Thanks but No Thanks

And we're back! And no I didn't spend the last week sulking, things just got cray-cray with Thanksgiving and a barfing baby and husband and then a cold infested baby and husband. So far I've gotten off pretty easy on the disease front *Knock on wood*

So today's topic of discussion is that not-so-help but always free flowing unsolicited advice.  Now I expected some of the advice of the unsolicited variety because I am putting my journey out there publicly to hopefully inspire some people to join. Let me be 100% clear, the comments on the blog so far have been 100% encouraging and helpful and I read and appreciate every single one. The advice I am talking about is people who know what I'm up to coming up to me and telling me how I can do it better/faster/etc. You get used to people telling you what you are doing wrong when you have a baby. It's like a free pass for strangers to come up and judge how you are raising your kid but losing weight or going on any sort of fitness endeavor is a deeply personal thing so here are some answers to a couple questions people have asked/suggested.
1- Why don't you a "X" diet? I have zero self control, let me just say that. Anything that involves deprivation will not work for me. I have tried just about every diet out there including but not limited to The Special K diet, the No Carb diet, the only vegetable diet and all have been epic failures. When I feel hungry/depraved all the time I get real depressed real quick and then end up giving up and eating whatever I want. *Personal opinion alert* I feel very strongly that cleanses, fasting, etc does NOT work. The moment you start eating again you gain all the weight back and study after study has shown how bad yo-yoing is for your overall health. Any diet that forbids you eat a certain food does not get an endorsement from me but as I said any weight loss is a personal matter and you need to choose what you and your doctor feel is the best for you and your situation.
2- Why don't you try Weight Watchers? Well, I have actually and as far as programs go I think this is a really solid one. I love that the focus is on what you can eat instead of what you can't. I like their online tools plus all the recipes and food options. I really like how it teaches you what the correct portion sizes are and how to make good food choices. I just did not have good success with it. I tried it twice and both times gave up when that feeling of "you can't eat that" came up. So while I think this is a great option (reasonably priced in my mind too) it just wasn't for me. What has worked for me is making small changes to my diet that still let me enjoy food. I'm a foodie, you all know that and taking that away does not make for a happy momma. So now I'm just more conscious of what I'm eating. For Thanksgiving I focused more on the veggies than usual. Now I eat one cookie instead of five. I eat salads for lunch and make sure that I have breakfast. I know I'm going to have to most likely make some more habit changes once I start to plateau but for now I'm seeing results and am still able to enjoy all the foods I love.

I've gotten tons of other tidbits of advice but we will save those for another post.  I'm very happy with my progress so far though. Aside from some minor depressive moments, this is the longest I have ever stuck to any weight loss anything and the most progress I have ever made. Shirts that I never wore fit now, old pants are to big and I don't feel like I'm having an asthma attack when I go up a flight of stairs. I'm by no means at my goal but I'm getting there. I refuse to set a number goal, that isn't how I role.(Ha, that rhymes)  My overall objective is just healthy and happy (And running a half marathon of course) but I can confidently say I have lost about 10 lbs. (YAY!) I'm still in a mostly regular elliptically routine and am excited to save up enough money for a treadmill!

That's enough rambling for the day I think :)
QOB's
What is the best/worst advice you have ever been given regarding fitness/weight loss?
How do you feel about any of the diets listed above?
Are you a fan of snow in the winter or do you wish you lived at the equator?

And the journey continues!
-B-

Best Friends

There are so many sappy quotes floating around the internet these days about what friends are and what they do for you. Friends let you cry on their shoulders, friends will love you no matter what, blah, blah, blah. I'm going to call shenanigans on that. Real friends, true friends that know you inside and out do this....

What are those you ask? Well those are plus sized women's cotton briefs. Why the heck am I posting a picture of (decidedly unsexy) underwear on the internet? Well buddies, these little gems arrived on my doorstep from with this note.

 If you can't read the text it says and I quote, *throat clearing*

"Wanted to make sure that you had enough big girl panties.... put em on and keep your butt moving :-) HUGS. You are going to do great- look how far you've already come! Keep it up! Can't wait to see you next month! Cindy"

That's right people!! "Best" friends may be there to rub your shoulders, tell you everything is ok and gossip about other people with you. But Real friends send your ridiculously sized underwear they found on Amazon from Arizona to "keep your butt moving!". Cindy is one of my very near and dear friends and this sort of sense of humor is why we are friends. These also could not have come at a better time. As I was rushing home to a sick MB in a state of panic as any new mother would, these showed up on my steps thus allowing me a couple minutes of hysterical, choking laughter to replace the hysterical panic attack that was growing inside me. MB did have to go to ER for a bit but after some Zofran for barfing she seems to be on the mend. 

So while the offer was put up to return them and get something for MB I think I will be keeping these comically large undies and adding them to board of motivation to keep me going :) What odd things do you use to motivate yourself in your fitness goals?

Oh and Cindy you are the best friend a girl could want :)

The journey continues!

Still going.....

Still going but not very fast. I can't lie, last week was a bad week. No motivation, still getting over being sick and just general lack of caring. My sudden and rather intense apathy probably had something to do with some not fun times at work. Without going into to many details it can be very hard some days to be in a male dominated field like IT and not feel like you are a second class citizen to your male colleagues. I mean seriously I've been here for 8 years learning new things, taking on new projects the whole time! I'm going back to school to learn more for pity's sake! What else can I do to prove myself????........ #EndRant

Anyway back to the jogging and the food part. Last week was the first time I seriously questioned whether I can do this or not. I'm sure there will be many more of these moments to come, especially when we get into some of the harder training runs but I thought about just calling it quits this weekend. I even fantasized about the gracious, yet journey ending blog post I was going to write and publish to oh six or eight people (It's a movie joke, watch Morning Glory, cheesy but funny :) ) What followed was an (incredibly) large pity party complete with a requiem played on the worlds tiniest violin and a tube of Rolo's (heaven enrobed in chocolate) And then when I stopped feeling sorry for myself I decided I need to pull on my big girl undies, get my butt off the couch and do this because as lazy as I am, I really really REALLY want to do this. The thought of crossing that finish line gives me goosebumps! So it's a new week, I'm still not feeling great but I'm pushing forward! For the food part, I really haven't made anything interesting enough to blog about, in my opinion at least. However, MB is having a first birthday party soon (GAH!!! TO SOON!) and this weekend I'm hoping to start the food prep so I'll post a ridiculously easy and delicious recipe for some empanadas. It's not even a real recipe, just throwing some stuff together but I swear you will eat about 10 when you make them! My new kitchen idol (Miss Smitten Kitchen http://smittenkitchen.com/) posted a recipe for apple cider caramels that simply must be made soon as well.

So good eating, good jogging, good whatever else you are doing! Until next time!