Accomplishment!

Yesterday I did something I have never been able to do before. I completed an entire lap around the ballpark where I walk sometimes. And when I say completed, I mean I jogged it! It's only about .63 of a mile - however, for me that is amazing. I've been trying to jog a little here and there, but I've never been able to make it past a quarter of a mile before. (You hard core runners, don't laugh!) Baby steps. My problem is usually in my breathing not my strength. My legs are strong - they could go all day. It's my lung capacity that gives out on me!

So yesterday, I decided I was gonna try to do a half a lap (just over a quarter of a mile). Well I got to the halfway point, and my breathing was steady, my legs were strong, my tunes were jammin in my ear and I thought "why stop?" So I kept going. Like Forrest Gump kind've. (LOL) And when I got all the way around the ballfield, I slowed down to a walk but I felt like Rocky at the top of the stairs! After walking a bit more, I jogged a few more times, but only in small increments. I don't want to push it too much at first. But hopefully I can keep this up. Next week I'll try to run a lap and a half (1.25 mile). If I keep this up for 6-8 weeks, I should be able to run a 5K. That's my goal!

Last night I was up a half pound on the scale at home, but oh well. My body is weird, and some weeks are good and others are not. But I'm gonna try to keep this up, I really enjoyed myself!

(Thanks for the advice and motivation Chic Runner!) :) She's my running hero.

Shhh...

I came in to work this morning wearing these...

However, most of the day I wore these while at my desk:















:) Nothing says productivity when your feet are in a pair of slippers!

Weekend Recap

In no particular order:

The Good: The trees are blooming and beautiful!
The Bad: My river view is disapearing because of the foliage :(
The Good: The healthy salad I ate for lunch Saturday with leafy greens and veggies
The Bad: The 2 slices of leftover birthday cake I ate yesterday without blinking.
The Good: The bands I saw sat. night were so good! And it benefited the Fireman's Burn Foundation. (Mr. P used to be a firefighter)
The Bad: I inhaled enough second hand smoke that I probably essentially smoked a whole pack of cigs. Thanks people.
The Good: My new highlights are pretty cool
The Bad: Mr. P told me I had some grey hairs. (He lied)
The Good: The 2 mile jog/walk I did at the park yesterday
The Bad: The breakfast Mr. P made me Sunday morning - fried eggs, country fried steak, grits (Lordy, it was good though)
The Good: I came so close to buying some end of the season boots that I didn't need. But I put them back.
The Bad: I spent $50 at Ross anyway.
The Good: All my laundry is done!
The Bad: I was lazy and didn't put them away last night and woke up to my cat lying on top of the pile. Lint brush anyone?
The Good: I finally have a pic of me and Mr. P!!
The Bad: I have to wait til some girl posts it on FB so I can steal it. I don't know here well enough to ask her for it. So stay tuned!!

Weird

Isn't it weird when someone whose blog you've been following for forever just falls off the face of the earth? It's such a strange thing. You have never met this person. You don't know them in real life, they really aren't your friend. But you FEEL like you know them. SO bizarre. I've seen it happen with a few blogs. You wonder what happens to them. Did they get sick? Did they get tired of blogging? Are they just taking a break? Did something even worse happen to them?

For example, where the heck did you go?? And you?? Worried about ya'll. And I have no idea why.

Has this ever happened to ya'll? All I can say is if Soxy, Jersey or Little Sister goes missing, I'm coming after ya'll. Consider yourself warned.

How a girl went from eating cake to losing weight…

Yes, that’s right! You heard that right…I lost 4 pounds this week. ON MY BIRTHDAY WEEK. I’m over the moon!

Last week, we switched our office weigh-in day to Wednesday from Monday, so we technically weighed in twice. So this week's results actually include last week and this week. On my sidebar, I'm gonna record this week as technically 3 pounds. Confused? Yes, me too. But overall total so far is 5. Good Lord this losing weight is a BEEYOTCH. Let me tell you I had to pull in the reigns BIG time after 2 days of birthday gluttany. But, I guess that just shows that I can "have my cake and eat it too" as long as I get right back on track.

I would like to have my next 5 pounds lost by April 8th.

Happy HUMP Day!

Motivation

If this doesn't motivate me to get out and walk/jog, nothing will! I finally took my camera with me on my walk yesterday. Isn't it stunning??? I could do this forever.

Biker Babe

Some stories are best told in pictures...but I feel kind've bad putting pics of all my friends on here without their permission (even though I've snuck and done it before but I still felt bad). So for now I'll just stick with a few.

My coworker bought me a gorgeous cake! That was so sweet of her. I was still munching on it this afternoon, it was delicious!

I took a half day for my birthday, and met Mr. P for lunch at one of my favorite local dives - they have the BEST Greek Salads with chicken that you've ever had. I don't know their secret, but I'm obsessed. Seriously. No picture, sorry ya'll. I am going to force him to pose for one soon though.

My mom and I then went and got manicures together. So fun!!

For dinner, I met up with a great gr oup of gals! Part of them were girls I had known forever. The others were co-workers (and friends). There were about 13 of us and we had a blast!

One of the girls had ridden to the restaurant on her Harley. So of course, we all had to pose for pics on it!















I don't know about ya'll, but riding on a Harley in a skirt could be QUITE dangerous... ;)

At the end of the night, I was so tired but Mr. P really wanted me to come over and see him one last time. I was SO tired, we just laid on his couch together for about an hour. It was sweet :)

What a great birthday! I'm so grateful to all my friends and my family for making the day so special. And to all of my bloggy friends who came out to give me birthday love! THANK YOU!!!!!!

It's my birthday and I'll cry if I want to...

But hopefully I won't! However, I am turning the ripe age of 35 today. But I'm spending it with some lovely girlfriends tonight. I love girls nights out! I'll be back with pics tomorrow! :)

Hair cut and lost a pound

Ok, not from the hair cut. It was only just a trim and my roots touched up. But we weighed in again this morning so that we can start doing our weigh ins every Wednesday instead of Mondays. And remarkably I dropped a pound since Monday! Woot! A friend and I walked the dam again after work. Next time, I promise you people I'm going to take my camera. The sunset over the lake is literally breathaking. I was kicking myself for not bringing my camera. There were even a few sailboats out - it was amazing. Simply amazing. The best part is this is a walk I can do on my own - there are so many people out that I feel safe.

Here's a few pics of my hair did. Yea, I may have stopped at Hardees afterwards and gotten a burger - Woops. (probably just put that pound back on!) LOL

(My hair is finally growing!)

(Thinking "why did I eat that burger")

Results: Weigh in Week 2

Stayed the same. Sigh.

Actually, I'm ok with it because I truly thought I'd be up. But I've got to get serious about this. I brough my gym bag with me today and I'm going to work out come hell or high water.

Also, my boss whined that he didn't like Monday weigh ins (which I didn't either, but at least it kept me semi behaved this weekend) So we will be weigh in again on Wednesday. Maybe I can shed a pound by then.

Here is a pic of me and Shannon -Just a Girl having some lucky leprechaun fun from this past weekend. Happy Luck o the Irish to ya'll tomorrow!

Brought to you by the letter C

Wow, I'm in awe of all your stories about relationships and arguing with those we love. I was pretty down the other day but all your great comments lifted me right up. Thank you! Mr. P and I have since made up. He joked that I was ready to break up with him over a silly fight. I guess I need to learn that fighting is a realistic part of a relationship. And neither one of us was trying to purposely hurt the other. And about that L word. I think he loves me but just is scared to say it. I feel it. But I guess time will tell.

On to a happier topic! A few decades ago, I told Spare Berry I wanted to play the letter game and she assigned me the letter C. Well, I kept meaning to but of course put it off. Until now! YES! Here we go.

The Letter Game! So the rules of this game are you get assigned a letter of the alphabet & you list 10 things you love that start with that letter in a post! If you want a letter - just leave a comment & I will then assign you a letter too.

1. Carolina - All things Carolina. It's true. I love my state - I love having the beach 2 hours one way and the mountains 2 hours the other way. I love the Carolina Gamecocks. I love Charleston. I love Columbia. I love COCKY our mascot =) So many "C's" in Carolina!

2. Candles - My favorite kind is Tyler Candles. They are soy based, burn longer than normal candles and smell deeeeelishus!

3. Chocolate - "Come along with me, we're going to the Chocolate Tree" I love chocolate and the Chocolate Tree is one of my favorite places in Beaufort. But alas, if I can't have a treat from there, my next fave is ghirardelli. But only when on sale, cause that shiz is expensive.

4. Christmas - Seriously, what holiday is better than Christmas? It's like a whole month of eating, drinking, and being merry. (and gaining weight but let's not discuss that)

4. Coffee - Dunkin Donuts is mm mm good. My ex and I used to go every Saturday AM and get DD coffee. I got rid of him but I still love the coffee. ;)

5. Cakebread Cellars Chardonnay - Little Sister Pixie, when are you going to send me some?? =) The BEST wine from Napa Valley wine country!

6. Cher - Ok laugh if you must, But I love cher. I've seen her in concert twice! "If I could turn back time..." Oh did I mention I love her movies too??

7. Cats - I love my boo boos. They are so sweet. Meet Miss Isabelle...she likes toy mice, crunchy treats and clean litter boxes.

8. Cheerleading - Again, laugh if you must. I was a cheerleader in high school and I almost tried out for cheerleading in college. I still love to watch cheerleading competitions and I love the dance portion. Those of you that make fun of cheerleaders can bring it! No wait. It's already been broughten!

9. Calamari - I can not say this word now without thinking of the Pickler, but I do love me some calamari, especially from Bone Fish Grill! Yuummmmm.

10. Crockpot - I got a new crock pot for Christmas and I love it. I made chili in it recently. Anyone have any great recipes that you've tried and love??

Arguing

I hate arguments. Specifically with Mr. P. And I hate myself for being sensitive about certain topics. I won't go into details but we had a spiff a few minutes ago. I know it happens. But why? I have friends who say they never argue with their spouse or boyfriend. And why do my friends seem to have these happy perfect relationships? I really like Mr. P. But he's not my "perfect" man. But I'm not his "perfect" woman either, I'm sure. So how do you know when someone is the one? When you have fights and arguments and you still love and care for them?? How do you make it through this stage? I'm so clueless and naive when it comes to relationships. Even at my age, I haven't really had that many serious relationships. I dont know how to handle arguments. And STILL the L word has not been said. When do I say enough is enough? Can ya'll tell I'm FRAZZLED??!!?? Ugh.

Week 1 Results

Well, not a record shattering moment but I did manged to shed 1 pound. Baby steps right?? As my mom pointed out, if I lost 1 pound a week for one year that would be 52 pounds!! One of my co-workers lost 6 pounds. And she didn't even try! Although she did stop drinking cokes. Which that seriously could make a huge difference. Even she was shocked! Yesterday I cheated and had birthday cake. I have to have one cheat night or I'll go crazy.

This past weekend I revved it up on the exercise! We have a beautiful walkway here that crosses over the lake dam. It's a gorgeous view and makes the time just fly by. It's 3.4 miles round trip - and I did that Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday afternoon after my walk, Mr. P called and asked if I wanted to go walk with him. We ended up walking an additional 4 miles through the woods! Needless to say Sunday and Monday I was SORE. Last night I went to the gym and did 20 minutes on the treadmill at 3.5 mph and then 20 miles minutes (oh dear lord! What is wrong with me???? miles??? I would DIE!! Jersey, can you please edit my posts from on before I post them????? LOL)on the stationary bike. When I left my face was blood red and I was sweating like crazy. Then again, we did have an 80 degree day yesterday but it still felt like a great workout.

Here is a picture of Mr. P when he walked the dam with me a few weekends ago. It was chilly then, and he wore his silly beanie hat. But this is what it looks like the whole way across. Beautiful, just beautiful.

This is me today

Sans makeup (which explains the mosquito-esque sunglasses) driving to work happy as a lark because the sun is shining, it's 70-ish degrees outside, and it's FRIDAY! (Ya'll remember how much I love Fridays and the weekend, right??) Oh and all my co-workers just went out for Mexican and I stayed behind. WILLPOWER!

TGIF err'body!

Have you ever had someone sabotage your efforts to lose weight?

Allow me to be serious for a moment..(I know, it's rare!)

Has anyone ever tried to sabotage your efforts to lose weight or get healthy? Many times, they are friends, family members, co-workers. Sometimes they don’t even realize that they are a “sabotager” saboteur (thx Jersey girl!). They usually mean well. Sometimes, we ourselves are our very own sabotager saboteur! I know I can talk myself out of going to work out any day of the week!

Sabotagers saboteurs sometimes try to make you feel bad for eating healthy because it makes them feel bad for eating unhealthy. They try to convince you to do other things besides working out - such as going to happy hour, shopping, etc.. And occasionally, which is the worst in my opinion, they exude plain ole negative energy in general ("you might as well give up", "you won't succeed," "you failed the last time, you'll propbably fail again, so why try?")

It’s hard because these sabotagers saboteurs often win. They are very strong influences over us. They know how to get to us because they know our weak points. Mine is food. If you tempt me with eating out versus going to the gym, I am so easily convinced.

But who’s to blame? I am. I’m ultimately responsible for my choices and actions.

If you have a sabotager saboteur in your life right now, stay strong and remember you are in control.

But if you see someone who is struggling with their weight, please... Help them. Encourage them. Join in with them! It will empower her (or him) as well as yourself!

I smell a RAT

I'm calling BS on the whole bachelor finale. I have heard all the rumors about what happened, and I think last night was completely fake and scripted out. I hope not...but sadly, I think it was. I can spot bad acting a mile away. All I have to say is I hope they make Melissa the next bachlorette! She deserves it!

Shame on you Jason Meznik and ABC.

Ya'lls thoughts??

Today is the day

We started our Biggest Loser contest at work! How embarrassing. I had to weigh in and have my coworker record my weight. UGH. Girls it was not good. The number on that scale was one I hadn't seen in over 3 years. But, oh well. It's done..and I have to throw $40 into the pot. So believe you me..I will give this all I got! I want to win. But more than that, I want to lose weight!

Also, I called my dr. and switched to low estrogen bc pills. Have any of you ever experienced weight gain when you started back on the pill? My weight started ballooning right around the time I started the pill last September. Maybe some of it is mental, but my appetite has been out of control since then.

Off to see my favorite person "Jim!" Must.lose.weight.

TAGGED

Thanks BeeHappy, for tagging me! The rules: open the 6th picture folder on your computer, open the 6th photo and blog it. Write something about it. Then tag 6 more people to do the same.

This me me last August riding on the back of a 4 wheeler...with a sweet as apple pie big ole scary German Shepard chasing us...that's how we roll down south! Booty up in the air and oh yeah. I was barefoot too! Classy. :)

I tag these six lovely ladies: (don't feel obligated though!)

The Crafty Southern Girl

Just a girl

Vitrifying Hearts

Because I Could Never Keep Up With a Diary

Wacie's Way

Knit By God's Hand