Fat Doesn't Wrinkle

There are hardly any benefits to being overweight, right? It's bad for our heart, our lungs, our liver, our organs, our feet and knees, etc. It's just unhealthy to carry so much extra weight around day in and day out. It takes a toll on our bodies to live off of sugar, soda and processed crap instead of lean protein, fruits, veggies and water.

The one and only benefit I can think of is that fat doesn't wrinkle. Have you ever noticed how many people look so much older after they drop a lot of weight? Fat plumps up your skin and makes everything look smooth, well, except for that cottage cheese look on thighs but even super skinny girls have cellulite. Anyway, I saw this video and it got me thinking about the one and only reason I'm not planning on getting down to what the charts say I should weigh and plan to keep on a few extra pounds.

Enjoy!

I love Anita Renfroe 'cause I like it but I should have put some cream on it ;)

Hydrate or Die ...

When was the last time you had a nice cool drink of water? How long have you ever gone without it? I know a few people who NEVER drink a plain glass of water and they're still alive and kicking so what's the deal?

We've all been told how important it is to stay hydrated but we don't realize how vital it is until we can't simply fill up our water bottles, the stores are sold out and people are fighting in the isles to get their hands on a few gallons.

Millions of gallons of water have been rushing into the Charles River due to a massive water main pipe break. Over a dozen communities are under a state of emergency with a boil water order in effect indefinitely. If you are unable to get your own supply of water, the authorities are out in various locations distributing one case of water per family per day and making sure nursing homes and schools are well stocked. They aren't sure how long it will take to fix or when we will be able to drink from the tap again. They say it's safe to bathe in but we must boil all water before drinking or washing dishes, etc.

I didn't even think about it when I woke up this morning and brushed my teeth with the TAP WATER! Luckily, I haven't suffered any ill effects from it but I'm putting a bottle of water on the bathroom sink to remind me not to do that again.

I'm sure it was all in my head but I've never been so thirsty until I heard I couldn't drink the water. My house is not stocked with gallons of water since we switched to using a water filter system to help eliminate all the plastic bottles going into the landfill. I guess going green comes with some risks.

After hearing the news we went right out to the supermarket where we found a bunch of empty shopping carts in the water isle but no water on the shelves. We went to another store with a big sign out front saying "sorry, out of water" and then finally hit a gas station where we paid $6 for 6 little bottles of water because they were all sold out of gallons.

I was sad to learn that some places have been price gouging and hoarding water supplies when people should be coming together to help each other out in a time of crisis. If only people would just take what they need instead of trying to stock up a year's worth of water to get through a few days it would make it so much easier for all of us.

It's a bit of an inconvenience but nothing compared to people in other parts of the world who don't even have a faucet to turn on. Before we had a well drilled at our camp up north we used to have to trudge through the snow to our dug well to fill up buckets of water to be able to flush the toilet in the winter so this is easy peasy compared to that. Now if I can just remember not to automatically turn on the faucet to brush my teeth I'll be all set.

Time to fill up my bottles to take to the gym since I won't be able to simply hit the water cooler to fill up. Have you had your water today? Do you buy bottled water or drink from the tap? Drink up, it's good for you.

Remember, hydrate or die.

1,000 Words: Tiptoe Through the Tulips

April was a Push

As most of you already know, I love to play cards, usually the Texas Hold 'em variety. In addition to friendly local Hold 'em tournaments, I've been known to make a donation to our Native American friends now and again at Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. When I go to the casino I usually head straight for the blackjack tables where, as you probably know, when your hand matches the dealer's hand you don't win but you don't lose either, it's called "a push." Well, my weight loss for the month of April was a push. Today I weighed in exactly the same weight as I was on April 1st. I was up as much as 5.3 pounds and down a mere .2 during the month but ended up with a push. Better than busting out, right?

I worked out consistently, I ate pretty well, I didn't binge, I didn't drink and I didn't even lose a measly tenth of a pound the whole damn month. It's crazy but I'm really not too upset about it. I've been very consistent with my workouts and have been hitting the weights more often so I'm just going to continue what I've been doing in addition to paying more attention to what I'm stuffing in my face.

Since leaving work at the end of November, I've lost a total of 26.4 pounds which averages a little over 5 pounds a month which is ok with me. I'm determined to kick it up a notch and show a good loss for the month of May. It's time for me to push it. Who's with me?

Karma is a Bitch

Today is National Pay it Forward Day. Take the opportunity to get out and do something nice for someone, anyone, a friend or a stranger, but do it without any expectation of getting anything in return other than good karma.

It doesn't have to be a big deal, maybe help an elderly person with their grocery bags, put money in a meter that's about to expire, hold the door open for someone running to catch the train, lend a hand, a shoulder to cry on or just give a compliment or a smile. It will come back to you.

John Lennon had the right idea:

Instant Karma's gonna get you,
Gonna knock you right on the head,
You better get yourself together,
Pretty soon you're gonna be dead,
What in the world you thinking of,
Laughing in the face of love,
What on earth you tryin' to do,
It's up to you, yeah you.

Instant Karma's gonna get you,
Gonna look you right in the face,
Better get yourself together darlin',
Join the human race,
How in the world you gonna see,
Laughin' at fools like me,
Who on earth d'you think you are,
A super star,
Well, right you are.

Well we all shine on,
Like the moon and the stars and the sun,
Well we all shine on,
Ev'ryone come on.

Instant Karma's gonna get you,
Gonna knock you off your feet,
Better recognize your brothers,
Ev'ryone you meet,
Why in the world are we here,
Surely not to live in pain and fear,
Why on earth are you there,
When you're ev'rywhere,
Come and get your share.

Remember, what goes around comes around. Don't you think EVERY DAY should be Pay it Forward Day?

The Biggest Loser Cry

Am I the only one that cries like a baby during every single episode of The Biggest Loser. I used to think it was because I was so stressed out at work and my emotions were always so raw on the surface but I'm not dealing with that stress anymore and I'm still balling my eyes out every Tuesday night.


I still have a love/hate relationship with The Biggest Loser but look forward to watching it every week.

It may take me longer than the tv season but I know I will be a BIG loser too.


Am I the only one who needs to stock up on tissues before watching The Biggest Loser?

Mother Earth

Happy Earth Day! We've got the whole world in our hands.

Do something good for Mother Earth, she's the only one we have.

99 Minutes!!!

I did it!

Tony the Anti-Jared and Jen the Prior Fat Girl's 4/20 Challenge is today and I'm proud to tell you I did it!!

I'm a big fan of both their blogs and look forward to every single post. I love that they both tell it like it is. They are inspiring and motivating but they don't sugarcoat what it takes to be successful in this weight loss game. They are proof that if you work hard you can get the results you want just like they did.

I remember Jen and Tony's last challenge but I don't think I would have lasted 10 minutes on the elliptical back then. I committed to do 60 minutes on the elliptical but now that I've been going to the gym regularly, sixty minutes isn't such a big challenge anymore. Sixty minutes is my regular workout now, or at least it was before I wrenched my back a few weeks ago.

This is the t-shirt I wore at the gym today.

I signed up to do at least 60 minutes but if I felt good enough I was going to push it for the full 99 minutes. I figured "no pressure" was a good motto to have. I didn't want to re-injure my back so I was just going to wait and see how I felt. I was still feeling pretty good after 60 minutes so I decided to stick it out for the full 99 minutes that Jen and Tony were going to be on the StairMaster. My thighs would have been screaming if I tried to do 99 minutes on the StairMaster but I'm proud I was able to stay on the elliptical for that long. My thighs were screaming a bit and felt like jello when I got off but it felt good.

The whole time I was on that machine I was thinking about what an inspiration Jen and Tony are to me. They are the real deal. Jen still struggles with the candy dish at the office just like I did every single one of those 40 hours a week I was trapped in the office and Tony gets up at an ungodly hour so he can make time for the gym. They've celebrated the joys of birth and the crushing loss of death and through it all they are still fighting the good fat fight through all of life's ups and downs. They are weight loss blogger rock stars.

I really wanted to get a picture of the machine showing 99 minutes but the machines at my gym are set at a 60 minute max with a 10 minute cool down so I had to do 70 minutes and then continue on for another 29.02 for a total of 99.02 minutes!!! I did it at a lower fat burning intensity instead of the high cardio because I reasoned if I was going to go the distance it would probably be a good idea to slow it down a little.

*Do the math. It adds up to 99:02 minutes, 814 calories and 5.87 miles. Not too shabby, huh?

Everyone is always looking for motivation to get off their ass and lose the fat they've been dragging around but it's not about motivation, it's about accepting that there is no magic to weight loss. Anyone can do it. They are everywhere. You've seen them around. They've been on tv, they've written books, they've let us into their lives through their blogs. There are so many good examples - Sean Anderson at Daily Diary of a Winning Loser, Diane at Fit to the Finish, Lori at Finding Radiance, Cammy at the Tippy Toe Diet, Jennette, the one and only PastaQueen, Shauna, the Amazing DietGirl, they all did it and so can you and I.

They aren't keeping a big secret from the rest of us. They've showed us how they did it and have been telling us how to do it for years. It's not magic, they just did what it takes. It's not all about a diet of rabbit food and denial, it's about living a healthy lifestyle. Eat healthy foods, enjoy not so healthy foods in moderation and get out and move your ass, it's no big secret. Stop watching so much tv and take a hike, take the stairs instead of the elevator, just keep moving. We all know that right? The question is "how bad do you want it?" Do you want to do what it takes or eat that cake? Do you want to watch tv all night or work up a sweat? It's a choice.

After 99 minutes on the elliptical machine I was a total sweaty mess. If you don't believe me, keep an eye on Jen's blog where she's threatening to post all the sweaty pictures of everyone who participated. There's still time to join the challenge. Get out and do 60 or 99 minutes. Make the choice to get out and get healthy.

I celebrated 4/20 this year by getting high on endorphins and spreading Bob Marley's message of peace, love and all that other other good stuff.

Love the life you live,

Live the life you love.

- Bob Marley

Celebrate 4/20 today by getting high on endorphins! Peace out.

P.S.

I'm sad to say I may have lost a few followers by admitting I enjoy smoking the peace pipe on occasion. I'm sorry if I offended anyone but I'm not going to lie about who I am. After my last post I did learn that 4/20 is the Evil Adolf's birthday so maybe they thought I was celebrating his birthday and they were offended by that or maybe I just bore them, who knows. Anyway, just to clarify, I was not celebrating the birth of one of the most evil men in history, I was referring to the 4/20 stoner holiday.

Celebrating 4/20

I'm going to celebrate 4/20 by getting high (on endorphins). I'm not ashamed to admit in past years I've celebrated 4/20 with a big fat Bob Marley Memorial *gasp* *I hope you're not too shocked or offended*. I know it's not healthy but everyone needs a vice, right? Anyway ... this year I'm going to celebrate the 4/20 holiday by getting high on endorphins with two of the most inspiring weight loss bloggers.

The no-nonsense, straight talking, weight loss rock star, Tony, the Anti-Jared has challenged Jen, the amazing original Prior Fat Girl to a 99 minute StairMaster challenge on 4/20 and they have invited us all to join them in getting good and sweaty. I remember being inspired by their last challenge and I'm sure this one will be just as good except, sadly, we won't have Jen's Mom to cheer us along this time. I know she'll be there in spirit encouraging Jen and everyone else. I can hear her saying "it's on like Donkey Kong" now.

Not only has Tony challenged Jen to 99 minutes on the StairMaster (imagine the thigh burn) but he also raised the stakes up a notch. They both have to get at least 200 people to commit to working out for over 60 minutes on April 20th. Any workout will do. You can walk, jog, wog, run, do a home video, play on your Wii, do jumping jacks, swim, bike, hit the gym, rake leaves, dance, have sex, whatever you feel like doing that gets your heart rate up and makes you good and sweaty. I'm sure Jen would love to see your glowing, post workout, sweaty pictures too.

RSVP at Tony's or Jen's blog and make the commitment to get high on 4/20. If I make it for the full 99 minutes I may still celebrate the ol' traditional way. Bob would want it that way, Mon. Get in the circle, join the challenge and get high on those endorphins. Ya Mon. Peace out.

S T R E E E E E T C H ....

Stretching is sooooooo important but most of us don't want to waste what little time we carve out of our busy lives to do something so easy and boring before we get down to business with cardio and weights or maybe it's just me. I've learned the hard way that it's absolutely essential to make time for stretching.

My screaming lower back muscles are proof that you can't do all the cardio you want without stretching BEFORE and AFTER. I'm weaning myself off the pain killers (vicodin) and muscle relaxers (flexeril) and getting back to the gym at about half strength. Before I hurt my back I was cranking out 60 minutes on the elliptical and feeling strong and happy to work up a good sweat. I'm not happy that I'm only able to get up to 30 minutes on the elliptical before my back/side/hip starts feeling it. I don't want to push myself out of commission again so I'm going to start listening to what my body is trying to tell me.

Do you make it a point to stretch before and after you workout? How long do you stretch? What type of stretches do you think are most important to do before doing cardio? Any tips on how to get it done without falling asleep on the mat from boredom?

5 Pound Fluke

I knew the scale was just messing with me last Friday. I was so excited to see that I lost almost 5 pounds but I just knew it wasn't a real loss and I was right. I got it all back on Monday. I guess my scale was just a little late with its April Fools joke.

My back is feeling better so I went to the gym today for the first time in over a week. I limited my time on the elliptical to 20 minutes, made sure to stretch before and after and then did the weight circuit. I was a bit tender but not in pain.

Time to get those next 5 pounds off for real. Don't pay so much attention to the scale. It doesn't know what the hell it's saying half the time.

Scales are Stupid

I'm always surprised by how much stock we all put in the numbers on the scale. The scale doesn't know how hard I've been working out, how much muscle mass I've gained, where I am in my cycle, how much salt I ate the night before, how much water I drank or any of the other factors that make up "the number."

I know I've allowed "the number" to have a big affect how I feel about myself on any particular day. I can feel righteous when I see a loss and fall into despair when I see a gain. I've even been tempted to throw in the towel on this journey if I've done everything right and the stupid scale shows I've gained instead of lost. It's time to stop giving the scale the power to throw me off my game.

Why do we continue to give that piece of metal so much power? I haven't been to the gym since Monday because I pulled a muscle in my back (yes, the doctor agreed it was most likely muscle soreness) but when I got on the scale this morning I was rewarded with a 4.8 pound loss for the week. Huh? That is the most I've lost in a single week this year even though I've worked out harder and longer and ate better on other weeks. I spent the past two days lying flat on my back and not doing the least bit of activity and lost 4.8 pounds. Does that mean I should spend more time lying on my back than in the gym if I want to lose weight? Of course not. It just means the scale doesn't know everything and we should stop giving it so much credit.

I think it's about time we learn the lesson that the scale doesn't know it all. It's just one small way to measure ourselves but we shouldn't let it have so much power over our minds, our self confidence and our actions.

Take the number the scale spits out with a grain of salt. If you're working hard and doing the right things, keep doing it no matter what the scale says. Know you are on the right track and don't let a stupid hunk of metal tell you how to feel.

How much power do you give the scale?

Chocolate Love

Who doesn't love chocolate? We even have science to help us make the argument that it's good for us. Chocolate tends to be one of those trigger foods for me, especially if it's covering a salty pretzel.

One of my friends had such a strong addiction to chocolate she actually went to a hypnotist to help her get over it. I'm amazed she hasn't eaten it or had the desire to eat it in over ten years (!). She isn't even tempted by it in the slightest. I wish she had used the hypnotist to help her quit smoking but I guess she wasn't ready to give up the cigarettes and felt the chocolate was doing more harm (??). I'm doing my best to avoid chocolate right now but I can't imagine living the rest of my life without sweet chocolaty goodness.

I can't wait for Easter this year because I gave up alcohol for Lent (what was I thinking?) so I'm looking forward to having a tall cool glass of something with vodka in it more than chocolate eggs and bunnies. I'm still baffled how a holiday about the resurrection of Christ turned into a rabbit delivering baskets full of chocolate and sugar but anyway ....

I recently received a Virtual Chocolate Easter basket from the beautiful Tammy at From Fat to Fab. She is so sweet - thanks Tammy! There's a very good reason you should grab a virtual Easter basket and pass it on to your blogging buddies.

Here's the deal:

HERSHEY’S BETTER BASKET BLOG HOP RULES:

•Copy and paste these rules to your blog post.

•Create a blog post giving a virtual Easter Basket to another blogger – you can give as many Virtual Baskets as you want.

•Link back to person who gave you an Easter Basket (THANKS Tammy).

•Let each person you are giving a Virtual Easter Basket know you have given them a Basket.

•Leave your link at BetterBasket.info/BlogHop comment section. You can also find the official rules of this betterbasket blog hop, and more information about Better Basket with Hershey’s there.

•This started as a meme of Hershey donating $10 per each blog participating to the Better Basket Blog Hop to Children’s Miracle Network up to $5,000 – but after so many bloggers participating, Hershey decided to donate a total of $7,000 honoring the kindness of blogger community. Let's see if we can get them to donate even more money to help those kids.

I tend to be a rule breaker but I'm going to do my best to follow them this time for the cause. I'd love to link to everyone but I have such a long list of cheerleaders and inspirational blog bunnies I'll have to narrow it down to just a few.

Hilly at Hillybean

Cammy at The Tippy Toe Diet

Lori at Finding Radiance (John won't have to put this basket on the high shelf)

Julia at Jewlia Goulia

LAF at Walk in Loveliness

Manuela at A New Decade

Chris at A Deliberate Life

Janell at Thufferin Thuccotash

and

YOU! I'd love to personally pass out even more baskets to every single one of you but I'm lazy and it's beautiful out so I don't want to spend any more time indoors on the computer. Even if you don't celebrate Easter, just celebrated Passover or could care less about chocolate, please grab yourself a basket of virtual chocolate and pass it on.

The best part of receiving this chocolate Easter basket is that it has zero calories and will not end up on your hips. Go ahead and enjoy your calorie-free chocolate, put your cottontail on and keep the baskets hopping along!!! :)

HAPPY EASTER!

Balancing Act

Look! I was "perfectly centered!" I only got this result once in over three months of taking the balance test on my Wii Fit Plus. I'm usually hanging back, slightly to the left.

There is no doubt in my mind that losing weight is a balancing act. Up/down, give/take, yin/yang, black/white, thin/fat, tall/short, rich/poor, high/low ... you know, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

I'm learning that I don't need to go to the extreme of being "ON" or "OFF" plan to lose weight. I just need to make sure my actions are the right ones to give me the reaction I want. Eating healthy and working out will result in weight loss if I'm consistent. If I eat right and work out five days a week and go hog wild on the weekend I'm just making things harder on myself.

I've got it pretty easy right now since I'm not spending over 8 hours a day at a desk job but I'm going to have to learn how to balance work and a healthy lifestyle (unless I hit the lottery before my unemployment benefits run out).

How do you find balance in your life?

Muscle Soreness or Injury?

How do you tell the difference between muscle soreness and a more serious injury? Is it just the intensity of the pain?

I've been suffering with some lower back pain over the past week which I thought was due to my intense 60 minute workouts on the elliptical. I have been stretching before and after but thought maybe I wasn't doing enough or maybe I was just working muscles that haven't been used this much in a long time.

I've never been this consistent with my workouts and initially thought that the pain was just soreness from all the activity but I'm starting to think it may be something more serious. I had a massage over the weekend and was feeling better but then last night I kept waking up every time I tried to roll over. I put some ice on the area and plan on taking a long hot bath soon to see if that helps.

Do you have any advice on how to tell whether you're just sore or whether you need to call the doctor?

Who let the dogs out?

*Warning* *Rant Ahead*

Why are cheating men making network news headlines? There have to be stories more important than the latest sleaze ball dog stepping out on the woman he promised to love and cherish above all others until death parts them.

If I want to know how many mistresses a pro golfer had, how many people helped cover up for a politician screwing around on his sick wife or how many tattoos the bombshell who screwed the "happily" married to a famous actress biker had I can watch the entertainment news shows or read the celebrity blogs and rag mags.

Is it really the "greatest comeback ever" for the golfer. He never really left, did he? It's not like he lost a limb, was in an accident, had a disease or broke his bones and struggled to get back to the game. He went to rehab for having too much sex with too many woman behind his wife's back. Why is that considered a great comeback in the sports world? I don't understand.

It breaks my heart that the Oscar winning actress who gushed about being in love with a man who finally had her back. He was someone she could trust and be herself with. He was someone who made her work better because she knew she had someone at home who made her feel safe and protected. This dog of hers was smiling and supporting her while he was simultaneously lying and screwing some tattoo covered skank in her home.

Most men are dogs who think with the head between their legs instead of the head on their shoulders. Why don't these cheaters delete the text messages and voice mails? Are they really that stupid or do they want to get caught?

It makes me sick that woman allow men to take advantage of them and get away with this type of behavior. I don't think any woman should put up with a dog unless it walks on four legs, gets lead around on a leash, wags its tail, is always excited to see you, warms your bed and gives you nothing but unconditional love.


Why do these men bother getting married if they don't have any intention of keeping their vows? I don't think I'll ever understand why these cheating dogs are headline news.

*My apologies to all the good guys out there (all 3 of you).

Frustrated

Back in January 2008 I worked up the courage to divulge my weight here on this blog. I've been tempted to delete that post ever since but forced myself to keep it on there so I could look back and see how far I had come once I got to my weight loss goal. Even though I ranted and raved about how much I wanted and needed to lose weight I ended up gaining an additional 16 pounds to reach my highest weight ever in November 2009. Talk about frustration.

Every other time I lost a significant amount of weight I did it by severely changing my diet and hardly doing any regular exercise. I've always been active even at my highest weight but playing on the weekends didn't make up for sitting at a desk for 40+ hours, lazing around and stuffing my face all week.

In the 80's I spent almost a year eating nothing but JC food out of a box to lose 50+ pounds. I couldn't continue to live on that stuff although I've heard that the JC food out of a box has gotten much better since then. I wanted to be able to eat what everyone else was eating and didn't want to live on cardboard boxed food forever.

In the 90's I lost over 60 pounds by avoiding all "white" foods. I still can't believe I was able to do this for so long. I love all those white foods which are so bad for me and give me nothing in return but more fat on my a$$. I amazed myself by staying away from the white bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, flour and sugar but I couldn't keep it up forever. I stayed on my own modified version of Atkins/South Beach and the weight melted off but I couldn't live a life without bread and pasta. I knew my Italian Grandma must have been doing flips in her grave. Life is not worth living if you can never eat a piece of bread or pasta again. This wasn't something I could sustain for a lifetime. It worked until I accidentally ate a crouton and blew right back up like a balloon hooked up to a bottle of helium.

By the time I got laid off from my daily dose of high stress in November 2009 I was bursting at my pant seams at my highest weight ever. I was so miserable and depressed about my work situation it was hard to stay focused on anything else. I binged and grazed all day long to keep my emotions and frustrations inside instead of lashing out and telling those abusers how I really felt because I thought keeping my job was more important. I paid the price in pounds.

I've been away from the corporate hell hole for almost 4 months now and have lost an average of 5 pounds a month. Five measly pounds a month is far from rapid weight loss and I wish it were falling off quicker but I'm happy it's coming off consistently.

I have been religiously attending the gym and getting my sweat on like a good little bunny. I've been rocking that elliptical machine in 60 minute intervals an average of 5 days a week and recently started throwing some weights around. I've been playing on my Wii and wearing a pedometer and striving to get those 10,000+ steps a day. It's not coming off fast but it is coming off.

I'd like to pick up this turtle pace so I'm going to tackle my diet in addition to cranking it up at the gym. There's a novel idea, huh? Combine diet and regular exercise to get results. I think I've heard a few people say that's the key to the weight loss mystery. I don't know why it has always been one or the other for me.

I haven't had any severe binge episodes since I escaped the stressful work situation but I haven't really gotten super strict with my diet either. I've basically been eating what I want in moderation but if I want to speed up the process I'm going to have to sacrifice a little and learn to stop eating at night, cut down the weekend snacking and turn down the fattening foods in social situations where I tend to get in trouble.

I'm not discouraged but I am frustrated that I'm not losing at least 2 pounds a week. It's time for me to put the two pieces of the puzzle together and get this game on the fast(er) track.

Hit and Run

What is wrong with people? Sometimes I really hate living in the city.

Tuesday night we were home watching the Biggest Loser and we heard a big bang. B asked "what was that?" I said "it sounds like a big truck fell into a sink hole." Last week we had a big sink hole open up down the street so that was the first thing I thought of. B looked out the window but didn't see anything unusual.

The next morning our neighbor called to tell us someone hit our truck last night. We were lucky our neighbor got the plate number. I'm sure the driver of the hit and run vehicle was drunk because he didn't go very far. You could follow the plastic parts and scrape marks around the corner to find a vehicle that was severely damaged. My truck was smashed from the rear bumper to the front bumper but the other guy's vehicle was destroyed. His airbag went off, his front right tire was twisted sideways and there was a big dent and scrape marks all up the passenger's side.

We met with the local police who towed the vehicle and then he went to talk with the registered owners who live about a mile away. The officer said they would probably say the vehicle was stolen but apparently they fessed up (through an interpreter) that they hit a vehicle the night before but didn't stop and tell anyone about it. My guess is they decided it was better to get fined for leaving the scene of an accident than getting a DUI.

I spent the rest of the week dealing with the insurance company, the body shop and the car rental place. The worst part about it is we won't have our truck for the weekend and we need it to be able to trailer the snowmobiles so we can go riding. None of the rental places rent trucks with trailer hitches so we need to figure out how to get the sleds to the snow. It may be the last time we get to ride since we seem to be having the same strange weather as Vancouver and the temperatures are supposed to really warm up.

I used to get really upset when my vehicle got scratched or damaged but after it happened so many times I'm kind of numb to it now. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the body shop does good work and the idiot who hit us stays off the road when he's drunk.

Paying the Price

I'm having Winter Olympic withdrawals. I loved watching the games and hate that I have to wait 4 years to see them again. Where will we be in 4 years? Will we have reached our goals? What are we doing to make it happen?

Sandrelle at Keeping Off the Pounds recently posted an article by Dr. Denis Waitley called The Winner's Circle.

The article really hit me hard and made me think about how much effort I am putting in to reach my goals. Is it enough? Am I willing to put in the effort to get the results I want?

Dr. Waitley writes:

Everyone wants to win, but few are willing to invest the time and effort. Paying the price means focusing on developing the skills and training regimen of champions—observation, imitation, repetition and the internalization of knowledge into habits; also, learning why and how to go the extra mile and seeing success as a marathon, not a dash. Champions view failures as temporary inconveniences and learning experiences.

Are you willing to pay the price to go for the gold?

The Nuts

"The Nuts" is the absolute best possible hand in any given hand of poker. It's the unbeatable, unbreakable hand. Having "the Nuts" is a very good thing but eating the nuts all night long is not.

I love playing poker but I haven't figured out how to do it without stuffing my poker face full of snacks. I always have fun getting together with friends and taking their money but I hate taking away all the extra calories along with the cash. I'm happy I came in 1st place last night but I'm not happy about all the crap I ate.

I had a decent dinner before heading out so I wouldn't be tempted by the snack food but it didn't work out so well. I ate baked tortilla chips, nuts (pistachios, cashews and walnuts) and then it got really bad when some leftover fun sized Halloween candy got broken out. I had a few Butterfingers and a few Health bars before I pulled in the reins and stopped myself from a full fledged binge. I felt so gross and disgusted with myself. I didn't want to eat that crap but I did it anyway. When will I learn?

I need to be able to resist the temptation to eat just because it's there and everyone else is eating it. I need to figure out how to have a social life and stay on my healthy eating plan.

I can't even use alcohol as an excuse because I gave that up for Lent so I was only drinking water. Maybe I should have given up chocolate for 40 days instead of vodka.

It looks like I'll be spending my time at the gym this this week working the chocolate off my poker face.