Downtown Goats!

(I know it's not my usual posting day - or reason - usually I only post a day or two after my weigh-in. But this is just SO cool I had to tell you about it!)

"Have you seen the goats?" has become the catchphrase of the week in downtown Los Angeles - Bunker Hill, to be specific.

Check out this link at the LA Times which explains it.

What's going on is that the city has hired 100 goats to clear the brush on Angel's Knoll, a small park next to the historic (but tragically and annoyingly closed) Angel's Flight Railway.

It's a wonderful sight to see as you're coming up the escalator from the subway at Fourth and Hill (always assuming the escalator is working!) - and here's a wonderful photo from Flickr taken by a user named eitheror:



What a great way to start - and end - an otherwise dull and ordinary workday! So here's my question: instead of building yet another office building downtown, how about creating a nature preserve? I for one would rather see a bunch of goats every morning than some of my coworkers (nyuk nyuk!).

Birthday Blast(s)!

Hey everyone!

Sorry I haven't posted for a couple of weeks. As you weight-loss veterans may have suspected - yes, I did gain a little weight! Not much, though - Saturday I was up to 202.8, so only about a pound and a half. ("Only" - nyuk nyuk!)

And that's not the reason I didn't post. To be honest, I just forgot! See, last Tuesday was my 50th birthday -

[pause, wait for applause - whoops, sorry! Forgot I don't have a Teleprompter!]

Anyway, I went to Phoenix, Arizona for a couple of days to celebrate with my parents; and then came home and celebrated again with my wonderful husband.

And somewhere in there - I just forgot to post! Oh well, no worries - I'm back now! Like your worst nightmare! (hee hee!)

Re: the weight gain - I really don't feel bad about it at all. And I'm not surprised by it either. Remember a few weeks ago, when I said that I was cutting back on my CURVES workouts during August? Well, I'm convinced the weight gain is the direct result of that.

But now I'm back to work, back on my regular schedule, and back to my 3-times-a-week CURVES workouts. So I fully expect a loss at my next weigh-in!

Oh, speaking of losses - I'm kind of in mourning for our old "Thinner" brand scale. Actually, it's still in the house. However, my wonderful and thoughtful husband decided to buy a new scale - specifically the Weight Watchers scale.

And it's really nice! Very pretty and functional. However, I've gotten used to the old one weighing me in at about two pounds less than the official WW scale (you know, the special digital ones they use to weigh you in at meetings). The new one, however, weighs me in at least one pound HIGHER than that official weight! So I have to kind of psych myself up to accept the new numbers.

The positive side is that from now on, whatever I weigh at home before leaving for the meeting, I'll know that I won't weigh any MORE than that at the meeting! So maybe it'll work out OK after all!

P.S. Wonderful/thoughtful hubby also gave me a brand new Cuisinart programmable coffeemaker for my morning commute! There are still a couple of bugs to work out, but I did leave home today with a commuter mug full of hot, delicious coffee. Perfect for these bitter cold Southern California mornings!

THANKS AGAIN, sweetie! I love you!

WHERE'S THE REST OF ME??

So I weighed in at 201.4 yesterday, which means I have lost MORE THAN 10 PERCENT OF MY WEIGHT HURRAY FOR ME!!

I'm very proud of myself, although to be fair, it's my body that did most of the work. So hurray for my body! Thanks, body/buddy, and sorry about that bowling episode the other day.

See, I signed up to participate in this Bowl-A-Thon next Wednesday at work, so since I had some time off on Friday, and since I haven't actually bowled for at least ten years, I decided to go practice at a nearby alley. (Aptly named, since the one I went to kinda resembled an alley - dirty, trashy and kinda smelly.)

But I digress! Anyway, I bowled nonstop for a full hour and it felt really good - till about an hour after I got home, when my muscles started singing ("Ow-leluja - Ow-leluja!"). They're still sore, so I'm hoping I'll be able to bowl when I'm actually SUPPOSED to.

Though since my highest score, out of 5 games, was only 83, they might not care whether I do or not. I'll let you know how it went next week!

Up a little, but that's OK - just stay away from JC Penney's mirrors!

Oy vay! Well, I'm up a pound (204) from last week. But that's OK - it seems to be a pattern with me. I'll be down one week and then up a little the next. So next week should be pretty good. Mark my words!

I had a rather traumatic experience in the fitting room at JC Penney's the other day. Not sure what they do differently with their mirrors, but I'd like to believe they're buying them secondhand from carnivals. Because that's the only explanation for the appalling appearance of my upper thighs that would make me feel better.

See, I've read about the phenomenon of "loose skin" on people who've lost a lot of weight - but I wasn't prepared to actually see it - on myself! Not too good for one's self-esteem!

I won't go into too much detail as I don't want to make anyone lose their lunch. Let me just point out, in my defense, that I didn't get this same CLOSE-UP VIEW OF THE FAT at either Sears or Macy's - only at JCP. So if their mirror-buyer is reading this, here's a message for you:

PBPBHBHBHBHHHHH!!! Nerts to you!

Another Monday morning ... but not too bad

I know, it's the biggest cliche in the world, right? "I hate Mondays!"

I really don't hate them all that much, though, especially today, since I'm taking the afternoon off work ALL WEEK LONG! Hurray!

So what am I going to do with all that free time, you ask? Well - not really that much. It takes me about an hour of commuting time to actually get home and by that time there's really not that many places I can go shopping, etc. without hitting the afternoon rush hour traffic which I took the time off to avoid.

Still - it's nice to know I'll only have to be here for a short time. Sort of like taking a realllyyy long lunch hour!

And since I am indulging myself during these last 3 weeks of August by taking a lot of short days, I've decided not to go to Curves on Monday-Wednesday-Friday as usual. Instead, I'm going to go on Tuesday & Thursday, then do something different on weekends. Like walking. Or perhaps half an hour on my "stationary bike" in the back yard.

I put the "quotes" around it because it's actually a real bike -- I bought it last year but was afraid to ride it because it was too high for me to stay balanced on. So there it sat in the garage, gathering dust and spiderwebs. When I went out one morning and saw the words "Some Pig" in one of the webs, I figured I'd better do something!

I found a neat device called a "bike trainer". It's basically a stand which attaches to the back wheel, holding it firmly in place. So you can ride it to your heart's content without actually moving an inch!

I set it up out back next to our Tuff Shed, where there's an electric outlet. I can put my ancient 13" TV/VCR combo with separate attached DVD player on a table in front of it, pop in a "Green Acres" or "Father Ted" DVD (or even "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", as I did yesterday), and pedal away! It's really a fun way to get in my every-other-day exercise.

Nothing against Curves, but as anyone who goes there regularly knows, once you get into the exercise habit, there does come a point where you want to do something different. So this is my "something different" - for now. In the fall, like the kids returning, grumbling, to school, I'll return, grumbling, to Curves 3 times a week.

(Oh, the weight loss thing? Down two more pounds, to 203!)

From "Women" to "Misses" in four months!

Wow, everyone! Not only did I lose two pounds this week (weighed in at 205 today, yay for me!), but I also made what I consider a much more important breakthrough:

I found clothes that fit me in the MISSES section at Sears!

WOO HOO! No longer am I relegated to the [fill in your favorite euphemism for FAT] WOMEN's section of major department stores! I can actually fit into size 18 (skirts) and size "Large" (t-shirts), respectively!

I had a ball trying on all sorts of clothes the other day and thrilling to the fact that most of them actually fit - and walked out with two nice new skirts & tops.

And not ONE of them had an "X" anywhere on the size label!

Now, the cynic in me says, "Hey, it's Sears - their sizing is probably way more, shall we say, 'generous', than other stores." And I know that's true, and size is just a number, and it doesn't really matter what size you wear as long as it fits, looks good, and you're healthy.

But come on - SIZE 18! Woot woot! I've gotta crow about it a little bit! I've been shopping in the "plus sizes" for at least 20 years, y'all - so this is a major deal for me.

Yes, I'm definitely still a "BBW" (Big Beautiful Woman) - and that's fine, for now. But I'm actually beginning to believe it's possible that someday, maybe I can remove that first "B"!

Staying the same, in spite of cheesy delight!

Weighed in Saturday morning at 207 - same as last week. Which was actually a relief, given that I reverted to a pre-Weight Watchers snack - I'll give you the recipe in case you want to try it yourself:

SINFUL MICROWAVE CHEESY DELIGHT

1. Take a slice of your favorite cheddar cheese (in my case, Canadian Cheddar from Trader Joe's).

2. Cut it up into a few easily meltable pieces and put it in a microwavable bowl.

3. Add a couple of shakes of Parmesan cheese (a tablespoon or two works nicely).

4. Microwave on high for about 2 minutes (depending on your microwave).

5. Leave in the microwave for another couple of minutes to let it cool down.

6. Remove from microwave and enjoy!

I got the idea when I used to make casseroles and would have extra bits of burned cheese along the sides of the glass dish. I think you'll agree there's nothing better than the taste of really, really burned cheese on a glass dish!

Actually, this is not really a bad (i.e., high fat/caloric) snack. Parmesan cheese is @ 25 calories per tablespoon (1.5 grams fat) and you use more of that than the cheddar.

The main thing against it is it looks kind of gross to passing strangers; so it's really the kind of thing you eat when you know no one is looking.

ENJOY!