You had no idea what you unleashed when you begged me to start blogging again, did you?

Ha!

Who knew I had enough pent-up blogging stories for approximately 27,000 posts in one day? But here I am. And here you are, my phantom audience, reading away. You know, feel FREE to comment on any/all of these posts. I know there are plenty o' lurkers out there...so drop me a quick note of hello. Or ask me a question--that's one sure way to keep me blogging!

Anywho, my final (I think) post for today is a bit of a "State of the Surgery" Update.
It's been almost 16 months since I had surgery, and here's how I feel.

I'm normal (actually, I was going to say I'm "back to normal", but I wasn't ever normal before, so I'm just plain normal now). What does this mean? I'm not eating teeny-tiny portions, I'm not obsessed on a minute-to-minute basis about food and my bodies reaction to it. I'm normal.

Eating-wise, I eat smaller portions than I used to, especially of meat proteins, but other than that, I eat pretty "normally" as well. I don't have to avoid any certain types of proteins, carbs, fruits, or veggies. And, I can eat things with sugar or fat in them, at least in moderation (anything more than a bit and I'm guaranteed to spend some time in the near future on the commode, if you get my meaning). Overall, I'd say I make pretty healthy choices, although I do indulge a bit too much in my "ice cream" tooth (SF or LF ice cream bars, like Skinny Cows--delish!) and my snacky tooth (I can't tell if those 100 calorie packs are the most amazing thing ever or just an easier way for me to indulge in "just a few" chips or cookies or what have you).

Clothing-wise, it's been pretty awesome. I was in 28's and 30's at the start of this journey and even last fall, I was wearing 2X clothes. Now, I'm in size M/L/12/14 tops and size L/14/16 bottoms--even pants! I bought a pair of fall pants at teh Gap yesterday in a size 14, which was a new first for me! I know that if I can lose another 10-20 pounds, I'll be solidly in the "regular" clothing stores, as there are plenty of stores that don't carry above size 12 or 14. My ultimate goal would be to be a S/M wearing size 8 clothes (that way I could share some clothing with my very fashion foward best friend!).

Exercise-wise, I've been slacking. I peaked a while back when I was doing fit club 1.0 in february and march and then training for the marathon in the early summer. The heat, the cost of the gym, my increasing work schedule (not that this is anything new, so I shouldn't even mention it here), and my knee injury have all contributed to my utter lack of physical activity. But, having said that, I'm still WAY more active that I used to be...I walk to work every day, I routinely take the stairs instead of the elevator, and am not afraid to move it or shake it--I did a crazy karate chop jump around my classroom last week that I would never have done pre-surgery. (I still looked completely retarded, I'm sure...) I'm still committed to running the Marine Corps Marathon, but I'll probably run the 1/2 marathon course instead. I'm also starting fit club back up (see the last post for more info), which will definitely get my competative juices flowing re: exercise.

Socially, the surgery has made a big difference. While I was never a shrinking violet (just ask my dad), I was always aware of how I presented myself to others and avoided situations where I would not have the (at least mental) upper hand. Now, I think I'm much more confident and more willing to interact with strangers. I've even been on a couple of dates, which is a new and exciting adventure.* Overall, I'm a happier, healthier person than I was before.

Anything else you'd like to know? Now's your chance to ask!**


*I could probably start a whole separate blog about post-op dating, but my Dad is already such a stalker that I think I'll keep all those stories to myself (and, of course, my "real life" friends). But, Papi, I promise, it's no big whoop. I'll tell you if something serious happens on that front, I swear. And, yes, I'm being smart. And aware of the world around me. And, yes, I know you preemptively hate everyone I've ever considered dating. I know you'd like to kick their butts. Just keep reminding yourself that you raised an amazingly intelligent child who is now a GROWN ADULT and can handle herself. (Plus I have some great friends here who have my back). Ok? Love you first and best, Papi.

**No, Dad, you can't ask about the dates. Nope. Not gonna happen. :) But I still love you.

It's Coming...

Are you ready??

Email me back now if you are interested in signing up for Fit Club 2.0.
It's bigger.
It's badder.
It's better.

You WILL get fit.

Join now.
Or prepare to be ridiculed mercilessly for the next two months by people stronger, healthier, and happier than you.

You've been warned.


Although the official rules will be given out to interested parties shortly (and before they sign on the dotted line), you should know the following:
*Initial pay-in will be $25 per person.
*You will need a partner to win prize money, but you can sign up solo and be assigned a partner or sign up solo and participate for the fun (and fit) of it, not for the glory of winning.
*Fit Club is open to all interested DC metro area folks (because of some of the anticipated challenges, I am restricting membership into this fit club geographically--sorry!).

RSVP your interest to Jem at jemwelsh AT gmail.com by Friday, September 22nd.

The one in which I avoid spending $500 in order to spend $6,000.

So, I'm not getting that tattoo. (the $500 expense) For now.

Because, after talking to my surgeon and nurse and family and friends, I've decided to get a tummy tuck (the $6,000 expense)! I've got a date already -- November 21st, 2006.

Here's a bit of the backstory on my decision. A plastic surgeon came to our post-op support group meeting a few months back and talked to us about our different plastic surgery options and his recommendations about when we pursue plastic surgery.

At that meeting, I happened to be in the back of the room when one of the senior hospital adminstrators was talking to my surgeon's nurse/office manager about how the hospital fees for plastic surgery are really off-wack, to the point the hospital routinely writes off thousands of dollars for every plastic surgery case that goes through the hospital. In layman's terms, this means the hospital charges too little money to it's plastic surgery patients--get it while it's hot! Instead of the $3-$5k that hospitals routinely charge, my hospital charges $1500 for plastic surgery, which means once you pay the cost of the anesctesngaolist (I'm not even gonna try to spell it right) and the surgeon, the cost of a tummy tuck at my hospital is only $6k!

And, my surgeon will do the tummy tuck instead of a plastic surgeon, which to me is great for several reasons. 1) He's an amazing and talented doctor and has done a bunch of post-op TT's, so I feel very comfortable in his care. 2) He is a very anal-retentive stitcher, which means my *huge* TT scar will be as close to perfect as is possible.

And, well, take a look at the results. (Click if you wanna, but be warned, there is nekkid flesh involved, and it ain't all pretty). This is a patient of a different surgeon who was 5'8" and 186 lbs at surgery and had lost 130 pounds. They also show photos of her 9 months later--what a difference!!

So why am I doing it? First, because although I'm young and my skin has bounced back well, it is still quite flappy and floppy. This was never clearer than when I was in Antigua swimming in the ocean and my upper arms and thighs were actually rippling as I swam (which feels so *gross*) and my tummy actually floated above the rest of my body--ew! And, as you can see, it isn't just my tummy I have issues with; if I were given a American Express Black card, I'd go all in --arms, thighs, butt, breasts, tummy, and a little lipo/tightening under my chin as well. But, my tummy* bothers me the most, and for two reasons. 1) I hate the ugly pooch. Every single pair of pants and every single skirt must a)be fitted in such a way to accomodate a double handleful of flubber right at the waist, which means that all the pants and skirts I get that are form-fitting show off this lovely bump of flesh. Which isn't at all lovely. 2) I hate the lack of belly button. I have an upper fold of extra skin that isn't all that large, but does two majorly sucky things. A) it completely hides my belly button, turning it from an cute little button to a large, stupid looking crevasse (see the before pictures here if you don't believe me. After losing 145+ pounds, I deserve a cute button-shaped belly button, ya know? B) That roll of skin completely ruins the line of any form-fitting shirts I wear, making me look fatter than I am. There isn't a lot of fat there, but just a saggy roll of skin that bugs the piss out of me.

When I was still deciding whether or not to go for it, I talked to my friend at length about two issues (have you noticed I ALWAYS have at least TWO things to say on any subject?? I'm obsessed with evenness, I think). Issue #1: What happens after this surgery? Do I just change obsessions from my stomach to my thighs, or arms, or butt, or chin, never, ever feeling satisfied about my body and always finding an avenue of self-loathing? and Issue #2: What happens when I do have kids and I get saggy mommy tummy? Am I wasting $6k now on some short-term "solution"?

For issue #1, I cannot obviously really know how I'll feel after surgery about the rest of my body...I mean I certainly spend a bit of time now trying to minimize the thigh and arm flab. But, I truly am not as bothered by those other issues as I am about my tummy. I mean, as we speak, I'm wearing a sleeveless shirt. I know my arms don't look fabulous in them, but it doesn't prevent me from wearing the shirt, Whereas I constantly look to hide the rolls in my tummy in all my clothing purchases.
So, even if I decide to get more plastic surgery later, I think the TT is well-spent money on fixing a big body-image issue I have. I'll just have to watch out so I don't get so obsessed with having a "perfect" look that I stop seeing the good things about myself and my body.

For issue #2, my friend did the best job of summing it up for me. She said, so what if you have kids and end up with mommy belly? Then you'll be the normal sized girl with a little mommy belly, instead of the former-fat girl with the saggy, floppy belly and mommy belly issues combined. Put it that way, and I can't see how I can pass up the surgery, especially if I'm going to have kids, because who wants to add mommy belly issues on top of saggy flabby belly issues? It's more than I can handle pyschologically, I'm sure!!! :)

So, in a little over two months, I'm going under the knife again. Of course I'm a little nervous (and even more so knowing how much money out of pocket I'm spending). My doctor thinks he'll cut somewhere between 5-8 lbs of loose skin away when he does the surgery. Oh, and I don't think I explained this, but the nurse told me that they'd probably end up stretching my skin even a bit in the back, so I'd want to hold off on getting any lovely tattoos until after surgery.

The doc says I'll need about 4 weeks off work, but I plan on being off for two weeks, and then taking additional time off under advisement. (Since I spend a lot of time just sitting at my desk, I feel like I can either work on my laptop from home or come in to work for a bit once I'm able to sit and move around a bit on my own).

So, in the meantime, I really, really want to re-energize myself to begin losing again. I've done a good job of maintaining my 145 lb weight loss for the past several months, but I want the TT to be the icing on the cake, not another 20 lbs until the end of the race, you know? I know it's ridiculous to think I'll lose 20 lbs in the next two months, but I know that I can make a big dent in that number if I put my mind to it.

Which, is why I'm restarting fit club. Well, Fit Club 2.0! It'll be bigger and better, and most of all, it'll really motivate me to keep my eyes on the prize and keep losing!

Ok, time to publish this one and save the rest of my thoughts for yet ANOTHER post. :)









*Dad, close your eyes. Seriously. You don't need to read this. Ok, but I warned you. Gosh, you are too nosy! :)


My boobs also bother me a lot as well, especially because since I've always been overweight, I've NEVER had the perkiness that other girls are blessed with. But, breast surgery may impact my ability to breast feed, and since I haven't had kids yet, I'd like to keep all my options open until I make a decision. Besides, if I do breast feed, I'd probably want my breasts done after that anyway, so might as well save the $$ money now and do it then.

The one in which I endeavor to get a(nother) tattoo...

So, my original idea for my 30th birthday present to myself (other than having lost close to 150 pounds--which is an amazing present to me every single day) was to get another tattoo. I've wanted this tattoo since I got my first one when I was a young lass of 19, but I never got it. Why? Because I wanted the tattoo on my lower back, but I didn't want to get a tattoo on a fat-rolly back, so I kept waiting until I lost weight.

Although I'm not all the way to goal, I thought my 30th birthday was the perfect time to commemorate my weight loss and reward myself in a very permanent way. So, a few weeks before I turned 30, I went to the tattoo parlor and commissioned one of the tattooists there to create my tattoo.

I even made an appointment to get it done and everything. As you know from my photos below, I ended up spending my birthday in Antigua (btw, it's pronounced Ann-tee-GAH, not Ann-tee-GWAH). But that isn't the reason I didn't get this tattoo....

The real reason? Because my back still isn't ready for permanent artwork to be laid on it. Why, you ask? Dun-dun-dun...Wait for the NEXT post! (ha! I'm back and I'm already creating suspense!)

Hello Again!

Wow. I had no idea it'd been two months since I last posted. Whoops. Sorry about that!

On the scale front, not much has changed in the last two months. I've had a low of 182 and a high of 190, but I hover around 184-185 most days. Because I'd still like to get down to 165, a 'normal' BMI for my height, I've got at least 20 pounds to go. (As you can see from my sidebar, I'd really like to get down to 150, which means I have 35 pounds to go).

And, before I get all blathery about my updates, let me give the quick update on my dad. He had surgery the end of February, so he's been out about 7 months and is down 115 pounds!! He's about 10 pounds from his goal weight, which is AWESOME. I'm so happy/jealous of him!

On the left, is my dad at my bro's rehearsal dinner two years ago. On the right is dad on father's day this year.
WOWZA! :)

And, just for fun, this is me and my papi.

As you can see, we both have issues keeping our eyes open for the photographer. :)


Speaking of photos, here's a few more for you.

This is me, my bro, and my sis-in-law when they came to visit me during Labor Day. It's funny, because me and my brother have NEVER looked like siblings, but when he was here, so many people who met him commented on how much we looked alike (especially the eyes and mouth, they said). I think it's a bit surreal because he's always been the hunky one in the family (not that I'm *hunky*, because that's strictly a guy term, but you know what I mean).


Me on my big 3-0 birthday...my best friend bought me "Dirty 30" pills. Doesn't she know I take enough vitamins already? :)


Directly after my birthday (literally, three hours after I left the restaurant where my friends and I went to celebrate), I flew to Antigua for five days of relaxation in the sun. My friend Hannah and I did NOTHING but read books and lay on the beach for five days straight. It was *awesome.*

And, apropos to nothing, here's a funny picture of my cat:

His name is Bantam (which is an anagram of my fav. superhero...) and he loves climbing and exploring. I caught him trying to "lounge" in this teeny tiny shelf in the cabinet above my toilet. But, isn't he cute?? :)

I have more news to tell, but just for fun, I'm gonna split it up into more than one post. Check back soon, because I'm back! :)

I'm not dead, I swear!

Thanks to Jan and my Dad for hounding me to get back to the blogging. When I say the last few weeks have been busy, I truly mean it!

We just started a new benefits systems at work where we have to track our hours to get comp time. This week (starting Sunday), I've worked 81 hours! That's a:
14 hour Sunday
14 hour Monday
19 hour Tuesday
15 hour Wednesday
12 hour Thursday
7 hour Friday (what a slacker, eh?)

So that's pretty much where I've been--at work.

Also, my 17 year old cousin moved in with me for the summer two weeks ago, which has taken up what little free time I do have. He was driving his mom crazy, so I offered to take him for the summer, but now he's driving me crazy.

He's a good kid, but just sooo lippy. We got into an argument today about bird poop. Bird Poop, people! I ask you, how do you work up the strength to argue about bird poop? My only serenity is to remind myself that he's a teenager and they just aren't wired right, so patience, patience, and more patience is the key. But BIRD POOP???!? Honestly!

On the marathon training front, I've been sidelined since last week Tuesday due to a knee issue--my knee was super swollen and my Dr made me go get an x-ray before I could run anymore. The x-ray came back negative (the swelling was due to "overuse" which is doctor speak for stop training so hard), but by the time I got that news this Tuesday, I haven't had a free moment to start back up. Jacky and I have plans to run Sunday morning (I'm taking the cuz to NYC tomorrow), so we'll see how painful (both mentally and physically) it is.

Eating-wise, I've not been doing so good. I have three big issues:
1) Cousin is a teenage boy, which means all he does is eat, watch TV, complain, and eat. So, if I go into the kitchen even 1/2 the number of times he does, I'm going to have a problem. Luckily, I noticed this on the 3rd or 4th day he was here, so have caught myself before I follow him in to ask myself if I'm really that hungry or just projecting because he's eating, I want to be eating.

2) Cousin is disrupting the routine--both in terms of how I eat/exercise/live, but also adding stress to my day, both of which have me comfort/stress eating, if I'm not careful.

3) Long freaking hours. When I'm at work until 10pm, 11pm, 12am, 1am at night, I DESERVE whatever food I can find because I'm working so hard. I need to have more good snacks kept stocked in the office fridge to combat this.

That said, my weight has pretty much stayed the same. I was down to 188.2 at WW, and I weighed in at home at 187-188 this morning, so at least my food issues don't have me GAINING weight. But, they are certainly not helping me lose the final 20-40 pounds I'd like to lose. Once I get back on track for my marathon training, I think it'll help me do better with eating too (since exercise is a good stress reliever in addition to a great way to burn calories).

I need to post pics of the 10k I did last month (I ran another one at the beginning of July and shaved 3 minutes off my time!).

Ok, the cuz is about to come harrass me to leave the office, so I'd better sign off for now.

I promise I'll try to update more often, m'kay? Have a great weekend!!

Tumor Cure in 72 easy steps.

Before I tell you how I cured my tumor, let me tell you about my weigh in on Thursday. The last two weeks have been pretty crap for me, in terms of both diet and exercise. I stopped writing things down, I ate ice cream (diet ice cream, but still) bars for dinner, and I only ran three times in the last two weeks. The scale wasn't budging (surprise?) and it just felt like, well, I'M not going to do everything right if the scale won't move. (Let me say that it is tough to negotiate with inanimate objects).

So, Thursday morning before I went for my 5 mile prep run (my third run in two weeks, and in anticipation of a 6.2 mile run I'm doing TOMORROW!), I stepped on the scale so I wouldn't be disappointed when the scale at WW read the same as two weeks ago or even had me gain a little. And, I'd dropped to 184!

I was happy, but I didn't trust that number, so I was still holding my breath when I stepped on the scales at WW at lunch on Thursday. They weighed me in at 190.4, a 3.6 LOSS from two weeks ago!!

People, do you realize this means that I only have 25 pounds to lose to be at a "normal" BMI?????

How sweet is that!

***********************************************

How to Cure Tumors is 72 Easy Steps.

1. Get your one year lab work drawn by a lab tech who has to look up how to draw blood in a book, asks the neighboring lab tech about how to avoid sticking yourself with a used needle, is wearing extra large rubber gloves because the lab is out of smalls, and must draw THIRTEEN vials of blood, because the lab is also out of regular sized vials, so they are using preemie vials (small, small tubes, anyway).

2. Go to your one year check up appointment. Get the all clear (and an 'official' 135 pound weight loss), but learn they haven't recieved the labs yet.

3. Forget about labs.

4. Remember labs, but forget to call the Doctor's office.

5. Remember labs, remember to call Doctor's office, but forget they are closed on Thursdays.

6. Leave a message with the service.

7. Remember that you've never had anyone return your call EVER when you leave a message with the service, even when you were having kidney stones and were sure you were dying and ending up going into the emergency room.

8. Wait until Friday, when doctor's office is open.

9. Remind yourself to call doctor's office when you wake up.

10. Forget that you reminded yourself.

11. Read a WLS blog and remember!

12. Call your doctor.

13. Get put on hold.

14. Give them your fax number.

15. Forget to pick up the fax.

16. Have a coworker bring you the fax that has been languishing at the fax machine.

17. Read the fax.

18. Google labresults.com so you understand what the heck the fax is saying.

19. Get to last page of fax.

20. See that something labeled PTH, Intact is flagged as HIGH.

21. Google PTH.

22. Learn it stands for Parathyroid Hormone, which regulates the calcium in your body.

23. Learn that you must read PTH with Calcium levels.

24. Frantically flip through fax looking for calcium levels.

25. Calcium levels are normal.

26. Read if calcium levels are normal, but PTH is elevated, you probably have a TUMOR of the parathyroid gland.

27. FREAK OUT.

28. Google PTH and read about hyperparathyroidism (elevated PTH levels) on:

29. National Institutes of Health

30. Web MD

31. Renal FAILURE web site??!?

32. Labresults.com

33. Wikipedia.

34. Continue to freak out.

35. Call Dr's office.

36. Get Machine.

37. Hang Up.

38. One Minute Later. Redial. Machine. Hangup.

39. Wait two minutes. Redial. Machine. Hangup.

40. Read more websites.

41. Tell your coworker you can't talk right now because you have a TUMOR and your doctor won't answer the phone.

42. Call your dad.

43. Tell Dad to tell you to calm down.

44. Tell Dad you have a tumor.

45. Scowl at phone with Dad laughing.

46. Listen to Dad ask if you've left a message for Dr.

47. Reply with emphatic No. You want to talk to Dr. NOW, not leave stupid message. You have a TUMOR.

48. Dad puts you on hold. ON HOLD. YOU! With a TUMOR.

49. Dad takes you off hold. Tells you to call Dr. and leave a message.

50. Hang up with Dad.

51. Call Dr.

52. Dr.'s office answers!

53. BUT, everyone is with patients. Would you like to leave a message?

54. Think NO. Say yes.

55. Get put on hold.

56. Start giving a message. Message includes name, phone number, and how someone MUST call me today to tell me to stop "freaking out" about elevated PTH levels and tumor.

57. Get put on hold.

58. Dr. answers phone.

59. Tell Dr. you have elevated PTH and therefore a tumor.

60. Have Dr. tell you that you are a crazy loony-tunes. PTH level only a "little" elevated. Calcium level fine, so nothing to worry about.

61. Ask how certain I don't have to worry? Am already worried. Googled tumor.

62. Have Dr. say 100% certain. If two tests come back with high PTH, maybe worry. One test, don't worry.

63. Ask him if he's sure.

64. Hear him sigh (and feel him silently thank god that it is Friday).

65. He's VERY SURE. Everything is Ok.

66. Ask what I should do now. To mitigate tumor.

67. He says, there is no tumor. Do nothing. Keep following plan.

68. Say ok, sigh, thank him (in a rather tumor-free chipper voice). Hang up.

69. Call Dad back.

70. Tell him you've been cured of tumor.

71. Tell coworkers you had a tumor for a half hour, but everything is ok now.

72. Publish tumor cure on internet.

And, that, kids, is how it is done. :)

OK! I'll Update! Dang!

(I'll pretend you are all anxiously awaiting the new hair cut pics like my dad is.)






"Hi. I like fake smiling at myself."


"Take the flipping picture, Self. Take the picture!" (Don't I look good flaring my nostrils?)


Jem does Aeon Flux. :)

For the record, work is ridiculous right now--we are doing a huge reorg, so that it a big time-suck. And, I'm running a 10K on Saturday, so wish me luck.

And, for the record again, I would update more if someone OTHER than my dad were asking me about my blog. I know that you all are reading it, you readers, you. Feel free to say hello or hi or hola or whatever.

And, and, I will be happy to answer any questions you may have, WLS related or not, provided that they are not too stalkerish. So, use the comments thingy.

TAYL (Talk at you later!)

Graduation Time

It's been a week, ya'll. This is a quicky, because I need to get out of the office and into the real world, but I thought I'd shoot out a quick update.

Before surgery, I was addicted to before and afters. Photos, Blogs, TV Shows, Magazines...if they are doing something with a 'before' and an 'after,' I am there. It's almost surreal when you have your own befores and afters. After all, who knows you better than you know you, but then there you are changing and changing and it takes a photo to really be able to see the difference. Last year, about a week after my surgery, I went to one of my student/mentee's graduation. Of course, I took a photo of us together.



Last night, I went to another student/mentee's graduation. And, of course, I took a photo of us together there too. (Ignore the date on this photo--I promise it was yesterday!)


Today, when I was uploading yesterday's photos to my computer, I thought to look up last years graduation photo. It's so hard to believe that I EVER looked like that. And that I looked like that just a year ago. And I'd been living like that for years and years.

When the going gets rough, and it does (and it is now--I am really struggling to make myself make good choices with both food and exercise), it is helpful to remember HOW far I've come and how devestating it would be to go back to that place. It's good motivation to keep working at it.

Have a good weekend! I'm going to get my hair cut and colored tomorrow, so I'm sure I'll have some excellent before/after shots of my new haircut on Monday. :)

Jem

I rule!

This morning, I got up at 6:30am and ran 9.75 miles in 2 hours (12:30 min/mile average). Then I walked 3 miles back home.

I rule. :)

That is all.

No PR0N here.

My dad took one look at the pictures below and stated that I have now put p0rn on my website, because "That isn't a shirt--that's underwear!" When I explained the existence and proliferation of the "tank top," his reply? "I'm the Dad." 'Nuff said, apparently! :)

Speaking of Dad, he's down 83 pounds, and it's been just under 3 months since he had surgery. That's practically a pound a day, which is just awesome and a little maddening how quickly he's losing. He just joined a gym, so I bet he'll keep chalking up some big losses this next month. He's only got 62 more pounds until he hits goal--and I bet he'll be pretty darn close by the time six months have passed for him. Wow. That is just amazing--already over 50% there (57%!!)!

I had my weigh in today at Weight Watchers, and I would say I was disappointed with my .4 loss, but I really think that is all the effort I put in this week. I missed my workouts on Friday, Saturday, Monday, and today (I try to run the morning of my weigh in--I'll go to the gym still tonight). And, I didn't make very good food choices while in Atlanta or when I came back home for that matter. It's interesting--I lost my "QuikTrak" (aka food journal) last week, and I just didn't write down my exercise or food for the week because of it (as if there was a paper shortage and NOTHING. ELSE. WOULD. WORK. to journal my food!). I have a new QuikTrak for this week, and I intend to use it faithfully. I am 30 pounds (by WW's scales) from my first goal score of being at a normal BMI. I want the vast majority, if not all of those pounds to be gone, gone, gone by my birthday, which is just 11 weeks away. That's an aggressive goal, but why not be aggressive, so long as I approach my diet and exercise regime with the same aggressiveness?

For the Moses Challenge:
My penalty for not meeting my goals this week: No ice cream (that is a serious motivator!)
My reward: I think I'll treat myself to a bit of tanning--my legs are whiter than white and I have some weird tan lines from running in the sun last weekend.

Tomorrow, I have my one year appointment with Dr. Harrington. I did my blood work earlier this week and I hope he has it back to show me tomorrow. I weighed in at 200.5 there two months ago, so I hope the scale is kind to me this time. Although now that I'm looking at this, that's really only about 6.5 pounds in 8 weeks--ugh. But, I've definitely gained a lot of muscle since then due to my marathon training--I've gone down a size from 16/18 to 14/16 since then too, so I am going in the right direction. Still, it makes me wish I had been even more exercise pro-active while I was going through the rapid weight loss because it would have been great to be 20 pounds lighter now!

Ok, I need to get off to the gym and start my new week off with a good, clean four mile run. See ya!