I came home from dance last night feeling good, albeit a tad old since I'm fairly sure I was the eldest one in class amongst a throng of high schoolers and college students. (Not that I can't roll with the kids or anything, but I just happened to notice.)
This morning as we were going out the door to school Juliana looked me up and down in my t-shirt and jeans and said, "Hey Mom, you look like a teenager!"
Made. My. Morning.
Week two of my diet has passed and I only lost two pounds this week instead of four. (And that last half-pound is debatable because it keeps going back and forth the past couple of days.) The South Beach diet claims that in the first two weeks you should lose between eight and fourteen pounds. I lost five to six. Have I mentioned my metabolism blows now? I hear it only gets worse from here which is one of the main reasons I've become so committed all of a sudden. I'm turning 29 next year and I figure now would be a good time to get in the best shape possible if it will continually become more difficult after 30.
I'm trying to think of what I could have done to make last week better and the only thing I did different from the first week was drink Diet Coke. In the beginning I drank only water but after a week I coudn't take it anymore and brought back in the diet soda. The book says not to drink any caffeinated beverages and I wonder what kind of impeding effect Diet Coke would have on weight loss? I'm such a slave to it. Maybe now would be the ideal time to make a clean break? (She says while taking a swig.) This is my last one! I swear!
I had been looking for a link to this graph ever since I saw An Inconvenient Truth and I finally came across it this morning. It shows the changes in the Earth's atmospheric CO2 level, temperature, and sea level over the past 400,000 years. As you scroll to the right you can see that although the levels appear to go up and down in 100,000 year cycles (one of the arguments against global warming), at the very end the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere jump up astoundingly high- much higher than in all of the previous years and completely off the chart. It's just something to chew on.
What can little old you and me do about it?
Ending lecture now.
Joey Lawrence and A.C Slater are dancing the quick-step on my television.
Jerry Springer? Seriously! What is up with Dancing With the Stars?
I lost four pounds this first week! Take that! I tell you this is the only diet that ever works for me but it is incredibly hard to do. Somehow Jason lost four pounds this week too which is no fair since he didn't suffer nearly as much as I did. I'm eating burgers without buns and salads without croutons! Not a single slice of bread, not a pretzel or a Wheat Thin have crossed these lips! And oh, the ice cream left uneaten... Ok, enough talking about carbs.
Let's see how long I can keep this up.
Remember earlier in the summer when I started running periodically? I was doing pretty well at it for while but I am notorious for getting all gung-ho about things at first and then tapering off. However, towards the middle of August when I began running less, I started riding my stationary bike more at home every night. On the whole, I think I had a pretty good exercise routine this summer and I can feel that I've really built up some good muscle in my legs because of it.
That being said, I stepped on the scale last week to find I had gained six pounds. SIX! I was trying to take off three or four but went six in the other way. Yes, I know that muscle weighs more than fat but it ain't all muscle. After spending the summer in floaty skirts and gaucho pants, I took my jeans out and they are t.i.g.h.t. Needless to say, I won't be enjoying that wonderful pumpkin ale for a bit. I decided to go back to the thing that worked best for me after I had Ava and I'm now on the South Beach Diet again for probably the next month. Right now I'm on day 4 and despite the fact that I haven't had success with it since the first time I did it two years ago, I think I'm just crazy enough to make it work this time. Mainly, I refuse to buy new pants. I like the size I wear. (And I like the size below it that I also own so if I'm changing sizes it's only going to go down!)
Jason says he is dieting "in spirit" with me. Basically that means he tried the South Beach thing for about six hours until he saw the Chipotle chips and guacamole at the Kite Festival on Saturday. (Avocado is fine, but the chips are a big no-no.) Then he wanted a bun on his burger. And then a beer. Soooo... technically he is trying to eat less and eat healthier. I'm pretty much going by the book though, albeit with the occasional Diet Coke thrown in. (Caffeine is also not recommended on the diet, but hello? Can we say Diet Coke addiction?)
Hopefully my attempt at this will not go the way of my running. I also hope to report positive progess and not have to come slinking back to the internet with my tail between my legs.
Unrelated: Did you see the Bears/Packers game yesterday? Do I dare to dream this year?
Mmmm. Bring on the autumn.
“We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof, and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men, not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend causes that were for the moment unpopular."
-Edward R. Murrow
P.S.Keith Olbermann rules.
