Saturday, February 26, 2011

Weight Watchers- Five Week Update

At the beginning of the year, after gaining back all the weight I'd lost playing Game On over the course of, oh, a year and change, I decided that I just couldn't fuck around anymore. On top of being really tired with the back and forth, I felt crummy and schlumpy. I had a difficult conversation with my oldest sister and was watching another sister go through a major change in her attempt to lose weight. And it was time for me to really and seriously do something about my weight.

I had been toying with going back to Weight Watchers for a little while. But I had tried it a couple of times before and wasn't successful. So what was to say that this time would work? I was hesitant to join and actually put it off a few times- my mom was visiting, my brother-in-law was visiting, I had a party to go to. Blah blah blah.

But on January 22nd, I walked into a 730am Saturday meeting and was open to change. I sat through the meeting and stuck around for the intro meeting and learned all about the changes since the last time I did Weight Watchers. And since that day, I've been following the Weight Watchers program and really enjoying it.

I've made a lot of changes. I started cooking a lot more at home. I hit up the farmer's market at least two times a week. I went back to the gym and have been doing weight training 2x/week and got way back into spin class. I eased back into spin class doing it 1x/week, then 2x/week and now I'm up to 3x/week. I'm convinced that the exercise is what's helping me lose the weight as quickly as it's been coming off the past five weeks. And I attribute all that to having a spin instructor who motivates and inspires me.

The main thing is, I've been sticking with the program. Unlike the Game, I can't hop off Weight Watchers at the end of a round. Because of that, I don't have an opportunity to gain back all the weight and ruin the hard work that I've put in. I'm also motivating myself with the potential of going back to Ireland in the fall. I've made a side bet with myself that if I stick with the program until the middle of May, then I can look at tickets. I may not be able to afford going to Ireland again this year, but I am keeping myself motivated with the hope of another annual trip to my favorite place in the world.

My weight loss journey will certainly take way longer than May, but I know that I will have made a significant and important change in my habits and patterns by that point.

I'm happy to report that as of this morning's weigh-in, I've lost a total of 18.8lbs since 1/22. I feel great and am really happy with my progress to date. I am highly motivated to keep going and see the results of my hard work. It's been a great experience so far and have all the faith in myself that I will stick to Double W and make this work for me in the immediate future and in the long run. And I'm so excited by my potential.

Here's a graph of my weight loss to date:


And here are a few of my favorite recipes:
Sauteed Chicken with Sage Browned Butter
Rachel Ray's Texas Turkey Chili
Chicken with Balsamic Vinegar, Sweet Onion & Thyme

Until next time!

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Thursday, February 24, 2011

2011 Photography Challenge- Crayola Colors: Updated

A small update from the original post announcing this photography challenge due to changes on Crayola's end with retired colors and fun stuff like that.

If there's a strikethrough in the color, we're removing and anything with italics are the ones we're adding.

Aquamarine
Bittersweet
Black
Blue
Blue Gray
Blue Green
Brick Red
Brown
Cadet Blue
Carnation Pink
Cerulean
Chestnut
Copper
Cornflower
Dandelion
Forest Green
Fuchsia
Gold
Gray
Green
Green Blue
Jungle Green
Lavender
Lemon Yellow
Magenta
Mahogany
Maize
Maroon
Melon
Midnight Blue
Mulberry
Navy blue
Olive Green
Orange
Orange Red
Orchid
Periwinkle
Pine Green
Plum
Raw Umber
Red
Red Orange
Red Violet
Royal Purple
Salmon
Sea Green
Sepia
Silver
Sky Blue
Spring Green
Turquoise Blue
Violet (Purple)
Violet Blue
Violet Red
Vivid Tangerine
White
Wild Strawberry
Yellow
Yellow Green

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Crayola Colors- Brick Red

From Brick Red


Taken near 3rd and Washington in Santa Monica, CA. To see all the pictures I took in search of Brick Read, please click here.

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Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Crayola Colors- Blue Green

From Crayola Challenge- Blue Green


Taken near 11th & Montana in Santa Monica, CA

Blue green was a little bit of a challenge for me. If you'd like to see all the shots I took in my attempt to capture blue green, please follow this link.

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Monday, February 14, 2011

Crayola Colors- Blue

From Crayola Photo Challenge



Taken on the corner of Wilshire & 3rd Streets in Santa Monica, CA.

What I love about this picture is it reminds me of my father, who worked for the phone company for...I want to say over 30 years. I always think of him when I see a phone company truck. And I'm inspired by him on a daily basis when I'm taking pictures. I long to know what advice he'd give me, what he'd think of my "photographer's eye". I smile thinking of how nice it would have been to find a common hobby that we could both enjoy together. So although there were a few different options for blue, I knew it had to be this one.

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Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Crayola Colors- Black

From Crayola Photo Challenge



Taken on Clancy's favorite spot- our couch!

I knew for black I'd want to take a picture of Clancy. He's so easy and fun to photograph; but I knew it'd be difficult to choose just one. If you want to see more pictures taken of my favorite dog in the world. Follow this link.

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Crayola Colors- Bittersweet

From Crayola Photo Challenge



Taken outside Whole Foods in the flower display at 5th & Wilshire in Santa Monica, CA

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Crayola Colors- Aquamarine

From Crayola Photo Challenge

Taken at the corner of 5th & Arizona in Santa Monica, California outside the ICE skating rink.

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2011 Photography Challenge- Crayola Colors

Part of my less talking and more action commitment has also gone hand-in-hand with my desire to really learn photography this year. I've taken an introductory course on using a Digital SLR through Samy's Camera and found an online course digging deeper into my specific camera, the Nikon D3100. Both have been really valuable and have helped me become even more excited about my new hobby. But we all know, the best way to learn something is to just get out there and do it.

Two friends, in an effort to get out there with their cameras, started a photography challenge last year. Throughout the course of the year they were tasked with finding objects that looked like or represented the alphabet. Their pictures were fun and creative and it was obvious they put in a lot of hard work into their finds.

For 2011, Cyrena & Sarah have decided on another challenge that involves a box of crayons! They picked 52 colors from the 64 color crayon box- one for each week of the year. I asked if I could crash, and luckily they were both okay with me joining the photorgraphy challenge. We will go in alphabetical order to capture a picture that most represents the color of the week. I have some catching up to do, but am already excited by the challenge and how it's gottem me out there with my camera far more than I would have normally.

You can check out Cyrena's blog here and Sarah's blog here. I think you'll experience what I do when I visit- inspired, motivated and impressed by their many many talents.



Aquamarine
Bittersweet
Black
Blue
Blue Gray
Blue Green
Brick Red
Brown
Cadet Blue
Carnation Pink
Chestnut
Copper
Cornflower
Forest Green
Gold
Gray
Green
Green Blue
Lavender
Lemon Yellow
Magenta
Mahogany
Maize
Maroon
Melon
Midnight Blue
Mulberry
Navy blue
Olive Green
Orange
Orange Red
Orchid
Periwinkle
Pine Green
Plum
Raw Umber
Red
Red Orange
Red Violet
Salmon
Sea Green
Sepia
Silver
Sky Blue
Spring Green
Turquoise Blue
Violet (Purple)
Violet Blue
Violet Red
White
Yellow
Yellow Green

I hope you'll come along for the ride!

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