Creative Title Here...

Current Stats:

SW: 260 lbs
CW: 243 lbs

TL: -17 lbs

1st goal: -26 lbs (10%)

*****

So Lisa and I were talking Saturday night and both of us agreed that we don't necessarily like to post anything when we have nothing good to report. "Hello, Becky here, gained back 7 of my -17 lbs, trying to get that off, would be a lot easier without the popcorn and ice cream diet...." So that's why we go so long without writing anything, rather than give you an update every day (or even every other day) on the life of a dieter. Heck, everyone reading this (probably) knows what it's like to be on a diet.

But I haven't posted in a little bit, so here we go. Still not doing okay with the no-smoking thing, but I blame Patrick. He's not quitting until work straightens out (he's a stress-smoker), so I have no self-control. However, I have stopped bringing them to work (and one of my main hookups for cigs stopped smoking last Friday, so that's... good). So I go the whole day without a cigarette and wait until I get home and have had dinner (for the most part) before I have my first one. I'm trying to keep it down to 3 or 4 a day.

Sometimes I'm worried that I waited too long to quit smoking. I picked up my first cigarette 19 years ago, and have been what I would call a steady smoker for about 16 or 17 years (minus time off for pregnancies, of course). My lungs hurt a lot these days, especially in the morning. Even if I've only had two or three the day before, my chest feels like I chain-smoked an entire pack before I went to bed. I cough a lot, and it's that nasty smoker's cough.

Apparently, I'm worried enough to dwell on it when I'm alone, but not enough to put them down and walk away. Damn it.

So back to my friend that quit this past Friday - he was a pack a day smoker (Camel Wides) and he bought the e-cigarette. There was a little bit of an investment for it, but in the long run, it's definitely (financially) cheaper than smoking cigarettes. He says that it's been doing great for him. He went to the bar with some friends (normally a smoke-heavy event) and didn't feel the urge to have one, only a puff on his e-cig. That has definite possibilities. That's next on the list of things to try. Hopefully soon.

Other than smoking, I've tried to stay pretty active lately. On Saturday morning, we re-seeded our backyard to try and get some grass to grow back there. That involved using a hand-tiller to break up the ground, spread peat moss, seed, and dirt, then mix it all together, in addition with putting up temporary fencing to keep kids and dogs off it and amusing/supervising the kids. (On a side note, you know kids have been having fun outside when the fastest way to get them clean is to hose them off and then dump them in the bath). Granted, after doing this work all morning, I had five pieces of pizza for lunch. :( Then I cleaned in the afternoon, and cleaned and rearranged the house (with help) on Sunday. Much better than sitting on my butt all weekend. The scale didn't move much this morning, but I'm hoping to get under 240 sometime this week or next. Hoping on staying there, too.

I've discovered how far I walk in the mornings when I actually do it. It averages out to about 2 miles, walking at 3 miles an hour. Not very fast, not very far, but it still burns about 260 calories. That means that some mornings, by the time I get to work, I start out with "negative calories". Yay! I've also been getting comments about my appearance, that I look like I've been losing weight. Even if I haven't, that's always nice to hear. Makes me feel better about myself.

Okay, time to get started on that work thing. Bye! :)