Getting off Track

The quickest way to get off track with dieting and exercise is to have a sick child. My youngest step-daughter was sick last week, so three am nights did not make for early morning walks. She is all better now, but I have been completely thrown off my of my P90X schedule. I am trying to catch up, but will be skipping a few days. Today will be KenpoX, before Boardwalk Empire tonight.

I have been trying to enjoy the world of salads lately, but that has not been working out as well as I planned. My will power is not there when it comes to choosing between a salad and a chili cheese hot dog. I am a sad panda.

On a completely different note, I have a few new craft projects to show off! A close fried of mine had a baby girl on Friday, and I brought her two handmade baby presents. One was a knitted, pink and purple, circular baby blanket, and the other an embroidered picture of Alice from one of the original illustrations. My dear friend, The Frazzled Crafter, helped me to frame up the embroidery, since I am totally lost when it comes to those things. Apparently, cutting computer paper for a matte is just not done.

I am very proud with how Alice turned out, and she will be beautiful hanging over a little girl's crib! This is one of the largest embroidery pieces I have ever done, and I think she pulled together nicely. Another friend helped me with creating the image, since my drawing skills are fairly null and void (I once had my stick figures redrawn for me, true story). She was embroidered onto raw linen using cotton threads from my stash. She was originally going to grace my own wall, or possibly my empty etsy shop, but now she will forever be part of my friend's new little girl's life. I think Alice would prefer it this way. I'm not against making more, mind you, I really enjoyed stitching her up while watching TV.

I have been having the urge to pursue more embroidery projects recently, ones that involve using plain wooden hoops as frames, but I need to buy the frames. And come up with ideas. Embroidery is just a great relaxer for me, and doesn't require nearly as much conscious thought on my part as knitting does!

With Halloween, my most favorite of all holidays, right around the corner I am beginning to draw up concept ideas for this years costume. My friends and I often go with a group theme, and this year it will be The Tick. The Frazzled Crafter is going to be our big blue superhero, while I shall be joining in as her hyper intelligent, though not as brave, sidekick Arthur. We will also have a Chairface Chippendale (my husband), as well as a Bat Manuel. While sketching out preliminary ideas, I have decided to make the entire costume out of xxx-large men's white t-shirts for budgetary reasons, as well as comfort. I found a great tutorial online for reconstructing a large t-shirt into a fitted one that I will be using to create the dress. I am pretty excited to get started on this project, and will post pictures are I progress.

I will be testing out this tutorial first, reconstructing a few shirts that are just too big for me to see how it works before venturing into my costume. Test pieces are important!

Well, that is all. There is a Saints game on, fingers are crossed for THREE DAT!

Tonight, food won

Today was a good workout day, but food won out in the end. I began day two of P90X with hope, but was unable to complete the entire hour of Plyometrics. I had a solid half hour in before I felt I couldn't go on. But, I did succeed in supplementing my workout with a 2+ mile walk. That got me a decent calorie burn, as well as a nice full body workout.

Now, for food... I did fine during the day. My lunch was sensible - two cheese and ham rolls, omitting the bread again. Dinner was an awesomely filling  salad, including not only spinach and tomatoes, but also sweet peppers and cucumbers. I even allowed myself a treat of a sugar free ice cream sandwich. But, things turned down hill around 10pm, when sleep had yet to prevail and water was no longer filling my stomach. Insert turkey sandwich on some special Sarah Lee, Omega 3 bread (very tasty!) with a slice of muenster and spinach. Then, my husband made bacon. My major weakness... warm, crisp, slightly gooey, bacon. Maple smoked bacon. Three slices later, I am lying in bed, watching Robot Chicken, thinking of my favorite line from the producers: "You're a fatty fat fat fat!"

Tonight, I am a fatty fat fat. Tomorrow, I will try harder, and incorporate added workouts to help make up for this lapse. I won't be able to walk in the evening, but the morning will be open.

On a non-diet related note, my current reading of "Misfortune" by Wesley Stace in dragging on. It's not that the story isn't interesting, but the style of this one is definitely lacking compared to "By George", penned by the same author. Also, I have to finish the special knitted present I am working on, when that occurs, I will post pictures. As of now, it is sitting on the needles, the sad partner in an unfinished pair waiting to be ended and bound off. I am creating this pattern from scratch, which is exciting. The next project after this will be a very advantageous baby blanket, which I hope I will have the money to purchase the yarn for eventually.

I am hoping to be employed soon. I have two writing gigs to "audition" for, and training starts on Monday for the online teaching gig.  The extra income will be nice, and make buying healthy food much easier. It's sad that it's cheaper to buy processed foods than it is to buy fresh fruit and veggies. So the world we live in...

I guess on that note... more to come, I am surprised that I actually managed two posts this week. GO ME!


Tomorrow, I will NOT be a fatty fat fat. Tomorrow, I will not let the food win. I shall also knit, and watch "The Queen." I will also complete the P90X workout entirely, arms and abs I think.

A yoga mat is important...

So today marks the start of the first day of phase 1 of the P90X system. I plan on posting progress photos as a way for me to see my own progress. My implementation of the P90X system will also include a high fruit/veggie, low carb "diet" as well as extended walks and jogs in my neighborhood.

Need to make that flatter!

My husband is also going through this journey with me, well at least the P90X part. My goal is to loose a substantial amount of weight, as well as toning in my midsection, before Halloween. The hardest part for me will be sticking to a diet. I am Italian, carbs are what keep me sane. But, I know that consuming too much carb laced food will be counter productive. I also live in New Orleans, home to some of the best and fattiest food known to man. And I LOVE food. In the "I will nom nom nom all over that" way.

Please ignore the messy bedroom behind!

So, pretty much, you expect me to be on here every now and then, lamenting my woes about working out and dieting. Discussing the struggles of dieting while still cooking healthy and hearty family meals for everyone else. And in general bitching about my low scrabble scores. Pictures will be posted to indicate progress, not sure how frequently, but hopefully frequently enough that I will be able to see how my body is changing. I know I'm not the biggest person in the world, and I have no desire to be the smallest either. I just want to be toned and fit, in better shape, closer to how I was as an undergrad in college.

Also, when doing this workout, here is a tip: A yoga mat is VERY important for the ab ripper x. Why you may ask? Because back farts are not fun and very distracting. It was hard to keep myself from lying on the floor laughing instead of doing the routine. Once the money is available, we will be purchasing another yoga mat, so my husband can stop using mine!

Current weight: 174lbs (or 12st 6lb for any British followers)
Breakfast: skipped, I slept in
Lunch: 1 banana, 1 raspberry yogurt, and two ham and cheese rolls (I am FULL!)
Dinner: the goal is a salad... but I haven't gotten that far in the day yet!