Kari’s Blog

First things first - I weighed in this morning and am down 2.0lbs from last week!  That’s good, but it’s a bummer that I had that ’slip up’ week the week before, so really all I’ve done is erase the results of that one.  I’m down 2.8lbs since January 1st.  Hopefully when I take my measurements on Wednesday I’ll see some results there too.

It’s VERY FRUSTRATING for me right now to have these numbers go down so slowly.  I know that 1-2 lbs per week is good, but when I look at less than 3lbs loss in 4 weeks….I want to scream!  At that rate, I won’t be where I need to be for my dress fittings. :(  I know it’s only been a month since I started getting really consistent with tracking calories etc, but it feels like a lot longer than that so I want more results faster!

At the good end of the things, my body fat % has been dropping and has been below 28% for about a week, which was my goal for January.  So there’s still hope that I will accomplish that one!

I’ve also been feeling a lot stronger on my runs lately….no walking up hills, and wanting to push it further & further…so that’s a good sign.  It’s nice to see the results of my persistent exercise in that way, even if the scale monster is still making me mad!

Tonight I have a work-related happy hour to go to, so I’m going to check out the menu of the place we’re going in advance, to decide before we get there what healthy option I will order.  For the “Happy” part I’ll just have one glass of red wine and that’ll do me fine!  Have a great day buddies!

I normally weigh myself first thing each morning & log my weight & body fat % on my little chart.  This morning, I was kind of groggy getting out of bed and forgot to weigh-in before breakfast.  Then I debated with myself….to weigh, or not to weigh?  On the one hand, I didn’t want to have a blank spot on my otherwise full monthly chart, but on the other hand, I had already eaten a big bowl of cereal and drank a large glass of tea and about 16 oz of water.  Well, I weighed, and MAN I shouldn’t have!!!  It showed up at 2.4lbs higher than what I weighed yesterday morning…now I didn’t go over my calories yesterday, and I ran 6 miles yesterday afternoon, so……I HIGHLY doubt I added 2.4lbs of true “weight” in 24 hours.  Tomorrow is my official weigh-in day, so I will definitely be sure to do it at my normal time, right after I wake up!  And if it is still that high, I am going to be pizzzzisssed!!!  I’m on my 7th OP day, and if it gets me no-change/gain from last week….well….I will have a rough time continuing to stay OP!

Anyway.  After the inconsistent weigh-in, I laced up and went for a 5 mile run, so hopefully if any of that 2.4 WAS real gain, I might have made some kind of dent in it.  Grrr.

We’re having friends over for dinner tonight and I’m making a roast w/veggies in our slow cooker….the house smells so good right now!  My big challenge tonight is going to be NOT eating 5 pieces of bread…I love having bread & butter with my roast & salad, but I know I need to focus on getting greens & veggies in me first, then a small piece of roast, and NO bread!! 

Fingers crossed for tomorrow’s weigh-in…ciao buddies!

Man, I’ve done a lot of walking already this weekend! :)? We walked to dinner to meet friends, and I had a lamb gyro, a small caesar salad, and a glass of wine.? Then we went to a movie and I treated myself to a small box of Junior Mints…yum!? When I logged all my food after we got home, I was only 80calories over my target for the day, and I think that’s compensated for since I did an extra run yesterday that I wasn’t planning to do.? In other words - I did it!!!? Five days in a row, OP!? Booyah!

Today we’re walking down to the art museum to see an Egyptian exhibit, then walking to lunch, then walking to the hardware store to get some paint for our bathroom, then home.? After that I’m planning to take the dog for a run in the afternoon because she’s been restless and needs exercise in a bad way.? It’s such a gorgeous day that I think I’ll take her up to the park and run on some trails before they get too muddy again.

So that’s what we’re up to this sunny Saturday…I’m committed to making this a super successful weekend and seeing a significant loss on Monday when I weigh-in!!? Have a great weekend buddies!

Today I did something I hadn’t done in several months - did an early morning, outdoor run on a weekday!  I met a friend downtown at 6:30 and we did about 3 miles.  Less than I probably would have done at the gym on the treadmill by myself, but it was soooo much better than being on the treadmill, and we took the dogs so they got some exercise too, and it was foggy and really neat looking outside, and I’m very glad I did it!  I’m still going to the gym this evening to do my 2nd strength session of the week, so I think 3 miles is okay for today.  Tomorrow I’ll go to the gym before work and try to get at least 50 minutes in on the treadmill.  Heck maybe I’ll make it a nice round hour!  I need to up the cardio a bit and burn these calories into history!

I managed to meet my goal for starting this week off right - three OP days in a row!  Hurrah!  This day is off to a great start, so I’m thinking I’ll make it four, just for fun.

I’m meeting another florist this afternoon to talk about wedding flowers…we’re not buying THAT many, since our ceremony is in a garden which will be full of flowers anyhow, but I do want to make sure that we get the best deal possible….it’s so easy to overspend on these things just because it’s “wedding stuff”, but I’m trying to keep it under control where possible. 

It’s been so great to see lots of new faces on BuddySlim this year - this site has been more valuable to me than ever with the increasing participation and all the great support.  Love ya buddies!

If only life were rational, you know??  The first two weeks of the year I was so busy at work, yet I managed to stay so easily on plan and get all my exercise in.  This week it finally slows down, and other things pile on (weather, etc), and it’s turning out to be a not-so-great week for me. 

Yesterday I didn’t blog because I was home from work with what I think may have been the first migraine of my life.  It was horrible, lasted all day, wasn’t helped by water, meds, or anything, and I was SO sensitive to light….even the idea of sitting in front of a computer screen made it hurt more.  So sorry for being absent buddies!!  But I’m back today.

Today is my busy busy busy day, I leave in about an hour to get started on it and then have appontments/committment all the way through to 8pm tonight, so I won’t be getting my cardio in. :(  I will do some crunches, push-ups, and a few other weight-training exercises before I go to bed tonight, and I am planning on counting the days I do those as “exercise” days, because strength training is a big part of building muscle to burn fat & tone up, so it should count even if it doesn’t bring the number on the scale down as quickly.

After my weigh-in this morning, I’m exactly where I started the week….so if I want to see week over week loss I’m going to need to be VERY good today…..which will be difficult.  But I am going to think of all my super-committed buddies, my Memorial Day Challenge, and those rewards I promised myself when I meet my January goals, so I know I can do it!!  Plus I will run tomorrow morning for a good hour or so and sneak in some more calories burning before the big weigh-in on Monday.  Fingers crossed!!

It’s been sooooo very chilly here!  I got called in to work after breakfast this morning and by the time I was done it was too dark to run, so I wasn’t able to get any exercise in as I’d planned.  To make up for it and make sure I get the week off to a good start, I’m going to head to the gym in the morning and do a long bit of cardio. 

Stocked up on groceries for the week in the evening.  I took Veronica’s suggestion and picked up some “La Tortilla Factory” wraps to give a try.  I’m going to make my sandwiches them this week and see how that goes.  Fifty calories, 8g of fiber, 5g of protein…it sounds good on papaer anyway!

Time to go pack the gym bag and get lunch ready for tomorrow!  Happy trails!

OK - the site will stamp this as Sunday because it’s on Eastern time, but it’s only 10:15 on Saturday on the West Coast so I still got my blog in for today!

We had a busy day today…I met a friend & we took our dogs for a run on a trail this morning - it was REALLY cold, but dry, and a nice run, I was glad to get it out of the way early.  Then I came home & worked for a few hours (yuck).  In the afternoon a reporter from our local paper came by to interview DF & me for a feature in their “Homes” section….more details on that when I know when they’re going to run it. :) 

We spent the afternoon doing some wedding planning….found invitations we liked and decided on those; finalized the guest list, searched around for music, etc.  I can only handle so much of that at once….after a while I get so overwhelmed!  Low stress…it was a new year’s resolution, I defintely want to keep it!

After the long day, we went to a new restaurant in our neighborhood and I had a verrrry delicious shephard’s pie.  It’s been cold all week and it just sounded so good!  I’m sure it had about 2000 calories, but I had eaten light the rest of today, so I think I’ll be OK.  I’l stay at the low end of my range tomorrow to hopefully make up for it.  I’m also going to do another run tomorrow morning, without the dog, so I’ll likely run a little longer than I did today. 

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

I am so tired of having every moment of my workday filled with “emergencies”!!   It’s a small miracle - ok, make that quite a HUGE miracle - that I haven’t eaten the entire contents of the candy bowl in the past 3 days at work. 

I’m doing well on my eating, in fact, I think I’m not eating quite as many calories as I should be, because I’m working so late and by the time I get home I don’t feel like having dinner before bed.  Today I’m trying to squeeze some more snacks in (string cheese, yogurt, extra fruit, etc) to fill up and be closer to my calorie goal for the day.

I’m disappointed to say that I did not get out of bed early this morning to work out at the gym, as I’d planned.  I’ll tell you the story of WHY even though it’s completely un-weight-related.  Just really chapped my hide!

I was supposed to provide a report to our tax group by end of day yesterday.  They gave me this due date earlier in the year, and said they needed this particular report by Jan 8.  I was so busy yesterday (didn’t leave the office until 9pm), that I wasn’t able to complete it at work, so I started it at home around 9:30.  I was having trouble getting things to tie out, and around 1:30 I realized I was too tired to be any use, so I gave up and sent them a note saying I’d have to finish it today and get it to them as soon as possible.  Those little b*&tards wrote back this morning saying “Oh, that’s OK, we don’t really need that report until next week”.  WHAT?!??!  So I could have been in bed by 10pm, but instead I was up until 2am, got 4 hours of restless sleep worrying about not meeting their deadline, and was too tired to get up at 5am to do my work out.  Grrrrrr.

In any case, as long as I get home before 9pm tonight I plan to take a good long walk to at least salvage SOME exercise from the day.  Maybe I’ll also try to do some pushups / situps before bed.  Here’s to hoping for a shorter workday!

Happy Early New Year to me!  My ?body composition monitor? came today, and I?ve already got it all programmed & set up in the bathroom.  Very exciting.  Not so exciting to learn that I have 29.6% body fat, but hey, facts are facts.  At least according to the table put out by the American Council on Exercise, I am at an ?acceptable? level of % fat.

Based on this number, I may need to adjust my goals slightly.  I?m still going to keep my goal of reaching 125lbs by Memorial Day, but at the same time I want to bring that 29.6% down under 25%.  Even 25% still seems high, but I guess I?ll believe the ACE. J 

Now, I?ve given thought to what I want to accomplish in 2007, and decided to choose three main goals (you might laugh at #3, but it?s important!)

# 1 ? Reduce my body fat % to below 25%.

(I think focusing on body fat is healthier than thinking about a specific number.  And, if I accomplish this, my goal weight will follow.)

WHY I want to do it:  To stay healthy and keep my weight reasonable as I enter my 30s.  To reduce my risk for so many of the health problems that have affected my family throughout the years:  diabetes, heart disease, cancer, stroke.  And as a bonus, to feel great and look awesome for my wedding in July.

HOW I will do it:

-          First, by eliminating emotional/boredom snacking during the day. (Mostly by avoiding the candy bowl at work!)

-          Second, by working out at least four times per week.  Ideally this will be Saturday & Sunday, and two days during the workweek.  But if I do need to miss a weekend day for some reason, I will make it up with extra days during the workweek.  Strength training at least one day per week.

-          Third, by continuing to blog about my journey, getting and giving support on this website.  Keeping tabs on my buddies and hearing their feedback and enthusiasm even on my hardest days.

-          Finally, by counting my calories again.  The best success I had last summer when I dropped so close to my goal weight was when I was logging every calorie and watching the balance between fat/carbs/protein on a daily basis.  I will log what I eat every day.

# 2 ? To dedicate more time to knowing myself.

WHY I want to do it:  Because I deserve it, and I?ve been so distracted by work and the pressure of other people?s problems for so long that I haven?t taken a good look at what I want to do in far too long.  So that I don?t wake up 30 years from now and have a list full of ?why didn?t I?s?.

HOW I will do it:    By trying new things, meeting new people, and spending at least one evening a week in quiet thought, reflecting and planning. 

# 3 ? To have a beautiful, enjoyable, low-stress wedding.

WHY I want to do it:  I know this might sound silly, but I?ve seen too many brides get so stressed out over the most insignificant things on their ?big days?, and I just don?t want it to happen to me.  I?ll be starting to get deeper into the details of planning in the coming months, and I just need this reminder to myself that while I want it to all be beautiful, the main thing that matters to me is sharing the day with people I love and celebrating the start of the rest of my life with my wonderful fiance. J

HOW I will do it:  By reminding myself how lucky I am to have found the person I love most in the world, and that our day will be special no matter what, so everything else is just minor details.

I think these are three very important things, and when I accomplish them I know I will look back and see 2007 as a very successful, happy year.

Happy New Year to All!

Today is starting off on a slightly brighter note than yesterday.  I felt bad after I posted my blog going off ranting about DF’s family & their fickleness regarding what exactly they want to do for Christmas.  When I got home last night DF & I decided that next weekend we’ll just make a huge batch of fudge, put some on little Christmas plates for each family, and wrap it up.  That’s what they get, like it or not! :-)  So I’m putting the stress of that behind me.

Same thing for moving this weekend.  All week long I’ve been go-go-go wanting to get everything ready so that we’d be completely prepared on Sunday when we pick up the U-haul.  Last night DF convinced me that we’d have all day Saturday to do last minute preparations, so we could stand to take a night off from the craziness.  So tonight, we’re going to see the Blazers play the Clippers, and hopefuly we’ll get to see a win!

I weighed myself this morning and am down 1/2 lb since last week…it’s not my official weigh-in day yet, but it’s nice to see that even with all the stress in my life right now, I’m managing to control things and not go on big binges!  Now I just need to get through the weekend, and I’m sure hauling furniture & boxes will burn a bunch of calories, so that’s a good thing!

Go Blazers!