I'm getting old!

On Saturday night, a group of friends got together at Dino's (an off-the-beaten-track, local's karaoke bar) to formally say farewell to our friend Heather. Heather left this morning to move back to Ohio.

Normally, Mike and I are home by 11 p.m. or midnight and watching TV on the weekends like a good old married couple. "Super late" nights for us are pretty rare, and so when they happen it usually doesn't take too long to recover or phase me all that much. I mean, what's one night of losing sleep? This weekend was not like that at all!

We left Dino's at nearly 1 a.m. and Mike had to get to bed immediately when we got home since he had to work at around 6 a.m. the next morning. This meant that I got charged with staying up with our pets and watching some TV while the animals wound down for the night. I finally crawled into bed at 2:30 and fell asleep somewhere closer to 3:30 a.m. Mike left for work and the dogs woke me up at 7 a.m. leaving me with little sleep, and what sleep I did get felt fairly restless.

I was shocked that when I woke up I felt nauseous and had a headache and was sore. Mike didn't drink at all and I didn't even finish my one glass of vodka 7Up. I think I drank less than half of that drink because it didn't taste quite right and then drank Mike's Coca-Colas the rest of the time. Have I really gotten to the point where any alcohol and late nights ruin me for days?!?! I must be getting old!

I felt sluggish all day on Sunday, but have thankfully recovered just fine today. I'm still a bit tired, but that's pretty standard for a Monday morning! This just makes me wonder -- how am I going to be the morning after the wedding? Interesting thought, isn't it?

It Had How Many Calories?

I have lost three pounds this week. Now, granted, I had gained a pound or two and lost a pound or two and went up and down over the past couple of weeks so the three pounds weren't that significant, but it's been a good week to say the least. I've really stayed focus on eating the right number of calories and I've even made it to the gym.

Today I had a banana for breakfast and had a low-calorie meal at Jason's Deli for lunch. I'm on a roll! Well, I was on a roll until PayPros sent our company a beautiful fruit and chocolate-dipped fruit bouquet. I could literally hear the horns blow wah wah ....

I indulged in a chocolate-covered strawberry and a chocolate-covered banana as soon as I got back from lunch. I just couldn't help it! The fruit looked amazing and fresh and how can I resist a chocolate covered strawberry?!?!?! The answer is -- I can't; I am physically incapable of resisting a chocolate-covered strawberry.

So, against my better judgement, or maybe because of my better judgement, I went online to track down the number of calories in the goodies I just consumed. Here's what I had to figure out: one strawberry, one large banana slice and the chocolate that both were dipped in. And, here's what I determined:

strawberry - approx. 45 calories

banana slice - approx. 25 calories

Edible Arrangements Chocolate - approx 120 for 2 tablespoons (I ate about 3 tablespoons).

Total: 250 calories.

It had how many calories? Two-hundred and fifty calories in one banana and strawberry?!?!? That's outrageous, but maybe that's why they were so damned delicious!

I guess I won't be having that after-dinner snack or fattening dinner. Maybe I have to do a little extra cardio at the too. Oy vey.

Checking In ...

Hey everyone, I've spent a lot of time talking about me and my journey, but I was wondering how all of you are doing? Over the past seven months I've received e-mails, twitter messages and blog comments about individuals who are on their own path to losing weight. Please send me updates on how you're doing so we can lean on each other!

I also wanted to say congrats to Jamie, a friend from Vegas who's living in California now and who weighed in this week to see that she lost 4 lbs! That's amazing. Keep up the great work!

Also to my mom, best friend and her parents who are on the Seattle Sutton program. I know it's working well for you all and I'm glad you found a program that fits! Keep me posted. Also -- Steph, you are far more dedicated than me if you can wake up at 5 a.m. to hit the gym before work! I couldn't do it!

Anyway, if any of you have an update on how you're doing or if you're just getting started, share your story with me either publicly as a comment or privately in an email. Good luck everyone!

Little Black (& White) Dress

Yesterday I went shoe shopping. Normally that wouldn't be a big deal in the least, but I was shopping for that supposed "perfect" pair to wear with my wedding gown. The shop said I must, must, must have my shoes before my first dress fitting on April 9 and so I finally decided to buckle down and buy them. The problem was ... I couldn't find any shoes I liked, and so I turned my attention to clothes.

After scouring DSW, some random shop at the Galleria at Sunset mall and Macys, I left the shoe department and came across the misses dresses department in Macys. I haven't been able to shop in the "Misses" department for more than two years, but not only did I find a dress from that area yesterday, but I tried on six, and all six fit! Granted they all didn't look that great on me, but I did find one that was amazing.

I have this problem of pigeon-holeing myself when it comes to dresses and colors. I now own four dresses that I love and would wear at any given time and all of them, yes all, are black and white. I think I have a serious problem! I tried on a great Jones New York dress that was navy blue and draped, but it didn't fit my figure quite yet. I was close to buying one that had yellow flowers on it too, but guess what, it was mostly black and white too.

I ended up buying a dress that was a size 14, yes a 14!!!!! In August I was buying clothes that were size 20 and 22. This dress is slightly form-fitting with a cute bolero. I'm planning on wearing it to my bridal shower in April. Hopefully now I can find something to wear for the bachelorette party and rehearsal dinner! I must say though, so far, going shopping is way better than it used to be!

Better Than a Treadmill

This week the international sheet metal competition is in Las Vegas, and since ITI (the contest's host) is one of my company's clients, I've been spending a fair amount of time on-location taking photos of the event and glad-handing with everyone.

Yesterday, we went to Caesar's Palace on the Las Vegas Strip for registration. We were actually hoping to talk to one of the only four or five females in the competition. When we got there, we got more than we bargained for! I knew Caesar's Palace was big, but I discovered that it is actually ginormous, and a giant maze at that!

We needed to find Octavius Ballroom 24 and that turned out to be a challenge in and of itself. With my handy iPhone in tow keeping track of our distance, I calculated that we walked almost three full miles round trip from the car to the ballroom and back to the car in the two-hour period we were at the convention center. We followed the signs and checked the maps to find the ballroom in question and had the most difficult time tracking it down. It wasn't until we saw a tourist who had already visited the ballroom that we were able to figure out where to go! What kind of place needs more than 100 ballrooms?!?!? I was seriously astonished.

However, the day went pretty long and as I was finishing up at work I debated with myself about going to the gym or going home to rest my feet (I was wearing dress shoes that aren't the best for meandering around a giant casino). I looked up how far we walked, entered that into my LoseIt! application to get a calories-burned reading and decided that I did, after all, get a decent amount of exercise! I burned more than 300 calories just doing my job!

I don't get to rest on my laurel's today though. I'll be heading to the gym right after I'm done with work to get in some cardio, back strengthening and maybe even a short weight-lifting circuit. It's time to break 195 and stay below that mark!

On a side note -- My skin is getting better now that I dropped ProActiv. Time to get a facial and start anew!

Crunch Time

Yes it's true, I'm blogging while walking on a treadmill at Las Vegas Athletic Club. New high or new low? I mean I know my iPhone is like an extension of my right hand but this is extreme - even for me.

I must have discovered a new layer of motivation though. I woke up, "feasted" on a diet shake and headed to LVAC for a workout. Can you say breakthrough?

I've still been doing really well lately eating right, but I haven't been exercising. I'd love to reach 185 or even 190 by my April 10 wedding dress fitting, but at this point I'd be happy with seeing any movement on the scale (down of course). My weight's been so stagnant!

So as proud as I am of my Sunday motivation, I really need to keep myself moving in the right direction. Gym tomorrow after work maybe? Could I make it 3-4 times this week? I hope so. Wish me luck!

Location:Treadmill at LVAC

The "I Do" Morph

I have been engaged since Christmas Day 2008. It seems like forever ago that Mike popped the question, but really the past 14 months have flown by. Now, our wedding is less than four months away, or precisely 114 days from right now. At this time in 114 days I will be putting the finishing touches on my hair and make-up and having my bridesmaids slip into their dresses before helping me get into mine. What an ordeal I'm imagining it to be, but really, I know it's going to fly by quickly. Next year at this time I'll probably be wondering where the time went and sad that I wasn't able savor more of it. But anyway, the point is, there are only 114 more days before I'm determined to look "my best."

I've always taken decent care of myself and been right on top of hygiene, etc., but I've taken measures never taken before by me to make sure that on the day that I don the white wedding gown that I'm looking better than ever. Lose 20 lbs -- check (down 35 actually and still dropping), whiten teeth -- check (in the process at least), find consistent skin regimen -- well, that's the one I'm struggling with ....

I really thought that my biggest hurdle during this process of being motivated to become a better version of myself would be losing weight and being happy with my body. Although I'm not 100% thrilled with my body yet, the losing weight, eating better and exercising part of this "new me" is one of the easiest changes yet! I've never had the greatest skin, and I can probably chalk that up to the crap I shoved in my mouth along with every other reason in the book, but I've always washed my face in the morning and evening, etc., etc. I decided to try to control my skin once and for all and bought Proactiv. Let me tell you, my skin has never looked worse. I swear my face is exploding from the inside out and I'm terrified that I'm going to look like a 15-year-old boy in the middle of puberty on the day of my wedding!

I'm going to stop using Proactiv, but what should I use instead? I tried making an appointment with a local dermatologist on my health care plan and they are scheduling 16 weeks out --- that's four months or approximately my wedding date! Man this sucks.

Why can't transforming yourself come easy? I've said from the get-go that any changes I'm making to my body or myself are not for my wedding, and I'm still sticking with that. Whether I have a pimple on my chin or my hair is out of place or I only lost 35 lbs instead of 45 lbs on my wedding day, it's still going to be one of the best days of my life. It simply took me until I was 25-26 to decide that I want more from myself and damn it, I'm going to get it.

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By the way, my new find for weight loss cuisine is Progresso soups, and I'm not kidding. If you want a good low-calorie but filling dinner grab a can of soup, it really does work!

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And for shits and giggles, Here's a picture of me today (On the Right) and I threw in a photo from September (On the Left). Any difference?

I'm Back & Stronger Than Ever?

So it may feel like I abandoned my blog, but in truth, I didn't feel like I had anything to say so I took a month away to recharge. And now I'm back.

During February I didn't stray at all from my diet, even though I wasn't blogging every day. I logged into my blog daily to update my weight, and I even added a couple of photos, but I didn't want to write just for the sake of writing.

I figure now is a good time to get back to the writing since something recently invaded my house, and it's my diet's worst nightmare: Girl Scout Cookies!

I went to the grocery store on Saturday and ended up coming home with six boxes of cookies and I told myself they were "just for Mike," of course. Well, that plan of action didn't last. I bought one box of Thin Mints, one box of Peanut Butter Patties and four boxes of Samoas (Caramel Delights). Samoas are both of our favorite so I made sure I got plenty. In hindsight, that seems stupid because I didn't want to eat them so I should have just bought one or two boxes to set aside for Mike and been on my way. I have no will power against those little girls in green get-ups!

Now this next part is not for the faint of heart: I kid you not, on Sunday when Mike was working I ate an entire box of Samoas. Not just one or two, not one little row of the delicious cookies, but the entire freaking box. I ate the entire box, by myself, while sitting on my ass watch the U.S. vs. Canada Olympic Gold Medal hockey game. I told myself before I bought those darned things -- Girl Scout cookies will be the demise of me, and boy was I right!

Unfortunately the insanity didn't stop there! As Mike and I were watching TV on Sunday evening I decided to break into the box of Thin Mints. I ate an entire sleeve! I mean, COME ON BETH! This is just horrible.

That was Sunday, and on Monday came intense feelings of regret and remorse. On Tuesday came the realization that I can get past this little hiccup and move forward. Today is Wednesday, and today is the day that I admit my little breakdown to the world and move forward.

I haven't had a single Girl Scout cookie since Sunday evening. Although we have several boxes still sitting in the pantry, including a half-eaten box of Thin Mints, I haven't eaten a single bite and haven't really been tempted by them ether. (Maybe it's the guilt that's kept me in check.)
I think I needed to get the temptation and indulgence out of my system. Who knows. Thank goodness it didn't cost me a single pound !

At lunch today I ate a sandwich from Subway along with a bag of Baked Lays potato chips. After eating those chips I always crave chocolate. I was thinking of running to the vending machine, but instead I've decided to save those calories and have a Girl Scout cookie when I get home. I'll have one, or maybe two if the calories allow it, but nothing more. I guess I'll have to report back tomorrow as to whether or not I stuck with my convictions! Maybe I'll play it safe and have some low-calorie, non-fat chocolate pudding instead.