Talking soup...

I have identified a problem that I need to fix. I brought a sandwich and a can of soup to work today. I made the sandwich for lunch (yes, I make mine 'fresh' right before I eat it) and was not hungry for the soup. This is fine, I thought to myself, I'll have something for tomorrow.

But now, 3 hours later, I'm staring at the soup can. I want soup. Its not even the good, homemade Italian Wedding Soup that we made this weekend. Its Campbells Tomato... Condensed. I want it. It's looking at me... saying "Come get me!" And I almost gave in! ...Almost!

Then I had to ask myself: Are you REALLY hungry? Do you REALLY need that soup right now? Can it wait? No, No, and Yes. I only want that soup because it is looking at me. I want that soup because I can see it. I want to eat it because it is THERE. BAD BAD BAD BAD! Remember I said I could start a bad habit in the blink of an eye? Yeah... done.

"But... I'm creamy tomatoey goodness in a can!"

I don't care, soup. I'm not going to do it.

We started at Planet Fitness last night and I think I'm in love. They have one of those nifty 30 minute Express workout areas where you get to work each part of your body, alternating with steps. Oh! And I don't have to do reps with soup cans anymore, as that is worked into the workout. I also won't have to benchpress the cat again. I'm sure the cat is OK with this.

I digress...I guess the point is, I'm noticing my eating habits can be a bit... well.. impulsive. I'm making a body resolution RIGHTNOW. If I find myself going to get something to eat just because it is there, I'm going to make a nice hot cup of tea or get a glass of water... Something... but I'm not going to eat.

"But... what about me?"

Its ok, soup. I'll deal with you tomorrow at lunchtime.

OK OK OK

It seems like I've missed a few days- Ok, I HAVE missed a few days. I honestly didn't think anyone would 'miss me' but a few friends gently reminded me that I haven't posted, and they do, actually, READ my blog. Heavens to Betsy! I better get a-bloggin'!

Ok, so this whole daily challenge thing has gone back to just one challenge a day with me. Well, with the exception of the 10 curls a day. I'm trying to make it a habit, but I understand that it can't be unless I do it 30 consecutive days... whatever. Textbook definition my butt, its a habit. Rusty and I also actually, for real for real, joined Planet Fitness. I'm proud of us. I'll be prouder when I see the weight going bye bye :P Its about time we hold ourselves to a higher standard. Right? Right.

It was a long, miserable weekend for us, for reasons that I'm not going into in public. I found myself in a familiar predicament where I knew that I had to do several things, but "I didn't feel like it." Don't get me wrong. It's ok to entertain that feeling once in a while, but, since we're talking about habits, don't make it one. I'm calling shennanigans on the 'textbook' definition of habit anyway. I can start a bad habit in the blink of an eye. Doesn't take me 30 days.... just sayin.

Anyway. So there I was, not wanting to do anything. I don't want to make dinner. I don't want to do the dishes. I dont want to move. I just want to watch TV. So guess what I did???

I made dinner.

I washed the dishes.

I moved.

....and I still watched TV, but the point is, I realized the path I was about to go down and I did an about face. If I could do that every time I feel like I'm going down the wrong path, I'd be golden. In fact, I'd like to find all of the "wrong paths" and put up warning signs... "PATH CLOSED, WRONG ONE!" Hah. There's only one problem with that. What's wrong for me, may not be wrong for you. Or him. Or her. Or anyone. It would be really wrong of me to go blow our savings account on an iPad or a new TV, but maybe that's not necessisarily the 'wrong thing' for someone else. Sure, there's a debate about consumerism and debt in America in there somewhere, but I'm not getting into that. Not right now.
Right now, I think Rusty and I have managed to identify most of the "Wrong Paths" in our lives and are doing our best to stay off of them.

Sidenote: I really don't like the Steelers. I'm having a PartyLite Party, and several of my "confirmed friends" have cancelled because the Steelers are playing on saturday. COME ON. They're not going to win... don't make me say I told you so. (Yes, I realize that if they do win I'll have to retract that.)

Moving on. Today's challenge ticked me off. I'm supposed to put a box on the floor, wad up a piece of paper that was ready to be thrown away anyway, and practice my 'hoop skills' with it. What? It also said to get my co-workers involved. 1) My boss can't hit the broad side of a barn with a tank, so he's out. 2) Encouraging non-productivity in the workplace isn't very 'productive' at all. 3) I missed. LOL

So there you have it. Don't call it a comeback. :)

Until next time....

Ok, time to catch up.

Alright, so I shall address yesterday's challenge first, since I didn't delve into it last night. Yesterday's challenge was to "Turn a negative into a positive." I think I struggled with this so much, because there was so much negative in my life until recently that I didn't know what to pick. However, seeing as how I'm compounding these challenges the best I can, I'm sure I can find the positive in just about everything negative that I'm willing to share with cyberspace. I decided that my negative that I was turning into a positive was the amount of debt that we still have. Its looking at us and ready to eat us alive if we let it go again. It is terrifying, to say the least.

But turning that around, I'm going to 'take the easy way out' of this one, and say that our positive is what we have learned about budgeting and spending and not just spending because the money looks like it is there. If you have 600 in your checking account, and you cut a rent check for 600, you no longer have ANYTHING in your checking account. Doesn't matter if the check cleared yet or not, you can't spend it. NO. Hard a$$ lesson to learn there, but we're both doing so much better with it so I know we've learned something.

So there, that's yesterday's negative into a positive.

To compound, I had to find something today that was a negative and turn that into a positive. My negative? I'm still fat. Making it positive? I'm aware of it, and I'm working to make a change, and THAT is a step ahead of a lot of people in my same position. I'm feeling good.

So now... Today's challenge was 'stupid simple' (to use a term I've coined at work....) "Share a healthy breakfast idea"

NOW we're talking. Take a few egg whites, scramble them up with a handful of precooked spinach (That you've done yourself with EVOO and garlic) and a little mozzarella (low moisture, part skim.) and pour it into the pan. Cook until firm and VOILA! Healthy breakfast. At least, thats healthier than my husband's #1 choice for breakfast: Sausage Gravy over Biscuits. That's another story for another day.

So lets recap:

1) Instead of 10 reps, I bench pressed my cat 100 times. Believe me, that was harder than you think) - DONE

2) Skipping the bucket list - OK

3) Negative into a positive - DONE x2

4) Share a healthy breakfast idea - DONE!

Tomorrow will be my 5th day in a row... I'm calling this a winning streak... and hey look, thats positive too!

Fourth Post, Short Post

Today's challenge was a toughie for me. However at this very moment my eyelids are falling shut and I don't know if I can get into it right now... Double post tomorrow....

Good night

Sharing the bucket list and fighting through the mountain.

Ok, So today started off fairly sour... Woke up around the time I should be GETTING to work. Someone told me it was the Festival of Sleep today, but I don't think that's one of my paid vacations. Frantic morning, but a stop to check the email gave me my next "Daily Challenge." I was to share 5 things on my bucket list.

Great. There are so many things I want to do before I die, how to I pick just five??? I suppose it wasn't really a question about the TOP 5, but still, which to share with the general public???

So here they are: Kiss my husband on a gondola in Venice, Own a house free and clear, See the Northern Lights, Ride the Maid of the Mist, Visit the cliffs of Ireland.

Those are the five I'm making public. I suppose my quest to compound each daily challenge should include 5 more things tomorrow, but I may give myself a pass on this one. If I made a list of 5 things every day, it's quite possible I would have more than I can do in a lifetime by February.

So...

Daily Challenge

1) 10 Reps - DONE

2) Share 5 items on the bucket list - DONE

On another note, we paid off another debt today. Again, early. Take that, LIFE. I think about what we went through, and I see what others are going through at this very moment and there is no comparison of any sort. Each of us fights our own 'flavor' of battle. Some are sweet, and some are sour. We are all warriors, and at some point, we will fight the worst battle of our lives. For some its just starting, others have already gone through it, but until the end of our days, we will have no idea which battle was 'the big one.'

I'm not living in fear of it any more. Was this whole thing our "Big One?" Or, is there something lurking around the corner that will try to knock us down again. If it happens, it happens. I'm confident that I have been blessed with the kind of family and friends that will allow us to fight through it. I refuse to go around the mountain. We've got to climb it, or bust through the center.

If you constantly live in fear of the possibilities that life could either hand you or throw at you, how do you live at all? Before anything can happen in your life, it has to go through HIS hands, and HE will not give you more than you can handle.

That is what I believe, and that is how I'm aiming to live my life from now on.

Until tomorrow...

1.2.11, part deux...

Hah! I did make one accomplishment for today.

I joined MeYou Health's Daily challenge. (http://www.meyouhealth.com/challenge)

Basically, every day at 7am, I get an e-mail with the daily challenge for the day.

Today's challenge? Lift a full bottle of water, soup can, or dumbbell 10 times with one arm. Repeat with other arm.

I don't know if you're supposed to do it this way or not, But I think I can attempt to add each challenge on to the previous day's challenge. So tomorrow I'll start with the Water Bottle, and add whatever is next.

Checklist 2011:

1) 10 Reps with a soup can, water bottle, or dumbell with both arms. - Done!

1.2.11

Ok, day number 2 is officially that. Number 2. Literally stayed up all night last night (Read: I napped for an hour) learning how to knit special stitches and crochet different patterns etc. Rusty was up too. Somewhere around 7am we had breakfast and then did the unthinkable. We went to bed.

Ah, the life of a sumo wrestler. NOT. I was up around 1, him, around 3. It's now 10pm and we're both shot. I think I ate lunch or dinner, but I can't really remember, hence, number 2.

If you haven't caught the reference yet, this day has gone to CRAP.

Nothing got done, I don't think I passed 1000 steps today, let alone 10k. Alas, my spirits shall not be broken! Every day we wake up is another chance to roll towards the finish line, no matter how far you've gone backwards the day before.

Gotta keep pushing forward.

1.1.11

Alright. I keep trying to start a blog... to come up with something witty... to write something profound. As it turns out, I can't do any of that crap. So here we go anyway. 1.1.11. Brand new start, brand new year, brand new blog.

I can't say that 2010 was the most horrible year ever. High points of joy, low points of pain, mid points of the mediocre... We've all had them. This time last year, I was excited. Ecstatic, even. This time last year, I had only a few short days before I went to Tennessee and recorded my first "Professional" album. I also knew that once I was home from doing that, I was getting married. All in January! Then February rolled around, and we had that insane snow storm, and we went to DC for a little 'mini-moon' because we really didn't have enough $$ to go on a "Honeymoon."

We knew we had a 'few' issues with money, but we paid the bills, and those we couldn't pay we made sure we told whoever was owed the money that it would be coming, and we paid what we could 'afford to pay' at that time.

Please note the use of quotes here, I'm using them to fill you in on our perception.

However, the morning of June 2nd, we got a rude horrible awakening. Both cars. Repo. Same Day. I don't feel like going into much more detail in this post, but those of you that know the story know how it all played out.

So June 2nd started a revolution in our lives. We were no longer going to spend money because it was there. We got on a budget, we started paying off debt, and then, crazy enough, I started losing weight.

See, as it turns out, stress makes you fat. There's no way to sugar coat it. Stress = FAT. Now, I'm already heavy. Chubby. Fluffy, if you will. But the next thing I know, I'm down 10 pounds... then 15, then 20. I'm up to about 30 pounds lost in SIX MONTHS.

I feel the need for a disclaimer stating that I do not endorse or condone the repo of all of your vehicles to lose weight. Its not the best option out there, kids. Don't try this at home.

Now here we are 7 months later, and I find myself excited again. Rusty and I got Pedometers for Christmas (thanks Mom and Dad) and now all four of us find ourselves in an (epic)battle to see how many steps we all have. Planet Fitness is opening in a few days here in town, and (with the approval of our accountant, aka my Mom) we are joining. If we can stay on a monetary budget, we can stay on a workout schedule.

I don't think I have ever had this much determination about losing weight and getting in shape, but I'm going to do my best to not let it fizzle out. Rusty and I have a LOT of support this go round.

At this moment I weigh 231lbs, and I'm ready to change that.

Happy New Year to all of us.