let’s try this again
I haven’t talked much about trying to lose weight for a while, mostly because I haven’t lost any, for pretty obvious reasons! However, It’s been 8 weeks since I had my gallbladder surgery, and it’s time to get back at it. I’m healed and cleared to work out now.
My appetite is (unfortunately) normal, and I really do feel pretty good overall. Except. My stomach muscles feel so weak. And the weirdest thing is the numbness on the skin where the nerves were cut. Poke me in the belly pooch and I don’t feel a darn thing. I can feel the muscles deep down when I work out though, just not on the surface. It’s so strange!
Anyway, The last couple of times I went for a walk I got tired very quickly and my abs really felt it. And that was just walking. I haven’t even tried anything else. I haven’t really felt like doing it - like so many other times in my life. It’s too hot. I have too much work to do. It’s too hard to find time when I have Josh at home. I’m too tired.
I need my motivation back! I need to get that feeling back that I had in February and March. I was writing down every bite of food, drinking lots of water, exercising almost every day! I need to start all over again. (This time 34 pounds lighter though!) I know I can, I just have to begin.
My local biggest loser club has its final summer weigh in on Sunday, and hopefully we’re starting over again for the fall months. I don’t think there’s much chance I won for the last few months, but I know I have a shot at the fall. Any local peeps want to join us? Let me know!
I know what you’re thinking, darn I wish I lived there so I can do it too! Right? Right! Well, in a way you can! The Loser Moms Sarah and Devra are doing their own Biggest Loser online competition which I am also joining! Crazy? Yes. Motivated? Also yes! So. Ten bucks, six weeks, starting Sept. 1st! Money motivator! WHO’S IN????
I know a lot of you were on a weight loss journey in the spring too. How are you all doing? Did the summer stall you out like me or are you still going strong? What’s your motivation?
one of those fluffy tv posts
Is anyone else happy that Top Chef and Project Runway are back?! These are two of my very favorite shows and to have the new seasons premiere in the same week rocked. It’s way to early to predict a winner for either but I’m starting to have some favorites already. (Of course, my real favorites are Tom Colicchio and Tim Gunn!)
Did any of you watch the new Models of the Runway? It’s smart of Lifetime to create a show behind the scenes of Project Runway about the models. I love the sneak peek aspect, even if the models themselves seemed a little, well, dull. We’ll just see if it gets more interesting as the season progresses.
There are a few fall shows I’m looking forward to their return, House for sure, The Biggest Loser (my biggest guilty pleasure) and the Amazing Race. I’m trying to be excited for Grey’s Anatomy, but I’m kinda not.
The one new show I’m the absolutely the most excited about is Stargate Universe! Can. Not. Wait. Even though I’m still finding myself less and less interested in tv in general, I’m hoping SGU will be as good, in it’s own way of course, as SG1 was. I still miss SG1, and I’d still rather watch reruns of it than pretty much anything else. So please let SGU be good!! Cause I need one good show where I don’t already know the dialog!
What shows are you all waiting on pins and needles for?
on camping
You don’t need to send help chocolate - I’m home, and recovering.
Camping was great, for the most part. Sunapee State Park is gorgeous and has one of the best beaches I’ve been to in a long time. The campsite was private and clean and was up a crazy steep hill that Damon actually biked (!) while Josh and I went to the beach.
We read books, and played cards, and relaxed, and I made some fantastically good food. Everything tastes better cooked over an open flame doesn’t it? Especially bacon. But then, it’s bacon, when doesn’t it taste good? I even made the campfire potatoes and didn’t burn them.
Of course, as a first-timer (as an adult) I certainly learned a few things:
- I am too old to sleep on the ground.
- Damon is too old to sleep on the ground.
- Josh, apparently, can sleep anywhere. He didn’t seem to notice the rocks and roots sticking in our ribs no matter which way we moved.
- I like taking showers way too much to go without one for very long.
- None of us like bugs.
- Campfires are extremely enticing to 6 year olds.
- Campfires make you yell at your 6 year old a lot.
- Campfires are a pain when you have to make one just to cook every meal. (But you can’t leave it going if you ever want to leave the campsite!) I really only like them at night.
- Outhouses are *still* ewwww. That hasn’t changed at all since I was a kid.
- As fun as it may seem, camping is a ton of work. Especially when you get home with a truckload of stuff that smells like charcoal.
When If I go camping again I will change the following:
- I will bring a propane campstove. duh. I didn’t really get the point of them them until I realized they keep you from having to build a fire for every dang meal. Including the one in the middle of the day when it’s 85 degrees out and you really don’t want to build a fire but you would really like to boil water for some ramen.
- I will find a campsite within walking distance to the beach. Cause driving to the beach/showers/real bathrooms is just not doable.
- I will buy cots or air mattresses. Cause, seriously, we are waaaaayyyyy too old to sleep on the ground. As evidenced by poor Damon and the ice pack he’s had on his back for most of the last 36 hours. Ouch.
- I’m going to make someone else cook at least once.
In fact, screw the tent. Maybe we’ll just rent a cabin in the backwoods of Maine like we used to do. We’ll probably still spend most of our time yelling at the boy for walking/running/dancing/jumping too close to the campfire but at least we’ll be slightly less cranky if we have actual beds and bathrooms.
ps. We really did have fun!
off the grid
I haven’t been camping since I was a kid, probably around 12 or 13. For years I used to go for a week every summer with my friend Teresa and her family. Those are some of the best and clearest memories of my childhood.
I loved camping so much I had the bright idea of taking Josh camping before the summer ends this year. I booked a campsite near Lake Sunapee for two nights and then realized how much I needed to do to get ready for this. Of course it was fun as a kid, Teresa’s parents and older sisters did all the work!
This time I’m one of the parents and have all the responsibilities of planning and packing and cooking and fire tending. Not hauling - that’s Damon’s job! And the tent? Not my problem either. I have enough to do!
The food - oh the food! What a pain! I was planning on eating lots of canned stuff, but Damon says it isn’t camping without grilling (whatever!) so tonight it’s bbq chicken and some potatoes wrapped in foil and baked in the coals. Hope the potatoes don’t turn into little coals themselves. Tomorrow for lunch it’s beans and hotdogs. Well, turkey dogs. And no beans for me, I’d rather not spend the whole day in the outhouse thanks.
After that we’re down to canned food and other easy fixins. (Can you say cup o’ ramen?) I just can’t keep meat and stuff cold any longer than that! (Or at least I’m not willing to go the effort of keeping things cold longer than that.)
So, the firepit….that’s my favorite part of camping. I know I used to drive Teresa’s dad crazy with all my fire poking. I just couldn’t help it! Sitting in front of the fire, reading a book, playing cards, that’s what I remember, and what I hope I have time for. (My second favorite part - the beach. Cause if you can’t get a shower you at least gotta go swimming!)
Anyway, I’m leaving my laptop (gasp! you must understand the gravity of this!) and all the comforts of home and heading out into the wilderness (okay, not really the wilderness) in about two hours. Pray for me that at least my cell phone works there. I don’t think I can survive without it.
ps. Josh made the very crazy adult decision to leave his Leapster and his Gameboy home and just bring his bike, lots of books, and a few toys. I told him I better not hear him say he’s bored even once!
pps. Oh, and haven’t explained the concept of an outhouse to him. I’m waiting until we get there…heh. At least I know he won’t drop the Gameboy in it.
ppps. Let me please repeat - NO LAPTOP. Oy.
pppps. If you don’t hear from me by Monday send help chocolate.
the week that disappeared
Josh had swimming lessons every day this past week. It seems that half hour in the middle of each day sucked all the time an energy out of the rest of it. This was no regular pool, I think it was a black hole pool.
He had more fun and learned more in 5 short sessions than I ever believed possible.
I got almost nothing done all week. Except watch the vortex pull time right out of my hands. It was totally worth it to see this grin on him non-stop:
Of course I forgot to bring my camera all week, but on the last day I remembered my new phone has a camera! It came out better than I thought it would. I didn’t even play around with it in photoshop because I thought the colors looked neat the way they were.
Next up: How do I schedule an entire summer into the last four weeks of vacation? You know, since the first month of my summer is gone and I have only one beach day to show for it. Sigh.