I'm Back....with a whimper!

Wow! Hi there! I've missed everyone and I hope I haven't fallen completely off of the blogosphere radar - however I wouldn't be surprised if I did since I just sort of disappeared after my last HAYSAY post. I couldn't help it though because life just sort of bitch-slapped me right across the face. It was a doozie, I tell you what.

What, you ask, happened and what exactly did I do doing during my hiatus? Well, I wiped up about a million gallons of snot from runny little noses, wiped away zillions of tears, took two sick, miserable kids to the doctors three times in one week, gave out about 50 doses of Tylenol and other medications, missed a full week of work, and then came down with a whopper of a cold myself. So, yeah. The last week or so has really sucked and I am really glad that February is almost over. The Month of Love my ass - more like the The Month of the Plague. I am happy to report though that everyone is finally feeling better and back to normal and I am almost caught up at work.

Now that I am finally writing a new post, I have to say that it feels strange - like I'm really out of practice or something. I feel rusty. Not like I was ever super sharp in the first place,but you probably get my drift.

Anyway, my little "vaca" from my blog gave me some much needed time to ponder some issues I have revolving around my blog. Because of issues with work and other things, I didn't have much time to blog in the first place and when I did, it was to post my HAYSAY update. But I am really tired of posting what I call "non-updates" - you know the "hi, nothing new here...again. Same weight, different day" type of posts. For this reason I have decided that I'm going to take a break from HAYSAY for a while and when I finally start seeing some results worth sharing, I will show my face again.

In the meantime, I am going to try like hell to post more consistently about all topics and issues that take up so much precious square footage in my brain. I have all kinds of ideas for future posts so please check back often - I promise I won't disappear again...unless March has some nasty little trick up her sleeve!!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

HASAY UPDATE - Week Something or other - Attack of the Chocolate Hearts

Hi! How ya all doing? I've been reading some awesome HASAY updates and I figured I should get off my butt and throw something up here on my little blog.

I have noticed that some of my fellow HASAYERS have made some awesome progress this past week, and for that I commend you! Especially since it was Valentine's Day "week". Others like me are still treading the choppy HASAY waters - just barely staying a float.

Actually, I shouldn't really say that because I did a pretty good job this week. I watched what I ate, went for a really long run over the weekend, did weight-loss yoga several times and chased the boys in the backyard - I just didn't lose any weight. In fact, if HASAY was a "maintain your current weight" challenge, I would be the hands down, uncontested winner. Unfortunately it's not - it's a "weight-loss" challenge and I do know that.I think my body didn't get that memo.

However, I am going to refrain from bitching about not losing any weight this week because wow - did your kids bring home a ton of Valentine's Day candy too? I really can't believe the haul my pre-schooler brought back from his school's Valentine's Day party. It was like a Halloween repeat. His Valentine's Day "box" is so packed with chocolates, suckers, gummy candies, and so many other goodies that I'll be rationing it out for weeks to come. I'm surprised that I didn't gain 10 pounds just by being around so much candy!

I remember when I was a kid, Valentine's Day at my school consisted of just the little cards and maybe some of those crappy Necco heart candies and that was it. Apparently things have changed.

HASAY update - same S&*! - different day

Wow - I sort of just dropped off the blogger radar didn't I? One of my New Year's resolutions was to step things up with my blog and post every other day but instead I let things slide - big time. Ah well, all I can do is pick up from where I left off and keep on trucking, right? That seriously seems to be the theme of my life right now - one step forward, two steps back.

Okay, so let's talk HASAY, shall we? I don't know about you folks, but it appears that my body and its fat have become such close friends that they no longer want to separate. It's maddening really because I do watch what I eat. I cook healthy meals and I don't snack on lots of junk food. I don't sit in front of the tv and eat chips or ice cream. I don't drink soda. I don't eat huge portions of food either, AND I exercise at least three times a week. But nothing seems to be working.

I told myself at the beginning of the year that I was not going to focus on "losing weight" per se, and instead I was going to focus on being as healthy as I could possible be. But I'm starting to get a little panicked, because we finally bit the bullet and purchased our tickets to Hawaii for my husband's little sister's June wedding. I don't think "focusing on being as healthy as I can possibly be" is going to get me to a point where I feel comfortable enough in my own skin to bear being around people in the negative size range. I'm gonna have to wear a swim suit people!At the beach! I almost faint when I think about it.

So, I guess it all boils down to this. I have 5 months to whip my ass into decent enough shape so that I won't have a panic attack if we go to the beach. I'm not sure how I'm going to do it though - I guess I'll have to step it up even more by doing more of the things I'm already to doing right and then look for ways to improve where I can. I know I need to drink more water and get more sleep. And it would probably help a ton if I upped my cardio by adding running and increased my strength training routine as well.

So there. There's my plan. Yet another plan. I have no idea if it will produce any results. I want to say it won't right off the bat because it seems like nothing I have done since I stopped nursing has worked. It really feels like I'm grasping at straws!

I also know that in the end I should just be thankful for a having a healthy body and for being able to do what I like to do. But just for once I would also like to NOT feel like the biggest girl in the room. Is that too much to ask?

Week 10 update - Dusting of the HASAY cobwebs -

If you read my last post you'll notice that I thought last week was week 10 of the HASAY challenge. I guess it's this week though. That should give you some idea of how lost in space I have been the last couple of weeks.

Seriously - since Dec 15th, I have been holed up in my house with nothing but time on my hands and I chose to fill that time by filling my hands with enough junk food to last me for a year. I was stressed and bored and stressed and bored some more - and that's a combination for disaster for me when I'm trying to watch my diet.

The weather didn't help either - I couldn't get out to the gym or go for a walk. The best I could do was pull Captain Crazy around the block on the sled or build a snowman - but at least that was something.

It also didn't help that Daney Pops - (that's what I call him most of the time) was sick. I didn't want to take him out in the cold at all for fear of making his cold worse. So I didn't, but his cold got worse anyway. More on that later.

I do have to say that I am starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Christmas is over, the holiday sweets and treats have slowed to merely a trickle, and I am back to work today. It's the beginning of "getting back to normal" for everyone, and it feels good.

I am looking forward to getting back on the HASAY wagon. I borrowed some Pilates videos from my neighbor and I'm going to get re-acquainted with the Elliptical starting tomorrow at 5 am.

In the meantime, I thought I would toss up some pics of the snow and ice that kept us hostage in our house for so long. I wanted to post these pics last week, but dial up is not nice to use when trying to upload pictures or anything bigger than a digital fart.

HASAY update week 10??...Here we go again

It's 3 in the morning and instead of sleeping I'm pecking out this post. I'm bone tired and bleary eyed but I can't sleep because for the second night in a row, my little one is hacking up a lung in his room across the hall.

I've already done everything I can for him. We already snuggled a ton, I gave him something to drink, changed his diaper, and lubed him up with enough Vics on his feet, back and chest to last a whole day. His humidifier is cranked up to high and in an act of desperation, I even gave him a shot of cough "suppressant". The little dude is doing his best to fall asleep - he's making his little humming noise he makes while he's trying to fall asleep, but the damn coughing is just keeping him up.

He caught a cold back on the 15th - the same day he was supposed to go in for his surgery. That was one reason he didn't have his surgery -this freaking stupid winter storm was the other. It has now been 8 days that I have been stuck in the house with my little snot machine and his older brother - Cabin Fever Boy.

I could drive if I really wanted to, but driving on a combination of snow, ice, snow and ice - without chains or traction tires = stupid idea. Why risk it, right?

I can actually handle being stuck in the house. I'm pretty good of thinking up things to occupy the boys and keep them from killing each other. What has been hard is not being able to exercise. So needless to say, I don't think I accomplished much this past week. I have really tried to get up in the morning and do a work out video but I swear this weather has sucked every last drop of motivation out of my body. I have complained to everyone and anyone who will listen and the only think that makes me feel better is that it seems to be happening to them as well.

In fact this storm has messed up the week for a lot of people. As I type this, we have two friends, their little boy and their German Shepard sleeping over because they have been without power for the past four days.

I have some awesome pics of the snow and ice that is covering my town right now and if I ever see the inside of my office again I will post some of them. Since we have dial up at home it just takes to long to do much of anything online.

I am just trying to hang on and ride out this crappy weather and the little dude's cold. I'm focusing on the small positive things for now - like the fact that this storm and my little dude's cold won't last forever and that I didn't pound down some cookies while I wrote this post.

I hope all of you have a very merry Christmas, or what ever it is that you happen to celebrate this time of year.

HASAY Update week 7 - Turkey and a Thanksgiving F-Bomb

Hello all you HASAYERS! I hope your Thanksgiving week was safe, happy and relatively productive on the weight-loss front.

My Thanksgiving week was very nice, thank you for asking. It had all the usual stuff you would expect of a Thanksgiving week - copious amounts of good food and wine, lots of visiting with friends and family, some exercise here and there, and a preschooler who dropped his first F-Bomb like a seasoned pro. Yes-sir-ree Bob! Everything you could ever want! Our son just matter of factly said, "Daddy, I have to "F'n" poop!" Now I think that's pretty "f'n" funny myself, but my husband doesn't dig cursing too much. He immediately shot me the 'ol stink eye and asked "And where do you think he got that from?" "Not me" I said innocently. I don't think he believed me, but he should have because I don't cuss like that in front of my kids. I save it for the car (when they're not in it) and for those mornings when I stumble down the hall at 4:30 am on my way to the gym and almost maim myself by stepping on a Leg-O or Matchbox car.

As the week rolled to an end, my husband recovered from the "f-bomb incident" enough to laugh when he thought about it, and I was able to get myself out the door for several long walks and some trips to the gym. All said and done, I didn't gain any weight this week and I think that's commendable seeing as how I ate enough for two people on several occasions. However, if I can manage the same amount of exercise this coming week and keep my trap shut a little more, then I might actually see some progress. To help me along, I have started using a calorie-counting website called caloriecount.about.com. It's pretty cool and would be very helpful to anyone who is interested in an easy, fast way to track their caloric intake.

That's all for now - have a happy Monday.

The HASAY Challenge -first assignment

I just learned about a weight loss challenge created by a little chicklet named Casey at halfasgoodasyou. Sorry Casey - hope you don't mind being called a chicklet - I thought it was better than Beotch - and sorry again, but I don't know how to link to your blog so if anyone reading this can educate a newbie on the finer techie points of blogging I would really, really appreciate it.

Anyway, HASAY stands for Half As Small As You and it's an online diet and fitness group. You can read more about HASAY and join if you are so interested by visiting halfasgoodasyou.com. All the info and directions are there so if you're looking for some friendly motivation and company, like I am, I think you'll find it there. So, in the interest of wasting no more time, I am going to get on with my first assigment and that is to answer the following questions.

1) What motivates me and why do I want to do this challenge?
Feeling and looking good motivate me. Being able to keep up with my boys motivates me. I want to do this challenge because I think losing weight and getting in shape are more fun to do with others.

2) What is my long term goal?
I would like to lose 20 lbs and I would like to FOR ONCE not feel like Nanook of the North when I visit my two super skinny size 0 sisters-in-law.

3) What tools are available to me?
A Gold's Gym membership and a great, hilly neighborhood for weekend runs.

4) How often can I exercise?
At least three times a week. I have been getting to the gym at 5 am three days a week before work. I can also run once during the weekend with a friend.

5) What do I plan to do?
My workouts already go something like this. Tuesday and Thursday - 30 mins of cardio, 40 minutes of weights. One day I will focus on tri's bi's and legs, another day will focus on shoulder, chest and back. Fridays are typically my cardio only day when I will do an hour of cardio.

6) What has worked for me in the past?
Weight Watchers has worked twice for me. I lost about 15 lbs a long time ago before my first son was born and then I lost 20 lbs again after my second son was born. I am now back at my original pre-baby weight but I want to lose more. I don't want to join WW again though because I can find all sorts of things I could spend $40 a month on. And I just got tired of tracking points.

So there you have it - my first assigment for HASAY is done. I feel stronger, leaner, and fitter already.