On The Road Again....

Willie always had a way with words! I was diligent (but not radical) this week in an attempt to remediate my bad behavior of the last two weeks. I returned to the basics of counting, tracking, and ACTUALLY exercising. I was down 4.2 lbs!! I really didn't expect to make up for my mistakes (up three pounds over the previous two weeks) and then some, but my body was probably just so ridiculously cranky with my cruddy eating and lack of exercise that it was more than happy to reward me for my efforts. I'm coming up on my 1 year with WW (February 23rd) and I'm so happy with my success so far. I just have to focus on my goal and keep the pace up.

Training for the Finish Line

Did you know that runners rarely instinctively run all the way to the finish line? They have to train to run to the finish. They have to be reminded repeatedly and molded into the type of runner who picks up the pace on the way to the finish. Our bodies don't want to run when they see the finish, they want to stop. Our brain sees the checkered flag and says, "Oh thank goodness! I get to rest!" and our feet slow down. When you train to run that can be one of the hardest things to overcome. You have to constantly remind yourself to 'sprint' to the finish. Some runners even avert their eyes from the finish so that they don't fall into the mental trap that slows them down. What I'm finding is that it's not just runners that have a rough time running full bore the whole race. I'm finding it very difficult to keep sprinting toward the finish of my weight loss. This is the first time the end has even seemed realistic, much less achievable, and I find myself stumbling over the simplest things. I've run a marathon when it comes to weight loss over the past year (1 year exactly on February 27th) and the silly mistakes I'm making are akin to turning around when you're 20 yards from the finish. I've commited myself anew and I'm trying to return to the basics. Measure everything. Write it ALL down. Exercise even when you don't feel like it. Snack only when hungry...not just because it's Tuesday!

Finish line....get ready for me....

Going to the Frogs

My SIL, Shannon, got me three aquatitic frogs for Christmas. A short time after they began inhabiting my desk at work, I got a little grossed out at how quickly they got smelly even though I was regularly changing their water. I surmised that I was basically esential for me to find a way to put a filter in with them. The small plastic cube they came in wasn't going to acccomodate that, so I decided to explore some other options. I found the cute tanks pictured here for $10 each on Amazon ($20 cheaper than the ones without the purple butterfly backing. Go Fig.). I bought micro-filters and new pebbles and my frogs couldn't be happier (well, two of them are happy, one is still waiting for a couple of upgrades before they move in). You might be wondering why there are two tanks and one frog still in the plastic cube on my desk. It turns out that it is fairly simple to sex aquatic frogs. Turns out I had two boys and one spotted little girl. Seeing that I didn't want tadpoles (the frogs will eat them anyway) I figured that forced abstinance was best for my amphibian friends. I still need to add regulators the hoses from the pump so that both tanks are getting the right amount of air to run their filters and add pebbles to the tank on the right, but pretty soon I won't have to worry that a kid reaching across my desk is going to make me fish a frog out of my laptop keyboard!

Before and After

Before

After What a difference 75 pounds makes!! That's not even the least flattering picture of me, but Sally has most of the really terrible looking ones! I've started running and (drumroll, please...) I've decided to run a half-marathon in April! It's not about finishing in a certain time, it's more just about actually finishing. I feel pretty much the same way about it as I have about my weight loss. I'm not putting a time table or expectations for perfection on either my weight loss or my running. I'm probably never going to think I look good in a bikini, but I at least don't have to count my rolls anymore!! (and I'm not talking about the kind with butter!) I don't run terribly fast. Over 7 miles (my farthest run to date) I run just under an 11 minute mile the whole way. I'm hoping to trim some more time over longer distances in the next couple of months of training. The funny thing about the running is that it actually stalls out my weight loss a little because of the muscle/fat exchange. Anyway, just wanted to update everyone on the current state of my midsection!! LOL!

Holy Cow!

Ok, those of you who get this in your e-mail are going to have to actually come to my blog site today! (www.notaskinnybovine.blogspot.com) The cow on the ticker at the top of my page is doing something I didn't think I'd see. I'm currently (well, it hopefully will change at today's WW meeting, but since I'm not psychic, I'm going with last weeks numbers) at 181.6lbs. That means I'm only 1.6 pounds from my first goal of 180! I'm already trying to decide where to put my next goal, but to be perfectly honest, there was a part of me that never believed I'd get this close to my first goal. I went to the doctor the other day and was described as "disgustingly healthy" due to my weight loss efforts. (Well, except for the heartburn I was there about! LOL!) The doctor actually gaped at me for a minute when I said how much weight I had lost. I wanted to tell her to pick her jaw up off the floor! :) Well, here's hoping that this afternoon brings more good news!

Pig Pen

No, not the Charlie Brown character with the dirt swirling around his head! The kind for guinea pigs! It actually has taken me 2 weeks to post this because I couldn't find the picture on my computer! Anyway, this beautiful cage was accomplished with the masterful help of my father. He came up to school and I invited all my students who had no missing work for the 2nd 6 weeks to come help build Chew-Bacca a new cage. (He's the gray lump at the very front of the cage. He was being camera shy.) Anyway, turns out that if my father had not come as overly prepared as always we would have had to scrap the project for another day. The little plastic parts that hold the sections of his cage together had this big round bottom that was making the cage fall off the counter and making the pan for the litter not fit. Dad had fortuitously packed a small power saw and we were able to cut our problems down to size. Chewy has since gotten several new toys to fill of some of the space, but love doing laps around the outside. The kids bring him carrots and papertowel tubes on a regular basis and he is simply in guinea pig heaven. By the way, Dad, the kids told me several times to say "Thank you!" Who knew 11 year olds even knew that word?? :)

Kissing 70

Well, leave it to me to make things complicated. I was 0.8 lbs. from my 70 pound star last Monday. After a full week of procrastinating about exercise and eating more of my points in sugar than can possibly be good for me, I'm 0.8 lbs. from my 70 pound star. ARRRGGHHH! Now, being that I'm always overly ambitious when I shouldn't be, my goal is to make it through Thanksgiving and get my star on the other side of it. I'm hoping that the days off will lead to extra activity that will boost my metabolism and Thanksgiving is at my house this year for the Vaughn family so there is A LOT of sweaty cleaning in my very near future! The other thing I realized is that I'm only 20 - 30 pounds from my ultimate goal. I give it as a range because I'm not really sure where my body will feel comfortable. I haven't been below 160 since middle school so I'm not really familiar with how those weights feel. Anyway, the good thing is that I'm about to get to update the ticker at the top of this blog with a lower goal! I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanskgiving full of family and love!