Happy Friday!

Hooray for unexpected days off! Thursday morning, at 5:30 a.m., I got a message from the school that we had a massive power outage and they would send an update if we were to come in later in the day. Well, the update said "no school today due to no power on campus." Woo Hoo! Can you tell I'm trying to tone down my excitement?! True, I'll be a little behind on some things, but I work well under pressure :).

A note about the power outage - we are having some construction work done on campus and I'm pretty sure that has played a part in our outage. The building that I'm in now will be torn down and a nice new one will take it's place. During Spring break, we'll be moved from our offices into some temporary buildings and they'll start on tearing down the old to make way for the new. We're all excited and yet a little apprehensive. And, my co-worker that I've been filling in for (a lot) is having back surgery right after we come back from break. I feel the stress pulling my shoulders up already but the bike riding is helping me keep it in perspective. I can't control the changes but I can control how it affects me. I'm just going to keep calm and carry on.

So, Thursday morning, with the threat of rain in the afternoon, I went for my bike ride. It was a little cloudy and very windy. I worked up a good sweat fighting the wind. Then I took Sydney for a walk. I've been taking her for a walk after I get back from riding. She needs a lifestyle change, too. I took her to the vet last week (that's her in the picture buckled up for safety) for a check up and some shots and was told she needed to lose a few pounds. She loves going for walks and it motivates me to get out there and walk more so it's a win-win thing. I'm planning on repeating the ride and walk today, too.

It never did really rain yesterday, except for a few sprinkles but I'm glad I got my ride in early. I've been doing good with my food. I'm still doing low carb, but I've had to count my calories and watch my portions. I tend to think that since it's low carb that I can have as much as I want. Hah. What was I thinking? I'm also logging what I eat, which I don't like because I get a little obsessive, but I MUST be strict with myself for a while until it becomes habit again.

So glad it's Friday and I am so happy to have the day off. Hope you have an awesome weekend!

Hope Restored - Thanks!

Let me first say thank you for the wonderful support I received yesterday after my depressing post. It meant so much to me. Seriously, it helped me more than you can imagine. I began to feel better immediately after reading your comments. Hope restored.

When I got home yesterday, I took the dogs out and then put some air in my tires and went for a short ride. I hadn't been on the bike since January 7th so I took it slow and easy. When I got home, I felt great. Riding seems to be the best exercise for getting me out of the dumps. And what great spring weather we're having down here! It's awesome.

Anyway, just wanted to say thanks for being there. I'm taking the advice you shared to heart and focus on one meal at a time, pick myself up and dust myself off and get back on the wagon, think positive, give up "dieting" for lifestyle changes, and know that this too shall pass.

Wagons, ho!

Losing Hope

That's not what I expected of myself, but that seems to be where I am with my weightloss. I've been trying to stick with my diet for a few weeks now and lately I just can't do it. I'm very upset with myself, too. I'm going on a trip in April and had hoped to lose twenty pounds by then. Now, I'd be surprised if I lose five.

I know it's all about what you put into it that counts. I always feel like I'm ready to give it 100%. Then, out of the blue, I just cave in and eat stuff. I'm beginning to feel like I'll never be able to stick to a diet again. I've been dieting since my teens. All the time, year after year, my thoughts are about what I can and cannot eat. I'm sick of it. I'm sick of my inability to lose weight.

Sorry, this post is down and out. I'm depressed about it and feeling hopeless. I feel fatter than I've ever felt before. Maybe it's just time to give up. I don't even feel like blogging anymore.

Happy Valentines Day!

I hope your day is happy, happy, happy!

Snow Day - sans snow

Yesterday, we were all abuzz here in Houston about the possibility of 1 to 3 inches of snow falling on our beloved city. The decision was made at school Thursday that we would be closed today. That made everyone happy! (Doesn't take much) I woke up at 6:30 this morning, looked out the window and saw...nothing...no snow. What a let down.

All we got was a lot of ice. Black ice (not to be confused with the once abundant black gold in these here parts) all over the roads, freeways, driveways, etc. So many accidents reported around town. Some fatal. Its too dangerous out there people. Stay home if you can.

My mom decided to make vegetable soup last night. I was excited about it at first, then found out what was in it - cream style corn, white potatoes, carrots. Normally I'd be okay with that, but since I'm doing low carb, I was a little upset. I kept it to myself though and ate a bowl. It was really good, too. I didn't have any cornbread with it, but I know it was still a lot of carbs.

I'm going to clean house today and get it over with. I usually clean on Saturday, but tomorrow is supposed to be in the low 50's and sunny. Hoorah. Now I just need to stop munching. This cold weather makes me hungry.

Hope you're keeping warm and toasty and safe.

It's Good to be Queen

Comment Queen, that is. Whatever, it's good to be Queen of anything, eh?

Blog Award!! From Anne H at Carb Tripper! 

Thanks, Anne!

This is a new award created by this lovely blogger:

Shannon at A Fat Wife's Journey to Fabulous

(A Lap-Band Story)

Here's how to play:

List 5 goals that you have/had while on your lap band journey*. 

Comment on each blog you nominate and list your top 3 nominees for the award. 

(*well, since I don't have lap-band, I'll just call it a weight-loss journey)

1. Think, eat, and live like a thin person. This whole weight-loss thing is all about lifestyle changes.


2. I used to want to be able to wear heels again. Now, I just want to be thin enough that my feet don't hurt. Then, any shoe that fits will be perfect.


3. Ride my bike on a long distance ride. Adventure Cycling has some great routes. 


4. Fit in an airplane seat with room to spare. Flying right now is not enjoyable. I feel like I take up way too much space and forget going to the bathroom on the plane. It's just confirmation of how big my butt is.


5. Enjoy having my picture taken. Usually, I avoid being in a picture. When I was young and thin I never appreciated my looks. Now, when I look at old pictures, I could just kick myself for not realizing I was okay. Not fat at all.


Number one is really the key to all the others. I've tried for so many years to lose weight. I've lost and gained and lost and gained. I really want to put "dieting" to rest and get on with my life. 


One thing I can say about dieting and blogging is that if I didn't have my blogging friends, I would probably have given up a long time ago. Right about the time I'm feeling like a failure, someone leaves a comment that brightens my day. What a great community of givers you all are. You are awesome!


Now, for this award, I have to pick three bloggers to pass it along to. It's really hard to pick only a few, but here goes:


1. Kimberly at The Woman Inside Me
2. Tamzin at One Inch at a Time
3. Kelly at Happy Texans

Here I am staying up late again. Now I've cut into my reading time, dang it. Anyway, have a great day and stay warm!

Not changing, for now.

Thanks to all of you for your thoughts on the new title I was considering. For now, I've decided to stay with Shrink to Fit.

New Blog Title ?

I'm thinking of changing the title of my blog to "She Craves." (see it up there?) What do you think?

I still want to "shrink." But I want my "craves" to be less about food and more about what gives me joy.

I don't know, already I'm not sure if I'll miss my old title too much.

In Control

Last week I began to eat very low carb. I thought it would be really hard since I'd been practically mainlining sugar for a couple of months, but not so. I started on Tuesday and by Thursday, I felt in control. Now, I'm not saying that I'm totally rehabbed, but I can look a muffin in the eye and walk on by.

As a result of the low carbbing, I've lost 6 lbs. Woo Hoo! And I do feel better already.

On my drive home today from work, I had this thought:  I want to set myself free and throw my hands in the air and twirl! Well, maybe not twirl literally, but who knows? All this weight feels like a ships anchor wrapped around me, holding me down. I'm sick of that feeling. I want to twirl. Anyway, it sounds weird, but I get it. I think I finally get it.

We haven't heard anymore critters in the attic so we must have only had one raccoon. The wildlife wrangler came today to check the trap and he said it looks like nothing has been up there. Later this week they will patch up the screens that were missing and that should be the end of critters in the attic.

Have a great week.

Caught!

Just a quick post as it's late and I'm already behind on sleep. This little guy got caught in the trap that the wildlife wrangler dude put in my attic a week ago. I'd heard a lot of movement up there which drives Sydney crazy and then I get no sleep. So Tuesday wrangler dude came out and put some sardines in the trap since, clearly, the nuts were not of interest to this critter.

Around 3:30 am I heard a lot of commotion and noise and that sent Sydney (the Brave) into a frenzy. I went up the attic stairs and was eye to eye with a raccoon. He kinda snorted at me and huffed and puffed and was cute as can be. I stayed up and then went to work, called the wrangler dude and he met me at the house to pick up the critter and take  him to a better place. We have another trap set in case there is mate. I just hope if they were a couple, they end up back together.

I'm low-carbing it this week and while visions of bread and sugary things are dancing around in my head, I feel strongly that I can say no to the white stuff and mean it.

Hope you have a wonderful day!