The Month After Christmas

Twas the month after Christmas,
and all through the house,
Nothing would fit me,

not even a blouse.

The cookies I'd nibbled,

the chocolate I'd taste

At the holiday parties

had gone to my waist.

When I got on the scales

there arose such a number!

When I walked to the store

(less a walk than a lumber),

I'd remember the marvellous meals I'd prepared;

The gravies and sauces and beef nicely rared,

The wine and the rum balls, the bread and the cheese

And the way I'd never said, "No thank you, please."

As I dressed myself in my husband's old shirt

And prepared once again to do battle with dirt...

I said to myself, as I only can,

"You can't spend a winter, disguised as a man!"

So, away with the last of the sour cream dip.

Get rid of the fruit cake, every cracker and chip.

Every last bit of food that I like must be banished

Till all the additional ounces have vanished.

I won't have a cookie, not even a lick.

I'll want only to chew on a long celery stick.

I won't have hot biscuits, or corn bread, or pie.

I'll munch on a carrot and quietly cry.

I'm hungry, I'm lonesome, and life is a bore...

But isn't that what January is for?

Unable to giggle, no longer a riot.
Happy New Year to all, and to all a good diet.

Update to Training Contract

I got a call back yesterday afternoon from the guy I spoke to at the gym and we went back and forth about me getting out of my contract early. He says to cancel the contract I would have to pay half of my remaining months (4) and I would have the sessions from those months left to use (only 8). Well, I have 4 more months left in my contract (at $200/month) so I would have to pay half of those ($400). I already have a bunch of sessions banked up (52) that they gave me to bribe me to sign for a new year contract but I said just keep those sessions and let me out of my contract. I'm not looking to get free sessions, I just want out and I don't want to pay another cent to LA Fitness. He didn’t know how to answer me so he said he’d talk to Manager X and one of them would call back. Well this was around 1:00 yesterday and I never did get a call back.

In the meantime, I emailed my Friday trainer that didn’t show and told her I was cancelling my contract.

A wave of freedom suddenly came over me. After 3-1/2 years of training with someone, I know enough to train someone else and I can certainly train MYSELF!

I will be really proud WHEN I do it on my own and finally lose my weight that has haunted me most of my life.

Oh, oh, and right smack in the middle of all this I killed my cell phone yesterday when it fell out of my pocket as I was getting out out of my car, and it got caught when I closed my car door. Here's a pic of the devastation. Just what I need right now. I don't have a phone upgrade available right now so if I get out of my stupid contract at least I can buy a phone! LOL (or use the ugly one I have from 4 years ago that's old and scratched all over).

Weekly Update

I am going to try to update at least weekly. If anything good happens, I"ll post more.

As far as my weight goes, Jan. 5 was my re-start day and I've only lost 4 pounds. I had actually lost 4 as of last Saturday, then gained 2, then lost again. Today I weighed and I'm back to where I started. Could be time of the month since I've been craving chocolate something horrible and the M&Ms called my name (and I answered! LOL). But, I didn't eat enough to gain 4 pounds so I'm calling it water retention and I'll deal with it.

I didn't go to the gym all week. Since I lost my Mon/Wed trainer, I have no motivation to go. I am getting in some upper body workout while at physical therapy Tuesdays and Thursdays, so at least I"m getting SOMETHING. Today I went for my regular 9:30 Friday and my trainer didn't show! No phone call, nothing, so I did the bike for 35 minutes then headed over to do some legs on my own. I did o.k., but not going to the gym (or at least not doing any legs) in over a month I really notice strength lost.

On my way out I asked to talk to someone about getting out of my training contract. I've made the decision to get out of it and do my workouts on my own. They hemmed and hawed but you know what? I know what I want (to get out of this stupid contract) and i WILL get out of it. Since I started training at LA Fitness in May of 2005, I've spent over $10,000 on training (not including my monthly ripoff of $34.99 a month for the basic gym membership -- I think they should INCLUDE that when you are paying $200-$250 a month for training, but that's another story). Anyhow, of course no one was available to help at the time, so I left my name and number with someone.

*** WARNING: Please note that in the next paragraph I don't speak too nicely about someone, so if you are easily offended by bad language, please don't read any further. ***

The guy I talked to said either he'd call me back when he was done with another client, or have the Manager X (name hidden to protect myself – but he’s the asshole who is the whole reason I lost my trainer) call me. If X is the one that calls me, just wait until I get ahold of his puny ass. He's a short little shit with his head in his ass and I"m going to give him hell for being such a prick. He’s the whole reason my trainer left and I’m just really pissed. O.K., now I"m getting mad and can feel my blood pressure rising, so I better end this. I'll post with the outcome.

Another new trainer ???

On Tuesday I learned that my trainer Ryan that I had on Mondays and Wednesdays had left the gym. I was hoping he would transfer to another location but he decided to leave all together. I am sad. Question is .... do I find ANOTHER trainer for those days (that will be my 4th trainer there), go with my Friday trainer for all 3 days, or try to get out of my stupid contract early ??? I'm really mad at the manager of that facility and feel like just bailing all together but I don't know if I'll be able to get out of my training contract. Then if I do get out of it, where do I go ??? To make it easy I could go with my Friday trainer for all 3 days but I really liked having different people. Everyone trains differently and I didn't get burned out. So .... if you're reading this Ryan ... thanks for everything. You are awesome and you'll do great wherever you go. Best of luck to you and I'll miss you. :-(

I'm also worried about my shoulder. After 4 weeks of therapy it's finally much improved. I have 4 more visits to go. I worry about training 3x a week again and starting the process all over again.

I worked out Friday with someone new when my Friday trainer had to bail on me last minute. I didn't mind, but it's not the same as working out with someone you know and trust already. I had to warn him about my arm, not to make me do too much involving shoulders, so we did a lot of bicep and abs and I've been in pain all weekend LOL.

I did some tricep work, then bicep curls on cable, then supersets of bicep curls using the easy bar. Then we headed to the nautilus machine for some abs and did some oblique crunches and regular crunches. It's the obliques that are killing me.

I haven't weighed today, but as of yesterday (Saturday) I am down 4 pounds from Monday so that's good. This holiday weight is going bye-bye. Whoo hoo. I've dieted and lost weight so many times before that I need to stay focused and stay busy so I don't think about being hungry.

Color is a Good Thing

Someone sent this to me on email and I thought it was so funny I had to share:

Yesterday I went to the doctor for my yearly physical.

My blood pressure was high, my cholesterol was high,

I'd gained some weight, and I didn't feel so hot.

My doctor said eating right doesn't have to be complicated

and it would solve my physical problems. He said

just think in colors...
Fill your plate with with foods that have bright colors...

greens, yellows, reds, etc.

So ... I went right home and ate an entire bowl of :

And sure enough, I felt better immediately.
I never knew eating right could be so easy.

Journaling Again

This week I pushed re-start. I enjoyed my holidays a little too much and gained about 10 pounds since Halloween. I feel like a cow.

I started journaling my food again on Fitday. When I was losing the bulk of my weight before, I always journaled. It really is helpful. Anyhow, here is my food for today. I shoot for 1500 cals daily. Today I was under - whoo hoo :-)

Breakfast:
Cream of wheat - 100 cals
Grapes - 50

Early Lunch: 2 pita sandwiches - 320
(each pita filled with hummus, 1/2 slice reduced fat swiss, cucumber, onion, tomato, spinach leaves
grapes - 50

Snack:
Protein shake made with 1c. FF milk and w/1 tsp nat'l PB - 309

Snack #2:
5 reduced fat wheat thins 43
Slice reduced fat swiss 60
5 slices light salami 60

Dinner:
Lean Cuisine roasted garlic chicken 180
homemade 2-bean salad (green beans & garbanzos) 147

Total:
1208 calories(292 under - whoo hoo)