Pardon the interruption...

Sorry to pull you away from whatever you're doing, but I have something to say.  I am not the girl who's going to lose 100 pounds in 6 months or anything close to that example!

To me, this whole journey is about creating a new life. New behaviors.  New habits.  It's not about how fast I can lose a bunch of weight, or how much I can torture myself to get there. (Not to say that some days are downright awful)  Yes, I think it's awesome that you lost 20 pounds in 2 weeks eating nothing but canned tuna and water with lemons and cayenne pepper in it.  I also am excited for your niece (or friend, momma, aunt Fannie....) who recently went on a baby food diet (Slim Fast, cleanse, insert other food replacements here...) and lost 60 pounds in 2 months.  I think it's awesome that you lost 30 pounds in a month going to the gym 3-4 times a day.  -But that's not me, sister.

Those quirky quick-fix diets are interesting solutions, but they are temporary.  The faster the pounds fly off, the faster they can come back.  People tell me about all of these "success" stories when I'm having frustrating days, like recently when I keep hovering around 50 pounds lost!  Yes, I could grab of these solutions and sail past 50 this week....but it'll be back next week as soon as I put down the cayenne pepper.  I'm a slow and steady kind of girl. And that's working for me.  I know I'm approaching a year and there are folks who have lost a lot more weight in less time, but I'm doing this slow-jam style so it sticks! I would love nothing more than to be able to go to the gym for 1/2 a day every day but I am not fortunate enough to be able to do that.  -More power to those of you who are.

Just remember that it's not fast; it's not easy.
But that way, it's permanent.
I know I'll get there.
So don't rush me.

Now. I did say slow-jam, up there somewhere.  So I have to post one of my all time favorites! (Woohoo, 1995!) Jon B. (Featuring Babyface) - Someone To Love.

Happy Thoughts and Green Armpits

So I washed off the funk of weigh-in day with my next 5k.  We did the Color Run in Richmond and had a ball.  Not only did we get to get messy, (My armpits are still green and I'm still digging purple out of my ears.)  but it was our best 5k yet!  There were a few little victories had:

1. Ran 2 miles, no stoppage.
2. Only stopped (and was walking briskly) for a brief moment on a hill but got back to it immediately.      

3. PR!! We did the race in just over 40 minutes!  Big deal for these girls!

Yesterday's race makes me feel better about jumping to 8k and 10k soon.  We are going to do a zombie run next month and then I'll be starting to train for a longer distances.   Wait. Who am I?

Jaime and I all clean pre-race.

3 miles later...

Duck face. Yes, evidently I'm a 12 year old!

@&!?@$!!?!

Weighed in today. Up almost 2 lbs! And I've been good! Eff you, cankles! I reserve the right to NOT be a Sally Sunshine tonight. So there.  I'll return to optimism tomorrow.

Progress

I've been fiddling with those collage apps.  I'm going to start making some progress photo files to keep myself more organized. Here's a peek!

Here's what you're looking at.
1. 7/2012- between 287 & 300lbs.
2. 10/2012- about 285lbs. 
3. & 4.  9/1/2013 - 237lbs.

1. 10/2012 - about 285lbs.
2. 7/5/2013 -248 lbs.
3. 9/1/2013 - 237lbs.
4.  9/7/2013 - 237lbs.

I'm going to hopefully be making a lot of these soon showing different things.

Under The Table And Dreaming....of lots of stuff.

Oh hi! 

Making friends at Pike Place Fish
Market in Seattle,WA

Intrigued by the gum wall at first.

Ew! Too close to the gum wall!

I'm back from our little vacation (for a few days now) and I still keep looking at my pictures and videos.     If we could have had our dogs and cats come out there I would have stayed in the Pacific Northwest forever! Only having a few days, he had to cram a lot in a small amount of time and got little sleep but it was so worth it! Seattle is a great city and the Seahawks fan base is crazy dedicated, even in the pre-season! Even at 75% stadium capacity at a Thursday night pre-season game, their crowd was by far the loudest crew I've ever experienced at a sporting event. I can't even imagine being with the 12th Man for a playoff game on a cold January night. Oh man! I am a die hard Redskins fan, but do love Russell Wilson. I have followed him (through both sports) since early in college.  I LOVE FOOTBALL.

My try at a panoramic view of The Gorge Amphitheater - Quincy, WA

Now - Dave. Carter. Boyd. Stefan. Jeff. Tim. Rashaun.  

Me with perma-smile at what's in the background. 

That guitar usually means one thing - Gravedigger

Dave Matthews Band at The Gorge was simply awesome.  Jaw dropping, tears in my eyes awesome.  DMB has always had a special place in my heart, and seeing them at The Gorge as always been on my bucket list.  Those of you who aren't Dave fans (and I totally get it and don't judge if you aren't) may not share the same feelings about seeing his crew but you have to see a show there.  I don't care who it is.  It is an amazing venue. It's hard to describe.  My pictures don't do it justice.  When we crested the hill after the hike to get in the gates, I was just awe -struck.  To be able to listen to music in the middle of the mountains and by the water like that is just so cool for me.  We saw two nights of shows and I seriously could have sat there on the side of the mountain for a week straight.  I could seriously keep typing about it for days.  



WW.  With vacation and our busiest work week of the year intertwined, it had been almost two weeks since I weighed in at WW when I went this past Thursday.  Sometimes you can find satisfaction in nothing.  I maintained my weight - no gain/no loss! No movement.  That's a win for me!  I'm still itching for 50 though! Soon. Very soon. I'll update this weekend about what results I see this week.



Gym sadness.  Now the tough part about this week and the next couple, is that I am without Big A.  This will be a big test for me to try and make some progress with out him with me on training nights at the gym.  I told him he's my "fitness security blanket".  He's gone for good reason, though, fulfilling his U.S. military requirements, so I can't be mad.  Though I know he and his family will always remain a part of our lives it just makes me think about the day, a while down the road, when I won't have or "need" my Big A blanket three or four times a week.  It's a little scary.  I have many, many more pounds to go before we have to worry about that though.  Hurry back, Big A!

Our Saturday home from Sept.-Nov.:  Camp Wahoo

College football is back kids! If you follow college football, you probably saw that #2 Oregon railroaded some east coast team on Saturday.  Yeah, that was us.  Virginia lost on Saturday but I am not worried.  We have some very talented young men and some of that shined through.  It's tough to play a west coast team who happens to be about the best there is in college football right now.  It was such a good learning experience for our kids.  Wahoowa!  Loss aside, we had a great day with our friends tailgating and catching up (before work duties called, that is).  We have a great crew of people that we see each game day.  Many of them I hadn't seen in a year or even a little longer.  I wasn't even really thinking about my current self-improvement project Saturday morning but I was so encouraged when quite a few of my friends took me aside and said two sweet words to me:  "I noticed."   It was nice.   It seems as though more folks than I realize are keeping tabs on me.  Very cool.  There are 12+ weeks of football season and I'm hoping to make some more visible changes by the end. 

With my adorable husband on game day.

Beautiful Scott Stadium on a September
Saturday in Charlottesville, VA

Well, it's time to get ready for another week.  
Where do the weekends go? I'll leave you with one of my favorite moments from our DMB weekend.  This was the encore from night one- Ants Marching with a quick transition to Halloween (both 'old' favorites of mine!) It's not my video though, because I couldn't sit still or stop sining long enough to film that long with my phone, and this was the night we were sitting at the tippy top!

(Credit to YouTube user SoCalMusicLover for this!)

What's on tap for this week?  

-Getting back on track with properly timed meals (and not eating vacation food).

-Kicking my own ass in the gym.

-Doing another 5k with my girl Jaime - one where they throw color bombs at you!