I was pretty happy to see that I hadn't gained any weight, however I still felt gross from lack of exercise.

Since my Mom and sister are now I'm gone, I'm looking forward to getting back to my exercise routine and counting calories again.  (I know, I know... I'm crazy for looking forward to getting back to counting calories!)  I want to make sure that I'm back on the right track to ring in the new year!

Speaking of the new year, let's look back at 2012, shall we?

It was an interesting year dietary/weight loss wise.  I started off the year pretty good, but hit a really rough patch in the summer and by October, I was up to the highest weight I had been in a long time.  Over the course of the year, I gained 12 pounds, but thankfully I lost it again and am now (if my unofficial weigh in this morning is anything to go by) at the lowest weight I've sustained in my adult life.

2012 was the year when:

I ate my way through Memphis.

I started running again.

I visited 21 states.

I visited 5 countries outside the US.  Canada, Germany, Austria, Japan (twice!) and New Zealand.

I basically stopped blogging for three months (coincides with weight gain... go figure!)

I decided to run a half marathon (again.)

I decided to NOT run said half marathon.  (again.)

I hurt my back.

Oh yeah, and when I met this guy:

No, that's not a new boyfriend (I wish!)
That's Dan Stevens, of Downton Abbey fame.

All in all, I'm in a much better place than I was going into 2012.  My mind and body seem to finally be working together again.  Sure, I have my glitches here or there, but overall my scale is going in the right direction.  I feel like I can actually make weight loss goals and will achieve them, rather than just have them be pipe dreams.  I think I needed that time off to recharge everything.  My mind was the most tired, I think.  I needed to be ready to go back into this GUNG HO and give it my all.  I wasn't giving it my all before, and it showed.

So, this New Year's Eve, I'm not going to make any resolutions.  I'm pretty happy with the way my life is going at the minute and I did it all on my own.  I didn't wait for the right time, or because some holiday dictated I make life changes.  I did it because I wanted to and I needed to.  I'm pretty damn proud of that.

Anyway, here's to you my few faithful readers!  May your 2013 be filled with great joy and happiness!  Thank goodness the Mayans were wrong, huh?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Weigh-In Wednesday: 12/19/12 - The day late edition

Last Week's Weight:                                  239.0
This Week's Weight:                                  239.2

Weight Gained:                                                .2

Total Weight Lost:                                       70.8

Totally meant to post this yesterday, but alas, I got busy and before I knew it I had forgotten!

So essentially no loss or gain this week.  (I don't count .2 pounds as a gain...)  I'm okay with it really.  It's better than a gain, which is what I was expecting.  I've still be experiencing some back and now some hip pain so I'm looking forward to taking it easy for the next week or so over the Christmas holiday so that my body can recover.  I look forward to not having to take Advil as soon as I get up in the morning...

Don't expect a post from me next week.  I'm going to New York this week to do the Christmas in the City bit with my Mom and older sister.  Then we are coming back to Washington, DC (where my tour is located until after the New Year) for Christmas Eve and Day.  My goal is to not eat too horribly, but I'm not going to be counting every calorie either.  I just need a breather for a few days.

Anyway, I hope everyone has a very Happy Holiday and Happy New Year as well!!

Weigh-In Wednesday: 12/12/12

Last Week's Weight:                               241.4
This Week's Weight:                               239.0

Weight Lost:                                               2.4

Total Weight Lost:                                    71.0

I wish that someone had been there to see the huge grin spread across my face as I stepped on that scale this morning.  I wish I had words to accurately describe how happy I am to be out of the 240s (NEVER to see them again, if I can help it!).  This is my second week in a row I have lost almost 2.5 pounds, so I must be doing something right, huh?

This was a bit of a rough week for me emotionally.  As you know I decided to not run the half marathon originally because of money but then realized it was a good decision because I was actually not as physically prepared to start training as I had hoped.  Also, the bed in the hotel last week really messed up my back so I've been in a bit of pain this week and its affected my exercise.  I could barely do anything Monday because I was in so much pain.  At the airport I actually laid down on the floor because that was the only position when my back didn't hurt.  Not being able to exercise took a toll on me, as its my main source of stress relief, and so my mind has been in a cluster.  Then add on top of all this, I had a bad "tall day" on Sunday because of a dumb woman at CVS who made a comment about my height and I took it very personally.

On that tangent for a second... I really wish I could get over my sensitivity about my height but this is the one thing I just can't seem to get over.  I can change my hair color, my clothes, hell even my weight but I can't change my height and its the ONE thing that people notice the most about me and its the thing I hate the most about myself.  I just wish people in this world didn't find it acceptable to comment to me about it.  I don't go around making comments about other people's appearance to THEIR face, so WHY do people deem it acceptable to make a comment to me about my height?  If someone was freakishly short, I would NEVER say to them, "Wow, you're short!!!  That must SUCK!"  Why?  Because I have MANNERS!  So, WHY do people think if you're tall it's okay???  I just don't get it.  Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now.

Here's my goals for this week:  To get my back to feel normal again.  To run (if I can) 3 miles, at least 3 times.  To cross train for at least 45 minutes at least 2 other days.  To eat well.  And to lose another 2.5 pounds.  

If I can do that leading into the holidays with my Mom and my sister I will feel great about slacking off for a few days.  I arrive in DC a week from tomorrow and I absolutely can't wait.  It will hopefully be a great Christmas!

Hope you all have a great week!

Well...

After attempting my first "long run" of the half marathon training, I realized that maybe it's a good thing I cancelled the half marathon.  Because I couldn't even complete the 4 mile distance yet.  It was just too ambitious of a time frame.

But I'll get there.  Eventually.  I was just impatient.  So I'm going to alter the training.  I'm going to gradually up my mileage and I'll eventually run 13.1 miles.  I just don't know when.

But, I do know one thing, it will be sometime in 2013.  Because that's a given!

Sometimes we have to do what we don't want to do

Today I came to a very difficult decision.  It's a decision that I've made before, but this I had to make it for a different reason.

I'm not running the Disney Princess Half Marathon in February.

Last time I did it because I was in a bad place mentally and couldn't make it work time wise. (I had just re-entered the work force and was opening a Broadway show.)

This time I'm doing it because I just can't afford it.

Taking a trip to Disney World in February, while it sounds fantastic, is just going to take a huge hit on my bank account.  I had told my Mom that I would take her with me and I just can't make it work budgetarily right now.  I am at the point in my life when I need to actually start saving and putting money away for retirement and for a rainy day.  I need to make these difficult decisions where I choose the safer route, rather than the fun route.

This isn't going to stop me from training though.  I just won't do it as rapidly.  I know that I could have run this half marathon if I worked for it.  I know that in my mind and in my heart.  I had the determination to do it.  So, that won't change.  But, this will make the week that my Mom is in Washington DC with me for Christmas a less stressful affair as I won't constantly be running to the gym to run.

This sucks, don't get me wrong.  I'm disappointed.  I just needed to make a grown up decision and that sucks sometimes.

Weigh-In Wednesday 12/5/12 & Beginning of Training

Last Week's Weight:                                      243.8
Current Week's Weight:                                 241.4

Weight Lost This Week:                                    2.4

Total Weight Lost:                                           68.6

I'm not going to lie I did a little dance when I saw the scale this morning.  I was overjoyed for a few reasons.

1.)  I lost my Thanksgiving weight and I'm going against the trend of losing weight during the holidays.

2.)  It's the lowest my weight has been in QUITE a long time.

3.)  I had friends come and visit me on the tour and I ate pretty horribly last Saturday (fish & chips, fried pickles, queso, beer, etc.) which resulted in my weight skyrocketing to 247 the next day.  Of course I would never have counted that weight, but I more stepped on the scale for the shock value and to kick me in the butt for the rest of the week.

4.)  I'm also going against the trend and I'm losing weight while on tour!  That is quite an anomaly.  Most people come out onto the road and gain a bit of a bulge because of how difficult it can be to eat healthy and because temptations surround us and it makes it very easy to put off working out.

 Basically, I'm just happy that my hard work is paying off again.  It's such an addicting thing to step on that scale and to see the number go down every week.  If I can keep up this momentum I am only a few short weeks away from hitting my all time lowest weight ever.  I just can't believe I'm back here!  My legs feel really strong, my pants are more loose, my friends are commenting on how good I look...  All signs are just positive right now.  Gotta keep it up!

So, with regards to my half marathon... My training officially started this week!  I realized quite quickly that I'm going to have to be flexible and move around my training days due to travel, press, etc.  My Mondays and Tuesdays are typically kind of nutty so I might need to shuffle things around because of whatever is scheduled for me work wise.  But, I've decided to make things easier for myself by creating a spreadsheet to log all of my workouts.  So far, so good!  I feel really strong and I can't wait to increase my mileage!  My speed is already increasing too.

I guess I'm just a bundle of positivity today.  I'll take it, because lord knows these days do not happen all the time!

Anyway, here's to hoping I get below 240 next week.  If I do, I'll celebrate with 50 sit ups!  :)