25 pounds and counting!

That's right folks - I'm down more pounds than the Duggars have children. Now THAT is an accomplishment! ;)

I did my weigh-in last night, with great hesitance. I mean, this was Easter and I wasn't exactly an angel on Easter Sunday...or Monday. ha! But I did go to Zumba twice this week, and have eaten great otherwise. Last night after Zumba class I went to my sister's house. I walked straight in and weighed - I know you're supposed to weigh in the morning when you're all foodless and stuff, and that I had been eating all day and building up some lovely muscle fluid from Zumba. But, nonetheless I got on the scale and am official down 25 pounds!!!!!!!!! Current photo comparisons:

Above: December, 2010

Annnnd, today: April 29, 2011 - Down 25 lbs total so far, 14 inches total. I couldn't find a full-body shot really of me before - at least not in my cell phone, and I'm too lazy to seek elsewhere right now. ha But at least you can get the idea of where I was verses where I am at!!

That's all for right now. I've got way too much to do, but I at least wanted to share a little. Lunch in an hour....hmm, where to go? :)

Micha

Stormy Weather...again.

Well hey ya'll! It is way past my writing time, but today was just insane!!! (I am realizing that I start most of my posts with that, or something similar. But it's always true!)

Anyway, is anyone else tired of these storms?! I don't know who reads this blog, but for those of you in Kentucky if you're like me you are OVER it. Tornado warnings, rain, hail, severe storms and 80mph winds for 6 days straight? Um, no. Please go somewhere else! As I type this I am hearing that we are supposed to get an even larger system come through tonight. Ima have to have some words with the weather fairy here in a hot minute.

Back to life (...back to reality...oh you know you sang it,too). So I Zumba'd last night. I'm making it a verb now. Because I damn well DO something when I Zumba. It was rough, but admittedly not quite as rough as the first time around. I still barely kept up and wanted to die at the end, but I feel my life to death ratio was much more in balance. And I could actually breathe, which says something. It was fun - we learned two new dances, one of which was cray-cray. Some crazy footwork trick with your toes and your heels and your foot and your dog....well, you get the idea. After she taught it she suggested we try it in double-time. Well, the two girls next to me absolutely went into fits of hysterical laughing at that point. They were like "Um no. That ain't gonna happen", and one of them actually laid down on the floor and laughed. Then I managed to do it for like 4.2 seconds, and she stopped laughing, looked dead serious and said "White girl can dance!" - well, then naturally I couldn't do it anymore after that. Whether it was because of that comment, me laughing, or because I had simply met my "natural" ability dance quota for the day remains to be seen.

A guest instructor did a Lady Gaga song ("Telephone") with us - now, this was both good and bad. It was good because I happen to love that song, and the routine was kind of less Zumba and more dance (if that makes sense at all...). So I was totally getting into it and loving me some Gaga. The bad was that the girl who was teaching us was absolutely a spastastic crazy girl. She would do the most simple move, but her body would move like she was dancing to the countdown to New Year's Eve and was being filmed up close and personal. Her ass was bumpin' so far back I thought she was gonna hit herself in the back of the head with it. No. Lie. It was actually almost comical. No - it WAS comical. But the song was enjoyable. :)

For dinner last night I did a Lean Cuisine pizza and some steamed peas/corn. It was super yummy.

The pizza had red and green peppers, onions, sausage tomatoes - it didn't taste like Lean Cuisine. Then again, after Zumba I was famished so I'm not entirely sure that I cared. I drank a full 32 ounces of water in like 1.2 seconds.

Speaking of, can we please give some love to my water bottle?

I know that one doesn't generally discuss water bottles, but I have some mad love for mine. My mom bought it for herself, and when I whined she gave it to me. What? I never said I'm not spoiled. Not once did I say that. This picture makes it looks a bit special, but really there are two things I love about it. 1. it holds a full 32 oz of water. I drink the entire thing for lunch, and the entire thing for dinner, plus some extra here and there. So I know that I get in a minimum of 64 oz a day, which si good. 2. It has a STRAW!!!!! This is the secret people. I speak the truth. The straw makes the bottle. I sit and sip and don't even realize I've drank that entire bottle. I know it's a "mental" thing (and/or issue...), but that straw makes my little world a brighter place. Hm.

Okay, so anyway, that leaves today. It was Secretary Appreciation Day! (who knew?). So my two bosses took me out to lunch to PF Changs. Mmmmmm. I ordered lettuce wraps which were DELISH. I will have the leftover for dinner. Its literally what it sounds like - a big piece of lettuce, then you fill it with this chicken stuff. The lettuce serves as the wrap. I drank water. The wraps are only 160 cals per serving, and there are 4 servings a dish. I had 2 for lunch, and have the rest left over for dinner. Way too excited. I also would like to note that this morning was one of our staff member's birthdays. They had her a nice big carmel iced cake that looked absolutely to die for. My mouth watered just looking at that beast. BUT, I chose to not eat any (especially since I knew PF Changs was in my near future).

Can't decide about the gym tonight. The weather is still so terrible outside, and I probably won't leave here until around 7:30-8:00. Plus I have Zumba tomorrow. So who knows. But on a bright note: I wore a shirt today that I haven't worn in forever. It was way too small. It wouldn't even button on me, and usually I wore it with a cami under it and it was literally 3-4 inches from considering buttoning. This morning I put it on - not only does it button, it's BIG! It could button another inch over and it would still fit! Love love love things like that. :)

Tomorrow is Thursday (and then comes Friday, Saturday, Sunday....),

Micha

Happy Easter!

I know, I'm a little behind on the well wishes for Easter -but I hope you all had a good one! For me, it was fabulous. I haven't written in a while, but things have just been cray-cray so I got behind.

Friday - all I can say about Friday is STORMS. I mean, really that would sum up this entire weekend but for real - on Friday I thought I was going to die. There is a story - but I'm out of energy to type it. It involved a restaurant, tornados, straight line winds, windows busting out, me screaming - you get the picture.

Saturday....what did I do??? Oh yeah - I went to the gym!! Woowoo. I worked out double hard on the treadmill because I knew Easter dinner was coming up the next day. I also ate well, this much I remember. Exactly what I ate?? Couldn't tell ya. This entire past 4 days is just such a big blur to me!

Sunday - Easter!! I got up at the ass crack of dawn and drove to my parents house. I was going to go to Quest for church, but my mom was singing in an Easter program and I think she really wanted family there. My dad even went with us, which is a rarity! My mom's church is tiny. No, really. It is all of 30 people total, one tiny little room like a one-room schoolhouse. The preacher called in sick (yes, really), so they had a congregation member step in and take his place. My mom sang her little heart out. :)

After church, mom had to go to another church and sing the same program, so my sister Leslie and I ended up in charge of Easter dinner. A couple weeks ago Mom asked me if I wanted her to cook a healthy dinner for Easter. I laughed, and then realized she was serious! Um, NO. I wanted my momma's homecooked Southern treats for Easter just like I've had my whole life. So we had mashed potatoes, broccoli casserole, homemade mac & cheese, biscuits, rolls, country ham, turkey, noodles, dressing, corn - you name it, we had it. Sweet tea to drink, and a four-layer chocolate dessert. In case you're wondering: I ate it ALL! I didn't care. lol I have never enjoyed a meal so much in my life! I used to eat that food every single time I went to my mom's, but lately she has cooked me special healthy meals - even on my birthday!! So I went all out, and enjoyed it - didn't feel at all guilty because I knew it was just one day. I've actually gained enough control now to allow myself to do things like that. I can eat like crap and indulge, knowing fully well that I will get back on the bandwagon. In the past I never would have done that. One meal, or one day would throw me off and I would ruin my entire week - or month. Or just quit. But now I take comfort in knowing that I'm getting to the point where making healthy decisions is becoming second nature. I never, ever thought I would say that!!

We did have a rather festive Easter Egg hunt that literally made me out of breath from running allllll over my parents huge back yard! My dad hides, and all the "kids" hunt. By kids I mean me and my three grown ass sisters, along with my 5 grown ass nephews, the youngest of which is 8 and by all rights should technically be the only one hunting. But we fill the eggs with chocolate and MONEY! SO there is a lot at stake. We have hilarious pics from this annual event, but they're all on other people's cameras, so none for the blog. I did, however, snap a picture of our eggs that we decorated. They turned out.....um, special. The one in the plastic case that looks like it needs to be committed is Anissa's.

Oh, and in other news: I also weighed in this weekend. Last time I weighed in I was hovering right around 18 lbs, SOOOO close to getting to 20. This weekend? I have officially lost 22 lbs!!! Woo!! So I'm really hoping to hit 25 lbs by May - I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!This process is so slow some days I can't stand it. But today I was thinking, who cares how slow it is?? Even if it takes me a year, or two years as long as every time I weight the number goes DOWN then who cares? I've lost 22 lbs and that is no easy task, let me tell ya!

Sunday night I came home and got a wild hair and decided to give the dog a haircut and bath. Colin had given her a UK jersey for Easter, but I hated to put it on her with her fur all matted and smelling foul as the day is long. She hasn't been to a real groomer in forEVER, so we've been doing the home grooming sessions. She hates this. So do I. I dread them with every fiber of my being, and she always looks at me like she is going to cut a bitch when I pull the scissors and shampoo out. She totally knows what's coming. This is doggie before:

OMG, I know, right?! She was just tragic. Her little fur was sooooo grown out I couldn't even see her face. So I gave her a haircut-ish. She wouldn't let me trim her back legs and butt/tail area because by that point we had been working for an hour. I was sweating, cursing, yelling and she was whiny and fidgety. So I did what I could, then put her in the bathtub and scrubbed her down. Then blow-dried her. Then she didn't speak to me for at least 3 hours. Here is the after:

My sweet little baby. :) I don't think I did great on the grooming, but I also don't think that I did terrible.

Yesterday I do believe was a complete and total waste of a day. I was tired from the weekend's activities, and lack of sleep from staying up all night because of all the crazy storms. So I slept until 11:30 yesterday, but didn't actually get out of my bed until 1:30. Heeeeeey. :) Then I basically just moved from my bed to the couch, then eventually back to my bed. Whatever. It was my day off and I took it!!

Finally, there is today. Had my Special K for breakfast. Note: We went to staff meeting, where they provided blueberry and poppy seed muffins, chocolate frosted doughnuts, AND Chick-fil-A chicken and biscuits. Good Lord. So when Laura, my Zumba buddy, came in she sat down right next to me with her banana and we stayed strong!! lol I chewed mint gum - if I have that in my mouth I find I don't want food. It smelled and looked delightful, but we resisted. Woowoo! And tonight: I'm going to Zumba again! Wish me luck. Should be just swell. Laura can't go, so I'm going alone. I will just dance somewhere near the back. :)

I have a few other things going on in life right now that perhaps are not so bloggable - but John Mayer seems to be fixing all that, so at least I have an outlet other than food. ha!

Workout from hell - here I come!
Micha

Cheat Day

Oh. My. Word. For real. This week has just kicked my butt in so many ways. Between the insane amount of stuff to get done at work, my much amped up workout schedule, my lack of sleep, and what seems to be an unusual amount of "busy-work" I just don't even remember this week happening.

Anyway, what was yesterday? Thursday?? Oh yeah. I totally used yesterday as a quasi-cheat day. I was at my breaking point for sleep and also just craving every food known to mankind. So rather than deprive and punish myself further, I said screw it and had a much more relaxed schedule and food intake. I had my Special K for breakfast per usual. For lunch we ordered pizza for our facilities staff to say thanks for helping us out with a big luncheon we had last week. We ordered from Little Ceasars. I looked up the nutritional info before lunch and discovered the pizza was 250 cals a slice for cheese, and 280 for pepperoni. I had 1 slice of cheese and 2 slices of pepperoni (told you it was a cheat day!). It was totally delicious and worth every bite of my 810 calorie lunch. :) (hey, that damn sandwich I had from Arby's that one day was worse!). When I got home from work I had already made the decision to not go to the gym. I've been everyday for over a week, including my Zumba excursion and quite frankly my muscles needed a hallelujah moment. So when I got home, I walked straight to my room, grabbed the dog, and collapsed into bed. Somehow I ended up taking a THREE hour nap! I knew my mind and body were exhausted, but I didn't realize they were that exhausted. I woke up at 8:30 and briefly thought I had been kidnapped by aliens or something.

For dinner, I made some wheat pasta. I put it in a big bowl, and ate less than half. I was just too tired to care. I finally treated myself with 4 little Hershey's squares. I read on the nutritional info that 5 squares is 200 calories. Why did I not eat five you ask? Because five squares made it break apart uneven, and I wanted it to break evenly so I could re-wrap it nicely. OCD much? Thus was my cheat day. 3 slices of pizza, half a bowl of pastas, and 4 Hershey squares. I don't even have the energy to feel badly about it. I was back in bed asleep by 11:30 last night. I'm just that cool.

Today I got back on schedule. My day off actually had the intended effect - I feel much more refreshed today and much less cravings. I had no breakfast this morning because I was in a worship planning meeting, and then got swept away into doing fifty-eleven tasks before noon. At noon we had our Good Friday service, which I literally finished checking the text for at 11:00. Oy. The service was actually really, really nice. I needed that 30-40 minutes to decompress from this week and actually remember it IS Easter after all.

After service, Ethan and I went to Ramsey's. He wanted Chinese, but the way I figured there are very few healthy options as the local Chinese haunts. So Ramsey's it was. It's a local place known for it's entirely Southern cuisine menu. Every time my friend Bobby comes it is a must on his to-do list. Cornbread, soup beans, fried chicken, meat loaf, mashed potatoes, broccoli casserole, mac & cheese - you name it, they make it. So what's a Thintervention girl to do? It was really, really, reeeeally hard! I didn't even order Sweet Tea. *tear* I stuck with water. Ethan, however, not only ordered sweet tea, but had the waitress bring an entire pitcher of sweet tea and just leave it on the table for him!! haha I so totally would have done that 5 months ago. Anyway, I ordered a burger with cheese. I took it off the bun and just ate it with a fork. Instead of frieds, I ordered a side salad with only cheese, ranch on the side. I used half of what she brought me, and ate the burger and drank my water. So not too bad, and it was still really good and I'm totally full. Times is hard ya'll.

Tonight I'm going to the gym, despite the monsoon conditions outside. I don't see myself leaving work anytime too soon. Couple more hours or so. Then it's home for a lovely Easter weekend with my family and most important of all, SLEEP!! :)

Look for me hoppin' down the bunny trail,
Micha

sssssssssssssssssss

The subject of this entry would be all the air coming out of me slowly. I am a flat, flat little tire today. Woof.

Last night, just as I said I would, I went to Cosmic Zumba. Holy hell in a handbasket. I kept telling the girl I went with that I was challenged. She didn't seem to believe me. The setting was super cool. They replaced all of the lights in the ceiling with blacklights, then had strobe lights running, the walls all had multi-colored lights on them, and everyone wore white. Except me. I don't own a white t-shirt and so I wore my royal blue UK shirt that had white writing on it. My bad. I was one of like 5 people who missed the memo. At least I wasn't alone!! They also passed oout glow necklaces and Laura brought glow-stick bracelets. Voila:

The class itself ran pretty much like normal. And by normal, I mean evil. And by evil, I mean the end of time as we know it. The first several songs I did pretty good. Kept up for the most part, broke a lil' sweat. We got a water break after every 3 songs, and we did about 15 songs total. Somewhere around song 7 or 8 I realized I was going to die. I wasn't keeping up with the steps, not because I'm rhythmically challenged and couldn't follow. No, no. I completely understood what she was asking me to do. And in my head I was doing it, right on beat. However, in reality my body was 100% out of commission. At one point, I actually started to laugh in this manic hysterical manner. Laura turned and looked at me probably thinking I was cray-cray. Kelly (the instructor) was doing this super super super fast song and her hips were shaking faster than Shakira's. And I just flat out started laughing thinking, "I'm sorry. You think my body is gonna do THAT? My bad. We apparently were not properly introduced." But instead of stopping, I decided to just keep moving in some fashion. My hips were shaking, though not in double-time, and my legs were moving and my arms were flailing. But I kept moving! We got another water break, and I thought this MUST be the cool down time. I asked Laura, and she proceeded to tell me we had 3 songs left, and then a cool-down song. I'm sorry....what?

I looked around and saw that about half the room was doing great and pumped and wishing there were 10 more songs. I dubbed this the cray-cray half. The other half looked like me - dripping with sweat, shirt soaking wet, and eyes that said, "My hips don't lie. Peace." I dubbed this the thatta-girl! half. Woof. Sooooo, then came three more fast crazy Latin infused twist your hips like a beast songs. I really at this point thought I would die. But I survived!!!! When we finally got to the cool-down song, it was Gwen Stefani's "Sweet Escape". How fitting. Kelly told us to all sing along (yeah....because singing was possible. can't breathe, but let's all hold hands and sing Cumbaya right fast.) I pretty much just made loud honking noises that somewhat resembled words, whilst I stretched out my cavs, hips, toes, eyelashes and anything else that could still function.

When I got home I immediately took the longest, hottest shower that I have ever had. Ever. It felt soooo good. I did not order the pizza that I wanted to. Instead, I had a cup of peas, three boiled eggs, and another wheat Lean Cuisine.

And that my friends, is the story of how the little girl went to Zumba and lived to tell about it. The darndest part of it all? I'm going back next week. Swell.

Peace, love and Zumba,
Micha

Z-Z-Z-ZUMBA

I seriously have no words to describe this week. I have been so busy I can't tell my left from my right. When did I write last?? Monday?? Oy.

Anyway, I'll just briefly catch up. It's Holy Week (i.e. Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday). I work in a church. I think that about covers that.

I've actually been doing great with food and exercise. After my successful weekend of not giving in to any temptations, I used that momentum to propel myself into the week. Monday night I shampooed my carpets, and let me tell ya - THAT is a workout. Woof! I felt like I was going to die afterwards. I borrowed my sister's carpet steamer cleaner thingy, and it weighs I kid you not 2,000 lbs. On a skinny day. And I had to lug that beast up the parking lot, which is conveniently located on a hill, down my sidewalk, and up a flight of stairs into my apartment. By the time I did all that I briefly considered not shampooing the carpets and just rewarding myself with a stuffed crust pizza for even carrying that bitch. But I didn't. I cleaned my carpets in my livingroom, hallway, and bedroom until there was no dirt left to be had. The worst part of the entire process was that every few feet or so the water and/or cleaner would run out and I'd have to take it apart, run it to the sink to fill it up, take it back and put it back together. Another few feet, and the discharge area would fill up and I had to take it and empty it, then put it back together. If you ever have a carpet shampooer break, I'm your woman. I bet I dis-assembled and re-assembled that little beast 12 times. I was dripping with sweat, and decided to forget the gym and just have a dance party in my apartment instead. And by party I mean me and the dog. And by me and the dog, I mean she layed on the couch and looked at me like the fool I was. I danced for about 20 minutes and finally my body peaced out. I don't even remember what I ate for dinner that night....something healthy though!!

Yesterday, I had my regular - Special K for breakfast. But then we had our staff meeting and lunch was provided, and that's never easy. We had chili cheese dogs, coleslaw - the works. So I chose to have a bunless hotdog with a small spoon of chili over it, and ate baked lays. I opted out of the smorgasbord of sodas and drank water instead. I ignored any and all other side items. However, not gonna lie...I totally ate the ice cream for dessert. With whipped cream. And sprinkles. And chocolate syrup. Ooops.

Last night I went home and finished the shampooing of my apartment. This time I thought I'd be all smart and shampoo the couch. Who in the hell got in my head and told me that would be a good idea needs therapy. Worst. Process. Ever. I'm gonna leave it at that. I tried to go to the gym afterwards, even though I had been sweating and dying for 30 minutes already. But my key card wouldn't swipe so I couldn't get in. And per usual, the gym was empty so there was no one to let me in. I really wanted to just say screw it and go home. But I went and grabbed the dog and took a 20 minute walk instead. She needed the exercise as much as I did! for dinner I had a Lean Cuisine pizza and a cup of peas. And that is that.

Today has been insane. Too insane for words. Sooooooooo BUSY.  But i've made time for food. Had breakfast (three guesses.....Special K!), then a Lean Cuisine whole grain lean pocket for lunch with a handful of Baked Lays. Tonight I'm going to Cosmic Zumba. Not just Zumba - Zumba on crack. They're turning all the lights out and turning on the blacklights - like cosmic bowling! A girl I work with goes weekly so I told her to start harrassing me and to MAKE me go! Since tonight is special, they're charging either $5 or 5 cans of food to get in. So this morning she emailed me and said she bought 5 extra cans of food last night just for me to go to Zumba tonight. Now THAT is awesome. So I went home and grabbed workout clothes on my lunch break and tonight we shall see. I'll either burn 800 calories or die trying!!

Whew!
Micha

When it's 14 inches, size DOES matter.

Well kids, I come bearing loads of good news today. First of all, I have been to the gym 5 days in a row, and let me tell ya - that is an accomplishment for me!! Well, technically I went to the gym 4 days, and the 5th day I took a 30 minute power walk outside because it was so pretty. I went to my parent's house yesterday because I woke up with a wild hair and wanted to do something besides lay in my house all day. I went all the way to Bethel (about an hour outside of Lexington, located in a field. Literally.) My mom and I took a 30 minute power walk through the cemetary that my parents now live directly across from. Weird, I know. BUT, it has paved walking paths and it all sits on a big hill so there are a  TON of ups and downs. After 30 minutes I was totally sweating and my legs hurt from all those hills! I think it was actually more challenging than the gym! Afterwards, my mom fixed me a nice healthy dinner. Chicken stir-fry consisting of grilled chicken, wheat rice, broccoli, onions, and red peppers and a baked potato. It was soooooo yummy. I didn't even take a picture of it because I inhaled it too fast! ha

Second piece of good news: I had my mom take my measurements yesterday since I still don't see changes in my appearance and I haven't lost too much weight. I happened to have my exact measurements from right before I started all of this. I was in a wedding in December and my mom made my dress so we still had all my measurements. I am proud to say I have lost 5 inches in the chest, 6 inches in the waist, and 3 inches in the hips for a total of 14 inches. To me that was a big WOW factor. I had NO idea I was losing inches like that!! So I guess even when my weight isn't dropping (maybe partially because of muscle beginning to gain), at least my body is actually going through changes. I was absolutely shocked when my mom measured me, and so was she!! She agrees with me that really the only place you can see a lot of changes are my face. But my clothes do feel a little loser. And on someone my size, losing 5 or 6 inches in the chest or waist isn't going to cause the shocking visual that it would on a smaller person. But still, I am SO happy with those measurements. I felt like it was the first real validation that I'm on the right path, even if it is a slow and steady one. It's so hard not to focus on the long-term results. I want to be 10 sizes smaller NOW, 100 lbs lighter NOW, wearing cute clothes NOW. I get easily discouraged. But I have to think, okay: I've lost almost 20 lbs and 14 inches. That is definitely a quantifiable result. I'm going to check my measurements again for sure because it felt so good! haha I'll wait a while - probably closer to end of summer - to have time to actually lose more inches.

Finally, my third piece of good news: I BEAT THIS WEEKEND!!!! mwahahaha (that was my evil laugh. You should hear it in person. Way better.) Anyway.....awkward. So um yeah, I beat this weekend!! I exercised every day,  I drank water, and ate perfectly healthy. I was tempted a few times to give in and order junk food or be lazy, but I refused. Mind over Matter.

Friday:
Went to the gym. For dinner I ate foil daddies at Leslie's house again ( I know. I'm obsessed).

Saturday:
I actually got up and cooked breakfast. Alert the media - breakfast on a weekend! Whaaaa??

I know, right? A nice little omelet with wheat toast and strawberry jam. Mmmmm. I went to the gym afterwards and had a great workout!! For dinner that night I had two bunless hamburgers with 2% cheese, and a bowl of lima beans. My only "bad" thing was for a snack late that night I had peanut butter on wheat toast. I knooooow peanut butter is all oily and stuff, but I have such a love for it. And it's better than a bucket of chocolate!

Sunday:
I had a leftover hamburger on wheat bread for lunch, then went to my parents. The rest is history!

I'm so proud of myself for not giving in to the weekend blues. Gahhhh.

I am planning on going to the gym tonight. I also am planning on shampooing my carpets, and I'm sure thats gonna burn some calories. This morning my hell rat of a dog PEED on my MATTRESS while I was in the shower!!!!! I know it's partially my fault because I didn't take her out before I showered, but in my defense I NEVER do! She always ignores my alarm clock and stays under the covers and sleeps while I shower. Then when I get out and get dressed, she starts to stir and we go outside and have morning potty time. But this morning, she apparently felt the need to wake up while I was showering and peed a river on my bed. I kid you not, it was the most any dog has ever peed in the history of man kind. UGH. So I was cursing and muttering under my breath as I had dripping wet hair spraying Bissell pet cleaner and scrubbing my mattress at 8:00 this morning. I took my sheets off but there was nothing I could do with them since I don't have a washer, so I tossed them in the bathroom floor and will deal with them tonight. Little hellion. Her potty habits have been less than desirable lately. I mean, she's always had accidents because she's evil, but here lately I feel like every time I look away she finds a new spot on the carpet. So tonight I am shampooing them until they look like we're at the Ritz, then I'm going to stay on her hardcore with the potty thing. Why do I have a special dog?? Why???

Anyway, sorry for that side rant. I just finished eating lunch (the chicken stir-fry leftovers) so I guess I should get to work.

14 inches ya'll!
Micha

BEEfore and "after"

Well kids, I have good news: I went to the gym last night. Let me paint you a picture: I was walking to the gym in my ratty ass gym clothes, when all of the sudden a bee crosses my path. Not just any bee. A bee roughly the size of a small humming bird. I kid you not. Then its little bee friend came along. And then a few more little bee friends came along. Then I realized they were all carrying guns and screaming "We love Sarah Palin!!". So, logically I ran. I was darting down the sidewalk from left to right, randomly coming to a dead stop then sprinting. I was terrified the things were going to be the death of me, and sadly I left my bee keeping outfit in my apartment. So I make it to the gym door finally, and you have to swipe a key card to get the door to open. Did mine work on the first try? Of course not. So I am panting, cursing, and yelling at the bees. I actually stopped, turned around, looked at the bees and said "Why are you and all your friends out?!?! GO AWAY!!". At that moment, my keycard finally swiped correctly and I pretty much fell into the gym. Whereupon I see two guys, not working out at all, but instead intently watching me as the entire front of the gym is glass windows and a glass door. They looked at each other like they wanted to bust out laughing, so I just said "Hi. What's up?" and put my iPod on and got on the treadmill. I ain't got time to be embarrassed. I mean, I almost died out there.

ANYway, so I worked it out on the treadmill, alternating between walking and running and listened to my new 2011 playlist. It was good times, and I sweat. I actually took a picture of myself afterwards, in all my sweaty glory because I wanted to document the moment. I will spare you the posting. However, I will NOT spare you two other photos. I have been feeling so discouraged because I've only lost just under 20 pounds, and I really can't see it at ALL when I look at myself. I mean, I look exactly the same every day, even though some of my clothes feel a bit loose. So I decided to take a picture of myself today, chins and all, and then found a picture of myself on my cell phone from just a couple weeks before I started Thintervention. Do you see any difference????

I know it is probably not in one's best interest to take a before and "after" photo when one is only about 12 weeks into the process. But I honestly want to know what people think because I just don't see it!!! All I see is a fat haze.

In other news, I'm headed to lunch now. Not sure what I'm having....one of those days where nothing sounds great. I had oatmeal for breakfast, which was pretty filling actually, so I'm not starving by any means. I wish I had time to cook a turkey burger, but alas. Maybe for dinner. I'm going to the gym again tonight - it's supposed to rain, so hopefully the bees will be hiding. If not, and they come out wearing little parkas I'm gonna cut a bitch. It's on.

Happy Friday!

Micha

It's all in the chips

I have been SO busy this week I literally have not had time to blog. I work in a church and its the week before Easter. Free time? Um, no.

Anyway, eating is still going well. Yesterday I stuck with pineapple for breakfast again. For lunch I went to Cheddars with a couple of my volunteers from the music department. Cheddars is one of my favorite restaurants, and my usual order is either cheese fries and croissants (because they have the BEST of both), or the buffalo chicken wrapper with fries, or the monte christo (again, the best). So going there was super, duper dee duper hard. So what did I order? *drumroll please* A salad!! Granted, it was somewhat of a pimp daddy salad, but a salad nonetheless. It was topped with slices of grilled chicken, cheese, pecans, and I had a light balsalmic vinegarette for the dressing. It was really good! I'm guessing the calories built up a bit with the pecans, which were candied, but they gave me like 1/3 of a cup if that so it couldn't have been to detrimental. Hardly any cheese (boo), and I had the dressing on the side and ended up not eating it all. And I drank water. So take that cheese fries! (mmmmm....cheese fries....)

Moving right along, for dinner last night I ate at home. I had low-fat turkey on toasted wheat bread with 2% cheese, and my new favorite chips ever: Baked Lays Southwestern Ranch. Now, I am a full-on anti-Baked Lays person. I have always thought them to be foul, and the chip world's way of punishing those who try to eat healthy. However, times is hard and I wanted a chip for my sandwiches and I'm tired of baked Cheetos. So I bought these mainly because they had "ranch" in the title and I figured if they blew chunks I'd throw them away and be out the 3 bucks. But they were SOOOO good!! Only 120 cals a serving, crazy zingy taste (actually, maybe a little too spicy for me, but I pick my battles), and the perfect compliment to a nice turkey sandwich. Voila:

This morning I have already had my Zija vitamins and am getting ready to have a bowl of pineapple. Its 70 and sunny today, which is apparently going to be followed by 3 days in a row of stormy weather (cue music). So I'm taking the dog for a walk tonight. I WILL do it!!! I WILL exercise. RAHR............meow?

Baked Lays rule,

Micha

rain = foul

It is raining mad crazy outside right now. It started last night and it literally has not stopped. Apocalypse continued.

Anyway, I must confess I was very, very bad this weekend. On Saturday I went over to my sister's house to play with my little nephew. I ate a slice of pineapple pizza from Papa John's for lunch, along with some homemade banana nut mini-muffins that my sister had just made from scratch. THEN that night for dinner we ordered Chinese. Oh, and I drank Woodford and Sprite. I'm not even going to attempt to calculate those calories, but I'm guessing I met my caloric intake for the day with the Woodford & Sprite alone. Good grief. So then on Sunday I thought I'd be really good and eat great all day. Yeah, that lasted. What did I have? Pineapple pizza again. What is wrong with me!?!?! Why, after several months of this, do I still give into those cravings? I ate great all week last week, exercised, felt great. Then the weekend comes and I blow it to pieces. It is just really frustrating that I do that. I need to be locked up chastity belt style Friday-Sunday. Just to protect me from myself. I keep thinking of that quote, "If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried." .......Woof.

Anyway, as promised (to myself) I got right back on track yesterday. I had my bowl of Special K for breakfast and drank my Zija vitamins. I had another bowl of Special K for lunch (got busy and ended up not leaving), and then a nice light dinner. I drank my tea and went to bed. Today, I have done the exact same thing - Zija, Special K, water. The usual. Since it is raining like a beast I doubt I will get to take the dog for a walk tonight. Maybe I can drag my sorry Chinese-ordering ass to the gym and repent.

No pictures today. Remember? Destroy all evidence. :)
Micha

t. g. i. f.

There are absolutely no words to express my joy that it is Friday. None at all.

Well, I have to say: I exercised last night! woowoo. Nothing to cray-cray, but still. I took my dog on a walk for about 30 minutes. I power walked around my sister's neighborhood and broke out a major sweat. I meant business. I had asked my sister to walk with me, but she said no. Her excuse? "Girl, I got a spray tan today. I can't sweat." I thought my mom was going to eat her. So she pawned out my little nephew instead and he went walking with me. Except I think he thought it was going to be more fun, less exercise. We walked really far, which means we had to walk really far to get back. On the way back, I saw a cul-de-sac and said "Let's go this way and we'll get a few extra steps in!". He looked at me like I had grown a tail and said, "Um, I'll let you do that. I'll be right here when you're done." and proceeded to lay down in the grass. haha And he stayed there until I walked to the cul-de-sace, around, and back. hahaha On the way back from our walk we ran into a lady who was also walking a cute little dog about Coco's size. She asked me Coco's name, and sometimes I just say Coco but I said her full name: Coco Chanel. The lady got REALLY excited and said "Oh my gosh!! My dog's name is Mandy Moore!" hahahaha This woman was at least in her fifties mind you, and miss Mandy Moore was about 6 pounds ringing wet - cutest thing. So Coco Chanel and Mandy Moore sniffed each other and rubbed noses and said hey. The story writes itself.

When I got back home Leslie had put some Foil Daddies in the oven - God love her. So that's what we had for dinner! I've written about them before, but here's a picture:

Mine had cabbage, carrots, peas, and corn seasoned with worcestshire sauce and tomato juice. SOOOO yummy. I could eat this meal every single day. And its juts a bunch of veggies so it is very low-calorie. We add in just a little hamburger meat, but thats all! Mmmmm

Today I succeeded in eating breakfast (a bowl of Special K), then had an off-brand Lean Cuisine for lunch, which was pretty tasty. Not sure what my plans are for tonight. I need to make sure I eat healthy. It looks like rain right now, but if it holds off I may do another dog powerwalk.

Happy weekend!

Micha

A Beauuuuutiful Day!

It is SO gorgeous outside today. 75 (or warmer) and sunny? Yes, please! I've had a pretty good day thus far. I came in to work this morning and had my Zija vitamins. I ate a huge thing of pineapple for breakfast. Half-way through eating it Ethan arrived with a cinnamon roll for me. I took 2 bites just to taste it, but kept with my pineapple.Yay me!

I directed the senior adult choir this morning since my boss is on vacation. It was good times! I love directing that choir because they remind me SO much of the choir that I directed at my old church job where I was the music director. This choir is way better at reading music though. We have fun - they said I'm cheery. :) They have a little performance next week so I prepped them for that. We got through all of the pieces and everythign sounded pretty good by the time we finished, so it was a productive rehearsal. They are such a sweet group of people. And I had one of the choir members warm us up with a couple songs so I grabbed my music and went and sang with them (alto) and that was so much fun. I love getting to sing some nice harmony on a Thursday morning. :)

After rehearsal, Ethan came and found me and talked me into going to lunch. I was a little hesitant because of the whole food/eating healthy thing, but we settled on Suggins. I ordered a bunless burger with only cheese, and had a baked potato - no salt, only some butter. I set the sour cream to the side along with the bun. And I drank water. So overall, I actually don't think that was too bad - right? Ethan sat across from me with a hot brown. For those non-Kentuckians: a hot brown is a big ole mess of thick bread, ham, turkey, bacon, tomatoes, gravy, and a crap ton of cheese melted over it all. It looked totally awesome.

After lunch we walked to Orange Leaf to get some low-fat yogurt! I had strawberry yogurt with four toppings: fresh kiwi, bananas, mangos, and a few little wafers. Oh my God, I wanted to marry it. SO good. Exhibit A:

That's right. I made this picture X-Large because it was X-Good. :) I'm back at work now and I suppose it's time to stop talking about food and start thinking more about music again. I've got some lead sheet packets to put together for rehearsal tonight. If I can get out of here at a decent time, and that is questionable, I may go for a walk tonight. We shall see!

Orange Leaf = Love,

Micha

Chugging along

So much to get off my chest today. First of all, this morning started with a little road rage. I detest stupid drivers. I had a guy behind me at a red light who kept incessantly honking his horn at me and making rude gestures. There was nothing I could do!! It was a freaking red light, during rush hour, so there was a TON of oncoming traffic. So I just sat there. Then when it finally turned green and we went, he tailgated me even though he had more than ample room to get in the other lane and pass me. So I slowed down so he would pass me and just go away and he gave me the evil eye. I'm sorry, but I did not invent the red light nor did I make the rules associated with. If you're evil enough that you have to honk at someone who is at a complete stop, then I hope you hit a pothole on the way to work and busted a tire. Thats right. I said it.

Moving on and back to Thintervention... Last night was pretty uneventful food wise. Right when I got off work my little nephew called me and begged me to come play the Wii with him - he even offered me $5! haha Its not that I don't love the kid - because I absolutely love and adore him and want nothing but him to be happy. But he just has nooooo idea how one feels at 5:00 at the end of a work day mid-week. I always just want to go home and lay in silence and veg out. But I feel bad for the kid because I remember exactly what it felt like to be his age and not have anyone to play with. I wasn't an only child, but my sisters are so much older than me I was the only kid at home. And I wanted nothing more than someone to play Mario brothers with me or watch me play. So I totally symphathize with him. And I know that one day soon he'll be older and to the point that he doesn't care if I come over or now. I really do love the kid, and I feel AWFUL when I tell him no. Sooo....I went. :) I made a PB&J on wheat to take with me because I was starving. I played the Wii with him for a couple hours, but was home by 7:30ish so it wasn't too bad. And hey, not gonna lie - I LOVE to play the Wii.

When I got home I was hungry enough for dinner by around 8:30, so I made a quick pathetic little meal. I had a salad that consisted of only lettuce, a handful of low-fat croutons, and some light rasberry vinegarette. Along with that, I had another frozen dinner. It was another knock-off brand of a Lean Cuisine, called a Lean Gourmet. Only 270 calories - rigatoni, brocolli, grilled chicken all tossed in some type of creamy sauce. It was okay - definitely no worse than the regular Lean Cuisine, half the price, and the same nutrional content. So it worked. I drank water of course. I was hungry again by the time I finally went to bed around 1AM, but thats just my fault for staying up half the night when I should have been sleeping! I drank my Zija tea around 10:30 to satisfy me somewhat. Didn't work. ha!

Anyway, I had my Special K for breakfast this morning, took my Zija vitamins, and just finished lunch. Lunch was sooooo good. I am in love with the new Healthy Choice Steamers, specifically the Chicken Margherita. Its pasta, red peppers, tomatos, basil, grilled chicken, all tossed in a light balsalmic vinegarette. It steams in the microwave for a few minutes, and voila! Tasty goodness for 300 calories.

I like to put it on a plate (yes, even a styrofoam one) because it makes it feel less like a frozen dinner. I know this is purely a trick of the mind, but it totally works for me. I actually feel like its more of a real meal and less of a quick microwaveable lunch. One of my fb friends wrote one day that she thinks you drink more water if you drink it with a straw, and I totally agree. Its totally a mind thing, but I drink twice as much if I'm sipping with a straw. It makes it feel more like a real drink, since I guess I equate straws with what used to be my daily dose of drive-thru Diet Coke. So since I don't do that anymore, I actually like this sneaky little trick. Although I honestly don't mind water at all. Sometimes I actually crave it. Its ice cold and its the only thing that truly quenches my thirst. I keep a Brita filter pitcher in my fridge at all times with icy cold water at my fingertips.

In other news, can I take a moment to shout out some love to my iPod shuffle? I can't say enough how much I adore this feature. I have 4,000 songs on my iPod and there is no possible way for me to listen to them all by simply picking an album. Shuffle brings back soooo many songs I forgot I had! For example: Michael Jackson's Will You Be There is playing right now. Earlier I had some Bach, some Beatles, some Faure Requiem, a little La Boheme, Rent, Carrie Underwood's older albums, and a Kelly Clarkson song I had forgotten was ever in existence! I've been blasting music in my office all day. Everyone is on vacation this week, and I am literally all alone back here. No one has even walked by. So I'm singing my little heart out. :)

Someone make me exercise...

Micha

Two in a row!

Well look at me, posting two days in a row! Told you I was going to try and do better. (to be fair, I'm so bored this week that posting is becoming a form of entertainment).

Anyway, yesterday turned out to be a good Thintervention day, and today is following suit. I had a nice bowl of Special K for breakfast (go me! breakfast two days in a row!). I took my Zija vitamins and I just finished lunch.

For lunch I had a Wal-Mart brand version of a Lean Cuisine. Its Great Value (thats the Wal-Mart brand), and they're called Lean Cafe's. I didn't purchase this myself. My mom bought it and made me try it since they're half the price of Lean Cuisine's, and she figured it couldn't hurt. I am very picky about frozen foods, so I was hesitant. But this first one was actually good - it tasted better than the Lean Cuisine. It was a Lean Cafe pepperoni pizza, only 350 calories and a few grams of fat so nutrition wise it was identical. I forgot to take a picture before I tore it apart to cool, but you get the idea.

Its a little personal size pizza, probably about 5 inches in diameter. It was good. I thought perhaps the pepperoni was a little chewy, but I blame this primarily on my overcooking it. I used the microwave in one of our kitchens here and I swear it was made in 1897. The food would probably cook faster if I sat it in direct sunlight. So I can never judge how to cook food in that thing, and in turn I added like 4 minutes to the suggested cooking time. Turns out: too much!

I had a tiny little can of pineapple chunks/tidbits to accompany said pizza. Only 50 calories for the whole can, and a good dose of fruit to add to lunch. It looks bigger in this picture than it really is. In reality it looks smaller than a jar of baby food. And honestly, again my mom bought this for me to have snacks at work and knowing her it probably came from the kids aisle! :) I'm so grateful though to know that even though I am struggling with all this, my family is SO SO SO supportive. My mom even called me this morning to tell me she was at Wal-Mart and there were Healthy Choice foods on sale and she wanted to know which kinds I liked best because she was buying me some. And my sisters have been offering to buy me groceries to make sure I keep healthy food in stock. Because honestly that plays a HUGE part in it. If I have healthy food in my house, I eat it without thinking twice. If I'm low on food or have junk food, I eat that, or order pizza, or do something else detrimental. Having the option to go to my cabinets and fridge/freezer and know that whatever I pull out will be an easy, healthy meal makes a HUGE difference. Am I spoiled? Absolutely. But I love my family so much. :) I talk to my mom every day, 7 days a week, sometimes twice a day. Never miss. She's my best friend. And yes, she harps on me and fusses at me and knit-picks everything I do. But I know how much she loves me and would do anything in this world to make me happy. Her happiness is secondary to her family, and it is truly amazing. She didn't have a mom growing up (she died when my mom was 3) and she was shuffled around to all kinds of places because no one wanted her. So how she has turned out to be so amazing is amazing in itself. When she is telling me my hair looks bad, I need to eat healthy, my shirt is too tight or my makeup makes me look pale - I at first want to throw something at her, but then I just laugh and I know how lucky I am to have a mom who cares about me so much.

Wow...I don't even know where all of that came from. Food, what?! Maybe its good to take emotional dives sometimes. I'd rather put it in a blog than eat it on a plate. :)

Pineapple tidbits and love,
Micha

Is this thing on??

Did I ever mention when I started this thing that I am terrible, no good, awful, and useless when it comes to keeping up an online blog? I am going to try WAY harder, I promise!!

Part of my no-goodness for the month of March is due to Thintervention not happening so much in March. As you saw in my last couple of posts I was dying of various diseases - i.e. pneumonia, strep throat, etc. I really just failed for the month. I ate terrible, and I never exercised because every time I moved I started coughing out of control. I had this mental block where if I didn't exercise, then I didn't eat healthy. And I wasn't allowed to take my Zija vitamins because they conflicted with the medications I was on, so there went that. I'm not making excuses, just simply stating that I failed. In all aspects. oh my gosh, and don't even get me started on what March Madness has done to my diet. UK went allll the way to the Final Four (if you're my Facebook friend, this fact has not been missed. :) ) and as a result, my family had multiple UK game parties - there was seriously so much junk food/beer/desserts merriment absorbed that I'm not even going to list it. Exhibit A:

It's probably best for my health that they are not playing in the championship tonight. ;) (but still - GO CATS!)

BUT, I have a fridge full of fresh healthy groceries, I'm back on my Zija vitamins, spring is in the air - I am not giving up. I don't think that people even half way understand how hard this is for me. I know that normal people can choose to eat healthy and exercise, and they look at me like "WHY is that so hard for you?". I honestly don't know why. But it is. It is a 24/7 struggle for me. I did not get to this weight because I'm great with food and exercise all the time. I got to this weight because I am an emotional eater, I struggle with healthy choices. My brain is ingrained to eat good yummy Southern food and sip sweet tea and lay on the couch or sit on the front porch. I just have to keep trying though. I am feeling pretty discouraged after my 4 week hiatus. I need support now more than ever.

I started my vitamins again this morning, ate a nice breakfast, a nice lunch, will likely have some fruit this afternoon and have a nice healthy dinner. I'm going to try to stay on the light side all week and NO CHEATING. I'm going to have to treat April like its January all over again and really discipline myself. I'm simultaneously excited/nervous/discouraged/ready all at the same time.

Micha