Banquet Night

Good numbers for yesterday. I have not seen a 4 digit deficit in awhile. For some reason I was feeling kinda nauseous so did not have a big appetite. Went to the Fish Market with my mom and then we went to Kohl's. I got a new blouse for our End of the Year Banquet tonight. There will be approx 500 people there! It is at the Hayes Mansion which is a historical landmark



We had to order in advance so I ordered the grilled Eggplant w/ roasted vegetables. The other options were Prime Rib and Chicken. Prime Rib is too big and rich for me and I do enough chicken already :-) They have delectable deserts but I will only "sample" it and then give it to one of the guys. There is no alcohol served so I won't have to worry about that. I will be sure to take pictures. Until next time...

Trippy Tuesday

Had a good day yesterday. I took a peek at the scale last night and I am down a pound but we shall see. I also measured myself which I had not done since March. I have lost 4" in my upper arms! Sheesh! I knew they had shrunk some because I had to adjust the bugg strap but wow! I put a calendar on the sidebar (thanks Jo) to keep track of my activities. Last night I did 30 crunches and 3 x 10 reps with the evil rubber. I also got my pictures back from Picture Yourself Thinner. I put it under my progress pictures. Tell me what you think!

It is a trippy Tuesday because we had a big change in management in our company. I like both of them a lot so to me it is a good thing but there is a lot of talk around the old water cooler this morning. Hope you all have a great day! Until next time...

Motivated Monday!

I had a good day yesterday. I did NOT go to the gym but I did get on my bike and ride around the neighborhood. I have been wanting to go to this place close to my house for forever! I mean forever and just never got off my arse until yesterday. It is called the Carmelite Convent. It is a convent that was built in the early 1900s and covers 10 acres. I can see the steeple from my balcony and I hear the bells which ring at assorted times throughout the day. Here are some pictures:

Today is the start of the Summer Challenge! Game On!!! In the spirit of the challenge, I ordered myselft the Flirty Girl Workout DVDs. No, I did not order the pole (yet!) Should be here in a few days. Looking forward to getting it and shaking my booty! Until next time...

Bye Bye May

Well I was super lazy yesterday. I never did go on a bike ride. I did keep the calories lower so I was able to achieve a good deficit. Time is flying by and I just can't believe it is the last day of May! June is a fresh slate and with that I joined the Get Fit After 40 Summer Challenge. It will be a great motivator to increase my activity and get to my mini goal of 40 lbs. gone by July 19th. I will be turning 43 in three weeks (Father's Day) so that will help keep me focused as well. That reminds me that I need to make some new goals for June. I was able to get to 6,000 steps most days. I didn't get to the gym weekly and my water consumption is better but still needs lots of work. I WILL be going to the GYM today though. Hope you are having a good weekend! Until next time...

Crunchy Saturday

Good numbers yesterday. I went to my friend's bar that is called Blinky's Can't Say and sang karaoke last night. I am actually a good singer. I used to sing every week but now I do it like once a month if that. I have been drinking red wine (mostly Cab) and drink it with a big glass of water and lemon. Oh how I miss my Coronas! Well I drank 5 - 4 oz. glasses which was approx. 500 cals. It was over the course of about 5-6 hours. I feeling a little crunchy today - just a little bit tired :-) I am thinking a nap and then a bike ride are the plan for the rest of the day. It is 80 degrees and sunny out so it is perfect for a ride. Hope you are enjoying your weekend! Until next time...

Zilch, Zippo, Nada!

Nice stats yesterday. I kinda felt like it was the "Last Chance" workout on BL. I did 20 mins. of Zumba and then some resistance bands and ab work. Did well on food but not water (Grrr!) and met my step goal. Got on the scale this morning and nothing! Nada! Zilch! Okay, I am not surprised really. I took it easy this week on activity because of my foot and therefore the scale didn't move. I am fully healed now so back to the grind. I WILL be going to the gym this weekend. Not sure if I will swim or do the treadmill but I WILL be going! Until next time...

P.S. I just had to share! I ordered pictures from http://www.pictureyourselfthinner.com/ Linda is charming and does a super job! Check it out when you have a chance! I think these will be a great motivator and since I have trouble visualizing myself at goal these will really inspiring!

Success Stories

Had a good day yesterday. I had 6,984 steps which I haven't seen in at least a week. I did exceed my normal cals consumed but was still able to maintain an okay deficit.

My mom watched a story on Good Morning America about three gals that lost over 100 lbs. and were featured in the latest People magazine. Each of them did it in a different way but they were all successful. They showed their before pics and then their current pics in bikinis! I found it to be very inspiring! I am a firm believer in the power of positive thinking. The more I read about people succeeding the more motivated I am. I follow blogs of people that are in all stages of this journey and they inspire me. People giving me support and encouragement inspires me. This is no cake walk I know. I am not looking at it from rose colored glasses but focusing on others successes and the positive aspects of this endeavor seem to be helping me. Thanks for ALL your help! Until next time...

Hidden Evils

If you were going to the movies and wanted to have some popcorn this would seem like the way to go right? How many calories do you think it would be? Well, I was SHOCKED to learn that it is 300 calories AND 20 grams of fat!!! I have learned to make better choices and eat smaller portions. I am learning more every day. I really would have thought this was a good choice. Now moving forward I will either bring my own Air popped popcorn or popcorn rice cakes but there is a lot to be learned when tracking foods. These are the hidden evils!

Had a decent day yesterday. Ended up have a snack kinda late so had a deficit of 723. I had a Caesar salad with Crab for dinner. Yummers! We picked out the shore excursions for our trip which was fun! It is going to be here before we know it. I need to get cracking! Until next time...

Feels like Monday

Feels like a Monday doesn't it? Well I estimated calories burned yesterday. I stayed home and worked on the closet and cleaned the kitchen. Tried to keep the calories consumed lower due to the low activity. For the first time my battery ran out in the bugg. They last about a week or so but I didn't have any AAA batteries at home. I should throw one in my purse just in case. My foot is healing well and I have normal shoes on today. Tonight I am going to my mom's to pick out which shore excursions we want to go on in Alaska :-) We will most likely go out to eat at the Fish Market which is always good and healthy. Until next time...

Saturday #2

It felt like Saturday today! Did not have much of a deficit yesterday. I didn't wear the bugg until the afternoon so the calorie burn is estimated. I did fine at lunch with Danielle. I got grilled shrimp skewers and loaded up on Spinach salad. It was delish! I was lazy for the rest of the day. My foot is healing well so I can get more activity in tomorrow. I want to do some filing and organizing around my apt. and I will probably go to Deb and Larry's in the afternoon. By the way, I am not moving. I decided it was better to stay where I am at. I did ask for a reduction in rent so we shall see what they say. Worse they could say is no right? Until next time...



P.S. I posted some progress pics. How often do you think I should update them?

May 23rd

No screenshot today since I didn't wear my bugg. I have worn it 135 of the 140 days I have had it so that is a pretty good average. I did input my food which was 1632 calories which again I am adjusting for the low activity. It has the ability to use a previous days activities so I plugged in Thursday's data and did about an 800 cal deficit. Danielle and I are going shopping and out to lunch. We are going to Sizzler which has a great salad bar but also has A LOT of tempting items. I will practice self control and the fact that I am so close to my short term goal is also a big motivator to stay on track. Hope you are enjoying the weekend! Until next time...

Fantastic Friday!!

I didn't put my bugg on this morning so I don't have a screenshot for you but I think there was about a 700-800 calorie deficit for Thursday. I got on the scale this morning and I am down 2 more lbs. for a total of 33 lbs!!! I am thrilled! That means I have 7 more lbs. to reach my short term goal of 40 lbs. by the Cruise which is in 56 days. This also means I am losing an average of 1.6 lbs. per week. If I keep up the same pace I could reasonably get to a 45 lb. loss by then. What a wonderful way to start the 3 day weekend! :-) Until next time...

Evil Pieces of Rubber

I went to Big 5 Sporting Goods today. I bought some evil pieces of rubber a.k.a. Resistance bands and Straps. When I first joined 24hr fitness back in 1997 I took a class that used the Resistance bands and came up with that name. Here is what the package says: Strengthen and condition your back, chest, shoulders, and arms with the Xertube. Slim and tone your inner and outer thighs, hips and buttocks with the Xercise bands. The three Xercise bands provide different levels of resistance for lower body training. Includes two exercise charts and a door attachment. They were $14.99. I figured this would be a good thing to start doing while my foot is healing. They are definitely effective and easy to stash. I also have some 3 lb. weights that I am going to start using with my workout DVDs. Better days are coming! Until next time...

One Step Forward - Two Steps Back

I only had 2,408 steps. Usually I do that many by 10:00 a.m.! Sometimes I feel like it is 1 step forward 2 steps back (literally and figuratively speaking.) I made it over the swimming hurdle which was a big accomplishment for me and then the injury happened. I am just hoping and praying that it heals quickly and I can get back to it. At least with the bugg I can make the adjustments to my calories based on my activity or lack there of. Until next time...

Update on the Swiffer Injury

I had a coworker look at my laceration (she is a retired nurse.) She said I needed to have it looked at especially because I am diabetic. I went in and they cleaned it and put on surgi-strips which are like stitches but in a sticky strip form. I had to get a tetanus shot too :-( They gave me a cane to help get around. I am glad that I went it. They did ask me why I didn't go there last night and told me that I really should have. They prefer to do stitches within 7 hours of the injury. I told them I just wasn't sure that it was serious enough. It should be healed in 5-10 days if all goes well. Until next time...

Sadistic Swiffer

Decent deficit but not enough steps. If you are squeamish please do not read any further. Around 9:45 p.m. last night I decided I was going to clean up the kitchen a little bit. I wanted to put my bugg back on because I wanted it to count the calories I was going to burn (every little bit helps!) While walking over to my desk, I stepped on the edge of my Swiffer Wet Jet and took a chunk out of the ball of my foot. I ran across the room in pain and then asked my friend if it was bad and he said "Oh ya!" It took a little while to stop bleeding and then I was able to get up and get it cleaned and bandaged. Needless to say I am not wearing normal "work" shoes today. This certainly throws a wrench in the exercise routine. I will not backslide! I will not let this hinder my progress! Hopefully it will heal quickly. I can still ride my bike - it is the walking that is more affected. *Big sigh* Until next time...

Lesson Learned

I had a craving for a Salami sandwich for quite awhile. So yesterday I decided to have one. I figured I could account for the calories in my "budget" and I would still have a decent deficit. Well needless to say I was wrong! There are 1080 calories in the sandwich!!! Plus, there is 58 grams of fat!!! It will be at least a year before I have another one. May goal update: I went to the gym last week, I am still struggling with water and did 6,000 steps most days. Why is it so hard to drink water??? Until next time...

80s and Sunny

I didn't have my bugg on for most of the day. Since it was so hot and because I went swimming I opted to go without it. It only accounted for 616 steps! Otherwise the evening was pretty uneventful. I did have to take some Ibuprofen because I was a little sore :-)

On another note: I am planning on moving. It may happen sooner rather then later. I pay $1,000 per month rent for a studio apt. and my lease is up. They are more then likely to increase my rent but I have found a 1 bedroom for $900. The only thing is I need to move by June 1st. I will find out in the next few days so stay tuned. Until next time...

Sizzlin Sunday

As you can see I did not get much activity in yesterday. I did well on calories compared to the level of activity. It is harder for me to eat when it is so hot and since I was inactive I made the adjustment. That is the beauty of the bodybugg for me - to be able to see the numbers so I can make better choices. I am feeling anxiety about going swimming today. I am trying hard to push through it and focus on how happy I will be when I am done. Totally random: I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and there is a radio station called KFOG. They play a little bit of everything including Rock, Reggae, Blues, World music... well they have a show on Sunday called Acoustic Sunrise and they play acoustic music from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. It is a great way to start the day!!! (They also have Acoustic Sunrise from 6:00 p.m to 8:00 p.m.) They do have a live stream on their website so you can check it out. I highly recommend it! Until next time...

Update: I did it! I went swimming! I water walked and did laps. I did it for a 1/2 hour. I am way happy I did it and no one looked at my legs so all was well...

Scorcher Saturday

It is 100 degrees today! It will be hotter tomorrow and then cool down again next week to the 80s which is more like the season normal then 100! Just trying to stay cool today. Planning on going to the gym tomorrow. I am going to go swimming!

I have a skin disease called Necrobiosis Lipoidica Diabeticorum ("NLD") It is a rash that occurs on the lower legs. It is more common in women, and there are usually several spots. They are slightly raised shiny red-brown patches. The centers are often yellowish and may develop open sores that are slow to heal. I had an ulceration on one of the spots that took 6 months to heal! I can't tell you how frustrating it is to have to deal with bandaging your leg everyday for 6 months!! I have had it for 15 years and never had a problem with ulcerations until recent years.

In addition to looking bad in a bathing suit due to the weight, I have the added apprehension because of the spots. Don't relish the thought of having people stare or ask me what happened to my legs. When I went to the Caribbean on a Cruise 2 years ago, I thought that I could wear a swim suit thinking "I won't see these people again" but I just couldn't get myself to do it. One of my health care providers said I should tell people that something happened like a hang gliding accident or a burn from my boyfriend's Harley!! By the way, I have never gone hang gliding or have never had a bf with a Harley :)



Hope you are all having a good weekend! Until next time...