behonkus

Yada Yada

So, I'm chugging right along. I ran in my 1/2 marathon in California with my sister last weekend. It went ok. My knee is a real problem. I ended up having to walk after about 6 miles, though I kept running off and on till I finished. All in all, I'd say I ran about 10 of the 13 miles. I finished in 2.5 hours, which isn't horrible, though I was passed by the Marathon 1st and 2nd place guys.

At the Marathon Expo there was an orthotics company called eSole. I had them scan and check my feet and I ordered some orthotics, which hopefully will be coming this week. I am looking forward to running again, but I want to let my knee rest before I head out.

I went to cali with my sister and her friend, Celine. We had a good time, despite the weather being a little gloomy. We did lots of OC touring- went to lots of places where they film. We also saw Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Bel Aire and even bought a map to star homes. I'd say it was very fun. We want to do some more traveling like that- maybe this time they'll come to New York and we'll do that.

Oddly enough, my weight fluctuated wildly! When I got back from Cali (and eating whatever I wanted) my weight had jumped up to 118 again! Then I lost 7.2 pounds this past week to get back to 110.8 which is about .6 less than when I left for Cali. It's amazing how much you can fluctuate with a little crappy eating/bloating!

Another Day Another Dollar

I've been doing a pretty bad job of budgeting my time and project management lately. I way over committed myself to a couple clients this week and promised more than I could deliver, faster than I could deliver. It's exhausting. Between being stressed out and overwhelmed and staying up late and getting up early and then beating myself up and feeling like a failure and then waking up in the middle of the night to go do a little more work because I can't sleep for thinking about it. It sucks.

It's times like these that make me want to run. And I don't mean like a 5 K, I mean like run and hide under the bed. Quit my job, go back to waiting tables or something. Or become independently wealthy and never have to work. Or become an heiress to a major fortune or something!

Anyway, It's not all bad. I mean, at least I get to work from home with my husband and if it's 30 degrees outside I never have to go outside! I am blessed in lots of ways. Thank goodness that there is the work. I guess feeling overwhelmed is a good problem. The up side is that we're making plenty of money. And, since we stopped eating out twice a week, we've been saving so much more it's insane. That's one nice side to the Leanness Lifestyle thing.

We talked to a contractor this week about re-doing our kitchen and taking out half of the wall between the kitchen and the livingroom and vaulting the ceiling in the sun room. It's gonna be pretty expensive, but I think it will seriously increase the value of the house. At least the kitchen renovation will. Then it will be on the the bathroom. So on Tuesday we're meeting with a kitchen planner, so that should be exciting. I'm gonna pick up a few kitchen magazines this weekend so I can have some photos to illustrate a little what I'm looking for.

On the fitness front, I've been a little slack about working out lately, but not about losing weight! I've been eating very clean and am down 7.6 lbs since New Year's Day. I'm 1.5 away from my initial goal. I finally went to see the massage therapist about my IT band and it turns out it's being stretched too much, not that it's tight. He stretched some corresponding sections of my back and did some myofascial release. I'm feeling pretty good, but he said lay off the running till we see how this helped. Of course, I've got the half marathon next weekend. I'm just gonna do my best.

La Dee Da

So I haven't actually felt like working since before Christmas. Not sure what's going on, but I'm just unfocused and unmotivated. I wish I was one of those really driven career women. Maybe I am and just haven't found my true calling. I dunno.

Last night I went to a friend's house for a spa party. It was really one of those sales parties, like a tupperware party, but the product was pretty cool. It was an all natural body care line that was originally sold in Whole Foods called Sensaria. The stuff was pretty nice, but I really like my Laura Mercier face cream and none of theirs were creamy enough for my dry skin. I did order a sugar rub that smells like oranges and a body mist. It was a pretty fun party, though. I'd like to host one at my house.

I am down 5 lbs now since New Year's Day. It's nice! I never really thought I'd lose weight! I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm a completely healthy weight, it's just that I want to be CUT!!! I want to weigh close to or exactly what I did when I got married. Right now that means I have another 9 or 10 lbs to go, but I'm gonna take it easy. I have 3 lbs to go to hit my initial goal of 9 lbs off since New Year's. This Leanness Lifestyle really works. I'm losing weight a lot faster than they estimated- not that I'm complaining, but I hope it's all good.

Anyway, I guess that's it. Really wish I was more motivated to work. I'm gonna look into those spray tans at Hollywood Tans now and see what they cost. I really feel pale and ichy.

Feeling Good

Last night at Masters Swim Team the coach put me in a lane with a new girl. She was just slightly faster than me enough to push me and not to discourage me. I was getting a little discouraged at my lack of speed when she was putting me in the lane with this fast girl. Coach says I have to swim three days a week if I want to get faster, 2 isn't gonna do it. Not sure how I feel about that. On one hand it just IS, I mean, it would just be another day. On the other hand, I already run and go to the gym to lift weights!

Anyway, I had a client meeting this morning with a final creative presentation. Things went well. I was a little stumped last night because they're asking me to really push it creatively and be better than I have been before with the conceptual design and image selection. It was tough, I had to call another designer to go over some ideas. That's when I miss the collaborative agency atmosphere, where you could bounce thoughts off one another. So I picked some images, but they weren't too hot on them. They ended up making some recommendations- I'll see how their recommendations look.

Still doing well on the LL. I haven't felt stuffed since I started this thing- and that's 12 days, so that's a nice feeling! And I get to go out to eat with friends provided the restaurant publishes their nutritional info and I can make an educated decision about what I'm gonna get! So far I've lost 4.2 lbs. Looking to lose about 5 more for my initial goal and then maybe 3-5 more, depending on my body fat % and how I look. It's pretty exciting to be on a plan that works!

It Works!

So, I've been doing leanness lifestyle now for 8 days and I gotta say that all the tools are super cool! It really works! I have lost 3.8 pounds since starting! Most of it was water weight gain from eating like crap for the holidays, but I'm glad to see it gone. I'm not feeling bloated anymore!

I can't believe how much you have to eat to reach 1400 calories, for example. When you are eating crap, you can reach that in one snack, but try to get there with wholesome foods and you're eating ALOT!

It's pretty funny, when you decide to lose weight everybody has an opinion- they're like asses and elbows, as the hubby would say. Everybody thinks you should do it their way and they get weird about it. My husband told me about this conversation he had with a friend:

Hubby: yeah, I'm keeping track of everything that goes in my mouth and entering it on the computer and I'm trying to exercise 30-40 minutes a day 6 times a week.

Guy: You don't need to lose weight!

Hubby: Well I have 35% body fat which is clinically obese and that sets me up for lots of health problems.

Guy: You're not obese!

Hubby: According to my body fat and the health guidelines I am obese, Americans are just so used to seeing obese people that they see them as normal.

Guy: Well, you don't have to watch what you eat. What you SHOULD do is you SHOULD do some push ups and sit ups before you get in the shower and make some small changes in your diet. That's what I'm doing.

Hubby: Yeah, I've tried that, I won't stick to something that loose.

It's amazing what people think is healthy! And that people say that he's not obese when he says that he is clinically obese! Sheesh! What's this country coming to!