Small Wise One

I recently went totally free of sugar substitutes, and though I initially gained 5 pounds I have now stopped the rising weight.  What I would like to say though, is that I feel really great, I feel like I now have the energy to do more and be more active.  I also wonder why no one ever told me before that the sugar free crap was making me sick, perhaps they didn’t know like I didn’t know, I have been having “sugar free” stuff since some where around 1996 or so, it has been a long time since I have known anything else!  But since I have gone sugar free a few friends have told me things they never have said before. Examples; “I have always thought that fake sugar was always bad karma, something for nothing”, and “Did you know that when you use sugar substitutes your body thinks it is about to get a load of sugar and ramps up insulin production and then it doesn’t know what to do when it has no sugars to deal with, and that can make you gain more weight!?!?”.  I had never thought or heard anyone say these things about fake sweets, and I have not been healthy for about as long as I have been on fake sugar….you know I wasn’t feeling good about myself, I was gaining wait in high school, I start with fake sugar I loose some weight but still feel bad, and have struggled ever since.

I am not blaming all of my woes on fake sugar, but how many people are sick all of the time because of this?

I have now cut back on real sugars, and am using things like agave syrup which is a natural sugar that is sweeter than sugar cane and corn syrup and has a lower glycemic index too boot. 

I put some of my wedding photos into a "spaces" photo contest, my sister-in-law Heather took the one I am linking to below of my dad (just the way he is).  My dad took most of the formal photos that day.

Instead of emailing people to vote I am just posting the email they suggest I send to get votes in here. 

Thank you!

Loretta

This message has been sent at the request of the above sender. Microsoft will not use or retain your e-mail address for any other purpose as a result of this referral.

You've just gotta see this pic I posted. Go vote for it, and I could win a killer prize! There's a winner every day and a grand prize of a Toshiba 42`` Hi-Def LCD TV along with a Canon PowerShot G7 digital camera if my photo tallies the most votes. So gimme a shot and vote for my snapshot now. (And trust me, it's office-appropriate, G-rated fun.)

http://www.getrealphotocontest.com
Go Vote for me at: http://www.getrealphotocontest.com/vote.aspx?id=6850

 

So I completely just stole this content from an email I sent to a friend, but I decided I wanted to share it with the world!  

So I was listening to Pandora radio online (http://www.pandora.com/), and this live version of “Optimistic” by Radiohead came on, I was thinking this is a nice live version…and remarkably clear, I can almost understand every work Thom is saying!  So I went into my Pandora Radio to give it a “thumbs up”, guess who was singing!?!?!?!  

HANSON!!! You know...the blonde brothers?  MMMBop!  it was on their album “The Best of Hanson: Live & Electric”

Eek! I didn't know I was a fan! But if the love Radiohead like me, then they are alright by me!

Today I weigh 210 lbs that is .5 lbs lost!!  

Cya!

~Loretta

Today I weigh 210.5 lbs that is 1.5 lbs lost!!  

I will update sidebar & blog soon.  

Cya!

~Loretta

I weigh exactly the same as last week.  

I went to the gym; I think I went on Wednesday and I know I went on Friday, Monday, and on Tuesday I went for a bike ride (because the weather was freaking fabulous!!) 

Today it is rainy and I can not remember my moms work schedule, she and I have been working out together. I think she said Thursday after work she can go to the gym…whenever, I need to do things on my own when she is not available.  

I am so sleepy today…I went to bed last night and was having trouble breathing (sinus allergies I think) and I took two benadryl…I probably waited until it was too late (not 8 hours left to sleep) and it hadn’t worn off when I awoke this morning…my limbs feel so heavy and even talking or singing along to music (something I do often with no effort) seems like so much work!  

I am still trying to catch up in the blog world…once I am up to speed I will start commenting to current posts and what not…till then I am sure I look like a lurking newb ;) 

Now I am debating with someone online about how to spell “newb”….I say “newb”, because it is short for “newbie”…but they say it doesn’t matter what it is short for it is spelled “noob”.  And now I do not know which way I should go, so I am polling the audience (if my audience ever comes back to me ;)).  I know that spelling isn’t too important because the phrase “powning newbs” the word pown was just a common typo that became the word…I do not “own newbies” I “pown newbs” (if I ever play video games again).  Ok, so which way is it?

“Weekly Wednesday Weigh In” is back.  

I am not going to discuss the difference between when I stopped way back when and now, I am just moving forward.   

The stats are in the list on the right-hand side.  

I was doing pretty well, until I went to the store and bought ice-cream. I shouldn’t have it in the house.  I am the only one who eats it; my husband (Mark) will forget about it and let it get all frosty and gooey and then remember and say:

“Hmm… I will have some ice-cream, eww, it’s no good, I’m throwing it out”

and I think to my self

“What a waste of perfectly good ice-cream he should have eaten it faster”.

Of course, I would have known about the ice-cream the whole time. It has taken all of my will power not to eat it myself, mantra when opening freezer:

“(breath in) that is not mine, (breath out) it is his, leave it be”.

This is the only way I can let it sit in there for so long, sometimes I throw it out and he never remembers it was in there to begin with; if he threw out ice-cream I would have been aware of it in an instant.  This is why he is thin and I am not.  That and the fact that he knows when he is full, and I somehow don’t know until it is far too late.  So the ice-cream was buy one get one free, which is a wonderful horrible thing because now I have 1 gallon of ice-cream in my freezer!  Maybe I should invite people over to eat it…or just through it away... (A little eeck and a pain in my heart thinking of it melting in the trashL)  

Mark likes to play a game with me when we are out.  It is called the “where are the nearest sweets?” game and I always win.  I am not allowed to look around; I am just to say where they are.  It is sad, but I will be at a new restaurant or shop and I will be like “there is a bowl of mints over by the hostess stand”.  Or “there is a vending machine by the back door”, “in your pocket, there is a roll or lifesavers.”, “They have chocolate cake on the menu.”  

He will also quiz me on what sweets he has in the house that are not for me, and I will give him an inventory, sometimes he only asks me because he wants something sweet and he can’t remember what he has, and I know it all.  I do this subconsciously I don’t even know I am looking for these things until I have been asked and can give you a laundry list over every sweet in the house including ones I do not even like. Of course I would like to point out that I am never quizzed about other things like where and how many towels and what kinds do we have in the house, or place I where there is a paperclip (not that we actually use paperclips being in a totally paperless society )  

Anyway, I have been doing better during the day…eating carrots and grapes and not buying junk from the vending machine or eating out.  When I finish my entry about where I have been and what I have been doing this last year, you will see I was eating out a lot, it is surprising I didn’t gain more weight!  

Everything in moderation, right?

Apparently today yes!

I am just too excited to be back not to express everything to you with out going”!!!”  

Have a great day, tomorrow I hope to update my stats and my blog list, and get this party started!  

If you don’t believe I am excited to be back here….just look I have posted 3 times today!  Eeck I think that is enough! ;)  

I am thinking about moving my blog to something else that lets me be more creative with the look and feel any suggestions on something free or not expensive would be greatly appreciated (I have basic HTML skills, but not too complicated would be nice (like not creating the commenting and blogging forms myself from scratch would be good).  

Thanks,

~Loretta

There was a recent report that said women need an hour of vigorous exercise 5 times a week. If you do this you will decrease your chance of aggressive breast cancer by ~20% and not so aggressive breast cancer by ~30%  

So…  

Last week I exercised on Feb 26^th, March 3^rd  

This week so far March 4^th  

All for over an hour and all mostly “vigorous” exercise, when I did use the heart rate monitor I was told me to “slow down” so I ignored it the rest of the time and decided I knew my body better…so far I feel pretty good, though my knee is bothering me when I run(crunchy and twingey (not good, I know) I an hoping I can work on knee strengthening exercises and that will help), so I am walking fast and using the elliptical trainer and then cooling down on the recumbent stationary bike. They have a pool too, but when the weather is so cold out I find it hard to motivate myself to get nearly naked and jump in….knowing I will have to get out and possible go home with wet hair (I am a wimp, and I don’t like to use hairdryers).  

Plan tonight, at 7pm after the nightly news I will get out one of my Pilates DVD’s and do that and maybe walk on my dreadmill treadmill…what ever I have to do to fill up an entire hour.  

I am not up to 5 days yet, but I am working my way up…  

~Loretta

Dear all,  

I am back, and I need some ideas on what to write about.   

So… “Calling For All Topics!”  

Those of you who know me personally or who know of some stories I was a part of please refresh my memory!  

Those of you out in Blogland, if you want to know anything please feel free to ask, it just might be my new topic!  

I guess my second entry for be about where I have been and what I was doing.  

It is great to be back!  

~Loretta

I have been asked to start writing again.  Writing isn't my strong suit....so it makes me a little uncomfortable, plus the same person who asked me to start writing again also  points every gramatical error I make...i have to go to a meeting in a few minutes, but i will try to make some time tomorrow to blog about my brother being attacked on tuesday....and hmm...i think that will be enough for one entry:)

 

 

I still weigh the same....I will get back to you all as soon as possible!

 

202.5lbs....a loss

 

I will post again soon with more info!

Hi!  I am so sorry I haven’t been posting…I have all kinds of excuses…I have been sick with a horrible cold…and then I have this new full time job plus a class! But that being said I guess I have been avoiding the blog because I have had a wee gain.  I am at 204lbs…sigh…

 

The good news is that my class is an exercise class that I have to log exercising and show improvements weekly. 

 

I also started wearing my pedometer again, and have found out that I walk a ton more than my past jobs…in the past I have been mainly sitting a desk all day …..glued to the desk…my new job doing tech support really makes me go to many peoples desks….hardly my own.  I used to have trouble just getting 3,000 steps in during my work day….but in my new position….just in my working hours alone I am well over 7,000 steps!  So it is so easy to go home and get in that other 2,000 steps!

 

So I guess since I have to log all my working out online for my class I might as well just put that info in my blog too!

 

I am sorry Eli about not posting…I really am trying to get more involved in my physical life, while not loosing the things I love….like reading blogs….I will try harder to do better….i think I might not get a chance to read a lot till the weekends….with my old job I was at my desk so much I was able to read blogs during down time…not really the case anymore with my new job….

 

My husband is running for Lt Governor for Ohio….which is also taking time….

 

I have been asked to perhaps be a wedding planner for a friend of mine…this is a huge job so if it all comes together….that will be one more thing on my plate!

 

Ok so I promise I will start posting my class exercise stats here…and Wednesday weigh in are still going to happen!  (it is still Wednesday I almost missed it but I am putting off sleep to post!)

 

Night night!

Sweet dreams!

Don’t let the bed bugs bite!

 

 

I weight the exact same as I did last week. 201.5 lbs...

Whooohooo!

 

I have a NEW JOB!  It is official as of ~9:30 am this morning.  I will be leaving my “Office Administrative Associate or Office Coordinator” position and going to “IT System Specialist”.  People have been telling me for ages I should go into IT, and many were surprised that I was a “secretary” though I prefer the term “Administrative Professional”.  So I found some sweet people at the university I work at who were willing to hire me even though I do not have professional experience.  I am very willing to learn and I am honored and grateful for this “foot in the door”.  I have been trying for ages but most IT offices ask for 2 years of professional experience.  When I had explained this to my new boss, he said “well how can you get experience if no one hires you!”  I replied “exactly” and I feel we hit it off. 

 

Now I am changing from Civil Service (state employee) to an A&P (Administrative and Professional).  This will affect my benefits and also my job security.  A&P are the first to go when times get tough…but I will get an “A” parking pass which means I get to park in a garage yay!  I get a wee raise.  But best of all it will give me that professional experience I need to go further.  The more I learn the more places I can work and the higher the pay!  Not that money is everything, but it would be so nice to be able to save some money instead of living paycheck to paycheck, you know?

 

And I am not sure about my weight but on Sunday I weighed 200.5…which means a pound loss…but I am only going by my official Wednesday Weigh In.

Eating Eggs:

I read in “Self Magazine” that women who eat an egg with toast and toast w/jelly each morning consume something like 16% less calories during the day than those who have yogurt and fruit….so starting tomorrow or possible Thursday (tomorrow I may be too nervous to eat (see below)) I will be having an egg and toast for breakfast.  This means going to bed earlier and waking up earlier…  If I can become a morning person that would be so cool!  If it goes well maybe I will wake up and then run and then eat and the shower, dress, and go to work!  And it all starts with eggs!  What came first the chicken or the egg?  For me it is egg; there is not way I am eating chicken in the morning!  Mmmm eggggs.

 

Job Interviews:

I have two job interviews this week!  One is tomorrow morning for an IT position.  The other is for an office position similar to my current position.  I really would like the IT position!  It is just what I have been looking for.  I know computers so well that I really would be so good as IT support.  One of my side jobs in all of my office jobs has been to help the faculty and staff use their computers…and because I am so familiar with software I am sometimes more helpful than the office IT person because I have practical experience using the user end software….not just networking or server side support.  I am really hoping that tomorrows interview goes so well that I can possibly start my new position at the start of the new year!  The other interview is on Friday…I am not too excited about it….just because it doesn’t seem to be anything new….but who knows…they may have an awesome atmosphere and great faculty and staff…I am not going to judge until after, and I am not counting my eggs before they hatch!

 

x eggs mentioned = 8!

 

~Loretta

So after all the crappiness I have been feeling and going through….and even after several Thanksgiving dinners.  I have still lost a wee bit…..since the last weight update I have lost .5lbs!  I am now 201.5 lbs!

 

Not too bad for someone who has been a complete slacker!

 

Next week I will get back into my Weekly Wednesday Weigh In

Blogging…I am not sure what my hold up has been.  I have had a total lack of motivation, not only in my blog but in my life.  I need to snap out of it ASAP!  I can’t tell you how many times I have started a blog entry…saved it…re-opened it a few days later, only to be completely annoyed with my story/news/life.  I have either re-written or deleted so many entries….and now I don’t know where to start!

 

Let see….I have a clean bill of health if you had been reading earlier.  But I haven’t gotten back in the swing of things, and have not been running…fav things sitting on the couch…and eating ice cream….ugh…oh yeah and can’t forget the best thing…sleeping!

 

So I am in a funk and need to get out of it.  I have an expensive gym membership that expires on January 25^th, so I need to go like every day till then to get my moneys worth.  I think that Winter Quarter at my university I will take a recreational sport class…they have a class on jogging that if you take you have to take it with another class on conditioning…having to be graded and the chance it will effect my GPA if I slack, could be good motivation.  They have another class that is done online…about increasing your recreational activities…that may be a great way for me to stay motivated; getting graded and what not……but on my own schedule…so it would not  conflict with my work schedule…

 

If I am scheduled for classes I am forced to pay for the university gym membership…which in the past would have sucked…because it was old and smelly and gross…but now it is new and state of the art, and getting rave reviews from students who frequent the gyms…other students grumble at the new fee attached to tuition….I see both sides…but since I want to be more active and cost is an issue, this is a cost effective alternative to renewing my expensive gym membership.

 

So, let me look in my calendar and get everyone caught up…

 

October 27^th was my 27^th birthday (apparently this is called a “golden birthday” which I have never heard of before.)  There was a celebration at work on Thursday, and then there was a party at Hound Dogs…a local pizza and beer joint on Friday night followed by a halloween costume party…I was a lady bug…then the next day we had a birthday dinner for me at Mark’s parents house, and a month ago before my mom moved to Ireland we had another celebration with my mom and all my immediate family.  My birthday was spread out for a month! Here is what I got :)

• ·        I received from my parents a cool new laptop!  A Toshiba Tecra® M4 Tablet PC (you can write on the screen it has a combination with the laptop screen and a Wacom writing tablet).  It was so expensive that it is my birthday and Christmas present combined….but since I haven’t had a new computer since 1997 it was about time I upgraded!
• ·        I also got some money….I was going to get roller skates  ….the old fashioned kind…not blades…but practicality won out and I bought some new pants that fit instead….since I have lost weight and my pants are getting so big can’t walk for more than 20 feet without pulling them back up!  (I know that is a good thing, but I am poor and don’t think of clothing that you need for work as a gift…but I am grateful for the financial opportunity to get new pants at all!)
• ·        I received a gift card for Bath and Body Works (here is a link to my fav sent there).  My mom and I joke that we go in there and the scents make us loose our minds…it is like they are drugging you when you go in… you can go in saying I will on spend 20 dollars and then there are so many overwhelming scents and everything is by 3 get 1 free…and the next thing you know you have 100 dollars worth of soap and perfume!  I haven’t used it yet but plan to do my shopping online so that I go in with a list of what I want to the penny….that way I won’t get side tracked or stupid by all the yummy smells.
• ·        Most important I got a lot of love and affection from my friends and family and that is what I wanted most!

 

On November 7^th I gave blood…

On November 8^th I got my flu shot…

You may think I must love needles or something….but I don’t

 

Mark (my husband) has been asked to run as Ohio Lieutenant Governor with the Libertarian Gubernatorial Candidate!  This is very exciting and a huge honor.  I am so proud of him!  He is so smart and thinks thing out and researches topics/issues/ideas so much that he is a great person for the job( he never makes an uneducated decision)!  So if you are in Ohio or can vote in Ohio elections please vote for him…or at least sign the petition to get them on the ballat.

 

Thursday is the US holiday of Thanksgiving.  It is my second favorite holiday (first being Halloween) we will be going my uncle Johnny’s and it will be a large warm family crowd…I love it…I will be making 10+ lbs of Mashed Potatoes…yumm!  Mark’s family is all over the board with schedules so we will not be having thanksgiving with them until Saturday.  This is kind of sad because I will miss the chaos we usually have; going to a early dinner at Mark’s parents house and then having a second one with my family….but at least this way I can appreciate both meals and not get too stuff.

 

So back to my health…it is a vicious cycle…the more I don’t exercise the more I don’t want to, the more I have trouble sleeping, the worse my mood gets, the more depressed I get, the more emotional eating I do, the more digestive issues I have, and the larger I become. So I must break through and exercise because the benefits outweigh everything (literally), I sleep well, I eat less, I have more energy to do things outside of my 40 hours of work, I feel better about myself and my body, my health is better in general, I digest food better, I loose weight (even when I eat ice cream several times a week!). 

 

There was some story I was telling Mark…a little thing that I witnessed or did….…he said I should blog about things like that…I don’t remember what that was about though…so I think I might carry a notebook…and make lists of things like that, I make lists all of the time…of all kinds of things…..but usually loose them and find them…and then make new updated ones…if I have them all in one little book and not on the back of envelopes maybe I will feel I have more control over things… Shauna over on Dietgirl got me thinking about this (I have been slowly catching up with my bloglines!)  Mark if you remember anything you thought I should blog about; please leave a note on the subject of it.

 

Speaking of bloglines…I am very behind on not only the writing, but the reading of blogs…I have had a real hard time motivating myself to use my computer outside of work….after 8 hours of working on the computer it is very easy for me to ignore my own machine (even my new one!) until the weekends.  So please if you haven’t seen me yet or missed my insightful comments ;) don’t be offended!  I will hopefully get caught up very soon and be back in the swing of things.

 

I have also been unhappy with the quality of my writing.  I would love to better my writing skills and learn from my mistakes.  So please email me if you have any constructive criticism or suggestions for me.  The better my blog the less likely I will start to ignore it!

 

A suggestion to anyone who has a blog that does not have a RSS feed….please get one and let me know when you do!  I hardly get up to date with those who do not have it…the days of checking every blog I like daily for updates is gone…I depend on bloglines to tell me something new has happened!

 

Best regards to all!

 

Love, 

~Loretta 

I have been meaning to blog for ages....I am not sure what is wrong with me...I am now at 200lbs...I will do an entry later in the week to catch us all up....I haven't been reading blogs and I haven’t been writing....I have this long word.doc that I have been working on and adding to....but haven't finished it and haven't posted any of it...I may just have to edit it all down and add a few things...

 

I am good though...busy but good!

 

How are you?

 

What have you been up to?

 

Guess I should catch up on everyone!

Hi,

 

Today I weigh the same as I did last week (202 lbs)…I think it is because I have been eating out at lunch and not running…  I see the doctor on Friday so hopefully the running will start up again…  I have been walking…I figured out a route in my neighborhood that is exactly 5k (3.1 miles).  I have walked it, and I am planning to work on increasing my time on the route.  It takes me about an hour walking fairly slowly, so I figure once I can do it in 30 minutes…that is about a 10 minute mile…and that isn’t a horrible speed…

 

Other than that things have been very slow…trying to get a new job…tired of working…a little depressed about not being able to run…

 

~Later

perfect weather here....but my breathing is just not working out...I ran and was feeling fine, but then it kinda hit me and I slowed down...my sister looked over and said i should walk, because she didn't like my breathing...and though my lips were not blue...around them was yellow!...anyone know what that means?   I have a Drs Appt next week to find out what is wrong.