A Time For Everything

First of all--Happy Friday. We've survived another week. The news sucks and I hate it. I have no idea what to believe. At this point all I can do or not do is what the government allows. Otherwise, I really have enough to keep me busy.

Second of all--I'm keeping busy.

Things at work have calmed down and, for me, have almost gotten back to normal. As a result, I've turned my focus on my publishing company, Knotted Hearts Publishing, if you didn't know. I started making sure I have all files for all book and that all books are consistently formatted, have consistent information, and that older books are updated with all books I've written rather than the few that were out at the time. I'm at nine at the moment!


Anyway, cleaning house in that area--going through all folders and documents to see what's old and what's still in use, what needs a quick update, what's a duplicate. It's cathartic to complete these kinds of tasks, so I'm going with it as I prepare to get back into writing mode. My office at home might need a quick de-cluttering too.

Third of all--I'm still doing well at losing weight. Despite the banana bread and mini-chocolates I eat. I do stay within my calorie count though. The targeted workouts are an adventure, I must say. I look stuff up online--I have a list for each body area, glutes, abs, arms, right now--and then I try stuff.

And then I discover that some of those specific exercises are not things I can pull off. For example, I can't do Alternating Forward Lunges right now. I just can't get that leading foot out far enough so that my knee isn't bent our over my foot. I can't stay balanced either. So it's been a lot of trial and error with regards to things I can do--because I'm also not that coordinated--and things I can't. There are also things that don't seem to feel like they're working. If there's no aching the next day, did I work hard enough? Did the exercise "work"?

All that aside...the day is coming--I've already planted the idea in my head--where I go on a carb fast for like two weeks. No more tortillas, no more pretzels, no banana bread, no chocolate. If a food has more than say 5 grams of carbs, aside from veggies, I don't eat it. I see a lot of salad and vegetables in my near future. :0) By doing so and keeping my exercise routine in place, my body will really trove those fat stores for energy, especially during exercise after I've already been fasting for nine hours.

And there will be a good reward for that fast--like a whole pint of ice cream at the end of it or something. Maybe pizza with a lot of my favorite toppings goodies. Maybe a bowl of a favorite cereal. I don't know yet.

Anyway--have a great weekend. Catch you Monday!

Of course, it's spring in Texas and we do tend to get a lot of rain. But, man, with all the COVID-19 happening, sunshine would go a long way to keeping our spirits up here in North Texas. *sigh*

So update on the Chili Cheese Corn dog Casserole... It was okay. It was good. It was fine. But it wasn't great. 'Cause, here's the thing. Corn dogs are deep friend in their batter, right? And our cornbread batter was not deep friend, it was merely baked. And corn dog batter is usually a bit sweet, too, yeah?

Now the sweet can solved, but the deep friend, not so much, unless we use real corn dogs. Which I'm not opposed to. But here's the thing--I'd rather just have a corn dog with mustard and not all that chili and cheese. I guess the FitzGerald household doesn't have a new recipe to incorporate into the rotation. Shame. But, as you know, I try not to eat too much with high bad-for-you content these days, which corn dogs most assuredly have. So is it really a bad thing that the recipe didn't work out?

Logging food and being aware of calories and all the other bits and bites that the Fitbit keeps track has helped me actually drop a couple of pounds. Might all be water weight for the moment, but it's a start. I still have a few pounds to go to reach the target weight again, and I'm almost dreading it because that means my workouts have to become more targeted in order build the muscle. That also means my daily pretzel habit may have to go bye-bye. Will probably have to go bye-bye so I can replace the calories with more protein to help build my own muscles and reduce those carbs>sugars>body fats.

The garage project will continue this weekend with another car load of stuff to be transferred to our warehouse. I might also start some cleaning now that a stretch of (unfinished) wall will be revealed.

Have you got big, exciting plans for the weekend?

Hope it's a good one. Take care.

Last Friday, I mentioned accomplishing some stuff. Of the three things I mentioned, only one was worked on last week as it should have been--the book; one was half-assed--the weight loss; and one wasn't even gotten to--the garage.

I just wasn't feeling it. Until yesterday. I finally started sorting through some boxes. I loaded up my car with as much stuff as I could fit without playing Tetris and jamming the cargo area full front to back, top to bottom. Of course, I'll have to unload it all tomorrow morning when I get to work, but that's fine.

Unfortunately, my trip to the donation station was originally postponed because of rain, and now it's on hold indefinitely until the world is allowed to open again. But all the stuff will be ready to go when it does.

As for the weight loss, I did get up and exercise every day but one, because I was up late (re-)watching a hockey game. I do build in those off days for the mornings after hockey game attendance or hockey game watching from home, so it wasn't as if I was cheating. In fact, I lost all those built-in off-days because hockey's been canceled.

On the other hand, I've been comfort / stress-eating more carbs than I need to, so I haven't lost anything, but I haven't gained anything either. But! Starting yesterday, I'm back to wearing the Fitbit, which tracks all my steps and exercise and food / water consumption. I'm hoping that by having to log my food and see the daily numbers, I'll be less inclined to eat the things I shouldn't. *fingers crossed* I'll see some improvement this week.

And last but not least--the writing. After exercising each morning, I plop my heinie in my chair, put on the headphones and Harry Potter soundtrack, and write. Since hockey's been canceled and I have no off-days, except the one I mentioned earlier, I've been making progress every day. Yesterday morning, I even knuckled down to sort out the actual timeline as well as some wonky plot issues. My romance beats are lined up and ready to go.

I've been working on this thing since mid-January and it's just about done and is very over word count. It's very rough and needs some heavy handed edits, but I'm ready for it!

While going through boxes left by my Brown Eyed Girl that she slated for donation--I came across this...

Why, yes, that's a tiara. While I wouldn't have bought one for myself, I'm not turning one down that's there for the re-appropriation. Where would I wear it, you ask. Well, I wore it on Sunday during my ZOOM session with some of my writers group friends. They loved it. I might even wear it to the first meeting back. :0)

And one last thing--the trip to WalMart this morning was not bad. There still wasn't any toilet paper, although they'd had some. I saw a woman with a package in her cart. Unfortunately, there was none left by the time I reached the appropriate aisle. But the cereal aisle was fully stocked and there was bottled water and plenty of bread. The lunch meat and meat displays weren't full, but they weren't barren either. I have hope that next week will be even better.

Take care and have a great week.

It's absurd how easily affected my system has become by grain-based carbohydrates and affected badly.

When you eat something like a donut or drink a soda, you expect that you're going to experience a sugar crash at some point right?


Well, that's been happening to me from eating Cheerios and eating the carb-balance tortillas.

Last week, I had a bowl of Cheerios for an early lunch and had to take a nap because I was feeling so lethargic afterward.

It's a bummer and a blessing. A bummer because I love carbs. And not much beats a bowl of cereal on a hot summer day--except maybe--definitely--some ice cream.

Now I've given up every type/flavor of cereal except Cheerios because I buy them for DH. But it looks like now, I can only indulge every once in a while and when I can nap as needed.

Today, I had a single tortilla wrapped around some protein and even that left me feeling like I could close my eyes and sleep.

It's a blessing because I'd rather give them up than feel so out of sorts during the day. And that's gonna be better for my bottom and my bottom line.

But, man, am I bummed.

On the other hand, I've reached another weight-loss low on my way to getting back to where I was a while back.

Also, congrats to DH who has lost 11 lbs. since July 8. He put himself on an exercise and eating plan and has stuck to it. I'm so proud and excited for him.

Have a great week.

Thank goodness September is just around the corner. Hopefully a break from the heat will come with it.

I'd really like some ice cream...that smooth sweet flavor of Pecan Pralines n Cream...

But I'm doing well with the weight loss and don't want to rock the boat.

It sure is hot though...

Have a great weekend.

Back in May 2005, the TV show series finale ended with a coin flip. The two main protagonists had finally declared their love for one another but had each been offered a promotion--to opposite end of the globe of course.

The coin toss would determine who would accept their promotion and who would pass so they could live happily ever after together.


A spinoff (NCIS: LA) of a spinoff (NCIS) that JAG launched way back in 2003 just aired their season finale featuring two special guest stars : David James Elliott and Catherine Bell reprising their roles as Harm and Mac fourteen years later.

The fans' question--who won the coin toss--was finally answered.

Unfortunately, the group of ladies I was with--my JAG ladies for the annual JAG meet--were not happy. Some were terribly disappointed, some were just plain angry.

If this episode's writer--who just so happened to be the biggest proponent of that Harm & Mac relationship back in the day and a writer on JAG who tended to write shippery episodes--couldn't give the fans what they wanted, then why bother bursting everyone's fantasies of how the coin flip ended. The winner of the coin flip didn't really matter.

What mattered was that Harm and Mac would be together and that they'd work out the logistics to make things work.

I'm not angry, but I am disappointed.

On the other hand, the current situation leaves the two characters in a position to find their way back to one another. There are rumblings and rumors (which may be just that by hopeful fans) that some sort of new show with our beloved hero and heroine is in the offing. We shall see.

As mentioned...it was JAG Meet weekend when a group of women who came together solely on the love of a TV show are still friends 20 years and long after the show has ended. I haven't been a part of the group for all 20 years, but I was on the fringes when that first group gathered at a local restaurant to meet. This year is the 20th anniversary. Amazing.

Here we are this year, with a handful of missing faces:


Now on a slightly different topic... It was this photo, nine years ago, that really spurred me hard into weight-loss/getting healthy mode:


See that big orange blob on the left? Yeah, that's me. I didn't want to look like that anymore, so in January of 2012 I finally knuckled down and made the commitment to do something about it.

In October of 2017, I reached my target weight--losing 63-ish pounds to get there. I knew it was going to be a long haul with various milestones and adjustments along the way.

While I do have to get back on the wagon of exercising and eating right again to lose the ten pounds I've gained over the last several months, I'm very pleased with myself for maintaining the weight loss over all and making the lifestyle changes necessary.

There are or shall I say *there will be* new physical-health related changes coming. But life is in flux and I have to figure out what the best path forward is going to be and what change I want to work on first.

As always, seeing these women was a wonderful time and a lovely weekend.

Hope you had a great weekend.

As of the last time I stepped on the scale, a week or so ago, I've gained ten pounds.

Because of hockey, I have made bad food choices. I own that.

I have two more in-person games. Tonight and a day to be determined. There may be more official watching parties in my future, but that'll be it for live games. I looked up pricing for the final round--$1K minimum per seat. Yeah, I don't have that.

So it'll be watching parties one way or another for the rest of the playoffs...

I'll be making better food choices going forward, but I also need to get back to exercising even if it's just the old treadmill at home three times a day.

It shouldn't take me terribly long to lose the weight...the inches are another matter. The question becomes how important to me are those inches because it's going to take me going to the next level to make better progress than the last time. So something to ponder.

Hope you all had a lovely Easter weekend...

Catch you Wednesday. 
 

Hard to believe that half the year is over... The last month has been busy, the last week has been busy.

Sooo...fireworks season wasn't a great as we'd hoped. We bought more fireworks than we probably should have and spent way more on advertising than we probably should have for a season with a burn ban in effect. The fireworks will keep for next season and the next, so that's not a major issue, but chances are that we'll stop with the advertising. We have no definitive way to know if we're getting the customers or if they're just being reminded to go buy some and hitting the closest-to-them stand.

But in better news, a book series I read ages and ages ago, and I mean ages ago, is finally in e-book format. I bought it and am looking forward to reading it again. It's also available in audio format and I might get that too...

I finally got around to formatting books one and two for print and got covers done and submitted to Kindle Direct Publishing. My print proofs, one for each title, are on the way for my review. I'm another step closer to being ready for my conference in October.

Speaking of October, despite SO MUCH HOCKEY in May and June, I miss it a little. The new season doesn't start until October, so I'm having to ease my withdrawal symptoms by watching World Cup soccer and baseball.

On the writing front, I'm no closer to finishing book seven than I was a month ago, but characters for my new series have been bubbling around in my noggin for a couple of weeks. Five of my six core characters have names and occupations; a handful of supporting characters also have names and jobs. A few characters have some backstory.

I haven't gotten to plot lines in more than vague idea terms, though. I really want to know these characters well and have their romance plot come from who they are and where they've come from. I also want their lives to be really intertwined so that readers will wonder whose book is next and be more invested in their story.

The last series didn't work that way and it was anybody's guess--even mine--as to who would show up in the next books. There was some crossover with a few characters, but no one a reader might look forward to seeing. I wanted to come at a series a different way this time around.

And now that the 4th of July has come and gone, it's time for life to return to some semblance of normalcy. It also means that Jen has gone back to the gym...starting this morning. Getting out of bed at the sphincter of dawn was tough, working out was tough. But it felt good too. My body had started to let me know that all that lying around was not kosher. My butt's going to be dragging for probably a good week, but maybe break I took will have set my body up for burning the fat.

Despite not going to the gym, I did do stuff here at home, mostly, and I counted calories and I didn't gain any weight back. But my tummy is still there and has maybe grown a little. So, yeah...

Hope you had a lovely holiday week!!

While in Denver, I fell off the carbohydrate wagon, and I've really struggled to get my willpower up and running again. It's coming along slowly, but still, those grain-based carbs are not good for me.

It's hard to not to dangle my legs over the side of the wagon, though, because despite my indulgences, I'm still making progress in eliminating the first layer of fat. The key turns out to be a combination of things--

A) As long a fasting period each day as I can hold out. Usually, it's about 13 hours. I don't eat after 7pm in the evening and I don't eat before 8am in the morning.

Which means that when I go to the gym and work out in the mornings, B) my body is forced to fuel my workouts with energy I already have stored. Fat burn for the win!!

So that means consuming carbohydrates again hasn't stopped the fat loss. Makes it so hard to stop eating the bad ones...

But I'm making better choices day by day and eating less and less of the unhealthy ones. I need to get back to eating more vegetables and maybe my body will find enough satisfaction in those that the temptation will be easier to resist.

Hope you had a lovely and relaxing weekend. I sure did.

I really have something to celebrate this time around!!!

After several years of yo-yoing and over a year of gym attendance, I have finally reached my goal weight. HAHAHHAHAHAAAAA! I'm so excited. My list there on the left says between 120 and 125 pounds. I've reached 123.2lbs and I'm terribly happy about that. I need to celebrate for sure.

I started my journey in January of 2012 at somewhere around 165lbs. I knew it was going to take a long time, and it has, but I'm finally here. That's not to say there's not a new goal in regards to all of this, but the weight part is done.

So let's visit the rest of the list...

--> I've gotten off schedule of writing to my grandmother and I really really really need to write one and get it in the mail. BAD JEN.

--> Call my moms. I've been doing pretty well. It's almost that time. One mom is on vacation though, so I'll probably wait a week or so before checking in. I should probably reach out to the other this week.

--> Cook and eat better. Well, this one kind of goes hand in hand with the weight loss, but not entirely. However, while I may not necessarily be cooking better because I don't cook--as in prepare ingredients and then prepare a meal over the stove--I am eating better. I mentioned that lavash bread awhile back which was a huge boon to helping me reduce the number of not-good carbs in my diet. I eat more salads and include spinach and kale in them and rarely do I use iceberg lettuce. I'm staying balanced between fats/(good) carbs/protein.

--> I cleaned up my writing room a little, but not the really concentrated sort/discard/clean I've intended.

--> Cleaning plan. HAHAHAHA. 'Nuff said.

--> Publish six books by September. Well, September ended two days ago and I just finished book six, like, a week ago. So that one's definitely a bust. But book six is now done and the new goal is to start publishing in November.

--> And guess what??? I actually started walking the dog. I needed a little more activity in the evening and she needs the exercise. we probably go five out of seven days, so doing better that my goal. Except now she's limping because she sleeps on the same side all the time on the hardwood floor and I think she's sleeping on a nerve.

So YAY for me for accomplishing two more very important goal. Still working on the rest.

My thoughts go out to the victims and their families as well all the first responders in Las Vegas.

Last Wednesday I talked about fasting and the number of calories in a pound and what that meant to me...

So here we are a week later and despite two very calorie and carb-laden days (Sat & Sun), I have dropped 2-ish pounds. I promise I'm being safe in my choices. I'm eating enough calories for my body to exist and then some--did you know it takes everyone 1200 to 1600 calories a day just for basic body functions to keep you alive??--and drinking *plenty* of water during these dog days of summer.

What I did do was increase the length of time I go without eating. I've been waiting to 11 am to consume my first meal of the day to maximize my body's fat-burning mode. I do give it some easily accessible carbs right after going to the gym for a recovery boost in the form of my cinnamon/honey elixir I take for arthritis.

It's not always fun or easy waiting until 11 and, starting tomorrow, I will go back to a more normal schedule. I'd been in a pretty static eating mode and I think the increased fasting shook my body up a little bit. Made it adjust and pay attention.

I'm getting closer to my goal, which, after probably three years of being stuck with ten pounds to go, pleases me greatly. Once I get there, then it's muscle-building time. Not super huge ones, just nicely rounded muscles appropriate for my age.

Happy Hump Day...

Catch you Friday.

So I learned how to track my various exercises via the Fitbit and it seems the device does a better job tracking my heart rate when I do that, so yay. I guess the question still is...how accurate is the heart rate as gauged by the Fitbit in exercise mode versus figures provided by the machines at the gym?

I haven't done a detailed analysis of this, but the times I've compared the two, they seem close enough. As long as I'm in the heart rate range for fat burning, it doesn't matter much if the discrepancy is within five to seven beats.

There's a larger difference, however, in the "calories burned" figures. The machines always tell me I've burned more calories than what the Fitbit says. While I'd like to burn more calories, I use the Fitbit's figures just to be on the safe side. As long as I eat/log fewer calories that I burn, I'm always in the process of losing weight.

Apparently a pound is 3500 calories, so it would take a seven-day week to lose a pound if you consistently consumed 500 fewer calories than you burned every day.

I haven't been making as much progress as quickly as I'd been hoping, but learning that info the other day, has made it easier to make sure I keep at least that much of a difference between intake and outgo.

So new challenge for Jen--consume 500 fewer calories a day than I burn. Let's meet back in a week and see what's happened. :0)

Have a great rest of the week.

I've come to discover the Fitbit has at least one snafu in it's something (I'm not sure what)--it won't always (hardly ever) register your elevated heart rate. Except it sorta does, sometimes? My higher heart rates from when I'm working out don't always register on the Fitbit's screen, but if I go into the dashboard and look at the data, sometimes it's there, sometimes it's not--weird.

In order to burn fat (my long-term energy storage/source) rather than my short term energy, I need to do two things: get into fat burn mode by getting my heart rate up to a certain level and do that when my body doesn't have easy access to short-term energy reserves--those that come from recently eaten foods.

Two weeks ago, I gave up tortillas and cold cereal yet again. I fell off the wagon once, but have been good ever since.


Last Friday, I was really craving cold cereal... But as I have seen progress in losing the weight I had regained, I held fast, as difficult as it was, and was able to successfully resist that delicious bowl of sweet crunchy goodness.

My willpower paid off and I have lost a few more ounces and am 17% of the way to my target weight.

I still have several adjustments to make to my diet, but all in good time and in moderation. I figure once I've been on the wagon for a while, I won't crave them so badly. That's my hope, anyway.

This is constant state of learning and adjusting--well, isn't everything in life??-- and eventually I'll find the right combination.

Have a great rest of the week!!

It's been a good week and it's writers group tomorrow, so I'm especially excited for the weekend.

Workouts are going great, and I'm just about completely this side of 130lbs! Saturday, while I'm at writers group, will be a "cheat" day and I'll enjoy some delicious slighty-but-not-terribly off plan food. Maybe even some delicious carbs in the form of an enchilada...that's sounding mighty tasty at the moment.

In other writers group news, the contest I coordinate is winding down. I just about have all the scores back for round one. Round two judging will be quick and easy in comparison to round one because five books to cycle through for each category, not 15, 20, or 25+. I've run this contest for all four years now, and I really need to train someone to take over for me just in case I can't do it anymore for whatever reason. It's hard to get people to volunteer though. It's a long-term event and for about the first quarter of each year it can chew up to an hour or so a day.

In other random news, the Stars won last night, but I think they're finally too far out of the running for even a wild card slot unless some freaky injuries happen to the four teams ahead of them.

Speaking of the Stars and hockey...I'm going to a game next Friday! It's DD's birthday next week and her friend is taking her to the game and they kindly invited me to tag along. Needless to say, I'm tickled and excited to be going and I hope hope hope they can pull off a win for me. They lost the two games I attended. :( DD says it's pretty awesome when they win, so keep your fingers crossed for them and for me.
That hot hockey boy there on the right, Tyler Seguin, scored a goal and assisted on another, earning himself two points last night!

And that is all for me, my friends. HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!!

Still struggling with the second to last weight loss hurdle--getting completely under the 130lb. mark and staying there. I'm still see-sawing back and forth, but mostly back. And, of course, the last hurdle is reducing the amount of flesh that jiggles.

I know there's some muscle underneath, because how couldn't there be? Fat does not transform into muscle. Muscles become stronger and get larger as they're used and worked. Fat gets used as energy if you balance what you eat and the number of calories you consume with how much energy you expend on any given day and eventually reduces in volume. Yes, this is a very basic description of the process, and everyone has different challenges that work against them, but this is my process, and my challenges, thankfully are few. They consist mostly of my willpower to resist refined carbs and to resist my warm bed on a cold morning.

So last week, I gave up refined carbs altogether. Any carbs I consume come in the other things I eat like vegetables and beans. There are a few carbs in salad dressing, unfortunately, but I'm not gonna sweat those. So no more tortillas and no more pretzels. Cereal and milk have been out of the house for several weeks although they call to me like a siren.

I also changed up my workout. Threw my body for a bit of a loop. It was getting complacent there too.

And the changes seem to be working. They're working so far at least. The weight is still see-sawing, but I'm staying under 130lbs. more often than I'm over it and the amount I go over is getting less and less.

Not sure about the jiggly bits just yet...but I'm watching and waiting. :)

Hope your week is going well.

It's been coming. I've know it and have been resisting for a while now, because I LOVE LOVE LOVE my carbs.

I have pretzels and tortillas pretty much every day as part of my regimented meal plan. Oftentimes I have pretzels as a snack before bed too. Any carbs I get from veggies or beans or what have you are bonus. And I don't mean that in a good way. Well, the stuff in veggie and beans are the good carbs, pretzels and tortillas are refined carbs...

So I've Google-searched "losing belly fat" because that's pretty much all I've got left aside from general toning. Each site I visited prescribed six to twelve things to help get rid of the nasty stuff.

I felt a bit discouraged because I've done quite a few of them...

...stop consuming non-natural sugars, especially soda (gave those up years ago)
...exercise (well I've been talking about my trips to the gym since August, so, yeah)
...eat more protein (eggs, cheese, tuna everyday; fish and chicken with green veggies mostly for dinner
...eat more fiber (see green veggies with dinner, but I've been thinking about daily salads)
...keep a regular sleep schedule even on weekends (I can't sleep in to save my life)
...reduce stress (only so much I can do, but I do what I can)
...a spoonful of apple cider vinegar a day (I have some at home, the good stuff with the "mother" even, so starting that tomorrow...)

So what's left...?

You guessed it--reduce refined carb intake. >>SOB<<

I've replaced the tortillas with some sort of wrap with half the calories. Not total elimination, but it's a start--I need some bulk to make me full. I'll also start having one of my daily tuna wraps in some sort of leafy green veggie, this week it's green leaf lettuce, but I like romaine and kale too. Red cabbage, maybe, we'll see how it goes.

DH also suggested a before-bed snack of beef jerky because the body has to work hard to break it down so it provides the right kind of energy overnight.

I've added yoga to my repertoire on days I don't go to the gym. I find that I have less energy those days too, plus it's good to alternate workouts--keep the body guessing, which is probably also contributing to this plateau.

Any other helpful hints??

Friday I mentioned the struggle of getting out of bed and going to the gym. For what it's worth, I'm on track still. :)

My new motto has become "the next level"--reaching for, striving for, getting to--whatever. Not only at the gym but with my writing. And DH is working at that as well in his business, so I'm trying to step up at work as well.

This past Saturday was writers group and, as usual, I spent a lovely day with some of my favorite people on the planet. One of my writer friends mentioned an audiobook she was listening to about the 10 myths of publishing. I scribbled a note for later and later I looked it up.

Turns out the myths are also available via blog by the same guy, so I tucked into the first myth, and then the next, and the next, and, well, by last night I'd read all twenty-some-odd that are available (three series, two done, one in progress), and every single thing the author said made sense. Many of his myths resonated with me for other reasons, but I'll be going back through the series to re-read and make note of his suggestions, decide what I want from my writing and -- you got it -- take it to the next level.

N--you know who you are--you need to email me, my friend. Turns out this author is married to another blogger you refer to me often. Which makes sense because they think in tandem.

Needless to say, I have a lot of pondering and then a lot of work to do.

I can see now that life is not slowing down any time soon on any front. I'm gonna have to pace myself, and like the title of this blog says and I believe whole-heartedly--there is a time for everything.

Hope you had a great weekend. Mine was enlightening and inspiring.

That is the question every morning at 3:40AM. Yep, that's what time I get up to go to the gym.

I've been okay going every other day. I haven't had any issues making the decision to roll out of bed.

But here's the thing, I know I have to take it to the next level. I hit my lowest (weight) low again and the only way to get under it is to push myself harder at the gym. Which is not a problem once I'm there. The problem is getting there more often.

I've been telling myself that instead of every other day, I would start two going two days in a row, with one day off, and it's taken me two weeks to make that happen. Last night, I opted for extra pretzels before bed because I told myself I was going to the gym this morning.

This morning, when the alarm went off...yeah, I was super warm and cozy, and I could have easily rolled over and slept like a baby until the next alarm. But then I though about those extra pretzels and the smorgasbord of delicious food that will tempt me tomorrow (it's writers group day and we meet in a restaurant), and I forced myself out of bed.

Once I'm up and moving, I'm fine. It's just that initial decision, that slide out of warmth into chilly that's difficult.

But I won today.

I've been trying to reach my weight loss goal of 120lbs. since January of 2012. Yep, four and a half years now. That was intentional. I knew that the slower I took it off and the longer I adjusted to new eating habits, the easier it would be to keep the weight off and maintain the habits once the weight was gone.

Those of you who've been here a while will no doubt remember some of the struggles. :)

Joining a gym has been a goal of mine. A reward, if you will, for reaching the target. I sorta jumped the gun. I haven't yet reached my target weight, but the idea joining a gym wouldn't leave me alone. And then advertisements for two different gyms began airing on the radio station I listen to, so maybe it was a sign. One of them was having a special, so...after talking to DH, I joined.

So I've been going to the gym three times a week, almost without fail, and I keep hoping to see faster progress. After the length of time it took me to lose the weight, I know it's going to take longer than a month. But shouldn't I get some sort of immediate gratification from hauling my behind out of bed and to the gym at 4am??

It'd be nice, huh? But getting this old body in shape is going to take a while too. I do know this.

Why 4 am you ask? Well, mostly because I don't have to fight a whole bunch of other people for the equipment I want, and also it's really just the most convenient time for me to go and get it done and out of the way. Right now--if I had schlep to the gym at the heat of the day, I probably wouldn't do it.

The test will be 4am in the middle of winter when it's freezing outside!!! Hopefully I'll have seen some results by then and they'll spur me on during those frigid pre-dawn hours.

One day at a time!!

I got into work Friday and found this:








Who's Robin Robins you ask. Well, she owns/runs this marketing program for IT and MSP companies to which hubby belongs. Each year at Thanksgiving, Christmas and Valentine's Day, we get a lovely gift from her, such as the one above.

But here's the thing...I'm sort of unofficially participating in this weightloss-off with DH and his family. They hatched up a plan over DH's birthday last month and he encouraged my to join in the fun. Since it's been my goal all year to lose that last 10/12 pounds (and it's now crunch time), I figured maybe a little healthy competition might help.

Anyway, we're supposed to weight in each Monday morning and chart our weight. And you know what, I've actually lost weight each week, even if it's only been a few ounces.

And now THIS!!!

Well, I figure as long as it all stays at the office, I'll only be tempted three days a week. And if I only have one bite of something each day and add five minutes of walking on the treadmill, then I ought to be golden.

Right?

Right.

So that's the plan.