Friday, April 29, 2011

TGIF!


 The Royal Wedding

Beautiful bride! Gosh that lady is pretty! I usually can't stand wedding dresses. I think they're really ugly for the most part. Honestly, I don't think I've ever liked anyone's dress I've seen. Too much tool, too much poof, and all too similar. But Kate's was just gorgeous. So elegant and classic. I love how it wasn't a strapless tube with an overgrown tutu attached. I love the lace sleeves and fitted bodice and naturally flowing gown.

She must be over the moon. I can't even imagine. Well she waited nearly 10 years for it so she deserves it. I'm definitely not one to talk, but that's a long time to wait. As they saying goes, "she has the patience of a saint." Well, William will be king one day so, heck, I'd wait 10 years too!
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Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Still Waiting...


...story of my life.

But no job in Orlando yet, although I've applied to anything and everything. It might not be in the cards right now for one reason or another. I've decided to concentrate on paying off my credit cards first, leaving me with just my car payment (1 year left!) and mortgage. I'll be more flexible in my career when that happens because I won't be so focused on making as much money as I can to get by.

At least the weather's been hot here lately! I love it! It was 85 yesterday and will be again for the next 2 days! Then it's back to spring and the 70s. Hey, as long as it's not snow and above 60 degrees, I'm happy!

As for diet and fitness, things are going well. I can see the definition in my muscles starting to reappear and I don't feel quite as bloated and pudgy as I did this winter. Still a lot of work to do to get back to where I was, but the hot weather is VERY motivating! I love to wear cute tank tops, shorts, etc., in the summer because it's so hot around here. I don't want to feel inhibited once summer comes around. I want to feel cool and summery and not feel so self-conscious that I wear sweaty jeans and t-shirts the whole time like I did for pretty much most of my life, back when I was a lot heavier. I used to never wear tank tops or halter tops until about 5 years ago when I lost 35 lb. AND I don't want to buy all new summer clothes unless it's for fun and not because I'm too chubby for what I have. That's a total waste.

I have some fun trips coming up, too! I go to Milwaukee for a Brewers game in a couple of weeks. Then, I go to FL for Memorial Day weekend (for 5 days!). Then I have the Race for the Cure and a conference in Las Vegas for week! Then July 4th weekend I'm off to the Dells for my yearly wholesome Midwestern fun in the sun.

I'm also contemplating the new Tinkerbell Half-Marathon in Disneyland next January. It's a month before the Princess Half in Disney World, so I could possible get a coast to coast medal if I do both. But the question is whether I can run TWO half-marathons within 30 days! I have to admit that my body does NOT like to run. I love to run, but my body definitely doesn't share my passion for the sport. My brother (who lives in Anaheim) also sent me a link to the Long Beach Half and Full Marathon. He said he might want to try it. I'm trying to convince him to because he's quite obese, so I would love to see him get motivated to get in shape. I told him we could run/walk it together just so long as he does it. We'll see.
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Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Wishin' and Hopin' and Thinkin' and Prayin'


I'm on a job search.

I don't hate my job. But I'm really tired of it. After nearly 6 years, it's not heading in the direction I was told it would head and I'm growing increasingly dissatisfied with my position and responsibilities. My job duties are at the entry level at best, and it didn't start out that way. In addition, I'm really tired of all the freelance I have to do just to be able to put away a little bit of savings. I want one good job and just one regular freelance job. That's my goal.

But I've been pigeon-holed in what I do (it's pretty specialized) and it's hard for me to apply to anything outside my field. This makes it a challenge to find a new career path. Through some miracle, I found a compatible position in Orlando, which would actually be a logical "next step" in my current career path (which is pretty nonexistant outside of cities like New York, Washington, Chicago, etc---big cities). I applied and their human resources called me a couple of days later, making me really hopeful. My elusive dream of moving to Orlando (which has been my dream for going on 20 years now) was closer to coming true than it even had been. But I have yet to hear from them again and hope sinks. It's almost as though I wish they never called at all. Dangling that possibility in front of me only made me feel that much more hopeless about ever making my dream come true.

I just feel so frustrated. Brian is still a million miles away and I'm still hanging on to an apparently impossible dream for 20 years. Years and years of my life are going by and those 2 measily goals can't become reality for some reason or another. I'm not asking for the world here. Sorry about the bummer post. I'm just so incredibly sick of trying and trying for certain things and getting c*** blocked by the world every time.

Well before this turns into an angry rant, I'm going to sign off!

Here's to a better day tomorrow.

Deedah
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Tuesday, April 5, 2011

A Pain in the Glut!


I set out to run my own Disneyland 10-miler the other day when I was in Anaheim and I did lose some endurance, and I aggravated an injury too. Boo! I've had a pinched nerve in my right glut (harhar) for a while. I'm thinking it's a sciatic nerve issue. So far it's only hurt when I've been sitting for a long time, like at the office. It's a piercing pain that can only be alleviated by getting up and walking around.

Well, I didn't think my run would be hampered by it because, like I said, it only hurt after prolonged sitting. But after mile 3.5, I started feeling the pain. I walked a little at around mile 3.75 and just couldn't make it past mile 6. My legs were so fatigued and the pain in my glut was, by this time, excruciating! I didn't think I could walk the rest of the way back to the hotel it hurt so badly.

I was disappointed of course, but I did end up getting a good cardio workout and I burned more than 1,200 calories in just 2 hours. I'm OK with it. I wasn't racing anyone. I set out to exercise and I accomplished that.

I didn't workout today because my a** was still reeling from the run, so I just took it easy. Anyway, I headed out to San Diego today so it was a full day. Tomorrow, I've gotta work early so I can't workout then either. I'm hoping I'll be able to get a workout in on Thursday. We're expecting rain here, and if it rains I really don't want to go out and run. I don't have as much open space in my hotel room to workout either.

What can you do? That's why I really don't want to travel for work as much as I had in the past. I think a big part of why I gained weight (other than having no self-control) is because I traveled SO MUCH last year. I ate with complete abandon during my trips apparently and have the chubby tummy to show for it!

Anyway, I'm off to sleep because I have to get up so early! I hope it doesn't rain this week!
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Sunday, April 3, 2011

Hotel Workout Improv


It's 7 am PST (10 am to me in my EST brain). So, I've been up since 4:30. Since I've been awake I've been searching the net for some free workout videos I can do here in the hotel room. Of course, as luck would have it, the hotel fitness center is closed for remodelling and I can't go for a run because my family is picking me up at 9 am to go to church.

But as I promised myself, I squeezed in 5 workouts this week for a total calorie burn of 2,500 calories, according to my heartrate monitor. I've been having trouble getting my heartrate up all week. I mean I'll be doing my workouts full force and not even get near my target heartrate of 172 bpm. I'm jumping around flailing all over the place just to reach 160, and that was tough enough! I've also noticed that my resting heartrate hovered around 54 bpm this week. I have a naturally low heartrate so I'm not alarmed about that, although sometimes it's a pain when you try and get in some good fat/calorie-burning cardio. It guess it got really low since I've been starting to workout again. It's really surprising to find that I've gotten a lot of my strength back after only a week and a half of working out consistently. I guess my muscles are starting to remember who's boss!

Anyway, back to searching for a workout. I ended up on ExerciseTV.com and found a bunch of free full workouts. I finally decided on a kickboxing one that ran for 20 minutes. I upped my cardio a little by doing extra jumping jacks and squats and managed to get in a good workout for being in a hotel room. After that I took out my resistance band and did some toning. All in all I'm pleased with my workout this morning!

Tomorrow, I'm going for the big run from my hotel to Disney. It'll be about 7 miles roundtrip. I'm really excited and nervous about it though. I'm worried I've lost some running endurance and I would feel so disappointed about that. But hey, just because I've lost a little endurance doesn't mean I won't get it back, as I've learned with my strength. So I'm not going to berate myself if by chance I have to walk some of it. I know there's nothing wrong with walking during a run, but for some reason, I just loss momentum and feel disappointed in myself. I need to get over that, I know.

As for the eating, I did a pretty good job restraining myself during  my travels yesterday. I ate my oatmeal on the plane, I had my dehydrated fruit and some fresh grapes and other fruits as snacks throughout the day, I had hummus and a pita with a side salad for lunch. For dinner I had my FAVORITE peel-and-eat shrimp in a bag that seems to be popular here in the OC. I like this place called The Boiling Crab. SO good. There's ALWAYS a super long wait, but it's worth it if you like peel-and-eat seafood. I know there's probably a ton of salt  in the seasoning, but you win some you lose some. I'm not going to feel bad about eating some good seafood, especially when there's a whole lot worse I couldn't eaten. I went to Downtown Disney and not only did I not eat beignets, but I also didn't get any salty caramel popcorn. I did have a couple of my parents' Wetzels Pretzels bitz because by then it was feeling like it was way past dinner time (it was 4 pm PST, 7 EST) and I was getting munchy. Better the pretzels than the deep fried dough covered in powdered sugar, I say.

Anyway, I'm off to shower and get ready for my day. My head still feels a little off from travel and jet lag, so I'm sure it'll be a LONG day (or at least feel like one).
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Friday, April 1, 2011

Red Wine Apparently Has Calories


I should have known this would be my downfall this week.

I worked out 4 times so far (my goal is 5 times per week to be completed between Monday and Sunday) and hope to get one more workout in for the week once I get to California.

I ate nice healthy foods (about 90% of the time) and have felt less bloated and chubby. I can tell that my clothes are starting to fit better again too and the muscle definition is already coming back (albeit slightly).

I've also been drinking. Nightly. No, not passed out drunk or even moderately so. I've been having a glass (or 2) of Cabernet every night with a small piece of dark chocolate to cut the bitterness. Oh how wonderful does that feel at the end of a long day! And although that is actually a pretty healthy practice (based on some health reports, etc.) I think it ruined my weightloss for the week because when I weighed myself this morning expecting a loss, I found that I actually gained a pound. Yuck. After all that working out and eating well, I gained a pound. I know that it's not unheard of to gain after getting back into using weights and strength training, and I do "feel" thinner, which I might very well be. I do believe that I went over my allotted calories because of the wine. Wine isn't the same as Diet Coke! There are about 120 calories per glass! I can't drink a couple of glasses and not think it'll count against me. DUH!!!

So, what I need to do is either cut out the wine or reduce my calories to fit it in. AND maybe limit myself to strictly 1 glass rather than the 2 or 2 and a half I've been having this week.
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