In the thick of it...

Hello.

Yesterday was Weigh-More Wednesday again. I'm really glad I understand the cause (my routine being disrupted by working two jobs the day before) and realize that as long as I stay on track, things will settle back to where they were. Yesterday had some serious challenges... the "old me" would have said f*ck it and hit up coffee shops for cookies and drive thrus for french fries and donuts (yes, I really would do all of that... back to back). But thanks to Seetha's plan I was still angry, but did not feed my feelings. Huge progress.

 Let's get the negative stuff out of the way first. The morning started off with a doozy of a fight between Andy and I over taking the garbage to the curb - we've worked out a lot of the chores, but taking out the garbage on Tuesday night (and doing the dishes by hand) are new obstacles we were presented with in the new place. I'm sure we'll figure it out (or have a house full of garbage), but let's just say... being angry was the last way I was hoping to leave the house.

Now remember that luncheon I had to go to - and speak at? Well I spoke. At about 10,000 miles a minute. I could feel myself talking SO fast but just couldn't slow down. It was awful. When I sat down I felt so embarrassed. I wish I had been given more than 24 hours notice so I could prepare a bit better. Next year I will just plan on speaking so I can prepare and practice, regardless of whether or not they need me.

The luncheon ended... back to Job #1. I get an email from my doctor that he has an online message for me. I go to my online account for my doctor's office... flu shots are available. Ok, who cares. But for whatever reason I decided to click through some of the other tabs just to see what was there. That's when I learned... I had been sent to collections. For a bill I ALREADY PAID! Back in May they sent the bill, I filled it out, sent it back... then I got the same bill in June! So I called - apparently they couldn't read my writing (total crap because I have very good handwritting), so they couldn't charge it through. THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU CALL?? So, I gave my card number over the phone, paid it then and there, she said I was good to go. Great! NOPE! According to my online account the bill was never paid and I was sent to collections. You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding. Me. I called, left the world's nastiest voicemail ever. Never got a call back.

Ok that is all for the negative part of this post.

I quickly ran home after work because I got notification that my Stitch Fix had been delivered. Anna got a Stitch Fix awhile ago and it looked so cool, I wanted to try it too. Basically you answer a gajillion questions and then someone goes shopping for you. Five items get mailed to you, you decide if you want to keep any of them, pay for the ones you want, and send the others back in a prepaid postage bag that they provide for you. Pretty cool!

Hello Stitch Fix!

"My Stylist" - so fancy

Floral Blouse

Sheer burgundy shirt - I like the cuff detail

Blazer - matches the floral blouse!

Navy Cardigan - Have seen DOC wear this!!! (Duchess of Cambridge)

Color block dress

I requested clothes to wear to the office and also something to wear to Sheena's rehearsal dinner. I think they did a really good job of picking pieces I like, while pushing my comfort zone slightly with colors I don't normally wear. Of course wouldn't you know... they all fit... and look good! Good for me, not good for my wallet. I have two days to decide what to do!

My Stitch Fix package definitely boosted my mood, but the best part of my day by far was dinner with the girls.

Anna, Rose, and Lisa

We had a healthy Seetha-approved dinner at Aladdin's. It was tasty! We stayed for over 2 hours catching up, venting, laughing... it was a good time. :-)

Ok, that was Wednesday. Now it's Thursday.

The morning started with more fighting with Andy (we never resolved things), but I think we're ready to move on now. I certainly am. I'm too busy to be stressed by that too.

Then I had to sit at rehearsal out at a high school, where one of the high school chorus members passed out. Whoops! It's actually pretty common, but I still felt bad for the kid. I didn't even realize at the time but Lisa pointed out that one of the chorus members was Sunny, one of the child contestants from the Biggest Loser! I'll be sure to look for her tonight!

This morning's rehearsal

That brings us to the present time. I'm currently at the office trying to calm down because some deranged lunatic just sent me one of the nastiest emails I've gotten in a long time. And now I have three hours until I have to be at the concert. Today's a long day, better than yesterday, but still a little frustrating. I can tell what I really need to do is exercise... help get some of my frustration out of my system, but there just isn't going to be time for much. I'll be so glad when this week is over.

Oh one last thing - I got a call from my Doctor's Office today. There was a mistake on their end (no... really?!?). I am all paid in full, and I was never sent to collections. Idiots. But I am relieved that I don't have to deal with that anymore. *deep breath*

Busy Week Ahead

Hi friends! I typed up my weekend update yesterday, but forgot to actually post it! That means for most of you, you will be seeing two new posts at once. Lucky you.

This week is insanely busy. Today (Tuesday) I work both jobs (as always), but additionally while I'm at Job #1 I have to chair the Education Committee Meeting. I present at this meeting all the time, but our board chair is out recovering from knee surgery (gee... I know what that's like!) so he asked me to run the meeting in his place. Yippee... So that's what's on the agenda today.

Wednesday I have a luncheon for Job #1 - and I also just found out today I am speaking at it, so now I've got to prepare that. I also have a meeting with a rental company to look at their chairs and get a quote for the wedding ceremony. And dinner with Anna and Lisa!

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday are our Around the Town Concerts so I will be having concert duty all three nights. And Sunday is an orKIDStra concert, so I'll be working that too, in addition to magically creating all of the pre-concert activities for that day before that day actually comes. Yikes...

So all of that basically means Monday (yesterday) was my only normal day for the rest of the week. As always I started bright and early with a training session with Sarah and Vinny. Anna - we miss you!!! Vinny mixed things up and had us do most of our exercises either using a duffle bag full of sand (very heavy) or giant ropes.

Duffle Bag of Death

Sarah the rope master

It was a very good/challenging workout and I am SORE today. I will also add here that I told Andy all about training last night and showed him these pictures - he made some serious fun of how I look in the duffle bag picture. What a gentleman. ;-)

After training it was time for Job #1, which was fine - nothing to report. I spent the rest of my evening picking up a few extra things at the grocery store, making dinner, sweeping the floors, doing laundry, washing dishes... a very domestic night.

Seetha-approved dinner

And now it's Tuesday. I did a little yoga after I woke up - it was veeeery relaxed and easy though. I'm too sore for anything serious, but I'm glad I at least did something. Now I better sign off and get ready to run my meeting. Wish me luck!

Weekend Update

By now you're probably used to reading my big ol' long "weekend update" posts, so no need for an introduction, let's get right to it!

Friday

After work I went to yoga (two days in a row of going to a yoga class - woohoo!). Then I met Andy, Anna, Lisa, Will, and Matt at Chipotle for dinner. So tasty! Honestly since we've bought our grill and since I've been on Seetha's plan, we've stopped eating out. It felt like a big treat to go to Chipotle, haha. After dinner, Andy and I hit up a frozen yogurt place (eh, it's a Friday night, gotta live it up right?) and then went home with hopes to watch a movie. In the process of trying to download a movie to watch, our cable box freaked out and our entire TV froze. For the record, I cannot think of a business I hate more than Time Warner Cable. I hate you Time Warner Cable!!! I will let you know that it was not until 5:00pm on Saturday, after calling twice, that our cable was fixed and we had our tv working again. Idiots. Ok, so anyway, no tv meant no movie = sat on couch in silence playing on our phones. Pretty lame end to Friday night.

Saturday

The morning started off nice and early with a 5k!! Andy and I ran as part of a team supporting Job #1.

I was the only girl!

Sarah and I switched roles and she came out to cheer me on. :-)

Thanks Cheetah Cheerleader!

Thanks to her, I have action shots!

Hello from the start line!

Andy in action!

RunnerBabs runs again!

All done - tired!

I ran without a watch, so I really had no clue how fast I was going. I tried to keep a pace that felt responsible - didn't want to hurt my knee - but not so easy that it wasn't a decent workout. I finished in 30:29, averaging a 9:50/mile pace. Not too shabby! That is a new post-surgery 5k PR!!! So happy! Once I was done, Andy (who did an awesome job, finishing in 27:09), Sarah, and I hit up the free food table - this race had the best post-race goodies. Then it was rush rush rush to get home, showered, and off to Job #2.

Job #2 was fine. One of my coworkers didn't think a person could fit their head through the laundry shoot. I (sort of) proved her wrong.

My head almost made it all the way out...

After Job #2, I did some grocery shopping, ran a few errands, etc. Then Andy and I headed out to Buffalo - he was playing out there this week, and Saturday night was my last chance to hear his concert.

(I had to be very sneaky to take this picture)

Andy did such a good job - he even got a solo bow! After the concert we went to an Italian restaurant with his parents. It was a little hard to sit there with a bread basket watching all three Brown's eating pizza, but I actually really enjoyed my salad (arugala, beets, prosciutto, goat cheese, and dried cherries). I've been following Seetha's plan for too long to give up now. By the time we drove back it was very late and I was very tired.

Sunday 

Surprisingly I woke up close to my normal wake up time (despite the late night) which meant I was able to make it to yoga with Anna and Lisa! My legs were definitely stiff from the race the day before, so I was glad to work on stretching them out a bit. If you're keeping track, that's 3 yoga classes in 4 days. Alright!

That afternoon Andy went off to play golf so I took the opportunity to hit the mall! My intention was to find jewelry for Sheena's wedding.

Big pearls - check!

I took the picture so I could send it to Sheena for her approval. I'm not so weird that I would just take a random picture of myself at the mall, haha. I might have bought a couple of other things too.... :-) What can I say, it's fun to go shopping when you are feeling better about yourself!

That night Andy and I made dinner at home. The kale salad reappeared, and this time I made sure to take a picture of it.

Kale salad w/apples and walnuts

We also made a mexican chocolate pudding recipe that Anna raved about.

Mostly melted chocolate and silken tofu w/a chili powder kick!

Andy approves

It turned out really well, and was so rich we didn't need much. Thanks Anna for inspiring us to try this!

Ok this is a pretty darn long post so I'll stop here. This week is SUPER busy for me. Hopefully I'll find time to keep you all updated!

Weigh-More Wednesday

Yep. Just like the past two weeks, I got on the scale Wednesday morning and watched the number go up. Thanks to Seetha's advice (take an extra 50 mg of 5-htp before bed and try to sleep longer than usual) I felt much calmer about it. I would almost say it didn't even phase me. Now that's progress!

Wednesday during the day I was at Job #1 - again.... a certain individual's penchant for drama tested my zen mindset. I was so glad to get out of the office once 5:00 rolled around. At home I did a guided meditation to try to get all of their negativity out of my system, and then did two workouts I found on YouTube.

An aside...

I've been enjoying working out at home thanks to some free videos on YouTube. I've grown to like one yoga lady so much that I want to share her with you all. And also the videos I did last night, just because they were quick, easy to do anywhere, and still effective. Score.

This lady is Esther Ekhart. Do a search on YouTube for "Ekhart Yoga" and you'll find all sorts of videos. I really like her accent, lol. I also like that she is not "in your face" and it's not "hardcore" - just simple exercises.

These videos can be found searching YouTube for "Fitness Blender" - there are tons of them. Each one is a series of exercises that you do for roughly 45-50 seconds each with a 10 second break between each one. I like that there is a quick demo of each exercise, it times each interval for you, and the girl on the video does all of the exercises too instead of standing around talking while you are dying.

Ok, back to Wednesday. That night was Job #2's Associate Anniversary Party - you only get invited once you've worked at the club for 5 or more years. Since I just reached my 5 year anniversary, this was the first time I've been allowed to go. We were all presented with a jacket (not exactly the most fashionable but still very thoughtful) and enjoyed a free dinner outside by the pool.

Being recognized for 5 years

I've got my jacket!!

All of the 5+ year front desk associates

Andy was able to come as my 'plus one' to the tail end of the party with just enough time to get a free dinner and beer. Then we took Alyssa out to frozen yogurt as an early birthday celebration (her birthday is on Saturday but she'll be out of town). It was a really fun night!

Now it's Thursday, and.... I WEIGHED EVEN MORE TODAY!!! What gives? I'm still staying calm about it though, despite the fact that some evil person in the office brought in a big plate of delicious looking peanut butter cookies (grrrr, grumble grumble). I'm determined to stick with my plan and get an extra good workout in after work - I even wore my sports bra to the office to make going to the gym that much easier when I get out of here. Hopefully tomorrow the number will be back on its way down down down. I sure hope so at least!

Happy October

It's October 1st!!!! I've been waiting for this day, because I can finally celebrate that I have gone an entire month without measure food, weighing food, calculating calories, binge eating, or eating flour, bread, pasta, torillas, quinoa, oats, etc... basically a whole month starch free (minus beans, corn, and rice...all approved). I never would have thought I could go for a month without doing any of those things. I also never would have thought I could eat without measuring/calculating and still lose weight, but I have! THANK YOU SEETHA!

Of course what did I do in my dream last night? Binged. I ate soooo much stuff in my dream. I woke up kind of panicked, worried I had actually done that the night before, but when I remembered I hadn't I was so relieved! But I do find it interesting... somewhere in my subconscious that desire and/or fear is still there. And honestly, it might be for awhile, or even forever, but at least I'm proving to myself that I can change my habits for the better.

Now that it's October, it's starting to feel more like fall (even though I'm still wearing sandals). The leaves are changing and look very pretty, but I know soon they will all be gone and it will look dead around here for a loooooong time. I'm not as depressed about winter this year though, because I know we have to go through winter to get to the wedding! Each day is one day closer (currently 10 months and 15 days to go, not like I'm counting or anything).

The thing I love most about fall is the food. Last night I made a fall inspired salad that I found on Pinterest, and it turned out really well.

Pic is from Pinterest, but mine looked just as good!

You can find the recipe here if you want to make it yourself. There weren't many ingredients, just kale, apples, walnuts, olive oil, lemon juice, and honey (plus salt and pepper). I didn't use an entire head of kale so I halved the olive oil and honey - it still turned out really well.

Alright, kind of a boring post, but that's all I've got. Working both jobs today... if things go how they've gone the last two weeks, I will weigh more tomorrow and as a result, have a minor freak out. Seetha gave me some things to try this week to combat the disruption of working both jobs on Tuesday - we'll see how they work!

Weekend of Wedding Festivities

This weekend was jam packed with wedding business, mainly.... DRESS SHOPPING!!!! I will post pictures from dress shopping, but don't worry... none of the ones I post stand a chance of being "the" dress. Andy reads my blog on occasion so I don't want to give anything away. :-)

I woke up extra early on Saturday morning just because I was so excited. I also woke Andy up because I started bouncing on the bed while singing a made up song that went something like, "Today's my special day, I'll wear the dresses, glitter and be gay" (the 'glitter and be gay' line is from Candide... I was not really going to be gay). I seriously felt like it was Christmas morning! Before dress shopping though, Andy and I hit up the farmers' market and then I also did a little yoga. Then I got ready... and made sure to make myself extra beautiful so that I'd get a better picture of what I'd look like on my wedding day. Then... it was time!!!

Alyssa, Anna, Elizabeth, and Sarah all crammed into my car and we headed off to my first appointment. Once we got there I felt a little nervous/uncomfortable. The dresses were nice, but nothing was that amazing (and they were also a little over budget).

Organza dress at the first store - too boring

Since the appointment went faster than anticipated, we ended up heading straight to the second store - they were nice enough to let me come in earlier than planned. That place was so much fun! They had couches for the girls to sit on, drinks, cookies... a much more relaxed setting. Better yet, all of the dresses in the store were in my budget, so it was fun to pick out dresses without worrying whether or not they were affordable. I tried on a ton! Here were some "winners."

I'm pooping a parachute

Beauty and the Beast!!!

Trust me - those two pictures are nothing like what I picture myself wearing, but it was fun to try them on anyway. We got a good laugh! I will say there was one dress (and veil) that stood out from the rest. I felt so pretty (and skinny!) and the girls all seemed to like it too. :-) I will keep looking a little because there are a few styles I like that weren't at either store, but I will say... I have found the most ridiculously beautiful "back-up" dress in the world. I already want to try it on again!!

After dress shopping the girls and I went out to lunch to celebrate our success.

Anna, Alyssa, Elizabeth, Sarah, and Bride Babs!

I must say... I've watched "Say Yes to the Dress" for about... oh.... ten years now? And whenever someone brings a lot of people to their appointment, you know it's going to be bad news because someone in the group is going to be a negative nancy. That was NOT my experience at all. I could not have asked for a more positive wonderful group of friends to go with me. I love these girls so much and they made me feel great! I wish I could take them shopping with me all the time, lol!

On Sunday I woke up early again - feeling extra motivated by dress shopping, I did some yoga and then rode my bike to the gym for a little elliptical action. Then Andy and I went to Trader Joe's and bought lots of healthy Seetha-approved foods. My Seetha plan is going great. Assuming I will make it through today (which I will), I will have gone the ENTIRE month of September without 1) weighing/measuring any food, 2) calculating any calories, and 3) binge eating. In addition, I still have not strayed from the starch rule, the diet coke rule, or the fake sugar rule. GO ME! It's definitely paying off. I feel better about myself, my clothes finally fit again, I don't crave sweets nearly like I used to... and I'm just feeling calmer about food in general. Thank God.

Anyway, continuing on...

It turns out that there was also a wedding expo downtown on Sunday! Andy's mom and little sister drove out so they could go with me, which was very nice of them.

Ali - my future little sis!

We got to see a fashion show (that excitingly had "my dress" in it). The fashion show was pretty hilarious - there were also guys modeling tuxes who thought they were the cat's meow. They weren't! But their "moves" made us all laugh.

This guy thought he was all that

The expo was mostly vendors, which was alright, but I wasn't there to sign up for any services. However, Sandals was there... you know, the all inclusive resorts in cool places like Jamaica? Anyway, they had a slot machine game you could play. I stood in line for awhile watching everyone in front of me lose. Then it was my turn... I won!!!! If Andy and I decide to honeymoon there, we will get $200 off the cost of our stay! Of course I'm sure it's pretty expensive to go there, but it was exciting to win nonetheless.

After the expo we headed back to our place where Andy, his dad, and brother were all watching football. We grilled dinner (slight hiccup in that when our propane tank ran out and we had to get a new one), and then went to get frozen yogurt.

All in all, a good weekend. It was especially nice to not have to work for once!

Opening Night = Late Night

It's Friday!!!!!!!! Usually I'm not as excited about Friday as a normal person would be (since I work on Saturdays), but I'm not working this weekend so I've got the true TGIF spirit! And how will I celebrate my exciting Friday night? Probably by going to bed early, haha. Last night was a long one....

Ok, as I wrote in my last post, last night was the opening night for the orchestra. After work I ran some errands, ate dinner, got ready, and then headed to the concert.

Behind the scenes at intermission with Nancy (IT lady)

On the whole, the concert was really enjoyable. I especially enjoyed Mahler 1 (minus the ten or so minutes towards the end where the piece sort of just flits around aimlessly...but that's not the orchestra's fault). After the concert there was a post-concert reception for musicians, staff, and board members. Open bar. Free appetizers. Free desserts.

Andy and Babs

Babs and Anna

It was really dark at the reception - sorry the pictures are so bad! Anna and I did an awesome job of following Seetha's guidelines. It honestly wasn't even that hard to pass up all of the special treats. Perhaps giving up starch and fake sugar has altered my tastes for things/cravings. I hope so! Anyway, while Anna and I were being awesome, Andy was busy getting drunk, lol. We'll just say he and Will enjoyed the open bar, and as a result, I got home waaaaaaaaaay too late. 

Thankfully my lack of sleep isn't driving me to make bad choices today. I think that's in part to two things... 1) wedding dress shopping is tomorrow and I want to feel good when I go, and 2) Seetha called me this morning, and talking to her always makes me feel positive about my relationship with food. Even though I was allowed to add rice and rice products into my diet this week, I still just haven't... mostly because we don't have any rice products in the house, and I'm not a giant fan of rice as is. But I have to add that first before something else, so we're sticking with the same group of approved foods for now. She said there's no rush to add things back in (gee, thanks, haha). Really though it's ok. I've become pretty comfortable with turning down bread and other non-approved starch items. We mostly talked about my struggle on Wednesday and how I can alter things so that my body isn't so affected by my long Tuesdays... I knew working two jobs in one day was a bad idea!!! I can't do anything about my work schedule, but I do have some new strategies to try to make that reality a little easier on my body. I'm feeling hopeful!

Maybe instead of TGIF I should say TGFS (Thank God for Seetha!). :-)