Heaven, Triumph and “ze jazz muzik”…

I lost a dear friend this week.....you know, I never really understood why folks said "I lost so and so." You lose your keys...you lose money...you don't lose your friends and loved ones...they die.

We met by accident nearly 8 years ago this month. Our charming sarcasm created an instant bond. We never dated...never had a physical relationship...never loved each other, but without fail, we were always there for each other at exactly the right time. We could go months without communicating, but the instant something went sideways in either of our lives, we were there for each other. Without having to call...without having to text, my phone would beep and there would be my friend. It was as if we were twins separated at birth...we had an intuition...a connection.

He was originally from Brittan and although he had lived in America for years, his accent was as thick as the day he moved here.

He was tall and lanky, not the first guy I'd pick to have my back in a fight, but when he wanted to, his words were like razors...they could hit harder than any punch.

He had a passion for Triumph motorcycles and the '67 VW Carmengia. When he was on his bike, he looked like something out of a goofy movie...

He was a goof ball!

He could always be heard humming a little something or whistling a little tune and when you asked "what’s that number?" He would always respond "It's ze jazz muzik."

I miss my friend so much already and yet, I have a warmness radiating throughout me...I will never hear his sarcasm again, never hear him hum some dorky song...but what he left in my heart...in my head...in my soul...will forever be priceless.

Spence, wherever you are, I hope you are happily surrounded by Triumph, Carmengia's and a whole bunch of loud, obnoxious "jazz muzik"!

Cheers to you my friend!

H













P.S. I didn't weigh or measure this a.m. as I realized this week there is a direct correlation between my sadness and appetite. I didn't eat well...in fact, at times I simply didn't eat. I DID however have a profound revelation...no amount of chips and salsa, lemon rice soup or smashed taters can make you feel as warm and fuzzy as a true friend!

On the 10th Day of Christmas…

Ten lords a leaping would have been a more welcomed chaos! I can picture it now, 10 men, scantily clad in tights, bouncing off the walls…Mmmmmm such a serene visual...Instead, I got a 2 1/2 year old with explosive diarrhea and a projectile puking 8 year old!

I’m not feeling the Fa La La’s today and trying to dig from somewhere deep within to maintain some form of Holiday spirit but I’m hungry (can’t eat in front of the kids when they can’t eat…what kind of mother would I be), lonely and wrestling with a full academic load!

Don’t you love it when the sun is shining, you get in a great morning run in a 30 degree frost and your life seems to be running like a well oiled machine?

Perhaps tomorrow!

Cheers~

H

On the Naughty List…

So…the boy’s 1^st birthday party rocked…well, for the most part, I rocked the boy’s 1^st birthday party!

I skipped the chips and dip…I skipped the crackers and artichoke dip, I even skipped the Tostitos and salsa. I skipped the ice cream cake (WOW…that shocked the begeebers out of me) BUT…

…the thin, char-grilled chicken breast sitting in my bag didn’t hold a candle to the spaghetti and garlic bread! It had been AGES so, true to form, I indulged. Not too terribly bad (I was surrounded by my stick figure siblings who lick lettuce and ice cubes to sustain life) so I’m certain my portion of spaghetti was smaller than that served in a Lean Cuisine…I could have easily inhaled quadruple the portion size!!!

This morning, I paid the price…my fingers were sooo swollen, I couldn’t bend them…my ring felt like it was cutting off all circulation and I was asphyxiating. I felt guilty so…

BACK ON TRACK FOR ME!!!

Breakfast:

Now, if you are not from the Mid-west, you might not know the magic of a “slyder” (the official burger of White Castle) but that little hum-dinger above tasted EXACTLY like one sans the bun. A perfect blend of ground turkey, onion soup mix, sugar free ketchup and mustard. Mmmm, Mmmm Good!

Lots of water, lots of turkey, and lots of grey matter control and I’ll be reporting some good numbers next week as well!

Oh…I forgot to share our visit to what Bubba referred to as “The North Pole”:

Cheers~

H

To Thine Own Self Be True…

And, when the pounds are a bit more hesitant to fall off, to Thy blog followers be accountable!

First and foremost, I need to acknowledge the driving force behind this blog and so a HUGE thanks goes out to my professor (Dr. P.) for a phenomenal assignment (this blog.)

I have followed two “happening” blogs for years and always thought to myself, what a cool way to connect to the world and express my over opinionated thoughts! After Bubba was born (2.5 years ago), I decided to start my own blog and to this day, it sits there, so very lonely, with not a single post! Here I am today, with only gentle persuasion, sharing with the world my journey through life.

O.K….back to “Thine Own Self"...

Here’s my plan:

I weigh myself every Sunday morning. Over the years I’ve tried different days, but until recently, have found Sunday is THE perfect day for me to “weigh in.” Here’s my reasoning…If I weigh in on Friday, something in my mind gives the rest of me the “Go Ahead” to eat like Rambo Friday afternoon thru Sunday night. Hence, I spend Monday – Wednesday trying to lose the excess I gained by overindulging celebrating my weekly success. Vicious cycle! If I weigh in on Sunday, I have to adhere pretty diligently to my plan until Sunday morning and then, I can’t do as much damage in one day that I had previously done in two and a half.

Mind game, abso-flipping-lutley! But I’m a runner, and making my mind control my body is not something new to me!

Now, I will weigh every Sunday morning and post to you my total pounds lost or gained for the week. Additionally, I will check my body fat percentage and BMI and let you know exactly the same…up or down.

And, just because I am being so brutally honest, here are my current jeans, tags exposed (Levis size 10, Old Navy size 8) Mind you, these numbers don’t really bother me too much because when I started, I was a size 20 (remember the elastic waist pants I was wearing while I was popping pork rinds like they were Tic-Tacs?!?!?):




















And here, with sales tags still intact, are my dream jeans (Old Navy size 6…alright, there’s a size 4 in the closet too, but Cricket has a better chance of fitting in them before I do and she is only 8):










Finally, THE TOOLS:













I know the anticipation is killing you…right about now you’re thinking to yourself “shut-up and show me this week’s numbers.” SOOOOOOOO…

Weight: - 8 lbs

Body Fat %: - 1.6%

BMI: - 1.3

I SO ROCK!!!

My nephew turns 1 today and so the kids and I are off to a big shin-dig in his honor. I have no problem passing on the cake…the ice cream…well…that’s a bit more difficult but if there is any form of food (i.e. pizza, chips, Tostitos and salsa…mmm…my fave), I have the potential to develop somewhat of a crusty personality! Never fear…I have my trusty grilled chicken breast in my purse, ready to go and if need be, I’ll slither out the back door and inhale them to save my life if only to provide you with more declining numbers next week!

Tomorrow starts turkey…gobble gobble!!!!!!!!

~H

Cook it up...

Tip number 1 I learned early on…cook in quantity!

After this morning’s run, I grilled about 6 pounds of chicken breast (I pound the heck out of it so it’s almost transparent before I grill it…I loathe a thick, dried-out, boneless, skinless breast – blech!). It won’t last long…2…maybe 3 days but it’s done and during this season with all the Fa La La’s to be had, a pre cooked chicken breast will keep me away from the plethora of Yule logs and from looking like Mrs. Claus come the BIG day…our wedding day! I don’t know if I’ll vomit or cluck first, but I’m getting tired of chicken so the plan for the next “cycle” is turkey.

6 pounds before

During

After (Sometimes it’s barely off the grill when sticky fingers jump in to harvest!)

Woke earlier than crumb snatchers 1 & 2 and had a little time to track undelivered Christmas presents (all en route) and to create a little “Holiday Cheer!” Laughed my arse off when I saw the finished product!

http://wildfire.gigya.com/wildfire/WidgetPreview.aspx?ut=dBFII5RbVxUc8nBdc3bMDT7hmmrIvgen1wCG_dxqadJhAAWkNZSIhV-1DGKZvwZ0-DQUg5JS8Y61ukrjwOp8p81S9pP6R_BhovjemyHtbA0dAsx-PMuL2zIosIac-rUvj3lTh1WL6rg0IY1bFO3pdiq0GQ8TwM6enbZKtH_hLTWs8vQjDY3Qox9rE89GXwqHVp5fjgzDUlHFhnxULVtebQ2JMbgxWodX7C1SGLB3K2uLmPEAXPPWqPLsrvYsA2cGT3y597HWL5CwgOFu1Y9zkw..

Enjoy…I’m off to the mall with Cricket and Bubba to see the FAT man himself ~

H

And so it begins...

I have to flashback in time to really dark place two years ago. Sitting on the floor with my 4 month old son I thought to myself “Wow…elastic waist pants.” I had never been this overweight or out of shape and unhappy in my entire life. I was 38 years old, had two beautiful children and a wonderful fiancé that my ENTIRE life revolved around. Somewhere, I had lost who I was. I was no longer defined by my successes as a corporate paralegal but rather by the quantity of laundry I did and the number of diapers I changed. As I popped yet another pork rind in my mouth, I knew something had to give. I decided right then to redefine who I was.

After much reading and researching I realized I was allergic to carbs…well not really….but the kind of carbohydrates I was eating were making me fat. So my journey began…from this day forward, I would eat something only if it met the following criteria:

1. It had a face or had the potential to have had a face
2. Was green and sprouted from the earth

It worked swimmingly for the first few months and the pounds melted faster than I could keep track of but then the unthinkable happened…TDY!!!

TDY is the acronym darling fiancés corporation uses to say “You employee, will go to this far off location and work for an unspecified period of time while your family sits at home waiting for every other weekend to arrive so they can spend 48 hours with you.”

I could adhere to my “plan” while he was away, but every other weekend, I would indulge in the potatoes, rice or pasta he so passionately loved. It was cyclical, but over a period of two years I’ve managed to lose about 100 pounds. My journey is far from complete and along the way I have made a few new friends…running and weights.

In my mind I am no longer defined by the number of loads of laundry I do, but rather how many races I run and their distance. I’m proud of the 40 year old I see in the mirror and inspired to forge onward!

Cheers~

H

Meat the family...

Ok...a play on words, but I couldn't resist. For the intent and purpose of my blog, I will refrain from naming all characters. Going forward, my fiance will be affectionately named Dr. Pip, my daughter will be Cricket and my son will be Bubba (these are their real nicknames around the pad!)