Bookmark!

In my last post I mentioned that I was questioning my blog and trying to take stock of what its purpose is. It has been a thought brewing in my mind and I have had some realizations since then.

In my very first post, An Ode to Missie, she left me a comment that I recently revisited and it means even more to me now. She said, " there will be times you write every day and then a few months might go by without anything, but the fact that you now have established a place-you'll always have somewhere, a bookmark for the past and future.”

So I’ve decided that’s what my blog is – a bookmark! I’ve been revisiting some of those bookmarks and reliving them through my words. I have to tell you, it’s kind of a special thing. It’s especially nice to revisit those posts where I talk about my son. It made me realize that I haven’t posted about him in a while. I also realized that a very common subject thread for me from the very beginning was about school. And then it dawned on me that a very big event in my life went by and I didn’t blog about it once. I graduated!

So, I’ve decided to revisit some of my favorite memories and events and talk about them while they are still semi-fresh in my mind, so that I will have a bookmark for them too. I even have a few blogs that I started and never finished. I’m thinking that I may resurrect them as well.

A little of this, a little of that, a sprinkling of now, a dash of then, some comments on my fitness aspirations, discussions about my professional aspirations, some rants, some opining, some standing on soap boxes, perhaps a little food talk, hopefully more pictures, and just a bookmark for what’s happening in my life.

There. It's settled.

What It Is

I’ve spent some time thinking about my blog lately. I actually started by thinking of what I want it to be, but then I thought better of it. Instead, I decided that I would take stock in what my blog is. I’m afraid that there is no identity to my blog, which is actually perfectly fine. I want it to be true to who I am and what my journey is at the moment, which is why it is understandable for it to be all over the place at times. The trouble is that I find myself aimlessly reaching for something, but I’m not sure what.

So, here’s my assessment...

What is my targeted audience? Good question. Really, it’s just me. I actually struggle with this. I like to treat my blog as a diary of sorts, a place to catalog my thoughts and some of the meaningful or plain random things that happen in my life. So, as long as it’s there for me to revisit in the future, I’m happy to be the only reader. However, sometimes I find that my blog is lonely and I’d really like to know that at least one other person is reading it.

What is the nature of my blog? The way I see it, there are a few main categories of blogs that are for personal use (not business.) There’s the family blog, the fitness blog, the personal journey blog, the foodie blog, the personal travels blog, the fashion blog, and the list goes on. On any given day, I feel like my blog could fit into any of those categories. So the question is do I need to categorize it? Could I just let it be what it will be?

I think probably the less I analyze it, the more it will be what I want it to be – just a reflection of me.

Hello Tomorrow

Oh what a difference a day and a little bit of chocolate can make. Ok, let me start by saying I think I’ve been a little hard on myself. I guess I haven’t been giving myself enough credit for all of the changes I have made. Instead, I’ve been focusing on all the things I haven’t done.

So, let me try to correct that: I have lost 8.5 pounds, my pants fit better, I haven’t eaten perfect but I haven’t totally blown it either. I haven’t eaten a single candy bar or drank a single coke. Which is why, this delectable little snack has felt like the greatest indulgence. It’s a treat without having to be too much of a cheat. The little changes are where it’s at! I didn’t gain XX pounds overnight (yeah, still too early to divulge that info) and I sure as heck won’t be able to lose it overnight.

So, the exciting news of the day is that Nicolas Cage is filming a movie right outside of my office, car chase scenes and all! Now, who could get work done with all of that excitement going on out there? Well, not me.

 

These are some photos taken from our balcony...

Life Whirls Around

Today, I feel as if the world is whirling around me and I am just a thoughtless observer. I don’t mean that to sound as depressing as it does, but I am a bit introspective today after my rough weekend. There were some tumultuous times and some unkind words said. I guess that’s about as much as I will rehash it here; just some cryptic words. The tough times make us stronger, right? I choose to believe so, at least based on my experiences.

So, yesterday was our weekly WW meeting at work. I am now down 8.2 pounds, but it totally doesn’t feel like it. I think I just need to keep on keeping on and just fake it until I make it. I still haven’t gotten to the gym or went for a good run. I just keep eating better and not as much, but certainly not perfect. It’s enough for now, but I will hit a big wall if I don’t start stepping it up. Trouble is, that I’m still really lacking in that motivation department right now. Where do you go to find motivation when you have none?

Itching To Get On With It

Somewhere somehow, within the course of this last weekend I got attacked by bugs. Not sure which kind, but I think it may be fleas. I honestly don’t know where though. I started to freak thinking they may be in my house (since we do have a dog) but neither Jeff nor Colten have a single bite on them and I have seen no other evidence of fleas there. Ugh! I would say I have a couple dozen bites on my lower legs and feet, from the knees down. They are itching so bad it is driving me crazy! For the past two nights they have kept me up itching.  So, if someone reads this soon, please give me your best remedy for easing the itching. I’ve tried several different brands and types of anti-itch cream/gel but they barely dull the itching. Today I resorted to wearing pants and boots to work so I wouldn’t be tempted to itch all day.

In other news, I am one week and change into my 10-week challenge. I haven’t quite hit the ground running, but I’ve made some changes and have had some progress so far. In our Weight Watchers (WW) at work meeting yesterday I weighed in 4.4 pounds lighter. So that’s a start. I was really bad all weekend though and paid no attention to points or calories. On Saturday, I would say that I had a full day’s worth of points/calories in just Sangria alone. And that doesn’t even take into consideration the other junk that I ingested that day. I also didn’t get to the gym at all this past week. I’m trying to finish up on a project at work, so I’m hoping that once that is over with I can get into a better routine. In the meantime, I’m staying on the eating plan at least.

So, here are my thoughts on WW. I said before that I wasn’t a big fan of the program, and I would say that I’m still not. However, I have enjoyed the support and camaraderie that has come with taking part in this alongside some of the people that I work with. So, I will stick with it.

I guess my frustration really boils down to the fact that I just don’t like that darn point system. I think it is a good idea in theory and probably an improvement on simply counting calories, but I feel like it makes it all too complicated. They keep that formula shrouded in secrecy too. I mean, I understand that they need to make money. They aren’t in this to simply help people. But come on! Make it easier to be able to find points for things! You shouldn’t have to pay all this money for WW and then have to pay more money to figure out how many points something is. They say it gets easier to eyeball things and know how many points they are as time goes on. Guess what?! I can look at a darn package and know for sure how many calories there are every time.

Okay, I’ll step off my soap box now. With all of these grievances piling up, this is where the engineer in me kicks in. So, I devised a way to do WW by tracking calories/nutrition as I normally do without having to spend much more time doing it.

From the very beginning, I was no convert. I did try see how many points I was eating, but I was also keeping up with my calories on my beloved Lose It! app. I tried the WW app. It stunk! I felt I was getting a different answer every time. I want a definitive way to know how many points are in my food. I wanted that dang formula. So, I googled. I found one that was right on. I also found that my Lose It! app will export all the calorie and nutrition information to a spreadsheet. I plugged the formula in the spreadsheet, created a macro so that I don’t have to format it every time, and viola, I have a calorie/nutrition to points calculator. Problem solved.

Now, I just need to stick by my plan.

I'm pretty sure it starts with a good night's sleep...

I am blogging from my iPhone. That's a new one for me. Lets hope I don't have any autocorrect embarrassments on here then.

So, it is precisely 11:27 pm. Or, in other words, way past my bed time! I'd say I'm having a hard time sleeping because I'm feverishly thinking about all the things I need/want to accomplish this next week. Work is usually a good portion of my stress, but right now I think it's mostly about the start of turning over a new leaf tomorrow, i.e. the beginning of my 10 week challenge. I'm pretty sure that my not-sleeping has something to do with me wanting to drag my feet on all of this. But I'm also pretty busy trying to convince myself that now's the time!

This little inspirational mantra is my motivation of choice right now...

Pinterest is full of little motivational nuggets like this. So now I just need to turn all of these good thoughts into good actions. However, I'm sure the best way to do that is to GET TO SLEEP!

Tomorrow's full of great possibilities!

Night!

It had to be done...

This post...well, it's overdue. The fact of the matter is, when I look at a blog I will almost always overlook it if I see that it has been abandoned. You don't want to become invested in something if you're not sure it's going to be there from one day to the next. Not to say that my blogs will ever become a mainstay or be consistent, but I don't want to abandon my blog. I at least want it to be a place that I can come back to and find solace in.

So, today I found an awesome fitness blog and of course it made me sad about my little blog here. Fitness...Blog...that makes two things I've been inconsistent with.

Anyhow, I've decided to join up with some of my fellow coworkers to do a 10-week Weight Watchers thing. I've never been keen on doing anything like Weight Watchers, but I think this will be the perfect opportunity to get some motivation and accountability. All I know is that I need a push from somewhere. I've been grasping at straws in the motivation department for a while now.

I'm thinking that I might start blogging about my 10-week challenge, as I am now calling it. You probably never knew that I started a fitness blog once upon a time. But that of course never got off the ground and you can probably guess the fitness routine didn't get off the ground either. I'm thinking that I need to remove all the stop gaps this time. I don't want to leave myself an easy way out. So, feel free to call me on my BS at any time.

So there it is. If you are ever curious, you can find the doomed blog here www.myfitnessbliggityblog.blogspot.com.blogspot.com. I've put my fitness story there. I like to refer to all of it as fitness and not weight-loss, because fitness and overall health and comfortableness (is that a word?) in my body has always been my goal.

Oh, and hopefully in 10 weeks I will have a nice before and after picture to show you. Until then, I don't have the heart to post any before pictures. And boy do I have a few. I just recently took a trip to Arizona and the Grand Canyon. All of the picture taking opportunities really made me aware of just how much I need some sort of intervention. What is it that they always say?...the camera doesn't lie...well, at least I have Instagram where I can crop the ugly parts and apply a nice filter. Case in point...