Carli's Latest Blog Entry
You may have realized that you can search my entire weight loss and fitness blog, but you won’t find my actual weight anywhere. That’s because I’m not totally comfortable sharing my weight with the whole world just yet. I have a magic number in my mind, and when I reach that number I’m sure I will tell everyone. However, I will continue to be open and honest about my journey to get to magic number land. As you probably know, I gained back a few of the pounds that I lost in January. I was frustrated and mad at myself, but determined not to give up. Life dumped some extra hard stuff my way recently. One of my best friends was diagnosed with a blood clot on her brain and was in the hospital for several days. I took a road trip and spent the day with her. Then I experienced the shock of realizing that all change is stressful. Even good change like a great new job, can be stressful. When I explained to the Weight Watcher’s leader last week that I had been stress eating, she gently reminded me that food would not make the situation better. It’s amazing how many times we have to re-learn the same lessons. My friend is better and out of the hospital, and all last week I made a conscious effort to remind myself that food cannot fix problems. I managed to track at least two meals a day and worked in some activity. I was happy to see that the scale finally worked in my favor this week. I lost two pounds! That puts me at a total loss of 10 pounds since January.
My little sister, the one that’s a Senior in high school joined Weight Watchers today. She was super nervous about getting on the scale. I told her they always have encouraging things to say, and never judge you based on your weight. She enjoyed the meeting, but she had to get accustomed to the casual meeting environment where people “scream out answers while the teacher was talking.” She was so surprised to learn that you can eat “bad” food and still lose weight. She had planned on cutting out junk food, and I told her with Weight Watchers she didn’t have to. She only has to eat less. I hope she likes the program, it’s nice to have a weight watcher partner. Although many of you are my weight watcher partners too. With all of this support I’m destined to succeed. I hope you have a great week; remember to eat less and move more. We can do this!
They always say that people like to read lists. So here is a list of 5 Reasons I had to pinch myself to see if I was dreaming.
Pinch Me Reason #1 I quit my job today! I’m making millions on the internet and no longer have to work a 9-5. Okay…so I’m not making millions online, not even hundreds, but I did quit my job. Way back in the summer I interviewed for a job at another law firm. But, they specialized in asbestos cases and I don’t have much experience with that. However, the partner and the attorneys really liked me and said they would keep my resume on file. On Friday they asked me to come in to discuss a new position they had created. The position is a hybrid position combining paralegal and IT skills. Computers are my thing and I have eight years of paralegal experience, so naturally it was a perfect fit. At the end of the meeting the partner offered me the job! I was shocked and honored that they remembered me and chose me. The office manager at my current job looked completely surprised when I gave my two week notice. I’ll keep my reasons for leaving professional and just say that the firm was not the best fit for me. It was two long years, and I’m grateful for the change.
Pinch Me Reason #2 On Saturday when I put on my winter coat, I said “oh man, my coat got bigger.” Then I realized wow, I got smaller.
Pinch Me Reason #3 I’m so glad that it’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently. Throughout the week I consistently counted my weight watcher points. There was one time I cheated and didn’t track the right portion sizes. Then I realized I was only cheating myself, and went back and corrected it. Then yesterday I went to my sister’s Super Bowl party. I ate nachos, a hot dog, barbecue chicken wings, and even a cupcake (or a cut-kate as my three year old niece pronounces it.) I was so scared to weigh in today. I changed into a pair of scrubs, the lightest article of clothing I own. My Special Friend told me not to worry because he was convinced that I would lose weight again this week. I figured he was nuts, especially since I ate the cut-kate. He gave me a big fat “I told you so” when I told him I lost THREE pounds this week. That’s a total of 11.4 pounds! I’ve been losing weight for five weeks in a row, and I have to tell you it feels great.
Pinch Me Reason #4 What else could I possibly be excited about? I’ve decided to write an e-book. For those who don’t know, an e-book is an electronic book that you can download instantly to your computer or electronic device. I’ve written about 70 pages already on a topic I think you will enjoy. I hope to launch the book in early March.
Pinch Me Reason #5 Lastly, that investment property rehab project that’s been stressing me out for months, and draining all my money is finally done. It passed the final inspection and I can move in a new tenant. Here’s a before and after picture of the bedroom. The Maintenance Man truly is a miracle worker.
Before Rehab, after the Hoader Moved Out
After he worked his Magic
Happy MLK day, I heard on the radio that only 3 individuals have a U.S national holiday in their honor, and I’m proud that Dr. King is one of them. Since my firm recognizes the holiday, I was able to sleep in. Once I woke up, I played the xbox Kinect Dance Central 2 video game in my living room. I was trying to master the moves to Trey Songz hit song, “Say Ahhh.” I’m so uncoordinated, I had to take the step by step tutorial. But, it was so much fun, and it showed that I burned between 30 and 50 calories each time I did the choreographed routine. I was pouring sweat, but finally managed to get 4 out of 5 stars. It’s a great way to workout with feeling like I was exercising. You know I’m an over achiever, I’m going to get those 5 stars at some point. lol.
The scale at home has looked promising all week, so I wasn’t concerned about the weigh in at the Weight Watcher meeting tonight. Additionally, like last week, I look and feel better, so I was determined that the scale was not going to change my mood. But it turned out that was not totally true. Getting on the scale at the meeting did change my mood. I went from being at peace, knowing that I worked the program, to being ECSTATIC that I lost a total of 6.6 pounds in just 2 weeks!!! And I ate, y’all. I didn’t starve. I ate all the things I wanted, just not at much. If I keep saying the positive things and keeping track of my points, there’s no telling where this thing might take me. (People Half their Size issue? A weight watcher commercial? A full marathon? lol) Baby Steps…I know…Only time will tell!
“Operating out of fear means that you will always be scared and running for your life, instead of being in alignment with your life.” ~Oprah~
I mentioned in my last post that I have a new “special friend” a great guy that I’ve been dating for a couple weeks. So, today, he sent me a text saying “You mentioned several times that investing in something that you don’t know where it’s headed isn’t something that you want to do…so do you think we should pump the brakes and talk less?” I really had to think about it. This guy has taken me out a couple times, paid for everything, treated me with respect, catered to doing things I enjoy, invested a lot of time getting to know me, and has been incredibly honest. What the heck is wrong with me?! What more could I possibly want after 2 weeks? Why was I constantly telling him that I intentionally wasn’t willing to put my best foot forward, even though I knew that he was? And then I realized that I was operating solely out of fear, and comparing him to horrid experiences from the past. You never know where relationships or friendships will end up, but is that a reason to never get new friends or never allow yourself to genuinely care for someone? Of course not….I went to weigh in on my lunch break, I’ve lost 9 pounds total. YAY!…
On my drive back to work, I called and I explained to him that in my last really serious relationship, the guy was a liar, a thief and an alcoholic amongst other things. But, my sprecial friend had not given me any reason to believe that he was any of those things. He understood where a lot of my emotional brick walls came from, and I told him that I would allow myself to invest just as much as he had. So are we getting married and live happily ever after? Who knows? But, what I do know is that when I look back on it. I can say that I didn’t let fear run my life.
When I left work today, Cardinal Fever and an excited energy was in the air since we are in the playoffs. There were people everywhere dressed in red and the sun was shining on a freakishly warm October evening. I felt good that I had stopped allowing fear to drive my decisions and decided to enjoy the weather by walking in the park. It was beautiful outside, low 70’s. I climbed the giant hill for a boost to my walk circling the big water basin fountain. The sun was starting to set, but Nyah and I were able to walk about a mile and half before it got too dark. I must say, I had a great day.
Hey!! Guess what? I signed up for a local weight loss competition called “Lose to Win.” It’s kind of like “The Biggest Loser,” but not really. A lady passionate about fitness and healthy eating started a program to use your competitive edge to lose weight and created a local weight loss competition. Participants weigh in each week, and results are posted in the newspaper. At the end of the 12 weeks, there are 3 grand prize winners along with the top 10 winners. Prizes include cool stuff like iPads and cookware. As you know, I’ve had so many ups and downs with my weight, but I would like to be in the top 10. I went in for my first official weigh in. I was happy and surprised that I lost 7.3 pounds in just over one week. I can’t wait for the results to come out and see where I fall amongst the 1,000 other participants. The South Beach Diet 
is actually working for me. It’s so freeing not to have to count calories or track everything you eat. But, I can already see that the challenge will be getting bored with eating the same foods. After about the 5th day, I couldn’t eat another egg for breakfast. Whether it was boiled (LOL), scrambled, or baked in a frittata, it was still an egg. I started to adapt Phase 2 of the plan early, and had bran cereal for breakfast. That was enough to keep me on track. Ultimately, I will probably do to the Weight Watchers Simply Filling Plan. It allows you to eat whole grain (and low fat) bread, whole wheat pasta and gives you a weekly points allowance for all of the food not on the Power Foods list. I think that’s more manageable for a lifetime plan for me and my body chemistry. Have any of you used the Simply Filling plan from Weight Watchers? What’s your experience with it?
