Who Am I?

I'd like to draw everyone's attention to the following quote from my Urban Hiking post: 

"One thing that I think I will always struggle with is exercise.  It's just not something that I enjoy.  Most exercises tend to make me look and feel ridiculous, and I just can't get down with the whole "being sore the day(s) afterwards" thing.  Yeah, all told, you're more likely to see a dog walk on its hind legs than catch me at a traditional gym."

Well, the circus must be in town.  Because this happened:

I can't even believe I am posting this.

Or this. 

Or this.

Yes, friends: this blogger is officially the newest member of the St. Charles Avenue Athletic Club.

Me.

It was necessary.  Urban Hiking is awesome and everything, but the days are getting shorter and with the end of daylight saving's time in sight, there's simply no way that I can walk as much as I need to after work.  New Orleans ain't Mayberry and I have absolutely no interest in being mugged/raped/runover-by-a-car-that-can't-see-me in the name of fitness.

Now that I've taken this final step and joined a gym, I think I have become a bona fide WOP.

I've got an arsenal of dry-fit workout gear and running/walking shorts.  I've even acquired some fancy new gear to carry around the bare-necessities (much more practical and comfortable than carrying a wristlet.

WOPgear is insanely expensive.  But THIS purchase was totally worth it. This was my 10 pound Carrot.

I love this water bottle iPhone thingy. I can even use the phone without taking it out of the case because the clear window is all tech-fancy.

I am signed up for a third 5k three weeks from now.

I exercise at least an hour a day almost every day. I try to workout for 2 hours each day on the weekends.   And I actually like it.   I can't even believe I am writing this.

Now, working out at the gym is definitely going to take some getting used to.  It's not nearly as interesting as taking long walks around the beautiful city of New Orleans.  On my outdoor walks I pass the time by counting lizards, and checking out real estate, and trying to find cats, and counting the number of times someone honks at me (which has been increasing as my waistline shrinks).

At the gym, I am much more keenly aware of how long the workout is taking because the timer on the machine just stares you in the face.   I think if this new gym thing is going to "workout" (ha!), I will have to start bringing an iPad so I can watch Netflix or something. (I seriously wonder how people could stand losing weight before the advent of all this technology.  It just makes it so much easier).

The hard work is definitely paying off.  Just 1 day after the Week 7 Progress Report fiasco, I dropped 2 pounds and have been steady at 147.0 for two days now.

Who am I!?!?!





I'm shrinking!     And it's awesome.

Lady Justice Wept Today

So....remember back when I decided that instead of letting little daily fluctuations bother me, I would only focus on weekly weigh-in's to ensure that I was still making progress? 

Yeah, screw that noise.   Life was all sunshine and rainbows back then.  Things are different now.

In case you missed it, today's Weekly Progress Report was a complete and utter failure with a weekly net gain of 0.2 pounds. 

I know that might seem like a trivial gain, but when you're supposed to be actively losing weight and not simply maintaining weight, a weekly gain however small is a big problem.  I even got down to a low of 148.2 by Monday....so this is almost a full pound of backtracking.   

I can handle an upward fluctuation following a naughty day, but I have been steadfast in my adherence to the plan.  I even went to the WOP store to get more gear (twice!) because I have been working out almost every single day for at least an hour. 

Plus, what the fuck, scale?    This was supposed to be my big week.   On the blogiversary I got all vulnerable and all "oh, can I actually do this?" with the big doe eyes......what's supposed to happen next is a groundbreakingly awesome weigh-in in which I prove to the world (and, thereby, to myself) that YES I CAN. 

THAT'S THE MOTHERF*****G TROPE!     You're officially off-script, scale.   Instead of the heartwarmingly inspirational moment that we've all been waiting for, we get this epic fail. 

To anthropomorphize this experience, my blog is the dude on the tire swing. 

I get that the scales of justice are supposed to be blind......but Lady Justice wept today.

Week 7 "Progress"/WTF Report

WEIGHT: 149.0

WEEKLY NET CHANGE: +0.2 lbs. 

What. The. Fuck. 

WHAT. THE. FUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCKKKK?!?!

What the actual fuck is going on here?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

I was sticking to the plan.  Could "the plan" for once stick to me!??!?!???!

I just.  I don't even.


 

Blogiversary

It has been 1 year since I began this blog. It's a pretty bittersweet milestone.

I'll begin with the good things:

1) I'm 13.8 pounds lighter than I was on this date last year.

2) I'm six weeks into the blog this time around and still going strong.  It was about this point last time that I ended up sliding back into my old ways.  Fortunately, the Big Carrot--a Broadway-filled weekend in NYC--is making this a lot easier to stick to long-term.

3) WOP culture is really, really growing on me. I actually love my long, weekend workouts. I'm not as big a fan of working out in the evenings after work.....I tend to do it more begrudgingly than anything else...but I do it because it is clearly working and it allows me to eat more. Win-win.

So those are the good things. But as happy as I am to report the good, I'm equally upset with myself over the bad.

For starters, there's the obvious fact that I never reached my goal to get to 130 before giving up and quickly gaining almost every pound back.  This is dually upsetting because it not only means that I failed in the past, but also, to quote a friend, "it scares the crap out of me" because it makes me so afraid of making the same mistakes in the future. 

I do not want to write shame-post number three. I don't want a two-year blogiversary where I celebrate losing the same 13 pounds again and again. I don't want to be the girl who yo-yo diets. I don't want that for myself. 

What happens after I reach my goal--IF I reach it--and the blog is over? 

What? 

I honestly don't know. 

I have been very self-aware of my past mistakes this time around and I am hoping to learn from them. I hope that my new focus on exercise and being less strict with myself about each and every little calorie will make the difference, but I would be a huge liar if I didn't say that I worry about the future of my waistline every single day. 

For now, I will try not to borrow trouble and just focus on the task at hand: get through the day without getting fatter. Then I'll do the same tomorrow. And the day after that. And, hopefully, I'll have the will to do it long enough that it just becomes second nature. 

That's what I want for myself. 

Happy Blogiversary.

Breakthrough

Hello friends!

Today, I am blogging from my home away from home: Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Beautiful town! Full of boudin balls, cracklins, and greasy looking people!

I come here pretty frequently for work--at least once a month and sometimes more.  The town has a pretty sweet hotel/casino/golf course thing going on, but otherwise, I am not sure why anyone would voluntarily vacation here.

All trash talking aside though, during one of my past work-travels to Lake Chuck, I discovered what may be my favorite food of all time: truffle mac n' cheese.  Specifically, the truffle mac n' cheese at Restaurant Ember at the L'auberge Du Lac Hotel and Casino Resort. 

This shit is like crack for fat girls.

This kid is my spirit animal.

Pre-diet blog, anytime I would come here for work, I would get myself, among other treats, a truffle mac n' cheese for dinner and then a second one to take to-go back to NOLA.

I know.

I'm awful.

So yesterday when I realized that my work would be taking me back to L'auberge for the first time since starting the blog, I entered into this strange depression/guilt/rationalization spiral that continued for the better part of the three hour drive to get here.

At first I was like, "Lake Charles!  My favorite mac n' cheese!"

And then I realized, "Oh wait a sec......I am back on a diet.  Motherf*cker!"

 

And then I was like, "Oh my god......I can't believe this part of my life is over. NO truffle mac?  Like....ever?!?"

But then I had an epiphany!   What if, instead of considering the mac n' cheese "cheating,"  I eat the mac n' cheese for dinner, cut back on lunch, exercise a little more this weekend, enjoy myself every once in a while, and just don't make a habit out of always eating the bad stuff?



I think they call this a mother*cking lifestyle change, playas!  

So by my calculations, I should be allowed to have another treat in about 2.5 weeks' time which coincides perfectly with a certain blogger's birthday. =)

Until next time!

Week 6 Progress Report

WEIGHT: 148.8

WEEKLY NET CHANGE: -2.4 lbs

TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS SO FAR: 11.8 pounds

Yippie! Hooray! Boom!

Cheater.

Well. I did it.

I cheated. 

For the first time in 5 weeks, I ditched my little Fitness Pal and just consumed. It was awful. I feel so incredibly guilty. 

And what was this food that was so tempting?  What tasty morsel could have been so appealing that it overcame my iron will?  Filet mignion? Fettuccini Alfredo? Buffalo chicken? 

No. No. And no.

Fucking Pizza Rolls.  PIZZA ROLLS.  

They are disgusting!!! What was I thinking!?  If I am gonna go off the wagon it should AT LEAST be for something that contains more natural ingredients than man-made ones. 

Now I am doubly upset: upset that I caved to temptation and upset that I didn't at least use the opportunity to eat something I actually love.

Grr.

The good news is that I DID walk over 8 miles yesterday and my weight remains stable at 149.4 for now.

I will now go walk 10 miles and jump right back on the wagon. 

Pizza rolls. 

Really.