Lenten Season

First, a quick update: I have officially pulled myself out of my pity party and hit the gym 3 times last week. Hoping to get in a quick workout tonight to start the week off right.

OK, on to the matter at hand. If you aren't aware, next week marks the beginning of Lent. Although Lent is actually a rather profound religious undertaking in Christianity, read more here, I generally use it as a way to put a kick in my weight loss. This likely also has something to do with my current ambivalent feelings toward organized religion, but that's neither here nor there and definitely a more involved post for another time. With that said, I am looking forward to the opportunity to get all the junk I've been eating out of my system and lose a couple pounds in the process.

So what am I giving up?? Glad you asked! The list is as follows:

• All sweets (candy, cookies, cake, cupcakes, pie, ice cream, etc.)
• Fried food, especially my beloved french fries
  
• The vending machine in my building
• The 7/11 next door (except for buying water)
• Chips
• Alcohol
• Having food delivered
• Clothes shopping (not at all related to weight loss, but important nonetheless if I want to cultivate skills that will help me not have to work until I'm 67 like Suze Orman last night said we should all set as our goal retirement age)

People really think I'm crazy when I tell them what I'm giving up for lent, but it's generally not as hard as it may seem, especially since I have super supportive friends who try not to tempt me with the forbidden. Plus, I've given up numbers 1-5, and 7 for the past two years of so, so I'm kind of used to it by now. However, I will admit that this year is going to be more difficult than usual for a couple of reasons-- 1. Law school has turned me into a very slight wino, and 2. Somehow Easter managed to fall after my birthday this year. Which is crazy late and means that I'll have no cake, ice cream, or wine to help me ring in my 25th year of existence. That kinda sucks. Man, no french fries either. I'm preemptively sad. :(

Anywho, I'm sure it'll be fine and I'll just have to put off my celebrating for two weeks until I've finished school. Forever. Let the church say Amen.

I also plan to be very diligent with working out at least 4 times a week during lent, so the hope is to lose somewhere around 6-8 lbs during the 40 or so days. A pound a week is realistic, yes?

What are you giving up for lent? Food related or not, I need to know I'm not going to be alone in the struggle...

S.

Frustrated at Myself

For a multitude of reasons.

First of all, for treating this blog like a red-headed stepchild. I don't know what's up with me. I promise I have lots of interesting things to say, my laziness just seems to prevent me from taking the time to write it here. That's not OK.

Second, because I've been In. My. Feelings. for like a month straight. For my non-urban ethnic friends, that means I've been suffering through bouts of loneliness/romantic feelings or desires/self deprecation/general blah feelings. I'm seriously getting on my own nerves. It's quite annoying.

Third, and most importantly, because I've hit my biannual self-induced weight loss stagnation period. This is how it works: I get burned out on exercising, so I stop for a week. Then I get a random and sustained urge for all things sweet. So I enjoy pies and cake and candy and dessert and am happy. Then I feel like a big tub of lard so I don't exercise for another week. Then I look up and have gained 4 lbs lbs and am sad. Then the cycle repeats. Then I get back on my grind.

See how that's rather detrimental to my progress?

So that's where I am right now. At the end of January, I had gotten back down to 213. Currently, I'm back up to 220. I definitely almost lied and said I was at 218 because for some reason those two pounds seem to make a huge difference to me. But, I said I was gonna have you guys hold me accountable, and that can't really happen without me being truthful. Le sigh. SO frustrating. Especially because I know what the problem is, I know how to fix it, and I'm just not!

And can I just get something off my chest? It is sooo frustrating that it takes so much effort for me to lose weight. I mean, I know I'm not the only one in this boat, but it kills me when friends talk about how they need to lose 3 lbs so they just stop eating food X for four days and then they're fitting back in their skinnies. No working out required. Come on! In order for me to lose three lbs, I have to not eat any bad stuff and work out five days a week. For three weeks. And I don't even eat most food Xs! Why is that fair? It's not. But even more unfair is that my body won't maintain a weight without working out. I can have the best diet--no fried foods, no pop, no sweets, lots of veggies and chicken breast and water--but if I don't work out at least 3 days a week, I'm gaining weight. And I'm not an inactive person otherwise. Do you know how much that sucks? A lot. So much that I can't even think up a cute joke to put right here to lighten the mood a little. Believe me, I tried. Didn't work.

Anybody got any tips for self-motivating? I'm definitely in need.

Sorry for the pity party, but it's my blog and I'll cry if I want to.

S.