Thursday, October 22, 2009

The Biggest Loser and Other Updates

I haven't been blogging on the BL! So sorry! I missed the show two weeks ago, Julio went home!

Last week, I caught the drama that unfolded when Tracy, yet again, won a challenge and was given power over the group.

Having the ability to split the teams, she split up every couple with the exception of herself and Coach Mo, and Danny and Shay. So basically, she alienated everyone else, again.

Even members of her new team (blue--with Bob, who didn't seem super pleased to have her on the team) want her gone.

Now, in the past I have said that sometimes there is too much game play, but this season it seems to be a good mix. I mean really, if there wasn't some drama then we would just be watching a show of fat people exercising and nobody really wants to see that!

I will say that I was surprised that Tracy didn't go home this week. Coach Mo fell on the sword for his team. I do understand that he was a liability in terms of his injury and the fact that he probably wasn't going to drop as much weight as Tracy, but blue had a chance to get her off the team and now I think they are going to have to deal with the aftermath of keeping her.

Best case scenario is that the next time Blue has to eliminate someone, Tracy goes.

Anyway, didn't get a chance to watch this weeks episode, the Yanks were on their way to winning game 4 of the ALCS. Will update again after I watch.

Other Updates

I am planning on running in the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving again this year, the problem is that I haven't started running at all. My plan was to also run a 5k a couple of weeks prior to the race and I am hoping I will even be able to do that.

I did go out and get a new sports bra and a pair of workout pants. The next step is actually putting them on and running.

The food journal has its good days and its bad days, as do I when it comes to putting things in my mouth. I didn't realize how stressed out I would be these days, between pumping, working and trying to balance home, kids and hubby, I find myself making not the best decisions when it comes to snacking. I am trying to hold myself accountable. I did go out and buy a new scale and since that purchase I have lost 2lbs. So the scale is moving in the right direction.

Updates to come. . .

UGH!

So, I am at work and it was time to pump and I got my little black bag and headed into the conference room and then I realized that I left the adapter plug at home.

My battery pack back-up is on its last legs and would just die every couple of minutes. Needless to say, I got less than nothing in terms of boob juice.

Normally, this would be okay, but I am trying to increase my production and my plan was to go home at lunch to drop off the morning pump so I would have enough for the little Lady for the day.

Now, I have to pump at home just to get caught up. UGH!! UGH!! UGH!!

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

The Before Photo

It is official. I am a "before" photo. I know I have touched on this a bit in the past, but in the last week or so, the reality of this has really set in.

Anytime I see a glimpse of my own flesh in the mirror, I am reminded of the advertisements in the back of US Weekly, where similarly shaped women claim to have lost 30lbs in 30 days by eating anything they wanted, and pumping enough speed into their bodies that eating, let alone concentrating on anything wasn't even an option.

This "before" photo image doesn't end when I actually clothe my body. Not only, am I going out in sweats (and sweats, that I probably wore the day before or walked in, or slept in), but I am pairing these sweats with XL maternity shirts that look like small pup tents and almost come down to my knees. It was one thing to wear these things immediately after the baby. I couldn't even function and everything hurt, so wearing big, loose clothing was ideal. However, the little Lady will be 2 months old tomorrow and things are a little different.

Now, I have watched hours and hours of What Not To Wear, and never before have I recognized myself so vividly in those women. I ran errands yesterday wearing a pair of capri, blue sweatpants, that I had worn the day before and had walked in a few hours earlier. I paired these sweats with an over sized sweatshirt and a pair of sneakers. Now, the outfit wouldn't have looked so bad, had the sweatpants not been stretched out from frequent use, and infrequent wash, and the crotch of the sweatpants had not been hitting me mid-thigh.

I probably wouldn't be so mortified, had I not caught sight of myself in the large pane glass windows of Bed, Bath and Beyond--where I was going to finally buy a scale so that I could hold myself accountable and try to move forward in my ultimate weight loss goals. God--please let this be the bottom for me!

Freaking Froggy!

I have been trying to figure out a way to spend some time with the Lady by herself. This always poses a challenge because I have to leave the little Lady behind without the boob. Even though I have been trying to pump on a consistent basis things have been a little hectic and I am finding myself only pumping enough to leave for my work days and not much more to store. So any opportunity to get out without her can be a little stressful for me. However, my husband told me he would be home early enough for us to get out and I had some milk in the fridge ready to go.

Anyway, the Barnes and Noble by our house has a 6:00 pm story time on Friday nights and last Friday, Froggy was supposed to be there. Now, from what I can gather, Froggy is a giant frog who reads to the kids and then takes a couple of photos. I figured that this was a great idea. The Lady and I would get out for an hour or so, take a couple pictures with the frog and maybe spend a few minutes playing with the trains in the store. I maybe would even get to look around the bookstore and pick out something for myself.

We invited the Wild Man and his mom to come along. Now if any of you have ever experienced Friday night traffic on 95 in lower Fairfield County, CT, you know that actually getting anywhere can take forever. The Wild Man left his house at 5 after 5 and didn't get to B&N until after 6. My husband left his office at 25 after 5 and didn't get home until 5 to 6, so I was waiting, anxiously, with the Lady to go.

We showed up a little after 6 and the children's book section lady was mid-story. I did, however, not see any giant frogs. She finished one story and then another, still no frog and still no Wild Man.

Finally, the question was posed--where is Froggy? Froggy, apparently was not coming, but they were in the process of "working on it." I am not sure what that means exactly, but unless some guy was in the back putting on a giant frog head, it looked like there would be no Friday night frog.

Now, the only reason I took my 2 year old out at 6pm on a Friday night was because of the promise of a giant frog. I wasn't even sure if she would like him. I could see her being afraid and then talking about how scared she was of the frog for 3 weeks, but it afforded us the opportunity to get out together and experience something away from the baby. Froggy--how could you disappoint us?

So, now it was 6:30, my sister and I had two 2-year old's as well as the Wild Man's little sister. The big kids needed to eat and books were not keeping their attention. We tried the trains for a bit and then headed up to the food court/play area.

I was shocked by how many kids were at the play area at 7 pm. We let the big guys run around for a while and then finally packed it up. It wasn't quite the experience I wanted with the Lady. I was hoping she and I could share something exciting and new and that she would be happy to talk about for a while.

Instead, I fed her scalding hot chicken fingers and fries, exposed her to a bazillion germs at the indoor play area, got home well past the time I wanted to, which pushed bedtime back again, and once again skipped her bath. All of this for a giant frog that never showed up. UGH.

BTW. . . when I got home the little Lady had gone through a bottle and a half of boob juice in the 2 and a half hours that we were gone. Is this ever going to get any easier?

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Morning Yang

We have a guest blogger today. Here is a little something from Steadman. . . as always we welcome comments


Two things are constantly recycled in my mind during my hour and a half commute in the morning. One is the quote “Get busy livin’ or get busy dying” from Shawshank Redemption. The second is the sight of a 90 year old man wearing a “carpe diem” hat I saw sitting around the Back Bay train station some years ago. The threat on another full day of work chokes me in a miasma of both disgust and unpure thoughts. Yet I continue to kiss whitey’s ring day after day, laboring under the yolk of a consistent paycheck. Sure I have family obligations, bills, an out of control fabergĂ© egg addiction (who doesn’t?)– but these are not the reasons I have yet to abandon ship. Nor is it the sanguine feeling I get when I leave work, serving as the yin to my morning yang. Nor still is it the hundreds on emails I exchange daily with Sheils, or the possibility of fresh entries on Aileen’s blog. These just maintain my sanity, and keep everyone else in the office alive.

There are just two real reasons that I have not ended this employment nightmare. One, is that I have absolutely no brass in my pants – none - and everybody knows it. The second is that if I had the opportunity to go back in time and change anything about my life, studying a different field or getting a different job would not even be in the picture. The only thing I would do is go back to April 2002 and try to buy the Cinnamon Toast Crunch windbreaker I saw some dude wearing on the street. God that was a sweet jacket.

Now back to work. Thanks Aileen.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Weekend Update

Had a whirlwind weekend of travel. The little Lady and I went to Michigan for a family wedding. I got about 9 hours of sleep total from Thursday night through Sunday, but it was all worth it.

So glad to see the family and hang with my girls.

Steadman--you looked stunning in the pink on pink. Guest blogging privileges have been extended to you--so don't disappoint!

The Lady hung with her dad and the in-laws while we were gone. She passed the time by playing with her cousins, eating about 700 pieces of ice cream cake and barely napping.

Will post a few pics when I get a chance to download them.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

The Biggest Loser and Other Updates

I will admit that I missed the BL last week! It was my first day back at work and it was a long day for me. I thought it was TiVoing, but alas I was mistaken. So instead of even catching the last half hour of it, I watched the end of NCIS-LA--big mistake.

Turns out that there wasn't much to see anyway, nobody was eliminated. This week, however, I made sure the TiVo was set and carved away a little time to watch.

Tracey on purple is crazy!

Talk about crazy eyes and panic attacks. She certainly is not in a good place in terms of self-confidence and is clearly looking for any advantage she can (especially if it involves eating cupcakes!). I feel bad for Coach Mo, who now is part of a team, where everyone hates one member. If they ever fall below the yellow line and have to be eliminated as a team, they will certainly go.

I have to say, I like that Jillian called out Coach Mo, and I like that she lost it on Tracey. Ah, game play. . . where will you take us next?

I am still trying to get to know these contestants. As much as I am routing for Abby on the green team, I don't need to see them flash back to her telling the horrific story of her loss every time she comes on screen. I also like Allen from the green team. He seems like a really good guy and partnered with Abby, they have my vote to go all the way.

Love the orange team. Daniel is so positive and I want him to finish his journey and just drop all the weight and finally get laid (I am just assuming that this has never happened, but I am sure I can't be that far off!) And Shay, well she just needs to keep losing that weight. I mean when you see her in just the sports bra and spandex, it is really unbelievable to imagine getting that big.

Anyway, I was sorry to see the red team go. I liked those guys. Sean still has a while to go as well, I mean he is still over 3 bills but it looks like he is on his way.

I have to say, I love a BL love connection. Congrats to Antoine and Alexandra, they are so cute and hopefully they will continue to lead a healthy lifestyle.

More to come next week.

Other Updates

So, I am clear to exercise and I am mapping out my return to running. I have been running the stairs at my house and trying to fit in a little cardio each day, but the next step is actually lacing up the shoes and hitting the pavement. I am going to try to follow the 5k plan that I used last year, and I am hoping that I can get to three miles running sooner rather than later. This all depends on if I can actually find the right time to get out of the house!

I have looked into signing up for some 5ks in the next 6 weeks in preparation for the Turkey Trot and I hope that this will help kick-start the weight loss. I really would like to fit back into my clothes.

I had to go out last night and get a dress for a wedding this weekend. It was a little disheartening to try on sizes. I was hoping I was only one dress size higher than I started off at, but it looks like it is more like two! I settled on just getting a "L" dress, which I think camouflages the belly and I am hoping to spice it up with some accessories. I did have to endure another hot, small, dressing room where I tried to avoid actually looking in the mirror when any bit of skin was exposed.

I know I am only 7 weeks out, but combined with the food journal and some actual movement, I thought I might be a little bit more ahead.

Speaking of the food journal, I was always one of those people who never believed others when they said "I am too busy, I don't have time to eat." I am not one of those people, I am always thinking about when I can eat next, however, with the arrival of the little Lady, her feeding schedule and our pretty aggressive plans to get out of the house each day, I find myself not eating anything until mid-day on some days. This isn't leading to weight loss though, because I am trying to make up the calories later on and make sure that I am taking in enough to keep up the milk production.

Oh, weight loss why are you so evasive?