arewethereyet

Friends,

Good weight news to report. I am down 2 pounds this week and have achieved my last mini-goal in the 200s! I just reset the ticker and have placed my next mini-goal at 6 pounds from now… 198. That is a number I haven’t seen in 15 years. Maybe more. I remember 199 about 15 years ago. I don’t know if I ever saw 198. Anyway, holy cow! This is big! And I’m getting smaller.

Another bizarro-world NSV for the week…  I had my annual mammogram. (Kevin, you can skip this paragraph if you want to!) In previous years they have had to do use 6 plates to take the full impression. I’m proud to say that this year they only needed the standard 4 plates. I’ve lost that much breast tissue - can you believe how happy I am about smaller boobs? But I come to the table (and to the shopping mall, and to church, and to everywhere) with impressive assets shall we say so I’m THRILLED to know end about this NSV.

Workouts with Claire went well this week and I did cardio every day except Wednesday. Today I plan to take a walk outside while someone is watching football. I love football. Love love love it. But I need a walk and it’s a good way to get some me-time. It’s funny, my mom started walking 2 miles every morning before work - I think exercise was secondary to her need for some alone time. She’s skinny as a rail, as always, and she still does it to this day. And she’s been retired for 15 years. I’ve met my father. A lovely man. And I’d go for a 2-mile walk every day to get some alone time too if I were living with him day in and day out!!!

Only negative of the week I can think about is insomnia hell but I think that has to do with 2 big things… job search stress (more activity this week, nothing huge but at least something is going on) and a new medication that a friend gave me to relax my back. It’s working but it seems to loosen  me up and somehow rev me up at the same time. Lesson learned - it’s a daytime med for me, not an overnight one!

So that’s my Saturday report. Good weigh in, bad sleeping. Rock on with your bad selves and let’s all try to think and talk as nicely to ourselves this week as we would about a good friend or to a stranger on the street. We are fabulous! Big hugs to all, Ellen

I added these to my profile as well but just wanted to share 2 cute pics of Tim and me on New Year’s Eve. Awwww!

Scale was down this morning, but of course it doesn’t count until Saturday. I’m very excited to see a loss this week. I walked to Walgreen’s to pick the photos up - just over 3 miles round trip. How blessed is Chicago to see 60 degree weather in January! Just what the doctor ordered. It felt great to stretch the legs, but I promise I didn’t overdo it.  I’m doing well on food today - chicken/cognac/cranberry sausage for breakfast, a small roast beef sandwich for lunch, and a big veggie salad for dinner. I expect a banana as a snack in there as well.

Hugs to all! Ellen

Hi all. Well it’s been a few weeks since I last blogged… a busy few weeks. (Karen: I know I know I know. I’m sorry.)

Let’s start with my weight loss, since you know this is BS after all: there is none. Luckily there’s just a pesky 1 pound gain over the indulgent holidays which involved cocktails and gluten (heaven forbid!) and the occasional bout of dairy besides. I’ve done well in terms of managing the overall calories but I definitely need to get back on the bandwagon, which btw I am doing officially tomorrow and frankly I am looking forward to it. I know I’m off my game because seriously… I am very very very hungry lately. And all that can mean is that my body is used to being indulged and it also means that my workouts have been slack.

Which is true. But not because I want them to be. It’s because I earned myself a major injury on Christmas Eve.  Long story short, I walked headfirst into the cross bar of my cousin’s handicapped van, flung my neck all the way back (whiplash), and knocked myself out cold for a few seconds. I did a paralysis check upon regaining consciousness - all systems go, and painful. Basically since then I have been fighting a back spasm, from my middle to lower back… it moves. And I can’t run, and I can’t lift. I’m seeing the chiropractor a little more often and Claire and I are doing a lot of stretching and body weight only exercising. I’m icing my back daily too, but I find it difficult to sit at the computer for very long these days. I actually didn’t come on at all for about a week believe it or not. That’s a major change for me believe me! Anyway, I appear to be on the mend. This week I have pledged to my fellow Hot Rods that I will do light cardio (treadmill or ellyptical) every day. No running for me until I have 5 painfree days in a row. And believe me when I say I am a ways away from that accomplishment. (Ugh)

Drama earlier tonight - the computer completely crashed and looked to be kaput for real for a while there. The Dell guy wanted to reinstall XP, and wipe out 4 years of work. Here’s my word to wise: BACK UP YOUR FILES TODAY! DON’T WAIT UNTIL SOMETHING BAD HAPPENS! When I got back to working, I immediately saved all my documents and everything on my desktop. I’m still searching for my iTunes files so I can grab the music onto CDs just in case I lose it all again. It’s a nightmare folks, so please please please back up your files!!

Love remains grand. We had a wonderful romantic time in Lake Geneva for New Year’s Eve. And we took pictures which I’m picking up from Walgreens tomorrow and yes I’ll scan one of them in so you can see how cute we are! We’re planning our Florida trip for the end of March.  This is the real deal folks… I’m still a bit stunned but it is the real deal.

And that’s it for now. I promise (Karen) not to be so long between blogs. XO to all and continued love & success in 2008 to all, Ellen