FEBRUARY READING UPDATE

So two months into the year and I am doing great on my reading promise to myself. My plan was to read 50 books this year and after only 2 months I have read a grand total of … drumroll, please… 20 books! Woo Hoo! My February reads follow and as always, I am not a book critic so don't expect write-ups like one.

1) Rapture in Death by J.D. Robb – What can I say… Eve and Roarke… is there a better continuing literary romance couple? I started this series a couple of years ago but made the mistake of reading the first three, one right after the other. The problem? They started to sound alike and run into each other. While I loved Eve and Roarke, I knew I needed a break. This one is the fourth in the series and exactly where I left off. I loved reading about this couple… they are not perfect but yet they are perfect for each other. In this one, Eve is investigating the death of a defense attorney who died with a smile on his face when she starts to link it with 2 others that happened only to have a fourth happen in front of her eyes. I pretty much figured out who the “bad guy” was before the end of the book but that’s okay. I love seeing how Robb takes us there. If you haven’t read this series, you need to start. The only problem is that the 24^th in the series was just released this past month… I only have 20 more to go!… A-

2) The Kingdom Keepers by Ridley Pearson – This one I did as a read-aloud with K2. She had read it before and loved it and wanted to read it with me. Disney World, the happiest place on earth, right? Well, what would happen if the characters came to life after dark? And while Disney movies and characters are generally good, there are some very infamous villains who would not be so nice if they had a taste of power. The Disney Imagineers have come up with a way to fight the “overtakers” who are trying to take control of Disney World and eventually more. The plan is to use 5 local middle school kids and re-create them as holograms to be interactive hosts during the day. However, the real life kids are in for a shock when they find themselves “crossing over” after they fall asleep each night. When they cross over in their sleep, they do so as their holograms and can actually see the Disney characters that are “alive” after the park closes. Walt Disney was afraid that this could happen someday and devised a plan to stop the overtakers, however, he hid the plan in a riddle. The kids first need to solve the riddle to find out where the plans are to stop them. Then once the riddle is solved, they actually need to set a plan in action to stop these villains from taking over. At first, it read like a huge Disney advertisement but I have to admit the story was good! It was interesting to see these young kids as the heroes but they didn’t lose their “kiddish” characteristics. They were still afraid…wanted to give up… They didn’t become these huge kid superheroes who weren’t afraid of anything. I loved seeing where the story was going and the only frustrating part is that K2 had read it before and knew what happens… and she wouldn’t pass any info onto me… I had to wait to find out for myself. If you have a kid who loves Disney, mysteries, a little sci-fi have them read this book…. But beware there are a few bits that get a bit scary for younger kids. I know the next time I go to Disney World or Disneyland, I will think twice before riding Pirates of the Caribbean or asking Maleficent for her autograph… A

3) The Silver City by Cliff McNish – This was another YA book… highly recommended by K2. I read the first in the series last month and liked it. But I have to say this one was much, much better. The story is initially about 6 kids who are drawn to Coldharbour where they begin to undergo physical and/or mental changes. They can all hear this “Roar” in their heads and while they don’t know what it is, they know it is not good and they are meant to face it. In this second book, children from all over the world start arriving at Coldharbour. They are all drawn to it now – it is so they can be protected against the “Roar”. Most of these children do now undergo any changes however, a few do including Milo’s little sister, Jenny, and a large group of kids who become the “Unearthers”. In this installment, we learn more about the “Roar” and about something that can help the children in their fight against her. A definite enthralling read… for kids who like sci-fi. This is one of K2’s favorite authors… however, whenever she reads one of his books, she always asks… “I wonder why he likes to torture kids.” I told her she needs to write him a letter and ask him that question… A

4) Plum Lovin’ by Janet Evanovich – This is a Stephanie Plum “shortie” without hunky Morelli or steamy hot Ranger. Instead, we are reintroduced to Diesel (from an earlier shortie). Stephanie needs to capture a bond jumper, Annie Hart, however, Diesel has her locked up under protective custody and he needs Stephanie’s help in working Annie’s caseload of lovelorn clients before Valentine’s Day. I love reading the numbered Plum books, simply because they are laugh out loud funny. This one had it’s moments of humor but it wasn’t quite up to par of the “numbers”. The story-line was far-fetched and just made you go “Huh?” I loved seeing Grandma Mazur and Lula… I missed Ranger and Morelli. I know lots of people have issues with Stephanie and her not choosing Morelli or Ranger and in fact, she is the perfect example of “having her cake and eating it too.” And for some reason, I don’t mind that as much. I guess because I am a Ranger fan and I am afraid that Stephanie will end up with Morelli and when that happens… Good-bye, Ranger. But even I think that Stephanie really doesn’t need another man “clouding” up her life. This was a quick easy read but I would recommend getting it from the library. In my opinion, it is not worth the hardcover price…B

5) How to Marry a Ghost by Hope McIntyre – Lee Bartholomew is a British ghostwriter in the Hamptons to attend her mother’s commitment ceremony (her mom is still married to her dad so no wedding for her). While she is in the Hamptons, Lee is hoping to connect with famous British rock musician, Shotgun Marriot, and ghostwrite his autobiography. However, Lee’s biggest competition is there as well trying to score the same book. The mystery begins when Shotgun’s son is found washed up on shore dead from a bullet and another body is found on Shotgun’s land. Lee finds herself caught up in the mystery because of the players involved. Her investigation of it almost leads to her own death. The story was good but I had such problems with it whenever Lee’s former fiancée was mentioned and later shows up. It was during these times that she came across as WEAK and I wanted to reach thru the book and slap her. I didn’t know when I was reading it that this is actually the second book to involve this character. I liked this one enough to read more of this author but since the first one will contain the story of Lee and her fiancée, I am almost tempted not to read it. Although knowing how the second book ends maybe I can suffer thru those parts…. B+

6) Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris – This is the second in the Sookie Stackhouse – Southern Vampire series. In this one, Sookie is asked to help out the Dallas vampires locate a missing “brother”. Sookie agrees but on the condition that those humans that she indicates as responsible are let go unharmed. In this story, Sookie gets introduced to members of the “Fellowship of the Sun”… those who would like to see vampires meet their death in the sunshine. The mystery is quite good and definitely held my attention. I actually liked this one better than the first but this one we already knew the characters… there was no back story that had to be built that interfered with the mystery and the story. Ms. Harris was able to get right to it…. A

7) Don’t Look Down by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer – Lucy Sullivan is a director of television commercials who has to step in and finish and action movie (only 4 days left of filming) because the director died. But she arrives only to discover more problems and some of the staff acting weird (including her sister and her ex-husband). And to make matters worse(??), the lead actor has just hired a “military consultant” who has the aggravating habit of always being right. Lucy tries to solve the mystery only to discover that the rest of the movie scenes are being filmed to cover a money laundering scheme. I have to say that I wasn’t very impressed with this book. I hate romances (is this even one?) where the couple meet and fall in love in a matter of days… in this case, 4 days. Top that off with the hero, JT, having sex his first night on set with an actress. He now has 3 days to “fall in love” with Lucy. I found the story too fast pace, confusing and dull. The ending was convoluted. I have heard such great things about Crusie (but have only read one of her books). I will give another collaboration between these two another try hoping that they just needed to get used to each other’s style of writing. But I definitely won’t be buying it… it will come from the library just like this one did…. C

8) Causing Havoc by Lori Foster – Ultimate fighter, Dean “Havoc” Conor returns to Kentucky to meet with his sisters that he hasn’t seen since he was 8 years old. While trying to figure out how he fits into his sister’s lives and solving the mystery of who wants him gone, Dean meets Eve. I liked this book up until the end. The sister’s fiancée was a prick throughout the whole book, even so far as hitting on his fiancées best friend. Then all of a sudden at the end all is forgiven. The ending drove me nuts!… B

9) Rumble on the Bayou by Jana Deleon – All starts to go wrong the day Deputy Dorie Berenger finds an alligator stoned in a swimming pool. When she sends a print off the finger she found in the gator’s mouth, the DEA arrives in town, in the shape of Richard Starke. This fast easy read had a little bit of everything… romance, mystery, and danger. Dorie is a kick ass heroine that is smart and confident as well as sexy. While Richard is a hero that starts off as Mr. Macho but learns to lighten up and make fun of himself as well as accept it from others - Dick. He allowed Dorie to be the strong woman she was and didn’t mind being in her shadow in certain areas… there was none of this, “I am the man… I am strong… You are the weak female.” I loved the two of them together. Plus, the secondary characters were interesting and lovable…great characters all around. I will definitely read her next book…. A

10) Make Me a Match by Diana Holquist – Cecilia is an anal cardiologist who just happens to be a (former) gypsy. All is finally going well in her life (career, fiancée, etc) when her gypsy sister, Amy, reappears in her life after 10 years. Amy’s power as a gypsy is the ability to tell people who their One True Love is. Amy knows that Cecilia is engaged to the wrong man since her one true love is Finn Concord. There is an elaborate set-up that Amy put in play to get Cecilia to meet Finn. And the story progresses from there…but why is Amy so dead set on getting her sister together with this man? The thing that you will soon discover is that Amy doesn’t do anything for anyone unless there is something in it for her. The story was a bit far-fetched but a new twist on an old theme (gypsys) and if you consider it a paranormal due to the “powers” part of it then you almost always have to suspend beliefs to enjoy them. My biggest problem with this story is how mean Amy was to Cecilia… and yet Cecilia let her get away with it. However, despite my one complaint about the book, I will definitely read the next one in this series that brings yet another sister into play (one that neither Amy nor Cecilia have seen in 10 years also)… B+

11) Midnight Angel by Lisa Marie Rice – This is the third in the series and involves the characters of Allegra, an Irish singer and harpist, and Douglas, a former SEAL who is now a business partner of John “Midnight” Huntington. Allegra is blind from an attack by her former manager and Douglas saves her when she is in the wrong place at the wrong time. This book definitely falls under the category of SENSUAL romance ( I wouldn’t go so far as to label it erotica). But out of the three stories, this one was my favorite. While there was a lot of action (both in and out of the bedroom), there was more tenderness to the hero. And while he also fell under the He-Man syndrome, Douglas also knew that in order for Allegra to cope with her blindness she would need to learn to fend for herself so he begins to teach her ways to become more self-reliant. I hated how short and abrupt the ending was… I read all the way thru the book leading to this big story of someone stalking her but her friends all thinking she was suffering from “flashbacks” and then POOF! Story is done… bad guy makes his move… hero comes in to save the day… gets injured in the process… and 6 months later we revisit them. I wish the author had taken more time to flesh out the whole ending scenario…. B+

February 28th, 1993

Today is very special for me. You see, 14 years ago at 2:45 a.m. I became a mom for the very first time! K1 entered the world calmly and quietly at 8lb 7 oz(he would be my smallest baby) and 21 inches. He was healthy and very, very beautiful.

K1 was actually aiming for the night of February 27, however, back then I was allowed to self-medicate my epidural. And if you don't know this about me, I HATE pain and was scared to death! So at the beginning I kept pushing that little button on my epidural pump, hoping and praying that it was going to work. So just before midnight, my doctor checked me and said that the baby was ready to be delivered however, my body was not ready. I had pumped so much of the epidural that my body from the waist down was completely and utterly NUMB. They waited just over 2 hours to let some of it wear off but that wasn't near enough time but they went ahead and delivered anyway. The funny part was that I would grunt and groan but I was only doing it because that is what I saw done on the movies. The nurse finally called me on it... apparently I wasn't doing it with contractions (HEY! I couldn't feel a thing!) But despite my lack of feeling, K1 entered this world early that morning and a new mommy and daddy were born as well. That was a day that no matter how long I live, I don't think I will ever forget.

Now this "baby" is 14 and taller than his mom, which he likes to point out often! His dad is 6'1" so we will have to wait and see if he makes it that tall. He still loves to give us hugs and wants me to come in when he goes to bed so he can say one last goodnight. He has his moments of moodiness (he's definitely my son!) but he is also very loving and not afraid to show it. He isn't that big into sports, or at least team sports. He is highly intelligent but struggles at school due to lack of streamlined "processing" from brain to mouth. He can be a wonderful big brother or a great big pain in the butt to his little sisters. If it's technical, he is interested in it and in fact, likes to watch NOVA and other science shows on PBS along with his Simpsons and other goofball tv shows. He has talked about college and the Air Force and he wants to be an aerospace engineer. I hope that his dreams come true. HE is a fantastic kid.

I LOVE YOU, K!!

BodyRev Sitrep Reports - Week of 19 FEB

REVVVVPORT!
REVMATES - I hope you all took advantage of the long weekend and energized those muscles while on FIRED UP adventures!

First - thank you for all your book feedback - I've just now been able to decipher all your points - it's very helpful to me, and much appreciated. On that note, many of you listed "Aldenisms" as a compelling topic of interest - my question to you is - What are your favorite Aldenisms?? - list as many as you want - it's hard for me to understand your "Aldenisms" until I hear it from you directly.

Second - as my ship leaves the harbor to start this book journey, many of you have add terrific feedback - some so good, I'd like to be able to quote you. However, if there is someone that is not Okay with me using their first name (or call sign, I will respect your privacy) please let me know.

Third - lets hear it about your food/mood log - I want honest answers - if you didn't do it, say so, but don't try to BS anyone, otherwise it will send the wrong message for those we have truly discovered that their mood is directly linked to their food...next up, and get ready, we're going to explore how exercise is linked to your mood....

STANDING-BY - ALDEN

My response to this week's report request...

FAIR week...

Legs - 2X (2wts)
Arms - 2X (2wts)
Abs - 2X (2 wts)
Cardio - 1X (1 wt)

3 - 1 HR walks
1 HR Snow shoveling

Exercise was only FAIR this week... I can and normally do better so I am not happy with my effort last week. Need to do better this week.

As for the food/mood log, I was doing very well documenting it until this weekend. And even then I didn't stop because of what I ate, I just fell short on time. I really like keeping the food log... it has helped me to make some decisions about what is going in my mouth (because not only am I logging it BUT I am doing so publicly by putting it on my blog). This is not to say that I have eaten perfectly but just knowing that I am going to have to put it down has sometimes changed what I have decided to eat (like that piece of vanilla bean cheesecake last night - passed on that!) BUT here is my problem... the mood part. First of all, TIRED. I am almost always tired. I work overnight part-time. And because of my involvement with the kids it is rare that I sleep more than 4-5 hours at any one time. Saturday nights are the only night where I can actually guarrantee getting an 8 hour night. It is so hard for me to tell if I am tired because of food or just simply because I am tired. As for mood, I had a few situational incidents going on the past two weeks that really affected my stress levels more so than any food I was eating. So while I still haven't been able to notice any correlation yet I will keep on blogging my logging simply because I like the effect that the food logging has had.

I have noticed extremely HIGH cravings for chocolate lately. I have had some success in fighting them but have sometimes given in... not sure what that is all about. Could it be the stress? Maybe...

On the subject of honesty... I have received comments from people appreciating how honest my logging is. I figure there is no other option as that is the only way that it will help me. Lying to make my results or food intake look better may make others say "Wow! Look at her go!" But in the long run, how do I benefit from that? And that is what this is all about for me... benefitting from the results of the revving and diet changes. When I first started out, I would avoid posting on the bad weeks. Too embarrassed to say, "I sucked this week! I was lazy!" But that too has been changed... now I am posting no matter what I did (I have to say how hard it was to post my Revving activity for this week...didn't want to do it and this little voice kept saying "Add another rotation... who will know" ... well, I will). I will post every week...good or bad... and then it goes onto my blog so I will always have what I posted. To quote Martha Stewart... Honesty...it's a Good thing!

So speaking of honesty... how's this... here's my other problem... discouragement. I know, Alden, I know, I know, I KNOW , that you have said DO NOT watch the scale. I know that but seeing the numbers dwindle in the past has helped give me the push when I really needed it. However, the end of December was the last time that I had a "loss". Ever since then I had fluctuated up and down 5 lbs but never lower than my last great loss. Now December I was horrible at exercising and the first two weeks of January were horrible as well. But I have been revving consistently (Even my fair week this last week was more than I was doing in December and January) for the last month. And still I have not lost any more weight. I am trying to stay upbeat and positive telling myself that I am building muscle, etc. etc... But I am someome who definitely has weight to LOSE and lots of it. So it is getting to be a little discouraging but I am trying to work thru it. Thanks to a pic posted of me on the BB this last week, I have received some nice emails from people commenting on my success. And I have pulled pics of me from last summer as a comparison to help me "SEE" the changes... it helps. But when people post that they have lost 20, 30, 50 lbs and have dropped 2, 4, 6, 8 dress sizes (And I am so completely thrilled for them, truly!) but I have lost a total of 30 lbs but only one jean size... I look at that and say "Huh? What is going on with me?" I know everyone is different thus the results will be different but sometimes getting our mind over that distinction takes a bit of work.

So enough of my whining... I just needed to post where I was at and the difficulties facing me right now. I am working thru it... I am thrilled with the success so far and am not ready to quit because even if I don't lose another pound, I am still less than I was 6 months ago... I have muscles where I didn't know you could have muscle and I am overall feeling better. I will focus on that and keep on revvving!

The response from the BB ladies was overwhelming... here are just a few... edited for space...

From Carole: Carrie, You are right (see, I remembered) when you said you'll focus on your success -- you are feeling better overall. You have muscles where you didn't have them before. Don't worry about the size thing.

To me, the important things are health and fitness, feeling good overall, and feeling better about myself.

From Quiche: You already know this but a reminder never hurts. Everybody attempts a new fitness or weight loss regimen for different reasons. When we all first started this a lot of ladies mentioned wanting to being inspirational (or even around for the longterm!) for their kids and I thought *dang, am I the only vain one who wants to look the best that I can naked??* but in reality our reasons for exercising change. Sometimes it's vanity because we want to look good for an event, sometimes it's fear because we see somebody else who hasn't taken care of their health and we don't want to suffer the same repercussions or fear because of a doctor's warning. So when you've been working it and have a minor slow down it is perfectly normal to ask/think WTF?? and then get over the hurdle by focusing on another goal. Just today it is all over the news about women and heart disease and it is suggested we get 30 minutes of exercise a day and take an aspirin. How many of your neighbors/coworkers are getting 30 minutes a day of exercise? Unfortunately, I bet there aren't a lot.

I think you have one of the best built in motivators out there...after seeing their Mom make the right choices your children are far less likely to grow up to be unhealthy adults.

Again, you know logically if you eat healthy and exercise you will continue to lose weight so don't let a sucky week get you down.

From Natalia: First off, congrats on losing 30 lbs! That is nothing to sneeze at! And keeping it off is fabulous as well. Sending a great, big hug your way.

I think, like others have said, it's different for everybody.

Me, I've lost somewhere between 20 & 25 pounds, to drop the first pant size. Dropping the next pant size was all about toning, I think. (FYI, that's in work/dress pants, not jeans. I'm still wearing my 14 jeans.) And, as a good friend pointed out, I carry my weight in my breasts, hips/thighs and butt. I have the upper/lower abs fat rolls, but have a much trimmer waist. Even in size 16 the waist line on pants were always too big for me, but to put them on over my hips/thighs/butt, I had to go that size.

I noticed the largest weight loss when I did the cardio at least 3x a week. And kept my calories at 1500 per day. Now that I'm focusing on arms and abs and legs (occasionally legs, I'm having a hard time motivating to that or cardio) I'm not noticing weight loss. Maintaining where I'm at, building muscle and toning.

P.S. Have you talked to your doc about being so tired? It could be lack of sleep, lack of good sleep, or it could be something else (low iron, thyroid, etc). Also, how much red meat do you eat? I've found that the less red meat in my diet the more tired I am. Just a thought!

From Erika:You're down 30 pounds!!! That's great news. I'm down pretty much none, but my arms look good :)

Here's the thing. You're not alone in the weight vs size thing. If I gain/lose 25 pounds,I'm less bulgy and look and feel a lot better, but I can pretty nearly wear the same wardrobe. I see people say they lose 10 pounds and lost 2 dress sizes (8 to 4, say) and I don't understand it. I *notice* when I gain/lose 5 pounds, but I can fluctuate that much in 1-3 days with various hormones. I know some people that need a different size clothing to accommodate that, I usually don't.

So, it's good that you posted your frustration about that as I have the same frustration. If I wanted to get down to a solid size 12, from my current 16 bordering on 18, I have to lose 50 pounds. And this is my target, although I'm perfectly happy being a 14, because I know I look fantastic at that final weight.

I don't lose weight from exercise unless I do hard cardio at least 3X a week, and it works better if I do 4. 2X is enough to keep me from ballooning. I've done too many weeks of 2X so whatever I lost before Xmas I gained back.

Your efforts posted today are what I would consider to be a 2X/week workout. So if your body works even remotely similarly to mine (and it seems to), celebrate the fact that you're stable and not going up and realize you need to double that up if you want the exercise to drive the weight loss. I seem to be doing well every other week and maintaining only in the off weeks. I have enough severe off weeks that I need to see a doc.

From Beki: You should have someone determine your frame size and figure your ideal weight based on that---body size is more than just how much fat you carry. I was thrilled to find out my ideal weight was way higher than what I had thrived for all my life.

I will be happy with a size 14 as my absolute smallest size because I want some padding. I don't want to be skin over bones---been there, done that---it was not attractive.

I figure I carry ten pounds just in breast tissue. I should have asked for extra weight allowance for that. LOL

Anyway I thought I needed to lose 80 pounds but found out from a Gastro specialist in Birmingham at UAB that 50 puts me a couple pounds under my ideal weight for my height and bodyframe. It really made my day . : )

From Emily: carrie, don't let that scale discourage you!! i know it's hard not to, but please don't... you inspire me every single week - when i read your blog, when i read your posts here... i love your attitude, and i love that you post when it's good, bad AND ugly, because i have all of those days too, and your honesty helps me accept that it's not all sunshine and roses, and that's ok, because other people have those days too...

i've lost a whole pound since we measured ourselves in mid-january and i've been revving consistantly and eating relatively well since then (minus this weekend, of course lol)... yipee skippee... =o( i feel different, i can feel muscles where i didn't feel anything before, but the scale hasn't budged... i'm finding clothes i own are fitting differently, but when i went out to buy new jeans i discovered that i wasn't really down a size at all - more like a half size, and i could wear different styles that i wouldn't have looked at before... *shrugs* it's frustrating at times 'cause i can tell you, nothing is melting off me... i'm thrilled it's worked that way for some of the ladies who have seen huge changes quite quickly, but i'm also a bit envious because i'm definitely not one of them...

From Mary Jo: first of all, don't use jeans to compare sizes with. Use some other form of clothing. Reason being is that my experience when buying jeans is you have to try on every pair! You can pick up three pairs of jeans the exact same size and type and they will all fit differently. Try something else.

Secondly, you have lost 30 lbs! Great job! Remember that it takes a lot longer to take weight off than to put it on! You are feeling better about yourself over all right? So don't let those numbers on the scale stumble you. You have reached a plateau but you WILL get past it because you have come so far and you have so many people here that will help you not to mention the feedback from your blog

From Laura: You really are doing great. You are just at one of those awful plateaus. I lost about 45 pounds a few years ago and I remember hitting plateaus that lasted for a while and I would get really discouraged. But, you have lost 30 pounds and that is awesome.

At the time I was losing weight, I had a friend who also wanted to lose weight. I was a size 12, ready to burst into a 14 - my friend was a 6, but felt she wanted to be thinner. Her waist was already so tiny. She lost 10 pounds and went to a size 2. I lost 45 and went down to a 6/8, but I still had plenty of "belly". It didn't matter what I ate or how much I exercised, that pooch was and still is there. We are all built so differently and carry our weight in such different ways, I learned to not be so hard on myself. I really tried to focus on being healthier (yeah, losing weight was great), but the being healthier is SO much more important. And remember, you might not be losing "weight" if you are replacing fat with muscle.

We are all here for you. Don't feel like you are whining - believe me, we understand where you are coming from.

And the one that literally made me cry...

From Andrea: I am going to be brutally honest here, so bear with me :)

I think you really need to look at pictures of yourself 6 months ago and those today. Look at the pitcures of the WI gathering you guys had. You do NOT look like you lost 30 pounds. You look like you lost 50!!! Your face is beautiful...not just without the weight you just LOOK happier. {I think there are pics of you in Jaypalooza from Atlanta before BR go compare those} I noticed a difference immediately and I haven't even met you! I have spent the past few days gushing to some other board members about how great you've done and you have motivated me to really get my butt back in gear. Hey I did Boot camp twice this week because of you :)

Don't think that just because YOU don't see the results or you don't hear about how you are affecting others, it isn't happening. Those of us who will never get down to single digit sizes need our own heroes too :) Thanks Carrie for taking this journey and being my hero ;)

Aren't they a fabulous group of ladies? Always supportive, always encouraging but not afraid to give a kick in the ASS when it is needed!

Here is what Alden had to say, in response to our posts...

SITREP 23FEB07

REVmates – I’m referring to this week as FLEET WEEK – because it is major milestone in your accomplishments as individuals and as a team (fleet).

Milestone #1 – THE STORM - Carrie. Now, before I begin, realize I’m not picking on you – I’m praising you! Carrie’s post depicts one of the most important challenges every single one of us have or will face in life – I’m not just talking about losing weight – I’m talking about accomplishing a goal…you see, losing weight is a goal – it’s no different than making money or finding love – it’s a goal – plain and simple. Her post describes her frustration of not seemingly accomplishing her goal of losing weight…even though she’s already lost 30lbs. I’m highlighting your post Carrie, because you are at the door to your future – you are on the edge of your comfort zone – you have an opportunity in front of you that will completely change your life if you choose to press-on; conversely, if you choose to turn around your ship and head back to port in commiserate with the other rust buckets beached at the pier, your life will become one of complete predictability – it will be mired in misery – period.

Carrie, what you’ve so eloquently and honestly written is what happens to EVERYONE single one of us in life – we get frustrated, we get angry, we want to blame someone or something for preventing us from getting what we want – your feelings are 100% Natural – understand this – now understand that this is the most critical juncture of your journey – this if your first storm – the waves (your weight) are about a Sea State 4 (4-6 ft swells – in your case 4-6lbs of fluctuations) – the currents have pushed you back a bit during the holidays, and some of this you’ve allowed to happened, but you’re not giving yourself a reprieve for it – so your frustration grows even stronger…and then the winds chime in (your friends, and their success – “I lost, I lost, I lost”)…and here’s where the going gets the toughest, because now you’re doubting yourself – your brain, your captain – is beginning to question your course – indecision will set in – your ship will lose it’s power and it’s rudder…and then…you’re back to port before you know it…..CARRIE NOW IS THE TIME – FULL SPEED AHEAD, DAMN THE TORPEDOES (as quoted from the famous Naval Admiral Oliver Hazard Perry). Your REVmates have stepped up brilliantly with their support – you have done EXACTLY what you should have done – explain how you feel and send out a message for help – you see, you ARE NOT ALONE – there’s an entire FLEET at sea weathering similar storms….this is IT – this is your moment to breakthrough, to realize that YOU are in CONTROL, and that you can CONTROL so much than you realize…and WHEN you weather this storm you will be a different person – stronger, more confident and more in control…each storm makes us stronger…embrace this storm Carrie!

***About your frustration – a watched pot never boils…remember this – stop watching your weight and starting watching your food and exercise input and output. Remember, your brain and your body are ying and yang – or in nautical terms – ebb and flow….realize that stress, sleep, water, food, fun, movement, and much more are all connected together – if you only ever focus on the weight and not the bigger picture of enjoying the journey then you’ll constantly be in storms during your journey.***

Milesonte #2 – THE GIFT – Emily/Sauerpaus/Natalia…welcome to your new you – each of you in your own way has accomplished the very essence of what all my posting are all about – enabling you to take control…Emily – you have taught yourself the link between your mood and your food – this in the words of George Bernard Shaw: “Give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach him how to fish and feed him for a lifetime”…you now know how to fish – understanding this connection can be the difference between happiness and sorrow – you now can completely control your attitude if you so desire – of course, that’s up to you J but now you’re in control! HOOYAH EMILY!! Sauerpuss and Natalia, you both have also learned how to fish, but you’ve also shared one of the most important elements of your “new you” – your new found ability to do things that you formerly believed you couldn’t or shouldn’t do….what you’ve done is empower yourselves…and there’s no greater gift – congratulations!

REVmates, many of you already have experienced the Storm or the Gift – please share it, and understand, this is what it’s all about…and Welcome Isabel wholeheartedly so she understand that our Fleet leaves NO ONE BEHIND.

CHARLIE MIKE – ALDEN

Next week – I’ll answer questions – this weekend, think about your storm and your gift.

Aye, Aye, Captain!

I am bailing the swells of frustration that have started to seep over the sides of my ship. Storm is being weathered, black clouds are lightening, not quite blue skies but the sun is starting to peek thru the gray skies. The FLEET has responded to my distress call and assistance has been provided. No need for a tow at this point, I am moving under my own power once again... FULL SPEED AHEAD and DAMNING THE TORPEDOES, SIR!

And may I just add, Thank you, sir!

Let it Snow... Let it Snow... Let it Snow!!!

Normally I would not be jumping up and down at receiving over 12 inches of snow but we haven't had that much snow this winter and the last time it snowed this much I was trying to leave town (which I did thru some determination and some AWESOME friends!) so I didn't get to enjoy(??) it. But this time, it fell on a weekend...J's boss took the trip this week so he was home and in all honesty it was really very pretty.

But due to the amounts that fell, we all went out to shovel and it took us 3 hours and it still wasn't done (a little remains yet). This is the joy of having a foot of snow fall on a driveway that is 4000 square feet (one square of it being 40 ft X 40 ft). The temps were actually very mild... I was out in just a turtleneck and sweatshirt. The worst part however was the entrance to the driveway where the plows had piled up the snow 3 ft deep... J, K1 and I took turns at tearing that lovely work down.

The kids never complained the whole time we were out there and actually had some benefit from it. They built a snow fort right outside our backdoor. They used to do this when they were younger but we haven't had enough snow in the last couple of years at any one time for them to build one. This year... no problem.

Here are some pics of our snowfall and their fort... Enjoy!






Our mailbox which sits 52 inches off the ground... thanks to the snow plows it is now almost buried (I suck at editing photos..)













K2 adding a second entry (or escape route???) to the snow fort.

















K3 do some cleanup work on the sidewalk and adding more snow to their fortress.

I Gave up on a Book

I have been trying to read one author's sequel to Pride and Prejudice... Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife, however, it has just not been working for me. I don't normally read historicals... I used to when I was much, much younger but just stopped. They all seemed to be the same and I tended to get lost in the dialogue. Plus, there were so many times when I just wanted to slap the heroine even though the way they were acting would've been normal for that time period. However, I LOVE Pride and Prejudice and thought I would give the "sequel" a try seeing as how I already know the characters. But I was barely 60 pages into it and I finally said enough. It starts off fine... Darcy and Lizzie finally consumate their relationship (WooHoo! and thank gawd, considering they are married)... however, so far that is all they do! There is no interaction like they had in P&P... no feistiness... They go at it like rabbits (even in the coach on the way to Pemberley) and that is all that we have seen of them so far. New characters are being introduced but so far they bore me. Old characters revisit and their scenes (which occur as flashbacks) have been humorous, especially when Lydia advises her sisters on what to expect on their wedding night. But the story was dragging... I had read mixed reviews and maybe it gets better but I just don't have the time to devote to it right now so I am putting it off to a later date... like when I am stuck in the van driving to a camping destination and I have nothing else to read. The copy I have is from the library so back it goes tomorrow. I plan on hunting on-line and UBS for a cheap copy... if I find one I will buy it to have on hand (same goes for Darcy and Elizabeth: Days and Nights at Pemberly) but until I find it cheap, I am not investing the money in it.

Food/Mood Log - 25 FEB

Food:
Vanilla Slimfast shake w/skim
1 slice French Toast w/syrup
2 sm pieces of ched cheese
2 choc nougat slimfast bars
1 Tukey/Salami sandwich on whole wheat w/lettuce
1 bowl Beef Veg soup
Microwave popcorn (shared w/J)

Green Tea - 15 ounces
Skim Milk - 8 ounces

Water - 60 ounces

Exercise:
3 hours of shoveling ... HEAVY snow

Mood... Good day... pleasant attitude... exhausted at night but hey! I worked my butt off!!


Good Things:
1) Watching big fluffy white snowflakes fall
2) Exercise from satisfying hard physical labor w/my the whole familly
3) Not having to go into work on a Sunday night

Food/Mood Log - 23 FEB

Food:
Slimfast Shake w/skim & fresh banana added
Turkey sandwich on whole wheat w/cheese
Small movie popcorn w/butter
Bacon Cheeseburger
Fries
Oreo Cake

8 ounce Iced Tea sweet
16 ounces Vanilla Coke

50 ounces water

Exercise:
none... :(

Mood... Good day... nothing out of the ordinary for being tired. However, it was a long day... can't remember too much. I remember calm... relaxation... no agitation... and no strong desire for midday nap. However, tiredness really set in tonight. Long day been up since 5:00a.m. or it could be the Bacon Cheeseburger...

Good Things:
1)Eating movie theatre popcorn
2)Mailing 2 packages that should bring smiles
3)Mother-Daughter talk w/K3 about school, boys and life (her experiences and mine)

Food/Mood Log - 22 FEB

Food:
Turkey & Cheese Chipotle Sandwich
Lemon Raspberry Square (HEY! It's better than the Vanilla Bean Cheesecake that was calling my name!)
Salad w/carrots, tsp cheese, seed mix and low-fat dijon dressing
Spaghetti w/ whole wheat pasta... little sauce w/2 mini-meatballs
Corn
5 Hershey kisses (the bag is finally gone!)

12 ounce Black Iced Tea (sweet)
Venti Chai Latte w/skim

Water - 50 ounces (need to do better tomorrow!)

Exercise:
1 HR walk

Mood... good day... only 4 hours of sleep but seemed to do okay with it. Ate a nice relaxing lunch at B&N's cafe. However, 1 hour later while grocery shopping was getting tired... little sleep? the grocery shopping? or the sandwich?? But when I came home had no problem finding the energy to make dinner, do ALL dishes and some laundry.

Good Things:
1) Relaxing reading lunch at B&N
2) Book browsing and shopping
3) J buying me sugar snap peas

My New Washing Machine

We really weren't planning on having to buy a new washing machine...our old one was only 5 years old... a baby really. However, it started to bang during spinning out and J said it was time to take it apart and fix it. Originally, it was supposed to cost us about $140 for repairs (J's a do-it-yourselfer) however once he had it completely apart, a few more problems became visible. Repairs were now up to $400 with a huge potential one on the horizon. It wasn't worth our time or money to fix it and decided to upgrade to a larger machine (my laundry loads are only getting larger). We spent the better part of Sunday shopping around at different stores only to find that we had the best service and best price at the very first place we had looked at... an appliance store (which I thought for sure would have higher prices than Home Depot or Lowe's). We went back on Monday night and now just needed to narrow down our choices. We were deciding between a GE and a Whirlpool when J mentions that he had seen a slightly larger machine at a different appliance store for a better price. This store didnt' carry that particular model but had the next upgrade to that one.. the Whirlpool Duet 9400. He immediately offered it for the price of what J had seen the other one (which meant bringing the price down $100) and then said there were an additional $150 in rebates on the machine. Sold!

Our old machine was a front loader as well but a Kenmore and only 3.1 cubic feet. The salesman at Sears told us that our machine was actually made by Frigidaire. He then proceeded to tell us that Sears had switched to Whirlpool made Kenmores a few years ago because they had lots of problems with the Frigidaire ones. Hmmm... maybe that's why ours only lasted 5 years. Whatever the reason, I wasn't going that route again.

Our new machine is once again a front loader... I love the spin (my clothes are better spun out with the front loading) and and the water saving factor as well. However, on this machine we have increased our size to 3.8 cubic feet. Compared to our other one...it is HUGE! My first load of laundry in it was towels. I put in 5 beach sized towels, 8 regular ones and some added dish towels and still had room left for more. The only problem however is that our old dryer doesn't have nearly the same capacity. Hmmm... I wonder if I could talk J into a new dryer. LOL! Our Maytag is over 25 years old! However, that won't work after our delivery man commented on how we had one of the last great dryers. Thanks, dude! I tend to hang most of my laundry during the summer months anyway and J just set up a clothesline in the basement so I can hang some stuff now year round. It will work.

So for the time being, I am loving the laundry. But I'm sure within a week, I will be back to that ho hum factor of it all.

Did I Really Need Anymore Books???

Apparently I have a book addiction... and I don't think it is necessarily a reading addiction...just a simple book addiction... I have to browse, whether it be a bookstore or on-line. It doesn't matter, I just love to read the backs of books and try to imagine the story.

I have many sources for obtaining books. First, I have some pretty great friends who have sent me lots... did I mention LOTS... of books. I am beginning to feel bad because I haven't read half of what they sent... I plan to as all the books sent have interested me. BUT there they sit in my TBR pile. When I look upon it, I begin to feel guilty that these books could've gone to someone else who may have gotten around to reading them sooner... say this year, perhaps! Having mentioned my friends, I also live in a large suburban area with a fantastic inter-library loan system. Most books that I hear mentioned are available thru my library or one of its affiliates with the exception being books from fairly new authors. So with these two fantastic sources of books, will someone please explain to me why I felt the need to buy some more today... some? How about 10???

I actually was able to get some down time at Barnes & Noble today. I browsed for a bit, saw a couple of interesting ones, and then had lunch at their cafe and started to read a book that was in my purse. Fantastic time! I am usually pretty safe at B&N... I really, really have to want a book in order to buy it there. In fact, the most books I end up buying there tend to be for the kids. However, on my way home I decided to stop in at Half Price Books to see if there was anything for Grams. Now while it is true that I picked up a couple for her, most of the ones that I bought were for myself. I was like an addict and Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" wasn't working. Here is what I bought today (and truth be told, I did put a couple back on the shelf): The Pact by Jodi Picoult, Dead Sexy by Amanda Ashley (had just seen this as a new release at B&N), Make Me a Match by Diana Holquist, The Sunday List of Dreams by Kris Radish, Luscious Craving by Cameron Dean, Eternal Hunger by Cameron Dean (but those have to wait until I can find the first one, Passionate Thirst), The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler, and three for Grams, Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes (it was $1.00!!), The Quilter's Apprentice by Jennifer Chiaverini (hey, quilting...old ladies... figured it had to be safe!), and Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston (this one I might try to read before I send it out... but dang, she may never get it then!).

So my TBR pile has just gotten considerably larger and while I am reading so much more than I was last year, I still don't know when I am going to get around to them! And hey, if anyone is interested in reading any of these after I'm done, let me know and I will be happy to forward them on... you should count on getting them by July 2012.

Food/Mood Log - 21 FEB

Food:
Vanilla Slimfast Shake w/skim
2 Fried eggs
2 WW Toast
Salami on whole wheat bread
2 Slimfast peanut nougat bars
1/2 Bnls Sknls Chicken Breast (palm sized)
Mashed potatoes
Peas
Slimfast Blueberry Muffin bar
Turkey sandwich on whole wheat
Veggie Crisp Chips (cheese flavored)
Grapes
10 Hershey kisses (edited... forgot to mention these earlier)

Skim Milk - 8 ounces
Green Tea - 8 ounces

Water - 90 ounces


Exercise:
Legs (3 wts)
Cardio (2 wts)
Arms (2 wts)
Abs (3 wts)

Mood... When I woke up this morning, I was extremely tired! But again, I only had 4 hours of sleep. But I finally had enough sense to eat a nice large breakfast with K3 and afterwards I was raring to go. Since I had an energy spike, I did legs and cardio but then was interrupted before I could get into arms. However, by early afternoon, the sluggishness was back and sleep was needed. After a 3 hour much needed nap, felt much sluggish at first but after a bit became more alert. Ate a slimfast bar for a little pick me up and to help carry me over to dinner. Seemed to help. I had energy to make dinner and do a couple loads of laundry. However, I was extremely tired at work tonight... was it the mashed potatoes?? Was it the turkey sandwich??? Or was it simply because it was 2:00 in the freakin' morning??? Ended up taking a 1/2 hour power nap at 3:30 on my last break.

Good Things:
1) Getting my brand new washing machine (it's HUGE!)
2) Getting a nap in the middle of the day.
3) Mashed potatoes and peas... don't ask me why I love eating these two things together... and I do mean together... I scoop up some potatoes and then get some peas to climb on board and then... yuummm!

An Addendum to Food/Mood Logs

There is a lady from the BB (Cranky Otter) who post 3 things that makes her happy each day. She just recommended this tactic on the BB this week to help keep your focus on the positive. The kids and I used to do this a few years ago. We had a composition notebook that we labeled our Happiness Journal. Each night before bed, we would list at least one thing that made us happy that day. I am going to have to dig that thing up. It was fun to do back then so I have decided to adopt this and add it to my Log each day. It should be interesting to see what makes me happy especially on those bad days.

Food/Mood Log - 20 FEB

Food:
Bowl of Cooked Wheat Cereal w/ 2% (wahhh! we ran out of skim and I had to resort to Jeff's)
Turkey Sandwich on whole wheat w/mayo and lettuce
Veggie chip crisps (cheese flavored)
10 kisses (coconut cream variety)
Chinese Pepper Chicken w/white rice
1 mini Crab rangoon
2 Rice Cakes (white cheddar flavored)
3 Madeline cookies (from Starbucks - 230 calories! Yikes!)

Coke - 12 ounces
Grande Non-fat Chai latte

Water - 70 ounces

Exercise:
Cardio (2 wts!!!)
Abs (3 wts!!!)

Mood... Good mood today... very tired this a.m. but only had about 4 hours of sleep. Worked out after lunch (cardio and abs)... feel energized! I bumped my wts up one each (Cardio is now at 2 wts and Abs is at 3)... I can honestly say that I sweat this time. That's nothing new during Cardio although it was more intense this time but I can't remember the last time that I sweat during Abs... normally it is complete relaxation for me... and it was this time too however, there was SWEAT as well. It felt good! Great, in fact. Maybe that is what my workouts needed lately was to be bumped up a bit... I have been at 2 wts for the 3 main routines since October so probably overdue.

3 Good Things...
1)Doing the nail polish "thing" with the girls... toes for me... fingers for them.
2)Talking to Laura on the phone - we had been missing each other for a couple of weeks and finally hooked up today.
3) Having it reach 40 degrees and sunny! Feels so good!

Whining and Revving...

So I posted on the BB today about my frustrations with the scale not moving very much lately... and in fact, it hasn't made it back down to my lowest weight loss level (I am still 2 pounds away from that). You will see my actual post in a day or two when I do post the week's Sitrep. I am just waiting for Alden's response before I post. But in my post I mention that while I am happy for those who are losing dress sizes, it is frustrating for me to be stuck in this limbo... a fellow BBer mentioned the word, plateau. For six weeks, my workout routines SUCKED! I barely did anything! And now for the past month, I have gotten my act together and have worked out regularly (okay last week wasn't so hot but the others were great). I feel like I am doing okay with the food intake and in fact, I have completely upped my water intake. So while it feels like I am doing things right or at least better, I don't have that proof that the scale is supposed to provide.

However, I got some serious advice, some gentle reminders and much needed butt kicking to remind me of my original motivations, the successes that I have had so far and the fact that I have not really begun to balloon back up despite my lackluster performance for 6 weeks. I am going to move my scale so it is not out in the open. Let's hope the "out of sight... out of mind" philosophy works! Then I need to make the commitment to keep on working out (don't let the tired excuses creep in)... I need to continue to do my logging, not necessarily so much on the mood part (although I will try to keep at it) but rather keep logging the food and beverage intake. I think this has helped me make some good decisions by blogging my logs so definitely need to keep at it. I need to keep at the water intake... that has led to some great and surprising results already. It can only be a good thing. And I need to remember why I started this in the first place... I didn't start off saying that I am only going to do this so I can lose 50, 80, 100 pounds... no, I wanted to be fit and healthier. I want to be around to watch my children grow up and to play with my grandchildren. I want to set a good example for my children that you don't have to accept being fat but that it will take work to stay fit and healthy. This is what I need to do... and when I forget any of this or let the frustrations side-track me, I know that there are a bunch of ladies and one very determined former SEAL who will be ready to kick my butt back into gear and remind me.

Vampires, Water and The Chair

Last Friday I had my monthly plasma donation. After my pre-check workup and interview, I was taken back to the donation area and "the chair". When I saw who was standing there, I almost turned around and ran out of the building. There are only two ladies(Joyce and Karen) at the blood center who I don't want touching me however, I have never made a formal request on my chart. In fact, one time the phlebotomist who was supposed to take care of me was busy with another person and Joyce so kindly tried to step in and assist. I began shaking my head "no, no, no" behind her back that one of the other ladies suggested that she help someone else. Usually EVERY time I get one of these two ladies they botch the whole needle entry and end up digging around trying to find the vein which usually leads to heavy bruising and an incomplete draw or return.

As I am being led to "the chair" Joyce is standing there setting everything up. I am thinking to myself... "Say something... Tell them you want someone different." But do I? Oh, no... that would be rude... As I am sitting and waiting for Joyce to finish prepping the machine, I am starting to get really nervous and agitated. Now normally giving blood or plasma does not bother me... I can watch the whole needle pricking or not... but with Joyce at the ready, I was getting scared. I finally had to mentally slap myself and tell myself to calm down. Since I wasn't going to open my mouth and ask for someone else, I needed to just relax and let this happen... getting worked up about it was only going to make it worse. Plus, I reminded myself that last month my draw went perfect. I started doing some deep breathing relaxation.

As I looked away, Joyce prepped my arm, cleaned it with iodine and then jabbed that needle into my arm. She may have missed the vein as she had to do some "adjusting" and I thought for sure this was going to be like every other time that I had her. She made a little noise of victory and started to fill the vials first. I was a little amazed as there wasn't any pain this time although I made a huge error of judgement when she asked me if there was any discomfort. HA! Why didn't I just say no, everything is fine? But I happened to mention that their was some itchiness at the insertion point. Well, then she starts playing with the needle... "backing it up a bit"... "sometimes that helps"... what was I thinking??? I replied that it felt much better when she asked. Then after the machine starts to draw, she has a little gauze swab and she uses it to "scratch" by the needle "Itchy, itchy"... what am I... 2??

The machine goes thru the first draw and it is time for the first return to start. This is where I thought that it would all go wrong. To my utter amazement, the return went beautifully! In fact, the rest of the process was picture perfect. J says it is the weight loss that is helping and while I don't doubt that, I am sure that the increased water is also a HUGE contributor. That alone is enough to make me keep on drinking!

"You Smell... different."

This is what I heard this morning from K3 when she woke up... What does that mean?

"I smell?"

"Well, not bad... just different than your normal smell."

So I still smell...

"Well, I showered last night before bed. I used a new shampoo and conditioner, maybe that's it."

"Nope, that's not it." She says after smelling my hair.

"Hmmm... well, maybe it's dirty clothes... with the new washer not arriving until tomorrow (that's a whole 'nother story!), we are all wearing dirty clothes."

"What? I'm not... I pulled these out of the clean clothes pile."

"Well, that's what you think. But since I haven't been able to wash clothes for 4 days, I have been pulling clothes from the hamper and folding them nicely and putting them in the clean clothes pile so no one would know."

"WHAT?!?!?!? I can't smell when I go to school!"

"Calm down... I'm just joking!" My kids have so many clothes, they could probably go weeks without running out of stuff to wear. I really was kidding! "I just wanted to get you back for telling me I smell."

"Well, you do... not bad...just different."

Well, she did the sniff test all over again and couldn't decide what it was... we just left it with that I smell... different.

It wasn't til after she went to school that it dawned on me... I went to J and asked him (he knew the whole conversation) "Do you think she smelled... " ummmm... never mind... ;)

Food/Mood Log - 16 FEB --- a little late and incomplete...

Accccckkk! I started a draft from last Friday but never finished it... wasn't going to post it but decided to anyway...even though I don't have a complete food listing. Two reasons for posting... 1) the only reason all 4 routines were done is because Andrea from the BB did a shout-out challenging everyone to do either BootCamp (not ready for that yet!) or all 4 revolutions on BR Essentials. Thank you, ANDREA! and 2) this was the day of my Plasma donation and it went SUPER! I don't know if the weight loss figures into it but what I honestly believe is making it easier is my increased water intake. I need to do a separate post on this visit... it was awesome!

Food:
Bowl of cooked wheat cereal w/skim milk
4 itty bitty breadsticks*
2 pieces of cheddar cheese*
2 slim jims*
2 pink sugar wafer cookies*
2 Rice Cakes (white cheddar flavored)

The starred (*) snacks were what I consumed after donating plasma...

12 ounce can of Apple Juice*
80 ounces water

Exercise:
BR Essen dvd
Abs - 2 ts
Arms - 2 wts
Legs - 2wts
Cardio - 2wts

Mood...

I am Still Here...

Life interfered the last couple of days... nothing too traumatic and in fact, some good stuff (had a day too myself but will blog on that later.) I am still doing the Food/Mood logs but didn't take notes over the weekend so I am not going to post partial logs... I will just skip them and pick it up starting today. And no, it is not because I am embarrassed to admit what I ate...trust me, Saturday was not a good food day but it was a special occasion so I will not apologize for it. And if you really need to know, in one day I ate, cheese fries with a Coke (tasted soooo good!) and dinner was small steak and shrimp w/melted cheese on it and mashed potatoes with a chocolate brownie for dessert! So see... I am not hiding from it...just can't do a full post so why bother? But I am back!

BodyRev Sitrep Reports - Week of 12 FEB

Here is Alden's Rev Report request from 2/12/07...


REVPORT!
REVmates - here's the deal, this week is particularly busy for me with the filming of our new REV 8/10 gym instructor videos so I'll be asking for you questions tonight/tomorrow and I'll be responding on Wednesday.

Three things to discuss:

1. Report on the food/mood logging - I want to know who's noticed the difference - who's really tried it, and what's the difference - what do you actually feel - please share, this is so important for all your teammates.

2. Tell me about accountability - how are you keeping yourself accountable? Do you have your own motivation? If so, will you share it - or do you have a swim buddy or are you looking for one??

3. Would appreciate your thoughts on the book idea - specifically, for those who've been reading/responding to my posts - what would you find most compelling about a book written by me...I'm well aware there are a million books on losing weight out on the market - what should my book bring that others don't already have...and incidentally, it's quite alright if you respond with - "nothing" - just let me know your feelings.

Stay REVved UP, and CHARLIE MIKE - ALDEN

And my response to it...

Revving & Logging underway...

Abs -5X
Arms - 3X
Legs - 3X
Cardio - 4X

3 - 1 HR walks

I started my food/mood logging the day after you recommended it. I have to say that the logging of what I eat makes me think twice about what goes in my mouth. I am not perfect BUT when I think what could be going in and isn't... that's a plus. In order to keep myself honest and motivated to continue, I have been posting my mood/food logs to my blog. There my friends are able to see it ( and comment on it, if they wish) but more importantly I am continuing to do it. I think if I was just doing it here at home with just myself to view it, I don't know how current I would stay with it plus, I don't think I would make all the same decisions that I have made. It is the fact that others are going to see what I ate that helps in making those decisons the most. I have also been invited to participate in a log round robin but I will let that organizer of that share the details if she chooses.

I haven't been able to see the connection between food and mood...yet. My biggest challenge this week has been the situational forces that have affected my mood greatly the last couple of days. I honestly don't think food or exercise had any affect in bringing me out of it. The problems themselves need to be taken care of first. However, I did stay fairly true to my workout routine and there was a time when I desperately wanted to bury myself in some delicously fattening...sickenly sweet food... I didn't care what... I was hearing "Eat it... you'll feel better." But my mind seemed to override those feelings... I knew what I was looking for was a quick fix to feeling better but in the long run would be even more upset over the damate done.

As for the book, what I really like most about the posts are all the EXTRAS you give us... The idea of keeping the food/mood log... the first post where you told us to journal or jot down why we wanted to be fit and pick the 3 most important... It is these and more like them that I think would make your book that much different from what's out there.

And finally, Alden's response to us later in the week...with some deletions that don't pertain to me...

SITREP 15FEB07

REVmates – HOOYAH on your feedback!!! It kept me up most of the night, hence my delayed response – not to worry, I dropped down and gave you 50 for my tardiness.

Before I get take the CON (that is the Conning Tower – or bridge of the ship to discuss the “orders” for the week), I want to commend a few mates with a BRAVO ZULU – they are, and in no particular order:

BZ Cindy – I’m Fired UP to have you post to the Team – WELCOME ABOARD!!!

I have the CON (this is what the Officer of the Deck says when he takes control of the Bridge): Last week we went to the next level – we’re now starting to explore the connection between your brain and your body – we’re fine tuning our ship to improve our experiences on our voyage. When we started, the first principle we learned was that your body obeys your brain – that your body is actually a brain housing group – it’s designed to support your brain. Your brain is in charge – in it’s most basic form your brain tells your body what to do all day long – eat or don’t eat – REV or don’t REV – watch TV or walk outside – each and every decision is made by you and your brain first, then your body executes your brain’s decision…hence our analogy of your brain (you) as the Captain and your body as your ship.

Now that you understand the basics of getting your ship underway, we need to learn how to improve limits of our ship’s functions – of it’s ability to go faster, journey longer, move more easily through all conditions (currents – your daily food intake, winds – those word both negative and positive that come at you daily to either hammer you down or boost you up, and waves – your daily fluctuations in weight (it’s NORMAL!))…and most importantly, the ability of your ship’s crew (your body, brain, and soul) to continually set new destinations (new goals), new journeys to explore and accomplish (this is Level 3 – we’ll get there, but not yet). For now, we’re going to focus on improving the teamwork between your Captain and the ship. You see, your Captain’s ability to make decisions is directly connected to the overall health and function of your ship. (You had the courage to trust me to get your ship underway – which the most challenging obstacle to overcome – now trust me, that it only gets better as you learn to improve your ship’s performance.)

Food/mood logging is more important than food logging now – because now, you’re understanding what fuel gives your ship better gas mileage with less downtime. Think about it – use crappy fuel = get crappy mileage and lots of engine trouble…but unlike a machine there’s a bigger problem, your fuel directly effects your mood, and your mood directly effects your decision-making abilities, and thus can begin a snowball effect of either good or bad habits….BREAK….food for thought – Charles Reade (a novelist) once wrote:

Sow an act, and you reap a habit
Sow a habit, and you reap a character
Sow a character, and you reap a destiny

I love this quotation because it represents the three basic levels of taking control of your life. We are currently on line two – think level two – you’ve created a habit – REVving, exercising in some form, watching what you eat, thinking positively, setting goals and getting your ship underway….now, we’re linking your habits to your character – building a better you – your way – your new you – and we’re doing it by using the building blocks of what makes you run at your optimal level – get it???!…I digress, more on this overtime – it’s important that you understand the whole mission, and how each tactic is connected to the building blocks: food – mood – movement – motivation = YOU UNSTOPPABLE.

Many of you already are learning the connection – some of you have noticed the food/mood partnership overnight – some of you it will take longer to notice, because you need to first flush your pipes of the bad fuel in your ship’s pipes so your engine can feel the difference – but TRUST ME IT WILL COME, and when it does understand the energy to positive thinking connection – that top of the world feeling of “it’s great to be alive, and I can’t wait to use every minute of the day to make something terrific happen”. Others have noticed that their engines rev-up very quickly but then run out of gas and get clogged when they add excessive of amounts of sugar or alcohol into their systems – thank you Cindy for your comments – you’re dead-on! Everyone’s system is slightly differently – just ask Beki – but everyone’s system is essentially the same = your system will run better with lesser amounts of better fuel – e.g. several of you have posted that you’ve noticed you don’t need as much food to actually have more energy and feel better…keep the food/mood logging going – this is a paramount to accomplishing Level Two – we will not get to Level Three until you master this connection – CHARLIE MIKE REVMATES!

To your questions and comments:

· Eating and Traveling – whether you’re traveling or working – fueling your ship remains the same – set a timer if you too or remember the last time you added fuel to your system – make little zip-loc baggies of snacks: nuts, dried fruit, jerky, or snacks for the BR meal plan – but pre-plan your fuel if you now you’re going to be crunched for time.
· Breathing – Anne Elizabeth is dead-on about the connection to breathing and your overall well being – practice deep breaths throughout the day – try for starters: 3 seconds inhale – 3 seconds hold your breath – 4 seconds exhale – place the tip of your tongue behind the back of your front teeth and close your eyes – do this five times while sitting (with good posture) or lying down – let me know how you feel.
· Erika – PLEASE SEE A DOCTOR – then report back.
· Morning workouts – Mary Jo – don’t beat yourself up – so you’re not a morning person – big deal – just get your REVving/exercise in consistently during the sametime everyday.
· Thank you, thank you for all your book feedback – I’ll be commenting on it shortly – you’ve given me much to think about – THANK YOU.

Maintain course and speed on your food/mood logging and exercise (hint – next week, we’re going to work on movement/mood logging so if you want to think about extra credit – start to notice how you feel after different kinds of exercise (and it’s duration)).

It’s only going to get better – CHARLIE MIKE - ALDEN

Food/Mood Log - 15 FEB

Food:
Slimfast Shake w/skim
Small movie theatre popcorn
2 Tacos (WW soft shell, lettuce, cheese, grd beef)
apple walnut bar
10 Lorna Doone shortbread cookies

12 ounce Coke
8 ounces skim milk
10 ounces hot green tea

Water - 65 ounces

Exercise:
1 HR Walk


Mood... not a bad day... however food intake was just off yesterday. Slept only a few hours after coming home from work. Went to the movies in the afternoon (had popcorn and soda) felt sickish later... I think it was the greasy buttery popcorn on a mainly empty stomach (its happened before). Very tired afterwards (but this again could be because I only slept 3 hours). Have to admit though (whether it was lack of sleep or food choices), I had no energy last night. Didn't Rev at all...gave it a brief thought and just didn't. Need to change that for today and the weekend...

Food/Mood Log - 14 FEB

Food:
Slimfast shake w/ skim
2 pieces whole wheat toast
1 pineapple spear
Turkey sanwhich on WW roll w/lettuce, tomtato, mayo
small cup of baked potato soup
Salad w/carrots, cheese, seed mix and sugar snap pea pods (spray on red wine dressing)
2 rice cakes
2 cupcakes
10 pieces of laffy taffy
6 pieces of Hershey's treasures
10 Water Crackers w/ asiago cheese spread

Venti Chai Latte w/skim

80 ounces of water

Exercise:
BR Essen
Legs (2 wts)
Arms (2wts)
Abs (2 wts)


Mood... For the most part it was a good day... only lows were during a GS meeting (that was after eating the sandwich and soup) where I suffered some frustration but 2 of my girls are really irritating... so was it the food or the girls??? Later lost it with J but that was more due to disappointment about something rather than food, although my response was a bit overly sensitive. Work was good tonight... I was "on" all night... laughing, joking around... but became extremely tired at 4:00 a.m. right after second break where I ate the crackers and cheese... not too mention the 2 cupcakes 3 hours earlier (and, ummmm, the hershey's candy)... so was it the food? or was it the fact that it was 4 a.m.??? With my crazy overnight work schedule and only part-time at that... it is hard to determine if my mood swings are food related or from lack of sleep or non-consistent sleep patterns... I will try to keep an eye on it. It would be interesting to know.

What Do You Get a Teen for His Birthday?

K1 has a birthday at the end of the month. It's not too hard to shop for him as he just bought his Wii and the kid actually likes clothes. However, this year he put in a special request for a present... okay, I am always willing to consider new ideas. BUT I am not buying my son a present in which he could end up dying... is the kid insane? What did he want?... The CMDR will like this one... he wants me to get him skydiving lessons. See he had asked about a month ago when I asked him if there was a sport that he wanted to take lessons in or sign up for... K2 has fencing so I thought he might be interested in doing something. When he first mentioned it, I told him that there HAD to be an age requirement... thinking that it was at least 16 if not 18... Hello, insurance??? Well, he was so proud of himself... he googled and came up with this place... and look it says "we have jumped people of all ages... " I still don't know if that means CHILDREN but it doesn't specify. But it doesn't matter... the kid will have to be heartbroken on this birthday... no skydiving lessons for him... Kerap! My hair is already going gray... I don't need to be fully gray by 40.

Faster than a Speeding Bullet

Okay, maybe that should have a MOOG (mind out of the gutter) tag on it... What I am referring to is The Magic Bullet (HA! That doesn't sound much better! MOOG!) A few weeks ago a wonderful friend sent me one of these handy little gadgets. So far it has been used almost every single day by each of my children. The kids who complained every morning about cold cereal, esp K1 and K2 who would often leave for school without eating any breakfast, are now having smoothies each and every day.

They all have yogurt (peach, strawberry or vanilla) add in a packet of Carnation Instant Breakfast powder (vanilla or chocolate), some fresh or frozen fruit (bananas, strawberries, peaches, raspberries, etc), some skim milk and 3 ice cubes and blend away! I actually feel fine sending them out the door with this in their stomachs. They are getting a little bit of everything and claim they are FULL after downing an entire glass. I no longer hear cries of pain at the thought of eating cold cereal only requests of "Mom, can you make me a smoothie?"

So a HUGE thank you to this friend for sending me one of these... it has now become the most used motorized gadget in my house.

Why Do I Need to Care About This?

Yes, having someone die at 39 is indeed tragic, but why should I care that A*nna Nicole Smith was the one to pass? I can understand the entertainment TV shows like Extra, ET, etc. covering it like crazy but WHY does my local news channel have to air the story and any updates on every 1/2 hour news?

This woman was in no way a role model... not that people in the entertainment industry are or should be considered to be. But there are some who actually have talent and who do something with their riches besides blowing it on themselves and drugs. A*nna Nicole had no talent and was famous for posing for Playboy and marrying an old man. She was also a drug addict. I saw an interview with her mother where she was upset, wondering where her manager was at the time, saying that everytime A*nna Nicole had a drug overdose in the past he was there to get her to the hospital in time. WHAT?!?!? Everytime she had an overdose? If this was, in fact, due to a drug overdose, is she saying that it was his fault? And if it turns out to be something more sinister like murder, fine... investigate and solve the crime. But do NOT make this woman out to be some martyr... some great loss to the entertainment world, she was not.

Food/Mood Log - 13 FEB

Food:
Slimfast Shake (w/skim)
Pineapple spear
2 Rice Cakes white cheddar flavored
4 Dove milk chocolate pieces
Ravioli (chicken and asiago filled)w/roasted tomato white sauce
Green Beans
5 Lorna Doone Shortbread Cookies

8 0z skim milk
8 0z hot chocolate w/ Baileys

50 ounces water

Exercise:
1 HR Walk
1 HR snow shoveling

Mood is finally improving. Maybe I can finally start to watch how food affects mood now. Yesterday I had a difficult day in the late afternoon... CRAVING something sweet. I walked up and down the cookie/cracker aisle of the grocery store reading the nutrition labels.... wanting desperately something sweet. I finally settled on Lorna Doone shortbread cookies and some Water Crackers. The LD cookies were actually less in calories than the Healthy Choice and the sugar-free cookies that I looked at... what's up with that? I survived the grocery store without buying anything else fattening and escaped. I wasn't agitated or grumpy during this time but the CRAVING was so strong... it was like I NEEDED something sweet at that time. Last night I was pretty mellow... not overly tired or dragging. With having the pasta for dinner, I thought maybe that would have some effect but I didn't really notice any. Will keep watch in the future since pasta is a fairly regular occurence here.

Food/Mood Log - 12 FEB

Food:
2 pieces Supreme style pizza
Slice Marble Loaf (Starbucks but shared with dd)
Turkey Sandwich (WW toast, 1 tsp mayo, lettuce)
Bowl of Black Bean soup (tomato based)
3 milk chocolate Dove candies
Salad ( lettuce, carrots, 1 tsp cheese, sugar snap peas, seed mix, spray on red wine mist dressing)
100 Calorie pack of fudge striped cookies
Veggie Chips
4 bite size 3 muskateers

Grande Chai (w/skim)

Water - 90 ounces

Exercise:
1 HR walk


Mood... day continued on being a lousy day... need to take care of problems at home, I think, before things can improve... Today one of those will be semi-taken care of (for the time being anyway) and hopefully I can move on... Mail call in the afternoon was a help... to know that there are friends (some that I haven't even met physically yet) out there thinking about me... It's a good feeling. Evening was a bit iffy... but I tried to think positive and put my best face forward. Work... started off iffy... my mood didn't help...but things went rather smoothly... my boss actually listened to my idea...it worked and set me off flying... When I left this morning he asked me... "so what's up tonight... you were FLYING... I was so excited to see it." It was nice to be noticed for hard work... it usually isn't in that place. So I really can't see if the food affects the mood these last couple of days due to situations but I am hoping to continue this to see if Alden is correct on it... The man is smart and seems to know what he is talking about so I would tend to agree with him. Maybe I will ask him about it at next "REEEPORT!"

In one way I am proud of myself... there was a time, early in the afternoon, when I wanted to drowned myself in FOOD... something sinful and fattening and sugary sweet... I didn't care... I CRAVED it... but I knew that it was my emotional self trying to find a fix and I refused to cave... I did have the couple pieces of Dove but hey... it wasn't the bag! Which is really what I wanted... I seemed to know that my body/mind was trying to use food as a quick fix to feeling better.

Great Friends...

That is exactly what I have... GREAT FRIENDS! On a day when I needed it the most, their kindness and generosity came thru in emphatic style.... and they didn't even know that I needed it. In today's mail, I received two catalogs, two advertisements, NO BILLS (for a change) and count them, five, yes, that was 5... pieces of fun, fantastic mail from friends... okay, one was a thank you card from the daughter of a friend but it was still great mail. I received 1 box, 2 envelopes and 2 cards... the box was a wonderful assortment of valentine's goodies... the two envelopes contained a treasure trove of BOOKS (one came from England and arrived in less than a week!)... quite honestly that envelope was for K2 but it made my day too... the second envelope of books was from my very favorite Book Pimp (and honestly the only person I know that truly deserves that name!) who sent me 4 books (including the newest Nora Roberts series) and a special treat... the envelopes contained the aforementioned thank you card and a Valentine's card& cd of LURVE songs from Ranger. This is right on top of receiving another book from the Book Pimp on Saturday and a envelope of books a few days ago from Cin. To you all, you have no idea how wonderful it was to get this mail today. It really made me smile and reflect on what fabulous friends I have. Something truly to be thankful for... I love ya!

I am doing better but still need to deal with some issues around here... tomorrow is another day. Plus, I am working tonight which lately is not a happy place for me to be. I promise to come out of my hibernation soon. I am not in the best of spirits and seemed to have lost my sense of humor right now... I need to clear some things up here at home before I will feel up to playing again.

I just really need to let you all know how wonderful you all are... and how truly lucky I am.

Food/Mood Log - 11 FEB

Food:
Vanilla Slimfast shake (w/skim)
1 fried egg
1 whole what toast
1 pineapple spear
10 crackers w/asiago cheese spread
1 slice pork roast
1 helping mashed red potatoes
peas
salad (w/carrots, 1 tsp cheese, sugar snap peas, seed mix)
1 pkg "100 Calorie fudge striped cookies)
tortilla chips w/chicken dip

skim milk - 8 ounces
Water - 80 ounces

Exercise:
BR Essen
Cardio (1 wt)
Abs (2 wts)


First, let me preface this by saying that yesterday was a full work day, so I was up 24 hours and the food intake reflects that. As for the mood part, awful, horrible day... bad mood... emotions up and down, mostly down... but I know it is not food related... it was (and is) purely situational.... won't write about it... but I am in hibernation mode right now (friends, just give me a day or so, please, to respond to emails)...let's just leave it at... I HATE winter and all the stuff necessary because of it.... apparently, 2 hours is not enough sleep... I am going back to bed...