Update Time!

Woa, first update of the year!

Ok, I lost 5 pounds in January. I've now lost 117 pounds. Not too shabby. It's been just over 2 years since I've started this whole deal and losing that much weight through calorie counting and exercise is pretty impressive. Well, I'm pretty impressed.

As far as inches go I only lost .75 inches, but that is a total of 86.5 inches lost since I've started. I can't really complain and I'm not going to complain. I can't expect big losses each month.

Aaaaannnnddddd......on a totally different note. Today it was 60 degrees outside. Gotta love Ohio weather. Janelle and I and one of her coworkers, Betsy went running at the local Reserve. It was AWESOME! We took Janelle's dogs and they were excited to be outside.

Tired

Has anyone else been overly tired lately? I have and I'm not sure why. I seriously get like 7-9 hours of sleep a night! I should be the most energized person out there!

I have been slow to get out of bed for the past few weeks. I'm such a morning person too and I never have trouble getting out of bed!

I think I'm in my winter funk. I hate winter. Winter in Ohio is really grey and nasty. I want to go outside and workout. I'm tired of being cooped up in the gym. My gym is turning into a casting call for the Jersey Shore. There are too many super tanned, over styled hair, chicken legged guys running around. I've not seen that many tribal arm band tattoos in I don't know how long.

I've also been mouthy at the gym. I usually smile and nod when guys tell me how I SHOULD be working out. Lately I've been running my mouth back to them. I also assume that every guy looking at me is wanting to give me unsolicited advise so I just glare at them to make them go away.

So, maybe I'm not tired. Maybe I'm just in a foul mood. Probably both. And this was a much needed bitch fest.

Funniest.Compliment.Ever.

I have a new batch of students and I always let my new students know that I will eat at random times because I eat on a schedule and blah, blah, blah.

At the end of class one of the women (I teach adults) says, "Ms. Sarah, so how much weight have you lost?" I tell her that I've lost just under 120 pounds.



From Google Images.
"Damn girl, you were that big?!"



This woman had the best....absolute best reaction I've seen in 2 years of weight loss. She gets this look on her face that is a mix between scared, shocked, and disgusted and then says, "damn girl, you were that big?! Holy crap!"

I just started laughing. She did not say it to be rude. She was really just shocked at what I said.

After that we talked for  a little bit about what I've done to lose the weight and how I like to workout. She then told me that she has lost about 80 pounds. I should have said, "damn girl, you were that big???" Ha ha. Anyway, she's losing weight for her wedding and then she told me all about getting married.

So, I just thought that was the best reaction to losing a crap load of weight. I wish I would  have known she was going to react that way. I would have taken a picture of her face. It was priceless, and now one of my favorite weight loss stories.

Compliments

Lately I've been getting more compliments about my weight loss, or people asking, "have you lost weight?" Ummm....yes, yes I have.

Anway, I don't bother getting all excited about all of them and blog about all of them anymore, because you would all KNOW how self-centered I am! Ha, I'm not kidding....totally self-centered.

But......

Yesterday I got the craziest compliment; atleast I think it was a compliment. So, I was walking into gym and there were some interesting looking fellas walking out. They looked a little shifty, to say the least. They were staring at me and walking right toward me. Then one of them looks right into my eyes and says, "damn girl.....keepin' it gangsta."

I know I'm a little out of the loop these days with all the new lingo and compliments out there, but I wasn't sure at first if "keepin' it gangsta" was a compliment. I was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and yoga pants. I wasn't feeling that "gangsta".

I have found out since then that "gangsta" is a compliment. My friends on FB let me know that I was getting a compliment. Good for me. I guess I'll try to keep it more gangsta from here on out!

Anyway, I've been wanting to update my blog and it's appearance. I'm just too lazy to do it. Actually, when I have free time I don't want to sit at the computer. I do sit and read other blogs, but the last thing I want to do is work....so I find anything else to do with my time. I'm sure you all understand.

Tag....I'm it.

So, I've been "tagged". Thank you to Margene for tagging me and giving me something to write a blog about. I don't usually get into these things and it's because they usually want you to divulge personal information about yourself. I really don't like to get too personal on my blog, uless it's about weight loss. I've tried really hard to keep the main focus of this blog about losing weight and other things to do with weight loss. But, when I read Margene's questions I realized they mostly revolved around losing weight, eating right, etc, etc.

However, I know I won't "tag" anyone. Number one, I don't have time. Number two, I've seen this a lot on the blogs that I read and I'm pretty sure I won't be able to come up with 11 questions for people to answer, 11 people to tag, or have the time to notify them! (I promise that I'm not really a jerk and anti-group fun, I just look like one in print!)

First the rules:

1. Post these rules. 

2. You must post 11 random things yourself. 

3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post. 

4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer. 

5. Go to their blog and tell them that you've tagged them. 

 

11 random things about me

1. I'm left handed. I'm very, very left handed and lately people have been telling me how odd it looks to watch me write or do anything with my hands.

 

2. I've been blogging for over a year now. I said some things about myself and personality in that post.

 

3.  Before Zach and Janelle, which I like to abbreviate as BZJ, I never really tried to lose weight. I would just tell everyone that I was "trying" to lose weight and it was hard. (People would leave me alone about my weight if they thought I was struggling and trying to lose weight. People are strange.)

 

4. I say  "take a tub" instead of "take a bath". I've said it my whole life and my family has as well. My friends make fun of me.

 

5. Purple is my favorite color and I have a purple couch and over sized chair. (I'm sure that's no shocker if you look at this blog on a regular basis)

 

6. I've been driving for well over a decade now and I'm still on my second car. I'm just too cheap and poor to get a new(er) one.

 

7. I truly love my jobs. I love teaching and helping people.

 

8. I don't like to be touched. I don't like PDA of any kind, from anyone. There are a few people I hug, but for the most part I don't hug. There are rules to hugging me and I have to tell people about them when I meet them or if they are a friend that wants to move into a "hugging friendship". (I'm sure I sound like a freak show now.)

 

9. I am a cancer survivor. Almost 7 years remission now. I was only 22 when diagnosed. It sucked.

 

10. My family and friends are the most important things in my life.

 

11. Most of my friends can read my thoughts based on the expression on my face.

 

 

11 Questions for You to Answer:

1. What would be the greatest piece of advice you would give someone at the beginning of their weight loss journey? ** Forget everything you thought you knew about weightloss! Trust your doctors, trainers, friends who workout, nutritionists, etc. Oh, and losing weight takes time. Don't freak when you don't lose weight as fast as you want to.
2. What is your biggest fear in life? **Painful death.
3. What or who has inspired you the most? **Wanting to be a better person and wanting to make people proud (and that includes people dead and alive).
4. If you had $1000. right now with no strings attached - what would you do with it?  ** I would like to say I would put it toward buying a new car, but I would really buy new clothes.
5. If you could do anything you wanted to one day what would it be? ** Go back in time and make some changes.
6. Do you have a BFF and if so - how long have you been friends? ** I have a lot of people I consider to be BFFs. One I've known for over 10 years and one of the others I've known since I was 2. Most of my closest friends have been around for many, many years.
7. What does friendship mean to you? ** For me it means being there for someone when they need you and a lot of other things. I could go on for days about friends and friendship.
8. What is your favorite healthy food(s)? ** Hummus and veggies. Yum.
9. What is your favorite exercise or activity? ** I lift weights, heavy weights, but lately I've been liking this pilates video for beginners.
10. How do you stay motivated? ** I look at old pictures and I weigh myself every 2 weeks. That always keeps me motivated.
11. Where do you want to be next year at this time? ** Skinny. Still blogging. Maintaining my weight.

Silly Conversations

Yesterday I was out to dinner with some people that I go out with once a month. Last month I couldn't make it so it's really been two months since I've seen these women.

One woman looked at me (and she is teenie tiny) and tells me that she feels like I'm getting shorter and smaller.

I told her that I've been losing weight for two years. For some reason she seemed surprised by this news. She said she'd noticed a change, but she didn't realize that I was really trying to lose weight. Anyway, that turned into a pretty funny conversation, but that's not the one that really made me laugh.

When I got home I sent Janelle a text. The following is our conversation that made me laugh until my stomach hurt.

Sarah: Why do people say I look shorter?

Janelle: You just look tiny

Sarah: Tiny is a word I like

Janelle: Like I could carry you in my pocket

Janelle: I agree 

Sarah: Yes! I'm pocket size!

Janelle: Love it!

Sarah: Tell Zach that pocket size is my new goal weight

Janelle: Haha nice goal

Sarah: and I think I just found my next blog topic.

Really? I've been blogging for a year?

I was going to call this my One Year Bloggy Spectacular, but I couldn't really come up with anything too spectacular......I was hoping for glitter and balloons, but that's hard to pass on through a computer.

Today I have officially "blogging" for one year. It also means that I have been following meal plans for two years. It's hard to remember two years ago.

When I started following meal plans I was really unhappy with my job. I was in an awful position and I worked for awful people. (I almost hope that by some chance some of them have seen or heard about my blog and are reading it now. Yea, you know who you are....you terrible AOD assholes....that's for everyone except 2 people who worked there and they know who they are.) Anyway, it was one of those jobs where you are afraid to do anything because your uneducated boss is always threatening your job if you don't do what they want, even if it's unethical and in some cases against the law. (Wow, that's more than I've ever said about any of my work on this blog.)

Anyway, I think when I did start the meal plan it was a way for me to take control of something. I felt like I had no control and counting calories and eating at specific times gave me something to focus on.

I decided I wanted to start a blog after about 6 months of following meal plans, but I wanted to wait until I was losing weight for a year. I'm not sure why it had to be a year, but I just felt like I had to prove to myself that I could follow meal plans and workout schedules. I didn't want to just start a blog and make no progress.

Last year when I started this I had a whole year of weight loss and progress to show for myself. Now, a year later, I have even more weight loss and progress to show for myself.

I've been thinking a lot for the past week about me and what I've done in the past 2  years. Some people tell me that I seem like a different person. I shrug my shoulders and tell them that I'm exactly the same; I just look different. My personality has not changed, but my thoughts about food and food choice have changed. My morals, ethics, goals, etc...have not changed, but how I choose to spend my time has changed....a little. I like to go to the gym, but I still like to go to coffee shops, I still like to hang out with friends, and I still like to go to the bar....I just choose to not drink (right now).

Overall, I'm still the same. I think now I'm just more willing to tell people what is on my mind. I'm still protective of my feelings. It's still hard to get to know me, because I don't make it easy. I don't like anyone when I first meet them, but I typically like everyone after I spend a little time with them, and if I don't like you, you'll know. I'll tell anyone anything about me, they just have to know to ask. These are things that have been true about me for as long as I can remember. Weight loss or not, that's just me.

Honestly, I'm a good, caring person and I know that. I always have been. I just seem scary; I'm really not. Don't get me wrong though....I'm politically incorrect when I speak, I make vulgar jokes, I use inappropriate language, I talk too loud, I laugh too loud, and I hate it when people tell me to smile.

So, those are some of the things I've been thinking about and wondering if I could see how people think I'm different. I was really analyzing my behaviors and I came to the conclusion that my personality is in tact like it always has been. I know losing over 110 pounds on your own is a big thing and a lot of people probably would re-evaluate what they've been doing with their lives after that. For me, if I was going to re-evaluate my personality or my life I would have done (and I did do it) after a bunch of other true life changing things that happened to me in my earlier 20s.

There is one thing I've noticed and that would be that I do feel slightly more confident, but I still want to disappear into the background in a room full of people I don't know. I don't have tip top confidence and I'm pretty sure I never will. I will always be a little leery of my looks and my style, but I think that's just natural. I guess we'll all know if I do have 100% confidence because I'll just walk around in a bikini everywhere I go and my blog posts will be pictures of me in bikinis with captions asking everyone to notice how good I look.

I really think that people want me to be different because I look different, but that shit's just not gonna happen.

I am gonna man up and post my Bod Pods. I think after two years of weigh loss I can suck it up and admit how much I did weigh, since I will never weight that much again.

New Year, old weightloss shows

I don't watch the Biggest Loser, sometimes I think I should, but I just can't get into it.

I do like to watch the shows about the morbidly obese people who have to be cut out of their homes though. They usually show them on TLC or Discovery and I can't get enough of them.

Typically at the first of the year they break out all the good shows. You know, the ones where the people aren't just morbidly obese, but they are super morbidly obese? This year they are showing the same ones from years past! I've seen all of those. Don't get me wrong, I keep watching them over and over, but I would like a new one to air.

I just watch and watch and watch. I just want to know what they are thinking and how they got to a weight where they are immobile. How do you feel when you have to be CUT out of your house? How do you get to that point and keep justifying eating? I know that I've justified some crazy things about food, but not being able to move on my own and to keep eating? I'm not sure if I could have done that. Could I? I think that's why I watch. I wonder what I would have done in their situation.

It's kinda like a train wreck, in a way. I don't really want to keep watching but I can't turn away. I have to know more about these people. I need them to do follow up shows about them!

Basically, I need to see more of these shows! I need new documentaries and I need updates on the old ones!

Holy crap! I probably could have skipped the gym today!

This week is Bowl Week for college football and today was the Capital One bowl in Florida. You are probably wondering what this has to do with anything, and I'm going to tell you right now. Nebraska played South Carolina and it was one hell of a game. Nebraska is my team. I will drop anything to watch some Nebraska football.

Now, I always want the Huskers to win, but I also love to watch a damn good football game. This game was amazing. There were blocked extra points, missed field goals, bad plays on the 4th down, hail Mary's, fist fights, players ejected from the game, interceptions, fumbles, a million quarter back sacks, coaches having screaming matches with refs and players, and penalties in every direction you looked. Half this crap happened before half time too.

My heart was racing for the entire game, and I even had to call Janelle to have her ask Zach what certain calls meant. It was like doing cardio without leaving the couch. I should have worn my heart rate monitor. I swear I burned a good 600 calories watching the game. I was getting so worked up that I had to boil water and break out the tension tamer tea!

I feel like watching the game was my second workout of the day. I guess I could have stayed in this morning instead of going to the gym in the cold and snow.

So, if you are looking for some extra calorie burning watch a sport that you enjoy. You will surly burn more calories.

Oh yea, Nebraska lost. It was 30 to 13. South Carolina won. I'm not too sad though, it was an awesome game and a cold day. Watching the game gave me an excellent excuse to stay in and chill on the couch.

Update time!

We're gonna pretend like I wrote this yesterday!

In December I did manage to lose weight. Not as much as I should have, but I still lost. As I said in a previous post Christmas was really tough; worse than Thanksgiving.

Anyway, let's get down to business. I lost 3 pounds. That makes a total weight loss of 113 pounds. Now, as far as inches go, I lost 5.25 inches. That is a big inches loss for the month. I do have to come clean though, I did gain about an inch in my leg, but I know that is just muscle, but I lost from everywhere else. Ok, I also didn't lose from my arm, but that hasn't changed in like 6 months. So, now I've lost a total of 85.75 inches.

Overall, I'm pretty impressed that I was able to lose 3 pounds between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I had a lot of temptation around me. I fought the temptations as much as possible, but I can't be perfect all the time.

However, I did accomplish a few things that I thought were impossible. I did not eat the cookie dough when I was baking. I didn't lick the bowl, I didn't lick the beaters, and I didn't sample the cookies as they were coming out of the oven. When I realized I could handle baking without snacking my way through the process I realized that I could do just about anything, because cookie dough is freaking tasty.

Now it's a new month and a new year. There are no big holidays coming up and I don't have any big events to attend. I will be able to stay focused and not have any temptation in my way.

I've been killing the workouts lately. I do need to back off a smidge though because my left shoulder has been hurting and so has my left hip.....not sure what that means, but it makes me think I'm getting old!