My First BYOC -- Bring Your Own Crazy!!

I do enjoy reading all the other BYOC posts on my reading list, so I thought maybe I'd give it a try too!

It's Friday and you know what that means - yes?  It's time for BYOC.  Bring Your Own Crazy like your life depends on it!  We answer a few questions to get to know each other better and to give our blogging brains a break.  Copy to your own blog and ENJOY!!

1.  If you were a character on Friends, who would you be and why?

I haven't seen Friends all that often, but probably more like Phoebe than anyone else, though with a heavy dose of pragmatism thrown in for good measure.  I can totally be that offbeat and weird, but I also take a very logical approach to problem-solving.

2.  If you weren't in your current career what other career do you think you would have done?

I'm working on it now!   My current career is one that I just don't have a passion for anymore, although it has allowed me to spend the last several years as a work-from-home mom, so I can't complain too much.   I still make a little supplemental income from the business, which helps with household expenses and has been funding my school expenses to get me into a NEW career --- biomedical engineering if the math doesn't kill me.   ;)

3. What did you want to be when you grew up when you were 6?

A gypsy, a mom, a scientist, an astronaut.   I've been a gypsy (sort of), I am a mom, I'm working on the scientist thing, and maybe commercial space travel will be an option before I die.   *laugh*

4.  Do you think everyone only has one soulmate or true love? Or are there multiple people for everyone?

I absolutely believe it is possible to fall in love with more than one person.  I'm not particularly impressed by the idea of a soulmate or a one true love.   I also think the idea of such has been the cause of a whole lot of disappointment, heartbreak, and life trauma.   People readily jump from relationship to relationship, looking for this unrealistic perfection that's perpetuated by movies, books, and television media.   The expectation is that the passion and energy of the new relationship is going to last forever, and when it doesn't, they jump ship for the next best thing to hit the scene.   In reality, relationships have ups and downs, periods of excitement and lulls of routine.   It's all part of a bigger picture.

In addition, much like friends and family each bring something different to the table, each non-platonic relationship can do the same thing.   Why is it that a person is not only able, but expected to have love for innumerable children, siblings, cousins, friends, etc., but is expected to only have romantic love for one and one only forever?   That just doesn't make any sense.   Love isn't a finite resource, at least that's what I'd like to think!   :)






5.  Repeat question.  Summarize your week in real life and in blog land.

Math.  College Algebra, Trigonometry, homework.    Class on Tuesday and Thursday, a test on Wednesday.   Hopefully I did OK.  Trig seems to be easier than CA, for some reason.   It's all technically a refresher for me, but it's been 20 years, so it's buried DEEP in my brain somewhere.  The excavation of information is proving painful.   hehe

Hit the gym only 2 days this week, but it should get easier to get in another two starting next week when the kids start swim lessons at the gym on two other days.

Slow-moving scale, but it is moving, so I'll take it.   I haven't been getting stuck as much, thank goodness!    We're on a budget even tighter than usual for the next month, so lots of chicken and crockpot recipes in my near future.   Only a few pounds left of my summertime gain to get back to my low point -- and then hopefully pass it up!!

Three Weeks Single

My spouse has been out of town at Burning Man for three weeks (as of tomorrow).

He was on the crew that built a big project to represent the local Burn community here in Austin/Texas, so he got to go out there early to set it up. I've been to Burning Man 7 times since 1997, but this was his first time to go. We've both done the local regional event, Burning Flipside, many times over the years, but the big Burn is a horse of a different color.

Here's the project they built -- isn't it gorgeous??
It burned beautifully as well (building art that looks awesome both on its own and on fire isn't always easy).

He's on his way back now. Last night he was near Vegas, but I'm sure they're well on their way through Arizona by now.

The kiddos and I have been on our own for that time. My classes started, the Peanut (my younger daughter) started pre-K on Tuesdays and Thursdays as well, and I've been making big strides on my Smite List --- that is, getting unpacked in our new digs and fixing things up around here.

The gas range croaked right before he left, and our landlord has made it clear that she is not keen on maintaining the appliances. So, I made a deal with her. I picked up a new-to-us range on craigslist and installed it, and she let me take the cost off the next rent check.

I think the issue is that her English is very weak (Mandarin is her native), so dealing with repair/replace issues is not something she wants to have to do. I don't mind dealing with people or doing the replacements/repairs myself, as long as I don't have to pay for it.
So it worked out.

So yeah, range installed, manymanymany boxes unpacked, shelves built, pot rack mounted (that was a royal pain in the butt, lemmetellya), and basic housekeeping maintained.

Also kid-care, homework, gym time, and meal planning have gone well!

Sometimes I wonder if I'm borderline bipolar or something. When I'm "up", there ain't no stopping me. But the "down" times, like this summer, are so devoid of motivation, it's pitiful. I've got to find some sort of balance somewhere. Or figure out how to stay in the "up" mode all the damn time. I love being this productive, that's for sure.

Hopefully I can keep the household in the groove when my spouse gets back. The girls and I are very good at settling into a routine when we're on our own. It doesn't work as well with him in the mix, but he's a great dad and they miss him bunches. I miss having my best friend to spend time with and talk to, but there definitely is going to be some readjustment time as we find/make a new routine that includes him again.

Scale's moving down again --- Yay!!! Let's see if I can actually see a decent net loss for 2011, because so far this year has been a wash. hehe

Time to go color my head again. My hair's so short it needs redoing every time I get a trim.
Here's what it looked like 3 weeks ago, and what I'm "refreshing" on it today. :)

Stuck in class

Woah did I re(learn) a basic band lesson today!!

Do. Not. Rush. Eating.

No matter how soft/easy I think a food may be, it can still get stuck if I eat it too fast.

This semester I have 10 minutes between my classes. I rushed out the door this morning with only time for a quick protein shake, so by the time my first class was out, I was RAVENOUS. I had packed a healthy little lunch : 3oz shredded moroccan chicken, some cooked summer squash, and some mushy cooked cauliflower. I knew I didn't have time to safely eat the squash or chicken, but I figured the cauliflower was a safe bet. Oh, no.

I spent most of my 1.5 hour Trig class sliming and in pain. Gross TMI, but I couldn't leave class (I am in WAY over my head and can't miss ANY of the building blocks in this class), so I pretended to drink my water and just slimed into it instead. UGH.

Suffice it to say I WILL be *making* time to make something slightly more substantial to eat on (my) school mornings, and I will include a greek yogurt in case I absolutely have to eat between classes.

This old dog will eventually learn these new tricks, right?? ;)

Feeling it again

The motivation and the band both.

I'm still not sure if I damaged myself this summer with the overeating, but I guess time will tell. My best girl, who was banded the same day I was, recently found out that she has what our surgeon is calling a hernia of her stomach, but which sounds like a prolapse from her description. I hope against hope that it can be repaired and she doesn't lose her band. Her progress has been slow, but very good, and she's so very, very close to Onederland!

I would so take her place on this if I could. The band for her has been a great weight loss tool, whereas for me it seems to be a better tool for keeping me from binging too much, but not so much a good losing tool. I *hate* the way it works when it does for me -- by making me terrified of pain rather than satisfied with small portions. LOL

It is what it is, though, and I made this choice.... so I've got to make it work for me and not against me.

Being back in school and having my elder daughter back in school really helps my motivation. The schedule just seems to keep me targeted better. My spouse is out of town for 3 weeks to his first Burning Man excursion. I've been 7 times, and we've both been to the local regional Burn multiple times, but this is his first jaunt to the big Burn in the desert. I hope he's having fun!

Oddly enough, him not being here is making everything run more smoothly for the kids and for me. We get into our own groove pretty easily, and me knowing that I have to keep up with the schedule, cooking, and the house on my own means it all gets done. Our relationship is sort of weird, and one aspect of it being weird is that we're honestly better at getting things done separately than together. He's missed, by this household and the extended households as well, but we'll have to figure out how to keep the works running smoothly when he returns! hehe

My muscles are all sore from my return to exercise, but it's a good sort of pain. I'm only at 3 days/week right now, but I'm working on fitting more into the schedule.

Let's hope I can keep up the new pace and edge my way closer to goal this semester!!

Body, forgive me, for I have sinned...

... it has been 4 months since my last confession.

And boy howdy, I definitely didn't treat myself right this summer at all.

I lost my momentum back in May, but hadn't blogged since April, so I should have known it was coming. Around the third week in May, I twisted the heck outta my ankle/foot and even though it recovered by mid-June, I didn't set foot inside the gym again until yesterday.

As I've watched the scale creep ever closer back towards 200, I kept telling myself I needed to get back on track. But never quite managed to do so. Lots of summer treats and no exercise made gaining inevitable.

I made the discovery that my band gets really freakin' tight when I'm stressed out, and when I'm stressed I'm not likely to want to put up with being stuck all the time --- so can we say sliiiiiiiiiiider foods?? *sigh*

I learned exactly how to eat "around" my band, and I got very, very good at it. Gained 16 pounds, though it could be worse. At least the band kept me from binging as badly as I used to do before I got it. I can still binge, but it takes me a while, and my lower stomach does have time to register feeling full before I can consume as much as I could pre-band.

Anyways, it seems that I'm finally coming out of the emotional/mental downward spiral in which I spent the summer. This is good for a variety of reasons, but the one that applies here is that it means I'm more likely to stick with the rules and enforce structure in my life in general. When I'm in this mode, I can focus (good for the upcoming school semester), I have energy for working out, getting our new digs unpacked and set up, and for meal prep -- my kids have suffered this summer from my ennui too.

I'll be back-reading a little bit on your blogs too, though I doubt I'll make it through 4 months of posts. ;)

Bounceback boo! And "Cheesy" pic

Week 2 of my 6-on-1-off sprint didn't go as well on the scale. Had a 1# bounceback from the previous week's loss. But I wasn't quite as rigorous with the tracking and I didn't get in all my workout days. So I won't bitch too much. The mirror IS showing a difference so I'm going to be extra good about tracking on all days. I think it will go the other direction again this week.

I'm pretty sure I went overboard on Friday, calorie-wise. And my "off" day can't be quite so off. I don't think that reflected on the scale so much as on my energy levels. Reintroducing complex carbs one day a week just means I'm groggy and dumb for the whole latter half of that day. So, this Sunday I'm going to minimize that, but say OK to some fruit and more veggies. Obviously this sprint needs some tweaking. heheheh

Here's a pic from a couple of weeks ago, taken at Austin's Grilled Cheese Invitational. Yeah, this banded girl went to a grilled cheese cookoff, hosted and organized by my best girl and fellow bandster, oddly enough. I ate some sammiches, more than I ought to have done, but far less than I would have in my pre-band days. :D

I wish I had gotten a pic without the apron... I think I was actually looking pretty good in my fitted tank top and tee that day! My "wings" are getting more noticeable, but they could be worse. ;)

Daily intake and psuedo-pouch-test-sprint

So, I had to go out and watch the Dr. Oz segment after hearing about it all over the place. So not representative of most bandsters, but I know there are a few who are so tight that this is close to how they eat.

I'm slogging along with week 2 of my 6 day "not quite the pouch test" sprint. Monday/Tuesday have been the hardest, both weeks, for obvious reasons. Liquids are so NOT satisfying, especially when you're at a low fill point. But the promise of solids has gotten me through, and then the promise of my "off" day is getting me through the rest of the week.

I am averageing about 1000 calories per day, sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. I try to get in at least 100g of protein, and minimize my net carbs.

This week, I did add more veggies starting Wed/Thurs, mostly because we do local farm delivery every two weeks and all four of us have to eat on it or it goes bad. My spouse won't eat cooked leafy greens, and this time of year that's a huge portion of the delivery. So yeah.... kale and chard got added to my intake this week.

I can SEE this working, which is so weird. I looked in the mirror today and saw a slightly older version of my 22-year-old self looking back at me. I haven't been this weight since my spouse and I were dating, back almost 15 years ago. I'm still above my lowest weight ever as an adult, but not far from it.

Anyways.... what I eat in a typical day (or Fri/Sat of this sprint) when I'm staying on-track and losing:

Breakfast
- 1 whole egg
- 1 egg white
- .5 oz shredded fat-free cheddar, or 1/2 turkey sausage, or 1 oz meat
- 1 to 2 tbls salsa
(all in an omelette or scramble)

OR, if I'm feeling very tight
- 1 scoop Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey Vanilla Ice Cream protein powder
- 1 cup Soy Slender Vanilla soy milk

Snack
- 4 to 6 oz plain greek yogurt, maybe with a tiny bit of flavor added or splenda/flavor extract
OR
- 20 almonds
OR
- light string cheese
OR
- Atkins bar or protein shake
OR
- .5 cup of lowfat cottage cheese
OR
- .5 cup of fruit (sometimes I just gotta!)

Lunch
- 3 to 4 oz meat or fish
- a little bit of some sort of veggie
- low-carb dressing or marinade, or more salsa, or some sort of healthy sauce (to make the meat less likely to get stuck),

Snack
- another selection from the above list, usually

Dinner
- very similar to lunch. Lunch is usually made with leftover dinner, so that makes sense. ;)


Sometimes I will have dessert
- sugar-free pudding made with greek yogurt, skim milk, and protein powder (if I'm hungrier)
OR
- sugar free popsicle

This breakdown results in an average 1.5 pound per week loss for me. My maintenance levels are not quite double this amount -- about 1800 calories and more balanced, including some whole grains. My final maintenance levels will probably be a little less than that, maybe 1500-1600 calories.

I can't wait to see how this week has treated me -- Sunday morning weigh-in, here I come!

I'm also looking forward to the Challenge results from last week being posted. I think there are several of us who kicked it into gear big time last week! :D