"...gained 5 lbs and lost her crown"

is the line from the Toby Keith song American Ride that I sang to myself this morning.  Why? I stepped on the scale after a long hiatus and that is what happened! The 5lb gain is real, the crown not so much...sigh...obviously I have proven that you can't go back to eating badly and not face some consequences.  OK, point taken-time to put my Big Girl pants back on before I have to put my BIG GIRL pants back on!

is there such a thing as permanently temporary?

Apparently there is  because when I searched for an image, there it was!

http://www.andreasduschek.com/index.php?/permanently-temporary/

A friend and co-worker's spontaneous  job transfer to Austin ,Texas 3 weeks ago has left an opening on the AM radio show as morning producer.  This is a job I have filled in for when Chris took vacations or sick days.   As of last week, I have now added this to my daily responsibilities at the radio ranch. Don't get too excited for me yet-it's the "can you fill in until we figure out what to do"  version of the position.  See, that's what I do-I fill in-for nearly everyone!  I'm versatile, experienced, adaptable...a great asset in a company, right?  Well, yes, except who replaces me if i get rewarded with more hours and a permanent move up?  I don't have an answer for that, but I do know who gets "punished" if I don't get to finally move up.  Stay tuned.

Sunday Buzz

Another week done and gone...

• Along with my own job, filled in for more vacationing co-workers (my apologies for being all over your airwaves again!)  I think most everyone is back now, so you'll get a chance to miss me

• attended my first class of FPU, Financial Peace University (www.daveramsey.com) I'm very excited to get my financial house in order, get out of debt and yes, have peace with money

• got some pool time with my Goddesses on Thursday-going to the pool with my girls is one of my very favorite things to do

• Tried and gave up on the HCG program again.  My apologies for those of you tuning in hoping for more dieting success...I did lose 2.2 lbs this week, but I'm discontinuing the program due to a case of "I'm just not feeling it."  I also watched someone else have difficulty from over-doing the program-helped convince me that it's just not the way to go this time.  I'm  gonna do something revolutionary and go back to the old fashioned "eat less (ie better), exercise more" approach.  What?  does that work?  I don't know, I'll find out and report back!

• Enjoyed a great concert-Creedence Clearwater Revisited.  OK, so John Fogerty isn't with the band anymore but they still put on a helluva show and the singer is damn close.

Like the stock market...

I went down!  Unlike the stock market, it only affects me.

I started HCG drops and 500 cal a day diet again yesterday.  I was very good with only a protein snack late afternoon to help get me through.  Today's weigh in: down 2.2 lbs!  

The right frame of mind and putting on the "big girl panties" again is really the only difference between last week and this week.  This week, I'm ready to not "cave to the crave."  Although there were a few moments when the "sugar bugs"  were loudest and I almost gave in...thankfully, I had proper snacks, pre-prepared foods and nothing too tempting in the house to derail me.  The first 3 days were the hardest last time, so it's safe to assume it will be that way again...on to day 2!

Lame Sauce!

Things that were lame last week:

1. didn't approve my hours in time so my paycheck was waaaay short-ouch
2. Tiny, tenacious ants are trying to take over my kitchen and all the happy little non-toxic methods are not working
3. Work frustration with the "underdog" struggle slowly starting to pay off, but not where it "matters"
4. the  attempt and mostly failed try at a diet I've had previous success with

See what I mean?  Not life changing, world ending nor overly dramatic, just...LAME!  

Lame, Feeble, Weak, Ho Hum, Half-assed...good words to describe my attitude last week, in particular #4. I made a feeble attempt every day to "do the right thing" and then half-assed blew it. Breakfast rocked, lunch was proper, by 3pm, I got weak and tried to fall back into my old bad habits. BUT, I was even lame about that! I made half-assed good choices with food so I minimized the damage...I was even ho-hum in my lameness!   So lame was I that it took me until Friday to finally give in to the lame and embrace it, ha!

 

To put this event to rest,  I dub thee first week of August, 2011 "Sue's Week Of Lame"

(any attempts to repeat this week would be...wait for it...lame)

Blog Drought

Confession time: I just haven't been motivated/indoors for long enough/it's summertime/what other excuse can I come up with  to not want to blog?  There have certainly been things to talk about, just not making it onto the page regularly!  Blame it on summer, the heat, the vacations (not that I've had any), working extra hours...enough excuses, it's a new month and a new beginning, so here goes:


Since last time I've:

• Worked a ton filling in for everyone at work

• Hosted a 70's party for my friend Tami's 40th birthday

• Attended the Toby Keith concert with Tami and got us backstage to meet him

• Opted out of MRC weight loss and into HCG drops again as of August 1st

I've had a fairly crazy, somewhat undisciplined summer, so it's time to jump start the weight loss/get my act together  again before Fall and before all the old habits creep back in completely again.  I've maintained my loss of about  20-23 lbs since March, so that feels good but I'm ready to start losing again since I want another 25 gone.  I didn't do the 2 load days since I feel like I've been loading for the last 2 weeks!  I just jumped right in yesterday and today's weigh in didn't net me anything yet.  Have to fess up tho-day was screwy, didn't eat lunch til 4, went to a movie so dinner was at 9:30 and (not exactly protocol) so it's all on me.  I'm currently baking chicken breasts for future meals and today I will follow properly.

Feels like forever...

and I guess it has been since I last blogged....since June 29th, I've:

• finished up a great run for our radio station at the Stampede
• celebrated our nation's birthday
• lost my 98 year grandma
• took an epic road trip to Wisconsin and back

We had a great last weekend at Stampede-weather was perfect, crowds were good, had decent entertainment throughout, capped off by country artist Darryl Worley on the 4th with fireworks after.

things that make me feel short (er)

 My 98 year old grandma, "Tiger Lil" passed away on July 1st-she lived a great long life and really didn't struggle much with her health until this last year...plans for her memorial service were set for the following Thursday, so I started making plans to head back to Wisconsin where my family is from.

she was with us at her champagne celebration

On Tuesday, July 5th, I had to go weigh in at Metabolic Research Center...again, a little nervous about weight gain because it was a holiday weekend and was not following my normal routine much.  Great news!  I actually lost 2 lbs...how re-energizing!  Got stocked up on all my supplements and got ready for my trip to Wisconsin.

On Wednesday, my cousin Erik and I left Colorado by car to road trip back to Wisconsin for Memorial service and burial.  It was a quick, cheap trip-travel by car, drive straight thru, brought our own food and drink, leave Wednesday come back Sunday...whew!  It was an Epic Journey on so many levels.  Erik and I hadn't traveled together by car since we were kids  and it turns out we are pretty good traveling partners.  Although we live close enough to each other to be able to spend time together, that is rare due to jobs, life and other obligations getting in the way.  Being "stuck" in a car for 17+ hours each way gave us a great chance to catch up on each other's lives:

• We solved all the world's problems (if only they would listen to us)
• wrote at least one song and have ideas for more
• developed marketing plans and tried to once again figure out what we wanted to be when we grew up
• sang loudly to every type of music from Van Halen to Dean Martin, Patsy Cline to AC/DC
• took wrong turns a couple of times from blabbing too much (Marion Iowa is a nice little town)
• Discovered there is no Starbucks in Dubuque Iowa
• got pulled over for driving too fast into Des Moines (used dead grandma card to get out of a ticket)
• Discussed philosophy, art, music, religion, politics, family, health care and taxes...all without driving each other into a ditch!
• saw way too many bloated deer and dead raccoons on roadways
• I now fully understand why his wife Lucile says he has "squirrel-like tendencies" (it's actually an endearing quality of his)

A mascot for a rock band

My favorite quotes and events from the trip: 
(warning: these are generally "had to be there"s but funny none the less-feel free to ask me to explain when I see you)

• "Move along people this is a park again now"
• 23 bottles of champagne consumed to honor GG
• seeing all my fave musicians from the past together on stage after 30 years
• Me and mom, " Uncle Doug told us he'd be at the Farmer's Market today...I don't see him"  Random guy, "He's not here, his mother passed away."  Really?
• getting picked up by boat by my best good friend Lori to go out on the lake, drink vodka lemonades and reconnect like no time has past.
• "Hey Jim, I'll take one of your Manhattans...I'm a musician ya know"
• spontaneous guitar and banjo playing at family events
• The church pastor telling an Ole and Lena joke during the funeral service
• Carol's lefse, mom's krumkake
• being told "you're one of the good ones" by someone who is
• having my ATM card shut down because my bank didn't know I was out of town...good thing I knew people who would lend me gas money to get home
• Best compliment ever: "you're like traveling with a guy-playing air guitar and singing!"

A memorable trip...thanks everyone!

Latest weigh in:  Went over to MRC yesterday and gained 1 lb while out of town-bummer, yet grateful to keep the damage to a minimum.  Now that I'm back and everything is "normal" again, time to get serious.  Next weigh in is Saturday.