day 30 - survival of the hours d'ourves

Strength. I had it to spare this afternoon, right now I feel like a bit of a wet dishrag but this afternoon, you couldn't touch me. It's silly because it's a little thing but it's the little things that seem to make the most difference in this journey.

This week and next week, there will be several different celebrations happening at work. Today was the first in the series. It was a going-away reception for someone in our office who is retiring. There was champagne, wine, fruit drink (no juice, nothing even low-calorie to drink), fancy (read fatty) finger foods and super gooey looking sweets. I didn't have one nibble, not one. The sole male in our midst kept trying to get me and one other person (who, like me, arrived with a bottle of water) to eat something. He was relentless, like it was a challenge or something. I dug my heels in though and avoided everything. I had a nice visit with some people I don't get to see very often and enjoyed myself without having to ingest goodness only knows how many calories.

I have to attend a similar function tomorrow. It's a bigger affair, more people, more food, more of a challenge. I'll do my best to repeat what I did today. Right now, I'm not too worried. I feel like absolute, hammered crap. I have had one of the busiest days today, that I've had in a long time and I'm absolutely, dead tired.

day 29 - feeling groovy

Well, maybe not groovy exactly but pretty darned good anyway. Things seem to be coming together again for me. I know, I know, it's about time. I needed a big kick in the ass and I gave it to myself a week ago. All year this year, I have lost and gained the same 10 pounds or so over and over again. I'm tired of it. This was not the year I had envisioned for myself. I lost almost 80 pounds in 2003 and really thought I could do the same in 2004. I do take some comfort in the fact that, except for that same 10 pounds I keep playing around with, I haven't gained it all back and then some. In any event, things feel like they are clicking again, in a way that they hadn't in a while.

So far, the week is going well. I ate well today, on plan all the way and I got some walking in. It's a good start to what I expect will be a great week. I hope you all had a good Monday too. Here's to a healthy week for everyone!!

day 28 - weekend wrap-up

This weekend went very very well, if I do say so myself. We kept very busy, doing errands, housework, putting up some holiday decorations, etc. Our meal were really reasonable. Good and healthy. I'm pretty pleased about it actually. I can see a noticeable different in the size of my hunny's tummy tonight and he was really pleased when I complimented him on it. It's amazing how something like cutting out late-night snacking can make. I can't see a difference in myself this week but I sure was happy to see the scale moving in a downward direction this week, after so many weeks of it either going up or staying put.

I'm feeling really great, heading into a new week. I'm sure I won't see another five pound drop this week but whatever happens will be good. I'm definitely not going to mess up this week and undo the good stuff that I accomplished last week. It can only get better from here!

day 27 - shocked

Just as I said I would, I weighed myself this morning. I didn't expect to really see a change at all. This week, I didn't exercise nearly as much as I had planned, while I didn't snack in the evenings, I did eat a little more during the day than I normally would and I know for certain that I did not drink as much water I should have. Add all of that to the fact that I had PMS all week and I really, I wasn't planning to seeing any change in the numbers this week at all.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that I lost 5 pounds this week!! I'm sure that a large chunk of that is water related to my cycle but still, I'm pretty pleased. It was so nice to see the scale heading in the right direction, back toward that mysterious area known as "virgin fat." By the year's end, I'd love to safely be into virgin fat again. I still have about 5 weeks left in 2004 and I'm hopeful that, at the very least, I will be able to accomplish that!

day 26 - tgif

I want a nap. Actually, I need a nap. It's very late for me to be eating my lunch but I'm just now getting to it. I was up a bit in the night. My poor hunny woke up in the middle of the night with a migraine. He used to have them all of the time. This was the first one in about 3 years. He was sick as a dog last night, I felt so badly for him. Fortunately he woke up feeling much better this morning (headache was gone, but that beaten-up feeling remained) but we're both a little worse for wear.

I'm really looking forward to taking a break tomorrow. I've felt stuffed up and crampy and just generally yucky for a couple of days now. I got out for a nice walk yesterday and the cold air definitely helped clear my head a bit. I definitely a couple of nights of good, solid sleep, followed by naps in the afternoon. My batteries need to be recharged. I'm going to enjoy good, fresh, healthy meals, prepared at home this weekend. With any kind of luck, I'll also get my house cleaned up. It's a bit of a dump at the moment.

What I am most looking forward to is stepping onto the scale tomorrow morning. I don't think I've lost anything but I can never, ever tell when I'm just starting my period. My body just gets so messed up that everything feels off-kilter. If you have any good-weigh-in-vibes to spare, send 'em my way. I'll update tomorrow with my result *crossing fingers, eyes and toes*

day 25 - balancing act

Today, as my sisters to the south struggle with turkey and all the goodies that come with it, I'm having a not-so-bad day today. I keep giving myself the same old pep talk every day and it's beginning to sink in again. Something is definitely clicking, I'm not feeling "hard done by" today and I haven't eaten any more than I normally do.

One thing that was hit and miss over the past couple of weeks was keeping fitday up to date. This week I've made a definite effort to keep track of what I'm eating, an honest accounting of every calorie. Logging my food is such a valuable exercise for me. It helps me make better choices and forces me to look at patterns in bad behaviors. Pie charts can't lie, can they?

Exercise-wise, it's not been as active a week as I would have liked but I really have been feeling under the weather. I know it's just stress from work combined with PMS that is lowering my immune system. Today feels like I may just win this battle I've been fighting with a head cold this week. This isn't an excuse, it's a fact. If I can keep my eating under control, the exercise will come back, full-force, in the next couple of days.

day 24 - where'd the day go?

The nice thing about trying to get a month's worth of work done in 3 days is that time flies by, quickly. Right now, I'm about 2/3 of the way through the particular project that I'm working on. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, sort of, right now.

I can report that so far this week, my eating has really been good. There have been no cookies, no chocolate covered granola bars, no salty snacks. Looking back, I see that evening snacking did me in over the past little while. Eliminating that has made things easier to cope with. Also, the "more healthy food" thing seems to be keeping cravings to a minimum. Of course, the whole thing could be a case of "too busy to eat" as well.

day 23 - breathing is good

Just 5 minutes ago I had to force myself to s.l.o.w....d.o.w.n Works has been frantic today. I'm on a bunch of deadlines for stuff I hate doing (finances, ugh!) and it's freaking me out. I was sitting at my desk, working away, gobbling down my food while I tried to hurry through a task, when I realized that I hadn't peed all morning. When I went into the bathroom and saw my face in the mirror, I thought, "enough is enough." I have huge black circles under my eyes today and I'm pale. I feel like I'm getting a cold. Can't imagine how that could happen...oh, wait!? Doesn't your immune system take a shit kicking when the stress is happening. I decided to take a break, slowly eat my yogurt and calm down. Funnily enough, typing right here often helps me do just that.

I felt so crummy this morning that I didn't workout. I'm not beating myself up about that though, I think that Monday-Wednesday-Friday will be fine this week. I'll take a little walk tonight and Thursday night, after dinner. It'll all be good. I'm still pissed at myself but the anger is helping to keep me motivated. Food choices were pretty good yesterday, today they have been good too. I'm working on it, trying to anyway. No chocolate has made it into my house yet this week. I know it's only Tuesday but still, that's something, right?

I think my break is over, I feel better now, like I can actually breathe again. Hope you're all having a good day and that you take a few moments for yourself today, to catch your breath and congratulate yourself for the good things you do instead of beating yourself up for the not-so-good.

day 22 - focused

I'm feeling better today. MUCH better. I stepped on the scale again this morning and it was much nicer to me today. I'll be honest here (because hey, this whole journal is about accountability), yesterday, the numbers told me that I had gained 14 pounds in 2 weeks. Yeah, a pound a day. Now does it make sense why I lost my appetite? why I was completely and utterly disgusted with myself.

This morning I hopped back on the scale and while it was still a lot higher than I would have liked, it was 8 pounds lower than yesterday. I'm thinking that Sunday was a weird anomaly and perhaps I only did gain 6 pounds in two weeks. I shouldn't say "only" because I'm still pretty disgusted with myself. Hopefully, clean eating and more exercise, combined with getting my period out of the way this week will sort me out again and get rid of that 6 pound gain.

I must say, I had a terrific, gentle workout this morning. I did a bunch of stretching that was totally relaxing and then did 4.52 miles on my recumbent interval program. My eating so far has been totally 100% on plan but, I am officially back on coffee. I'd given it up for about 10 months but I realized last week that it wasn't that I needed it as much as it was that I missed it (and decaf just wasn't the same).

At the moment, I'm still pissed at myself. The anger will help keep me motivated. I'm feeling strong but not cocky. I need to push myself and kick my own ass and keep it together. I cannot ever have a day like yesterday ever again. It was horrible and depressing and I hated every minute of it. Next time I feel like going on a binge/bender/whatever you want to call it, I'm going to remind myself of that horrible feeling and stop myself. I have to because I'm the only person who can!!

day 21 - how much water can a body retain?

I'm not going to say much today. I feel pretty shitty actually. Finally, this morning, I stepped on the scale this morning. I was not at all happy with what I saw. I know that I'm bound to be retaining fluid due to my cycle but holy crap, how much water can I be holding onto?

Last week, admittedly, was not great. I did not exercise as much as I should/could have. I ate more food than my body needed (that's sooo obvious). Oh, did I mention that I was really low on my water intake last week? Yeah, it was definitely, "not great." Next week will be better. I won't tell you how much of an increase I saw on the scale this morning but it depressed me enough to make me (me!!?) lose my appetite and watch a documentary on Obesity and the Biggest Loser (both of which I had TiVo'd). I literally ate one meal today, dinner. I couldn't face any food, except for a coffee this morning, after seeing the number on the scale. I know that not eating is bad but I just couldn't face food.

I'm sickened with myself and need to get my shit together starting right now. No more excuses, no more "I'm stressed," no more bullshit. Starting right now, I'm back on track, 100%.

day 20 - reporting in

Boy, the week was, literally, a blur. Yesterday, I had the day booked off and my hunny had an unforeseen day off so we took off, south of the border, for a road trip. We didn't go further than an hour away from home but it was fun, one of the benefits of living in a border town I suppose.

We did some shopping, had lunch and saw the Sponge Bob movie. Unfortunately, popcorn was eaten, too much of it. Some chocolate too (mmm, salt and chocolate...can you spell P.M.S.? - maybe?).

Today has been kind of busy. I'm just stealing a few moments in front the machine. Mine is in pieces right now, it's being rebuilt and a new sound card is being installed. The original installation of SP2 that we put in messed up and finally, we're fixing it. Unfortunately it's taking a lot longer than I thought it would.

As far as my weigh-in goes, I was out the door so early this morning to get groceries (like at 7:30 a.m.) that I totally forgot to weigh-in until after I'd eaten my lunch. I'll have to check it tomorrow though, I promise.

day 18 - on the fly, again

Again, today, I didn't get a break for lunch. Don't get me wrong though, there is no one telling me that I can't stop, I just have so much stuff piled up on my desk that I feel as if I have to keep going.

Right now, I'm posting as I wait for my class to start. I thought I was running late (and I literally RAN across campus to get here) but I must have moved quicker than I thought because I was five whole minutes early. Found time is lovely, isn't it?

The pace this week has been making me crazy. It's been a challenge to stay on track and I will admit that I have slipped up a couple of times at work (are chocolate covered granola bars healthy?? Yeah, I didn't think so!). Trust me, it could be a lot worse and overall, I'm pretty happy with how well I'm doing at not falling completely apart.

I'm not sure that next week will be better as far as work goes but I have a good feeling about the week after that. I should get into a good pace leading up to the Christmas break and the new year should be smooth sailing...fingers crossed

day 17 - busy bee

It's suddenly become very warm here. So warm in fact, that tonight when we pulled into our driveway, a moth was fluttering in the glow in the headlights. Very weird.

Work was insanely busy again today. Again I worked straight through lunch (although I did eat while I worked). I had to start about an hour later than normal because I went for a dentist appointment first thing. So far this week, I have more than made up for that hour. The pace is unbelievably insane right now. I'm happy to report though that things should get a smidgen more manageable soon. Since the summer, I've been carrying the workload of about 1.5 very very busy people. That 0.5 very busy person will hopefully be gone by next week. I'm scheduled to hand off much of the extra work to 2 coworkers. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we can coordinate things sooner rather than later.

Because of my appointment and whatnot, I didn't get in a proper workout this morning. I did get some walking in today though and goodness knows I spent a huge chunk of my day running up and down stairs so that definitely counts toward it. So far this week, things are going pretty okay. Despite the pace at work I'm feeling much better this week than I did last week and that makes me happy. I'm constantly amazed at how much we take "normal" for granted and how good it feels to return to those normal feelings when we've been off kilter.

day 16 - am I home yet?

What a week it's shaping up to be. I worked late last night, I'll be working late tonight. I was in early both mornings, today, except for the 10 minutes it's taking me to eat my lunch and post here, I'm working through my lunch break.

This morning when I woke up, I could barely drag myself out of bed. I felt really groggy and heavy. I did workout but I only exercised for about half of the time I normally do. Fortunately, again this week, I am just working a four day week. It's nice to know that I'm having a long weekend. Goodness knows that by the time it gets here, I'll definitely need one!!

day 15 - kickin' butt

I feel great today. This morning I nearly jumped out of bed and couldn't wait to workout. Of course, I had to wait a little bit because I had to drive my hunny to work but as soon as I got home, I hopped to it and it felt good. Actually, it was kind of pathetic how much I was panting by the end of it but the buzz was great. It was so worth it.

The emails and comments of encouragement and support I've been receiving from all of you recently have helped more than you can imagine. I thought of you all while I was exercising and again, while I was packing my lunch and getting my breakfast together. Happily, I can report that healthy choices have been made today and, so far, the more foods thing is working. The weekend was a bit of a write-off but not totally, I'm not letting it get me down. Instead, I am working through it and moving ahead.

Onward and downward, here I come (and yes, I will remember to weigh-in on Saturday)!!

day 14 - good intentions

Oh, when I got up this morning, I was going to get soooo much stuff done. I was going to catch up on my blog reading (because I've really neglected that lately and I'm getting behind with what everyone's been up to) and get some writing done. Did I mention that I was also going to have a fabulous workout?

It didn't happen, not exactly. We were up and out of the house early, running errands and the like. I think that Thursday night was still dragging us down because we actually napped this afternoon. It was a good nap, it was needed, and I feel better for it.

Right now, I'm feeling better than I have in a few weeks and I'm sure that next week will be waaaaaaay better than the past couple of weeks have been. One bright spot in all of this (and no, I didn't remember to weigh-in so it's nothing like that)is that when I sat down to figure out what I'd eaten the last couple of days, it wasn't totally horrible. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't fabulous but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I guess that even when I feel like I'm being a pig, I'm not being as much as a pig as I thought I was. Thank goodness for small favours huh??

day 13 - weekend update

I totally forgot to weigh-in this morning. My morning was such a blur that I didn't realize that I hadn't done it until late in the day. I'm an early-morning-after-I-pee weigh-er so it didn't happen. I'll have to try to remember to do it tomorrow. I'm not feeling overly optimistic so I'm not sure what will happen.

Dinner last night wasn't great. We were both so tired that we didn't want to cook. After we got our errands finished we ended up at a pizza place. It was veggie pizza and we did have salad with it (and diet pop) but still, it was not a stellar way to end the week.

While eating pizza, we chatted about how slack everything's gotten recently and we're going to get really serious right away. Eating out less is definitely going to be at the top of the "to-do" list. Having said that, we're heading out for dinner again tonight but, at least it's Vietnamese and not pizza again so I can actually make decent choices.

It truly is always something, isn't it?

day 12 - so.very.tired

Thursday morning I woke up at 4:15, worked out, went to the office. It was a normal start to the day. Mid-afternoon, my hunny picked me up and we drove to Ottawa. When we got to Ottawa, we did a whirl-wind trip through IKEA, grabbed dinner, picked up my brother and his sweetie and went to a show. We got home at 2:30 a.m. I am so glad that I had booked today off. There is absolutely no way I could have dragged my butt into work today.

Obviously, except for a small walk this afternoon, there was no workout to be had. I also haven't tracked what I've eaten over the past couple of days but I'm pretty sure it won't be pretty. Looking on the bright side, it could always be worse!!

day 11 - on the fly

Just a quickie. We're heading out of town in a little bit. I have a class this afternoon and once that's over, we're driving to Ottawa tonight for a show. We'll be back later tonight so it's going to be a long day but it should be fun.

See ya later!!

day 10 - simple solutions

Just recently, I've been under a lot of stress. The stress not only makes me eat, it causes me to eat total crap. It's got to stop!! Now, I know that we all have a lot of stress to deal with on a regular basis but lately, it's like everything is going to shit, all at the same time. I know that this is why I've been falling off the wagon so often and I know that only I can sort myself out and get back on track.

That said, I'm taking, I think, a practical approach to this problem. I'm going to eat more. What?? Eat MORE? Yes, eat more, but eat more healthy stuff. I figure if it eat more stuff that is good for me, I won't go looking for junk when I start feeling stressed. Today, for example, remembering the muffin fiasco from yesterday, I took an extra piece of fruit with me to work. Around the time yesterday that I was jonesing for something to eat, instead of heading off for a walk in search of something bad, I had the banana.

Also, I need to figure out a way to let go of things. I'm just letting too many things bother me and it's not necessary. There are things at home and at work that upset me, on a regular basis and I must find a way to not let it happen so much. It's not like I don't want to care about anything, I just don't want to care so much that when things don't happen exactly the way I thought that they should, I get upset. That's just dumb.

Anyway, I'm taking Friday off. Tomorrow night we're going out of town for a show. We'll be home later that night but it'll be late so I figured I'd sleep in and enjoy a lazy day. I actually have a bunch of vacation time that I need to take by the end of the calendar year so I'll be having a lot of long weekends for the next little while. That should help, it's got to!!

day 9 - heaven help me

What the hell is wrong with me? I didn't workout this morning. For some reason, last night I was totally exhausted and could not wait until I went to bed. This morning, I did not want to get out of bed. I seriously could have stayed under the covers for another couple of hours. Of course, on the weekends, when I could sleep in, my body wakes up and want to do laundry at 6 a.m. Sick huh?? Okay, so I didn't workout. To resolve this, I actually a took a bit of a break and went outside for a small walk this morning. Big mistake. I bought myself a muffin while I was out. Raspberry Yogurt muffin. It was yummy but now I'm wondering what the hell I was thinking.

I plan to make it up later on in the day. I'll adjust my dinner calories to make up for it and I will definitely take a proper walk later on today. Isn't this a great way to start the day??

day 8 - hanging tough

Ordinarily, I don't have to struggle early in the day. This morning was weird though. I got up at my normal time, took my hunny to work, came home and worked out. I really had to work to talk myself into it though. I sat on the sofa, rewinding my video tape so I could watch Dr. Phil. I seriously considered not exercising, even though I was dressed and ready to go. Finally, I remembered a comment Sarah left me last week about remembering how good it feels when you exercise. She was absolutely right, I thought about that and hopped to it. Thank you Sarah, I may not have moved my ass this morning if it weren't for you!

My eating has been good today but again, I had a weird struggle with myself this morning. I had finished my workout, had made my lunch and was thinking about breakfast. Ordinarily, I have cereal, fruit, soy milk and cranberry juice. It's a well-balanced, low calorie, filling meal. I eat it all the time. I actually hesitated before I pulled it together this morning because my brain was going through the cupboards and fridge, trying to figure out a way to piece something bad together from a kitchen full of healthy ingredients. I didn't do it in the end. I actually slapped myself and did the right thing. Sad huh??

Maybe not really. Sad would have been not exercising and having a pre-dawn pigout in the dark. Happy is exercising (like I did) and eating low-fat, balanced, healthy meals (which I have also done). Hopefully tomorrow will be easier, it's got to be. Seriously!

Day 7 - kick me, please

I cannot get my ass in gear. Right now I'm just feeling tired. The weekend has been far busier than I would have like it to be and I'm all out of sync. The past few days have been very weird on this whole wellness-journey thing. Either I'm doing okay because I'm white-knuckling things or I'm off the wagon. I've kept up with some form or another of exercise but eating is all over the place.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't know what was causing it. I know that it's stress. I have stress at work and at home and I'm getting sick of it. It causes my resistance to be low. So low that I listen to my inner fat girl instead of my inner thin girl and I make bad choices. Fortunately, I guess, the bad choices are never as bad as they were back in the "old days" and more often than not I'm making better choices. Unfortunately, there have been way more bad choices just recently than I'm happy about.

On the up side, I'm down .5 pounds since last week. Not great but I'll take it. In addition to that, I have one other piece of not negative news to report. Yesterday, I had to help my mum out with a sale at her church. The woman who was running the book table kept trying to lure me into buying something. All I could see out on display were crappy looking romance novels and I wasn't interested in those. At one point in the afternoon though, I saw a copy of Dr Phil's Ultimate Weight Solution Food Guide peeking out of a box. I ran over, scooped it up and paid a dollar for it. Cool huh?? Now I just have to read it. I should also re-read the Weight Solution book too. I need something to help me get back on track.

day 4 - kinda quiet

At the moment I don't have much to report. My eating has definitely improved over the past couple of days and it's getting easier to cope with. The cravings are not driving me as nuts as they had been. At the moment, I have a bit of a headache. The day here started out bright, clear and sunny. Right now, it's really cold, windy and rainy. Dismal pretty much sums it up I think. The headache is, I think, a result of the change in weather and too much time spent in stuffy rooms today. At least I can put the day behind me now. Thank goodness.

Anyway, here's some food for thought. Yet another good reason for all of us to "lighten our load," so to speak.

Feds: Obesity Raising Airline Fuel Costs
By DANIEL YEE, Associated Press Writer

ATLANTA - Heavy suitcases aren't the only things weighing down airplanes and requiring them to burn more fuel, pushing up the cost of flights. A new government study reveals that airlines increasingly have to worry more about the weight of their passengers.

America's growing waistlines are hurting the bottom lines of airline companies as the extra pounds on passengers are causing a drag on planes. Heavier fliers have created heftier fuel costs, according to the government study.

Through the 1990s, the average weight of Americans increased by 10 pounds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The extra weight caused airlines to spend $275 million to burn 350 million more gallons of fuel in 2000 just to carry the additional weight of Americans, the federal agency estimated in a recent issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

"The obesity epidemic has unexpected consequences beyond direct health effects," said Dr. Deron Burton of the CDC. "Our goal was to highlight one area that had not been looked at before."

The extra fuel burned also had an environmental impact, as an estimated 3.8 million extra tons of carbon dioxide were released into the air, according to the study.

The agency said its calculations are rough estimates, issued to highlight previously undocumented consequences of the ongoing obesity epidemic.

The estimates were calculated by determining how much fuel the 10 extra pounds of weight per passenger represented in Department of Transportation airline statistics, Burton said.

Obesity is a life-or-death struggle in the United States, the underlying cause of 400,000 deaths in 2000, a 33 percent jump from 1990. If current trends persist, it will become the nation's No. 1 cause of preventable death, the CDC said earlier this year.

More than half — 56 percent — of U.S. adults were overweight or obese in the early 1990s, according to a CDC survey. That rose to 65 percent in a similar survey done from 1999 to 2002.

Although the Air Transport Association of America has not yet validated the CDC data, spokesman Jack Evans said the health agency's appraisal "does not sound out of the realm of reality."

With most airlines reporting losses blamed partly on record-high fuel costs, everything on an airplane is now a weighty issue. Airlines are doing everything they can to lighten the load on all aircraft, from wide-body jets to turboprops.

Bulky magazines have gone out the door. Metal forks and spoons have been replaced with plastic. Large carry-ons are being scrutinized and even heavy materials that used to make up airplane seats are being replaced with plastic and other lightweight materials.

"We're dealing in a world of small numbers — even though it has a very incremental impact" to reduce a 60- to 120-ton aircraft's weight by bumping off a few magazines, Evans said. "When you consider airlines are flying millions of miles, it adds up over time."

Although passenger bulk has been an issue in the past — Dallas-based Southwest Airlines requires large people to buy a second seat for passenger safety and comfort — Evans says it's not likely airlines will scrutinize how much passengers weigh in the future. Instead, they are trying to do a better job of estimating passenger weight in figuring out how much fuel they need for a flight.

Seattle-based Alaska Airlines now calculates the weight of children on flights, instead of using adult-weight formulas for all passengers, Evans said.

"Just like we don't control the costs of our fuel, we don't control the weights of our passengers," he said. "Passengers gain weight, but airlines are the ones that go on a diet. It's part of the conundrum we face right now."

Day 3 - not doing so well

Okay, so I didn't work out this morning because I didn't sleep much last night. We stayed up too late watching all the red states appear, like some kind of sick disease, on the maps on our tv.

Oh, I also ate sandwiches (yes, more than one) for dinner last night. As I said, it's not been going well. I did just have my healthy lunch though so that's something. If I can get through the afternoon without vomiting in disgust, I'll be back on track soon.

Day 2 - the good and the bad

I like and hate days like this. I like that they are busy and that they fly by quickly. I hate that they are too busy and that I have to work through my lunch. I'm literally taking 10 minutes right now to eat and post. Fun huh??

Workouts are going well this week. My legs are a little sore today so I must be on the right track. Eating is a struggle today. I've been really really hungry all day. It's weird but I'm trying to work through it.

Anyway, I must get back to it. I want to wish all my American friends a happy and safe election day. I hope that you are all able to make it to the polls and that you can vote without any problems!!

Day 1 - bye bye candies

Boy howdy it was so hard having candy in the house. I'm relieved that Halloween is over for another year and the stuff is gone. I was ready for 120 kids and ended up having 91. I was left with 29 little goodie bags full of candy. Instead of digging into them ourselves, I put them into a bag, tied it up and put it with my work stuff. This morning, before anyone else was in, I ran around the office and left little buddles of sweets for everyone. Better them than us!!

I'm very happy to report that physically, I'm feeling better today than I have in about 10 days. I actually worked out this morning. It was a little tough, getting back into it but it felt terrific when I was finished.

So, the exercising and the candy purge are good first steps. I intend to kick a little butt in November and I think I'm off to a good start today.