A Time For Everything

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.

Thanks to my mother-in-law (Thanks, Mimi!!!) for allowing me to add this piece of exercise equipment to our collection. It'll now allow me to do some of the exercises I gave up by trading in my gym membership on that elliptical.

I spent some time searching out "chair gym" workout videos. I only found one so far, but it hit all the areas I like to target and I'm happy with it for now. I added some garden stepping stones to act as an aerobic step platform until I can buy one, and I do the stepping in between each of the lady's different sections to catch my breath, but keep my heart rate up. So far so good.

While my body is feeling achy from the more diligent workouts, I'm also feeling generally better over all. And that's the goal.

I've also been pretty good, though not perfect, about giving up bad carbs. It's harder on the days I work from home because all the food is there. So it'll be a struggle until those things are consumed.

Unfortunately, despite my diligence, I haven't seen a noticeable drop on the scale. Yet. I imagine it's just a matter of time.

Hope you're well. Talk to you Friday.

Now that I've reached a point in time (good weather, after a writers group meeting), it's time to get back on the wagons I fell off of. Those wagons are as follows:

a) the exercise wagon
b) the healthy eating wagon
c) the writing/publishing wagon
d) the prepping for my October writers conference

In addition to that, there are activities at work that require my participation, so that's a new wagon maybe?

a) I'm still not in the mood to hit the gym again really, so the home treadmill will have to suffice for calorie burnage. The plan for now is @ 26 minutes in the morning and in the evening to burn a total of 320 calories a day. That's on top of general daily calorie consumption and my thrice weekly walks to the post office while working from the office.

b) I purged the house last week of anything filled with sugar or carbs that is remotely tempting to me--by eating it. (I didn't get to grocery shop last week, so it was also eat or starve. I opted not to starve.) That included jelly beans, tortillas (despite being the carb-light variety), yogurt (except I left one at the office--darn, I'll have to eat it), and any remaining dried fruits. It's back to veggies and protein for a week or two until the jiggly puff of a belly I'm sporting recedes. Then we'll see.

c) This is going to be the toughest wagon to get back on. I'm not feeling the words. And while I'm not looking to be a best seller on any list and support myself, I still owe any new and/or loyal readers the next book at some point (sooner rather than later) and I do want to finish the series. Also a new book will keep the royalties steady--which I need for...

d) Conference expenses. I've registered and bought a ticket, but I'll need funds to pay for the hotel and food come October. In the meantime, I need to buy swag and order physical books. Swag is cheaper, but physical books are more important. One conundrum is which books do I get in physical copy and how many of each. I have six books as of now, hopefully seven by the summer.

e) DH aka Bossman is trying to better the company and take it to the next level, so we're reading a book, chapter by chapter and discussing it. This particular book also has audio to go with it, so I've got to find time to get started on the audio and make sure I'm prepared to discuss Ch. 2 today...


It's time shake off the lazies and get motivated.

Have a great week...

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 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!!

Last Saturday was writers group. The official meeting is at one restaurant and our critique group confab takes place at another. The first place jacked up their prices and I refused to order anything. And I resisted the chips and salsa.

By the time, we arrived at the second place, I was very very hungry...

The temptation to order something sweet and delicious and fast was very great...


The Dr. Pepper Cake and ice cream was really calling my name. But I resisted and settled for something not as healthy as I should have had, but certainly not the very worst thing either.

A burger! Granted it came on a bun and with fries, but it also had avocado on it.


Weight-wise I'm doing okay...I'm up a normal and acceptable amount considering I did really bad on Friday and ate fast food for lunch. And drank a very large soda!

With the work week, comes the regular healthy snacks and meals and my regular exercise, so I'm happy with where I'm at right now. Whew!

Way back when I started my weight loss journey, the only exercise I performed were three easy-peasy simple little things, what I call waist twisties, side stretches, and cross-body toe touches. My calisthenics. I started with a 12 count of each and eventually worked my up to a 30 count.

That's not to say I did them every single day for the last two years, but that's where I started. In fact, I haven't done them in quite some time. Months and months, probably. And I have been thinking that I should get back to them. Why? Because it's large muscle movement two-to-four times a day. Important for someone who sits at a desk for eight hours a day and then sits some more at home at the end of the day.

So I started on Tuesday. On Wednesday I couldn't figure out why I ached--though it was a different ache from the one I'd been feeling previously. And then it dawned on me--my two rounds of calisthenics had used muscles that normally don't see much action.

It was a pleasant sort of ache that encouraged me to follow through and keep doing it on Wednesday. And Thursday. And today.

It's amazing how just those few minutes of very mild exercise a day has had an impact on quite a few aspects, including my energy level and my hungriness. But once I adjust those, will level out. I hope. I hate feeling hungry.

Any small thing you've found that's made a big difference?

Is there a direct correlation?

Without extensive research I'm going to say yes. At least for me.

This week, I have not been very diligent about exercising. But after thinking about the days I exercised and comparing them to the days I didn't, I can see that on the days I did, I came to work feeling more energized and ready to get to work and accomplish something. The days I didn't exercise, I felt blah and unmotivated.

Feeling blah and unmotivated makes you want to skip exercising even more and it becomes an awful cycle.

So what's a person to do? Push on through and do it anyway! Easier said than done, eh??

What about you? Are you easily detoured from doing what you need to do or are you motivated enough or strict enough with yourself not to give in to the blahs? Is giving in even an option for you?

And happy Friday all! This is writers group weekend and I can't wait to see my chapter mates, critique partners, and friends.

I haven't talked much about weight loss in the past month or more, mainly because I wasn't doing so hot. I'd reached a record low of 133.6 in late December, but then it was New Years and DH got sick and I was stressed out, so while I was sorta/kinda trying to watch what went into my mouth, I would also give in to the lure of comforting or just plain unhealthy treats. And I was eating a lot of carbs.

When the scale flashed 140 point something a couple of weeks ago, I took myself in hand and got back on track. Closely watched was eating. Gave up carbs for protein more often. Said no to offers of root beer despite strong lure and desire for that vanilla-y sweetness. I got back on the tread mill every morning and upped the speed by a tenth and the incline by one (more calories burned in the same amount of time). A couple of times, I made a decision to eat less-than-healthy choices, but then I buckled down the next day.

The result--I stepped on the scale this past Tuesday morning and the scale read: 133.4!

Two tenths less than my former record low and here's the really exciting part--

That's 32.4 pounds I've lost over the course of the last two years. It might be a little more, but I didn't start recording my weight until a few months into beginning my efforts. I was surprised it was that much. I was thinking it was maybe 20 or 25... WOO HOO!

In February of 2012, I started doing short rounds of calisthenics several times a day to get my large muscle groups working and moving since I sit at a desk all day. Then I started walking in the mornings, but that fell by the wayside a couple of times for various reasons. For a while I counted calories as well, though I haven't been as diligent about that for a while. I check calorie count on the foods I eat, but I don't record everything I consume in MyFitnessPal at this point. Because I pretty much each the same thing for breakfast and snacks each day, the need to count every little calorie has lessened. I just have to gauge lunch and dinner--and of course stay on the exercise train.

While I probably wanted things to progress faster, I've come to the realization that the slower I do this, the better off I am. My body will adjust and learn and accept the changes the longer it takes and the chances of gaining the weight back (and then some) are minimized.

I have another ten to twelve to fifteen pounds to go. Looking at my history, that ought to take me a year. And I'm okay with that.

Now that the new year is here and life has returned to some semblance of normal, it's time to wrest back my self-control. Time to start watching what I eat, counting a few calories, and exercising again. If you remember, DH bought a treadmill several months back. Now I can walk in the comfort of my home, though it's parked in the garage and there's no heat or air in there at the moment. I'm still at the whim of the weather to a certain degree. But I have a space heater, so no excuses.

I'm eliminating as much sugar and as many carbs as I can again and going back to water and unsweet tea, hot or cold.

In addition it's time to make some other changes. I've determined to consume as little microwaved food or beverages as possible. Surely, the damage done to the food item in question by the process is not that good for the body. At the very least, damage has been done to the nutrients, they've been altered, rendered useless or possibly harmful. So I'll be brewing my tea at home and toting to work in my travel cup and two thermoses until I get my electric kettle back. And no more hot lunches, I guess. I should be getting back to salads anyway. Reheating will be done on the stove top or in the oven. I'd love to get rid of the microwaves altogether, but there'd be an outcry.


We're also switching back to real foods and condiments. So no more artificial sweeteners. I realize processed sugar's not that great either, but it's less toxic than aspartame and the like. I personally like raw sugar, when I use it. But I try not to and there's none in the house at the moment.


No more margarine either. Real butter from now on. I'm also going to start cooking with coconut oil instead of vegetable oil or margarine (not that we'll have any). My mother-in-law recommended it to me a while back and now I've just read a very short book outlining its many benefits. (Not only can you ingest it, but it has topical uses as well.)
 

The next major change is going to be to find beef that's grass/range fed so that we can benefit from healthier meat products. My husband is not a fan of Walmart meat, but I've resisted changing. Mostly because I'm lazy and don't want to have to run all over hell and half acre buying groceries. But there's a Grillmasters in the business park and a meat market a few blocks from the house. I'm guessing the meat from the meat market is better than the pre-packaged process stuff from the grocery stores even if it's not completely organic. I printed off the flyer from the meat market and will place my order today. The have a couple of different specials, so I'm going to try one. They include veggies!

And those are just some initial changes coming down the pipe...

Healthier eating and healthier living, here we come, kicking and screaming!

Okay, okay so I didn't go to the Forum, but it's funny how things work out sometimes.

Friday I got home from work and I mentioned to DD and Sonshine that I wanted to bring home the BowFlex and get it set up. My in-laws gave it to us more than a year ago and it's been sitting in pieces in the warehouse of our office space.

Now that I'm getting close to my weight loss goal, I'm planning ahead for how to strengthen and tone what's left. And rather than spend money for a gym membership, I figured the BowFlex would be a perfect piece of equipment to have at the house.

DH left to go down to his mom's mid-day Friday and she'd sent me a list of good carbs from her NutriSystem website.

On Saturday I hung out with some dear friends and fellow writer group members hashing out some writer group business, but once we finished, we got to talking as women tend to do. I'd been happy-go-lucky all day (my new life's philosophy in action, remember) until we hit the topic of losing weight. My personal weight loss is going great and very pleased with my progress. I feel good and I'm very excited about how I look. Then I brought up DH and how frustrated I was with him and his efforts or lack thereof to get his eating and exercise habits in hand. And three of my friends commented on my change of emotion/demeanor. One suggested I have a talk with DH about how I was feeling--which is another one of my goals (to tell people how I really feel).

So Sunday mid-morning DH arrives home from his mom's house and announces it's time to get in shape and watch what he eats and he's gonna set up the garage as a home gym. So he brought home the BowFlex and set it up and then went and bought a treadmill and a big screen television!

I didn't react well at first and I'm not sure why. Wasn't this the very thing I wanted--including the BowFlex? Was it because he took the wind out of my sails? Was it because he planned to invade my early morning quiet?

Most of it was the money, I think. Money's tight right now. We had the cash to spend from fireworks season still, but there were (are) better ways to spend that money. And you guys know I've been trying to get our finances in order. So the expenditure peeved me. I did have a quick discussion with him about the expense and his reason was acceptable, so I didn't make an issue of it.

And also I felt like I had to now give up part of my day to clean up the garage. Most of the mess was mine and rather than him decide where everything got moved, I wanted to make those decisions.

I still had some lingering bad feelings, but while he was gone I gave myself a stern talking to. I want him to set and adhere to a routine. I want him to exercise. I want him to eat right. And I got the BowFlex set up without having to haul it and figure it out on my own. So why was I continuing to harbor anger and resentment? I decided to let it go.

By the time he got back, my pleasant personality had returned and the day proceeded on a mostly even keel.Getting the treadmill setup was another story, but the men finally figured it out. Whew.

And DH was up at 4:30am walking on the treadmill and watching tv on the new big screen.

But he's a noisy riser--not only his alarm, but the dang toilet. So I think I'm just going to be getting up at 4:30 as well. It's only 20 minutes earlier than when I've been getting up. Now I can cook my breakfast prior to my own exercising!

 So-- How was your weekend?

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned my lack of ability to say no to the things I should--like root beer, pretzel dogs from Sonic, fries from Mickey D's, and so on and so on.Weight-wise, I've been hovering so very close to and on the wrong side of the 140 lb. mark. I really want clear that hurdle and head toward the 130 lb. point. That'll be the next hurdle.

I've turned a corner and I'm ready to get 'er done. So I'm saying no again. Monday, DH asked me if I wanted a root beer from an eatery here in the business park and I said NO. All weekend through the beginning of the week, I said NO to the tempting things in my cabinets and fridge (things I have to have--like cereal or heat and eat items for Sonshine and DH). Instead, I chose protein or fruits and veggies. I like protein and fruits and veggies, don't get me wrong, but most of the time there's prep work or cooking involved and when I'm hungry, I'm hungry. It's hard to wait. And, okay, I get lazy, too.

In trying to utilize my exercise time to better (and safer and cooler) effect, I switched from walking around my neighborhood for thirty minutes to pedaling my bike pedals. (I bought just the pedals on a stand, not a full stationary bike.) Now, if I can double that effort and pedal while I watch TV--you know, cuz the new TV season is right around the corner--I can earn almost three times as many burned calories as that thirty minutes of walking. Woot! More calories for eating, and possibly saying yes every now and then to an icy cold can of A&W Root Beer.

To get the figures for calories burned from walking versus pedaling, I had to open MyFitnessPal, and I figured, what the heck, I'll start keying in my food and my exercise now. No time like the present, right?

I have twenty pounds to lose to reach my ultimate goal. I know it's better to have a target date for things, but I also know slower weight loss is better weight loss, so I'm just going to shoot for reaching 137 lbs. by September 1st. That's four pounds in three weeks. That's do-able. I've done it before. I've just got to keep saying no! Just this morning I said no to sleeping in because it was raining and just oh, so tempting to snuggle back under the covers.

What about you? I know two of my faithful friends/readers are also watching what they eat and trying to shed a few pounds. How are you doing friends??

It's been quite a while since I reported in about my weight loss efforts. Mainly because I fell off the wagon late last year. I've been meaning to get back on plan... Week after week, I intend to and I plan my salad lunches, but then I derail myself by week's end with a fast food lunch or a bowl of cereal for dinner.

Despite all of that, I'm only four pounds over my lowest recorded weight. Needless to say, I'm very surprised, and I attribute that fact to the amount of yard work I've done over the last three weekends, especially everything I did this past weekend. Apparently, chain-sawing and roto-tilling burn up a lot of calories. I had been walking the dog more often than not too, so that probably helped as well. Now that I no longer have Sammy as a motivation, I guess I'm gonna have to JUST DO IT. Especially seeing as how I'm so close to that lowest weight. I still have 25 pounds to lose to get to my goal weight.


In addition to keeping up the exercise regimen, I'm gonna start using MyFitnessPal again. If you don't know what it is, it's a website/app where you key in some info (Current weight, goal weight, age, height...I can't remember exactly.) and it tells you how many calories you get per day. Each day you log what you've eaten--it has a huge database--and it tallies it all up. You log your exercise as well and you gain additional calories for intake.


As you lose, it adjusts the number of calories you're allowed to consume. And since you just count calories, you don't necessarily have to give up the things you love. Of course, carbs and sugars usually contain a lot of calories, so you have to moderate your consumption.

So I'm proclaiming to all of you faithful followers that I'm back to watching what I eat and back to exercising once more. Please keep me accountable!

Anyone else watching their weight??

So it's the last day of 2012, which overall wasn't a bad year. I'm writing to you this morning from the wilds of central Texas where our fireworks store is located. I came down last night to help out if necessary. They probably could have done without me, but that's okay. We broke $10K for the season last night too. DH was pleasantly surprised. The major expenses haven't quite been covered, but today will bring in enough to cover the rest and then some. If we can manage to pay off the guy we bought the place from, then come 4th of July all profits are ours. Finally. After four years. It wasn't supposed to take so long, but governments and economies happen.

But enough of that--last week I said we'd talk about goals for the new year, so...

My goals for the new year include reading more. At least a book a week for a minimum total of 52 books for 2013. I've probably amassed a good chunk of those already from all the free Kindle books I've found over the past couple of weeks, and I'll probably be visiting the library more often as well.

Another major goal is to lose the last 20 to 30 pounds to reach my target weight. After that, it'll be all about toning and converting that flab to muscle. Which, yes, I know will weigh more. But that's okay.

I'd also like to get back to doing crafts. My girls want to learn to sew, and we've already gotten started on our projects. But I'd also like get back to cross-stitching and rubber stamping. And I'd like to do some basic toll painting. Many years ago, I wanted to put together and decorate a doll house. I got one, but we were really too poor for me to do it justice. It's not an inexpensive endeavor. The houses themselves can cost hundreds of dollars. Then you have to put them together, paint them, decorate them. They take time, money, and space.

And there's writing of course--several times in the past half-dozen years I've gone through a bit of a crisis if you will. Do I want to write for publication. Of course, these days, I could bypass all normal channels and self-publish my work, but I know my writing is not quite as ready for the big time as it could be and should be. I love writing, I really do. I love to learn about writing and love working to improve my writing, reading other people's thoughts on various aspects of it and taking classes, but I get what I need from writing from writing fan fiction and from the feedback I get when I post it in fan fiction venues. I also love to beta-read and critique other's work and I've wondered if that's really what I'd rather be doing.

So the goal I guess is to figure out my career path. If I decide to pursue the editorial aspect, I still have much to learn. I may even go back to school and pursue a 2-year degree in English.

One of our financial goals last year was to put some serious money aside and considering our history, we did pretty well. So I guess we'll continue on and try to do better this year by not only putting money aside, but by paying off a debt or two as well.

So those are a few of my major goals.

How about you?? Care to share?

Other stuff first...

On the 6th, I said I was getting back on the wagon. I'm happy to report that I walked to the post office and back every day last week and Monday and yesterday. It takes 10 minutes round trip, and it's amazing how even just that short amount of time moving my body, getting my blood pumping, and being out in the fresh air and (usually) sunshine makes.

I also ate a healthy salad for lunch every day. I didn't do so well with dinners, but I'm counting calories and I mostly stayed under my allotted number of calories. I haven't weighed in yet, but I'm guessing that after yesterday's eleven-hour marathon at Cowboy Stadium (lots of calorie burning, little calorie intake) I've probably lost the weight I gained. Time to take to to the next level, I suppose, which means getting back to calisthenics each day in addition to the walk.

I know you probably wouldn't think so to look at me or read my blog, but I'm a Trekkie. Not a die hard, wear-costumes-to-movie-premiers, or convention-attending hard core kind of Trekkie, but a Trekkie none the less. I s'pose I must confess that I haven't seen The Original Series in it's entirety, nor seen any of the original movies. Does that tarnish my status?

But I have watched all of The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise, plus watched the 2009 re-boot movie well over a hundred times. (Can I polish my badge back up,now?)

I love, love, love the franchise makeover. Even though I didn't see all of TOS, I've seen enough to know how amazing the casting for the reboot was. I saw the film in the theater as a fluke but went back twice. I read fanfic for it, too. I've even tried writing a bit, but my sci fi skills aren't so great.

And finally, finally, finally the reboot sequel has a title and a date! I'm so excited.


When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis. With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction. As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew. Written by Paramount Pictures (Blurb pilfered from IMDB)

Sounds awesome, don't you think?

Are you Trek fan? Do you like the reboot??

(today's Countdown to Christmas post in below this one)

The last few months have been rough. My oldest daughter moved back home, which meant, if you remember, that I had to give up my writing room. She also decided she was going to get up at 6:30 to do her devotions. Which meant I lost my early morning quiet time.

In addition, school started which meant marching band events and the general chaos that comes form having a child in school, then add teenager to that equation.

On the work front, things have been in transition for a month and half now. Things are changing, eventually for the better, but even so, transition can be hard.

As you also know, I've been trying to lose weight--to reach a healthy weight of approximately 115 lbs. Right now I'm just trying to shed the pounds. Once I get there, the plan is to turn fat to muscle. Which (I know, I know) weighs more. But that's okay. Anyway, I'm about 20lbs. lighter and have 25lbs. to go, but I'm at a stand still, the dreaded plateau that only renewed effort--meaning exercise--will get me over.

The point of all this is that I've allowed circumstances to control me. My writing and exercise have slacked off because I've let the mild depression and the ill will I've felt over circumstances that were really unavoidable guide my decisions.

It's not as if I don't know that exercise, especially, will help me lose more and weight and generally help me feel better, which in turn will help the writing. The problem becomes I just don't care.

This weekend was a step in the right direction. I completed a project and submitted it. It felt really good to get that accomplished. I was also able to overcome some doubts I had regarding another WIP. I discussed the story and my concerns with a couple of writer friends, and I found my way through the fog.

I usually like to start things on Sunday, and I sorta did. I was up and writing at 5:30 yesterday at least.

But today is a brand new day. I'm back to getting up early. I'm back to writing or revising every day. I'm back to exercising and eating better. (The walking will start tomorrow. I swear.)

I'm back to controlling my life, not letting life control me.

So...how was your weekend?

After working Monday night's Cowboy game I was completely wiped out. I had a hard time functioning yesterday and mostly I didn't. I was in bed and asleep by 7pm last night and slept like a rock until about 3am (that's right around 8 hours exactly *rolls eyes*). I rolled over and slept until DH had to get up earlier than normal and then rolled over again and slept until I had no choice.

While my brain is feeling better, I've seriously slacked off on exercise lately and I'm feeling it in the general stiffness and achy-ness of my body. So it's back to calisthenics and evening exercise. I really need to get my butt in gear and start that walking I talked about TWO months ago.

Unfortunately, home life is still adjusting to two things: having my Brown Eyed Girl back in the fold and the changes at work. These changes have meant that both DH and BEG are up way earlier than they used to be and I have lost some of that peaceful quiet time I enjoyed all by myself.

Which means if I want it back, I have to start actually getting out of bed when the alarm goes off at 5. Ugh.

I'm thinking though--get up at 5 and write in the peaceful stillness and then walk when everyone else gets up. Now to just do it.

Here's picture just for the sake of having a picture: a beach in Rockport, Texas--I'd love to be there now.


So what have you been struggling with lately?

Two of my critique partners finaled in our chapter's writing contest. Now they get to take a look at their first round critiques, make any changes they deem necessary and resubmit to the final round judge--an agent or editor.

I too entered the contest, Apparently no finalling for me, but that's okay. I wanted feedback more than I wanted to final.

On another exciting note, I helped one of my other CPs get her website up and published. It's probably not available yet, but the URL is www.lavenderdaye.com. (Just a warning, she writes erotic romance. There's nothing too erotic on the site, at the moment, except maybe the picture, but even that's tasteful. Well, I like it, anyway. :)

The weather is cloudy again and therefore warmer. My CP Lavender gave me a pedometer the other day and I wore it while I walked my morning blocks--@3740 steps yesterday and @4380 today. I read somewhere that you should take 10,000 steps a day. I wore the pedometer all day yesterday but only ended up with @5700, almost 5800 steps. And that was a busier than normal day for me. I guess I need to add that fourth block soon and the aerobics.

Well, time to get busy....

I'm thinking of copying my friend/critique partner Chrissy's idea in using the alphabet to inspire/generate blog content. It intrigues me.... I think her idea of posting extras about her fantasy book series is a fun exercise and is probably helpful to her in fleshing out characters. Though I know she'll say a) she got the idea from someone else and b) she already knows her characters really well as it is.

Immediate work crisis has calmed and as it is the 1st of the month I do have other administrative tasks to accomplish. It's a welcome change of pace.

Oh-I've just noticed that it's raining. YAY. We need rain so badly. It could rain for days on end and I wouldn't complain. (Well, only about the dirt the dogs would end up tracking into the house.)

My diet and exercise plan is progressing. I'm walking three full blocks most days, which takes me between 25 and 35 minutes to accomplish. I probably spend 10 to 20 minutes a day in 3 to 5 minute increments doing calisthenics in conjunction with my trips to the restroom. Over all, I feel pretty good physically.

As for the diet, I've given up starches: bread, biscuits, pasta (sob), tortillas, etc, and eating a lot more green veggies and proteins. Trying to cut back on my sugar intake, but I love, love, love my sweet tea, whether hot or cold, so that's a big challenge. With this work crisis, I haven't been trying too hard as sweet hot mint tea is my comfort food and I really needed a lot of calming comfort this past week.

I do feel as if I've hit a plateau. I don't have a regular scale to track actual weight loss, though I suppose I could get out the Wii. Then I could get the aerobics going too. Maybe that'll bump me over the plateau. (I think, though, I'll just be more hungry.)

I've just realized the side effects of my exercise--after only a day or two--duh!

An increased appetite! My goodness, it seems as if I have been hungry for several days and now I realize why. A good thing--the exercise is obviously working; and a bad thing--I have to make sure I eat things that won't counter the exercise too much. More proteins, I think, and more roughage.