previous post...continued...

I apologize for the abrupt ending to my previous post. I tend to write these while I'm working...greater inspiration of course. Because as you've read, I eat crap at work.

Anyway -- I believe I was just finishing explaining why I haven't, for two months now, lost any weight. BUT, I have a great feeling the tides will soon turn. I joined a site .. a website. A good friend of mine recommended Spark People, so far, seems amazing. I have yet to completely explore everything the site has to offer, but it seems very promising! Here are the basics...

1. Counting your calories
2. Tracking your nutrition habits
3. Tracking your fitness
4. Tracking your weight loss
5. Joining groups comprised of others just like you - with similar goals
6. Access to thousands upon thousands of informational/motivational articles
7. Maps out PRECISELY (breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack) what you should eat on any given day (if you choose to follow what they suggest)
8. Offers tutorials on exercises that work every inch of your body

Like I said earlier, there is so much more than what I listed! It's great! I really didn't think counting calories would be so easy! It does even more than that. It maps out (via pie graph - I LOVE pie graphs) the percentages of your diet in regards to the specific food groups and suggests what you should be eating more or less of. I started this last week. Although the site allows you to much more easily keep track of your diet, you still need to go to the gym! And going to the gym is something that I have had QUITE a big of trouble doing the past few weeks. I've been very very very very bad. It has just been very very very very very hard with my work schedule recently. From now on, I thought I would try writing down which days and times I will go to the gym. This week - I'm going to go every day but one!

I really do think Spark People is going to help, and I recommend everyone at least take a quick look!

Until next time... ''Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealth and wise.''

I has dat spark!

Ladies and gentleman, I DO apologize. It's been quite sometime. I have news! Hold onto your hats..........................

....................... I have yet to lose weight! HAHAHA. Actually...that's not funny. I'm pretty upset about it. Let me list some of the reasons why I think this whole weight loss thing might not be working for me.

I haven't been to the gym in two weeks. When I visited Chris on Valentine's weekend...together, we drank a total of one handle of Captain Morgan and nearly 48 beers and last - but not least - I haven't been eating very healthy.

I do see light at the end of the tunnel, however. I've been losing body fat! :) My number so far are listed below:

weight body fat weight lost
157.8 36.9
155.6 36.9 -2.20
158 36.7 2.40
160 37.6 2.00
158.6 37.2 -1.40
159.2 37.9 0.60
159.4 37 0.20

I remember in a previous post I mentioned to you that I was going to try a weight loss supplement. Well, I did. And obviously, it did not work. There were a few days which I did not take the pills the exact way I was supposed to, but should that matter? If you're taking a laxative...you should poop. Bottom line. I don't care if I took three fiber pills in stead of four in the morning. I took three massive laxative pills every night and not much happened! It was very upsetting. Good for Chris, upsetting for me. Not only that...but the amount of fiber I was taking combined with the amount of water I was drinking -- that alone should have made me poop. But no, it did not. It really just gave me a few (minor) headaches each day. Any normal person...

I will complete this post later. I am at work. And of course, there has been a school shooting. Where else other than right next door to Columbine High School.

don't worry...

I haven't forgotten! I've been very very busy. I promise, I will post tomorrow! I have some new (rather juicy) info. And no...I'm not talking about what happens when you use a cleansing supplement.

another weigh in...another pound...or two.

I know it's been quite some time since my last legitimate post, but I've been very busy! Well...not too busy...but it's not always easy to get my buttox off the chair and away from the TV!

You may all be wondering why I apologized to Chris and Jess in my last post. Well, here it is. I believe it was Christmas Day that we decided to start this competition. Chris and Jess did anyway, before I so rudely invited myself into it. The NEXT day, we made the trek to Connecticut to his Omi's* house. We literally went over the river and through the woods to get there. How funny, right? No? OK. Anyway...Jess, Chris and I were sitting in the back seat of his Susan's Prius. Saying it was crowded would be an understatement. We all vowed that the next time we had to make that trip to Omi's, it would be significantly comfortable!!! Why did I apologize, you say?

BECAUSE I CAN'T STOP GAINING WEIGHT! WHYYYYYY?!

Oh wait. I know why! Maybe it was the 9 packets of Fun Dip* I ate this past weekend. OR MAYBE it was the McDonald's I ate on the trip down to Virginia. Or the plate of taquitos? Or the bag of chips? Or the Chinese* food? Or the second bag of chips? Maybe the granola bars or sour patch kids! Or the beer and hard liquor! Wait wait wait...my mistake...it was DEFINITELY the buffet*.

Luckily I passed out just in time the second night to miss pigs in a blanket.

I'm sure ya'll are curious what I weighed in at this week. Four weeks into the competition and I weigh 160 pounds. I promise you...for all my millions of readers who don't actually know me...I don't look 160 pounds. I do have quite a bit of muscle. And as we all know...muscle weighs more than fat. With that said...Jess is continuing to lose weight (and at her expense, but also to help make myself feel better...it's a tiny amount each time...sorry Jess...I feel better now). Chris gained weight, but still weighs less than he did at the start. I wish I can say the same.

Here's my concern though, and maybe someone can help me understand this. I feel like I LOOK skinnier! I know I'm going to be BOMBARDED* with comments about how I'm gaining muscle and burning fat, which is fine. But to that, I say, WHY IS MY BODY FAT PERCENTAGE NOT GOING DOWN?! I can see my knees! I really can. Over Christmas I could only see my knees defined when they were bent, but NOW my knees are JUST knees...not a a layer of flab covering my knees. So I'm gaining weight, not losing body fat and I can see my knees? I know you might be thinking, ''If you're looking skinnier, then why do you care?" Well, I care because this is still a competition!

Two more things:

1. I've started my supplement. I was going to wait for after I see Chris the next few weeks, but I was so mad at the scale Tuesday morning I reacted. By the time I regretted it I was already 4 fiber capsules deep. There's no going back. (No change yet, but I'm sure there will be soon)

2. I've decided I don't deserve to have a picture of healthy food as my banner under the title of my blog, so I decided to change it to something more appropriate. Until I weight 150 pounds, it will remain pictures of fat things.

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Omi: German word for grandma! ...and she's a kick ass one at that.
Fun Dip: I'm sure you all remember it. Don't tell me you haven't purchased it from the creepy trailer selling goodies at little league games.
Chinese: Do I capitilize this when referring to food? I think so....
Buffet: Golden Corrale -- an awesome place where employees make fun of you when you don't know what you're doing. I'm sorry Virginia, but people up north don't visit fast food buffets as often as you do.
bombarded: When I refer to things like being ''bombarded'' with comments or my ''millions'' of readers, I hope you realize I'm being sarcastic. However, I DOOO appreciate the six followers I have, three of which I know are pretty devoted (Jess, Jess P. and Chris) and Jess, who always comments :)

sorry Jess and Chris...

...but the ride to Omi's on Saturday won't be any more comfortable than last time.

I'll explain to everyone later WHEN I GET BACK FROM THE GYM (in a few days). Not really...but seriously...it'll be a while.

Excuse me, I have to use the restroom....

This is going to be short. I'm just THAT ashamed.

I gained 2.40 pounds. That means I weigh .20 lbs more than I did at our initial weigh in.

I'm now losing.

In other news - I've taken drastic measures. Not THAT drastic, but something new. I'm trying a cleansing supplement. I have been thinking about trying one for a while now, but never really had the guts. I was able to score a free two week supplement from a co-worker, who also said it worked great for her and a friend. Like anything else...there are good reviews and there are bad reviews. I've done my research. It's one of the safest and I thought I'd give it a shot. I'm not entirely sure when to start taking it, because I plan on camping out by the bathroom for the two weeks I am. It'll be hard -- especially since it's hard to leave the desk at work, but I'll deal. One thing is for sure, I'll start it AFTER my visit to Chris on Valentine's Day weekend. That's the plan at least. Who knows...maybe I'll get desparate and start before (not that it matters -- Chris loves me enough to deal with whatever 'side effects' a supplement may have -- hahaha right hun?)

Now, before ya'll smother me with comments telling me 'it's unsafe!' and 'don't do it!' -- listen. If for one minute I think this may turn ugly - if for one minute it makes me feel ill - if for ONE SECOND I think I may be visiting the bathroom too much for my own good, I'll STOP.

One thing is for sure -- it should make for some interesting blog material!

I have a bad feeling...

...about tomorrow's weigh in.

Let's quickly run through the list of reasons why.

1. I went food shopping last week and bought basically 4 different types of bread and chicken.
2. I fried the chicken.
3. I ate all three (rather thick) pieces of chicken in two days.
4. I went to the gym twice since last week's weigh in.
5. I stayed less than an hour each time.
6. I cooked the second pack of chicken breasts today.
7. I fried it.
8. I ate it for dinner 10 minutes ago.
9. Yesterday I cooked two pounds of bow tie pasta with a wine and cheese sauce.
--Healthy decision #1: I put frozen peas in the dish.
10. I ate the dish when I made it, last night at work and when I got home for lunch.
11. I still have a pound left.
12. I feel disgusting.
13. When I weighed myself a few days ago, I was already back up to my original weight.
14. I've only gained weight since then.
15. Reason why next week's weigh in isn't going to go so well either -- I'm visiting Virginia this weekend. That means -- No gym. No healthy food. TV. Video games. Beer.

I'd love to sit here and bore you with all the ridiculous decisions I've made this week in terms of my diet, but my fingers would start hurting. I'm ACTUALLY concerned for myself. I have the self dicipline to make it to the gym, I do. But there is no way I can stop eating the foods I love. A colleague of mine tells me to eat salad and healthy cereal alone. Cereal I can do. Salad I do all the time (my mom is a health nut). But ONLY cereal and salad? NO! I think if I continue to eat the way I do..I'll just have to go the gym 7 days a week (yeah -- like that will happen). At least I'm not alone.

Chris lost a whopping 1.8 lbs last week, and Jess...well Jess gained weight.

That puts me in the lead! I lost a total of 2.2 lbs last week. :) Like I said...I'm having a bad feeling about tomorrow.

I got a feelin' ... woooo hooooo ... that I gained all my weight back this week! that I gained all my weight back this week! that I gained all my weight back this weeeeek. Tonight's the night. I fudged up. I got my chicken. Let's fry it up! I'm really lazy. Like oh my god. Get on that sofa. Nev-er get, UP!*

By the way...READ THIS ARTICLE! Headline: Floor collapses at Weight Watchers meeting


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Lyrics*: My pathetic attempt at humor. Yet -- exactly how I feel.

One cheat day -- four cheat days -- it's all the same to me!

It's been almost a week since our first official weigh in, so I thought I'd enlighten ya'll as to how it's going. Right now, it's 3.39am and I'm at work. I just finished a Greek omelette with a side of fries and a dry roll.

Healthy decision of the day #1: No butter on the roll.

As you can probably tell from my 3am ''snack,'' it's not going as well as I hoped. I'm reminded of Friday night, while I was talking to Chris on his drive home (Chris is home for the weekend). I was flipping through my new cook book looking for some quick and easy, not to mention HEALTHY recipes that Chris and I could make over the weekend. Our usual ice cream, chips, pizza, candy, soda and beer diet just wasn't going to cut it. Well, of course, the cooking never happened. At least I have good intentions! Right? Or does it not count if you don't even try? What about exercising? If I play basketball for ten minutes in the driveway, does that count as trying? Even if it did...our trip to the bakery would have completely negated any such attempt at being healthy. Sure, I skipped the pizza (Chris didn't). Sure, I drank water instead of soda (Chris did too). Sure, Chris and I played LOSER*. But we also made the decision to go to Denville Dairy for ice cream for a snack ONE HOUR before dinner. And on our way to Denville Dairy for a snack, we conveniently passed a bakery -- a really awesome bakery. So awesome, in fact, their donuts were the size of frizbees. That is NOT a lie. You could have played 'Ring 'Em' if one held his/her fist in the air -- their fist! The centers were larger than a fist! Needless to say, we stopped at the bakery instead. We bought six large sprinkle cookies (they weren't THAT big...only the size of a small dessert plate).

Healthy choice of yesterday #1: not eating any pizza
Healthy choice of yesterday #2: only having one giant cookie instead of two

Really...as I'm writing this...and I'm thinking about the 'healthy choices' I've made over the last week...I'm realizing how difficult these next six months are really going to be. My 'healthy choices' aren't really healthy choices. They're simply the LESS unhealthy choices.

Regardless, I actually LOST weight this week. Although I haven't weighed myself in the last two days...I lost two pounds in two days in the beginning of the week. I was doing really well! I'm almost positive I'm back up to my starting weight, maybe even a bit higher, but that's alright.

So it continues, slowly but surely.


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*LOSER: our new name for HORSE -- because frankly, I have no idea what a horse would have to do with basketball

first OFFICIAL weigh in

I've been at it for a week (relatively speaking), but today was the FIRST official weigh in! A starting point - not a weigh in to compare to last week's numbers. Of course I'm ashamed of my numbers, and before ya'll* swamp me with comments asking me to share them (because as you can see, my posts have thus far been flooding with comments - HA!) -- here they are:

Week One:
weight - 157.8
body fat % - 36.9* (gross)
BMI - 25.5

Consider this: I was only 17% body fat in high school, and I weigh only 8 pounds more than I did. That's how much muscle I lost, which was then replaced by a heck of a lot of fat (...as we all know, muscle weighs much more).

Maybe, just maybe, my lovely competitors will grant me permission to post their numbers. I'd love to let you see the comparison!

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*Ya'll: A shout out to my boyfriend, Chris, who is temporarily living in Virginia, but is not at all southern.
*36.9: A slightly inaccurate measurement. There's no way that nearly half of my body is pure fat. The inaccuracy doesn't really matter though, the three of us have the same scales. Considering we're going by percentage LOST, it's all relative!

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

January 8, 2009 - four days into the competition - one word describes my week thus far. FAIL. Ten minutes ago while I was indulging myself in a meatlover's omelette with complementary fries, I considered the last four days an EPIC fail. After talking some reason into myself, I thought it can simply be considered a fail, seeing as I made it to the gym three out of the last four days! I'm terrible. I really am. I've been doing relatively well with my diet. I bought some healthy cereal, some oatmeal to bring to work and some plain yogurt. I've also been opting out of more fatty foods and additives.

Did I NEED a meatlover's omelette with American cheese and a side of fries? No. Did I even need a plain omelette? No. Could I have eaten the healthy packet of oatmeal that I brought with me to work? Yes. Do I possess even a lick of self discipline around food? Definitely NOT.

So here I am - full, disappointed and bloated - munching on a buttered roll.

Oh, and how can I forget the ''run up the mountain'' three days ago? Notice the quotation marks. I warned my brother. I did. I told him that not only am I in the worst shape of my life and can barely run one mile on the treadmill, but that the cold would make it virtually impossible with my asthma. Prepare yourself for how pathetic I really am. I made it probably ummmm 50 METERS -- (it may not have even been that far). He assured me too. Jared ASSURED me that he was in worse shape - that he would run very slow. "Kerry, it's not even a run - it's more like a fast hike." I actually believed him. HE TOOK OFF - a virtual sprint. You may think I'm exaggerating. I ran cross country and track in high school - I know a sprint when I see one. Not only that - but he was wearing his iPod.

So there I was - screaming Jared and gasping for air as I watched his figure get smaller in size through the trees. Don't worry. Jared did turn around...eventually...probably thinking holy crap when he realized how far behind I was. He was nice enough to stop running at least. I'll make my long and arduous hike up the mountain a short story.

Jared was ahead the entire time.
The break at the top was twenty minutes too short.
Quote of the day: You look like The Biggest Loser every time I turn around - leaning against a tree with your head hung in shame.
I couldn't see him the majority of the way down.
I fell on the way down circa 10 times (from the snow).

When I reached the bottom, Jared was sitting in the car with the engine running, and was even kind enough to leave the driver's door open for me, as to not waste any time getting home. Thanks, bro. I'll never go with YOU again.

what am I thinking...

I'm about to run up Turkey Mountain with my brother. This should be interesting, considering I could barely run a mile on the treadmill yesterday - and my asthma makes it almost impossible to exercise in the cold.

What the hell am I thinking.

I'll let you know if I live.

Toodles.

while I can...

Since come Monday, my diet will change drastically and I will no longer be able to indulge myself in all the fatty foods I always have, I decided that this weekend I will eat what ever the hell I want to eat. Chris and I went food shopping yesterday. Our purchase? A large frozen pizza, two boxes of macaroni and cheese, a big bag of chips and of course, Wild Cherry Pepsi! I thought I would stop there at the store seeing as I also brought a box of Oreos with me and had a box of Captain Crunch at his house. Our plan? Sit on the couch and watch TV while eating our insanely awesome purchases. That's just what we did. First the pizza (yes, the entire pizza for the two of us) and the soda. Then the chips and the soda. And, even though Chris would not join in on the captain goodness, I snacked on my cereal. A little while later, his mom made us dinner - a rather big dinner. OH, and if you're wondering what happened to the mac n' cheese, I made both boxes before work tonight. It's 4am. I've been here for three hours. I finished half of it. Believe me - it will be gone before 9.

I was going to mention in my earliest post one of the greatest difficulties I might have -- DRINKING WATER. I don't like drinking water. In all honesty, I drink maybe a water bottle worth in one week. I've heard it said that by the time you feel thirsty, you're already 30% dehydrated. 30% dehydrated is most likely my norm. By the time I'm dying of thirst, I'm probably about 60% dehydrated. If I'm thirsty, I drink milk. I know what you're thinking...eww. I just love milk that much. I've tried carrying around a water bottle that I constantly refill. That worked for about a week, before I got annoyed by having to carry a big water bottle everywhere. I have enough in my purse as is - I didn't see the need in packing it with something that I don't even really want. I plan on trying that again, though. I mean...no one can really do well with weight loss if they're not drinking water.

Time to return to my food, of course.

One day to go.

And here we go...

Now, I feel, is a great time to write my first post. It's just after 10pm. I'm at work. I just finished a 1/2-pound cheese burger and a rather large serving of fries -- very greasy fries. I know you can all admit we often...actually...always lend ourselves to a few extra pounds over the holiday season. Well I've allowed myself a few extra on top of quite a few extra over the last year.

The idea for this blog was born from a simple suggestion. LOSE WEIGHT. Well...that's not exactly what my boyfriend said to me, but I like to pretend he thinks it (greater motivation, of course). Chris (the boyfriend) and Jess (friend and boyfriend's sister) made clear their idea for a competition. It went something like this...

Jess: "So Kerry, Chris and I are doing a weight loss competition.''
Me: "Really?! That's awesome! I want to join!"
Jess: "OK, it's going to go by percentage lost, and body fat. Otherwise...Chris would have an incredible advantage."
Me: "What do we get if we win." (...that's all I cared about at that point...)
Their Dad*: "A nicer body?"

Clearly, we lack motivation. And clearly, I REALLY lack motivation - considering I thought I needed a prize to get me to participate. Now let me make one thing clear. We're not fat. We think we're fat. But we're not fat. I'm still young. I just thought I would try my hardest to get back the shape I was in in high school so that down the road, when I really let my body go -- it's not just added to what I've already gained. A clean slate if you will. I joined a gym a few weeks back - great price - great place. I was doing well for about two weeks - going nearly every day. The holidays happened and, of course, I couldn't drag myself there. I didn't think there was really a point. I mean...between home, work, parties and going out to eat -- there's just no way I could have kept up. So I didn't try. BUT NOW I have a reason.

I'm actually very excited. It shouldn't be hard. I love going to the gym and my work schedule allows me enough time to go during the less busy hours (..and it is January - of a new decade nonetheless - it WILL be busy). The ONLY issue I plan on having are those late night, early morning, quick lunch and only because it's cheap DINER runs. I really cannot resist disco fries*.

I plan on shedding some pounds. I plan on feeling healthier. I plan on sleeping less. And most importantly, I plan on minimizing my 'get pissed at my boyfriend for no damn reason' days. OH - and Chris and I have plans to do a triathlon this summer, so I really have no choice. I must do this.

As of now, the competition will begin Monday, January 4th and will last six months. It will be based solely on total percentage lost and body fat percentage lost. We will use the exact same scales and have routine weigh ins. Jess will handle the spreadsheet and Chris will spend the majority of his free waking hours at the gym. Because let's face it...he needs to. (I'm joking. Seriously Chris...that was a joke. I love you). I won't be writing every day of course, but most. I will also be taking routine pictures of myself to document the change.

This is it...here we go.

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*Their Dad: A tall, slender, insanely tech savvy dude that spends free time building robots and admiring his cat, Speedy. Some may call him a Nerd.
*Disco Fries: A heavenly, mouth-watering plate of goodness consisting of fries smothered in warm gravy and oozing cheese. Some (me) may call it a weight watcher's demise.