A long weekend.

You would think that a long weekend would mean more R&R for me....NOT! >.< I did get a little rest done on Friday. I worked on Friday for a little over an hour on some charting stuff that needed to get done, and then went home and basically relaxed. I really can't remember a lot of what I did Friday except that I did use my new EA Active. Saturday I got D to help me bring up the coffee table that Ken and Robin gave us a few weeks ago (shows you how often I use my back seat right?) so that I could have an empty car when I went to Albuquerque. I loaded my car with my laundry and off to Albuquerque I went with the intent of coming home Sunday.

Didn't happen.

I spent most of the afternoon Saturday with Ken and Robin and family at Chili's and doing some running around and such, setting Ken's computer back up so I could try a beta copy of Sims 3 (kinda neat) and then helping Robin pack a few things. Then on Sunday we went to Mike's house (another friend that lives in the area) for lunch (nachos, home made, not too bad I guess I tried to make my toppings be more of the veggies than the meat and cheese...) and were there from about 1pm till 9 or 10pm, drove back to Ken's house and I crashed there because my laundry wasn't done yet and so I couldn't just leave it there lol. Then Monday I helped them move a piano from inside the house to the garage so we could get some other stuff out (where it was positioned it basically blocked any large pieces from being moved from the bedrooms). Then I helped them clean out their garage of all the big stuff they were going to throw out and haul it to the dumpster they had delivered. Spent most of the day doing that until about 1 or 2pm then I decided it was best I be getting home considering I had a homework assignment to get done. Got home, did my homework, hauled some stuff upstairs from my car, think I fell asleep about midnight and got up this morning at 6:30.

Such a long long weekend and yet I got next to nothing I wanted to get accomplished done. :(

But, on the plus and very exciting side...I have a dishwasher! /cheer! Ken and Robin have one of those stand alone dish washers you can move around on wheels and I bought it off of them (since they won't need it) it's brand new. I hate doing dishes, especially in this apartment because there's only one sink so it's a pain to do the dishes. So I'm extremly excited to not have to do most of my dishes and it will make my life so much easier. I work long hours and after dinner I just don't feel like washing a load of dishes, so I'll rinse them off and they'll sit stacked in the sink for a day or two until I finally run out of dishes to use or something lol. It's awful I know but I'm just so tired after work and I have so much to do!

So this'll help. lol

Anyway back to work!

Amber

EA Active

So, I forgot that I had preordered this "game" and it showed up on my doorstep this afternoon (well not forgot, but didn't realize it was on its way to being out for purchase. I popped it in tonight (just a little bit ago, yes I'm up late/early I know) and let me just say I'm pretty darn happy with it.

I've had the wii fit for a few months, and it's great and all (I enjoy the boxing) but my main complaint about it was that I had to stop inbetween each activity to select another, or to continue on with what I was doing (like more reps or something). So there was a lot of downtime because the trainer had to talk and there was no way to skip through it. So while I may have "worked out" for an hour, it was probably only 20 mins worth or 30 mins worth when it was all said and done.

With this one there's a 30 day challenge, it keeps track of how long you go, how many calories you burn (!) and it's continous. I may have to stop to pick up the bands, or put the nunchuck into the little holder on my leg, but that's about it. It gives you plenty of time to do it (stops between each activity) but it has a skip forward button to skip past tutorials so you can get started as soon as you have the equipment picked up.

My only real "complaint" is that because of how short I am (5'0) it sometimes doesn't pick up that my legs are bending for squats because the nunchuck won't quite go parallel enough. I was practically sitting on my heels doin' squats (could be a better workout anyway right? lol). And running is a bitch and it doesn't quite recognize that I'm running either. Something to work on I suppose. nice thing is the time on the running countdown continues irregardless so I don't have to struggle to get around the track if I'm not getting it to work right (for now until I figure it out).

All in all I'm happy with it, it had me sweating even on "low intensity" work outs. Though I wish I could preprogram my "days off" for the challenge because it'd be nice to have a "day off" tomorrow since I won't be home until late (going to Albuquerque). We shall see how it goes.

You can also use the wii board if you have it, or not if you don't. The Wii board just enhances some of the activities I guess. I'd recommend it for anyone who hates going to the gym (as I do right now due to my size) and/or wants to work out in the comfort of their home. It also comes with resistance bands, which is nice for arm curls and such. :)

Amber

Slight downward motion

So I'm down a little, at 259 on the button. But that's 2 weeks worth, so...I'm beginning to think I've hit a plataue or however you spell it. I've been gaining and losing the same 2 or 3 pounds the past 2 or 3 weeks. Not for lack of trying mind you. I've been relatively OP every day. Especially during the week. I'll be down on Friday and then by Monday I'm back up again to within a pound of where I was.

But, on the other hand, I'm just trying to remember to relish in the NSV's. My clothes, despite not actually losing numbers off the scale, have been fitting more and more loose. I'm wearing, today, pants that I bought about a month ago when I was a similar weight that were really pretty tight. I mean, when I tried them on, I had on older underwear and my underwear was bunching (I hate that). I bought them anyway because I was also buying new underwear, figuring that would fix the issue. Come to find out, it really didn't. When i got home and tried them on to wear one day they fit but were tighter than I'd like to wear them. So I didn't. Now today I'm wearing those pants, and they fit perfectly fine. I bought 2 tanktops because summer is so close to being here, and they fit a little more snug than I'd like, but they work and they're a 22/24. The shirts I wear on a daily basis are a 24/26, so I've lost another shirt size. But yet, my weight remains the same.

Such is life! I'm happy with the feeling better. Though, this weekend I felt very very sick to my stomach all weekend and didn't feel much better this morning, it's not an everyday thing anymore.

I've also found a "new love" for a meal. I made some thin cut chicken tenders and lightly cooked them until it was just pink in the middle, then I poured a little teriyaki sauce on top and kept "basting" it until it was done. The turned out really tender and had a very good flavor. I made some white rice to go with it and had a cup of that and 3 tenders (they're thin and small) and was good to go. Really really good! In fact, I plan on making it again tonight, though this time I will hopefully remember to put the rice away and save it for later. I enjoy eating rice.

Anyway I need to get back to doing some work...there's not a lot to do at work work wise, but I have some homework I'd like to get started for the next class I start tomorrow. Quicker I get those assignments done, the quicker I can just relax. It's my last class before a 3 week off period that I'm giving myself. I've been going non-stop since January, time for a break!

Amber

The light at the end of the tunnel...

No, my weight loss journey is NOT at an end (no matter how much I may wish). No, my whole having teeth worked on is coming to an end. When my father died, I stopped caring, and when I stopped caring, coupled with my fear of anything dentist related (yet I work for one go figure), I basically didn't see a dentist for a good 3 solid years, hadn't had my teeth cleaned in probably twice that. Needless to say the amount of fillings needed wasn't very pretty. I take good care of my teeth NOW but the year or so that I just didn't care enough to brush them more than I had to took its toll. I had about 12 cavities two of which turned into full crowns, and one an extracted tooth (which happened last Thursday).

Probably close to 4k worth of dental work and my lovely boss did it all for me for free. Thank god. Anyhoo...So I had my tooth extracted last Thursday, wasn't too bad I guess. Not much I could do about it, it was a combination of my own stupidity and the fact that the person that did my last filling didn't do it right. Both filligs she did ended up in either a crown or a lost tooth, what's that tell ya. My final procedure will be done in June with having a crown put on another tooth. I'm eager to get it done. I feel a lot better about myself these days. Like it's worth getting up in the morning, going to work and focusing on myself. It's not just weight loss related, yes it helps but some of it is just me turning a corner I guess.

I have a decent job that pays well enough. I have a loving boyfriend that loves me for who I am regardless of weight or looks, but me as a person (something I don't think I've ever had before). I'm almost finished with my master's degree (6 more classes woo!), and plan on pursuing a nursing liscense when I'm done me thinks. I'm losing weight (even if it's a little up and down right now), and basically I'm getting my life going again.

The last 3 years have really flown by for me. They were a dark time in which I was basically just putting one foot in front of the other trying to get through each day not caring what I did, ate, or if I even spent all day in front of a computer day in and day out.

Now I'm beginning again. Enjoying walking home because it's so nice outside, enjoying listening to music, watching movies, reading books, and doing cross stitch like I used to.

Life is good.

Amber

Weekend indulging

I'm finding it harder and harder to stay on task when it comes to eating over the weekend. I need to get back into the routine of getting groceries on Friday so that we have groceries in the house for the weekend so I'm not tempted to just "go out to eat" at sonic or mcdonalds or something of the like. Granted, my food choices are better than they have been in the past, but I still don't like to eat out. It's like just inviting myself to start over with the eating out all the time or making bad choices and thus inviting myself to regain all that I have lost.

I need a routine in general but I never seem to want to deal with it. Part of it is laziness on the weekends, I'm pretty tired from working all week that I just want to relax on the weekends, and the other part is because of the time of year. I tend to get a little down this time of year for reasons already previously stated related to my father's passing away.

But, on a completely different and much more geek like note, if you haven't seen Star Trek, GO NOW! I went Sunday and I loved it (though I loved Star Trek in general so it's not too hard to win me over). It's defientally one I will be buying on DVD, and there's not many I do that for.

So for now, I bid ya'll g'bye! I've got a homework assignment to get to working on if I plan on having any time after work for my own thing today.

Amber

Challenges abound!

Ever have a day like this?

There are times when I feel like the woman above lol. This week is one of them. Over the weekend I had more computer woes. My graphics card, evidently, overheated and was messing up, causing me to not be able to play any video games. It worked out well for me in some aspects, I was bored enough to go for a walk, twice. But it also hindered me in other ways because I ended up in Albuquerque at Ken's house getting it fixed which ment, yep, you guessed it, eating out. We had chinese food for lunch/dinner (I ate enough that I wasn't hungry later for dinner), but then his wife (who recently gave birth 2 or 3 weeks ago) wanted a rootbeer float. So I ended up with a blizzard type ice cream though thankfully I only ate about 1/2 of it before I was sick of it. But still. Impromptu buying for the loss!

I had to plunk down another 250 dollars on my computer for a new graphics card and a new power supply because the one in my computer wasn't heavy enough to handle the required wattage needed for the new graphics card. I figured if I'm going to get a new card I may as well upgrade. Nvidia Geforce 9600 series ftw.... >.> Anyway....

So I got back on Sunday night/Monday morning about 12:30am. I had to hook up the computer before I went to bed, got that all done, was in bed by about 1:15. But unforunately I couldn't sleep well, tossed and turned all night. Ended up going probably getting 2 or 3 hours of sleep before getting up for work. So needless to say I was exausted all day, and had a homework assignment still due yesterday. So I succumbed to the need of caffiene. If you'll remember, sometime in Feb I gave it up. Soda that is. I occassional have a sprite, but not very often. Usually when eating out I'll have one sprite then have water after. Well, because of my need to get my homework done before going to bed, and only having slept for 2 or 3 hours, I had D pick me up my first diet dew in forever...got a 1 liter, knew I'd need that much. Turns out I was right, I did need that much. It woke me up enough to finish my homework in a timely manner, and make it able to be understood.

The nice thing? I am not even wanting another one. It was good to have it available yesterday to keep me going long enough to get something done before bed, but I honestly didn't enjoy the taste of it. It was just too ... I dunno, citrusy? Or something? no clue, but not interested!

So I haven't had time to weigh myself. I woke up at the last minute yesterday because I just couldn't drag myself up, I got up at the last minute today because I was trying to squeeze just a little more lovely sleep outta the morning before work. I really don't feel up or down, just kinda here.

I have noticed my skin isn't so tight as it used to be. not like, hanging off skin flab type, but just....easier to be wrinkled? Maybe? Especially around my stomach. My clothes that I was wearing that were kinda tight are looser now. Those Capri's I found a month or so ago that fit but were just a bit snug can actually be pulled down without unbuttoning them. I thought I had different pants on (elastic ones) and pulled them down to go to the bathroom one day and they came right off and I was like...oh...wait...uhh those aren't the pants I thought! lol. Oh well!

So, I'm just going to keep chugging along.

Post something later when I know what my actual weight is...

Amber