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