Life is about the journey

Today is my one year wedding anniversary. I still can't believe that it has already been a year. The time really flew by. I guess that is what happens when you are having fun.

Mr. Badango and I decided to hike up to the Hollywood sign to celebrate our anniversary. We have both been focused on living a healthier lifestyle and thought this would be a great way to mark our first year of marriage.

The walk up was difficult and I had to keep stopping because I was out of breath. But walking up those hills was worth it for the view.

But then we hit a road block at the top. Just before what would have been our last uphill curve there was a construction crew. Some of the Hollywood elite had donated boulders to be placed in the viewing area for the Hollywood sign. We were told it would be a couple of hours before the project was done. At this point we had to turn around. But not before snapping a picture of us with the construction crew in the back.

We were disappointed to be blocked from finishing our journey, but we did have a good time walking up and down the hill. And we will go back, but next time we will be in better shape and we will actually get to the Hollywood sign.

Late Weigh-In

I'm not happy with my weigh in this week but it is truly a reflection of not making myself get up and move and track my calories. I didn't gain a lot, but I did gain. Here is to another week full of its own challenges, but hopefully I will be back down this time next week.

Last weeks weight: 197.8
This weeks weight: 198.4
Difference: +0.6
Current goal weight: 194.9

The Never Ending Shawl

I'm on the last 4 rows of a shawl right now. The total number of rows when all is said and done will be 214 rows and the total number of stitches will be right around 640. The shawl will be gorgeous when it is done and needless to say I want it done. It takes me over an hour to finish a row at this point.

The reason why I'm writing about this shawl is because it is truly teaching me the challenge of living a healthy lifestyle while enjoying my hobby of knitting. I spent all day Saturday sitting around working on this shawl. I didn't exercise at all like I had planned. That fact reflects in my weigh in for the week. My focus has definitely shifted from weight loss to getting that shawl done and I am struggling to find the balance. I need to find a way to enjoy all of my interests without lacking in either area.

No Workout Tonight

I decided not to workout tonight. I got home after a very long day of having to use my brain more than normal and I had learned that some of my friends had had even crappier days. All that I wanted to do was veg on the couch with my husband. And that is what I did, along with eating some of his Chinese food. Of course this was after I had had the bread bowl at Panera with my soup. Long story short, I didn't workout tonight and I ate way too much.

I will definitely make up for it tomorrow by eating healthier and exercising. In fact I'm planning on bringing my walking shoes so I can go for a walk during my lunch hour.

The thing about coming clean with my true weight is that now I feel like there is a bit more accountability to keep up the healthy lifestyle. I'm even considering a weekly weigh in post on Tuesdays.

I'm not going to beat myself up about tonight because this is a lifestyle change. There will be other times in my life when it is just better for my health to spend time withy husband. A big thank you to the guys at Fat2Fit Radio for teaching me this valuable lesson, that I need to live like the thin person I want to be.

Coming Clean

I hit my first weight loss goal on February 6th and was able to go buy my iPhone on February 13th. Since this was also around the time of my birthday celebrations my weight loss efforts haven't been exactly a they were, but the fact that I haven't gained the weight back is huge. It means that this is truly becoming a lifestyle change. I am proud to say that I am now back on track this week and working toward some yarn.

Having the iPhone has helped me to keep motivated in this healthy lifestyle. It was a huge reward for a little bit of progress and I don't want to move backwards on that progress. It has also encouraged me to listen to podcasts about healthy living, and I found Fat2Fit radio. I have been listening to their back episodes for the past week and am extremely motivated in keeping up with this lifestyle change no matter how slow the progress.

One of the episodes talked about listener blogs. I don't know if I'm ready to put my blog up on their website, but they did encourage bloggers to not remain anonymous while blogging. I feel like I have been very vague when it comes to my weight, only posting how many pounds I need to lose to get to my next goal as opposed to the actual number on the scale. As scary as it is I think I need to post the actual scale numbers, so here goes.

Starting weight: 210
Current weight: 197.8
Current goal weight: 194.9
Ultimate goal weight: 145

My first goal that got me the iPhone was to be under 200. My goals are set at every 5 pounds because if I look at that bottom number and my current weight I can get a little discouraged, but if I look at the middle two numbers then I know I am close to something.

So now I have come clean on my true weight, guess I should do a weekly post with my progress, and maybe advertise my blog more. I really can't give up this lifestyle if others are reading about it.

The Value of Menu Planning

I have been a real stickler for menu planning since starting the overhaul of my eating habits at the beginning of the year. In fact I even bought a planner for the sole purpose of writing our weekly menu in it. For some reason I did not plan the menu for this week and it has been obvious in my eating habits for the week.

I think the main reason I didn't think it would be necessary to write out the menu was the fact that I was planning to use a preset dinner menu from a magazine this week. The dinner menu comes from the current issue of Self and even includes a grocery shopping list.

I figured that I would keep up with my turkey wraps for lunch and have a smoothie or oatmeal or an English muffin for breakfast. Because I had it all figured out in my head I didn't see the sense in actually writing it out. I was wrong.

Since I didn't have specific lunches planned I also didn't bother fixing my lunches the night before. Same with my breakfasts. This has all culminated into a sort of food disaster at work today. I had every intention of having an English muffin for breakfast this morning, in fact I even brought the butter for it. But when I reached in my lunch bag for the muffin it wasn't there. I had forgotten to put it in the sandwich bag in my rush to get out the door. I went to the vending machine at work and got a fiber one bar instead, but this was not a good way to start my morning.

Also, my lunch is leftovers from yesterday's lunch that I'm praying will be enough to fill me up.

Lesson learned, I will be menu planning for next week on Sunday.

My Amazing Husband

It's Valentine's Day and per my usual non-like of Hallmark holidays I ignored it until the actual day. I feel like all of the pink and red stuff in the stores that are supposed to represent the love my husband and I have for each other fall short of that goal. There are no material objects that can truly represent our love, except for our wedding bands.

I do want to say that I have the best husband ever and I am so thankful that he puts up with me.  I hear other women complain about all of the little annoying things their hubbies do and I just smile because my husband doesn't do those things. Most of the time it is me doing those things. I am blessed beyond my deserving that he puts up with it.

There are so many reasons why I love my husband and I'm going to list a few here.

1. He shows his love for me daily
2. He puts my needs before his
3. He encourages me to reach my goals
4. He will be weird with me
5. He does the dishes all the time
6. He makes me coffee in the morning
7. He puts up with my mood swings
8. He works two tough jobs so we are financially stable
9. He never fails to make me smile
10. I can truly be myself around him, no questions asked

Those are just a few of the reasons I love him.

Happy Valentine's day honey! I hope this is better than a card, and we will go buy you some baseball cards tonight. Maybe if I pick the pack you will get the squirrel.