The one where I need more Starbucks in my life

I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I started mine by getting up and running 5 miles. I told myself I wasn't going to eat too much.

Ha! Ha! Ha! That is always what I say. When I zipped my jeans up on Saturday they were a little snug. But, I had a great holiday. I went to my sisters in the morning for brunch and I was able to use self control there. I had some fruit and bagel and a couple pieces of bacon. But when I got to my husband's families? I lost all control. I don't know what happened. It doesn't matter. It's one day and one day is not going to make me gain back 100 pounds. But still. I felt bad about it on Friday so Thursday turned into Friday and that was two bad days. But Saturday was a new start. I didn't run on Friday either so that didn't help much.

However, I ran on Saturday. And after that the hubby and I cleaned up the garage and put the BowFlex together. You would NOT believe the things that thing can do. Seriously. I've only watched some of the DVD, but it really is a home gym. It can do almost everything I need it to do. I used it a little bit on Sunday after my run, but I really need to watch the rest of the DVD and get used to using it before I'll feel 100% comfortable with it. I haven't weighed myself since my Birthday. My jeans are no longer tight. I wore a pair today and they fight fine. So I'm sure whatever I did on Thanksgiving is gone already.

Craiglist. You can't go wrong with a $1,500 item for $150 bucks. Am I right?

I had a rough running weekend. I thought it was me, but now I know it's because my husband was leaving for New Orleans this morning. I would have gone, but since my Mom will be here in 2 weeks, I couldn't take the time off for both. And I haven't seen my Mom in over a year. I can survive without my husband for 6 days. I need to spend some time with my Mom while she is visiting. I took 4 days off so far. Luckily she'll be here around Christmas and New Years and I don't have to take off too much time since the holidays are weekends and we get the Monday after off. But anyway... I dropped my husband off at the airport this morning. It was hard. I will admit I cried just a little bit. I'm a weenie, what can I say? But I treated myself to a coffee from Starbucks. I haven't had one since I was in Arizona last October. There just not close enough to me. But I stopped on the way into work and it was such a treat. They have the best coffee. I need more Starbucks in my life.

I wish I had taken a photo of me in the dress I wore on Thanksgiving. I fell in love with it the moment I saw it. It's red and perfect. I'm sure I'll wear it again. And get a picture. It's just so nice. I haven't decided if I'm going to the holiday party at work yet, but if I do, I plan to wear it. So I can get a picture then.

I was supposed to go see "Breaking Dawn" with my sister and nephew's girlfriend. But, the girlfriend backed out. And the sis and I were both tired. So it didn't happen. Which is all fine by me. I'm tired. And didn't really feel up to it. I want to see the movie, but it can wait.

I'll be okay without the hubby. I'm a big girl. Luckily I have work in there and only 1 weekend day which I plan to clean and put up Christmas decorations.

The one where I'm thankful

It's almost Thanksgiving here and I'd just like to go over a few things that I'm thankful for in my life right now.


I am thankful for my amazing husband. He has been there for me through so much and without him, I would have nothing.



These crazy cats. Molly, Bradley and Cynnamon. I love my babies to death. Who else takes care of you the best when you're sick?

My family and friends (no pictures at the moment). Without my family I wouldn't be here and without my friends I wouldn't be sane. So I'm thankful I have them to make me laugh. This includes all of my twitter, blog and facebook friends. You're all amazing, too.

My job. Yes, my job. I may complain and bitch about it at times, but yesterday I realized how much I really like my job and how much I would miss it if I didn't have it.

And my health. To think that two years ago I was 250 pounds and now? I'm running, a size 10 and 165 pounds (slowing getting back to 160 and maybe 150 next year).

The one where I sleep until noon

The Guns N' Roses concert was AMAZING! I knew it was going to be a late night, but we didn't get home until 3:30am!!! The opener, Sebastian Bach, went on at 9pm. GNR went on at 11:30pm. And they played until 2:30am. So, it was a very, VERY long night. And since I am one who is in bed by 10pm during the week (and 11pm on the weekends) I was having a very hard time staying awake.

But, GNR played my favorite song, "Shackler's Revenge". They haven't been playing it much according to my husband (the GNR freak) so I was so excited when it came on. It's one of my favorite songs to run to.

I might have been a little happier if I wasn't having some serious stomach issues. Lots of pain going on. I don't know what I ate to deserve that, but it wasn't fun.

Needless to say, I slept until noon. And when I finally did get up, it was only because my cats were crawling all over me for food. I might have kept sleeping if they hadn't woken me up. I haven't done much since I got up. I had a couple cups of coffee. A little snack. But no running today. I'm still recovering. But it was worth it.

The one with the marshmallow turkey

Boy, do I ever have a food hang over today. Ha! But honestly, my Birthday is a once a year thing. And would you be able to say no to this?

I didn't think so. My coworkers can put together a party like no one and I was lucky enough to enjoy this cupcake from Whole Foods. It's head is made out of a marshmallow. There was so much food. And my Polish coworker brought in these pastries...I can't even begin to tell you how amazing they were. I couldn't even eat everything.

My coworker brought me in balloons. Isn't that sweet of her?
The big yellow one plays music when you tap it. Don't ask me what I'm looking at in this picture. Because it's clearly not the camera.

I had a great Birthday. After a month of not weighing myself, I was 165.2 pounds. Not bad for someone who wasn't exactly 100% with her diet and was sick and couldn't exercise as much as she wanted to.

My husband took me to Texas Roadhouse. Fried pickles. That was all I wanted and he pretty much let me eat the whole appetizer. I got Target gift cards from my Mom and in-laws. I can't wait to go buy some new stuff for the house with them. I need new towels. My husband got me my Bowflex. He promises to put it together soon. He hasn't had the time. He's a busy, busy man. I totally understand. But I want to be able to use it before he leaves for New Orleans and that is almost a week away. Oh and he got me a the new updated FitBit Ultra! I was so excited. I had no idea. I was eyeballing it, but I didn't think I would get it so soon. Maybe Christmas. Good times.

So we're back on track today. 5 miles under my belt. I have two, TWO Thanksgivings next week. My sister is cooking brunch and my husbands family is doing dinner. I am going to try to control myself as much as I can. That is going to be a lot of food.

And tonight? Tonight we're going to see Guns N' Roses. It's going to be a blast!!

The one where I feel great!

Today my husband picked up my Bowflex on his lunch break. It's now in my garage. I'm so excited!! Cragslist...you have to LOVE it. Where else can you buy a $1500 item for $150? Seriously.

So he promises to get it up and ready for me this weekend so I can start using it. I'm thrilled beyond words. I mean, I don't even USE my gym membership anymore so once it expires in February, I'm golden. So I can workout at home. I'm one of those people that just likes to do that.

And as for my running? It's good. Except I really don't think I'll be running 26.2 miles in January. I want to start training for that again, but it won't be until after my Mom is gone. That bronchitis really knocked me out. So, I think in January I'll start the training again and pick a date for the treadmill marathon. I'll update on that again when I figure it out. I mean, how do I tell me my Mom...oh hey, I'm running 18 miles on your 70th Birthday, can you give me some time to nap? I mean, it's not every day your Mother turns 70, right?

Obviously, I'm feeling great. I may not have lost any weight (we'll find out tomorrow) but I don't even care. I went to my favorite consignment shop on lunch the other day and fit into a pair of 8 pants, some medium skirts and some cute medium sweaters. I didn't buy anything, but it felt good to try them on. I may go back for one of the skirts and sweater to wear for Thanksgiving if they are still there.

Plus, I think running 5 miles before work helps. I was in such a great mood all day and didn't care about anything. It's my job to be helpful and do things for people and I was happy to do that. Yesterday? Not so much. So I need to do that more.

It could also be because tomorrow is my Birthday. That helps to put me in a good mood. I'm a big believer in celebrating that.

I'm off to do some more cleaning to get ready for my Mom's visit. She'll be here in less than a month!!

The one where I come clean

I'll admit it. My eating has been shit. Shit, shit, shit. I was supposed to be awesome for a month and lose weight. Right? Right. I was going to get back down under 160 pounds after I saw 166 pounds last month.

Well, I totally doubt that happened. Like I mentioned before, I would run 10 miles and decide it was okay to eat cookies, pizza, candy, whatever. And that isn't cool. That isn't how I lost the weight. Having an off day every now and then is okay, but not on a weekly basis.

I was totally ready to eat all healthy and good last week and clean. I was motivated and everything. I was eating every couple of hours, getting in all my healthy fats, lots of fruits and veggies, etc. Which lasted until Friday when I had pizza. And french fries. And cookies. Yep.

Now, I was sick for 5 weeks. Which SUCKS! It totally got my running off track. I went from running 5-6 days a week to 2-3 until I started feeling better. Which was this weekend. It was the first time I didn't have to use an inhaler after I ran. And Sunday I finally got over 4 miles and ran 5 miles. It sucks to go from 10 miles to 5, but I know I have to take it slow with the bronchitis. I was still blowing funky green junk out of my nose all weekend.

Saturday, after my eating frenzy on Friday, I got right back on the wagon. With Weight Watchers. It's my stand by. I know it works and I know what to do. But it's not what I want to do for the rest of my life. Weight Watchers and running...they just don't mix well. But the next two weeks are rough. My Birthday is Friday. I know they will get me a cake at work on and I can't say no to cake. And I won't. And of course, Thanksgiving is next week. I just want to to make sure I don't gain anymore weight. If I gain weight.

Friday is my weigh in day. My clothes are not tight. They fit just fine. But, I feel...I don't know. I just feel...blah. I don't like this eat like crap one day, eat fine for 6 days cycle. It's not good. Or healthy.

What I want to do is get back on a healthy clean eating plan after Thanksgiving. I was going to start on January 1st, but no. That isn't soon enough. Christmas is one day and I can handle that.

Hopefully, my Birthday present from my husband is going to be a Bowflex. We've seen a bunch on Craiglist and we've called a few people, but so far no one has called back. Which sucks, but I'm sure they go fast. People want to sell them CHEAP!! I figure I can cancel my gym membership once I get it. I don't go anyway and I love to workout at home, so it's a win/win, right?

So...that is kind of why I haven't been blogging much over the past week or so. But I plan to. I miss it. And I miss all of you!! I'm still reading, even if I'm not commenting as much.

Sunday post...

I've been unusually quiet lately and I'm sorry. I promise to do an update soon. I've been getting back into the swing of running now that I am 100% over my bronchitis. Who would have thought it would have taken me a whole 5 weeks?

In the meantime, check out this new blog I am following, Ben Does Life, thanks to Runner's World. If you watch his youtube video My 120 Pound Journey, I bet you cry. I totally lost it. It's amazing. It makes me want to run an actual marathon next year. Really. The video is linked on his site. Check it out.

Feeling great!!

I've been eating amazingly well since Saturday and I can't even begin to tell you how much much body loves it. How awesome I feel. How healthy I feel. Really.

I'm eating clean. Getting in healthy fats. And I feel GREAT!

I worked out Saturday, Sunday, and today.

I feel like I should be blogging more, but I've just been really exhausted. With work and stuff at home. I plan to get back on a better blogging schedule soon.

I'm also trying to convince the hubby to buy me a something BIG for my Birthday. We'll see!!

A slip up

So, to be completely honest, my eating has slipped. A lot. I haven't been eating 100% clean and I can tell. My clothes have felt tighter and just have felt off. I'm sure some of it has to do with the fact I've been sick with bronchitis for the past 3 1/2 weeks. But I just haven't felt like doing what I know is good for my body.

Or maybe it's because I would run 10 miles on a Saturday and decide it was okay to have pizza, ice cream and candy that night. Why not? I burned off 1,000 calories, right? That is going to stop. TODAY.

I have a friend, Heather, who has really inspired me to tone up. You can read her blog here or check out her facebook page here. She went from 157 pounds to 125 pounds from January to October. Now, I do not want to be 125 pounds. And I am happy being 160 pounds. But I really want to tone up and she looks fantastic. She also competed in a fitness competition, which I do not want to do. But I would love to have a stomach like that. And I have been talking back and forth with her about how she did it, what she did, etc.

Today I ran 4 miles and did 30 minutes of weights. I loved it. I forgot how awesome it feels after you do weights. How your muscles feel after. I want to continue that. I NEED to feel like I'm doing something good and healthy for my body again. After my workout, I had a protein shake which I know is important for my muscles. Something I sort of forgot about. I logged back into my bodybuilding.com account and I'm going to start using that again. It is really helpful and I'm going to use it for tips and help.

I'm totally excited about grocery shopping tonight so I can stock up on good food. The hubby needs to hurry up and get home. Ha!!

Things are coming up

Things are coming up. And when I say that, I mean green things. From my chest. It ain't pretty, but I think I'm finally getting well. After 3 1/2 weeks of coughing, hacking, wheezing, fever, etc., I think I'm finally getting over this Bronchitis.

IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME!

I am sick of being sick let me tell you. I did not want to go for a chest x-ray and I was a little nervous it was Pneumonia. I don't like missing work unless it's a planned day off and this has caused me to miss 2 days. Of course, I work in healthcare and everyone understands, but still. I was already behind in my work due to the moving disaster of last Friday and the no power issue we came into on Monday, but now I'm even more behind. I can work from home, but there are some things I can't do at home.

Speaking of no power at work, I really hope we get it back soon. I don't mind going to the other office to work, but the drive. OH THE DRIVE! It's a big pain in my butt. I hate it. I like working with my other coworkers who I don't get to see often, but the drive sucks. I'm so spoiled with my short 5 minute drive aren't I?

I did get in a 3 mile run today. Which was my first run since Saturday. It felt great to get back out there. I know I needed to give my body some time off and I'm glad I did.

Having no power made me cranky

I woke up on Sunday morning to a foot of snow and no power. I was cold, I was cranky and I felt like crap.

I'm beginning to think this bronchitis is never going to go away.

By 2pm both the husband and I had taken ice cold showers and decided to head out into town and see what was going on. We cleaned off my car and drove off. HOLY CROW! Power lines and trees and branches EVERY WHERE!! It's no joke!! No wonder we didn't have power. We ended up driving up to Massachusetts to get dinner and fill up the gas tank.

I was cranky. I don't do well without power. I don't enjoy camping much, so you can see why that makes me upset. I was so mean and nasty to my husband. I shouldn't have taken it out on him. It's not like he went outside and knocked the power lines down.

By the way, my eating? Not so good on Sunday. I ate whatever I wanted. Which wasn't pretty. Cheeseburger, french fries, ice cream, candy. You get the picture, right? Ah well. What can you do?

I froze all night on Sunday. No heat and 20 degree weather makes for unpleasant sleeping weather. Took another cold shower on Monday morning and went on day two without coffee as I headed to work. Work? Also without power. We sat around for a bit, cleaning up from moving stuff around on Friday, before we were shipped off to one of our offices that was open and had power.

I drank coffee all day there. I was so ready for it. And it was warm. So warm.

When I came home from work my power was back on. I am not kidding you when I tell you I CRIED! I was so happy, I dropped my stuff and cried. It was one of the best things I have seen in a long time. I feel so bad for people who are still without power here in Connecticut and are going to be for awhile.

Work is still without power and I don't mid going to the other office, but the drive is a pain.

I'm also still sick. I feel terrible. I went back to the doctor today and she gave me a nebulizer treatment while I was there and that cleared me right up. But she also gave me a prescription for an anti-biotic. I have to get it filled but nothing is open around here right now. She wants me to call back on Friday and if I'm still wheezing, I have to go for a chest xray. They are afraid it might be pneumonia. Fun!!

I haven't run since my 10 miles on Saturday (which was supposed to be 13.1) but I'll get there. Having no power and being sick put a glitch in my training. Hopefully tomorrow I will feel up to it.

Off to catch up things. I didn't have much time last night.