Red Pencil Diaries

sigh

I’ve mentioned before how much I love my Black & Decker Home Cafe “pod” system. I recently discovered Lipton’s pod tea bags. My favorite is the English Estate Black Tea. I pop in a pod, brew a cup of tea, then pour it into a glass with some splenda and ice. I add just a bit of the new Carnation Vanilla Chai Spice creamer and stir it all up. It tastes almost as good as the Iced Chai Latte’s at Panera. Theirs is much more fatty, though, with all the cream. But this version has great flavor. And is much cheaper too!

You know, I’ve read a lot of articles by doctors on how low carb isn’t the way to lose weight and keep it off. You really need to integrate muscle building and aerobic activity—and I don’t mean a casual walk down the block, even though, yes, that is exercise—to be able to lose weight and keep more muscles to burn off more calories. Not to mention, good muscle tone helps you look better once that fat has moved on. The reason why I’ve not gained more weight while I had a bit of a “hiatus” is because I developed a lot of muscle. So that muscle helps me to burn more calories. My legs are quite muscular now. my arms have better tone, too. It can also help with the sagging skin you’re talking about.

Losing weight slowly will help some with the sagging skin. But sagging skin also depends on the amount of stretch marks you have. If you GAINED the weight fast (through pregnancy or just getting heavy quickly), your skin will likely sag more when it goes back down. Stretch marks are places in the skin where the skin was stretched to its limit. They will fade in color, and might shrink up a little, but they won’t completely go away. That weakened skin isn’t elastic as it once was, so that is what can lead to sagginess. Also, some people’s skin is more elastic and doesn’t stretch out as bad, so they won’t have as bad of a sagging problem. I know a guy who lost 150 lbs. in just over two years. He took it slow, and still ended up having to get a full body tuck to have excess skin removed. But he had a lot of stretch marks. I also have a lot of stretch marks—mostly from two pregnancies worth of quick weight gain on top of being already overweight. I already have some sagging issues. And I’ve definitely taken it slow with the weight loss. Also, the older you are and the longer you’ve had the weight on, the more likely you are to have some sagging when you finally lose it because as we get older, our skin becomes thinner and less resilient.

Just my 2 cents. Sorry to sound harsh, but I’ve done a lot of research. I want my weight loss to be permanent. I needed to change my way of life. I need exercise and I need a “diet” that I can live with the rest of my life because I’m not in my 20s anymore. I’ve been doing pretty well. And I think this is something I can stick with. I eat less fatty meat. I try to go meatless one day a week. More veggies. Less white bread. Very low sugar. More whole grains. More water. And mixing cardio with strength training. I have cut back on carbs, but I don’t believe completely cutting them from my diet will do anything but make me crave them more, thus making me more apt to binge on a whole box of doughnuts or a loaf of bread.

Here’s an article on stretch marks:

http://www.ivillage.co.uk/health/beauty/surg/articles/0„181478_183143,00.html

There’s a little running shop off New Cut Rd. that is a fabulous place to buy running or exercise shoes. They are having a great clearance sale Aug. 5. Anyway, last night Dave took me there to get my new running shoes. I have been going to the Y for several months and usually walk/jog on the treadmill or use the elliptical machine, and sometimes hit the freemotion machines. My old shoes were “cross trainers”… leather New Balance with a thick, stiff sole. I never put much thought into what I wore, but my feet have been hurting and I had some blisters (even after months of wearing these shoes) on my heels. So Dave took me to the place where he got his shoes. The girl asked what I would be doing in the shoes, had me walk across the floor sock-footed, then told me what type of shoes I would need. She presented me with a heavenly pair of Asics. She put them on me and had me go out onto the sidewalk to run and walk and try them out. It was such an amazing difference. They were a bit pricey, but at least now I’m excited to go the Y and try them out. Nothing like a bad pair of shoes to ruin your workout. But now I have a great new pair of shoes, so I’m hoping this will inspire me to do more and more often!

Last night, Dave and I went back to the Cardinal Hall of Fame Cafe. We’d been there once before (over a year ago) and had enjoyed the food, but Zack was small and threw a fit, and we had to leave quickly. We aren’t out near Crittenden Dr. much, so we never thought of going back. But I’m glad we did.

I had the Carmelized Salmon. It was a yummy chunk of salmon, with a balsamic glaze, cooked until it had a slight crisp coating. It was served on a plate of mashed potatoes with some cooked spinach and corn mixed and on top of the salmon. Then, a generous drizzle of balsamic glaze was strewn across the plate. Now, I LOVE salmon and really LOVE balsamic vinegar. So this dish was wonderful, in my opinion. The flavors all went so well together. I tried to eat the entire serving, but it was a bit large, so I left a bit on my plate. And it was a bit pricey ($14.95), but I expect that for good fish.

As for the South Beach Diet Frozen Pizza… not so yummy. I ate the thing, but mostly because I was hungry and there was enough cheese and decent wheat crust to get through the bitter parts. This pizza had chicken sausage, green, red, and yellow peppers, and pepperonis along with cheese and tomato sauce. The tomato sauce tasted kind of bitter. Not on the sweet side, like I prefer my pizza sauce. And the peppers only added to the bitter taste. It was only 330 calories, though. And 30g of protein. So it was decent and keeps me within my calorie limits for the lunch meal. (yes, I’m back on board with the weight loss thing! So far, so good!) It was edible, but I’ve found that the Weight Watchers and Lean Cuisine pizzas are much better tasting, but their crusts aren’t quite as good. I did enjoy the wheat crust. Maybe next time, I’ll try a different flavor combination. Maybe the plentiful peppers were what threw me. I dunno. Might just steer clear of this brand. We’ll see.

Next Tuesday, I have my allergy tests. So for a week prior, I’m not allowed to take any antihistimines. Which means an entire week of suffering. My eyes are sticky. My nose is stuffy. I feel ok, but it was difficult to sleep last night.

It’s weird, on the list of things I can’t take, they list green tea (which has some natural anthistimines). I’m glad I drank the last of my instant Arizona Green Tea with splenda last week.

I also can’t take nose spray, which would be so helpful. I can’t STAND for my nose to be stuffy. It’s usually partly stuffy on the right side (my nose is crooked, so that side seems to stay stuffy more). But if I take my claritin and flonase, it’s not so bad. But last night, I tossed and turned trying to be able to breathe. I ended up asleep with my mouth open, and woke myself up when I drooled on my pillow and down my neck. lol

My friend Natalie has the Gymbo bug. She is totally addicted to Gymboree clothes. Given, she doesn’t spend all her time and money at Gymboree. She is very creative at buying pieces and parts of outfits online and on sale and sometimes even in thrift stores and consignment stores. But her little girls are always dressed with every matching button and bow Gymboree. So adorable.

I’ve fought the Gymboree bug for a long time. I bought Zack a onesie with dinosaurs and some PJs with airplanes on them at the store once on clearance. I’ve picked up a couple of shirts at the consignment store. And a couple of hats a the 99 cent sale. Then, I started looking at outfits on eBay. I won a couple of auctions for Zack for fall. And then, I started going to the thrift store and sifting through all their baby stuff looking for the Gymboree logo.

When I saw how much some outfits and pieces are selling for on eBay, I decided it would be a good investment. Sometimes you can sell the whole outfits on there for more than you paid for them—if you got them on sale or at a consignment store, etc. Yesterday I found a cute Gymbo outfit at the thrift store. I found a few other pieces today. They are too small for Zack, so I’m going to sell them on eBay and make some money off of them. They are in great shape. And I only paid like 99 cents for them. I hope to make at least $10 off the outfit, and a few other dollars for the other pieces I’ve bought. I hope I don’t jinx myself by typing that out.

I read this post again. I’m sounding like a total nut. Someone should stop me now. Before I get out of control. I need a new and better hobby… unless this one pans out and starts making me some money.

I celebrated my birthday all weekend. On Friday we went to the Cheesecake Factory with our friends Natalie and Troy—Natalie’s birthday is the day before mine. AFter dinner, the waiter brought out our cheesecake selections on plates that had “Happy Birthday” written in chocolate sauce and they all sang to us. The cheesecake was so good—white chocolate peanut butter—I didn’t mind the singing.

Saturday, I went to my sister’s yard sale all day. I didn’t make much—only $15. But Zack and I visited with the family, which was nice. That night, we worked on our walk-in closet (we gutted it and have spent the past week renovating it, and then Dave gave me a tiny cake he’d bought at WalMart with candles in it. He sang Happy Birthday to me and we shared some small pieces.

Sunday, we finally finished the closet. Well, it’s painted and has all the hardware installed. I’m still working on the organization of it. And last night, my family came over. We had dinner at Puerta Vallarta Mexican Restaurant. I had THE most awesome taquitos. They had big hunks of slightly spicy white chicken in them. And the guacamole was fresh and good. Then we came home and my mom and I had made a dessert—Chocolate Eclair Dessert. It’s super easy to make, but tastes so wonderful! It’s basically chocolate icing, french vanilla pudding, cool whip, and graham crackers. They put candles on top and sang “Happy Birthday” to me again. Then Zack walked around the kitchen saying “Birthday!” lol

Overall, it was a wonderful weekend. It made turning 35 feel not so bad. Only as young (or old) as you feel, right?

So I got out a little mirror and started looking REALLY close at my face. Then I noticed the scars—auto accident, acne, and chicken pox. And the HUGE pores. And the general bumpiness and unevenness. I’m wondering if a chemical peel or dermabrasion might help. I really think I need something done. It’s not the wrinkles that scare me—it’s the dents and pits. lol

Looks like this:

What Your Soul Really Looks Like

You are a wanderer. You constantly long for a new adventure, challenge, or eve a completely different life.

You are a very grounded, responsible, and realistic person. People may not want to hear the truth from you, but they’re going to get it.

You see yourself with pretty objective eyes. How you view yourself is almost exactly how other people view you.

Your near future is likely to be filled with great successes and accomplishments. You just need to figure out how to get there.

For you, love is all about caring and comfort. You couldn’t fall in love with someone you didn’t trust.