Obligatory Update

I don’t particularly feel like writing right now, but I figured I’d give everyone a rundown of Thanksgiving and the long weekend.

OK, first off: Aaron and I were maybe 15 minutes down the turnpike, heading toward Cleveland, when I started swearing vehemently. Aaron didn’t miss a beat: “Pie,” he said.

I’d left it in the fridge.

We didn’t go back to get it, although we ended up making good enough time (and dinner ended up being late enough) that we totally could have doubled back and gotten the pie. Ah, well β€” more for us.

Thanksgiving wasn’t as weird as it could have been. We spent a lot of time chatting with Pete’s kids, who range from 12 (I think?) to 21. Joe, the youngest, finally hit the beginning of his growth spurt and voice change, so that was unexpected and kind of weird to witness. Grammie’s getting a little forgetful in the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s, and Aunt Elaine is going into a nursing home this week due to her own Alzheimer’s-related issues. Things had the potential to be awkward, but really weren’t.

As far as Atkins cheating goes, oh yeah. I cheated, and I didn’t regret it. (Very much.) In the category of not-Atkins-friendly foods, I ate stuffing and sweet potatoes and a little pie, among other things. Oh, and the acorn squash with brown sugar and honey and whatever else couldn’t have been too good for me, either. But there was also ham and turkey and green bean casserole and fruit salad and mashed potatoes and gravy (although I opted to pass on the potatoes).

This week, Aaron’s starting back up on Induction again. He’s changed jobs at work, from a labor-intensive job to a fairly sedentary one, and he’s not happy with the weight he’s gained. So, I’m doing Induction with him. I, too, have gained back most of what I lost in our early October two-week Induction, unfortunately. I’m hoping that some of that is just pre-PMS water weight, but I can’t count on that.

I’m going to make a concerted effort to exercise daily, also. Since it’s getting colder (and rainy / snowy), I’m not going to be able to have my lunchtime walk in the park, so I’ll have to plan some evening indoor activity. Yoga, pilates, tae bo (maybe… Billy Blanks kicks my ass, as a general rule), trampolining / rebounding, or just working out with my free weights. Today was a gorgeous day for November (60°F in Ohio!), so I went ahead and walked. Tomorrow may be 40° and not rainy, so I may walk tomorrow, too. After that, though… *thumbs down*

In other unrelated news, I’ve loaded up my Brownie Bullet camera and am planning to shoot a test roll this week. It looks like it’ll cost me around fifteen bucks to get it developed, though, which kind of sucks.

In even more unrelated news, my old RCC cohort Jeff Hawley included me in his mass e-mail update today! I haven’t talked to him for maybe three or four years. Turns out he’s finished writing a film script, is engaged to a Japanese girl, and did graduate work in England (although I’d already heard that last bit through the grapevine). I e-mailed him back and shared my much less interesting life events with him.

I’m not unhappy with my life, though. I turned out a lot more normal than I could have β€” and, when I say “normal,” I mean it as a completely good thing.

Atkins, Take Two

I forgot to mention: Aaron and I went back on Induction last week.

We had both been gaining a little weight back (partially due to our repeated visits to the Happy Rose Buffet). I had gained back 12 pounds total from my lowest weight, but had gained it back slowly between January and May of this year, and stayed pretty steady after that. Aaron, however, finally hit a point last month where he decided he had to go back on Induction, and I gladly joined in. (I’m not good at doing Induction by myself. I’m too easily lured to the dark side.)

The first week, I lost 4.5 pounds. I was stoked. Then we went to visit Amy in Dayton, and I somehow managed to gain back two pounds over the weekend. I’m back to losing about a half a pound a day, though, so I’m going to lay off the daily weight check and go back to weighing weekly again.

I’ve been rediscovering old recipes this week, like the Mock Cream Cheese Danish, and finding new ones, like Hamburger Pie. OMG, so yummy. burger baked in the oven with a filling of cream cheese, mustard, and horseradish. It may sound weird, but it’s really, REALLY good. (Props to the Atkins All The Way podcast for that one.)

You know, Induction isn’t so bad. πŸ™‚

For My Own Future Reference

Even if I forget to put my breakfast bar and other healthy snacky food in my purse, I must *not* purchase ANYTHING from the vending machine during the day when I get hungry. Otherwise, I’ll get home after work, eat dinner, and proceed to crash like a mofo, rendering the remainder of my evening completely useless.

Better to suffer through being hungry at work than to eat friggin’ 40 grams of sugar during the workday, and end up fighting boredom and sleep and depression by 8pm.

My Virtual Model

I remember making one of these back when I was checking out wedding dresses: My Virtual Model. I saw this on someone’s diet blog, debunking the “Marilyn Monroe was a plus size” myth, and decided to make one for myself again.

Just for shits and giggles, I made three versions of me: Before, Now, and My Goal. For those of you who are squeamish at seeing even a virtual model of me in only a black bikini, I’ve put the screenshots in a popup window.

Anyway, the Now model is kind of forgiving. Imagine bigger cottage-cheese thighs and flabbier arms, and a little more of a belly poonch. Hmm. Better yet, don’t imagine that. Might be better for your mental health. And, believe it or not, the Before model is actually fairly accurate. My waist was less-defined (read: I had mighty love-handle rolls) and I was… well, let’s just leave it at that.

That said… I’m kind of liking that Goal model. Even if she’s not quite what I’ll look like in 25 pounds. Oh, and I made a super-uber goal model, but I couldn’t even see me as her, so I opted not to post her. At 5’10” and 165 pounds, My Skinny Virtual Model looked like a skinny ho, and I couldn’t relate to her. o.O

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

I?ve been finding it just impossible to concentrate on my work for the past two days. At any given point, I?m either running out of work to do and I?m dragging it out so I look busy, or I actually have work to do and I can?t seem to give a crap about getting it done. Instead, I have a tendency to chat with my cube-mate or stare out the window or mentally play through LSM music I?ve memorized.

I?m also having a hell of a time resisting the seductive lure of the snack machine. I thought I had that thing licked long ago… but I?ve bought some sort of evil sweetness from it every day this week. I think that I?m going to give Induction a try next week: eat some breakfast and make myself some decently large, fancy lunches (e.g. salads with meat and goodies, or some sort of simple but yummy meat dish). I know that when I used to bring salads for lunch, I couldn?t even imagine being less than satisfied for a good long while after that.

I?ve been working out almost every day ? maybe not doing anything as intense as Sheryl?s doing, but at least I?m increasing my activity (of course, anything?s greater than zero). But that?s not going to do squat if I cheat and eat like crap all the time. Which sucks, because I can feel the workouts working. It feels good. I?m sore in different places all the time, which is a new and fascinating experience. πŸ™‚

But, yeah. I?m trying not to get down on myself about the cheating, but still… I argue with myself all the way to the vending machine, knowing that it won?t do any good, and finally I just give up any pretense of willpower and just buy the damn Hostess Fruit Pie. And eat it at my desk. (OMG 67 carbs!!!)

Next week is a new week, though, and tomorrow?s a new day, and all that crap. I can start over, and discover my willpower again.