All Things In Moderation

I’m not sure that anyone is still out there reading this blog, not that I’d blame you for giving up on me. The past few months have really been full of major change for me. At this moment I am so far out of my comfort zone it isn’t even funny. I went from knowing exactly what to do, what to expect, and how to handle every situation, to feeling like I am in a completely different country where I know very little of the language.

This is probably a good thing for me in the long run. I was becoming very complacent in my life. I wasn’t taking many risks, and I probably wasn’t growing very much as a person. I think growth is scary as hell, but well worth it in  the end. I think (hope) that is what I will see this experience as. Right now, this job is pretty much consuming my life. It is all I ever think about. I’ve almost survived up to the 3 month mark, and that is a huge relief. I’ve learned a lot, but still have tons more of learning to do. I am learning slowly not to be so hard on myself, I’m learning to ignore my fears. It’s all overwhelming and exhilarating at the same time.

I am still working out every day. I often have a nervous stomach, so my eating hasn’t been an issue. I have stopped weighing myself, and I’m not really sure why, I’m just not in the mood to. I’ve put the desire to see a certain number on the scale on the back burner for now. At the moment, my #1 priority is to be able to go to work every day confident and sure of myself. I still love then job, but have my good days, and days I go home in tears. Thankfully the tearful days are getting fewer. I am determined to make this job work, and even have goals to go further in the company. But first things first, and that is getting this job down!

So that’s where I’m at. I haven’t given up weight loss goals, although I have reassessed them, but that is the subject for another blog! For now I am going to continue making this huge challenge in my life a priority, and work as hard as I can to make it work. I have a lot to prove to myself. Can you hire someone with absolutely no experience and expect them to work out????? I am out to answer that question with a big fat YES! All I ever asked for in life is a chance to prove myself ….. here’s my chance and I plan to take advantage of it!

Wish Me Luck!

(I will be back soon with another update)

I had a crazy week. One of those weeks that completely throws you off schedule. Since I am so very dependent on routine, I am also very inflexible. I had the feeling all week that I was forgetting/missing something.

I ended up going to dinner on  Tuesday night with some friends. When I’m dieting I avoid eating out at restaurants like the plague! Not only are they full of temptations, I also have no clue what’s in anything or how it’s exactly cooked when I am trying for something diet-friendly.  That leaves me with very few real food options. Tuesday night I settled for a grilled chicken Caesar salad, hold the cheese and croutons. Unfortunately I forgot to say dressing on the side. It wasn’t completely drenched so I just ate it. I also had a little bit of the yummy artichoke/cheese dip my dinner mates ordered. A very little, but all the same, the whole meal left me feeling really sick to my stomach. I got home so late that night that I skipped Wednesday’s workout in place of sleep.

On Wednesday was my niece’s birthday, and as usual, our tradition in our family is to have B-day cake after dinner with the birthday person. I indulged in a large piece of ice cream cake.

On Thursday our office was asked to make up 1 dozen plastic eggs filled with candy for an Easter Egg Hunt being thrown by our center. I bought pretty, colorful plastic eggs and filled them with jelly beans and small chocolate eggs. Now I have to say, that Easter candy is my absolutely favorite candy of all time! I  have the fat pants to show for it. That night I skipped dessert for a few chocolate eggs I had left over.

I guess I don’t have to tell you that this week was a little out of the ordinary, for me. I wasn’t sure I what I was going to find when I got on the scale this morning. When I got on the scale this morning I thought I’d just stayed the same, which I was grateful for since I had such a messed up week. I didn’t bother taking a photo of it, but when I went to record the number on my calendar, I realized I had lost!!!!!!!

Today I weighed –in at 170 lbs. That is 2lbs. less that last week!!!!!!! It also entitles me to another 5 pound gift!!!!!! I will share it as soon as I get it! I definitely have something in mind! So far, since I started this new job, I’ve lost 15 pounds!!!!! Not bad at all! Hopefully , next week will find me back on a normal schedule again!Too many weeks like last week is bound to throw me off track. But it’s nice to know that I am a few little glitches in life don’t have to mean all your hard work is for nothing!

Another week has flown by! I cam so excited for spring to get here! Today was my weekly weigh-in and here’s how it went:

This morning I weighed in at 172 lbs. that is – 1.6 lbs. this week. I won’t lie, I wasn’t impressed with this weeks number. I’ve been spoiled the pat month with steady 2-3 lb. losses each week. I was in all truthfulness, a little disappointed this week. Then I really thought about it and realized I was acting a little ungrateful. How quickly I forget that anything that isn’t a gain is cause for celebration. Plus last night I had a huge (homemade) salad, and it may have had a little more sodium than I’m accustom to. Regardless, I lost very close to 2 lbs. this week, so I need to just get over it , already!

I’m just going to keep doing what I’ve been doing, because obviously it works! The last thing I want to do is fall into the trap I fell into last time I lost this weight. No number on the scale was ever quite good enough, and when I looked in the mirror, although I was wearing size 6 clothes, I never looked quite thin enough. I don’t want that warped perception this time. I think that I have this “perfect” expectation in my mind. This idea that someday I will reach this unattainable ideal. I will never , EVER BE PERFECT. Why? Because perfect doesn’t exist. I refuse to allow myself to chase something this time that doesn’t exist!

When I finally get to my goal weight, I plan to be happy about it, and then give myself a break about it! Accept what I am and enjoy it, instead of constantly scrutinizing it under a microscope! After a while it became exhausting , and I just don’t want to go through that again. This time, when I reach my goal, things will be a LOT different!

I decided when I first decided to get serious about his weight-loss thing once and for all, to make an incentive system for myself. I decided to buy a piece of my favorite jewelry every time I lost 5 pound. I’ve since lost 11 pounds so it is time to collect my prizes! It just so happens that both my 5 pound, AND my 10 pound gift both arrived today, so I thought I would share.

First the 5 Pound Gift:

The gift just happened to be a set of jewelry. This necklace.

These matching earrings and bracelet. I doubt very much that I would ever wear it as a full on set, I am not that matchy. But I do plan on wearing the individual pieces paired with other things. I love the antique look of them. They’re very unique.

My 10 Pound Gift turned out to be something a little different. I opted not to get jewelry , and instead got something I’ve been wanting now for months. I finally found one and gifted myself with it!

I’ve been wanting a huge animal print scarf. I don’t think I would wear it with green …. that just happens to be what I wore to work today. I love scarves and jewelry because you can add them to a simple sweater you’ve worn 100 times before and make it look different. I’ve really been suing accessories to make my wardrobe stretch!

I’ve already picked out my 15 Pound gift! I will definitely share it when I can finally order it! This little incentive game has really made this weight-loss journey a little more fun. I spend hours on EBay planning out my next Gift!!!!!!!!

At the beginning of February I was faced with a dilemma. I had landed the job of my dreams, but I had gained weight and had absolutely no clothes to wear to this job I’d been wanting forever! I also got this job after being out of work for 4 months, so money was tight. I had t figure out a way to put together a respectable wardrobe for very little money. This need brought back into play an old and much loved hobby from a long time ago. Thrifting!

Some people feel weird about wearing other people’s clothes, I am not one of those people! I’ve found some amazing things, many still with the original price tags on them, at thrift shops.

It’s become something I look forward to doing. Every Sunday morning [Sundays are when the colored “tags” change. Anything that has whatever color that weeks tag is, is 50% off!] I go to my local Goodwill, and browse. I always go alone, because I like to go through things slowly and methodically. Some weeks I find nothing. Other weeks, like last week, I hit the jackpot and come home with a bag full of goodies for $30!

Here are only a few of my finds:

What was born out of necessity, has become a hobby! My thrifting time is my favorite time of the week. And I have to laugh! Not a day goes by when someone doesn’t compliment me on what I’m wearing ……. No one knows that I spend close to nothing on my clothes!

Some of the tips I would give to anyone who wanted to try thrifting are:

• Carve out sometime when you can go and look without interruptions, or time constraints. It takes time to dig through the racks to find the treasure!
• Don’t let the volume of stuff overwhelm you. Just pick one end of the store and work your way around.
• Keep your eyes open for designers or brands that you like. You never know what your going to find.
• Shop with an open mind. Sometimes you have to sift through a LOT of junk, but when you find something good it’s all worth it.
• Try things on. I try to wear things like legging and a T-shirt topped with a heavier sweater. Some times it is hard to get a dressing room. I will just shed my sweater and try stuff on over my clothes !
• Make sure you look at the tags of the garment for washing instructions. I try to buy mostly machine washable things, but I have been known to find something incredibly awesome, for incredibly cheap, and spring for the dry cleaning!
• When you get home WASH EVERYTHING! Most of the clothing comes into the shops clean but you can never be too careful!
• This rule I abide by always, so I thought I would just throw it in. If you like it, buy it and wear it! Fashion is a form of self expression. I don’t care what anyone thinks about what I wear/like. The only one you need to make happy and feel good about is YOURSELF!

So there you have it! My new guilty pleasure. Although it is definitely not for everyone, I personally love it! It allows me to indulge in my love of fashion, without going bankrupt!

My husband is not only a movie buff , but also a movie collector. He’s turned our finished basement into his own little movie theater. We literally own THOUSANDS of DVDs. Ever since we were dating, we’ve always had designated “Movie Nights” complete with snacks like popcorn , chips, pizza, or whatever. Sometimes we would even pick a snack that went along with the theme of whatever movie we’d chosen to watch that particular evening. As I’m sure you can imagine, in my mind, Movie Nights were always associated with food. Since the past few years I’ve been watching my food intake, I’ve shied away from movie nights altogether. It wasn’t the same if I couldn’t much while I watched.Thanks to a recent discovery, all that has changed.

These Special K cracker Chips have become my new go-to movie snack. They are extremely low in calorie, for one thing. You can eat 27 chips for just a 110 calories. I can literally eat the entire box for 380 calories! That is not a lot when you think about all the other movie snacks out there. They taste great too. My favorite are the cheese and the sea salt flavors. They’re also available in sour cream an onion, and ranch flavors.

It is so nice to be able to indulge a little bit once a week, watch a movie together, and not have to worry about undoing an entire week of hard work dieting in one sitting. Movie night has been one of the things I’ve missed most , and now I can have my cake and eat it too…. so to speak!

This week was MUCH better at work. Last week I made a lot of really stupid mistakes. Mistakes are OK as long as your earn from them. What I learned last week is that you can never check things too many times. I’ve never worked with figures before. Things have to be precise. Everything I did this week I did slowly and carefully. I checked, double checked, and triple checked my work. I only messed up a few times! Much better!

As far as diet and exercise goes, I did great. What a difference a job makes, especially one that I like and I have to dress for!

This morning I weighed-in at 173.6 ! That is a 2.6 lb. loss!

I am blown away that I can be a non-smoker and STLL lose weight! I honestly didn’t think that was possible. I did tons of research and all I read was comments from people about how they quit smoking, gained 30-50 lbs. [I gained 40 lbs.] and tried everything but the weight didn’t budge. In all the research I did, I didn’t find one testimonial of one person who successfully lost the “quit smoking weight”.

Well here I am to tell anyone who is smoking but afraid to quit because the possibility of weight gain, that although some weight gain is probably inevitable [maybe not as much as I gained] BUT …… it will come off! All it took for me was to go back to eating the way I did the first time [while I was smoking] that I lost the weight. I am doing the same exercise program as I did then, and eating practically the same food. I need to find those old forums I read that said the weight didn’t come off after quitting smoking and set them straight! I will be able to call myself a non-smoker  for 2 years in August. Maybe it takes a year or so for your metabolism to stabilize once you quit. Since smoking enhances metabolism, it would make sense. I’ve never read anything that actually stated that though, so who knows.

What I do know is that I am very happy with my progress and hope to hit goal sometime in June maybe?????

Can you believe it is already March tomorrow? It has been some month. For me it’s been a month of a LOT of changes, all for the best. I am embarking on something [my new job] that is totally out of my comfort zone, and as scary as it is at times, I am still loving every minute of it. It is definitely something I’ve needed for a long , long time.There have been a lot of favorites this month as well! I am not sitting at home in sweats or pajamas anymore these days, so I’ve had the chance to experiment more too! Here are some of my very favorite thing from the month of February:

First off, I’ve been loving these Power C gummy vitamins! My poor husband has been sick about 3 times so far this year. I haven’t been sick at all! I owe it all to these babies! Plus they taste good too! Bonus!

Revlon ColorStay Aqua Mineral Make-up is one of my more recent discoveries. This stuff is amazing. I have some redness on my cheeks caused by broken capillaries. I am constantly trying to cover them up and still look natural, not caked with make-up. I use this over Medium-Full coverage foundation and it tones down the red and lasts all day. It also feels really cool on the skin. I actually though my powder brush was wet when I first tried it on my skin. It feels almost damp when you apply it. The powder itself is so finely milled that it doesn’t give you that chalky look that powders can sometimes give. I am so glad I found this product!

I would say that one of my favorite high end make-up brands would have to be  NARS. If I could afford it, I would own everything they make. I got this eye shadow as a birthday gift [from myself!]. It is the eye-shadow duo in the color Charade. It is a mauve/pink paired with a dusty, greyish purple. Sounds strange but really looks great on brown eyes. It really makes them pop. I’ve found myself reaching for it a lot this month.

This is my new favorite oatmeal topping. It is a generic brand of a brown sugar substitute. I only use 1 teaspoon of it a day on my oatmeal in the morning, but it really adds to the flavor. Makes it taste too good!

This is my new favorite tea, especially in the morning. Celestial Seasonings English Breakfast Tea.

I know, I know …… Diet soda is not good for you! But sometimes I just need it anyway! Diet Dr. Pepper has been this month’s treat!

These shoes are this month’s obsession. I have been stalking these on payless.com all month and they finally went on sale last week so I grabbed them! These are perfect for work in the spring!

I got a pair in nude,

a pair in leopard print,

and of course, a pair in basic black.I love these! The heel is high, but not so high you can’t walk. They look good with pants or skirts, and they are conservative without looking frumpy, for work. I am in love!

So there you go! This month’s favorite things!

I am still going strong in the diet and exercise department. I hate to admit it, but I seem to loose more weight when I don’t exercise a lot. I am not talking about the intensity of the workout, I am talking about the duration. It seems when I workout for long periods of time, or more than once a day, my weight stays the same. When I have a shorter more intense session, my body responds much better. Weird. I’ve lost 8.6 lbs. in the month of February! Not bad at all! My plan is to just keep plugging away at it until I am where I was before I quit smoking.

I can’t wait to fit back into my old jeans!

Today is my usual weekly weigh-in. I knew there had to be some sort of loss this week because I was EXTREMELY stressed. I love my new job, but week #2 found me making a lot of really stupid and careless mistakes. I am trying to remind myself that this is just my second full week, and that I am going to make mistakes while I learn. Even so, I am was still a little down about it. I am looking forward to a new week, and to have hopefully LEARNED from my stupid mistakes this week! My plan this weekend is to take a step back and relax, put it all out of my mind and step back into the office Monday fresh and  clear headed.

Here was my loss for this week:

Today I weighed in at 176.0. That is a whopping 3lb. loss!!!!!!!

What makes this an even bigger victory to me is that although I had a bad week, I didn’t turn to food to comfort me. Also, last night we had a family dinner with my brother, sister and their kids. We ordered a few pizzas.My plan was to have one slice of pizza and make a huge salad. I did exactly that and stuck to my plan! My usual behavior would be to say “forget it!” after the week I just had and drown my emotions out in pizza! I also served brownies and cookies for dessert. I had one [bites sized brownie] and one cookie. I didn’t go nuts, and I know that under usual circumstances, especially when I am feeling bad, tired and frustrated, the sweets would’ve been my down fall! All in all, last night was a success and the number on the scale this morning was proof of that! [ I made sure to give away all the leftovers too!]

Just and update, I ordered my 5lb. jewelry reward! As soon as it arrives I will absolutely share it!!!!!

Have a great , peaceful weekend!

I really like the look of manicured nails. The problem is, I am not a fan of chipped nails! In fact I would rather go without than live with the chips. I used to find myself polishing my nails 2 sometimes 3 times a week to keep them looking halfway decent. Some brands of polish last even less time than others! Now that I am working I don’t have the time or the energy to re-polish every other day. Fortunately, I’ve discovered a solution!

Of course this isn’t something I made up or anything cool like that. It is something I’ve always known, just conveniently forgot!

This simple tool is the key! I got this thing at the dollar store months ago. The directions are simple , it’s numbered 1. file, 2. smooth, 3. buff, 4. shine. use all 4 sides on your nails. I just sat watching T.V. and followed the directions.

Then just polish as usual, making sure to use a bottom coat and a top coat.

I did my nails on Monday and here it is Wednesday and I have not one chip! Nothing ! Nada! Last week was the same deal. I didn’t NEED to change my polish. I cleaned all day Saturday, so my nails were just beginning to look a little shabby, but if I’d had to, I probably could’ve gotten away with a few more day! The only other time I’ve had polish last this long was when it was done professionally! So with a little extra effort, and a little file thingy from the dollar store, you can have a professional style manicure for very little money!

As for my job, things are still going great! Everyday is a little terrifying and a little exciting all at the same time!

In the diet and exercise department I am still going strong! Can’t wait for my next weigh-in!