Art Break

My coworker, Jim, was telling me about a certain Doctor Who character that he likes, but she's from the Matt Smith era, and I haven't gotten to that part yet. So I google-imaged her, and found that yes, Amy Pond is really pretty! But then I saw that someone took things a step further and drew Amy Pond in an Mucha/art nouveau style. I ♥ Art Nouveau. So I just had to share.

An Analogy

In church yesterday, the deacon had an interesting analogy. I'll try to recreate it here as best I can.

Imagine you really want to watch the Vols play, but you have to miss the game, so you record it to watch it later. Before you get a chance to watch it, someone says, "How bout that game? Isn't it amazing that Vols won!?" You might feel somewhat frustrated that you know the ending, but you go home to watch the replay anyways. The Vols throw and interception and get scored on in the first play. A few minutes later, the Vols fumble and the other team scores again. How do you feel? When you know the outcome of the game is positive, these screw-ups don't mean as much to you. You don't have to watch the game in an anxious state, because you know how things will turn out. Instead, you can watch with joy. Isn't this how our Christian life should be? We know the outcome. We know God has great things in store for us, and we know that in the end, God 'wins' and we are safe. So we should live our lives with the expectant joy of someone that knows the outcome, even if there are fumbles along the way.

I thought it was a really nice analogy, and it invokes an attitude that I'd like to try to adopt. I worry way too much. I have a fantastic life, but I always worry that I am going to lose the things that make me happy. But no one can take the Number One things from me, so I really should not stress out so much!

Anyhow, on another topic, I had a great day yesterday going to a 5K with Anya. I wasn't able to run the whole thing; I just hadn't trained enough, but I knew that going in. I am proud to say that I ran more than the first mile, and then I walked and jogged the rest. I would estimate that I ran a total of 2.5 miles and walked the rest, but I can't confirm that. I really liked that Anya and I had a plan: we would start together, and we'd meet up at the end and have dinner. But she didn't have to stay with me the whole time, so she could run the whole race and I could walk as needed. It was a great race day and I was glad to get to participate. I hope that next time I can run the whole race! :) My finishing time was meh, but I'll note here that it was 39:52 so that hopefully I can look back on this in the future and see my improvement. Oh yeah, and dinner at Savelli's afterwards was SO GOOD. I will definitely want to go back there sometime and would recommend it to others. :)

Epiphany

Maybe dieting is just not for me? :)

Where to start?

I started this blog because I had it in mind that I would post things about being a librarian, and about my progress towards being healthier, more fit, yada yada yada. I see now that I hardly ever post about library stuff, and since my weight struggles have stalled out, I haven't posted at all!
So I am going to just post a quick little catch-up about the pursuit of wellness. Several weeks ago I met with the Exercise Physiologist at work. We got some basic measurements, and I knew I needed to loose some weight. I signed up for Weight Watchers at Work, and set a follow-up appt with the physiologist. I have been on WW for approximately 5 weeks (Maybe more like 6?), and went to my follow up and got some bad news. I had lost a miniscule amount of weight (1-3 pounds or so?), gained 1.5% body fat, and gained a total of 3 inches in size (1 inch gain in shoulders, 1 inch gain in stomach pooch, 1 inch gain on waist). I am going the wrong direction. The physiologist made some ammendments to my WW diet, and I am incorporating them. This was about a week ago, and I meet her again next week to get follow-up measurements done. If I haven't lost anything significant after incorporating the changes, I am going to get some blood work done to try to figure out what's wrong with me. I have even been exercising. Not a LOT, but significantly more than I had been, so there's got to be something going on. Amiright? It's hard to get motivated to blog about weight stuff when the weight is not falling off. WW is not easy. In fact, it is very much the opposite. If it weren't for my faithful coworker that goes with me, and my good friends that are on it, I don't think I could or would do it. So I'm trying to draw together my internal strength, and figure out what to do after this 10 week cycle of WW is over. Should I renew? Should I focus less on food and more on exercise? Should I try a different diet? Lots to think about in the coming weeks, but I'm going to try to do better about blogging through it. The worst case scenario is that I'll have a solid record of what didn't work.

WW first official weigh-in

After much anxiety, I went to my first official weigh-in at WW, and am happy to report a loss of 2 pounds! It isn't as much as I hoped, but since I was afraid I had actually gained weight, I am happy. Maybe I can do this afterall!

Tonight I am planning to exercise with some friends. I think meeting people and being accountable to someone is good for me, so I hope this works!

WW FAIL

I have been on Weight Watchers for almost 2 weeks now, and have stuck to the plan quite well... until this weekend. For the Labor Day weekend, my hubby and I decided to go visit my sister, bro-in-law, and their 4 kids in Alabama. It was partly for fun and partly for "work," as my hubs needed to assess some children to get practice for his school work. He's working on a PhD in School Psychology and needs to practice assessing children, so my nieces and nephews are great candidates. I ate "on plan" until we got to Alabama, and didn't get back "on plan" until we headed home. I used up all my weekly points and then some, but it was glorious.

My sister is such a great cook. It would've been a crime not to have eaten the great food she prepared. But now I am paying the price! Oh well, we had such a good time, hanging out with family, and stargazing, and roasting marshmallows, going to the lake, boating.... the kids are great, the parents are great. Hopefully I can get back on plan for the weigh-in tomorrow!

Weight Watchers

So, exercising hasn't really been working out like I had hoped, so I decided to try Weight Watchers. There is not enough time in my day to go into all the background of my issues with food, so I'll just start here. I started weight watchers a week ago. It is hard. I know that it works, because I've seen it work for multiple people in my life. After trying it for a week, I wonder how anyone can make it a serious life-long change. But since I paid for 10 weeks of moderated discipline, I'm going to stick with it. How much have I lost so far? Zero pounds. However, I have not gained weight, so maybe it's just taking a little while to get the weight-loss momentum going. My biggest grumble is that I feel hungry and unsatisfied. However, I expect this to improved as my appetite diminishes and as I learn "tricks," like little things to eat that keep me more full, and for longer. I fully anticipate that things will get better. I have to believe they'll get better. One other downside to weight watchers is that I have less energy and have a harder time concentrating. I want to include exercise in my life, but I just don't feel like I have it in me. If I were to exercise, I would earn extra WW "points" which would allow me to eat more. But I expect myself to do the work THEN get the reward, and without consuming an edible reward, I don't feel I have the energy to get going. It's kind of a catch 22. However, in the end, I know it all boils down to excuses. I need to stop making excuses. What is the common thread in all successful weight loss stories? People get motivated enough to quit making excuses. They just do it. That's what I gotta do.
I have to give a major shout-out to Anya for keeping me interested in and motivated to learn about fitness and healthy eating. I don't always do what Anya says; I don't always do what I know I need to do. But I have a much better chance of succeeding when I am armed with the knowledge. Just gotta hang in there.