Tuesday, June 26, 2007
June 26
Day 1 down and under my belt. I did good, and I feel good that I did good. I almost gave in first thing in the morning; my kids had donuts, and they looked so good, but I reminded myself why I wanted this; and what I wanted it for was bigger and better than any donut, chocolate bar, or sugary sweet I could have right now. I didn't exercise, but, and I know it sounds like I"m making excuses, but I want to wait until next week, once I get myself over the 7-day hump that is the difficulty of getting into ketosis and staying there. Day 3 is always the hardest for me; I'm focusing on KE at the moment, because that is the fastest for me, and when I get more protein powder, I will be adding that in for a meal.
June 25
OK, I messed up again last week. Back on track now; decided I'm a "slow responder"; in other words, I thought I was ok with the cheating cause I wasn't gaining; so I went on a near month-long bender. Well, it took all this time, but I'm finally up 5 lbs, so yeah, I need to get back on. I wasn't even at goal, I don't know WTH i was thinking that I could just let go like that. THought it wouldn't matter, that's what I was thinking. I haven't been able to force myself to start the exercise yet, but I want to incorporate it slowly, so that I don't burn myself out with it before I reap the benefits. My husband and I have been donating plasma for extra money, and I will be doing that this afternoon, so I technically don't have the time to work out today.
Friday, June 22, 2007
June 22
Ok, I'm back. Hopefully. LOL. I've decided to get back on this horse, no matter what. Even though today is friday, I don't care. I'm starting today, right now, getting back on. I thought I was doing good because I hadn't gained anything; I thought my body could handle it. Guess what?! It all caught back up with me. I'm up to 177 from 171, so I'm back in this. Doing KE to start the ketosis process, then will switch to egg whites (but I crave the fat, so will have 1 yolk to 3 egg whites), and will also add in exercise, but I will probably wait till next week to start the exercising. I need to get my schedule straight; I've been so frustrated with summer, and kids, and we just got a new puppy and I swear they are just like a baby, watching every little thing they put in their mouths, and then the whole potty issue!! Plus, we are in the process of buying a house, and I'm REALLY trying not to stress over that; the biggest thing is, I don't want the deal to "fall through" right at the end; we really really need this to work out, cause if it does fall through, we will basically be homeless until we find something else to rent. *sigh* Think happy thoughts!!
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
June 20
I'm having a really really hard time getting back on for some reason. I have been trying to restart all week; every day, something happens and I just let loose; don't even try very hard to stay on. I'm wondering if I should just call it quits, and maybe look for another way to lose the weight, even if its not as fast? I think I should add in exercise for sure, and then just eat "healthy", fruits and veggies and protein. No grains. *sigh* I don't know; I am upset that I fell off so easily, and I am upset that I'm not at goal yet, and I am upset that it is so hard to get back on; and I'm am upset that I gave up when I was stalled out.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
One of the most stressful times of your life
Current mood: stressed
Is buying a house. They say that the 4 most stressful are birth, death, graduation, and marriage. HELLO!! Can we stick in buying a house?!! I don't think I was this stressed when I graduated!! (Both times!!!) OMG, this is the biggest pain in my ass, and can't nobody tell me what to expect; you basically have to be in the middle of it before your hit with all the shit. Well, we've wished and washed back and forth, picked a house, then decided to look around some more, put an offer on another one, which wasn't accepted, so we're back to the original. NOW, if only we can get all this hassle done in 6 weeks!! And we're screwed if it falls through! Send positive vibes my way that this will all work out, and everything will be happily ever after !! (yeah, as cynical as I am, I believe in happy endings...) ;)
Is buying a house. They say that the 4 most stressful are birth, death, graduation, and marriage. HELLO!! Can we stick in buying a house?!! I don't think I was this stressed when I graduated!! (Both times!!!) OMG, this is the biggest pain in my ass, and can't nobody tell me what to expect; you basically have to be in the middle of it before your hit with all the shit. Well, we've wished and washed back and forth, picked a house, then decided to look around some more, put an offer on another one, which wasn't accepted, so we're back to the original. NOW, if only we can get all this hassle done in 6 weeks!! And we're screwed if it falls through! Send positive vibes my way that this will all work out, and everything will be happily ever after !! (yeah, as cynical as I am, I believe in happy endings...) ;)
Monday, June 11, 2007
June 11, 2007
Well, I'm back, not that my absence was noticed. I spent a week in the cheat zone; I couldn't control my cravings, and to try to offset them, I would stuff my face with "good" food, and still have the monster cravings, so I just thought "Fine, I will give into my cravings. I want chocolate, I can have chocolate!! I want ice cream, I can have ice cream! Or salty!! or sour! Or whatever I want" and I did, all week, without gorging myself! I gorged myself on "good" food, and wasn't happy; but I give myself a little piece of what I was craving, and the monster beast was satiated enough to go away, and now I'm back with not a gain to report. I'm looking forward to maintenance, but I'm back on track this week; still haven't started my TOM, but have had a few false starts, so hopefully in the next day or so it will come on and get here so it can hurry up and get gone. I"m wanting to add exercise back in, but I'm feeling a bit of pressure right now from work; there is SOOOO much to do, they are asking everyone to work extra, and I REALLY need to money, we are attempting to buy a house in the next 6 weeks, so cross your fingers for us!! Anyway, I feel like any free time I have has to be spent working, so that's what I'll probably be doing all this time. Instead of exercising.
Monday, June 4, 2007
AMEN!! Take notes!
Current mood: pleased
OK so i copied this from another guy's blog but its really very fitting and appropriate for me and wanted to let everyone know.
Caring for Your Introvert
The habits and needs of a little-understood group
by Jonathan Rauch
o you know someone who needs hours alone every day? Who loves quiet conversations about feelings or ideas, and can give a dynamite presentation to a big audience, but seems awkward in groups and maladroit at small talk? Who has to be dragged to parties and then needs the rest of the day to recuperate? Who growls or scowls or grunts or winces when accosted with pleasantries by people who are just trying to be nice?
If so, do you tell this person he is "too serious," or ask if he is okay? Regard him as aloof, arrogant, rude? Redouble your efforts to draw him out?
If you answered yes to these questions, chances are that you have an introvert on your hands—and that you aren't caring for him properly. Science has learned a good deal in recent years about the habits and requirements of introverts. It has even learned, by means of brain scans, that introverts process information differently from other people (I am not making this up). If you are behind the curve on this important matter, be reassured that you are not alone. Introverts may be common, but they are also among the most misunderstood and aggrieved groups in America, possibly the world.
I know. My name is Jonathan, and I am an introvert.
Oh, for years I denied it. After all, I have good social skills. I am not morose or misanthropic. Usually. I am far from shy. I love long conversations that explore intimate thoughts or passionate interests. But at last I have self-identified and come out to my friends and colleagues. In doing so, I have found myself liberated from any number of damaging misconceptions and stereotypes. Now I am here to tell you what you need to know in order to respond sensitively and supportively to your own introverted family members, friends, and colleagues. Remember, someone you know, respect, and interact with every day is an introvert, and you are probably driving this person nuts. It pays to learn the warning signs.
What is introversion? In its modern sense, the concept goes back to the 1920s and the psychologist Carl Jung. Today it is a mainstay of personality tests, including the widely used Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Introverts are not necessarily shy. Shy people are anxious or frightened or self-excoriating in social settings; introverts generally are not. Introverts are also not misanthropic, though some of us do go along with Sartre as far as to say "Hell is other people at breakfast." Rather, introverts are people who find other people tiring.
Extroverts are energized by people, and wilt or fade when alone. They often seem bored by themselves, in both senses of the expression. Leave an extrovert alone for two minutes and he will reach for his cell phone. In contrast, after an hour or two of being socially "on," we introverts need to turn off and recharge. My own formula is roughly two hours alone for every hour of socializing. This isn't antisocial. It isn't a sign of depression. It does not call for medication. For introverts, to be alone with our thoughts is as restorative as sleeping, as nourishing as eating. Our motto: "I'm okay, you're okay—in small doses."
How many people are introverts? I performed exhaustive research on this question, in the form of a quick Google search. The answer: About 25 percent. Or: Just under half. Or—my favorite—"a minority in the regular population but a majority in the gifted population."
Are introverts misunderstood? Wildly. That, it appears, is our lot in life. "It is very difficult for an extrovert to understand an introvert," write the education experts Jill D. Burruss and Lisa Kaenzig. (They are also the source of the quotation in the previous paragraph.) Extroverts are easy for introverts to understand, because extroverts spend so much of their time working out who they are in voluble, and frequently inescapable, interaction with other people. They are as inscrutable as puppy dogs. But the street does not run both ways. Extroverts have little or no grasp of introversion. They assume that company, especially their own, is always welcome. They cannot imagine why someone would need to be alone; indeed, they often take umbrage at the suggestion. As often as I have tried to explain the matter to extroverts, I have never sensed that any of them really understood. They listen for a moment and then go back to barking and yipping.
Are introverts oppressed? I would have to say so. For one thing, extroverts are overrepresented in politics, a profession in which only the garrulous are really comfortable. Look at George W. Bush. Look at Bill Clinton. They seem to come fully to life only around other people. To think of the few introverts who did rise to the top in politics—Calvin Coolidge, Richard Nixon—is merely to drive home the point. With the possible exception of Ronald Reagan, whose fabled aloofness and privateness were probably signs of a deep introverted streak (many actors, I've read, are introverts, and many introverts, when socializing, feel like actors), introverts are not considered "naturals" in politics.
Extroverts therefore dominate public life. This is a pity. If we introverts ran the world, it would no doubt be a calmer, saner, more peaceful sort of place. As Coolidge is supposed to have said, "Don't you know that four fifths of all our troubles in this life would disappear if we would just sit down and keep still?" (He is also supposed to have said, "If you don't say anything, you won't be called on to repeat it." The only thing a true introvert dislikes more than talking about himself is repeating himself.)
With their endless appetite for talk and attention, extroverts also dominate social life, so they tend to set expectations. In our extrovertist society, being outgoing is considered normal and therefore desirable, a mark of happiness, confidence, leadership. Extroverts are seen as bighearted, vibrant, warm, empathic. "People person" is a compliment. Introverts are described with words like "guarded," "loner," "reserved," "taciturn," "self-contained," "private"—narrow, ungenerous words, words that suggest emotional parsimony and smallness of personality. Female introverts, I suspect, must suffer especially. In certain circles, particularly in the Midwest, a man can still sometimes get away with being what they used to call a strong and silent type; introverted women, lacking that alternative, are even more likely than men to be perceived as timid, withdrawn, haughty.
Are introverts arrogant? Hardly. I suppose this common misconception has to do with our being more intelligent, more reflective, more independent, more level-headed, more refined, and more sensitive than extroverts. Also, it is probably due to our lack of small talk, a lack that extroverts often mistake for disdain. We tend to think before talking, whereas extroverts tend to think by talking, which is why their meetings never last less than six hours. "Introverts," writes a perceptive fellow named Thomas P. Crouser, in an online review of a recent book called Why Should Extroverts Make All the Money? (I'm not making that up, either), "are driven to distraction by the semi-internal dialogue extroverts tend to conduct. Introverts don't outwardly complain, instead roll their eyes and silently curse the darkness." Just so.
The worst of it is that extroverts have no idea of the torment they put us through. Sometimes, as we gasp for air amid the fog of their 98-percent-content-free talk, we wonder if extroverts even bother to listen to themselves. Still, we endure stoically, because the etiquette books—written, no doubt, by extroverts—regard declining to banter as rude and gaps in conversation as awkward. We can only dream that someday, when our condition is more widely understood, when perhaps an Introverts' Rights movement has blossomed and borne fruit, it will not be impolite to say "I'm an introvert. You are a wonderful person and I like you. But now please shush."
How can I let the introvert in my life know that I support him and respect his choice? First, recognize that it's not a choice. It's not a lifestyle. It's an orientation.
Second, when you see an introvert lost in thought, don't say "What's the matter?" or "Are you all right?"
Third, don't say anything else, either.
OK so i copied this from another guy's blog but its really very fitting and appropriate for me and wanted to let everyone know.
Caring for Your Introvert
The habits and needs of a little-understood group
by Jonathan Rauch
o you know someone who needs hours alone every day? Who loves quiet conversations about feelings or ideas, and can give a dynamite presentation to a big audience, but seems awkward in groups and maladroit at small talk? Who has to be dragged to parties and then needs the rest of the day to recuperate? Who growls or scowls or grunts or winces when accosted with pleasantries by people who are just trying to be nice?
If so, do you tell this person he is "too serious," or ask if he is okay? Regard him as aloof, arrogant, rude? Redouble your efforts to draw him out?
If you answered yes to these questions, chances are that you have an introvert on your hands—and that you aren't caring for him properly. Science has learned a good deal in recent years about the habits and requirements of introverts. It has even learned, by means of brain scans, that introverts process information differently from other people (I am not making this up). If you are behind the curve on this important matter, be reassured that you are not alone. Introverts may be common, but they are also among the most misunderstood and aggrieved groups in America, possibly the world.
I know. My name is Jonathan, and I am an introvert.
Oh, for years I denied it. After all, I have good social skills. I am not morose or misanthropic. Usually. I am far from shy. I love long conversations that explore intimate thoughts or passionate interests. But at last I have self-identified and come out to my friends and colleagues. In doing so, I have found myself liberated from any number of damaging misconceptions and stereotypes. Now I am here to tell you what you need to know in order to respond sensitively and supportively to your own introverted family members, friends, and colleagues. Remember, someone you know, respect, and interact with every day is an introvert, and you are probably driving this person nuts. It pays to learn the warning signs.
What is introversion? In its modern sense, the concept goes back to the 1920s and the psychologist Carl Jung. Today it is a mainstay of personality tests, including the widely used Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Introverts are not necessarily shy. Shy people are anxious or frightened or self-excoriating in social settings; introverts generally are not. Introverts are also not misanthropic, though some of us do go along with Sartre as far as to say "Hell is other people at breakfast." Rather, introverts are people who find other people tiring.
Extroverts are energized by people, and wilt or fade when alone. They often seem bored by themselves, in both senses of the expression. Leave an extrovert alone for two minutes and he will reach for his cell phone. In contrast, after an hour or two of being socially "on," we introverts need to turn off and recharge. My own formula is roughly two hours alone for every hour of socializing. This isn't antisocial. It isn't a sign of depression. It does not call for medication. For introverts, to be alone with our thoughts is as restorative as sleeping, as nourishing as eating. Our motto: "I'm okay, you're okay—in small doses."
How many people are introverts? I performed exhaustive research on this question, in the form of a quick Google search. The answer: About 25 percent. Or: Just under half. Or—my favorite—"a minority in the regular population but a majority in the gifted population."
Are introverts misunderstood? Wildly. That, it appears, is our lot in life. "It is very difficult for an extrovert to understand an introvert," write the education experts Jill D. Burruss and Lisa Kaenzig. (They are also the source of the quotation in the previous paragraph.) Extroverts are easy for introverts to understand, because extroverts spend so much of their time working out who they are in voluble, and frequently inescapable, interaction with other people. They are as inscrutable as puppy dogs. But the street does not run both ways. Extroverts have little or no grasp of introversion. They assume that company, especially their own, is always welcome. They cannot imagine why someone would need to be alone; indeed, they often take umbrage at the suggestion. As often as I have tried to explain the matter to extroverts, I have never sensed that any of them really understood. They listen for a moment and then go back to barking and yipping.
Are introverts oppressed? I would have to say so. For one thing, extroverts are overrepresented in politics, a profession in which only the garrulous are really comfortable. Look at George W. Bush. Look at Bill Clinton. They seem to come fully to life only around other people. To think of the few introverts who did rise to the top in politics—Calvin Coolidge, Richard Nixon—is merely to drive home the point. With the possible exception of Ronald Reagan, whose fabled aloofness and privateness were probably signs of a deep introverted streak (many actors, I've read, are introverts, and many introverts, when socializing, feel like actors), introverts are not considered "naturals" in politics.
Extroverts therefore dominate public life. This is a pity. If we introverts ran the world, it would no doubt be a calmer, saner, more peaceful sort of place. As Coolidge is supposed to have said, "Don't you know that four fifths of all our troubles in this life would disappear if we would just sit down and keep still?" (He is also supposed to have said, "If you don't say anything, you won't be called on to repeat it." The only thing a true introvert dislikes more than talking about himself is repeating himself.)
With their endless appetite for talk and attention, extroverts also dominate social life, so they tend to set expectations. In our extrovertist society, being outgoing is considered normal and therefore desirable, a mark of happiness, confidence, leadership. Extroverts are seen as bighearted, vibrant, warm, empathic. "People person" is a compliment. Introverts are described with words like "guarded," "loner," "reserved," "taciturn," "self-contained," "private"—narrow, ungenerous words, words that suggest emotional parsimony and smallness of personality. Female introverts, I suspect, must suffer especially. In certain circles, particularly in the Midwest, a man can still sometimes get away with being what they used to call a strong and silent type; introverted women, lacking that alternative, are even more likely than men to be perceived as timid, withdrawn, haughty.
Are introverts arrogant? Hardly. I suppose this common misconception has to do with our being more intelligent, more reflective, more independent, more level-headed, more refined, and more sensitive than extroverts. Also, it is probably due to our lack of small talk, a lack that extroverts often mistake for disdain. We tend to think before talking, whereas extroverts tend to think by talking, which is why their meetings never last less than six hours. "Introverts," writes a perceptive fellow named Thomas P. Crouser, in an online review of a recent book called Why Should Extroverts Make All the Money? (I'm not making that up, either), "are driven to distraction by the semi-internal dialogue extroverts tend to conduct. Introverts don't outwardly complain, instead roll their eyes and silently curse the darkness." Just so.
The worst of it is that extroverts have no idea of the torment they put us through. Sometimes, as we gasp for air amid the fog of their 98-percent-content-free talk, we wonder if extroverts even bother to listen to themselves. Still, we endure stoically, because the etiquette books—written, no doubt, by extroverts—regard declining to banter as rude and gaps in conversation as awkward. We can only dream that someday, when our condition is more widely understood, when perhaps an Introverts' Rights movement has blossomed and borne fruit, it will not be impolite to say "I'm an introvert. You are a wonderful person and I like you. But now please shush."
How can I let the introvert in my life know that I support him and respect his choice? First, recognize that it's not a choice. It's not a lifestyle. It's an orientation.
Second, when you see an introvert lost in thought, don't say "What's the matter?" or "Are you all right?"
Third, don't say anything else, either.
June 4, 2007
I can't believe we are already 10 weeks into this challenge. That means that we've basically been without susie for 10 weeks!! Susie, we miss you, come back!! I have tried keeping in touch with some of the other girls; Nancy is happy on the PFA or whatever it was called; Deb was in the process of life altering events, and wasn't sure where we fit in there, and I still haven't heard back from Amy! I hope everyone is doing well; I think this time around has been the biggest learning experienced for me, in what my body can handle, food wise. I now know how my body reacts to certain foods; what it takes for me to lose weight semi-steadily (it still throws its hissy fits once in a while), and the things that have taught me the most have been the cheats!! I would love to give myself to opportunity to see how far my body can go, exercise wise. I'm almost afraid to jump back into it; I have been out of it for about 2 months, and that is usually when I get my results for weight loss; I'm thinking that if I jump back into it now, I will stall again. I'm only about 25 lbs from goal (which, yeah, right 25 lbs is alot! But when you look at I've lost more than half that, it feels like its just right there!! I've gotten comfortable in my new body; its stalled for a couple of weeks now with the weight loss, but I've come to the conclusion that, besides 3 years ago when I was 168, this weight is the lowest I have been in 8 years!! I can't believe it! I weighed this when I got pregnant with my first child!! Of course, I had gained weight between meeting my husband and that time, and that's what I'm trying to lose now, but I figure, Its been sitting on this frame for 8+ years, it might take a bit longer to let go. And that's ok; I have kids, I have learned patience! 
As long as I prevail! The sad thing is, I'm almost TOO comfortable in my new body; getting a bit lax on the diet; so, will have to do some real soul searching and digging; am I comfortable here for the time being? Do I want to take a break and maybe let it ride for a while, then pick back up and battle the last 20? I really really would love to get it off by September; then I REALLY could do those pictures for my husband. I know I look good now, but I also know that I'm still overweight, and I will look even better when it all comes off! But, this is just so typically me; I never could go all 12 weeks. I always had to break about week 10!
As long as I prevail! The sad thing is, I'm almost TOO comfortable in my new body; getting a bit lax on the diet; so, will have to do some real soul searching and digging; am I comfortable here for the time being? Do I want to take a break and maybe let it ride for a while, then pick back up and battle the last 20? I really really would love to get it off by September; then I REALLY could do those pictures for my husband. I know I look good now, but I also know that I'm still overweight, and I will look even better when it all comes off! But, this is just so typically me; I never could go all 12 weeks. I always had to break about week 10!
June 3, 2007
I cheated this weekend; :( I don't really want to talk about it, just that I lost 2 lbs as of SUnday morning, after pizza saturday night, so explain that to me?!
Friday, June 1, 2007
June 1, 2007
Ok, so apparently my body is happy at this weight; I believe I have been here for about 2 weeks now, and it is NOT about to relinquish any more pounds without a serious fight! And it is throwing cravings at me left and right, bound and determine NOT to drop below this weight!! I am at 171 right now; the lowest I have been in nearly 7 years is 168!! So its like my body doesn't want to drop below that weight! UGH!! Ok, so I am hanging my head in shame here, but I had carbs yesterday! I had fries. OMG, I'm so bad!! I was supposed to kick butt this month, and reach my goal, and 3 days in I give into temptation! I didn't eat ALOT, my stomach doesn't hold that much anymore, and I don't gain after a cheat (Thankfully), but it will stop me from a loss for the next 3 days while I climb back into ketosis. Also, I was unable to give up my coffee like I thought I could. BUT, I have been able to use it as a meal, instead of shakes or EWs, so I MAY be able to use that to my advantage after all; I'm still tweaking my shakes; I mix my chocolate protein powder with coffee, but it's still sort of watery; if I can get my coffee in my shake strong enough, maybe I'll be ok in that area! Plus the coffee helps me go to the bathroom, something I've been missing this week...
*sigh*
*sigh*
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
