Lean Cuisine may be lean, but it sure ain't cuisine.

Stardate: 3/18/2011

Weight: Not going to check until next Tuesday, but I'm up to a total deficit of 2700 since the 15th, if I'm logging correctly.

Mood: Much better, thanks!

Days without full-calorie soda: 3.5

Feeling pretty good today; I haven't "cheated" all week, and I've been drinking water like a wild woman. I got feeling really hungry earlier, but I think I'm finally figuring out some of my "trigger foods", and also finding stuff that's satisfying without breaking the caloric bank. I think my new loves are as follows (in no particular order):

~ Laughing Cow Light French Onion Swiss (35 cal.)w/ Triscuit Thins (120 cal.). Salty, crunchy and creamy (and stinky, but nothing a good tooth-brushing can't cure).

~ Mio Water Flavoring (like Crystal Light, but no chalkiness). Pomegranate Berry, Fruit Punch and Watermelon Strawberry are all really good; Peach Mango less so (0 cal.).

~ Gala apples with Lighthouse Reduced Sugar Caramel Dip (about 100 cals. for the apple, 50 for half a single-sized cup of the dip). The caramel adds quite a few calories, but it feels really indulgent, so I'll take it.

I'm sure there are other diet-saving snacks out there, and they're probably a lot healthier for you, have less artificial sweeteners, aren't packed full of corn syrup or sodium, etc., but if you want info on stuff like that, go to a whole food blog.

As for exercise, I only made it through about ten minutes (okay, maybe more like eight) of Jackie Warner's ab workout, but I threw in Just Dance 2 and powered through "Firework", "Viva Las Vegas", "Big Girl, You Are Beautiful", "Sway", and "That's Not My Name". Not bad, if I do brag! Now, there was probably a fair amount of fat flying about as I maneuvered my ginormous gut around my tiny living room, but hopefully, not for long.

Back again, gained weight.

Stardate 3/15

Weight: 186

Mood: Bleak

So, I went back to my parents' house to help out after my Dad's surgery, and..... I blew it. I mean, royally, epically blew it. Regular soda, Mexican food, McDonald's (which I don't even like, really, but it's the only fast food in town), etc. Very depressing. I also "forgot" to take my Bugg with me, which considering the dietary carnage, is probably a good thing. There are some times when reality just refuses to be obscured, and I suspect this may have been one of those times.

On a happier note, I worked out today, and have thus far (it's 4 pm) only had a Slim Fast shake, a Lean Cuisine meal (Asian Potstickers - not bad, actually), and 2 clementine oranges.

Despite the fact that I feel like my stomach is trying to eat itself (and who knows? Maybe it did!), I'm feeling re-motivated. Now, if I can just last longer than a week this time...

Damn leftovers and all that they stand for...

Yesterday's Deficit: 1194 (Not too shabby! All of that slaving over fondant must have paid off!).

Full-Calorie sodas: 0

Managed to pull off the party (and the cake and pizza) without going completely overboard. Wish I could say the same about today! I did all right, but I had two pieces of pizza and two slices of cake. Not a pretty sight. My hubby went out of town today, so the kids and I played way too many video games and messed around with my son's new Legos. Not a bad day! Not exactly productive, either, but I'll take what I can get! Speaking of video games, I did four or five songs today on "Just Dance 2", and realized that it's definitely the workout for me. I can't dance for the life of me, but there's something completely hedonistic about flailing around in my living room to, "Big Girl, You Are Beautiful". I'm going to bed now - my son's 7:20 alarm goes off way too soon!

Cake wars.

March 1

Yesterday's Deficit: 891

Full-Calorie soda intake so far: 0

So, today is my son's birthday, so cake is an inevitability. There's no way I'm going to slave over a flipping 2-tiered Super Mario Bros. cake (complete with fondant "Starites") without partaking. Since the birthday boy also gets to pick dinner, pizza is also an inevitability. Maybe it's good that the whole birthday thing is hitting early on in my re-commitment phase; my willpower is still relatively strong, and since I've only been working on weight loss for about 24 hours, I can't whine and cry about deserving to have a treat every now and then. Here's crossing my pudgy fingers! I don't even want to think about our upcoming trip to Las Vegas; I'll be lucky to come back fitting into my "fat jeans"; let alone having lost anything.

On a somewhat different note, I'm sore this morning from completing 4 songs on "Just Dance 2" for the Wii; and I'm surprised at the fact that I can't lift my arms over my head without wanting to whimper. I'm considering springing for the "Gold's Gym Dance Workout" game next. The graphics suck the big one, but the reviews were positive, and there's a mini game where you run to avoid being eaten by lions. Now, if that isn't motivation, I don't know what is! Anyway, short post, not much to tell. Updates to follow.

Wow - WAAAAY long time, no see...

So, I knew it had been awhile since I last posted, but over a year? Unacceptable! So, since it's been a long time, I'm going to do a really quick review to bring you up to speed; and I'm going to do it in a short list of bullet points:

~The Bodybugg worked really well for me... when I actually used it. I lost about 15 lbs. with it in the first 2 months, and it was relatively painless.

~I went through some kind of funk, wherein I ate everything that wasn't nailed down; and when it became too painful to hold myself accountable, I took my 'bugg off for "a couple of days".

~A "couple of days" became 6 months; apparently, my 'bugg fell behind my dresser, not to be found until, well, 6 months later. At this point, I had regained 10 of the 15 lbs. I had lost.

~I felt like a complete and utter failure, and went back into a dietary funk.

~Halloween hit, then my birthday, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas. Uggh.

~In January, I realized that my subscription had expired, and thus renewed it for 6 more months. Later in the month, I finally got an Android phone, so I sold my old Bodybugg in favor of the new Bodybugg SP, which enables wireless updating and other cool junk.

~Valentine's Day hit.

~Realizing that my oldest child is turning 6 tomorrow, and that my "baby" is 3, I no longer have them to blame for the "baby weight", I am now back to 'bugging, blogging, and bringing the pain.

So, long story short, I'm back on the wagon, eating a Lean Cuisine as I type, still shaking from the effort of completing 4 songs on "Just Dance 2" on my Wii, and recommitting to keep up on my blog as I re-start my weight loss efforts.

Stardate Feb. 28

Weight:184.4

Mood: Kinda discouraged.

First full day on the BodyBugg

I'm starting this blog in the hope that I can keep myself motivated, and so that I can (hopefully) answer some of those "Should I buy this sucker?" questions.

So far, I haven't even owned the Bugg for 24 hours. I got it as a sort of late Christmas present to myself. It was this or a Cricut Expression, but I chose the Bugg, and I'm going to let you in on my thought process (which probably won't be all that interesting, but hey, it's all I've got!) with that decision.

I have a (very) small craft and jewelry business, and I've had one of the smaller Cricuts for a while now, but had deluded myself into thinking that I would make my money back by upgrading. Then I got real, and realized that if I can't make enough money to buy one with the profit from my business, then I probably don't need the upgrade!

Anyway, long story short, I realized that summer is only a few months away, and I am absolutely horrified with my body. The fact that I'm miserable is bad enough, but the fact that I'm too embarrassed to go to the pool like this could impact my kids (4 and 2) scares the shizz out of me. My mom has also struggled with her weight for as long as I can remember, and I can't even count the times that she has refused to get on with LIVING until she loses the weight. I also want to get on the ball (or on the Bugg, as it were) because I know that it isn't going to get any better as I age. I'm only 31, but I feel like I'm eighty due to a combination of several factors:

1. I have psoriatic arthritis (kind of like RA, treated with the same meds, etc.)
2. I had a hysterectomy last year.
3. I'm a great, big tub 'o' lard.

Now, as for the first two, there isn't a damn thing I can do. For the last one, however, there is. I'd been thinking about getting a BodyBugg for a while now, and so I decided to just take the plunge and go with it. Anyway, after all of my ramblings, here's the bottom line (as I see it, at least) as to the worth of this little gadget:

A lot of people are scared off by the price, but because you get not only a calorie counter/pedometer, but also an online weight loss program to go along with it, it's a heck of a lot cheaper than Weight Watchers (for example), and operates on the same principal (but better!). I got mine at Costco for $179, and I know that you can get them at Amazon.com for a similar price, but at Costco you get a 12-month subscription to the BodyBugg website with your membership.

Good luck, and happy "Bugging".