Mandi and I are headed to Prism on Thursdays again!

Hey all, Mandi and I are going to join Prism again....I left my class in Jan of '07 to lead one of my own and I have just maintained for the last year or so. It is time to get these final 20-25 lbs off me. Mandi has had an emotional year and is ready to put the pedal to the medal again. Pray for us, as our new meetings begin next Thursday and we both plan to have a full meal journal filled out to turn in. It will be hard, but so worth it.

PS It was Mandi's birthday today, girls! Lets all flood her with some WAIWMIWLI love! (She is GlitzyGuru on the blog)


Back to fat splat, Jules

Checking In

It has been super-busy here at Chez Lisa, what with all the working (good), playing (better), and keeping out of trouble (best). I think have gained some weight but I'm scared to step on the scales. That said, I have never been fitter. Go figure.

I just ran my second half-marathon last weekend and improved even on my really good time from the first. I am going to run one (or maybe two) more this spring and then start marathon training. Who thought I would ever say that? Not me!

Anyway, I'm just checking in, posting a pic from Mile 13 on Saturday, and thinking about maybe getting serious about this losing weight thing here soon (I look so "fluffy" in the picture and that was the best one).

Hope the rest of y'all are doing well!

Love, Lisa

I've started a new class

Last week, my girl friend at the Y persuaded me to take a spinning class with her. She normally does it twice a week, I'd only done it once, last year. Once I tell you, because my back side hurt for like 2 1/2 days, and it was HARD, so I avoided doing it again. Last Thursday though, I thought that I'd give it another go, and I'm so glad that I did! I did it again this morning, and my butt's not even sore this time. That, and it's not quite as hard as I remember... probably because I'm stronger than I was several months ago. : ) At any rate, I'm going to be doing it twice a week for a while, just to change up my work out. So here's to trying something new, even when it's really tough. : )

Ahem....anyone?

Is there anyone out there?

Helllooooo?

Up the Mountain

I'm on my way up to the mountain. It is a gorgeous day and I'm sure conditions will be well awesome. I'm sore, tired and achy, but I can hear my husband griding beans in the kitchen which means a latte is on its way.

Enjoy your day - I hope to!

Hi all, I have been absent for a while. I have spent the better part of the last two months eating my way through winter. I gained back nine pounds and found myself at 167. So I have been working on getting it back. I am sticking firmly to 1500 calories, have ditched meat completely and have managed to stop eating at night. It's only 6 days since I quit eating after 8 pm, but I am already back down out of the 160's. It just goes to show me that I can't budge if I want the scale to budge.

It has been hard getting off the Meridia and settling into my own weight loss plan, but I am hanging in there. The alternative of gaining back all the weight is just too scary. With this weight gain coming on in two months, it would take hardly any time to gain it all back again. Especially since we all know that it snowballs and the more you gain, the faster you gain it.

I don't want to go back to how I was. I was ready to quit this month and say, screw it, I'll just say I am in maintenance. But I wasn't in maintenance, I had not hit my goal and had not stayed at that goal. I was quitting and gaining.

Hopefully I am back for good. Wish me strength. Luck just won't cut it when it comes to hot dogs and fries. That's what the family had for dinner last night. I had veggies. It was really hard.

Today I went to the barn again. I worked on three horses, cooled out two, and was basically WHOOPED when I got home.

I think its been over a month of working there regularly. I wish I could say that I've lost weight, but my arms are getting stronger!

Today I had the pleasure of cooling out (walking slowly after workout) two horses - and I had a couple of Paradise Moments.

It sure is fun to have a workout activity that you enjoy - and on a stunning day!

A FOUR pound loss!

Yes, it CAN be done, even while on your period of all times. : ) My dilligence is paying off. This week I've been drinking lots of water again, eating really good, and avoiding cake at all costs! (I've been to two separate places where yummy cake was served, and I've declined both times). You must understand, I could, and would live on cake alone if my hips permitted it. It is my favorite junk food...
Anyhow, I'm feeling reinspired. I really want to get down to my goal weight by my 40th, which is in June. I've got 21 more pounds. Can it be done?!?!? I'm going to do everything within my power to get there. I want to feel gorgeous for my big day, I want to feel like a super star! Does that sound vain? Well, even if it does, that's how I want to feel.

Monday is Julie Paine's Birthday - and this is for her.

A light aria of a flute drifts over the hill

Where my Julie doodles her musical designs.

A light of soft love surrounds her still

When my Julie enters a room.

A light velvet hammer pounds under His will

When my Julie is a friend.

A light smile all defenses kill

When my Julie look into the eyes.

Happy Birthday

Sweet Julie,

My life is better for having known

And being known by you.

A new take on treadmills

Happy Valentine's Day

I was inspired by Julie and Mr. bill to post a little something for Valentine's Day too!

This song is dedicated to my husband.



I mean every word. Well, except the bit about sewing. Unless we're speaking metaphorically, in which case, yeah, I mean every word.

Mr Bill wishes you a Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

Our Love

by Julie Paine

Our Love started in the heart of God
He knit us together, in our mother’s wombs
Our sweet mothers roamed the Earth,
Going to pre-natals at the same time,
In different states

My mom hated her doctor
He made her eat practically nothing
Salads
And natural breast feeding was never even discussed

Blake’s mom had a kinder experience
And she never considered NOT feeding her son
The way God intended

We grew up in the 70s
We discovered who we were in the 80s
We fell in love in the 90s
We married in my hometown church

We have lived in seven different homes
We have gone to ten different churches
Helped to start one of them
We were even on staff

With every home we have lived in
Excluding our first and our most recent
We have welcomed a new child into the world
7-2 = 5 children

We have been in love for over 15 years
We have been soul mates for just under 15 years
We have been parents for just under 14 years
We had no time alone before a little one showed up

Truly

But no regrets
We love our children with our lives
We home school them, we cherish them
We count them as our treasures above all treasures

Our love has grown
It has ebbed and flowed
It has accelerated and run out of gas
Occasionally

Our love has recreated us
Our intentions
Our dreams and desires
Our view of ourselves

We no longer live for just us
Or for our parents
Our peer groups
Our country

We live for one another
For our God
For our children
For our community as a whole

We have been institutionalized
We have been legalized
We have been galvanized
We have become super sized

I am just discovering
The soul of our marriage
I am learning how to make deposits
I am learning when to make withdrawals

Always building
Building this love
This masterpiece we were born to build

This is our love
This is our life
This is only the table of contents
So to speak.....

This is a photo of me and my friend Debbie during my birthday dinner at Bucca di Beppo.

I had such a great time - and I'm so happy to have started of the year with good friends!

Sunday, I took my high school buddy snowboarding for the first time. It was so beautiful and a wonderful way to enjoy the first day of my new year!

My weight has hovered at 154 for weeks. I'm going to the barn to work this morning, so I am keeping up with the physical goals for myself.

More water maybe.....

Depression, Sleep Issues

After logging my calorie intake and activities at fitday.com for a week the scale has calmed down a bit, but my weight is still a little higher than normal.

My sleep is completely out of whack, and I'm ready to face the fact that my depression is deepening again. I've made an appointment with my doctor for next week to discuss it. In the meantime, I have some medication left over from last year that was prescribed by a sleep specialist. It's an anti-depressant that has the added benefit of causing sedation. It's the thing that works best for me, and I've taken it in the past so I'm comfortable with the effects and dosage. I only have about a month's worth of it, so I expect my doctor to just write me a prescription for more of that.

I think once I'm sleeping again everything else will fall into place, as has been the case in the past.

FINALLY! My fitlinxx stats for January

They were doing repairs on the fitlinxx site, and I was unable to get my grand totals until yesterday...
Anyhow, I lifted more than I ever have in any given month. But I also had the fewest amount of calories burned for quite awhile too, hmmm... There IS a balance, I just need to find it.
Here's my stats:

I burned 8,659 calories. Placing me 3rd in my age group, 19th for all women, and 43rd over all.

I earned 19,655 fit points,(my most yet). Placing me 1st in my age group, 2nd for all women, and 4th over all.

I lifted 1,358,620 pounds. Placing me 1st in my age group, 1st for all women, and 1st for the whole Y! : )

One hoof in front of the other

I think this is week three of my working back at the barn. While I decided not to try to ride right away, I have been getting my butt over and working with at least two horses.

There's a lot of walking, walking in mud, walking in poop, walking in the rain and walking to pick up things which have fallen.

There's a lot of brushing - which always makes me think of Karate Kid's "Wax ON and Wax OFF". I hope my pythons will be sick again soon.

Saturday is my birthday. I'll be 39, which is my last lap around the sun before I turn the official 40. I am a little freaked out. But at least I know that if I keep going with the horse thing in the morning, I am bound to get more strong. I must remain strong if I want to live a long time. (I don't wanna die!)

The Week in Numbers

1 - number of birthdays, Mardi Gras, times I have gotten sick, trips to Austin, and mothers of mine who have cared about the foregoing.

2 - number of times that the firm I interviewed with in Austin (that I really liked) would like to see me again; number of boxes of Girl Scout cookies in the house that I really ought to just throw away; number of boxes of marzipan fruit consumed as a reward for also consuming that truly vile (yet reputedly therapeutic) ginger root tea; number of Kleenex boxes used

3 - number of miles I have run in over a week (for reference, I usually run 25-30 miles per week); number of work days missed while out sick; number of days I would still like to sleep straight

10,000,000+ - number of glasses of orange juice and bowls of chicken soup consumed in the last 9 days; number of calories in same

1 - number of races I was supposed to run this coming weekend but was told in no uncertain terms that my job is to show up and cheer for ONLY and that if I run, my friends will send me home; number of Daddies who made me pico de gallo to help my snuffy nose go away.

As you can probably tell, this has not been a banner week at Chez Lisa. Between getting sick, leaving town, getting older, and - oh yeah - there was jury duty in there somewhere too, I have probably gained weight like nobody's business. At present I feel fine, but every time I go out to run all of that nastiness lurking down in my lungs makes me feel like I'm drowning. Whatever it is, it's not letting me get enough oxygen to run so on Tuesday when I put feet to pavement for the first time in a week, I got super dizzy and had a hard time making it through our short and easy run. I have been involuntarily benched from running for the rest of the week and I feel miserable about it.

Okay. Now I'm done whining.

This week that I have gone without running has been really demoralizing. When I think about that, though, it's pretty amazing that I haven't gone a week without skipping out on this training regimen, especially when I think about how hard it was for me to get myself to the gym consistently before I started running.

Okay, New Resolve

The Scale? This morning? Pure evil.



So, Jules, I'll join you by starting a fitday.com journal today. Whoever wants to join us on fitday, drop me an email and I'll give you my user name.

It is the FIRST

of February. This is a great day to START a good habit.

This morning I had a riding lesson and got home in enough time to shower before work. This month, I am going to strive to have a lesson a week.

What are you going to start?