:)

I GOT ENGAGED!

May 24, 2010 - After driving home from Iowa City the day before, and arranging with our work that we'd take off Monday to recoup, my boyfriend suggested that we go for a walk the next morning in the nearby park where we have walked several times. The place is beautiful, in the middle of a bustling suburb there are multiple paths, both paved and gravel, surrounded by trees and birds... and those little floating cottony things everywhere (that part kind of reminded me of Avatar)

I should back up, this day was HOT! I mean really REALLY hot! So before going on any walk I insisted that we get ice cream. We began a search:
Ben & Jerry's - CLOSED

Dairy Queen - CLOSED
Wendy's - OPEN, ok sold. We went in and I got a cookie dough twisted frosty and he got a strawberry shake.

We started our walk and these white cottony things were flying everywhere, that and the fact that my ice cream was quickly turning to liquid made me think we needed to sit down in the shade.

We walked up to one of those park shelter's (for my own memory, and for the stories that I plan to tell my future kids, I want to take pictures of this place), right away we noticed that birds were flying everywhere so I nixed the whole sitting under the roof part. Next we sat on a picnic table just outside of the shelter but still close to the birds, and right adjacent to the dumpsters.

I think something inside me knew I wanted to make this nice moment special so I moved us over to a nearby tree which offered us plenty of shade. We sat down and enjoyed our ice cream (finally!). Nearby there were some remote control airplanes flying overhead - which when you first hear them sound a lot like cows mooing - so we sat and watched those for a second.

Time came to get going with our walk so I picked up the cups from our ice cream and threw them away. When I returned to the tree, he rose from sitting on the grass to on one knee and asked me if I would marry him. I was shocked but of course I knew my answer had to be "YES!" I looked at him and the ring for a few seconds and then said that he needed to put the ring on my finger (I insisted, rather).

LOOK AT THAT ROCK! He picked it out himself!!! It's just so pretty I can't stop staring at it! Or taking pictures of it!

I Suck! Here are my excuses!

I haven't been to a WI lately dangit! Ok, let me tell you why:

-I'm lazy
-I haven't been doing as well as I thought (I'm mostly maintaining right now)
-I've had things to do on the weekends when I normally go WI (Weddings, Vegas, Another wedding next weekend, my bro's going away party the following weekend, then MOVING)

So I wanted to apologize for the lack of updates once again. Good news is that I am still keeping myself on track maintenance-wise. Other than that I know I could be doing better.

How about something personal to share since I can't give you the standard update??

I'm planning a trip to Germany next summer!!! So far it's just me, possibly my bestie and possibly my boyfriend... really depends on how the year goes. My new life's ambition/short term goal is to learn German using Rosetta Stone - and dedicating at least 3-4 hours a week on it. I plan to make the time to do this by eliminating TV shows from my regular viewing schedule.

The shows that don't make the cut
-Reality Shows (Biggest Loser, Extreme Home Makeover etc)
-Desperate Housewives, I'm on the fence about this one... this season has been random

The shows that do
-Lost - only a few more episodes though and when it's over then my Tuesday nights will be so much more free with the exception of,
-Glee - this show is too darn cute to miss, makes me smile!
-30 Rock - Common, it's TINA FEY and ALEC BALDWIN, nuff said

Ok, so I probably need to limit my TV watching in general and hit the gym more, which is why it's great that Rosetta Stone has an MP3 version of their software so I can let it sink in while I'm sweating!

I need to shake up my routine and I am eager to take suggestions!

Yours truly,
That Easley

Whoops

I'm sorry, I know I'm behind on an update - like 2 weeks at least? Don't worry, it's going "well" at least, not fantastic but definitely not badly!

Challenges!

Hello after a lapse in writing! Sorry to all my fans (Hi sister!).

Today’s topic is challenges!

I know I don’t have daily topics – but this has been a big one for me lately! Let me tell you, when I went to the bachelorette party 2 weekends ago that I didn’t care what I ate or drank for the entire weekend. Even worse was when I thought that I needed to get back on track on Sunday but was hungover due to the festivities the night before. That hasn’t happened to me a whole lot recently because I haven’t drank like that in months!

What’s the cure for a hangover? If you said greasy food, you are right! Well I kind of, sort of went to Burger King and got their Chicken Fries – 9 points - (yes, that was what I thought I could actually stomach) and regular French Fries – approx* 5 points – and a Sprite – approx 4 points.

*Please note I was having trouble with the bk website while finding out this nutritional info so that’s why some of these values are just approx

But it doesn’t stop there folks, just a mere 2 hours down the road I decided it would really hit the spot to get some Pizza Hut breadsticks from the Worlds Largest Truckstop and a frosty from Wendy’s.

To my credit, I honestly couldn’t eat all of this and ended up giving some of this food to my carpool buddies.

The challenges didn’t stop there, my bro came to town for St. Patty’s week! I was obviously super excited to see him but this lead to drinking a lot during the week an not counting points… whoops! I won’t go into the details because before you know it I had the St. Patty’s Metra Crawl (awesome) and literally ate everything in sight (and drank it too).

By the end of all this I could have given up, and honestly it was hard to get used to eating carrots for lunch when I have been enjoying fried things for a solid 10 days… but to turn it all around I had to (and still HAVE to) focus on what I really want. And it’s not 100% about weight loss, but also just being healthy! As of this morning I have hit the gym 4 days in a row and plan to take tonight off to spend time with the boyfriend. I’ve been really appreciating the fact that I don’t have a car and that I have “no choice” but to work out for an hour and a half until my boyfriend can come pick me up.

Monday – I did light cardio including 20 minutes on the stair climber, 25 minutes walking at a faster pace (I couldn’t bring myself to run yet), and then about 40 minutes on the recumbent bike. Very light stuff, made very easy by hooking my headphones up to the TV’s which are conveniently located on the cardio equipment. Honestly, with luxuries like this, why is our country still so fat? I can’t get over it.

Tuesday – Resistance training! I did about 9 different types of lifting equipment as I’m still not comfortable working on the free weights yet. I like having the machines show me what to do, otherwise I’m just staring at the free weights thinking “WTF are you for again?”. I’m open to trying new things but I kinda want someone to show me wassup!

Wednesday – More cardio! My memory is getting foggy as this week has been a blur, however I ran for 25 minutes at a 5.0 pace (12 minute miles) which is a pace that I’m comfortable running. I’ve always wanted to be a fast runner but I’m not sure that’s what I’m meant to do. In the past I’ve fell off the wagon several times because I force myself to run at a 6.0 pace (10 minute miles) and I get so winded and discouraged. I then went on the recumbent bike for about 40 minutes and then walked for about 15 minutes on the treadmill.

Please note that I do want to get faster at running and challenge myself, but now isn’t the time, I’ll slowly but surely creep my way up to a faster pace.

Thursday – Light resistance training. I didn’t go all out yesterday as I stopped along the train to check out a potential apartment for me and the boyfriend. I luckily ended the visit at the apartment with just enough time (like within seconds) to get the train to go north 2 stops to my town. Then I went to the gym for probably 30 minutes and just did whatever equipment I found enjoyable, some of my faves are leg workouts such as the leg press and the super slutty leg abductor and adductor – the machines make you open up your legs and either press the weights inward or outward depending on which muscle group you work, leading to the inevitable crotch shot. Please don’t judge me, I just want skinny thighs!

I weighed myself this morning and after 10 days of falling off the wagon and 4 days back on I am about .5 pounds heavier than I was on day one of my “falloff”. I’m calling it a wash though because it could have been a lot worse! The worst case scenario is that I never even update you all on my status because I’m still on a food bender. Luckily I’m back betch! Best get used to it!

Weigh in tomorrow, I’ll let you know the official status then!

Vegas Fit Club (Membership: 1)

Earlier this week I purchased round trip tickets to VEGAS! So that gives me a motivation and a deadline to get in shape. I don’t think I’ll be “finished” with my journey by the time Vegas comes around but I’m hoping that in 8 weeks I will have lost anywhere from 10-16 pounds. That’s anywhere from 1.25-2 pounds a week.

This goal is ambitious but doable, and it’s up to you – my loving audience – to cheer me on!

Vegas also corresponds with my friend’s wedding!!! So what better reason to get in shape than a wedding with college friends and cute dresses – Spoiler alert, I already bought a cute dress, which if I like will probably be worn to both the wedding and Vegas.

So no goal should come without a plan of action.

First step – Officially join a gym.

I found a gym I really liked and officially became a member yesterday. My main problem is that I think the cost of the gym is outrageously high… but when I went in to sign up THEY KNEW MY NAME! They also have other great amenities that I’ll have to take advantage of, such as a steam room and individual showers.

Second step – Go to the gym!

This is the hard part, joining the gym is painless aside from the monthly cost. But going to the gym is a completely different story. Luckily my boyfriend and I have worked out a system to correspond with his schedule. Since he’s a physical therapist, his hours often run late into the evening which puts me in a poor situation because I have no way to get home other than walking (poorly lit streets and limited sidewalks make for a scary journey home). For the past 3-4 weeks I’ve been trying out gyms in the area close to the metra (the train I take to get to/from work). So I’m making our difference in schedules work to my advantage by working out until he’s done with work, or asking him to pick me up at 7 if his schedule allows him to be home earlier! I’m so lucky to have such a supportive boyfriend!

Third step – Watch what I eat!

I’ve obviously been doing this for the past 8 weeks already but this is pretty much 80% of the battle. I mentioned recently about a podcast that I listened to which gave me some great advice… Since no one is perfect you can’t expect to be a perfect eater, but as long as you’re 80-90% compliant with eating healthy then you’re on your way.

“How many times is a toddler going to fall down when he’s learning to walk before you tell him to just give up?” – A quote that can be related to healthy lifestyles and forgiving yourself when you “fall” by going overboard with food.

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Personally, I think this all sounds too easy not to work! I’m excited to continue with this weight loss journey and happy that you’re all supporting me! I hope I make my short term goal!

On a related note, I’m not sure what my final “goal weight” will be… I’m not 100% sure how you pick that, if you have ever tried Weight Watchers, or lost weight on your own, how did you decide on a final goal weight?

Until next time, can I get a show of hands of those who are excited that I did some formatting to this post?