I’m Still Lost

We were a little late getting into the show lost. We rented the first 2 seasons on DVD just before the 3rd season started – and we were hooked! The show was engaging and well written and the scenery and cast were oh so beautiful. We looked forward to each new episode… even when the show started filming only 10 shows a year. No problem. We waited 6 months for the next season to see where the story would go next.
Yes, the story line was out there. Yes, there were many loose ends and many questions without answers. But that is what brought us back each week. Surely all the show’s mysteries would be explained and the answers revealed.
And when the producers came out with an ending date for the series, it SEEMED as though they had a plan. They had the storyline finished in their head, and would begin the slow tidy wrap up of the scattered plot line.

Yeah- NO!
There was no such plan.
Only more questions.
More characters were introduced this season.
More random time, space travel and parallel universe junk.

I won’t tell you specifically HOW it ended just in case you are still planning on watching the last episode. But I will tell you how disappointed I am. I want every Tuesday for the last six years that I spent watching Lost back. JJ Abrams owes me hours of my life. How can you just keep building suspense and riddles with no intentions to explain what they mean? And the end – please!! Total cop-out. It was like Dallas, but worse!

On a positive note, I LOVED that Charlie was brought back for the last couple of episode. He was always my favorite.

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Something is wrong here…

So, I’m totally back on sugar (camping didn’t help), and my running days are on hold.
I went a little crazy on the sugar the last 2 weeks – and I feel like crap by the way. So, I’m starting over. Reduced sugar – no ban from here on out. So far, so good…. since I just started again today 🙂
And my back is killing me. I hurt it about 5-6 weeks ago, and it has been flaring up and getting better, off and on since then. I don’t think the running is making it worse, but sometimes it hurts too much to even run. I finally went to the Dr. this week and got a referral to PT and started that today. (So much fun too! Stretching and massaging) The PT said I should give it a week or at least a couple of visits to get the muscles a little happier and start stretching more regularly, and then I can start running again. And although I feel really good today, I was hurting bad enough on Saturday, that I’m going to listen to him. I would really like to start feeling better again. Back pain is a real… pain!
Unfortunately, the May 1st 1/2 marathon probably isn’t going to pan out, but I’m not letting myself off that easily. I’m going to look for another one in the next couple months and see if I can get there. I’m pretty sure without the goal, I won’t run.

So, more sugar and less running right now, but hopefully in the near future – a moderate amount of sugar and a little more running 🙂  Maybe?

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Am I crazy!

Yes.  Yes I am.  But on to my post….

I started running again a few years ago.  I don’t exactly remember why, but my BFF, my cousin and I all decided we were going to sign up for a 5k.  I think we were looking for a quick calorie burn.  We didn’t train much (read that as – we didn’t train at all) and almost died!  Since then we have done quite a bit a running between us.  My cousin even stared training for a marathon.  She got a few 1/2 marathons into it when she realized her body wasn’t meant to run marathons, and she now sticks to shorter runs.  My BFF has done several 10ks and even a mini triathlon.  I went a bit slower and I’ve done several more 5ks and even a couple of 10ks.

I have a few different friends who are runners, and some that are almost runners (like me).  The talk right now between several of us is a 1/2 marathon.  My friend Melissa is a great runner.  She has done a couple of 1/2 marathons already, and she has been encouraging  me to sign up for one in May.  I’m seriously thinking about it.  Thinking about it enough that I’ve kind of started training for it just in case!  I haven’t signed up yet though.  I’m sure part of me is hoping it will be full when I’m finally ready.

So this weekend, I ran 7 miles!  Without stopping!  And while I’m really very proud of myself, part of me is scared to death.  It was really hard, and a 1/2 marathon is 13.1.  How will I ever run 6 more?  It worked out this week that I was able to get a couple mid-week runs in and go for a long run this weekend, but our life is not consistently encouraging and supportive of me having time to run.  We are going camping next weekend, and I’ve already tried to map quest the area to see if there are any roads that would let me do a run without getting lost, ran over or attacked by wild animals.

The race I’m looking at is May 1st.  If I can stay on track, there is a chance I could be ready.  (Ready does not mean in contention to win, get a good time, or even run the whole thing)  We’ll see how the next few weeks play out and I’ll keep you posted!

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falling off the wagon

Last week was a rough one. I can’t put my finger on what made it busier or worse than any other week, but I was in a funk. (I probably wasn’t very fun to be around either.) So on Tuesday…. I caved. I ate 5 girl scout cookies. Then …. I got it back together!   Then…. Saturday….. I had a scoop of ice cream. (I told the hubby it was his fault for buying the Ben and Jerry’s). I’m trying to climb back on the no sugar bus, but I feel like I’m letting myself slip when I was being SOOO good. I had some M&Ms at book club on Sunday too – but only a couple!

I don’t think I’m craving it quite as much as I was in the beginning. I think I’m just eating out of habit, stress and boredom. In fact, that is why I want to keep going – to see if it was just a hormonal week and that I really have gained some control.

I think I need a new plan. Maybe an end date to the complete ban with a modified version for the future? Truthfully, I’m surprised I did as well as I did for 2 weeks. Actually shocked. I’m thinking strict no sugar until next Tuesday, so I can say it was 4 weeks – then something like no dessert mid week? Or only dessert after dinners? What do you think?

I’ve got to tell you that I did buy a scale last week. Unfortunately I hadn’t weighed myself since December, so I’m not sure where I started at. Since then I’ve lost about 5-7 pounds. (depends WHEN I weigh myself) I think that is pretty good. I also pretty sure most of that happened in the last few weeks during my sugar ban. I don’t really need to lose more weight, but it would be great to not gain it all back in 3 days too.  So, help me – send me some guidance.

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Book Club

I was recently invited to join a book club.  These ladies had already met a couple of times when I was asked to join.  I was really excited to read some new books and talk about them with other gals.

They had chosen The Time Traveler’s Wife to read for this meeting.  I have to say, it wasn’t my kind of book.  I’m not sure what exactly didn’t work for me, but I didn’t love it.  I think the plausibility of the time travel, the crappy life he had because of the time travel, the incomprehensible time line that effected cause and effect – all frustrated me.  If he keeps going back and forth, what really happened first?  It took me an uncharacteristically long time to get through and really didn’t enjoy it.

Some of the ladies really liked it.  They were able to find the love story in it – but I think they were digging.  I am interested in seeing the movie now.  (I wanted to wait until after the book club met, so I wouldn’t confuse the two)  I’m hoping that the movie helps me see a love story. Maybe they will take out the really weird parts for me!

I’m excited to start our next selection.  We decided to read The Soloist.  This book was recently made into  a movie with Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Fox and I’ve heard it is fabulous.  (I’ll let you know)  We came upon this selection while looking on our local library’s website.  They offer something called  “book club in a bag”.  In essence you get 10 copies of a single title to read and discuss.  Isn’t that brilliant!?  Nobody has to go out and buy the book or track it down through their friends via Facebook, like I did.  If you have a book club – check out your local library for this resource.

Anyhow – Time Traveler’s Wife ….mmmmm 2 stars??  Did you read it?  What did you think?

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Julie reviews Julie and Julia

Just watched Julie and Julia. It was so cute. Not too heavy, not too light. Not too girlie, no guns. It was a good little movie. It did make me wonder if Amy Adams was in EVERY movie made these days. The fact that I now call myself a “blogger” it was fun to see Julie write her blog on Julia, and exciting to watch her blog grow and gain readers 🙂 Did not however make me want to start cooking French food. I’d say, “Go rent it!”

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Poor timing on my part

Look what we just picked up.

Look what I’m not letting myself eat.

I’m so sad. I did hijack one box of peanut butter cookies and stuck them in the freezer. I’m hoping I can pull them out later and enjoy them slowly. Maybe by then I won’t even want one. You think? Is that even possible?

Several people have asked about the sugar thing, which makes me think most people are struggling with it as well.  I wanted to write about my thinking behind my sugar ban.  Now I have to be honest.  I know that I have a high metabolism and that thus far in my life I really have eaten what ever I want.  But I also would like it known that I work out.  I work out a lot and hard.  Problem was I didn’t feel great.  For someone who was running as much as I was, I didn’t feel healthy.  I’ve been getting sick constantly.  I get sick way more often than my children.  I was tired and run down.  I also didn’t like that I thought about something that I knew wasn’t healthy for me all day long.  I really was eating junk all day.

Because of said metabolism, I’ve never done a “diet”.  I think with the exception of constant dessert, I eat pretty well.  I eat whole grains.  I eat fruits and vegetables.  I limit my soda to one a day and then drink tons of water.  And every day I would wake up and tell myself I would cut back on the sugar that day.  You know how that goes right?  By lunch I’d finished the bag of M&Ms and eaten 4 cookies and was already eyeballing the last doughnut.  This is the first time I made a specific plan for myself – no more dessert (aka sugar) and most importantly, I said it out loud.  And wrote it here which was even harder!

I am still eating sugar in all kinds of other ways.  I had strawberries the other day.  I had a piece of gum during my meeting on Monday.  I had a Chinese chicken salad today that was covered in sugary dressing.  But those aren’t the sugars I can’t control.  I’m out of control with the dessert; cookies, candy, doughnuts, cake, candy bars, yummy treats.  Let me tell you – I miss them so much!  I could eat a dozen bakery doughnuts right now!  Maple bars….. mmm.  They had turned into a big part of my life and sadly, a part of the lives of my children.

So, it has been 1 week and a day.  It was really hard to walk away from the open box of Girl Scout cookies in my fridge this morning.  I’m a little afraid of falling off the wagon in an ugly way, but I think I’m going to keep at this.  I feel a little more rested (or this has been a light week?), and I feel really proud of myself.  I’ve seriously never gone this long without a Snicker’s bar.  I don’t own a scale or I’d let you know if I’ve lost any weight yet.  Maybe I’ll buy one this weekend.  I feel like I need to give it several weeks and see if I notice a significant health benefit.  I’m thinking I will.  And of course – I’ll let you know!

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Blah

No photo in this one. You’ll thank me later. M – also known as barf-aroni – threw up all over my car today. After she just finished a red Icee. About a minute before we got to my in-law’s house. So gross! She is like a pro now. She doesn’t cry or get upset, she just keeps throwing up. More and more of it.

On the plus side – the hubby and I took the cars to the car wash and used their free vacuums and our towels and such and cleaned out BOTH cars.

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Did you guys see it too?

The sun came out today!! I don’t even remember how long it has been now. Feels like months. This afternoon after school we took all the old bread we had collected, and took a bike ride down to the pond in our neighborhood to feed the ducks. It was a short walk/ride, and it was a bit cold, but it felt so great to get outside.  I could even feel a little warmth from the sun.  Oh, sun…. how I’ve missed you.  Made me a little sad that it is still January, and that we are SOOO far from summertime.

A couple of shots from our walk.

I so hope we see the sun again soon.

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I’m sure I have SOMETHING to say…

I have a huge stalker obsession with blogs. I LOVE to read them. I book mark them. I peruse them for craft idea. I watch the families of complete strangers grow up and I feel like I know them. Somehow my love for reading blogs has prompted me to write one. I’m not even exactly sure what I’ll write about yet. We’ll see how this goes. 🙂

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