Do Blondes Really Have More Fun?

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your supportive comments about my last post. It is always risky to post pictures of yourself, but I felt comfortable doing that with all of you and I was right, you made me feel like I belong. Oh, and I love the fact that some of you thought I had blonde hair and blue eyes because of the Trixie cartoon!

I've gotten into a workout zone the past two weeks. I've pretty much been working out every day - Monday I even worked out twice! Actually, I might work out twice tomorrow too. I have gotten into the habit of going to the pool in my apartment complex when it opens to swim laps and then on Mondays and Wednesdays I've been meeting people at school to do water aerobics ourselves. It's been working out really well. They are motivating and really nice people, so it's fun too.

The sad thing is that the pool here closes on Labor Day and we'll stop meeting on Mondays and Wednesdays once the next water aerobics class session starts on 9/17. I've decided not to sign up for the session. It's $60 for 10 classes - not a bad deal, but I don't have any income right now and I just can't justify it when I have exercise DVDs at home and access to a gym in my apartment complex. I know I love the water, but I have to be fiscally responsible too.

It's weird. I'm still not feeling much different with my weight loss. The positive thing I can say is that strangers don't treat me any differently. I actually never had a problem with people commenting about my weight, I just felt like people stared at me and watched what I ordered. I don't feel that way now. I guess I am much more comfortable with myself. So, I guess there are some changes. I just don't feel like my self-esteem has really changed. I didn't really want it to change just because I lost weight, because what would that say about how I felt about myself 68 lbs. ago. I guess it has made me realize I can accomplish what I put my mind to, even if it takes a while to achieve my goal. It's helping me stay grounded in the face of a thus far unsuccessful job search. If I can lose weight, I can find a good job! :)

P.S. I have a message for Crankybee if she's reading this ... I can't seem to get to your blog because I don't have access. I'd love to see what you are up to. If you are comfortable giving me access, please email me at trixiebelden2006 at yahoo dot com. Thanks!

Happy 1 Year Weight Watchers Anniversary to Me

Yep, this week marks my one year anniversary of doing Weight Watchers. I've achieved more than I thought possible. My original goal was 52 lbs. in 52 weeks. I thought that was far-fetched, but look where I am today. It is doable. It is achievable. It just takes one day at a time. It wasn't always easy, it took me 5 weeks to lose 1 lb. this summer. But, it looks like I am back on track this week (I'm down 3.6 lbs.). I know that some time soon I'm going to lose some of my motivation and feel like exercising isn't working, but today everything looks sunny and possible.

So, I decided it was high time I included some "before" and "now" (it's not "after" just yet) photos to my blog. The picture with me in a suit with a red top is from late August 2005. I was about 200 lbs. in that picture and gained another 25 lbs. after this picture was taken before I started trying to lose weight in August 2006. The second picture, with me in shorts, is from early July 2007 at my Weight Watchers location. I asked the receptionist to take a picture of me at the beginning of Kim's Challenge so I could document the change. I'm about 162 lbs. in the picture. It's kinda hard to get the full effect with the picture of me in the suit since it isn't full length. (The reason why the suit isn't button is because it was too tight to button. I was squeezing myself into it.) I don't notice the difference on a day-to-day basis so looking at pictures is interesting, but the difference isn't as dramatic as I expected it to be. I wanted more tangible proof that I have lost all this weight. I guess I'm going to have to find it within myself.

I Pass the "Nice Matters Award" onto ...

Thanks to Amazon Alanna for the shout out. I've had a hard time singling 3 blogs out for the "Nice Matters" award. I have gotten such nice comments from so many people it is a shame to pick only 3. But, I have decided to pass the "Nice Matters" award along to:

* Kim at Kim Under Construction for the motivation and inspiration to start her own challenge
* Jodi at Just Another Weigh for stepping up and being a team captain for Kim's challenge
* KL at From YAWN to Come Hither for just being herself

So guys, now you have to pass around the love to people in blogland you think are good eggs.

And the winner is ...

Okay, so it's 12:09am and the entry into the great Adidas work-out pants give-away officially closed at 12:00am. I went to random.org and got it to put the entrants into random order. The winner of the pants is .... *kl* from YAWN to Come Hither. Congratulations kl! Thanks to all the participants. My pants were very happy to see that there were many healthy potential homes for them. (kl, email me at trixiebelden2006 at yahoo dot com and let me know where to mail your prize!)

I also ended up a winner this week! I now have a toe-hold in the 150's! I'm very excited and hope to keep up this losing trend. Even if they aren't big losses, I'll take a 1.4 lb. loss any day!

Oh, and the pants karma is definitely on my side today. A friend who gained weight last year had pants that no longer fit (they are too big because she has since lost the weight - go her!). So, I have 5 pairs of pants and 2 cute skirts that are just a hair to tight on me right now. In a couple of weeks they are going to look and feel great. I'm a little confused though ... they are all a size 8. I some how skipped size 10 this summer. I don't know what to do about being a size 8. I haven't been that size since high school. I didn't expect this to happen so soon. I still have 18.4 lbs. to go. I will totally freak out if I get down to a size 6. How I feel about sizes, and what size I'm *supposed* to be, is a whole post in itself. So, I'll save that for another time.

And lastly, Amazon Alanna included me in a list of blogs for a very sweet award. Thank you! I now need to pass on the love, but I need time to think about who to pass it along to. I'll post on that later too.

Oh, and one last thing. Thanks to everyone who commented on my loose skin post. It was very interesting to hear how you all feel. I will probably continue the conversation in a post sometime in the future.

Okay, I'm done for now. Good night!

Big Medicine/ Small(er) Bras

Has anyone ever watched the show Big Medicine on TLC? I watched it for the first time tonight. Even though I haven't gone the weight loss surgery route, I really felt a connection with the 3 people they profiled. The show had some pretty graphic footage of what 2 of the people looked like naked. They had already had bariatric or gastric bypass surgery and now they were having surgery to get rid of loose skin. The amount of loose skin this one woman had was honestly shocking. (The doctor said he removed a total of 15 pounds of skin. Which, according to him, is a lot.) The other woman had less loose skin, but it was still substantial enough for surgery (both tummy and breast lifts). I felt compelled to look at myself in the bathroom mirror and study my bulges after the show. I don't know if it was a healthy way to spend my time or not. I don't think I'm at the stage of my weight loss to know if I even want/need to have loose skin removed. And, by saying that, I think it means that I don't have that much extra skin, or I would be more self-conscious. But, it made me wonder how much smaller my stomach and hips would be without the bulge I do have. I have been a little over-worried about loose skin since the beginning of this journey. I guess I'll think more about it once I get to my goal weight. (Although I don't know how I'd afford the surgery, so that's a big consideration.)

I would, however, definitely like to have a breast lift. But I've wanted a breast lift since I was a sophomore in college! (14 drooping years ago) I just bought new bras that are like a breath of fresh air. I was long overdue for new bras, but I kept avoiding buying them because I told myself I didn't really *need* them and I didn't have the money. (If I don't have the money for new bras, how am I going to afford a breast lift :) Well, when I put on new bras I realized how wrong I was. I figured I would be a different size since I haven't bought bras since well before I started to lose weight. I tried measuring them, but I kept getting crazy figures. So, I went to this website - myintimacy.com - (she was on Oprah's bra intervention show) and it gave me a size recommendation. When I tried that size on - and a few others to check - it was spot on correct. When I'm wearing them, its like my breasts are back where they belong! I went from a 38/40D to a 36DD. And my sister is sort of mesmerized by the fact that my breasts have gotten *so much smaller*. I think it's funny. (She never says it around anyone else.) I don't really notice a difference.

How do you guys feel about having loose skin removed? Do you worry about it at all?


P.S. Don't forget to sign up for my free XL Adidas work-out pant raffle posted on Saturday 8/11!

XL Adidas Pant Give-away

Hey guys, in cleaning out my closets I found a perfectly good pair of Adidas work-out pants that I didn't want to just give to a thrift store, so I am offering them up to one of you for FREE. (They've been worn less than 10 times. I like to work out in water more than on land :) Here's the details on the pants:

* Size: XL (16-18) [but I wore them when I was also wearing size 20 Gap jeans]
* Color: Navy blue with 3 green stripes down the side
* Waist: Elastic drawstring
* Fabric: 100% polyester
* Additional information from adidas.com Please note, these pants were purchased at a outlet mall and NOT from adidas.com. But, I found the same type of pants online and I don't have a working digital camera, so you can check out what they look like. (Please note, the pants are a different color than pictured.)

So, here's how the give-away is going to work. Just post a comment saying you are interested in the pants. The deadline is Thursday, August 16 at midnight EST. I'll take the list of people who are interested and put them into random.org which will sort them in random order. The 1st person listed in random order will get the pants. I'll post the winner on Friday, August 17th and contact them for their address (U.S. only please) and mail them the pants shortly thereafter. I'll cover postage. (To clarify, the contest is only open to addresses in the contiguous U.S. Sorry to Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and my international friends!)

I hope at least someone is interested. They are super-comfy! Happy exercising!

Last Call

I had my weigh-in tonight. I'm down -0.6. I should be happy, but I was expecting to be down more and I hoped to crack the 150's. However, any loss is a good loss. Actually, after thinking about what I had ate and drank this past week, even though I had 13 flex points left, I really shouldn't have been down any more than I was. I had a lot of light beer. I didn't go back to my "no beer in the house" semi-rule that I usually keep once I got back from vacation. I figured I could have my cake and eat it too. I guess I was wrong. I'm not going to bring any beer into the apartment this week. If I'm out to dinner, then maybe I will have a drink, but I'm not going to have beer with dinner at home. I'm also going to try really hard to exercise more this week. I'm going to go the the pool in my apartment complex tomorrow when it opens and swim laps for 15 minutes. I know it doesn't sound like a lot, but it's a start!

I have a crazy goal for next week's weigh-in. I want to be down 2 lbs. so that I can reach 65 lbs. lost and be in the 150's. Wish me luck!

Closet Cleaning

Water aerobics was great today! She kept us moving a lot. Definitely put the aerobics in water aerobics today. I am exhausted.

I had a momentous day yesterday. I took two garbage bags full of clothes that were too big to the thrift store. It was pretty d*mn cool. It also freed me to take another look at the clothes left behind and to realize there are more clothes that are too big that I'm holding onto. I'm going to take the rest of it (3 more bags, which includes 4 pairs of shoes and odds and ends) to the thrift store tomorrow or Saturday. It feels great to not be looking at those reminders any more. It's like I get a clean slate. In the future, I can buy what I like instead of just buying what fits. It's pretty exciting actually.

Hey, has anyone noticed their shoe size going down about a 1/2 size when they lose weight? I was always a 7 or 7-1/2 until I started gaining weight and then I moved up to an 8. Now I'm back down to a 7-1/2 ... weird, huh.

Under the Big Blue Sky

Today I was back at water aerobics. It was great. I missed last Wednesday because there was a swim meet in the pool and I thought class was cancelled. Instead, they held it in the outdoor pool. Bummer! I so would have loved to have had class outside. There's a four week break between the end of this session (next Monday) and the beginning of next session (mid-September). A couple of us are thinking of meeting on our own. My only problem is that my ID card might not work now that I'm not a student and I won't be signed up for a class. Oh well, we'll see what happens.

In other water-related news, my mom is going to mail me an extra raft she has for the pool at my apartment complex. I wasn't sure if they were legal, but there were two people with rafts last Saturday, so I guess I got my answer. It is a little ridiculous for my mom to pay to mail it to me, but it saves me the $15 if I'd buy it at Target. I can't wait to float under the big blue sky!

I've started to get more motivated about keeping busy with my days and evenings. Last week I was pretty good because I had all these interviews to conduct for this research project I'm working on with a visiting professor. I have a few more to do AND I need to start transcribing them. That's where all the fun begins, not. I have a "laundry" list of things to keep myself busy. I'm actually a little surprised at how long it is. I can't imagine how I'd get all this stuff done if I was working, and trust me, I worked for 9 years before I went back to school. So I know something about putting in long hours at the office. Actually, I find myself day dreaming about having long days at the office. I guess that happens when you don't have any job prospects on the horizon. Bizarrely enough I'm still not panicked. I have contacted some people at the company I did my internship last summer to see if they have any freelance opportunities. At least it would be in the field I'd like to go into and I'd be making some money. If I get something freelance I still intend to actively look for a permanent job somewhere else in the country. I'm nervous for my mom. She's waiting to hear back from a school she's really interested in working at. I'm afraid its going to be bad news. Keep your fingers crossed that its good news coming down the road.

Getting Back on Track

Okay, so I'm back from Sin City and I weighed-in today at my WW meeting. I only gained 1 lb. since I my last weigh-in before I left, but that was on 7/12/07. So .... I've been fluctuating for about 3 or 4 weeks, depending on how you look at it. I'm still on track for losing an average of 1.2 lbs. per week, which has been my goal all year. But, I had been about 4 weeks ahead of schedule. Now, I'm only 1 week ahead of schedule. I know I shouldn't be upset. I think its just a wake up call to realize that I've gotten off track. I'm glad I only gained 1 lb. total while I was on vacation. I did exercise (hiking and water aerobics) but not enough to mitigate all the Corona Light and woodfired pizza I had (yum!) But, I feel like I've wasted time. My weight loss has been something that has been positive in my life and has made me feel successful. That's important to me and my self-esteem since my job search has not been going well. I saw a friend from school that I don't think I've seen since graduation (late May) and she said I looked thin. I think "thin" was an overstatement, but it was still nice to hear after I heard the news about my gain. I think I need to find something else to make me feel good about myself. While I want to get back on track, I think I need to spend time on something besides me. It's always "my" job search and "my" weight loss. I have been toying with the idea of volunteering. I have the time. I just haven't wanted to make a commitment that I couldn't keep when I do get a job. I think I have to start living my life and not "what if-ing" myself to death. I think I'm going to go onto volunteermatch.com and see what non-profits need help in the area. I'll keep you posted on what I find.

p.s. I mentioned in one of my last posts that my mom might guest post. Well, she's too shy, so she is going to remain a lurker. If you're out there, "Hi Mom!" :)