Day 28

Holy crap, guys. Today marks a month. One month of eating right, working out, and improving myself. That's 22 lbs in 28 days ... who would've guessed this was so do-able??

Today's workouts were pretty good, although this one yoga teacher gets more and more spiritual/hippie every class. We spent 45 minutes doing moon salutations today! Just repeating the same sequence over and over and over until I just wanted to yell, "Okay! We're good! The moon's been THOROUGHLY saluted! Can we stop now??" She even tried to get us to do some Om-ing and mantra-chanting ... I just prayed under my breath. I'm all about yoga as a physical outlet, but the spirituality of it is totally beyond me.

I did manage to knock out my workouts by about 12:30, so I got the afternoon off to pick up my room a bit and go see a movie. Mom and I opted for Up again - it was the last day they were showing it in 3D, and we needed a good pick-me-up. I didn't even nap today, which is good. I need to be less nap-reliant. Means I should crash pretty properly tonight, too. After I do some gaming and watch a little of The Prestige, that is. Girl's gotta have her downtime.

Today's food situation was nothing new, although it was free meal night! We hit U.S. Pizza again; we'd considered doing the Copper Grill downtown, but since the soup I love so dearly there (Roasted Red Pepper) is not a regular menu item, we decided not to risk it and go for an old favorite. I ate considerably more salad and less pizza than last time ... but I still totally indulged in a couple slices of sausage pizza. There's no saying no to that.

So I've been thinking a lot about the last four weeks, and how much has changed, and how much is still to change. I mean, I've lost 22 lbs ... that's like, 88 sticks of butter. Or 3.8 gallons of Coke. Or 88 medium orders of fries. Or 55 million grains of rice.

 

Speaking of fries, one of my personal food vices, I've only eaten them once in four weeks. I haven't had chips except for once; I've had maybe four slices of bread, all one at a time and included in a sandwich; I haven't had a single non-diet Coke; I haven't gone on a snack binge and mindlessly munched my way through a bag of Goldfish. And the greatest thing? I haven't really missed any of it.

Sure, it wouldn't hurt my feelings to go to, say, Panera Bread and order a bread-bowl of broccoli cheddar and a Sierra Turkey sandwich with potato chips and a Dr. Pepper, but I don't feel it's essential. And I can have it, but not as a staple. Never again as a staple. This lifestyle change has definitely made eating out a treat again, whereas it was just the norm for so long. I remember one night shortly before my trip home to begin this change, I was trying to pick a place to go have some lunch. I thought over all my favorites ... and realized I'd eaten at each once already that week. That's unhealthy in several distinct ways.

It's so exciting to look in the mirror and preen, rather than adjust my posture and angle until I look more flattering. It's exciting to see people I know and have them comment on how different I look. It's exciting to feel my clothes fitting my body better, and then to start fitting worse again as I begin to dwindle out of them. Most of all, though, it's exciting to realize this is only the start of something great. I've lost 22 lbs; I mean to lose at least 60 lbs more over the course of the next year or so. I can't even begin to imagine how I'll look after I've lost 150 million grains of rice! ;)

Thank you, my bloggees, for sticking by me through this first month. Four more weeks, guys. Let's do this thing.

Day 27

Good god, this morning was exhausting! At Dad's urging, I got up earlier than usual to sneak in a walk before my sculpt class ... which meant me getting up at 5:30 am. Yeah. Like the boonies of the morning. And I had some lousy dreams last night, so I woke up a little sapped already. Even so, I got myself up and got to walking.

I walked for about an hour - on the golf course track to CCC itself, then on the sidewalk back around toward home. Then I had about 45 minutes to grab a bite of breakfast before I had to hussle to the LRAC for sculpt and water aerobics, then a brief break before ... spin class. Mom and I agree - we hate spin class, but we feel it's necessary. 

So this time I get abut 20 minutes in, and my butt starts hurting. I'm doing everything I can to not think about my butt - I close my eyes, I stare at the wall, I even sing along to some of the songs (which, oddly enough, regulates my breathing). But no matter what I do, my eyes keep coming back to the little readout in front of me, which is topped by the bike's brand name, Keiser, which is one letter off from the word keister, which brings me back to my butt. Sigh.

However, I stumbled on to about 45 minutes, where I considered quitting to salvage the last of the feeling in my butt, when it occurred to me - I'd gone 45 minutes! I was a tiny clock-fraction away from completing the whole stupid spin class! So, I kept on going. And, 15 minutes (IE, a tiny clock-fraction) later, I got to hobble out of spin class with my dignity intact, if not my butt. I was hurting, but yay! I finished a whole spin class! I figured I wouldn't manage that 'til like the last week of HFFC, haha.

Then, I came home and slept for nearly three hours. No lie - I crashed. I slept like I was trying to break records in it. Felt way better once I woke up, too. Hopefully I'll still be able to crash tonight, got a doctor's appointment early tomorrow so I can't afford to stay up.

Food sitch was pretty straightforward today, although I did finally master the perfect simple turkey sandwich. It was whole-wheat bread, two slices of turkey, and a little mayo, which is my usual, but I added some dill pickle slices and a piece of swiss cheese. It was fantastic - why in the hell has it taken me this long to realize this formula? Dinner was a beef stir-fry, which I was unsure of, but turned out to be pretty tasty with some ginger and garlic. I did have a bit of a weird mental association with the ginger at first - I used to have a jar of ginger body scrub, and so when I smelled the ginger in the stir-fry my first thought was that I was supposed to wash with it. Mental associations can be so odd.

I'm pretty excited to take a little downtime this evening, I've just gotten into the Sims 3 and, since I don't have to be up in the boonies of the morning again, I can geek out for a little bit. Good times.

PS: Oh! One more thing I forgot to mention last night. On his way home, Nate stopped off at the Trek Expo in Tulsa, and at said convention he met Tony Todd. Now, being as I've only seen the Trek movies and little of the show, I don't know Todd for his role as Worf's brother Kurn, but rather for his role voicing the main vortigaunt in Half-Life 2: Episode 2. Nate and I have a huge running gag around him - the first time Nate played through HL2:E2, he insisted on calling the vortigaunt "Kurn," to which I'd always reply, "Vort." It got to the point where we could be out around Norman, discussing something else entirely, and then all of a sudden go, "Vort!" "Kurn!" at the same moment. 

Well apparently, Nate told Todd about our in-joke, and he thought it was funny! Nate then got him to sign a Kurn figure for me with a personalized message of some kind, thus further establishing Nate as an awesome dude. I haven't found out what the message is yet, but I'm so excited to see it! I mean, I've got something signed by an HL2 voice actor! One of my favorite video games of all time! That rocks my geeky little gamer-chick world.

Day 26

Sunday Rundown:

Weight: 215 lbs
Weight lost this week: 4 lbs
Total weight lost: 22 lbs

Bust: 44" (0" lost since last week, 2.875" lost total)
Waist: 39 1/2" (1 1/2" gained since last week (how??), 1" lost total)
Hips: 50 1/4" (1 1/8" lost since last week, 2 5/8" lost total)

So I've scooted off my plateau, whoo-hoo! Such a relief, I was so worried to hop on the scale and see no change again. I can't account for the gained inches in my waist; Mom suspects we measured it wrong last week. Very odd ... but at least I'm still trending downward and looking slimmer and healthier.

Nate headed out this morning, and it was a bummer to see him go ... I enjoyed having a bit of a vacation from the program, and it was great to chill with him for awhile. And, in spite of a serious desire to just crawl on back into bed, I dragged my butt to CCC for a morning cardio, and then hit the LRAC later on for another cardio and my stretch/yoga class. I'm still feeling my legs pretty seriously from Pinnacle, but they're almost back to normal.

Food was basic today; I made bacon and eggs for breakfast, tuna for lunch, and then had the Italian-breadcrumb chicken again for dinner. I got a hell of a treat for my late-night snack, too - taco meat, beans, and cheese on a small handful of tortilla chips. Sheer foodie bliss. I'm balancing out at around 1200 calories a day now rather than only 1000, and that little bit seems to make a difference.

Tomorrow's gonna be rough ... I'm trying to get a walk in before my 8 am sculpt class, which means getting up before 6 am. Agh ... least I'll have a chance to sleep a bit tomorrow afternoon if need be, I should have all my workouts done by 1 or so. Still loving my laptop, by the way - I got WoW uploaded and patched, and I swear that game has never looked prettier. Totally seamless, too. It's easier to get through the tougher workouts knowing I've got something fun to anticipate later on. G'night all!

Day 25

Guess what? I cooked today! And not just reheating pre-cooked food, either - I marinated, breaded, and baked the oven "fried" chicken strips for dinner! And they were fantastic! I'm so proud, it's gratifying to know I do have the skills to take this lifestyle home with me.

Apparently I have reached and surpassed my physical limitations, however. I woke up this morning with my quads absolutely screaming. I figured my morning workouts would ease the pain - a little recumbent bike, a little water aerobics, and some yoga to top it off. No such luck; halfway through water aerobics, I nearly had to give up! I was whipped! I pushed through it, though, and through yoga, but now? Holy crap, guys. It hurts to use my upper legs in any way - sitting, standing, bending, you name it and I'm wussy about it right now. Guess Pinnacle really did a number on me ...

I did get a huge laugh out of water aerobics today; our instructor, Anna, had us doing some Zumba-type moves underwater. One of them was a little hip-roll/shimmy/shuffle sort of thing, and I was having fun doing it - like the song says, I've got hips and I know how to use 'em. And about halfway through class, one of the little old ladies grabs my arm and goes, "Are you a dancer?" She was just floored by how graceful and on-the-beat I was! I assured her no, no dancing since I was a kid, but for the rest of class all the old ladies kept watching me during that move! I mean, I kinda hoped that toning up and all would help my body attract some attention, but I was really gunning more for young men than old women ...

Had some great geeky time w/ Nate this afternoon. We wanted to rent the new Ghostbusters game, but there wasn't an available copy in town; so, I went ahead and bought it. I planned to anyway, once I got back to Norman, but I had the money to do it now and give us our nerdiness. We set up my XBOX in the den and basically vegged out and geeked out all afternoon and evening. The game is great, really captures the feel of the movie while still bringing its own originality to the mix, and the references laced throughout are great (a message left on the firehouse phone by a "Dr. Jones" asks after the Vigo painting, insisting it "belongs in a museum!"). Gotta love it. Highly recommend this to any Ghostbusters fans.

I'm definitely gonna need a long soak before bed ... gonna use some of those Epsom salts to really help relax my muscles. I can't afford to lose any more time - I'm almost halfway through the program already, I've gotta keep it up! Tomorrow's the Rundown, and hopefully I'll have some encouraging news for you all!

Day 24

Sorry, another late and brief post! Goes to show what the distraction of having a friend around does with my free time ... I promise to be more in-depth with them after tonight.

This morning, I did get up and do Pinnacle with Nate, as I planned. It was hard, to be sure ... but I made it! Up the hard side, down the easy side, and in just over two hours! Considering our multiple water and photo breaks, that's not bad at all. Now I was royally whipped afterwards, but I still managed to make it to stretch and a weights class. Not too bad for one morning's work.

It's been great having Nate around - we vegged out for much of the afternoon (I actually fell asleep for a while), then grabbed dinner at Buffalo Grill and caught a movie! It's been great to have some downtime and do something other than eat/sleep/exercise for a little while. It'll be sad to see him go Sunday, but I think I've got enough planned the next few weekends to help me soldier on.

Coming back from Pinnacle did have a sad little twist to it - as I was pulling into my neighborhood, the Fed-Ex truck was pulling out! Taking my much-awaited delivery with it! I seriously missed my new laptop by like a minute. It was tragic. Thankfully, I was able to stop by and pick up my packages this afternoon ... and I was right! My new Macbook made it! I've spent most of the evening getting everything set up. God, but I love being a geek! ^^

Tomorrow, I'll give you guys a fuller post, as well as some pics from our hike. Sorry to post so short, but I've gotta get some sleep if I'm gonna get up and moving tomorrow. G'night all!

EDIT: Okay, now that I've gotten some sleep, I'm further updating the post! Here are the pics we got on Pinnacle.

The view from halfway up.

Nate's dramatic pose.

My "I'm-a-Badass" pose.

(I closed my eyes again, don't look too close! >< )

I am so proud to have managed Pinnacle again, and fairly painlessly too (at least at the time). I did have one epic almost-fall on the way down - we had just passed from the rocks to the path proper, and my feet hit some loose gravel. My knees went forward and my butt dropped back, like I was about to sit down in a chair, and my right hand flew out and grabbed onto a skinny tree by the path ... and I STAYED there for like 5 seconds before I popped back up. My butt never hit ground! It made me crack up - I was amazed that I was able to catch myself like that! It's reassuring to know I've gotten fit enough for this again.

Overall, I feel great about yesterday - my quads are so sore they might just fall off, but I feel good and healthy, and way less exhausted than I did last week. For how much of a bummer last Sunday proved to be, this week has stepped it up in spades! It's been gratifying to go out to eat and make more appropriate choices (although I did indulge like mad at Buffalo Grill, but hey - free meal! I earned it!). Can't wait to do my weigh-in tomorrow ...

One thing I do wanna do this week is figure out a way to incorporate my new laptop's features into these posts. For instance, something like an occasional video-blog elements to my posts ... but I'm not sure what I'd do for them! Anyone have any suggestions?

Day 23

Today was a damn fun day! I got up early and did two laps across the Big Dam Bridge on my own - listened to my iPod, watched the morning mist burn off of the mountains, all that jazz. Then I did water aerobics, yoga, and a cardio, all in rapid succession; had to clear up my afternoon for my friend Nate's arrival!

It's so damn good to see him - back in Norman, we hung out or at least saw each other briefly almost every day. Now? Three weeks with no more than an IM. It's just wrong. So we got caught up, chilled out, and went for a drive around the city (simply so I could prove to Nate that there was a city, he insists it's all trees with a skinny strip of urbana in the middle ...). We hit Maumelle Park, Pinnacle, downtown Little Rock, and even hit the Big Dam Bridge briefly! So, let the record show, Nate has been duly informed of the existence of the city. Hmph.

Food sitch was pretty straightforward - Clif Mojo for breakfast, turkey sandwich for lunch, and dinner at Chenal! It was so hard to ignore the idea of a cup of poblano pepper soup, but I behaved and just got a sirloin burger patty and fruit. I'm saving my culinary-misbehaving for tomorrow night - Buffalo Grill, my all-time favorite! Can't wait.

Sorry to post so short - today's been a long and fun day, and I'm getting up early to drag Nate's butt up Pinnacle (or maybe he'll be dragging me, it's unclear yet). Til tomorrow, guys!

Day 22

So apparently, my little walk yesterday earned me two fierce blisters, one on each of my middle toes. Ouch. Didn't slow me down, though, and you know why? Because I'm stubborn as hell, that's why!

My workouts were nice today, and oddly enough I did all four without Mom. She usually joins me for at least two, but today she had other stuff that had to get done. It was kinda odd doing everything on my own, but also kinda nice - I missed driving my own self everywhere, and I got to do that all day! I did an 8 am sculpt class (which I am getting much better at, I can do the full sets of squats now and my weight-work is giving my arms some awesome definition!), and then 9 am water aerobics. Then, later on in the day, I did my solo yoga routine and hit CCC for a good hard cardio.

The spread-out schedule meant I got some time off this morning and afternoon! I showered after my workouts and headed downtown to meet Mom and Dad for lunch. Yeah, lunch out - and not as a free meal, but eating properly, even! We went to a little diner called EJ's that's down the street from Dad's office; it was pretty damn good! I had half a tuna sandwich on whole wheat bread and a fruit cup instead of EJ's amazing homemade potato chips (hard choice, but Mom did let me have a couple of hers, so that was alright). It felt good, to be able to go out to lunch and order something I enjoy, yet something that is still in keeping with my new lifestyle.

Then, of course, I got to spend some time at the bank and see some of Dad's colleagues. They were all so glad to see me, and so excited to hear about my future plans and my boot camp success, and they all left me feeling pretty good about myself. I also heard some really cool news: an advertising colleague of Dad's had me edit a campagin proposal battling the construction of a new coal plant in Arkansas. It was a big 50-page chunk of a proposal, but I edited the whole thing as a favor - fixing grammar, cleaning up the occasional rushed paragraph, and got it back to him about two weeks ago. Today, I found out that the coal plant's been denied their application! It's a huge setback - the plans for the plant are not dead, but they're on the way out. And I helped! I feel so professional and helpful!

Highlight of my day, though, was definitely going to Barnes and Noble. I've got a handful of books to read for my category fiction class next semester, but right now I just want some good, reliable junk fiction. So I started browsing the sci-fi section, and it's just me and this other guy looking at the same shelf. He takes a book off and goes, "Hmm, this looks kinda cool ..." ... and it was one of Mel's books! The first book in his Hellgate: London trilogy! It took everything I had not to jump up and down and go, "I know that guy! He's my writing mentor! We BS about sci-fi and Shadowrun all the time!!" Instead, I took a copy for myself and told the guy that he should really check out that author's work. I'm only about a chapter into the book so far, but I love it. This is the kind of fun fiction I needed to unwind at the end of the day.

So I think I may have officially scooted off my plateau. I haven't weighed yet (I'm behaving!), but I definitely feel a change. I'm able to do more in my classes than usual, and I don't look as off-kilter or unfortunate in the mirrored studio anymore. Used to be I couldn't shimmy my hips or my chest without most of the rest of me joining in; now, there's still a little extra ripple in my hips, but it's a huge difference. I can use my core to isolate my hips, or my shoulders, or whatever, and just move what I wanna! I can't wait to get back to Norman and hit Club 101 (although, with my ladies gone, it'd be too skeevy for my tastes there ...)

Tomorrow's gonna be great - some good workouts planned, and my laptop gets shipped, but most importantly, my friend Nate's coming out to LR to chill with me for a few days! I'm so excited, I've really been missing my close friends lately, and it's a huge pick-me-up to know one of them is gonna come kick it with me! I doubt I can convince him to hit water aerobics with me, but climbing Pinnacle? Walking the Big Dam Bridge? Yes we can! ^^

Day 21

Today was a funny sort of day; managed to get all my workouts in by noon, which was nice. A four-mile walk at 7 am, water aerobics at 9, free cardio at 10, and yoga at 11. Not too shabby. I was completely whipped afterwards, but I inadvertantly rejuvenated myself. I drove my own car today instead of riding with Mom, and driving home I rolled down my windows, turned up my iPod, and sang along. Apparently, belting Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" all the way down Highway 10 is a hell of a pick-me-up!

So this afternoon, with all my workouts out of the way, Mom and I decided to go see a movie. We picked "Drag Me to Hell," since we both love a good horror movie and figured it'd be a laugh. Well. We got there like 10 minutes late, hustled inside ... and there was not a single person in the theater with us. Not a soul. Now at first, Mom and I are psyched - we're planning to MST3K the thing and really have fun. But then the movie started ... and while it wasn't scary, it managed to amp the tension up to the absolute breaking point and hit you with all sorts of pop-out scares. It became damn scary to be alone in there, with the whole empty theater around us and the mood so tense! At one point, Mom looked at me and went, "I have to go to the bathroom, but I feel like one of us will get killed if we split up!"

And do note that the film was a Raimi bros brainchild. The Raimis have a lot of skill, but they've also got a mean streak a mile wide when it comes to landing their scares. They'll pull the lowest blows possible just to make you jump! I wouldn't have put it past them to station someone in the vacant row behind us to grab my shoulder at key moments ...

The tipping point happened like 30 minutes or so into the movie, when the cursed girl first goes to her house. The cinematography made a biiiig damn deal of highlighting the girl's adorable pet kitten, mewing and cuddling and following her around. As soon as I saw the cat, I grabbed Mom's arm and whispered, "Oh shit, they are SO gonna do something horrible to that cat!" Mom's reply? "I think there's a showing of The Proposal starting around now. Wanna sneak in?"

So, we wussed out and snuck into the chick flick. I've actually never theater-hopped before, so that was kinda fun. The movie was cute, pretty typical ... just not what I was in the mood for. I wanted something scary/funny, but I wanted other people around me while I watched it!

The food situation today was great - I had tuna on whole wheat for lunch, and a hamburger patty with green beans and cous-cous for dinner. I feel so much better now that I've got a few carbs worked back into my diet ... can't wait to see if the effort pays off.

So! Today officially marks the end of week 3. I'm amazed by how fast time is passing ... at this rate, I'll be through with HFFC in no time, back home, and working into my new lifestyle. I really am enjoying this progress, but at the same time, I can't wait to get home and see all my people again! I miss you guys like mad, you know!

Day 20

Today, I woke up in a hell of a mood. I was simultaneously so sad I wanted to curl up and stay in bed all day, and so angry I wanted to get up and go pick a fight with someone. Lucky for my fitness regime, I went with the angry feelings and took my aggression out on myself through my workouts. I spent all of sculpt class working as hard as I could and staring down my reflection; I think the instructor was wondering why I was scowling at myself, but she didn't say anything.

The funny thing? By the end of sculpt class, I was getting past it. I still felt annoyed, but with endorphins perking through your system it's hard to be angry about anything in particular. Water aerobics further mellowed me out, and by the time I got home I just kind of ... was. Not exactly cheery, but no longer in need of a punching bag. Side note: exercising angry made me feel oddly like a Terminator. Don't ask me why. Guess I was tapping my inner Summer Glau.

Went back to the club around noon to give spin class another shot; even bought the little cushion thingie to try and make it easier. And for the first ten minutes, it was easier. And then it felt like my ass was going to fall off. I did manage to make it 35 minutes this time, which loyal readers will realize tops my 30 minute attempt two weeks ago. Then I hopped off, hobbled to a recumbent bike, and stretched my poor, screaming glutes. Ow, ow, ow. I definitely hope to get enough stamina to last a full hour-long spin class by the end of HFFC, but for right now? I can totally deal with 35 minutes.

I was considering working in a third cardio rather than my stretch today to push my body a little further, but when I got home and had to grit my teeth to walk up the damn stairs, I decided that meant enough's enough. Instead, I laid out my yoga mat and did free yoga using the iPhone app I downloaded. It's a brilliant little app - I set it to 45 minutes, turned on the "instructor" feature, and just followed along with the instructions. Now, it did ask me to do some crazy variations from time to time (Warrior III? On one leg?? Pass!), but overall it was a great stretch, and worked me far better than I did just trying to recall poses on my own. So glad I did that, it helped relax me and mellow me out a bit.

Food situation today? Phenomenal! We did finally figure out it's the antibiotic the dermatologist put me on that's skewing my appetite, but I only have to take it for like 5 more days. I can deal. But, in light of my total weight plateau, we've decided to step up to Phase II of South Beach. We were technically supposed to do so last week, but we decided to work Phase I a little longer to see if I could keep shedding weight like I was. Phase II means a few carbs come back to my diet! Today I had half a turkey sandwich for lunch ... and it was on bread! Not wrapped in lettuce or rolled into a tube, but on real, whole-grain bread. Bliss ... dinner was a chicken dish we had earlier this month, coupled with steamed broccoli and garlic-and-herb cous-cous (love it, love it, love it). Phase II rules; let's hope it does the trick and kicks my body back into high gear.

The next two days should help me counter my lousy mood; tomorrow signals new Fallout 3 DLC, and sometime around the end of the week my new laptop should arrive! So even if my angry-funk persists, I can have something worthwhile to take my mind off things for a change. Always good to have a reliable diversion, huh.

Day 19

Sunday Rundown:

Weight: 219 lbs
Weight lost this week: 0 lbs
Total weight lost: 18 lbs

Bust: 44" (7/8 lost since last week, 2.875" lost total)
Waist: 38" (0" lost since last week, 2 1/2" lost total)
Hips: 51 3/8" (1/2" lost since last week, 1 1/2" lost total)



Sigh, I've hit my first plateau, apparently. It's not too big of a shocker, really - I could kinda feel it. I didn't wake up and look in the mirror and have any of those "ah-ha!" moments where I noticed a new plane, or angle, or firmness. It's frustrating, to work my ass off all week and go nowhere. I mean, the little losses in my bust and hips are reassuring, but still ... not even a pound off? Really?

I did some research online, and a lot of the things recommended to break a weight-loss plateau are things I'm already doing - workout variety, watching calories, etc. The only thing I'm not doing? Getting my calorie count up. I did the math - based on my weight in kilograms x 23, my daily caloric intake should be around 2,200 calories. Most days, I'm barely topping 1,000. You know what the websites recommend? Let myself cheat a little. Indulge, but not overindulge, to get my body the calories it needs to burn and process fat. I thought my one free meal a week might do that, but clearly I'm still stuck ... we are going to put in a call to the nutritionist and get her opinion. I mean, we spend so much time fighting blood sugar like I'm diabetic, but I'm not - I'm pre-diabetic, and backing down from it fast. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to let me enjoy a few more carb-ish options to get my body out of famine mode.

(Also, in my research, I discovered a new word. Homeostasis: the human body's desire for equilibrium. That's where mine is now, and that's what I need to break out of!)

In any event, today was a pretty fun Father's day. We got up at the absolute crack of dawn to get down to the Arkansas River and walk the Big Dam Bridge, which is the longest pedestrian/biker bridge in the country (1 mile one way, 2 miles round trip). It's built right onto the foundation of the Murray Lock and Dam below, and offers a gorgeous view of the highway bridge and Pinnacle's mountain chain beyond that.


Yeah don't look too hard at that pic, I shut my eyes. It's damn bright without the visor on, but I look goofy in the visor. Compromises, compromises. Anyway, that's me on the NLR side (after one trip across the bridge), and that's the dam and the Big Dam Bridge in the background.

But here's where it gets tricky: Mom and I waited to do the bridge with Dad, since he knew how to get to it and where to park. Instead of driving all the way downtown or across the river to the parking areas right at the bridge's base, we parked along the LR side just past the highway bridge and walked in. Dad assured us it would be a four-mile round trip: one to the bridge, one across the bridge, one back across, and one back down the road.

Now seeing as this is the man who taught me to ski by exaggerating the ease of the slopes ("This is a cruiser blue, I swear," he says as we stare down into a natural double-black bowl at the mountain's peak,) I should've suspected his mile count was a bit, ah, "overly optimistic." But I did the walk in my own time, usually falling back a few yards at a time but keeping a steady pace, and finished pretty comfortably. We get back to where the car is parked and Dad asks me what I thought of the walk. My response? "Bullshit that was just four miles!" He starts laughing, and confesses the road to the bridge is more like two miles one-way rather than two miles round-trip. I knew it - when we stopped to break on the NLR side and I started looking at the trail map, I realized that things didn't add up.


That's our route-map, and after having popped up Microsoft Paint and outlined the official route, I begin to suspect even six miles is a generous estimation. Regardless, I managed it without too much discomfort and kept smiling brightly when Mom and Dad would look back from a few dozen feet ahead. It's good to know I can do six miles without wrecking myself; summer before freshman year, when I was training for the backpacking trip, I was walking a six-mile circuit almost daily. So, woo! My body's waking up a bit!

After that, I went back to bed for a little bit, then hit the LRAC for a cardio and yoga stretch. I noticed I had a far easier time with triangle pose today, which was nice - the other yoga teacher is all about that position lately, and I couldn't quite keep my feet. Today? Barely a wobble. So even if I'm not making progress in poundage, I'm at least getting stronger and more flexible.

My food situation is still a bit weird, as my appetite's still a bit off and I'm flagging on my calorie count. I think one of my meds is to blame - Glucophage. It really screws up your system when you first get on it, and my prescription was out for long enough that my body forgot it; thus the messed-up appetite since Friday, the day after I resumed taking it. Coincidence? I think not. And when it comes down to it, I almost feel like I was doing better before I reinstated the Glucophage. Wonder if I dare back off my meds for a week and see if my body wakes up and drops some more weight ...

Anyway, it's the end of an excruciatingly long and disappointing day; I'm going to bed, and hoping everything looks better in the morning. Goodnight, my blog-ees.

Day 18

Yall must've been thinking really hard about me getting better, because I woke up this morning feeling totally back to normal! Woke up before my alarm went off, even, and managed to get three workouts in before noon - water aerobics, free cardio, and free weights. I got a little worn out toward the end, but that's understandable - I didn't even break 600 calories yesterday. Not healthy!

Today was no new food, but some oldies and goodies - bacon and eggs for breakfast, chicken stir-fry for lunch, and I even cooked my own dinner! (Cooked having the definition of, "reheated taco meat, warmed up some ranch style beans, and made a small salad.") It's nothing big, but it's a start - meant I resisted the call of the can of chili I stumbled across in the pantry. Super-super tempting ... but no use setting myself back. I've already got a sneaking suspicion my weight-loss post tomorrow isn't gonna be too impressive, pound-wise; I've gotta get my calories up enough to break famine mode if I wanna lose any more weight!

This afternoon was a hell of a treat - our friends the Sterns are house-sitting for some relatives in an amazing, house-of-the-future-type place, and they invited us over to make use of the absolutely gorgeous pool for the afternoon!


It was wonderful - they had a ledge in the pool that let me sit down and be underwater, about waist-deep, and simultaneously under an umbrella lodged in the middle of the ledge. I could vegg out, read my trashy Nora Roberts bodice-ripper, and drink what's gotta be one of my new favorite drinks - a Sonic Diet Cherry-Limeade, spiked with vodka. Mom's idea. It was a Route 44, too, so that's a looooot of drink. Nice to incoporate a little alcohol back into my life, though. ^^


Oh, but get this - craziest damn thing I've ever seen. I was sitting in the shallow end of the pool, reading my book, and I hear this funny hissing noise. I look up at the big potted plant beside me to see a little sprinklerhead rising up out of the dirt, and realize that little sprinklerheads are popping up in all dozen or so of the giant potted plants around the pool. And then the sprinklers turned on at the same time, and the plants watered themselves. THIS HOUSE HAD SELF-WATERING PLANTS!! I was totally flabbergasted - I wasn't aware we could make plants do that! Needless to say, I have a new addendum to my "List of Things My Big, Successful Writer's Loft Needs Once I Become A Bestseller."

Anyway, I ended up cooking dinner tonight because Mom and Dad had a Function (capital-F intended) to attend, and while I was invited along I had to politely decline. I wanted a night to myself - to vegg out, self-pamper, play some XBOX, and be my geeky, loungy self for an evening. I'm actually writing this post from the bathtub, with bubbles up to my chin (the laptop's on a table off to the side, no worries! I'm a pro at this), a little music playing (mostly Queen, I associate it with the friends I'm missing most) and a Diet Cherry Coke close at hand. Only wish I had my new laptop so I could get some WoW in ... ah well. Next weekend, perhaps. In any event, it's nice to be myself again for an evening; tomorrow brings the Sunday rundown, Father's day, and a whole new challenge - walking the Big Dam Bridge. Wish me luck!

Day 17

Today's been kind of a weird day. I mean, the workouts went really well, and the full-body massage was amazing - I felt like a puddle afterwards, it was incredibly relaxing. However, we got home for lunch, and my appetite just sort of ... dissipated. It was good food, even - tuna and the broccoli-cheddar pepper soup I've been enjoying so much. But I took about two bites and my stomach just rebelled.

I ended up sleeping all afternoon, and woke up feeling no better; ended up eating a cup of chicken broth for dinner, and even that didn't sit right with me. And I know, having no appetite while on a diet may sound like a productive pairing, but it doesn't work that way. When a body doesn't get the bare minimum of calories it needs, it assumes food has become scarce and goes into famine mode, clinging to every little calorie to stay functional. It makes it all but impossible to lose weight.

It feels like I'm sick, but I can't figure out how, or even what's wrong - only symptoms I can pinpoint are a headache and exhaustion (which could be attributed to the low calorie intake), nausea, and a lack of appetite. I hope to god I'm not sick - I don't have time to be sick! I've got less than six weeks left to make this lifestyle change and make it stick, and being sick doesn't play into that at all.

Hopefully tomorrow, I'll wake up feeling better again. I've got my first workout at 9, so I get to sleep an hour later than usual; maybe tomorrow my appetite will be back and I can get back to being productive. Sorry for the downer post, guys ... cross your fingers for me and hope I can bounce back.

Day 16

So, turns out I can run again. Like run on terrain, even. Pretty nice discovery, but the way I found this out? SUCKED.

We hiked the base trail this morning, as planned - 3.5 miles, mostly in the shade, very nice. About halfway through, though, I felt something crawling on my ankle. I did a panicky little dance and shook off this big, black bug - it wasn't a wasp or a horsefly, but it was big and loud ... and it liked me a lot. The same damn bug tailed me for almost half a mile, and kept trying to land on my legs - damn thing even stung me! Right on the butt, too ... not dignified! Trying to wave it away only seemed to piss it off, and it started going for my face and chest ... and that's when I just started running. As fast as I could, rocks and incline be damned - I was getting outta there. I'm sure I was quite a spectacle, running and thrashing and swearing like I was, but even with all that Mom said she could see the damn bug following me down the path!

Finally, we broke some small branches off and used them as flails to try and clear the airspace around me. For the rest of the hike, though, I always had at least one of those damn bugs tailing me and trying to land on me, and I got a few more bites. It was on the western side of the mountain, too, where the sun hadn't reached, so it was actually kind of creepy. I felt like there should be a lurking killer somewhere by the path, except bug-oriented somehow. The Stinging Slasher, or something equally cornball. And it was really just a handful of bugs tormenting me! Mom (in a totally un-timely conversation tangent) started wondering aloud how bad it would be to get swarmed by bugs. Definitely didn't help my mindset. ><

Next time, you can be damn sure I'm bringing bug spray. Hell, I'll load up a water gun with bug spray, add on a gunsight, and snipe the bastards outta the air. I'm not afraid of bugs, in general, but when they get in my space and start screwing with me, I HATE them. My panic-sprints did give me a little interval training, I suppose, and cut my 3.5 mile hike from our estimated two hours to just under one and a half. Not too shabby for a non-runner, eh?

After that, my free cardio and yoga class were completely exhausting - I came home and crashed, woke up long enough to eat some turkey roll-ups and a cup of broccoli-cheddar pepper soup, then crashed again. I got up in time to run some errands and work in one more free cardio for the day. We did finally decide that doing strength training everyday was part of what was sapping me - I need a day in between for the muscles to heal and strengthen before I hit it again. Should make my weeks a little less exhausting.

The rest of the week should be pretty great - got another amazing Friday lined up, including all my fave workouts and little more massage time; then, Saturday, we're spending the afternoon with the Sterns at a mutual friend's pool (while said mutual friend is out of town, mind you). It's a hell of a set-up - saltwater pool with fountain, spa-styled backyard, amazing sound system ... I may even indulge and have a beer or two to really do it up right!

Pardon the short posts, guys ... without as much glucose in my system as I'm used to, I'm a tiny bit less skilled with my words as of late. Bread may be responsible for my graduating GPA, I suspect ... ah well. I'll adapt. In the meantime, that's all for today; until tomorrow, all!

Day 15

Today was a marked improvement over yesterday's massive block o' aerobics. I had Pryme Tyme sculpt and water aerobics early in the morning, and both felt pretty good. We did an interesting series of exercises in water aerobics using water-soaked towels for our equipment; you can get a hell of a lot of resistance going dragging one of those around underwater. Then we sprinted to Benton for my haircut, where I basically told Danny to, "do whatever." He cut it fairly short, but left enough length for me to play with it.


See? Not too shabby! And even though I'm a few weeks overdue for color, the reds still show up really nicely. It's exciting - I couldn't have pulled off quite so short a look two weeks ago, and it's really gratifying to see my face has slimmed down enough that I can manage it.

My afternoon workouts were a free cardio at CCC and some free yoga on my new mat, here at home. The free yoga was nice, although tough since I hadn't gotten time to make a playlist quite yet. I tried just using the "Memoirs of a Geisha" soundtrack, which was alternately soothing and tense; not quite right for yoga. I found an excellent solution, though - an iPhone app that lets you set a time limit and walks you through a yoga routine, telling you what pose to take, how to take it, and when to switch. It even plays mellow, ambient music throughout. I'm pretty psyched to try it out!

Food today was amazing - we made oven "fried" chicken fingers for lunch, with a cup of the broccoli-cheddar pepper soup. The soup is amazing, particularly for diet food; I can't imagine making it with the full-fat stuff, it'd be too rich! It's a South Beach recipe, even, so it's completely diet-approved. Here's the recipe, for anyone interested:

• 1 lb frozen broccoli
• 1 1/2 can chicken broth
• 1/2 can Rotel
• 4-5 ounces of low-fat Velveeta

Place the veggies, tomatoes, and broth in a large pot. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 40 minutes. Add the cheese and let it melt as you stir it. Mash up veggies or leave them whole. (For those of you who prefer a creamier soup, finish it up by putting it in a food processor and puree it - makes for a wonderful, smooth finish!)

Dinner was my free meal of the week - U.S. Pizza. I had a big green salad with mozzarella and black olives, and two-and-a-half pieces of thin-crust sausage pizza. It was even better than the Mexican food last week! Totally worth the wait. I even wore my "skinny" jeans, the ones that used to leave a big ol' red mark across my belly because I had to suck in so far to make them remotely fit ... and they hugged my hips perfectly! I love weight loss :)

As tired as I am this evening, it's a completely different kind of tired than I was yesterday. Yesterday, I felt sort of used up by the end of the day, like my body had nothing left to contribute. Today, I'm tired, but at the same time I feel really good, really satisfied. I worked myself hard enough to make a difference, but not to the point of physical collapse I was teetering on last night. Good thing, too - tomorrow we're planning to walk Pinnacle's base trail, and to beat the heat and humidity we've gotta be at the trailhead by 7 am.

I feel like there was more I was meant to write about, but I'm so zoned out ... whatever it was, it'll come back to me. G'night all!

Day 14

Okay, today was by far my most exhausting day, workout-wise. It's the first time I did the full four workout morning block - water aerobics, yoga, cardio, and stretch, all between 9 am and 2 pm. I got done and was straight-up staggering, I was so worn out. To top it off, I had a dermatologist appointment at 8 am and a manicure at 2:45, followed by a round of errands ... I was gone from 7:30 am til 5 pm. I got back home and promptly crashed for about two hours.

The errands resulted in a little more retail therapy, though - after how taxing two of the yoga instructors have proved, Mom agreed I might need another means to get my daily yoga fix in. I picked up a gorgeous brown yoga mat (it'll match my apartment's decor ^^) and a yoga bag; I plan to pick out some appropriately mellow music and do yoga in the comfort of my own home on the days I can't do it at the club. Alex - I'm turning your bathroom into an impromptu yoga studio. Just, y'know, heads-up.

Also, we got some inexpensive shoe inserts yesterday made for flat-footed people like me. Now my little bit of an arch is supported, and I was able to do the treadmill with no pain at all! I haven't gotten the nerve to try Zumba again, but at least walking's back on the agenda; I've been wanting to do either Pinnacle's base trail or the Big Dam Bridge for a while now, and with my foot back in the game I finally can!

The food situation was really rough today - I had classes right through lunch, so all I managed was a few bites of a turkey/lettuce wrap. They don't keep well, either, so it wasn't exactly a taste sensation. Dinner was the cilantro-buttered tilapia again, with orange green beans. Also, Mom started experimenting with new recipes; she had me taste something that was soup-ish and an unfortunate shade of green. Turned out to be delicious - tastes a little bit like broccoli-cheddar soup and a little like poblano pepper. Needless to say, I'm dying for a bowl of it!

The tricky thing we're dealing with is the size of my appetite. Not that's it too big - it's miniscule, as anyone who's ever gone to dinner with me will vouch. I can eat half a good-sized burger and a handful of fries and be totally satiated. So it's making it really tough to get the calorie count I need per day - I ate the serving of green beans and half the tilapia, and was feeling a bit overful. I've barely been topping 1000 calories some days, and I need to be hitting somewhere between 1200 and 1500. It's odd, to be complaining that my diet wants me to eat too much, but there it is! Honestly, based on how little of everything I eat, if it weren't for the damn PCOS I wouldn't be overweight in the least! Ah well ... at least the stupid syndrome's on its way out. The more weight I lose, the less susceptible I am to it.

So, in my bummed state today, I decided I needed a mood-booster and hopped on the scales. I know, I know: cheating. But! I'm down another two pounds. That's twenty pounds lost in two weeks' time! I'm amazed - I thought I might manage twenty pounds in the first month. This is more than I ever expected, and it completely makes up for the few lousy days and my total lack of free time. I just hope the change shows as much as I feel it; my mental image of myself has always been skinnier than the real me (hence why I'm forever knocking things with my hips). It's about time I reconciled my body image with my body, hmm?

Tomorrow should be a good day - two workouts, then a haircut, then two more free cardios at my own pace, then a free meal tomorrow night! I'm pretty excited, I could use a good, easy sort of day rather than the massive block o' aerobics I went through today. Thanks for standing behind me through these first two weeks, guys - the hard part's almost over! ^^

Day 13

Today was a long day ... I slept a full 8 hours, but still woke up sleepy. Not sure why ... I suppose my body kinda wants a rest, but it doesn't get it quite yet. Suck it up, body. It took a lot of self-control to get my butt outta bed and to the club today.

I did have one of the more ridiculous water aerobics classes yet - we did things with the Noodles like tow each other around the pool, and make bridges for people to duck under, and all sorts of things. The little old ladies loved it - they were cackling, and overbalancing each other, and generally being silly. And in spite of all that, I still got out of the pool feeling thoroughly exercised! I'd never pegged water aerobics being so effective, but it's made probably the biggest difference in my body so far. I also did Pryme Tyme Sculpt again, and did exercises with the Bosu Ball I'd never seen before - things like doing full-body crunches, but passing the ball between my hands and feet between each crunch. It was exhausting, but afterwards I felt pretty good!

Yoga was not so good this afternoon - it was a new instructor, and I really wanted to get a good stretch. This class was harder than the hardest class I'd taken, and hippie-er than the other classes too. It was all about, "practicing Acceptance" and "bringing Awareness to your navel." (I'm not joking, those are direct quotes.) I'm thinking I may get a yoga mat of my own and do some yoga here at home from time to time - only a few of the instructors have done a class styled in a way I like, but I want to be able to work on my strength and flexibility on the off days too.

Food was a little difficult today; breakfast and lunch were fine, but dinner was a new recipe that didn't quite go off right. It was ginger chicken, with steamed snow peas and an Oriental cabbage salad. I never did see the salad - Mom made it, tasted it, and promptly threw it out. The chicken wouldn't have been too bad, except it didn't cook quite right ... it was very dry in places, and the flavor didn't work all the way through. It'd be fine in strips and stir-fried, though ... maybe next time.

So I've turned a corner, craving-wise. My body no longer craves carbs and sugar the way it did the first few days. Case in point: instead of normal JIF peanut butter, we've stocked Simply JIF (very similar, but with all the sugars cut out). The first time I tried the Simply JIF, my body wasn't satisfied; it expected more. Today, Mom opened the Simply JIF jar ... and from all the way across the room, my mouth started watering. My body's making the shift it needs to, and beginning to crave the right stuff! That's not to say I wouldn't cross oceans for a slice of pizza, but it means my body's getting the idea - finally!

I was thinking about my weight lost today, and it occured to me. Weighing in at 219 doesn't seem all that much an improvement, on the surface. I mean, I weighed that in January and I wasn't satisfied with my body at all. I realized that the real difference here is not the number, but the look - I was nowhere near this toned in January. My curves weren't as defined, my muscles weren't as strong, and my face wasn't as clean-lined. I look better to myself right now than I have in years, even at this advanced weight - I've always been fortunate enough to wear excess weight fairly well, and even moreso when I'm making an effort to be fit. I'm really curious to see what I look like at the end of all this ... I haven't been truly fit since high school, and my body was so undeveloped that it wasn't worth mentioning. Being fit now will be a hell of a thing.

Tomorrow's gonna be busy - end-to-end appointments and workouts from 8 am til 3 pm, then an evening workout to round out the day. It'll feel really good to get to bed tomorrow night ...

Day 12

Sunday Rundown:

Weight: 219 lbs
Weight lost this week: 6 lbs
Total weight lost: 18 lbs

Bust: 44 7/8" (1 1/4" lost since last week, 1 1/4" lost total)
Waist: 38" (2 1/2" lost since last week, 2 1/2" lost total)
Hips: 51 1/2" (1" lost since last week, 1" lost total)


This is insanity. I've lost TWO AND A HALF INCHES off my waist in one week! I've heard of diets that promise that within like a month or so, but within a week? I'm floored! And the six pounds isn't too shabby, either ... I feel like I lost more weight than that, but then again I am building muscle at the same time. I really need to find a place where I can get my BMI taken and figure out exactly what my target weight is so I can start setting proper milestones for myself.

I wanted to get a walk in for my first workout, but the weather was lousy this morning. I drove to CCC instead and did the recumbent bike for an hour. Luckily, one of my favorite trashy TV shows had a new episode on at the same time, so it helped pass the hour really quickly. After lunch, I did 30 min on the treadmill to try out my gimpy foot (fairly successful, only little twinges of pressure), and then my yoga class.

Lunch was kind of silly; we planned for taco salad, but something about hot meat in a salad doesn't do it for me. So I compartmentalized: a dish of taco meat, a dish of bean, and a bowl of salad. Mom gave me a look, but hey - I ate all the parts! Just ... y'know. Not simultaneously. Dinner was steak ... a good cut, pricey, well-cooked and all ... and I just couldn't manage it. Steak's not my cut of beef, I suppose. We did take the "potatoes" and add bacon, sour cream, cheese, and chives, then baked it in the oven for twice-baked "potatoes." It was quite good, even more potato-y than normal.

I noticed something really cool today - if I run my hands over my legs, I can feel where the muscles are being built. More to the point, I can feel what's going to tone up into muscles and what's going to burn away as fat. I can feel in in my hips, too, and a little bit in my core and my arms. It's kind of surreal to be able to feel that, but kind of exciting too! Definitely ready for it to happen, though; I'm so impatient!

I've got a basic timeline worked out, though - I've got about another month here, with a brief getaway to Hot Springs for the 4th, then a few days in Norman midway through July, then two weeks back here, then New York, then back to Norman. Eight weeks seemed like a huge block of time when Mom and I first started planning this, but now it's looking a lot shorter than I'd anticipated. I hope it's enough to really jumpstart my body into this new lifestyle ... I know my weight loss will slow considerably once I get home since I'll be cutting back to one workout a day and eating a more regular diet, so the more I can drop here, the better off I'll be.

So, question! For those of you who mentioned wanting to try a healthier lifestyle for yourselves, have any of you given it a shot? Have any of you made some significant progress? Spill, guys! I wanna know I'm not the only one making some progress in this area!

(PS - To those of you who are officially following my blog, thank you, thank you, thank you! It makes me smile so much to log in and see that the little follower number has gone up. Having regular readers keeps me going, especially on the harder days ... so thanks for helping me out ^^)

Day 11

Today could have been really bad: I slept kind of restlessly last night, so I was pretty worn-out this morning. To top it off, I woke up feeling really sore and cramped up ... definitely not good times. Thankfully, the weekends are low-intensity for me; I got my two morning workouts in, at least, and had a lot of downtime in the afternoon to let me unwind a bit. It feels good to be able to get these workouts done even on the days when I'd rather say, "the hell with it," and go back to sleep. That's something I definitely need to take back home with me.

Even on low intensity, my workouts were pretty taxing. Water aerobics was the little frizzy instructor again, and she called me out on having proper form on all my kicks and punches. She asked if I'd down land-kickboxing and I told her I used to do taekwondo, and all the little old ladies around me went, "Ohhh ..." It was kinda cute, they're all such funny little ladies. For my first free cardio, I did the recumbent bike again - but for 45 minutes this time! I was pretty proud.

Even with all that, though, I couldn't quite rally for my third and final workout of the day. I took a nap to try and shake off my pitifulness, and I napped pretty well - I've actually been staying in the guest room, rather than in my room, and the guest room makes for a damn good nap. Mom refers to it as the Cave, and pretty accurately so - you turn off the lamps and close the drapes, and even in the middle of the day that room becomes incredibly dark and cozy. Even with my great nap, though, I woke up feeling ragged. I feel guilty for not putting myself together and pressing on for my last cardio of the day, but my body just said no.

Lunch was tasty - tuna salad, made about the same way I usually make it, but eaten with a fork instead of on bread. I had a piece of cheese and some egg-drop soup with it, so I didn't feel too deprived without the usual bread and chips I associate with tuna. Also managed a full snack's worth of celery ... it's not bad, by any means, but it's just not carrots. Maybe I need to food-coloring them orange and fake my brain out.

Dinner was a real treat: oven "fried" chicken strips, "potatoes," and salad. The strips were battered in low-fat buttermilk and rolled in Panko breadcrumbs, and came out great - crunchy and tender, but without the greasiness I associate with regular fried chicken strips, and of course the "potatoes" were wonderful. That's another recipe that'll be making the trip home with me.

The thing I have found that I'm missing most these last few days is actually not my comfort foods, but my people. It's strange how out-of-touch I feel with everyone. I mean, I'm still on Facebook and AIM almost every night, and I've got a handful of ppl I'm regularly chatting with ... but even so, I still feel totally disconnected from my Normanites! I miss the town almost as much as anything else; I'd give anything to go for a walk around campus. Normanites: know that I'm missing you guys pretty seriously, and I wish I could do this program and still be in Norman enjoying the summer with all of you, and I cannot wait to make a triumphant return home to you all in August.

My tips for the day are about how to eat. Yes, it sounds kind of idiot's-guide, but really: how you structure your meal can greatly impact your eating habits.

• Try to eat meals around the same time every day; it helps you maintain a more level blood sugar rate if you're eating regularly (I'm terribly guilty about just eating whenever the impulse strikes; I've had lunch as late as 3 pm some afternoons.)
• Eat all three meals - no skipping breakfast to try and cut calories. Breakfast sets the tone for your day, and skipping it will leave you ravenous at lunch and thus more likely to make bad choices. (Also guilty, I almost never had breakfast during my four years of undergrad)
  
• Avoid reading or watching TV during your meal; it'll train your brain to expect food anytime the TV's on or you have a book in hand. Sit down, eat, and then go do what it is you want to. (So, so guilty of this one ... if I'm eating by myself, I always have a book. I keep a paperback in my glove compartment just in case.)
  
• Eat at a proper table - not in bed, not on the couch, not standing at the counter, and not even at your desk. You need to be sitting in a chair at a proper table. It cues your body that it's food time, and prevents you from expecting food unless you're at the table. (The only table in my apartment is a coffee table; I've eaten sitting on the floor, at the table, in front of the TV for nearly three years now. It's also where I sit to watch TV, game, and work on my laptop; thus, my body expects food every time I sit down.)

All four of those are personal issues of mine, and regulating them for the past week and a half has already helped cue a difference. I settled into bed to read a book on one of the first nights, and immediately my body demanded something salty to snack on. Now, I can read a book with only a little twinge of expectation. It's crazy how insidious these connections can become, but it's true. Condition your body to expect food only at a certain time and only in certain locations, and your eating/snacking habits will immediately begin to improve.

Hopefully after my relaxation this afternoon, tomorrow will feel a lot better. I'm gonna try to walk flat tomorrow and see how my gimpy foot takes it ... wish me luck!

Day 10

Okay, today was absolutely fantastic. I got to do everything planned, and then some. My workouts felt fantastic - in yoga, I was able to do poses I wasn't capable of this time last week. Not only am I more flexible, but my core's slimmed down considerably. I can bend and stretch like nothing else now!

Right after my three morning workouts, Mom and I headed to the spa - for massages. Now, I've never had a proper massage before, and I was a little antsy about the idea of someone I don't know touching all over me. However, we signed me up for a half-hour foot-and-leg massage, and the masseuse even took a few minutes to do my hands too. I walked out of that room feeling GREAT - my legs were all noodly, they felt so good. Plus, the massage table was ridiculously comfortable, I was so tempted to just curl up and sleep instead of getting up and dressed when the masseuse told me to. Maybe I'll spring for a full-body massage next time, really indulge myself ...

I got to sleep for a good chunk of the afternoon, during an incredibly loud and wicked thunderstorm. Let's just say the trees had far more branches before I lay down for my nap then afterwards. I managed a fourth workout at the LRAC, and on the way home I stopped off at Belk for a little retail therapy. I've had my eye on a really simple but eclectic Fossil necklace, and I finally decided to go in and buy it!


How cool is that? It's a little bird charm with topaz eyes; I don't know why, but as soon as I saw it, it just called to me. I'm glad I went back when I did - there was only one more of the gold ones left when I got there.

Food's been pretty damn good today - bacon and eggs for breakfast, garlic chicken stir-fry for lunch. Dinner tonight was fantastic - my free meal of the week! Mom, Dad and I went to On the Border, and I got to have Enchiladas Suizas as well as some chips and salsa (and a little queso, just enough to take the edge off my craving). It was good, and so worth the wait.

Now I'm about to head out to catch a late-night showing of Star Trek on IMAX - thankfully Mom's willing to be fun and come with me, movies are not as fun on your own. Means getting up at 8 to get to water aerobics might be a little rough, but it's totally worth it ^^

Today's tip, by popular demand, is the South Beach Surprise Mashed "Potatoes" recipe:

• 4 cups cauliflower florets
• 2 Tbs. canola oil
• 2 Tbs. fat-free half-and-half
• Pinch salt
• Pinch freshly ground black pepper

Steam or microwave cauliflower until soft. Purée in a food processor, adding oil spray and half-and-half to taste. Season with salt and pepper, and serve. (I also recommend a little low-fat cheese or some garlic cloves/salt to taste; makes them really tasty!)

It sounds like a weird combination, to be sure, but I promise - they're delicious! You guys know how picky I can be about food, so a rave review from me means a lot.

Enjoy the "potatoes," guys, and good night!

EDIT: Sigh, apparently they're only screening Trek in IMAX Sunday-Thursday. Balls. Oh well - later this week, then!

Day 9

Today was a little tough ... for some reason, I woke up feeling incredibly weak. Not too sore, just trembly. It didn't bother me much in water aerobics or during my free cardio on a recumbent bike, but about halfway through yoga, my downward-facing dog pose got an unfortunate little quaver going on. I started cutting back to child's pose instead of doing down-dog, but then when I went to up-dog my arms started trembling. You know when you've worked a muscle to the point of fatigue and it gets that little wiggle going? That was it, except all over my body.

So I did what my body ordered and decided against sculpt for today - last thing I need is for my arms to go weak on me when I'm holding five-pound weights over my face. Instead, I came home and took a long hot soak, then a nap before I had to get up and go do my Pilates training course. Basically it's a four-week course that teaches you the Pilates moves so you can seamlessly join the actual Pilates class. It was alright - some of the movements came really naturally, and some hurt like hell. I didn't love it like I do yoga and water aerobics, but it was alright.

So I accidentally did something impulsive and loud during water aerobics today. We had a different instructor, a frizzy little hippie woman, and she was layering together different combos to work different parts of the body. One of them, the "Combat Combo," had a bunch of punches and knee hikes and ended in a hitch kick. I did it pretty well the first few times, but for some reason I abruptly added a yell when I kicked - totally didn't mean to! My taekwondo training all of a sudden kicked in, and I just yelled! Not just like a loud exhalation, but a pretty good, sharp, loud ki-yah! Surprisingly, the little hippie teacher loved it and decided that was the perfect addition to complete her combo. So by the end, all the little old ladies were ki-yah-ing too (some of them pretty begrudgingly, but still). I felt silly, but it felt so good to YELL! I always kick better when I yell anyway.

I can see even more of a change in me today - I've got a little less of a belly than I did this time last week. Even moreso, I can feel my body be more toned even when I'm not actively engaging the muscles to work out - the muscles don't relax and sag like they used to, they hold tight! I'm dying to weigh and see just what the change is ... in three days I get to do so =p The biggest change I noticed today is my calves. From the knees down, I no longer look overweight! My lower legs look good - still big, because I've got a lot of muscle there, but no jiggle or excess skin anymore. It's really exciting!

Also, being out in the sun for an hour every morning has added a little color to my skin, even with me wearing sunscreen. Maybe I'll have a tiny bit of a tan going before too long ... just so long as I don't overdo it! I'm a white little Irish potato - you put me in the sun, and I bake.

Food's been good today, I had more "potatoes" with lunch. I added some garlic salt to them, which made them outrageously good. Never thought Mom would tell me to quit eating my cauliflower and eat my damn lettuce wraps. Dinner was beer-grilled pork chops, which I actually kinda liked - the texture wasn't what I'm used to, and I didn't like having to search out and cut off the little bits of fat, but overall it was good. We've been having trouble with one thing, though - our recipes are so low-cal, I'm barely eating enough calories per day to keep my body out of famine mode! When we calculated up all my calories for the day after dinner, it came out to 765 calories. That's all. All day. Plus, I'd burned a good chunk of that already with my workouts! So we've taken to incorporating a late-night snack of some higher calorie but still healthy things to balance out that deficit - cheese, fruit, peanut butter, etc. How odd is that, that this diet is requiring me to eat more? Gotta love it.

I'm gonna call it an early night tonight, to be sure ... I'm pretty tired, and I definitely need my sleep. Tomorrow's gonna be fantastic - about a week ago, Mom and I planned out this Friday so I had something fun to look forward to if this week proved sucky. It's a full day and includes a massage, a movie, my free meal of the week ... and still all four workouts! We're beasts at scheduling things ;) I'll tell you guys all about it tomorrow, but expect a late post!

Day 8

My foot's doing far better today - I've soaked it, iced it, massaged it, and Mom even picked me up a little sleeve that fits around my arch and puts pressure on the sore spot. So now I don't have to wear the bandage/tennis ball combo and walk like an extra from Dawn of the Dead! Woo!

My workouts were good today - I tried something called "Pryme Tyme" sculpt, which is a sculpt class more geared toward older people. I felt a little silly at first, but the exercises were far less taxing and still as effective, and all the little old ladies are so nice! You can tell they love having a new face in class - many of them made a point of introducing themselves. It's the same with water aerobics, too ... and they all have names like Winnie, Melba, Mary Lou, and one woman introduced herself as Elizabeth Taylor and began cackling madly. They're a great character study, to say the least!

The hardest class was, surprisingly, yoga. It was a different instructor than usual, and he meant BUSINESS. If Hitler instituted yoga in the ranks, it would probably be something like that class. Except we'd have to do swastika hands instead of Namaste hands. It took all I had not to feign injury and sneak out early, but damnit, it was a challenge! I wanted to see if I could tough it out, and I did. Feeling pretty bone-tired because of it, but I did it.

So I have a new favorite food - South Beach Surprise Mashed "Potatoes." I know, I know - the 'Surprise' and the quotation marks suggest bad things, as do some of the ingredients involved. But when I came down to dinner, my Shiitake chicken and green beans were accompanied by a pile of fluffy mashed potatoes with cheese! Tasted like the real thing, but with an even better texture. I had to eat a few bites before mom would confess what it really was - cauliflower! Cauliflower and a few other ingredients, cooked into something I like WAY better than the real deal. And it's like 60 calories per serving, tops! I inhaled them! Normanites, expect to be invited to dinner, and expect to be served "potatoes."

Today, for the first time in a long time, I put on real clothes - not workout clothes and not my slouchy pajama bottoms and a robe, but a t-shirt and jeans. Mom took one look at me and went, "Oh wow ... now I can definitely see a difference." I could feel it, too - the shirt still hugged my chest a bit, but it didn't fit my belly or hips nearly as tightly as usual. Same with the jeans - if I stood still, I could have a tiny bit of a gap all the way around between my skin and the waistband. It's seriously happening, guys - I'm making a change! I'm not allowed to weigh til Sunday, though ... sigh ... so no concrete update til then. Still! I'm psyched!

Tomorrow's gonna be a long day ... on top of my four workouts, I have a pilates tutorial to teach me how to use the equipment and do the moves so I'm eligible to take the actual class. May mean a late post tomorrow ... we'll see!

Day 7

Today brought a *minor* hitch in the plan, as those of you on facebook may have seen:

"Megan writes, 'Dear my right foot, please please PLEASE don't be f*cked up. Seriously. I'm in a lot of trouble if you are. Sincerely, Meg."

Both of my feet were fine this morning through water aerobics and through yoga ... but halfway through Zumba-ing to the Cuban Shuffle, I felt that little point of pressure in the instep of my right foot again. I tried to work through it, but one song later the point had spread into my foot and was hurting like hell. I ducked out and dragged myself through 20 minutes on the treadmill before I broke down and made for the hot tub.

When I took my right shoe off and put my weight on my right foot, I felt this weird heat right at the point where the pain began, and after a moment it kinda slid and stretched throughout my foot, and then I panicked and shoved my foot in the hot tub. Hence the totally freaked facebook status.

I managed to make it through Sculpt, although I had to go really easy on any footwork. I did a lot of just standing and doing the arms, and I was almost always the only one doing so. I could tell the instructor was trying to dumb it down for me. It was frustrating; I just wanted to yell, "I AM NOT A NEWBIE! I AM FULLY CAPABLE OF DOING SQUATS AND LUNGES! MY FOOT JUST HURTS!" But instead I kept my cool and did what I could, and really worked my upper body and core.

On Mom's suggestion, I stopped off in the Physical Therapy center (the LRAC has a Physical Therapy center now! Who knew?) and told them what was going on. The physical therapist said I had strained my foot; it's basically my body's way of saying Back The F Off. For the next few days, I am not allowed to do Zumba or to walk as a workout; I am to stick to water aerobics, yoga, sculpt, and machines like ellipticals and bikes. It'll give my foot time to recuperate without handicapping my workout schedule.

They also suggested I alternately ice and heat it, and use something round to roll some pressure into the sore spots. So, when we got home, Mom whipped up this contraption.

Yeah, it kinda looks like a serious foot tumor. It's actually an Ace bandage wrapped around an ice pack ... and a tennis ball. No lie. Definitely helped put pressure on my foot, but the planning was a bit off. Mom wrapped my foot downstairs ... when the afternoon plan was for me to grab a nap upstairs. Hardest. Staircase. Ever. Thankfully, I didn't tweak anything else, and my foot should be better in a few days.

Food's still going well: I tried cottage cheese, after a hilarious verbal tug-of-war between my dad, who loves it and thought I would too, and my mom, who hates it and thought I would too. Turns out dad was right! Who knew? Dinner was a chicken Caesar salad - with real Caesar dressing and not fake stuff! South Beach diet's orders! Thank you, SBD ...

Also got to go out to the Rep with my parents to a corporate preview of their new show Tommy; it was odd, but good! I mean, all the music was The Who ... can't really go wrong. I brought along some carrot sticks and light dip as an appetizer, since all the stuff they had to offer was seriously not on my menu; being good's coming pretty naturally now. They did have little sourdough bread slices that were really calling to me, but I toughed it out. God, but I do miss bread ... oh well. After Phase 1, I can have them in moderation again. I can take it for now.

Today officially marks one week at HFFC! Overall, it's been easier than I expected ... I've eaten all but one or two things offered me, and I have yet to spit anything into a napkin. My body's adapting well to the workouts, and I've lost twice as much as I expected to in one week's time. I absolutely cannot wait to see where I am in another week's time!

Day 6

Sore, sore, sore ... but good-sore. Well, mostly good-sore. My glutes and quads are bad-sore, but that'll pass. I finally can see where I'm losing the weight from. Usually when I lose weight, my chest and my face are the first to show it. Now, my face does have a slight bit of a change in my cheeks, but my chest seems about the same so far. This time? It's my hips dropping weight. I was looking at them this morning, and I can both see and feel them be tighter and more toned. Now, they're still pretty curvy - and are always gonna be, I'm jut built this way - but they're already looking better than they did this time last week. I'm sure I'm losing belly fat too, but, well, there's a considerable amount of it. Maybe this time next week I'll be able to see that change.

I can feel a difference in my body, as well - my legs, my hips, my core all feel more toned and more solid. I've always had a solid muscle base even at my least athletic, but it's been awhile since I've made the effort to work hard enough for those muscles to toughen up and do their thing. The excess weight is still there, but I can see the muscles underneath, I can see the potential in my body. I just need to bring it out.

The coolest thing happened during water aerobics this morning. I got recognized! One of my blog's followers, Jenn, apparently showed her mom my blog, and her mom happened to be in class with me this morning. She made a point of coming over to tell me that she'd read all my entries and congratulated me on my efforts so far. It was really encouraging to have somebody come up to me like that; I'm curious to see if it'll happen again! Thanks Jenn, for getting the word out, and thanks to Jenn's mom for rooting for me!

My hardest workout today was by far the group cycling class. It was working my legs, and my back and core a bit, but I could've dealt with that if it weren't for my butt. That frickin' bike seat hurt SO BAD - it was all I could do to keep moving. Finally, I slipped out of class about halfway through ... and after like two steps, my butt went numb. Like when a limb falls asleep, and gets kinda tingly and numb? Like that, except my butt. It felt WEIRD. Thankfully, there was a Zumba class going on at the same time, so I slipped into it, worked the feeling back into my buns, and finished out my hour of cardio. It'll be a while before I go torture my glutes in spin class again ... yeesh.

My food situation today was amazing - I got to have scrambled eggs and bacon. One real egg, and two small strips of center cut bacon! It was transcendentally good, particularly after all the fake egg I'd tried. Lunch was just a Clif bar, since we were dashing from class to class, but it tided me over well. Dinner was baked chicken and broccoli which, shockingly, I ate! I ate broccoli! Happily! Now granted, I did convince Mom to pare down and steam the stems and let me eat them in favor of the florets - the texture of broccoli florets grosses me out seriously. The stems, however, I loved. So when I come back to Norman and start cooking for myself, I'm gonna have some florets up for grabs; who wants dibs?

And now for something completely different. *ahem*

Yesterday, driving home from the LRAC, Mom had a little bag of almonds she was munching on for a quick snack, and the following conversation ensued. Now, let it be known that while me and my friends may be college graduates or soon-to-be-graduates, our conversations still tend to be liberally sprinkled with "that's what she said" jokes. Thus, I'd like to call the following scene (based on true events!):

"A Mouthful of Nuts"
or
"A Quick Lesson in Connotation"

Mom: Want an almond?
Me: No thanks. Not really hungry right now.
Mom: Oh, you still don't like eating nuts, right?
Me: (mentally reverting to a twelve-year-old boy) *snicker* No, not really ...
Mom: Well, what is it about them? Do you not like the way they taste, or is it the way they're textured?
Me: (still being a twelve-year-old boy) *snort* I really can't say.
Mom: What, what's funny?
Me: (remembering I'm a college grad and mature and whatnot) Nothing.
*pause*
Mom: (determinedly) Before the end of these two months, you are gonna learn how to eat nuts.
Me: (twelve again) *laughing my ass off*
Mom: Whaaat?
Me: (still laughing) Um, Mom, is there any way we can go back to calling them almonds?

Hee, my sense of humor can be so cultured sometimes ... but not yesterday. =)

Day 5

Sunday Rundown:

Weight: 225 lbs
Total weight lost: 12 lbs

Bust: 45 1/8"
Waist: 40 1/2"
Hips: 52 1/2"
There - my "Before" pic, and the first of several progress pics I intend to post. Every Sunday, I'm going to take a new pic in the same clothes and take new measurements, and post them here so yall can see the physical changes in me. Definitely not loving how I look in that pic ... but my body's a work in progress right now. And I'm making some serious progress.

I attempted to climb Pinnacle this morning, but before we even reached the trailhead I realized we were making a mistake. I'm not quite in the shape I need to be to manage Pinnacle without risking leg or knee injury, especially not with my muscles as taxed as they are. Instead, we walked the base trail around the mountain, which ended up being a 3.5 mile walk. It was pretty rough toward the end, my feet are still shredded from my recent efforts. I hope they adjust soon, I can't coddle them forever.

In light of my foot pains, I bypassed Zumba for a 45 minute cardio, on the bike and then on the treadmill. After that was yoga, which I am still seriously loving. Amazingly, even as heavy as I am, I'm still flexible enough to do most everything the class requires and usually without having to modify it. Ending my exercise day with that kind of stretching and unwinding feels fantastic - I hope the Y back in Norman offers yoga. I so need these classes as a regular feature in my life.

Food's still going well, I went to a cookout with some family friends this evening and got to eat a bunless hamburger patty (with pickles and ketchup, thankfully). I had to resist the twin threats of chips and beer, though, and while I did steal one little chip to get a brief salt fix, I didn't grab a handful and I outright ignored the alcohol. It's getting easier to resist some of these temptations, although I can't wait until I can reincorporate a few carbs into my diet. I very much miss the carbs.

Overall, I'm feeling good ... healthier, in a way. My skin's cleared up, I'm sleeping better, and even my sore muscles feel pretty good, when I'm not overworking them. I'm so relieved that my body's adapted so well to this schedule; I'm learning how to push myself to my limits without overdoing it. My biggest fear is to push it too far and hurt something - if that happens, I'm out for awhile. I don't know when I'll have the time to do something this big again ... I've gotta make this count.

I have decided to stay here right up until grad school starts rather than go back to Norman in early August (sorry, Normanites!). I will be back a few times, though, to see my city and my people. I just feel like I may need all the time I can get here, and I want to make sure I go back to grad school as well-equipped as I can be to keep living my life healthily. I know that my weight loss will decrease, especially when I'm only working out once a day and incorporating a few more carbs, but so long as I keep trending downward then I'm not too concerned.

Tomorrow should be a good day - water aerobics, group cycling, and yoga, with my extra cardio worked in somewhere. Perhaps a late evening walk on the greens ... the course is closed Monday, and there's nothing as lovely as the golf course sans golfers.

Day 4

Ugh ... today was ROUGH. As amazing as yesterday's workouts felt, today's were equally as sucky.

Now I know a little of that can be attributed to a little extra soreness in my muscles - I did work my ass off yesterday. But most of it was bad classes. The first one, NIA, was something I wanted to try: part dance, part martial arts, done barefoot to international music. "Hippie-dippy earth mother dancing," as my own mother described it. I thought it sounded kinda fun, though, so we tried it this morning ... and OW. Apparently, barefoot yoga/stretching is not even on the same page as barefoot cardio.

About 20 minutes into the NIA class, I put my right foot down and it felt like someone had stabbed me in the instep. I broke out of the circle and hobbled out to take a break and look for what felt like a splinter in my foot, but there was no break in the skin. I took a few minutes to get composed and then slipped back into class, but after a few moves ... stab. I ducked out and booked it for the locker room, where I soaked my feet in the hot tub for about 15 minutes instead of finishing out the class. I kinda felt like a wuss, but when I came out into the locker room all the women who had been in NIA with me asked if I'd hurt my feet, and assured me they had a really hard time with it the first few classes as well. That made me feel a bit better, although I'm not sure NIA's right for me ... a bit too airy-fairy for my tastes. Ironically, Mom loved it in spite of her prior criticisms.

Now the next class I wasn't concerned about - it was sculpt, the same type of class I did on Thursday, and while it was a challenging class I left feeling amazing afterwards. However, today was on the opposite side of the world from Thursday's class. Our instructor - I'll call her the Sculpt-Nazi - was HARDCORE. She was doing all the moves in the most advanced way possible without suggesting modifications for newbies like me, running us from move to move without a break, layering on twice as many reps as she should have, and just in general seeming angry to be there. It was contagious - halfway through I was holding my body in plank position and fighting back angry tears because I was so frustrated at being run roughshod like that. I made it through, though, and spent most of the afternoon asleep to recuperate. Oh well. Guess I know what the lousy days are gonna feel like now.

I did make a point of dragging myself back to the LRAC later in the day and forced one more cardio out of myself, then spent like half an hour soaking in the hot tub and reading a book. It was a very nice end to the day; definitely helped to compensate for the lousy morning.

Food's still an improving situation. Breakfast was a little shaky - we'd been refining and refining the quiche recipe to try and make it more palatable, but apparently the problem is the egg substitute and not the recipe. It's not terrible, but it's just not quite egg! And here's the thing - in spite of my big body, my cholestoral and sodium levels are remarkably low. I'd sooner eat one real egg than two of the fake ones. Regardless, we're taking a break from those dishes - my parents are supporting me by eating everything I have to, and Mom's had it with the egg dishes. Lunch was a chef's salad that I all but inhaled after my stressful morning, and dinner was tilapia with cilantro butter. Surprisingly, I enjoyed the tilapia - far less fishiness than the salmon, good flavor, good texture ... it wasn't chicken, but it wasn't half bad either. So now at least I've got a jumping-off point for my foray into fish.

My biggest triumph though? Turns out the V8 Fusion stuff, which is fruit+veggies and not just veggies, is the same amount of calories and only like 2 more grams of sugar and 4 more grams of carbs. I don't have to struggle through V8 anymore - the Fusion is way better and way less consistency-of-human-blood, in my opinion. Thanks to everyone who's been offering me drinking tips, btw ... I had no idea there were so many ways to try V8, and thankfully I've found my way now.

Today's tips: eating to lose weight.

• First off: choose a proper diet! None of this supplement-and-premade-meals BS; they are crazy-expensive and unrealistic, and any weight lost will return once you switch back to eating normally. I'd recommend trying either the South Beach diet, Weight Watchers, or the Abs Power Diet in particular; they're reliable and practical, they're balanced so you get the nutrients and such that you need, and they help change your lifestyle so your weight loss will be sustainable.
  
• Make the time to cook meals! Making time can be the hardest part of a diet, so be sure to make a point of scheduling your day in such a way that you have time to cook and don't end up grabbing something quick and unhealthy to make up for lost time
  
• Only cook enough food for a serving - if you make extra, you're more likely to go back for seconds and throw yourself off. If you make extra for later, make a point of storing the extra in the fridge or whatever BEFORE your meal to get it out of sight and out of mind.
• Spread out your meals. Eating four smaller meals or having small, diet-appropriate snacks throughout the day can take the edge off your hunger and help you function better.
• Don't ignore your cravings, but don't overindulge. Allow yourself one free meal a week (or perhaps a free day, if your weight situation isn't too far-gone). If you ignore cravings, you're more likely to break and seriously deviate from the set meal plan.
  
• It sounds silly, but brush your teeth when you're done with a meal - it takes the food taste out of your mouth and signals your body that you're finished eating for now. Besides, who wants to eat with toothpaste-taste in their mouth? Blech.

Tomorrow should be way more fun - I'm starting the day early with a hike up Pinnacle. I'll try to get a pic of the view for you guys!