It's been a while.  A long while.  To catch you up, I broke my leg on the descent from a 14er in June. 

It was a hard summer, but I've been cleared to walk again for exercise, so I'm back at it.  Just a couple miles each day with the neighbor, but at least I'm moving again!  I was so paranoid about gaining weight while I had the cast on that I was really careful about what I ate, and ended up down 10 lbs when the cast came off ... which I promptly gained right back.

All of that to say that I am back in the saddle, or on the sidewalk (or insert appropriate metaphor here), and back to logging on Loseit.  They've added cute and creative notifications to the app that help too!

Yesterday I re-read my blog from start to finish.  For the motivation alone, I'm glad I blogged.  And so I begin again.  Or resume.  Or continue.  Nothing deep here, other than I'm back at it.  Anyone else?

The sun will come out tomorrow ...

The plan for today had been to do my first fourteener and you'd have been reading about that late tonight or some time tomorrow.

Instead, we got rain on and off all night last night, and this morning as well.  And because I'm a native and we live in a drought state*, I'm not allowed to complain about rain (PSA:  DO NOT COME TO COLORADO AND COMPLAIN ABOUT RAIN.  EVER.  WE WILL RUN YOU OUT OF TOWN).  Truly; I'm not.  I really do love when we get rain.  But it did put a little crimp in our plans for today ....

And in fact, the rain wasn't really the only reason I didn't go today.  For the last 3 days, I've been battling a summer cold and/or allergy something-or-other that makes me feel less than 100%.  So although I really really wanted to do that hike today, it's probably better that I don't; and so I did feel a little relieved when I got the email last night that it was cancelled for sure.

In preparation for this epic hike, I have a new Camelbak, and I had my trailrunning shoes ready, and I'd thought a lot about what I'd wear, and what food I'd take, and ... well.  It will just have to wait for another day.  And as you can imagine, I was still disappointed that it was cancelled

And so I woke up this morning feeling a little sorry for myself.  A little pathetic.  A little full of nose.  A little scratchy of throat.  And a lot "wah! I'm not doing a fourteener!"

And then I saw this:

down 75 lbs at 175!

And now I feel a lot better :)




*Much of Colorado is a very dry state averaging only 17 inches (430 mm) of precipitation per year statewide and rarely experiences a time when some portion of the state is not in some degree of drought. The lack of precipitation contributes to the severity of wildfires in the state such as the Hayman Fire, one of the largest wildfires in American history, and the Fourmile Canyon Fire of 2010, which until the Waldo Canyon Fire of June 2012, and the Black Forest Fire approximately a year later, was the most destructive wildfire in Colorado's recorded history.

I got an email this morning ...

this email!

Do these numbers mean anything to you?

1,043.42
596
240,685

They blew me away.

Let me put it this way:

• My grandmother passed away on April 18, 2012.  I was in Alabama during that time with my siblings and other relatives.  That was the trip when I found out about the Epic Loseit Battle my brothers were engaged in.
• My neighbor and I started walking together on April 24, 2012 but the very next day I left for a trip to New York with some friends, and history would make you (and me) assume that the Girl Who Cried Skinny would let "walking with the neighbor" fall by the wayside ... again.
• On May 2, 2012, I wrote on my calendar "Loseit for serious."
• My neighbor and I walked pretty much every weekday morning from then on.
• On June 5, 2012, I started using MapMyWalk, and those numbers?  Well....

They are part of my "lifetime stats" on MapMyWalk, and they represent
1,043.42 miles (YES OF WALKING!)
596 hours (YES OF EXERCISE)
240,685 calories (YES BURNED)

And the only reason I even looked at this today was because I got that email from MMW this morning, saying I'd worked out 450 times.  What the?!  Surely this is not the work of the Girl Who Cried Skinny?!


And just for fun, there's this pic.  I walked a hole in my shoes :)

Here's some math for you: 250 - 50 = 200

So I woke up this morning and ...

I WAS DOWN FIFTY POUNDS!!  I wish I could remember when I last weighed 200, but I can't.  I don't know if that's good or bad, but I do know this:  it's time for another series of pics.  I'm so glad my sis said to take a picture every 10 pounds (you should too, if you're losing as well!)!  I wouldn't have thought of that and ... I'd have been disappointed if I'd gotten to today without these.  (I'd already decided not to measure body parts, and now I kinda wish I had.  Oh well.)

So without further ado (and not "adieu", as some are wont to post on the intertubes), here are my "decade" pics:

-50!!!!

-40

-20

-30

-10

Approx 250 lbs

There aren't really words for how I felt when I saw that 200!  It's surprisingly motivational.  It was super windy this morning, so I didn't think I could walk outside.  Guess what?  I was even willing -- almost looking forward to -- walking on the treadmill at the gym!  My sister's thoughts on that:  "OK that's a little whacked ...."

Anyway, there are some people who think walking isn't good exercise.  Heck, there are people who think walking isn't even exercise!  Let me be the first to tell you:  IT IS!  And it is making me feel great!  I feel healthier and more calm than I have in years.  Honestly.  Do not take it lightly.  If you've been looking for something to do or try, I sincerely recommend walking.  Really!

And now I'll leave you to contemplate my excessive exclamation point usage.

Just in case you were wondering...

Thank you, Pinterest!

I attempted running today.  Even went uphill.  Hated it.

I even had to create a new exercise in Lose It! for myself:  "walk/jog  < 5 MPH" ... because Lose It doesn't have a category for "jogging" (what the?), and the "running" category starts at 5 MPH.  I did 4.81, so that's that.

... but I will say this:  it is an efficient way to get a little more exercise when you don't have time to walk 6 miles.

And that's my deep thought for the day.

That quote over there -->
I told my mom when we were walking around the lake, and she loved it.  I do, too :)

"If you're tired of starting over, stop giving up."

Today's headline was a quote I read first thing this morning, and it's basically the theme of The Girl Who Cried Skinny.  I really was the girl who always said I'd lose weight, or told myself I'd lose weight, or was about to start a "program" ....  And I did try a lot of things.  No actual diets (I'm offended by them, to be frank), but lots of ways of eating, attempts at regular exercise, etc., etc.  Honestly?  I think I kept thinking it would "just happen".  How; I have no idea, but I seriously didn't think I'd be a heavy person for the majority of my adult life.  And yet, I was.

That quote is the kind of thing you see all the time.  It falls under the "possibly cheesy, vaguely motivational" category.  And a couple of years ago, I wouldn't have given it a second thought.  Maybe because now I'm actually doing something about this mess of weight I'm in, it actually resonated with me.  I don't know, but I find it deeply profound.  I realize, of course, that it's rather a big fat, "DUH!" to some people, but for me, it was ... yeah, profound!

Anyway, I'm writing this so I remember how I felt while I was doing it, but more importantly in hopes that it will motivate someone else.  So if that quote is your OHMYWORD thing, then I'm glad I copied it from SparkPeople :)

And if that doesn't motivate you, think about how great you'd feel when you woke up and realized you'd LOST FORTY POUNDS!  Yeah, I said it.  I'm down 40 lbs. today.  And so it's time for the 10-pound-pics:

Official -40 pic

-30

-20

-10

approx 250 lbs.

For the record, this is Week 20 of my "program".  I've been doing loseit.com and walking.  That's it.  A yoga class here or there, and semi-regular situp sessions, but really just walking in the mornings. Trust me; I'm as shocked as you are.

My family is silly

As a sort of continuation of thoughts on yesterday's post, and because my brothers crack me up, here's an exchange from May when we were discussing exactly what we were eating.  It started with my comment that if I only ever stayed in my own house and never went anywhere else to eat, it was a lot easier to manage my calories.

Brothers are M1 and M2.  Sister is T.

M2:  Loseit doesn't care about the "health" of your diet. My first thought about Loseit was, "Cool, I can eat 1800 calories of twizzlers and lose weight." FYI (as if you don't know) you can select the "nutrition" option and it will collect data into some nutritional categories. Don't believe anything you read about timing of eating or carbs vs protein or anything else. When it comes to weight loss the only thing that counts is calories in and calories out. The other stuff only affects your health and well-being.

Basically - you are a bank account: you make deposits and withdrawls and the balance changes accordingly.

I suppose non-calore considerations could be considered the interest rate on your Loseit account. If you eat healthy, your rate of weight loss *may* go up by a small percentage.

Me:   You're funny. And I would like to eat 1800 calories of Twizzlers.

M1:  continuing this excellent analogy, some eating establishments are like lenders. They try to hide their calories or ultimate costs. McDonalds is Household Finance. Easy to get, short term gratifying, highly expensive long term. Getting money from a private equity firm is like going to a great restaurant that features really good but healthy fresh food. It takes longer, costs more up front, and keeps you very lean.

M2 is right, it is just the net. If you were raised by (our mom) you will not get the nutrition so messed up that you will hurt yourself. Additionally, you can't make yourself feel full without eating sort of right, or facing digestive challenges.


M2:  I do like the Asian Chicken salad at Panera since it is 400 something calories and takes a long time to eat and pretty much fills you up. And it tastes good.

T:  Ant, that would be 45 twizzlers - 15 at b-fast, lunch, and dinner.  M1 - next thing out of your mouth will be "i have to have something green. where is the salad?"


Me:  I love you crazy people.

August, 1991

This ----->>

... is because all blog entries are better with pictures.  That's my sis on the left and me on the right (high-waisted dress shorts FTW!) at one of my bridal showers :)

("why a pic of your bridal shower?" you ask.  Because we just celebrated our 21st anniversary last week, of course!)

((um ... my husband and I; not my sister and I.))

Encouragement!

Friends, let me encourage you.  Here's what I learned this week ... which is ironic, because I already knew it.  On Wednesday, I just wanted to drink a salt shaker.  Really.  I just. wanted. salt.  So I finished the leftover potato chips from Saturday.  Then I went to the store for groceries and something else jumped into my basket.  They're new! They're from Tostitos!  They are BAKED THREE CHEESE QUESO!  (whatever that is)  And so of course when I got home, I ate them too (no, not the whole bag! what do you think I am - a monster?).

Baked Three Cheese Queso!

I know what you're thinking:  "how is this encouragement, exactly?"

Well, I'll tell you.  You know I'm using loseit.com to track what I'm eating/how I'm moving.  I watch it like a hawk from day to day, to be honest.  But it's also great for watching cumulative data.  For example, in looking at this week's summary, I can see that already for this week, I am 1,114 calories under my budget.  Those are all exercise calories (believe you me; I am NOT starving myself!), but regardless, I am under budget.  So after I ate all the salt in the house on Wednesday, I was sure I'd wake up on Thursday with an "up" arrow on the scale.

SHOCK OHMYWORD I AM SHOCKED!

I was down a half pound.

And that, my friends, is the power of cumulative activity in combination with eating well.  Many "diet" programs have the concept of a "cheat day", or a down day, or a day when you don't count points, and believe you me, I am not a medical professional, so you probably shouldn't listen to me anyway,  but ... if you pay attention to what you're doing, and are in a regular exercise program (walking counts!), then the occasional Baked Three Cheese Queso day will not kill you.

One of my brothers put it this way:  "Day-to-day variation seems to be related more to the water content of your body and the material content of your digestive system than to the fat content of your body."  In other words, try to poop before you weigh yourself :)

Heavy groceries are heavy

So you've lost a little weight, huh?  And you start to get cocky and think you can do a 4-mile walk to the grocery store after a 3-mile walk with your neighbor, right?  And you decide you're such a beast that you can carry a LOT of groceries in your grocery backpack, don't you? (evidence -->)

And then your knees and ankle hurt a little bit while you're walking back and that final 2 miles home kind of kicks your butt.

But you're such a stud that you go ahead and walk another 4 miles the next day (because you can), except that then your ankle really hurts and it's kind of swollen and it's hard to locate your ankle bone.  So when your neighbor says she can't walk the day after that, you breathe a sigh of relief and don't go either.

Which is all ok because a day off here or there in a successful 10-week run is actually pretty stinking good, and you know what's reassuring?  The fact that the entire day you were taking off, you were thinking, "I could still do a short walk today, probably."  Because you have a sickness -- the best kind of sickness.  And that's a good thing -- WANTING to go and work out again is what "those" people do and say and you've always thought they were a little touched in the head to say things like that. But now you're one of them, and it's a Most Excellent Thing.

And then, even though you didn't walk the day before, you get this in the mail the next day from loseit.com, and it makes you inordinately happy :)

Twenty*Veinte*Twintig*Zwanzig*Dwadzieścia*Twenty

WOO HOO!  I AM TWENTY POUNDS LIGHTER!  Tuesday was a very exciting day.  I was finally down 20 whole pounds.  W00T!  I also used my grocery backpack, AND I met friends for tea in a sleeveless shirt.  These are things I never would have done at 250.

So to start, have I mentioned that my brothers are both on loseit.com?  They are :)  One of them got so excited about me being able to walk to my grocery store that he ordered a grocery backpack for me.  LOL.  Tuesday morning, I used it.   The right-hand pics are before I left the house, so it's empty.  In the one where I'm pointing to the Safeway sign, it's serving a purpose.  I bought two boxes of Puffs Plus and a large container of peanuts.  That's in the top "dry goods" section.  In the "thermal" compartment are the doughnuts my neighbor bought to take back home :)  (don't tell my brother that's what was in there)

So that was fun, and yay! I can buy groceries and packhorse them home (yeah, I verbed it).

But the real big news of the day for me was the big Two Oh!  I am down 20 pounds.  And since my sister said to take a pic every 10 pounds, here it is.  Ironically, I think my face looks rounder in this shot than the 239.5 pic below, but whatevs.

Also?  I actually went out in public in a sleeveless top (<-- this one).  I honestly don't remember the last time I did that.  Maybe 15 years ago?  It certainly wasn't recently.  It helped that it was a gazillion degrees out, I suppose.

So there you have it - a milestone post.  Yay!

Of course, I have never wanted to weigh 229 so much in my life.  What an odd desire :)

Dedicated? Me?

After my walk with my neighbor this morning, I checked my email to find this "badge" from Lose It!

I'm in shock.  Really.  I have logged what I've eaten, what I weighed, and what exercise I did every day for 4 weeks?!   I am seriously shocked.  The email I sent to my sister said, "this is possibly the longest I've ever stuck with anything in my life."  And that's not being funny.  Other than marriage and jobs, I don't stick with things.  I really don't.  I'm a starter and a "this is too difficult"er.  It's why I changed the name of this blog to The Girl Who Cried Skinny.

So anyway, I've done this for a month.  A MONTH!  And Lose It! says I'm dedicated!  How about that?

The Girl Who Cried Skinny

Two years, huh?  Yup.  Two years.  So ... we've established that I'm a slacker.  Let's also establish this:  I didn't lose anything in the last 2 years except maybe some self-respect.

But ... new things are afoot.  And at the risk of sounding very boy-who-cried-wolf, I am actually losing weight.  In fact, I waited until I'd really lost some before beginning to post again.

The short version is that I downloaded the "loseitapp" to my iPhone in September of 2009.  I used it on and off for about a day at a time over the last few years, but to no avail.  And although the choice to fail was mine and mine alone, it also didn't fit my needs at the time.  In January, a friend told me they'd made several changes to loseit.com, including connecting it to the iPhone app (huge!) and adding a bar code scanner.  Then in April, as we were saying goodbye to my grandmother, I found that my brothers were locked in an epic loseit battle, losing 17 and 20 pounds each.  What?

So ... I'm back on the bandwagon, and I've lost some weight.  I can already feel it in my jeans!  Really!  I read on Pinterest once that you will notice your own weight loss after 4 weeks, your friends will notice after 8 weeks, and the rest of the world will notice after 12.  Whatever I do, I'm not stopping before 12 weeks!  in fact, I don't intend to stop at all until I hit my goal!

My sister told me to take a picture every 10 pounds, so here is 239.5.  I just realized I should note that my official "start weight" on record is 250. So basically, I gained 8 pounds in the interim.  Yay!

Thanks for reading.