No, I didn't give up.

But I have been writing healthy stuff here every two weeks instead. I know, I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I suck. I decided I should at least let you know... but I'll also try to be better about keeping you entertained more regularly as well.

So... I'm still doing the "no high fructose corn syrup" thing. I have quit buying anything with it in the ingredients list, and I have stopped drinking a daily soda. In fact, if I have a soda it's usually once a week or so.  My husband has had a hard time following the plan (that he suggested in the first place!) so I keep finding cereal and snacks he brings home from his job at Kellogg's that have The Devil on their labels. Gah!! Lucky for me, I don't eat a lot of cereal... and rarely any of the snacks he chooses. But I'd rather not have my kids eating it either. So the uphill battle hasn't eased much...

This summer I participated in a fitness program at the University of Arkansas that resulted in no weight loss, but an improvement in my resting heart-rate and blood pressure. It's a start! I also renewed my membership to a local gym last week, and will be working out three times a week after dropping my son at school. I'm lucky to have a 30-hour-a-week job so I don't have to be in until 9am. I'm hoping for some weight loss, so that I can run in shorts without them pulling up and getting hung in my crotch. There are other reasons to want to lose weight, of course, but I think none are as pressing as that.

I will not resort to this kind of look to keep it from happening... just in case you were concerned... But on second glance, I think she's having crotch/crack issues as well.

Nothing brilliant or ground-breaking to share this go-round I guess. Just wanted to let you know I'm not dead, nor have I had a crippling accident that's keeping me from using my laptop. I'll try to be better.

Oh hai, fame and fortune!

Me: Hello?... Cool local blog written for moms? Would you be interested in letting me share my efforts to get healthier with your readers on a regular basis? I'll try to be interesting and funny and generally entertaining, what do you say?

NWAMotherlode: Are you kidding? You are awesome and we love your writing and we can't wait to see what brilliant, hysterical, and at times, thought-provoking, things you have to say to us and our fabulous readers! *happy dance*

So, that's sorta-kinda how it went last week when I emailed one of the women who manage a local blog called NWAMotherlode. Kay... maybe the response wasn't quite that over-eager... and really, I didn't have my hidden camera focused correctly, so I can't guarantee what I saw was a happy dance. It could have just been someone trying to put on pantyhose. (does anyone wear pantyhose anymore? eww..) But, she did say they love my writing, and would love for me to write for their blog. So, Yay!

I'm going to start posting at the Motherlode (not sure when yet) every-other-week as a regular feature. I will be doing what I'm doing here for the most part - sharing info I'm learning about incorporating healthy choices into our lives every day, how to lose weight, get fit, and be healthy without having to follow some crazy "diet" and join a gym. The difference will be that on their blog I will probably not refer as much to my own personal stuff - unless the readers demand it. It's going to be more informational and educational. But of course the only way I know how to write is by throwing in a lot of Goofy and a bit of Wacky now and then... so that will be the same.

So, now on to the personal stuff! This week my weight is still 196, as it was last week. I have been drinking water like crazy, and have started taking a daily vitamin - both easy ways to immediately change the reading on your health-o-meter. I am also taking a ginko biloba supplement and some calcium, since I'm in my 40s and don't drink much any milk and have ridiculously bad memory challenges.

I keep saying I'm going to start walking after work. I know, right? How easy it is to say, how hard it is to DO! Actually, I feel I have a fairly legit reason for not starting - my daughter and I have been sharing a car for the last couple of weeks. Since I have to pick her up from school at 4pm, and I get off work at 4pm, it makes for no time to walk. By the time I get her, go pick up my son from daycare, and get home, it's dinner time. I have asked Oprah to loan me a chef (just during her "off the wagon" days would be fine!) but she hasn't returned my phone messages. Or emails... or tweets. She's just such a busy lady...

But, if all goes as planned, I'll have my own transportation by this weekend, and after The Storm of the Decade - Part 2 passes, I'll be hitting the streets of Har-Ber Meadows in my sneaks! Care to join me??

I'm weak. But I have a solution!

Dear glass of amber liquid...
Cooled so gently by ice.
Refreshing,
Energizing,
Just plain perfect.
You are my weakness,
But I will triumph in spite of you!


Yep, there's a glass of Coke sitting on my desk right now, what of it?? Don't be a hater!

Okay, reality is a bitch. (Some say that about Karma, but I've found Karma to be pretty easy-going) Reality taps me on the shoulder and says "um... yeah, you have to update your blog, and you said you were going to be strong and all that crap. What gives??" And then she smirks at me too. So, I have to be honest and all that, and let you know that it's hard to stick to your weight-loss goals! I know this comes as a shock.

The best way to deal is to offer a lesson, so here I go. I may not look like Jillian, but I can teach you something! A standard Coke is 140 empty calories in a glass. My plans, as stated in my first post, are to be attentive to my intake, and make choices that will help balance the intake with activity. So, if I want to erase those 140 calories from my diet today, what could I do? I did a little search online, and found this website that lists a ton of different activities - both recreational and occupational - and lets you calculate the calories burned in an amount of time that you plug in. I don't have a lot of free time, so I looked at what I could do for 30 minutes to get rid of the demon on my desk...

I can burn 132 calories by doing one of these:  Frisbee, bowling, miniature golf, weight lifting, water volleyball, ballroom dancing, or cleaning house. 

Or I could bump it up to 155 calories by doing one of these: Hang gliding, sky diving, playing golf (using cart), trimming shrubs w/ power tools, vacuuming, carpentry work, bathing my dog, or archery (non hunting).

Or maybe I'll just go all out for 30 minutes, and do one of these to kick 177 calories off my intake today: Ping pong, Tai Chi, water aerobics, hacky sack, gymnastics, playing w/ kids (moderate effort), gardening, horseback riding, or motor cross.

Quite a selection, right? And I don't want to hear any laughing - I know some of you have hacky sack balls in that drawer in the laundry room that holds all your random crap... tape, mis-matched screws, flashlight bulbs, zip-ties, and hacky sack balls. My personal fave on the list is the "moderate effort" allowed while playing with the kids. Goes without saying that there are some days when even moderate is too extreme for me.

My point (thought I didn't have one, didn't you!) is that the key, as I've said before, is balance. Balance the good with the bad, in with out, up with down... you get the idea. I'm going to spend 30 minutes this evening getting some laundry done, picking up living areas and vacuuming. I'm fairly certain that the level of activity will burn off enough calories to make me feel okay about this Coke.

What do you do when you need to get up off your butt? What activities do you think you could add to your week to help put more things on the scale to balance the weaknesses you have?

Get thee behind me saute pan!!

Okay, I'm not really ditching my saute pan... I'm not completely crazy. But it sounded good, right? The demonization of saute pans is not something I would be surprised to see in some of the "eating light" magazines on the market...

But I'm not here to demonize anything in particular. Or even to chronicle my "diet" (because I'm not going on a diet). I'm just going to make some serious changes this year in the way I interact with food. I'm going to be more conscientious about my intake, and make decisions about my meals and snacks that are based on whether or not I'm hungry (there's a novel idea) and whether or not the food I'm choosing is the healthiest option available.

I know what you're thinking. "But Laurie... sometimes I don't WANT the healthiest option." And you're right - sometimes it's a birthday party, and there is cake and ice cream. And sometimes there's a road trip and a 44 oz. drink and a paper boat full of chili cheese dog is required every bit as much as a cd player playing Under the Table and Dreaming...  BUT (or should I say BUTT) that is a choice that has to be dealt with. If I go for the chili cheese dog and 44 oz. soda - it's salad for dinner and an extra 30 minutes on the walk or the treadmill. That's what my world is going to be like from here out.

In this (new) blog of mine, I will not be focusing on how to make your favorite fattening foods non-fattening, or how to live life sans Sonic and Taco Bueno. Life would not be worth living without the 2-4pm happy hour and Taco Bueno's tamales! Instead, I'm going to focus on how to live live life - a HEALTHY life - with those things included. More activity, less refined sugar. More veggies, smaller portions. Stuff like that. Follow along if you like, and feel free to share with the class if you have a success story of your own, or some tips for slimming down and firming up and living healthier. I'm going to also be using the word "healthy" a lot... because that's what it's about for me. Not a size or shape, but my health.

And, here's where I sound like a hypocrite: the reason I'm starting this journey is because I looked at the scale recently and finally saw the number I refuse to accept. 200. I weigh two hundred pounds. I know there are a lot of people out there who way a lot more than I do (except Oprah, who weighs the same) - and I am also aware that I'm fortunate to have a body-type that allows me to carry a lot of weight without looking too out of proportion. But that number, and a couple of pictures of myself that have surfaced lately, have pushed me to the limit. This one is from the summer of 2008, when I was around 195. I'm in my 40s, I have a 5 year-old I would like to see grow up, and it only gets harder to get in shape from here. So, today's the day.

First steps I've taken this week:
Signed up for the online version of Weight Watchers. It's only $17.95 a month (and there's a special going on right now!) and they offer a tremendous amount of information on living healthy. I'm tracking my points there as a way to keep a kind of food journal, and am logging my weight each week. I'll also look there for recipes. If I find good ones I'll share. :)

Cut out colas. This is REALLY hard for me, even though when I had them it was usually only one 20 oz a day, sometimes not even that. But I still want to switch to tea or water in order to cut out the sodium and sugar and, in the case of the diets, the artificial sweeteners. Soda just isn't "natural", and I don't need it.

Now I need to start putting more physical activity in my routine... that's next on the list.