Anj

Peferrably some “Hurts So Good”  Aw buddies, what a glorious Monday morning it is!  I’m typically not a morning person and most definitely not a Monday person, but I’m in pain and I’m loving it!!  It felt so good to get back on plan yesterday.  You may or may not know that I took a week off with Nancy.  WOW!  It sure did make this body feel good.  My body needed the break.  I was getting bored and wasn’t pushing myself as hard as I normally would.  I was exercising for the sake of exercising.  Not to get up the heart rate or to build muscle.  I was just going through the motions.  Nancy talked me into taking a break and while I was skeptical at first, I gotta tell ya…it was the best thing for me.  Not only was I more relaxed, I got to catch up on some other things that I miss doing (taking a long bath or reading a good book).  By Thursday or so I was really starting to miss working out, but that made getting back to it yesterday so much sweeter!  I can’t put into words how excited I am to be exercising.  To be eating healthy.  To be drinking my water!  My MOJO is back, I’m back and I’m running on all cylinders!  Watch out world!!!!!

Okay buddies, I took a deep breath and now I’m back and going to try to write this blog one more time.  Here is the deal.  I’m sitting at work and I’m frustrated.  And it stems from alot of things.  I am reading blog after blog and commenting on blog after blog telling people to take a deep breath, stop stressing, that they are doing great!  I miss the days of Buddyslim where people were shouting about their accomplishments from the rooftops.  I miss the days where people gave wonderful advice and others took it.  Several times in the past week I have read blogs of people being upset that they have maintained.  Yes, maintaining can be frustrating.  I know.  I have been technically “maintaining” since September!  Some of those people have only maintained for a week or two.  Why aren’t they looking at the positive…at least they didn’t gain!  I have read several blogs where people are upset because they aren’t losing 6 pounds a week.  Again…where is the positive shout out…be grateful for any loss!!!!!  Now, I’m not saying all blogs are negative or that they don’t take their negative blog and put a positive spin on it.  Just yesterday, Betsy blogged about how she is losing her mojo.  She called out for help and she got some great advice.  She took the advice and she is running with it.  Guess what?!  Betsy girl GOT HER MOJO BACK!  Here is the challenge I want to put out to all of you…look at the positive side of things.  If you fee the need to write a negative blog that’s cool, it’s your blog, but try to find something positive to put into it too.

My positive part of this blog?  It’s Friday!  It’s the first day of Spring!  It’s a glorious afternoon and I have wonderful buddies!

Okay, I tried three times to write a blog that I can vent my frustrations in and it just isn’t working.  I need to take a breather and come back and try again.  Sorry

Couldn’t think of a title so I kinda stole Nancy’s.  LOL, it’s okay though I don’t think she’ll mind.  So buddies, I have some questions for you and I hope I don’t come off sounding offensive, but I have somethings that I’m having a hard time understanding and I really wanna know.

Luckily I have never had to deal with emotional eating.  I know some of my buddies really struggle with that though.  Just this week I called a couple team members on the carpet and said….hey…look at what you are doing!  How come?  Sure, it might be tough love, but I really want to know.  What makes you tick?  What makes you feel like a double hot fudge sundae with whipped cream and nuts is going to make you feel any better than a floor pounding workout?  You think that it is going to make you feel better in the moment, but we all know that 10, 15, 60 minutes afterwards it really doesn’t.  And it certainly doesn’t when you hit the scale for your weigh in.  So you are having a crappy day at work…why dive into the candy dish instead of grabbing a piece of gum or taking an extra long potty break to practice some yoga breathing?  Struggling with finances (aren’t we all?)?  Does a high grocery bill make your heart do flips?  Well that is understandable…but for the amount of money you can spend at Mickey D’s for one meal you can get yourself a whole bunch of healthier alternatives that can last through the week.  So enough about that…but if someone could clear that up for me or just say “Hey, this is where I’m coming from” I would really appreciate it so I could at least understand it a bit better.

Now…on to something else…TIME!  Again, something that it seems we run out of before you know it.  My inspiration for this comes back to my daughter, Paige again.  She is one smart cookie and when she is having trouble with spelling she asks me to break it down for her.  Last week the word was poisonous.  So we broke it down.  Po-is-o-no-us.  Guess what?!  She aced her spelling test and can now spell poisonous in her sleep.  She could probably spell it backwards if you asked her to.  How does this relate to time?  Buddies…break it down!  Don’t have time for a 1/2 hour workout?  Break it down into 10 minute workouts.  Don’t have time to fix a healthy meal?  Make a large healthy meal and break it down into several meals.  Don’t have time to give all the support that you wish you could on BS?  (ahem Kama) Then break it down!!!!  Do what you can when you can and remember that it is better than doing nothing at all!

And my last question.  What is with all this talk about quitting and giving up?  This isn’t aimed at any one in particular, but I have read some blogs that others have commented on blogs they read so I don’t know who I’m directing this to (If that makes any sense).  Anyway…for those of you that are thinking of giving up…why?  Because it’s hard?  Because you only lost 1 pound instead of 20 your first week?  Because there is too much else going on?  Yes, it’s hard…and you are worth it.  So what if you only lost 1 pound instead of 20….that’s one pound you never, ever have to see again and it’s healthier that way.  And if you have too much going on…scroll up and read the third paragraph!  Break-it-down!  Buddies, you may have to fight this battle more than once to win it.  But you can win it!  Don’t ever, ever sell yourselves short. 

At one time, I thought, I will never be able to do this without my husbands support.  Okay, yeah, he supports me, but it is ME that is getting it done!  At the end of the day…I look at the woman in the mirror and I either give her a big pat on the back and a beautiful smile or I grumble at her and make her promise to do better tomorrow.  But I will NEVER say that I quit.  I’m not a quitter.  And neither are you.  All I ask is that you believe in yourself…like the rest of us believe in you.

As I was writing the title to this blog I thought…Whoa…better go back and add that last part!  You really wanna know what Mr. Jackson and an 8 year old girl have in common?  I’ll tell ya…they are my inspiration this week!  Okay, well maybe not good ol’ MJ…but his song Man in the Mirror?  For sure!  I was watching one of the contestants on Idol the other night and really listened to the lyrics of that song.  I thought…you know what?  He’s right!  If I wanna see results then I need to look at the (wo)man in the mirror and ask her to change her ways!  Here’s the thing buddies, I don’t know what I would do without all of your support but, as much as I would like you to, you can’t come to my house and do it for me.  Yes, I think of you guys when I don’t want to get up out of warm bed and onto the treadmill.  Yes, I think of you guys when I want a cheesesteak instead of a salad.  Yes, I think of you guys when I’m craving a beer and settle for water.  But you aren’t doing this for me!  If I want it then jumpin up anyhow I need to go get it.  I need to have a chat with the woman in the mirror!

As far as the 8 year old girl being my inspiration?  Well, my daughter, Paige, is 8.  And even she doesn’t inspire me in the way you would think she does.  You know that in her 2 1/2 years of schooling she has gotten straight A’s AND has almost perfect attendance (two days off last year)?  Okay, so it’s early, she may not always get the good grades.  She may not always be so smart, but she is proud of her grades.  As she should be.  Sooooo…this morning I decided to give myself a grade on how many stickers I have gotten since the beginning of January for working out.  I got an 85%.  Which translates into a solid B.  I didn’t flunk…but now I’m going to work on bringing that grade up!  I can’t get B’s when she is off getting A’s.  Sorry, just isn’t going to happen. 

 I took my measurements yesterday and have to go into the forum to post them, but if I’m correct I lost 12.75 inches this month.  I only lost 3 pounds total (I think), but 12.75 inches IS something to be proud of! 

One last thing buddies and then I will stop blabbing….please keep Kama in your hearts and prayers this weekend.  It is going to be a difficult weekend for her.

Okay…off to post those measurements!

  www.buddyslim.com/marathoner

Hey buddyslimmers!  Just wanted to send a birthday shoutout to JO!  She celebrated a birthday yesterday and is also going through some personal stuff (read her last blog) so it would be greatly appreciated if you could pop by her profile and give her some love!

 HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY JO!

Morning everyone!  I just had to share with you that I have found out how to burn 7,059 calories in one hour…see, I use livestrong.com to log my food and exercise and I was on today trying to figure something out and I found out that if you get attacked by a shark it burns over 7,000 calories a hour!  LMAO!  Now, my questions are…who figured that out?  Why did they figure it out?  And of course, who would be desperate enough to burn that many calories that they go calling “Here sharky, sharky!” 

As for me, I’m doing pretty good.  I started lifting weights with Tim last week and then got tired of waiting around for him to spot me so I came up with my own routine that doesn’t need a spotter.  I have changed things up a bit and I’m strength training 3 days a week and cardio the other 3.  I’m hoping the new schedule shows on the scale this week.  Speaking of the scale….I’m kinda nervous because I am creeping up on my one month mark to take my measurements.  I have only lost something like 2 1/2 pounds this month and my clothes don’t really seem to be fitting any differently so I just don’t know.  I was telling Nancy a week or so ago that I haven’t let the scale deter me too much because it’s the measurements that count.  What will I do buddies if the measurements don’t make me a happy camper?  I’ll tell ya what I will do….work harder in March!  Yep, that is the only way to get it done in my book.

 The tribe (Kama, Nancy, Nicole, Tracey, Lori, Deb, and I) started a little bit of a competition yesterday.  We have decided we are going to walk from my  house (eastern PA) to Nancy’s house (Western CA).  That is a whole bunch of miles.  2, 739.9 miles to be exact.  It’s probably going to take us a whole lot of time to get there, but it will be a trip worth remembering!  LOL!

Well, I think that about does it for this week…gotta go and catch up with all of you

Have a Wonderful Wednesday!!!!

Happy Tuesday to all out there in Buddyslimland!  I hope this blog finds you all doing well.  I wanted to start off the blog today by apologizing to all my wonderful buddies.  I haven’t been the bestest of buddies over the past few days.  Things just seem to get away from me and I wasn’t on from Friday afternoon until this morning.  Even when I was on, I did not do a very good job of getting to blogs like I should.  My promise to you is that I’m going to try harder this week!  So as I look at you with my puppy dog eyes and my tail between my legs, I sincerely hope that you will accept my apology.

On another note, it seems that the aliens have returned my hubby.  I’m not sure exactly when it happened, but I started really noticing it on Saturday.  We were on our way out of town to go look at a motorcycle for me and I was second guessing using our income tax return to get a bike.  I mean, there is so many other things out there that we could have used that money for.  As I started voicing my doubts, Tim got kinda upset with me.  He said that after all the crap I have been through with my job and with him, I have never faltered.  I have kept going strong and “dammit Anj, you deserve your own bike!”  Okay then…so that shut me up pretty quick.  Of course, I’m not one to get my hopes up.  Several things were going through my mind…what if I don’t like it?  What if the guy won’t negotiate on the price?  What if it doesn’t fit me?  What if he won’t hold it for two weeks?  UGH!  All of these what ifs!  Drives a girl nuts.  Well, guess what?  I DO like it!  The guy did negotiate!  It fits me like a glove!  And yes buddies, he is going to hold it for us!!!

So here is a pic of my reward for putting up with all kinds of crap and for sticking to my healthy lifestyle for over a year now… 

That’s Tim standing in the background.  :)  I have decided that I may not always like him, but I will always love him!  Oh and he is teaching me how to lift weights!  Woohoo!  I had my first lesson last night and boy is  my upper body sore today.

Have a wonderful Tuesday buddies!

Read more »

Sorry to any guys that are going to read this, but I am really hoping that some woman out there can relate to this.  I seriously think my husband was abducted my aliens.  Really.  It just hit me like a ton of bricks this morning that has to be what happened, because men really can’t be this stupid.  Okay, so beside the fact that he bought me FORTY pairs of socks for Christmas and then a week and a half ago compared me to an 18-wheeler he has pulled TWO humdingers that have convinced me he is really an alien in the space of the last 12 hours.

Scenerio one:  Last night I get home from a HORRIBLE day at work.  My brain was so fried I could barely see straight and he wants to know if I want to go looking at motorcycles for me.  No, I don’t.  I just want a quiet house, a warm blanket, and a good book.  So I send him out the door with out me.  I then get a text from him that says “Honey, I bought you something.”  My first thought was “God…what am I going to do with 40 more pairs of socks?”  My second thought was “He better not have gone and bought me a bike.  I swear I will kill him!”  About 20 minues later he comes walking into the house with a grocery bag.  Alright, well at least it isn’t motorcylce keys….biting your nails yet wondering what he bought?  How is this….a half gallon of ice cream!!!!  Now, he knows that I’m PMSing.  He KNOWS that I have been faithfully trying to lose weight for 13 months and he THINKS bringing me home ice cream is a good idea?  YES!!!  He really did think that!  Wait, it gets better.  He got me buttered popcorn flavored ice cream.  Yes, you read it right.  Buttered…. Popcorn ….Flavored…. Ice…Cream.  Now the only saving grace for him at this point is that it sounds so disgusting that I am not even tempted to open up that half gallon.  Nope, not one bit.  I tell him in the most sarcastic nice voice that I can that I appreciate that he thought of me, but I would rather have eaten the 40 pairs of socks that he got me for Christmas.

Scenerio Two:  Okay, so he is still on this bike kick.  Yes, I will be getting a bike.  Yes, I’m excited to ride next to him.  But it is February in Pennsylvania!!!!  We won’t see warm weather for at least another two months.  So he calls me at work today to say that he is at a local motorcycle shop and he found a bike that he thinks will be perfect for me.  They are asking $1995, but he is going to see what he can work out with them.  Since I’m at work, I let it go in one ear and out the other.  Until I get the return call from him that he got them down to $1800 so he went ahead and put the application in for the loan!  You have got to be kidding me!!!  Okay, now he wants to buy me a bike that I haven’t even seen, let alone sat on.  He put in the application for the loan that we can’t afford with him being laid off and he wants to know why I’m not happy?  Hellllllloooooooooo…..did I miss something here?  Needless to say, I am going to track down the aliens and tell them that I want my husband back!  He may be a big dolt, but at least he isn’t this stupid!

 Come on ladies…I need your love here today…please tell me that it has to be the aliens…

Usually you don’t see me around here on the weekends, but I just had to come on and let everyone know that I jogged for 21 minutes straight today!!!!  I couldn’t believe it :)  It wasn’t easy and there at the end (last two minutes) I was counting down every second.  My goal was to reach 20 minutes straight by this coming Friday.  So since the goal was reached I get to do my own TOUCHDOWN DANCE (to warm up for the Steelers tomorrow of course.)  Now, I have so many people to thank for getting me this far that it may feel like I just won an Oscar and am giving out my speech.

Bobbie- Thank you so much for doing this challenge with me.  Watching your progress has given me the push I needed to succeed.

My Diet Tribe (Kama, Nancy, Nicole, Deb, Lori, and Tracey) - Thank you for keeping me on track when I’m not logged on here. 

Nancy, thanks for the bootie bounce and for not calling me Theresa

My Wonderful Wildcats - Thank you for being such wonderful teammates.  Watching you all succeed fills me with great pride and makes me work harder to uphold our standards.

My Other Buddyslim Buddies - Thank you for your booster notes, your emails, your laughter and for being you.  You all have made it possible for me to want to continue on this journey.

Other Buddyslimmers-Whether you are old and we have just ever crossed paths, or new and I’m just getting to know you, Thank you as well for adding to the popularity of the site.  I wish I could get to know each and every one of you as I’m sure you would also add something extra to this wonderful trip.

Okay, well the producer is telling me to wrap things up, so I’m grabbing my Oscar and heading off stage.