Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Day 107

Nasty left over KFC sitting in my fridge, me eating it, and feeling disgusting for admitting it. This is where lazy is going to kill me. Do the work. Okay, well I need to fix why I'm so lazy. Being fat is so easy!

Meals
2 pieces KFC chicken (l/o)
1 cup mashed potatoes and gravy
1/2 cup corn
1 tbsp each macaroni salad, cole slaw, potato salad
2 cups of water

1 spinach, mushroom, and chicken Lean Cuisine panini
1/2 cup cottage cheese
2 slices watermelon
2 cups of water

12 inch turkey, ham, and bacon sub on honey oat bread
lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, pickles, red onion
1 line of light mayo
2 lines of southwest sauce
1 can of A&W cream soda
2 cups of water

1/4 frozen chocolate cream pie
2 cups of water

Exercise
None

Notes:
None

Day 106

I felt pretty badly about not going to exercise yesterday, but I was still and today am now in so much pain! I figured I've had my 48 hours of recovery time (I could have done only cardio yesterday anyway) and so I made it to the gym this afternoon despite my pain. I got on the treadmill first and I was getting loosened up and tried my jog again. I did manage to get through 35 minutes but I jogged this time with 4 minutes in between. My legs just felt like they were going to stop underneath me and the last thing I need is to slip up and injure another ankle. I tried pushing but just enough to be safe. Then after the first minute I got a horrible shin splint in my bad ankle leg. I could cry!

I've never had such success jogging like I did last week, and then my TRX workout has never been so intense to push me to so much pain. When I literally could not physically push myself harder than I wanted, I started feeling really badly for myself. I quickly thought that this is stupid to get down on myself for not being the best because doing something is so much better than doing nothing. I'm starting to get these ideas in my head that I want to keep pushing because it felt sooooo great to do so. The light bulb went off and told me that pushing myself out of my comfort zone feels good. It loses the boring feeling and I gain that awesome self mastery sense of strength and power. I would have NEVER thought I could like exercise. Yeah, sometimes I'm not too into it and it makes the time go by so slowly. 'But most of the time, it just feels so good.

My point is I'm super happy that I went today instead of flaking out, succumbing to the pain. Every little good thing I do for myself proves to me that it can be done and nothing bad happens. What was the big fear? Was I afraid of breathing? Afraid of the pain? Afraid that it would be too hard? Afraid that I'll fail and so it will feel pointless? It seems silly now, and so insignificant. I'm so much stronger than I ever knew. Now when I hear previously fat people say If I can do it, you can too, I realize that they're not extra special, or magical, have 17 more free hours a day than me, rich, or naturally athletic. They found that this is something you work at and find a solution to in any situation. Okay, so those people only have one thing on everyone else, and it's that they've listened to 'want' and figured out the definition to succeed: wanting it more than not wanting. I used to think that I wanted it more than everyone; that who dares to say that me, with all my problems, doesn't want it enough. Wanting it more than not is not wanting independently. The more in 'want' is a little tiny stow-away attached to it called 'action.' If you want something you have to act to get it. You can't want and receive without the work.

By wanting it more than not, I have to act--act without excuses, without limitations, without expectations. You have to realize that you may be fat forever and be okay with that. Be okay with yourself. Live in the moment. Accept who you are. Once you've learned to be okay with and start loving yourself, start taking care of yourself. Don't go in with the mindset that you're going to lose a certain amount of weight by a certain date. Once you've discovered that you're worth taking care of yourself and having a great life, you'll do things to improve yourself. You'll eventually drop all that weight by living your life instead of having it ruled by these expectations that never get met.

I love watching TV shows like The Biggest Loser. Sure they exercise 4-6-8 hours a day, but they're also working on their insides. Fix the problem within, you'll see the problem fixed on the outside. For me, it's low self esteem, anger, guilt. But it's through non-judgment of yourself and acceptance that life just opens up and you realize the work is not hard. Don't fear the work. You're worth it.

Meals
1 banana
1 bowl of rice crispies
1 cup of milk

3 cups of water

1 cup split pea soup
6 pretzel crackers
2 tbsp shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups of water

2 pieces original recipe KFC chicken without skin
1 cup mashed potatoes
1/2 cup corn
2 tbsp potato salad
2 tbsp macaroni salad
2 tbsp cole slaw
4 cups of water

1 cup homemade peanut butter frozen yogurt
1 banana
1 tbsp nutella
1/4 cup whipped cream
1 cherry
2 tbsp walnuts
2 cups of water

Exercise
35 minutes treadmill walk 4 minutes, jog 1 minute
1 hour upper and lower body machines and free weights, abs
10 minutes stretching

Notes:
-Although I went on a huge rant about all this 'just do it' wonderfulness, I was still in major pain. I got home from my workout and had a headache and my muscles were going to die. I took more pain meds, and convinced Andrew to buy us dinner so I didn't have to move. I craved chicken.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Day 105--Week 15

334.4 pounds; -2.2 pounds; -14.6 total pounds

Eat that, vacation! Jogging, TRX-ing, losing weight after only 3 days of exercise this week.

So far, on the right track...

Meals
1/2 cup dry Nature's Way breakfast medley (oats, seeds, etc.)
2 tsp brown sugar
1 cup skim milk
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice with the pulp (2 oranges)

1 cheeseburger
small french fry
2 cups of water

3 white corn tortillas
1 1/2 pieces frozen fish
1/2 cup shredded cabbage
2 tbsp white sauce (with half mayo and half yogurt), spices, dill, cilantro
lime juice
1 cup tomato Spanish rice
3/4 cup black refried beans
2 cups of water

1 cup homemade peanut butter yogurt (plain yogurt, brown sugar, whipped cream, peanut butter)

2--1/3 cup ice cream scoops (one chocolate, one strawberry)

Exercise
None

Notes:
-I had to take the truck in this morning because it was making an awful sound. Turns out the power steering fluid was bone dry. So I just picked something up on the way home for lunch because it was getting late. I got a kid's meal and didn't even finish it. I started eating and got sick. McD's is so not yummy anymore. So then I made fish tacos for dinner and they were so delicious that they made up for my crappy lunch.
-The TRX kicked my butt and excuses or not, I almost could not move and so I did not exercise today. My muscles were in so much pain, I had to take a T3 to relax me when I got home. I've never felt that sore from a workout before. I felt like I had the worst flu AND a truck hit me. My legs were still jelly walking down the stairs!

Day 104

Well here's the deal with Sundays. In my church we're taught to keep the Sabbath holy by using this day for worship and rest, and pretty much that's it. We're counselled, not commanded, to not work or study, not watch TV or play sports, not go to parties or shop or spend money, etc. We're counselled to engage in wholesome activities that involve family time, reading the scriptures, writing letters to loved ones, etc. I believe in this council. I think it's good for the spirit.

'But I've had to break the Sabbath many times--my CPR course was only taught on a Sunday at one point, my study group could only meet on a Sunday sometimes, we were out of water or medicine and we needed water or medicine on a Sunday before because we've fallen very sick. Every time we travel on a Sunday, there's most definitely a stop at a gas station. Even with all of this, I try really hard to not do anything else that breaks the Sabbath further. But I also realize that life happens and the world doesn't revolve around my religious beliefs. So sometimes the Sabbath gets broken. I don't ever think it's for something not worth it though. If it's something to help you in your life (a bit of exercise), or required of you (the job of a nurse or a paramedic), I think there's room for exception because we're all trying to do good. Trying. I think what's most important is that Heavenly Father knows the intentions of your heart. He gives us the free agency to do as we think we should. I'm only saying this because I know I will be judged by some here on earth, but I'm okay with that. I know I'm trying my best and my personal relationship with my Heavenly Father is all that matters. That said...

My gym has this new class using TRX suspension training. http://www.fitnessanywhere.com/ The class is only being taught on Sundays and Wednesdays. This is a special class that costs $60 and it's only 4 weeks. Aly and I wanted to go together but she works all the Wednesdays. I made the decision in order to go with Aly to this class, take the Sundays with her, making myself miss church for the the next 4 weeks. I'm okay with my decision, otherwise I wouldn't have done it. It's 45 minutes away from my family in order to make me a better person, which will future enable me to take care of my family. I think that's worth it.

So this TRX system, you've got a vinyl cord hanging from the ceiling and you're using your own body weight as resistance. On top of that, you're doing every exercise as fast as you can, with cardio in between. It was a kick butt workout the entire 45 minutes! I LOVED it!! The cord is only 2 pounds, so there's like no equipment and you get a full body workout. It's amazing!

Thank goodness I went too. This morning Andrew and I made a little breakfast we trying while on vacation--banana and nutella pancakes with whipped cream--oh the calories, but oh the yum!

Meals
3 buttermilk pancakes
1/4 cup nutella
3 tsp becel margarine
1/2 banana
1 cup canned whipped cream
2 cups of water

chicken, potato, corn TV dinner
1/2 eclair (l/o)
2 cups of water

1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (approx 2.5 oranges)


2 hamburger buns
2-3oz hamburger patties
approx 3 oz Monterrey jack cheese
2 tbsp BBQ sauce
2 tbsp ketchup
4 pickle slices
1 tomato
1 cup spinach
5 sour cream Pringles
4 cups of water

1 Oreo cookie ice cream sandwich

Exercise
45 minutes TRX

Notes:
-We had these pancakes in La Jolla. So decadent. So delicious. So affordable made at home.

Day 103

This morning we spent about an hour and a half picking out our lights for our new home. I was really stuck on what light to put out on the veranda, as that is the front of our house and everyone will see it when they come over. So I wanted something that was going to compliment our beautiful door but that wasn't too expensive because we only had a certain budget to work with. We decided on some more inexpensive but pretty lights that will match our garage lights, back deck lights, all around the house. Then we went to the show home to look at where are selections will go and honestly, we had to consciously LOOK at the light or else we would have missed it. My inner struggle picking the perfect light went out the window. It's just a light.

Being in the show home made me so excited as it always does. I always look around imagining our own things in the home and where they would go. Now that we've picked out most of what we have control over I'm imagining what our selections will look like--the appliances, the colours of the cabinets, hardwood, carpets, tiles, counters, fireplace, walls, windows, lights, even down to the door handles. We have a say in most everything in the house and at first it's overwhelming trying to make a decision on everything but the builders send us to their suppliers and we pick and choose what we want. At times it's painful because there are so many choices and we are not interior designers. We've relied a lot on our gut instincts and the suggestions by the designers who have been invaluable. I do always worry that we should have picked one thing over another and did we pick the right one, but once the change order is signed off, it's a fresh breath of air because we couldn't change it if we wanted to anymore. It's been really fun though picking everything and then we don't even have to do the work putting it in!

Our current home is a different story though. We've still got so much to do and the house should go on the market in the next 6 weeks or so. Stressful. We've still got so much to do--declutter, clean, put up baseboards, paint. I guess we're at the end of where we need to be but these last projects have hung over my head for 4 years now. It's scary feeling like it will never be done. 'And how dumb that we'll just get it done in time to NOT enjoy it. I guess the house we're moving in to will be payment enough. I can't wait!

Meals
3 slices Panago pizza (l/o all Hawaiian)
2 cups of water

3/4 smoked bratwurst from Edelweiss Market
3/4 large cabbage roll
approx 3/4 cup mushy potatoes
approx 3/4 cup red cabbage
3/4 can of Coke
1/2 chocolate, cherry, cream eclair

chicken, potato, corn TV dinner
4 cups of water

1 cup of strawberry swirl ice cream cup (approx 1/3 cup)
1 Oreo ice cream sandwich

Exercise
None

Notes:
-This was another huge day of not being at home that I didn't plan meals for and subsequently bad eating or eating out. Vacation got me out of the habit. Must get back into meal planning.

Day 102

Meals
3 buffalo chicken fajitas from Chili's (l/o)
2 cups of water

1/2 cup of skim cottage cheese
1 cup spinach salad
1 tomato
1 tbsp walnuts
1 tbsp pear and blue cheese vinaigrette
1 can of tuna
1 banana
2 cups of water

2 cups of water

2 cups romaine lettuce
1/4 cup croutons
2 tbsp Caesar dressing
3 slices Panago pizza (2 Hawaiian, 1 BBQ chicken)
2 cups of water

1 cup Starbucks hot cocoa with whipped cream, homemade

Exercise
None

Notes:
-None

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Day 101

It's overwhelming the amount of laundry you make while on vacation. Never ending work.

B seems to be recovered from his vacay--the first couple of days home you couldn't move him and when you did, he would fall asleep so fast you'd think he was just putting on a show. Nope, within minutes those little paddy paws would be twitching away, pulsing to his facial twitches, and his little whines and barks would prove to you he was chasing rabbits and not just psyching you out. Now when I look at him, he'll actually acknowledge my existence in the room and slowly raise his head to see if I was interesting enough before flopping that big slobbery pile of lips to the floor, starring at me through anticipatory eyes, glazed over by a bored facade. He's just one definition of unconditional love.

Tonight we're going to pick our interiors for our new house. How exciting is that?! What's not exciting is that we get to do this again, very soon, but only for our current home. Then we get to come home and prep all the walls and paint it ourselves. This is why we don't flip homes for a living. This is not the fun part. I love that we're moving into a new home that's never been touched so I can control the amount of nicks and marks in the walls and not have to fix someone else's. I love that it will only be my fault for how clean or dirty my new home gets. Every time I think we've fixed or cleaned something here, something else pops up that needs attention. Once again, never ending work. I'm just looking forward to the fun part right now, filing away the mess we're dealing with if only for a moment...ahhhh.

Meals
mac n cheese (l/o)
spinach salad (l/o)
2 cups of water

3 cups of water

3 buffalo chicken fajitas from Chili's

1/2 white chocolate molten lava cake
4 cups of water

Exercise
45 minutes upper body and lower body machines and weights
45 minutes treadmill: 3 minutes walking, 1 minute jogging, repeated for the duration

Notes:
-That's right...I've started jogging. I'm a 336 pound jogger. Eat it.
-It was a busy day and before I knew it I had to go out to an appointment so had to skip lunch. By dinner we were very hungry and didn't want to cook. This is why we go out so much and I'm sure it's why many people go out so much.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Day 100

Day 100 has arrived!!!

Instead of being able to celebrate an extreme milestone today, I'm celebrating a rebirth. Andrew and I just got back from a very fun and relaxing vacation which has left me invigorated and ready to take on the world. See, during vacations we end up having a long good sleep overnight every night, and wake up early-ish every morning to do all the fun stuff we want. Having practiced that for 2 weeks, I am almost in the habit of going to bed, and just waking up when I actually wake up in the morning instead of going back to sleep or taking my time being lazy. I have this renewed sense of longing for accomplishments and that sense is not masked by an overwhelming doom of perfectionism.

On vacay I was able to relax and take things as they came, preparing me for real life and giving myself the tools to adapt to change. I haven't lived like a creature of survival--if things aren't in my little categories and all ducks are lined in a row, I create this chaos all around me. The need to be organized was a label I branded myself with instead of using it as a tool to be more functional--something I have been trying to figure out. I think I may have a very novice insight into how this will all play out and how I can apply the new found ideas of relaxation translated into the business of real life. I need to be more laid back, go with the flow, accepting that I and every aspect of life is not perfect, and that is okay. I don't need to have every little thing in my life imprisoned by these unrealistic expectations; irrational deadlines. I have a deadline for losing weight, for baby making, for finishing school, for when which part of the house is going to be finished before another part can be started. All the deadlines make me crazy because I don't complete about 99% of them "on time" which kills me with more stress leading me to a miserable, guilty feeling of myself, making me unhappy, and leading me to not caring about my body, eating everything in sight (and subsequently skipping blog postings throwing away everything I've tried to build this thing on).

People have recently asked my why am I not posting every day anymore--am I giving up? Holy heck no! The few weeks before vacation I think I was feeling such a sense of doom that yes I could have given up. I would have rather given up than to pull myself along lying to everyone that my heart was in this while I was eating ice cream every day and not exercising because "I need time off." Are you kidding me? It's so easy to make excuses, fall into habits, justify your actions/believing your own lies. It's also easy to feel guilty and ashamed, and not want to to show everyone how down you are even though your actions are screaming them over your head anyway.

I was hesitant about taking our vacation because I needed to get school done by such and such date. Now that I've taken vacation there's no way I can finish in the time frame I had set up for myself. So I failed again, lengthening my end date from 5 years to 6 years now. This has been the biggest stressor in my life. I want to graduate before my veteran nurse grandmother dies. I want her to be proud of me and she tells me she is, but I feel like my degree will be proof. I don't feel like the last 4.5 years of school count until I get that degree. I feel like I disappoint her. She is, after all, 101 years old and I feel the pressure every day that I won't make it before she passes. She's the only one I still feel like I have to prove myself to. It kills me that I'm "unconventional" (better word for loser) in that I'm taking so long to complete my degree. My plan was to finish in 4 years and so because this plan has expired I feel like a loser. There are those expectations again. I haven't been able to tell myself to just enjoy my life. I can't take my career, money, or anything that I gain from those to the grave, so I need to be happy while I do this. This philosophy clashes with the philosophies of some people I truly admire and want to impress so it's hard to stand my ground and feel good about my decisions. But I own them, and am doing my best to feel good about them, and good about all the decisions in my whole life.

The only thing giving me hope is the support of my wonderful husband, along with the support of a few very close friends. I'm so grateful that they don't judge me, and if they do, that they support me anyway with open arms. I never have to be afraid with Andrew to tell him I've failed. He always lets me know it's not a failure, but a different way of doing it. There's no one correct way to live a life and I'm learning that.

Meals
Beef stroganoff (l/o)
1 cup skim milk
1 banana
2 cups of water

2 mini pizza's
1/2 cup skim cottage cheese
2 cups of water

1 1/2 cups whole wheat elbow macaroni (Hard Rock Cafe copycat recipe of Twisted Mac n Cheese)
1/4 cup mixed reduced fat cheeses (cheddar, Monterrey jack)
2 tbsp whole milk
2 tbsp 4 cheese Alfredo sauce
2 tbsp roasted red peppers
1 1/2 oz chicken thigh
3 croutons
1 tsp Parmesan cheese
1 cup torn raw spinach
1 tbsp pear and blue cheese vinaigrette
2 tbsp raisins
1 tbsp walnut pieces
2 cups of water

2 cups of water

Exercise
None

Notes:
-I didn't schedule time to exercise and subsequently ran out of time. Ugh.

Day 99

Andrew's first day back at work, and I had an early appointment with an ENT. I've been having tinnitus (ringing in the ears) for quite some time now. My family doc sent me to the specialist to see if it was sinus related, related to my golf ball sized tonsils (normal size for me), or something else. I took a hearing test and passed with excellent hearing which baffles me. I suppose I used to have superhuman hearing and sight before because I experience a decrease in both, yet my tests always come out with excellent results. It's very frustrating to lose some of these senses yet told that I'm fine. At my recent eye exam I was told that my eyes have gotten worse from my "fuzzy 20/20" and I now have a "real" prescription for the glasses I wear while reading or driving at night. I'm not required to do this, but they help and I feel more confident when I do. Back to my hearing, I constantly have to look at people's mouths when they talk or I miss things. That's not excellent hearing to me, but I guess it is to them. Anyway, because they didn't find anything wrong, I'm being sent for an MRI to see if there's anything wrong with the little inner ear bones. I'm not looking forward to that. I'm claustrophobic so I have to go get a sedative to take with me as they don't provide them. I'll ask about my fear of flying then. Anyway, I'll have an appointment in 6 months so that's still a while yet.

Speaking of little inner ear bones, while on vacation Andrew and I went to Bodies...The Exhibition at the Luxor hotel in Las Vegas. http://www.luxor.com/attractions/attractions_bodies.aspx
The 3 inner ear bones were displayed and they were so tiny and cute! I'm just fascinated by anatomy and all else related (hence my nursing career kind of fits with that passion) and I loved it. I wish I had more time and my text books so I could actually remember what I was looking at. They had brief descriptions of what the specimens were and how they worked, but as much as I would see something and remember bits and pieces about it, there would be more that I would totally draw a blank on and couldn't describe it to myself, kicking myself in the brain the whole time. It was one of my favourite parts of our trip.

Anyway, I had a super productive day, refilled the fridge, made some phone calls, etc. I even made it to the gym...

Meals
2 croissants
2 eggs
2 pieces of cheese
1/2 cup orange juice

3 cups of water

1/2 cup skim cottage cheese
2 cheese pizza minis
1/4 cup Mediterranean style yogurt
1 banana
2 cups of water

1 cup egg noodles (stroganoff)
3 oz lean ground beef
1/4 can reduced salt cream of mushroom
1/4 cup plain yogurt
3/4 cup wilted spinach
2 cups of water

Exercise
60 minutes treadmill intervals of walking, speed walking, and hill climbing
20 minutes upper body free weights and machines
10 minutes stretching

Notes:
-I ate Burger King for breakfast because we didn't have anything to make food with, this is when I went to the grocery store after and picked up lots of good stuff.
-At the gym, I was speed walking and felt like I could run--so I did! I ended up jogging for a full minute, four times. I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but I haven't been a jogger in the past. It felt fantastic. I felt like I was totally pushing myself out of my comfort zone and felt that I actually had a real workout. There was a girl next to me jogging her entire workout--20 or 30 minutes I guess--and I felt funny to be the fat girl trying to jog, but at the same time I was the fat girl jogging while others were walking. It was a huge confidence boost. 'And now I know my ankle can finally handle it and I can do it. Yay me!

Day 98--Week 14

336.6 pounds; +5.6 pounds (in 20 days of vacation); -12.4 pounds total.

Our first day back consisted of many hours of cuddling B, and sleeping.

I wanted to come out even in my weight as we did go to the gym 3 times, but only 3 times (actually to Andrew's credit he went a total of 6 times). I really threw everything out the window since we didn't plan to make meals and ate out the entire time. But don't disregard my 3 workouts. That's never happened before on vacation where we actually planned to try to work out, plus all the days we did walking all day at amusement parks and swimming in the beach. It was one of the most active vacations we've had for sure. We just didn't do a fantastic job censoring what we ate. I'm still proud because it was all worth it and it wasn't a horrible gain (as I'm sure much of it is water retention from so much salt in restaurant food). We'll see in next week's weigh-in!

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Day 81-Day 97 including Week 12 and Week 13

Road trip back home!

My goal is to not gain any weight and come out even by the time we return. Although that may be a pretty weak goal in some eyes, this is the first time I will attempt to not gain 10 pounds on vacay which makes it huge for me. Plus I want to enjoy what will hopefully be our last big vacation before children so not spending too much time in the kitchen while away is key. Measurements will recommence on Week 14 and restructuring from every four weeks to every calendar month will take place beginning in October.

This is my plan.

Wish me luck!

e

Day 80

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!We're leaving tomorrow and I'm so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What that means for today, however, is a busy busy busy day today packing and cleaning.

Meals
1 bowl of Frosted Flakes (of course l/o's again from camping in the form of single serving boxes)
1/2 bowl of Corn Flakes
1 cup skim milk

1 tbsp peanut butter
1 slice whole grain toast
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1 tomato
1 apple
2 cups of water

1-100 calorie Dairy Milk chocolate bar
2 cups of water

2 cheeseburgers
1/2 of a large fry
1/2 of a medium Coke
6.5 chicken nuggets

2 cups of water

Exercise
None

Notes:
-Nire told me NOT to go to Micky D's because I would feel fat and regret it. She said I'd start with the nuggets I wanted, and keep going from there. I didn't go for lunch like I told her I wouldn't, but I kept thinking about it, caved, and not only went for dinner, but fed it to the family as well. sigh---and there is the regretful "sigh" she predicted I'd post. How do you know me so well?! lol
-I barely have time to post this let alone exercise today. We're leaving on vacay and I'm the woman so guess who has all the preparatory work to accomplish in not ever enough time...

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Day 79

Now I've got 2 days to hurry up and get ready before leaving for our road trip back home for an exaggerated two weeks. I'm counting the minutes I have left to get everything in order to quickly and easily cross the border, make sure we have our little conveniences (like an ice and bottled water packed cooler), and checking my maps, reservations emails, and immigration documents multiple times. I can't wait to see my old family (including family not related to me by blood), my home town, and go to the little places that hold old memories for me and recent memories for my new family. It's bittersweet really because the anticipation is so high getting excited for the journey and meeting with my family, but after a few days with them I get homesick for this beautiful country I call my new home and find myself looking forward to the return.

It's always a great deal of stress to cross the border, one Yankee and one Canuck trying to convince the immigration officers why one would want to permanently be with the other and to allow us to enter together. But we bring our papers and pray as we get there that the border crossing will be quick and painless. Once we're through, we say a little pray thanking Heavenly Father that he's allowed our family to remain together. Maybe for most people in our situation they have no problems crossing the border and don't know what our hesitation is. But this hesitation stems from the first time we every tried travelling together on our honeymoon when my name wasn't yet changed, and we didn't have the marriage licence yet. We were stuck for over an hour trying to convince the authorities that we not only belonged together but that we wanted to belong together. (They have this thing that they want proof of the relationship as neither country wants to break up families, but they don't look kindly on mail order brides either.) It was difficult trying to convince them after meeting Andrew online and dating in person only 6 months before marriage, not having the same last name at the time, and no paperwork. This is my reason for checking our documents now 10 times before we leave so there will be absolutely no problems to get us there and back.

So we will be gone until the end of September. No, I will not forget my progress to this date. The 18 pounds I've lost until now will be over 20 by the time I get back--that is my goal. We've already scouted out all the gym affiliates to Andrew's club and I will get a visitor's pass so we have a place to work out together. I can't promise I'm not going to indulge in my favourite restaurants only back home has to offer at least for the first couple of days to get it out of my system. But we're going to try to watch what we eat and make better choices. Exercising while on vacation is not new to us. We tried last year while on a week long vacation and made it one day to a YMCA. Granted, that's not a lot, but it was the only time we'd ever done something like that before and really made us feel empowered that we could do good things for our bodies even on vacation. There's the balance of not wanting to "waste" our time working out, but then again, not wanting to be lazy about our health just because we're in another place. We take our bodies everywhere we go so we shouldn't discriminate in how we treat them. They need to take us on vacation too, happy and full of energy. What a gift it is to ourselves to relax and have fun, while making it a point to feel good too.

I'm getting so excited! Time to go get everything ready!!!

Meals
1 cup saffron rice
1 cup chicken tikka masala
1 naan bread
1-100 calorie Dairy Milk chocolate bar
1 cup strawberries
2 cups of water

3 taco shells
1-100 calorie Dairy Milk chocolate bar
3 cups of water

12 inch Quizno's turkey club with mozzarella cheese and light mayo
1 bowl of broccoli cheddar soup
approx 14 salt and vinegar chips
2 cups of water

2 cups of water

Exercise
40 minutes interval hill treadmill
45 minute iron reps class

Notes:
-These last couple of days have been packed with business and in order to not overbuy food that's going to get thrown out while we're away, we've had to eat what's been at home or go out. For lunch unfortunately, we had left over taco shells and left over chocolate bars from camping so I put those together for a healthy snack (sense the sarcasm) before running off to the gym. I have no time management skills and should have prepared something before running out of time and rushing to the gym, forgetting that my tummy was empty and wouldn't do well at the gym on no fuel so grabbing the easiest, fastest thing I could see. Yuck.
-Thank goodness Aly got me to go workout. I even phoned her a half hour before our meeting time to ask how excited she was about the gym to see if I could weasel my way out of it. What the heck? I hate not going because now I'm out of the habit and it's so hard to get myself going again. But I went anyway because I didn't want to be "that" friend. I'm just lazy and over stressed with so many commitments, they gym was going to have to be last. Somehow it fit in and I'm getting things done. It's a miracle.

Day 75-78--Week 11 (plus one day)

Weight: 331 pounds; stayed even this week; -18 pounds total

Just a note about my weight--I am shocked that with NO intentional exercise, not really watching my food, and adding all the s'mores and dutch oven cherry crunch that camping this week had to offer, I didn't gain any weight. It must be because we sweat out most of the extra pounds through heat and walking.

It was 30 degrees (okay maybe 28/29 degrees) every day--so hot and a bit miserable after any activity. I also can't stand having dirty feet; I hate the feel of having dry feet rubbing against dirt, dirt in my between my toes, and just feeling not clean feet. This was really bad because I decided to only bring flip flops (which I LOVE to wear instead of being confined in runners--kind of ironic) so I spent the entire time in dirty feet which I had to keep going to the washroom to clean in order to help me feel better. Madness!

We went to a corn maze near the campsite which I swear we were walking around getting ourselves lost in for over an hour and Andrew thinks we were only in there a half hour. Being lost and not knowing your direction, on top of claustrophobia, dirty feet, and sweatiness made for an interesting time. It was fun; I was just extremely ready to be done with the maze by the end. We were with some friends which included their 3 year old daughter we call niece who didn't seem to notice any heat, dirt, or exhaustion. I wish I had that kind of ignorance--a blissful, peaceful kind of ignorance that makes the world a perfect place to be anywhere you are. We also had B with us running around barking and marking at every chance he got. He seemed to notice the heat a bit, his tongue permanently fixed to his chin the entire weekend. This was our first time bringing him camping with us and I'm glad we did. It got him a change of scenery that we're sure he was just finally adjusting to by the time we left. His breed makes him a bit protective of the pack, on guard most of the time, wide eyed at every noise and a warning bark at any passersby. The cutest thing was because he didn't have our bed to curl up to at bedtime, around the campfire the first night he circled around for snakes, dug a little hole, and curled up into his earthly makeshift bed. He usually retires around 2200-2300h every night signaling to us that it's bedtime even though that night we wanted a few more minutes enjoying the fire, so he made a bed right next to us. It's humbling how dogs can be so adaptable to any situation. We could take a lesson from them to make contentment with what you have.

All in all it was a good trip although I'm unbelievably happy to be home to my own bed that I don't have to share with another person and a dog who kick me to the edge all night, stealing my blankets--oh wait, I do--and my own shower complete with soap. As we were driving home, Andrew said he needed a vacation. I agreed. Camping is hard work. We are getting used to it though, the more we go the more conveniences we've accumulated and remembered to bring making it a little easier each time. 'And after dinner for the few hours around the campfire with family and or friends, while the sun sets and the stars begin to shine, for me, makes it all worth it. As much as I'm still recovering from the lack of sleep and the tired muscles, I can't wait to go again next year.