There's Power in Them Thar Capris

Today, I had to talk with some people I hadn't met before. It was a situation where it was in my best interest to be "impressive." Or at least seem like I was a little smarter than I really am.

So I put on some clothes that made me feel powerful ... black heels, black capris, a snappy little jacket. And I set off to conquer.

I can't tell you how different I felt walking into this uncomfortable and sort of nerve-wracking meeting as the new version of me.

Clearly, I'm really not any smarter than I was six months ago, a year ago or six years ago. But I felt different ... inside. More confident. Less worried.

In the old days, I would have been thinking about how the other people were judging me. I would have been uncomfortable in my clothes and in my skin as I tried desperately to sit up straight, suck it in and hope that I was having a good hair day.

Today I smiled. I relaxed. I made sure I was heard. I gave the conversation happening around the table my full attention and didn't let the conversation in my head sink me.

I was able to be me. No distractions. No worries. No fear. 

And it was good.

Keeping Each Other Honest

I had a short, but effective text conversation with HRGirl last night in which she said:

"You'd better go to bed now so you can run 1.5 miles tomorrow."

I woke up late, hustled down the stairs and then ran 2.5 miles.

At work, I was IMing with Gary Allan Fan who was sharing her "Couch to 5K" training plan. She's been waking up early, battling the heat and the weather with a friend, getting ready for her first race in a few weeks. She said her husband actually commented to her that he was kind of surprised she was sticking to the whole program. To which she said:

"I have to do it. My training partner won't let me quit."

I am not a big believer in group activity. I hate chitchat and making small talk. I really like my alone time.

But some things are better shared. And exercise might be one of them. We keep each other honest. Challenge each other. And support each other.

Find someone to talk to about it. Or share your experience here. Miss Daisy, HR Girl and Gary Allen Fan are ready to back you!

Update 6/28/11

1. The last 10 pounds: Still 5 pounds away. Or 7, depending on the day. I have to admit, I'm not trying very hard. Exercising plenty. Eating decently, but too much.
2. New running shoes: Blisters gone. Lovin' them. They're hot, neon green.
3. Training for Dirty Girl: Started. Running every other day, distances between a quarter-mile and a 1.25 miles so far. Knees holding up. But it still freaks me out.

Eating Clean

While I enjoyed my long weekend getaway to St. Louis with my buddy Mitchell and his homies, I must say I'm happy to be home.

Happy to be home ... and eating "clean."

It just feels good to chow down on raw veggies. It feels great to dive into a big bowl of melon and blueberries.

I swear you can almost feel it in your muscles ... like they do a little happy dance when the nutrients pour in.

Jim and I were sitting on the couch last night, taking turns chasing those blueberries and some red grapes around a big Tupperware bowl in an effort to spear them when he said, "Isn't it funny how much you miss eating like this when you don't/can't for a couple of days? Who would have thought we'd crave healthy food?"

New habits are good.

Exercise Myths

I like this article.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/06/24/exercise.myths.trainers/index.html?iref=allsearch

I'm especially fond of #7 and #3. Having issues with both of them myself right now.

Equipment Envy

Boy, those Precor treadmills in the hotel fitness center are da'bomb!

The one I've been using for the past two days makes my $399 NordicTrak from Sears feel like a Yugo missing a spark plug, if you know what I mean.

They're tall and the deck is LONG. They're cushion-y, with many buttons and programs and inputs (like height and weight) to help you determine a more accurate calorie burn. The incline capability is positively Alpine and they really feel like a luxury sedan compared to that darn Yugo.

It's going to be tough to hard to go back home again after being so spoiled.

But when I get there, I'll have a renewed motivation to get my new workout room in the basement painted and reassembled. The drywall is finally finished. I have a wall color chosen.

(It will also be nice to get out of the storage/furnace room with the Xmas decorations, suitcases and unpacked boxes from three years ago when we moved in.)

And I've been eyeing up a punching bag and spin bike to add to the collection. Since I've never used either, I'd love some input from someone who has. Any recommendations?

Unexpected Benefit of Being Thinner #20

Four of us fit in the back seat of the Ford F150 and I wasn't embarrassed to hop on "Dance Dance Revolution" in the arcade.

(I also didn't do well at DDR, but who cares.)

Hooters. Yes, Hooters.

On a long weekend trip with my bestie and her family in St. Louis. Navigating "road food" and hotel exercise again.

Since our entourage includes an 11-year-old and 15-year-old boy ... and two 43-year-old boys ... the obvious choice for lunch was ...

Yes. Hooters.

What the heck does one eat in the land of chicken wings, French fries and burgers?

My husband could barely contain himself when I ordered the fish tacos. Insert you own joke here.

Though I haven't had time to look up the nutrition info online yet, I do believe I chose the best thing on the menu. With a side of celery. Grilled mahi, lettuce, sauce on the side.

And, my hat is off to the marketing/culinary genius who planted that one little menu item in the Hooters offering. Freaking hysterical.

Kale Chips

Overrated.

I kept hearing all this crap about kale chips on a few different Food Network shows. They said you needed kale, olive oil and a little salt.

I tried it. And it tastes just like you'd imagine. Liked dried up, baked lettuce.

And what's the point of that?

Maybe I'm missing something. Now, baked chickpeas? That's got potential. Still perfecting, but you'll hear about it soon.

Anything you've tried to make that turned out well that you'd like to share?

P.S. Posts may be spotty for a few days. My apologies in advance.

Unexpected Downside of Being Thinner #11

When I was bigger, I was forever pulling at the front of my shirt, trying to make sure it wasn't sticking to me, or stuck in my rolls.

You know, the crevice between your boobs and your belly that forms every time you sit down? I was mortally afraid of the fabric getting "stuck" in there and thereby making the rolls more visible. So I'd pull at it to ensure that the shirt looked flat, even if my body wasn't.

Now I have the opposite problem.

The shirts I bought last year or a few months ago with the big (and not so big) scoop necks no longer fit as tight as they used to. And I'm too cheap to go buy more.

So I spend my days picking at them, lifting the necklines upward and tugging down on the back of the shirt to make sure my bra and boobs aren't showing.

It's just never right.

Unexpected Benefit of Being Thinner #19

The new bathroom remodel at work has replaced the simple toilet paper roll holder with one of those big, stainless cabinets that hang on the wall of the stall. You know what I'm talking about ... they dispense two rolls of TP and house a few more in reserve. Plus, there's a feminine hygiene disposal compartment and who knows what else. 

The stalls were not built for this big box to be hanging there. They're not wide enough. So it's a little claustrophobia-inducing.

But thankfully, I'm not as wide as I used to be. And I can actually turn around without knocking into anything.

It Doesn't Get Easier?

I work on the 4th floor of a four-story building. There is one main set of two elevators. They're unbearably slow most days.

Yet I never take the stairs. Why?

Well, one of the reasons is that I usually have heels on and the combination of steps and heels kills my knees. The other, probably more important reason, is that no matter how many days in a row I do take the stairs, they never seem to get easier. And I hate being all hot, sweaty, huffy and puffy first thing in the workday.

As I pounded away on the treadmill this morning, I was thinking about those stairs. And the metaphor.

I had a hard time getting to the blessed treadmill today. I lazed in bed for a while. Then I got up and did a load of laundry. And cleaned the hard water deposits out of the guest bath faucet. And put away the clean dishes. And sprayed the doorways for ants. You get the idea. I was delaying my trip down the stairs because I was tired and just wasn't feeling it.

It has been a long week. The stress at work is palpable. And exhausting. I had a friend in from out of town and that meant a sort of goofed up (though completely enjoyable!) schedule ... later nights, eating out, eating late. And the whole impending Father's Day left me weepy and emotional. All of those things  were playing games with my head. I started to look for reasons that I shouldn't go downstairs. I needed more sleep. I needed some catch-up time. I deserved a day off.

But I finally chose to remember that whether I wanted to or not, I needed to. Wanting to is irrelevant.

The first mile, the first slow mile, was hard. I was sweating. A lot. And I kept thinking, "Why doesn't this ever get easier? I do it every blasted day. It should get easier."

As I was thinking about it, and the stairs, I looked down at the odometer. It said I'd gone two miles.

Then it occurred to me, the first mile might not get easier. But the ones AFTER that do. If you just start. But you gotta start.

How's that for a metaphor?

Edamame Salad

With a nod of thanks to my Aunt Karen. I think I scared her when I called her and asked her for the recipe. It was kind of early on a Saturday morning. (I made a couple of adjustments to match what I had on hand.)

Edamame Salad
5 c blanched broccoli florets (this is one big bag from the freezer section, but fresh is better if you have the time)
1 c light edamame (from freezer section ... and you can add more if you want to)
1/2 c chopped red onion

1/2 c dried cranberries
1/2 c dry roasted peanuts

1c light mayo (or 1/2 c light mayo, 1/2 c Greek yogurt)
2 T sugar (or Splenda)
2 T cider vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

If using fresh broccoli, blanch the florets and pop them in an icebath so they retain a little snap and neon green color. If using frozen, drop them in boiling water for literally a minute and remove them to an icebath. (You DON'T want mushy broccoli!) Prepare the edamame according to package instructions ... I think mine says drop in boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Again, you don't want mush.

Mix broccoli, edamame, onion and set aside. Make dressing. This makes MORE than enough dressing for the veg volume.

If you have more people to feed, stretch it with more veg. The dressing seems like enough for more veg than I have listed ... so I mix the dressing in a separate bowl and only add as much as I need.

If you're eating it right away, toss in peanuts and crasins and mix everything together. Chow down. If you're not serving until the next day, keep the three categories separate (veg, peanut/craisin combo and dressing) and mix it all together just before serving. The peanuts get soft if they're in the dressing too long and the dressing kind of thins out.

Love It!

1. Wasabi Peas
2. Mentos Watermelon Gum
3. The gray Calvin Klein dress I bought for Cheri's wedding, that I couldn't attend, and now I have no where else to wear it.
4. Hollywood Nails in Janesville
5. Johnson & Johnson Lavender and Chamomile Lotion

Attitude is Everything

Have a friend who's training for a 5K. She's joined a running class (at All Season Runner) and is well on her way.

I know she's going to knock it out of the park. Want to guess how I can tell?

As she's describing the program she's on, where they have you walk/run in prescribed intervals, heavier on some days, lighter on others, she says:

"I always do an extra set of walk/run intervals at the end of what's on the schedule."

I love that. She knows her body is completely capable. And she's trusting her head to lead the way.

BMI Confession

I ran to the on-site clinic at work today to see if the PA could tell me why I have this incessant earache. As I was waiting for her to arrive, I was looking at a "healthy body weight" poster on the wall. Since I had some time to kill, I borrowed a pen and Post-it note to do the calculations for my BMI and suggested caloric intake.

The BMI calculators available online are plentiful, so I'm not going to give you the equation. It's supposed to be a good guideline for where you are ... essentially height divided by weight (with some fancy math gymnastics in there). So in my head, it's really a proportion thing. Seems like a great idea.

Seems like a great idea until I plug in my numbers in, that is. Right up until the point I end up at the very high range of "normal." Knockin' on the door of "overweight."

Still. After all the work, the sweat and the healthy eating.

And it frosts my butt. (As it did in my previous post "BMI Bull$%!#  http://carsickcaravan.blogspot.com/2011/03/bmi-bull.html)

It's frustrating because I feel like I've come so far and, while normal is good, I want a bigger atta' girl. It's also frustrating because I'm pretty consistently wearing a size 4 bottoms. So what it says to me is that size 4 isn't "small enough" and I'm supposed to be a 2. Or smaller. Which seems ridiculous to the remnants of my size 20 head. It's also frustrating because I can't tell which one of those things bother me more.

And it makes me think about the rest of the world ... if the average American woman is a size 14, and getting bigger, are ALL of those people REALLY not healthy at all? Can that be right? Who decides this healthy thing anyway?

Now, I know I'm not "thin" like a teenager. I know BMI is just a number and everyone's body is different. I know normal is good and I'm a hell of a lot better off than I was before.

But it's easy to get discouraged. Had I seen this BMI thing at the beginning of the road, would I have thought it was too far to go and been too psyched out or afraid to try?

I'm not sure.

Secret Snack

You know those days when you just want to eat? You just want to chew. To crunch. To taste.

Sometimes I get so obsessed I can't stop thinking about it. I simply must eat something and get it over with already.

But what to eat? I've told you before that sometimes I turn to cauliflower. There's lots of volume and if I eat enough I give myself a gassy tummy and that cures my desire to eat more. (Gross but true. And wait ... there's more!)

I have another secret snack weapon for when I don't have cauliflower on hand.

Bread and butter pickle chips.

They're sweet and they crunch. And there's really no calories. And, again, if you eat a couple too many, they give you a bit of a tummy ache of a different sort. Plus the combination of sweet and sour and salt leave a funny taste in my mouth and I don't want to do anything besides brush my teeth when I'm done. In other words, I don't want a chocolate followup or anything.

Is that wrong?

Built-In AC

Back when I started working out, my workout wardrobe consisted of capri leggings worn with sports bras. The ensemble was chosen because regular sweatpants and an actual shirt would have been too hot.

These days, I've given up the long pants and wear mostly shorts and the sports bras have been traded in for full workout tops ... they absorb more sweat. But every once in a while, the laundry piles up and I have to go grab one of those old sports bras.

They're too big. They don't fit as tight as they used to. So when I'm pounding on the treadmill and my now-smaller chest is pounding up and down in rhythm, I get this little pouf-pouf-pouf, from between my boobs, up toward my chin. Sweaty little bursts of steamy air.

Like built-in AC. But not.

Full

There are two kinds of full. One good. One not so good.

The first comes when family and friends spend time together, eating, talking and laughing. It gives you energy ... recharges your battery, so to speak. It makes the not-so-great things in your life seem far away and reminds you to count your blessings.

The second comes when you shove more food in your face than is necessary. It makes you feel tired and slow and woogy.

I prefer the first. No matter how good the second one tastes going it, it doesn't last and makes you sort of miserable for a while afterward.

Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Back in action! Four and half miles of nice walking and sweating today. I feel good. I didn't keel over or have to huff and puff to get it done. My knees held up, though one was a bit wiggly. And no new blister (though the old one is still healing).

And the scale was VERY kind ... especially considering my two beer, three-piece fried fish and french fry dinner with my mom last night.

Repeat after me:

Eat less. Eat right. Move more. And live a little.

Conclusions

OK, the "No Exercise Experiment" is over. Hooray! Here's what I think I learned:

1. My knees hurt more today--and have hurt more in the past week--than they've hurt since I started working out. At first this made no sense to me. How can they hurt more if I'm doing less? I mentioned it to my mom and she said, "Well, yes! I notice that too when I don't exercise enough. It's the arthritis ... you have to keep your joints moving and then they hurt less." My sports med doc said the arthritis in both of my knees was bad (whose isn't, really, from what I hear), so I'm going to chalk this one up to that. How funny that NOT exercising makes me hurt and exercising makes me feel better. When I was heavy, I used the "my knees hurt" excuse to NOT workout. Hmmmm ...
2. I was not less hungry. I wanted to eat as much as I was eating before.
3. It felt good to sleep later in the morning, but I'm not sure I slept as well at night. Hard to know if that's stress or exercise, though. 
4. Less laundry was good! Not having all the stinky, sweaty workout clothes around is definitely a positive.

Most importantly, my weight essentially stayed stable. I didn't eat anything crazy, but I didn't eat a militant 1200 calories a day, either. I had some candy ... every day. I had an oatmeal cookie. I didn't eat out, though.

And, I learned that I can take a day (or even a week) off if I need to.  I know I feel BETTER when I exercise. I feel better about myself. I feel stronger, mentally and physically. But I don't have to freak out if I end up missing a day. I don't have to panic.

It confirms a theory I had in the beginning ... I knew that getting the 100 or so pounds off was going to be a lot of work and an enormous pain in the rear. But I knew that work was finite, in a way. That I would have to work HARD for a while, but I wouldn't have to work out for 10 hours a day, every day, forever.

I don't yet know what the magic algorithm of exercise and eating is for me to maintain. But I'll get to that a little later.

I need to finally complete those final 10 pounds before I experiment with that.

And, I can't wait to hop on my treadmill tomorrow morning. I promise not to wake you.

Getting Antsy

Five days, no serious exercise. Gotta tell you, I'm getting antsy.

I am waking up at the same time, then rolling over an going back to sleep for 45 minutes. And that's nice. But when my eyes pop open again, I feel like I should do SOMETHING to get sweaty so I can earn a refreshing shower.

When I make the trip to Tim H.'s candy dispenser (Mike & Ike's ...the bastard ... he knows I can't resist), I feel like I should do SOMETHING to offset my ingestion.

When I sit down on the couch to blog on my laptop, I feel like I should do SOMETHING to make the time go faster and negate some of the supper I just ate.

I feel it mostly in my thighs. They want to move. In fact, I found myself power-walking to the ladies room today.

Not entirely out of urgency.

Right now I'm playing a little head game with myself. My initial goal was to NOT exercise until Saturday. I'm now reconsidering and hitting the treadmill Friday morning ... if the scale says I'm up. Which is me trying to justify going back on my initial plan. Rationalizing my potential behavior so I CAN exercise.

Now that's a change, isn't it?

The Experiment

I have been keeping a secret from you and it's time to come clean. (No, I'm not actually 349 pounds and a man, but good guess.)

My secret is that I haven't worked out since Sunday. No treadmill. No arms pumping. No feet pounding.

No perspiration.

It's an experiment.

I read a blog last week about a woman who was currently 26 years old and had lost 135 pounds a few years ago. (Oh, to have the hopefulness and metabolism of a 26-year-old!) She walked, ran, worked out like crazy to get where she wanted to be and then one day decided she didn't want to do that anymore. She wanted to eat -- sensibly -- but not be consumed by a hardcore, unrelenting exercise schedule.

So she stopped. She never ran again. She walks, leisurely. Takes the stairs vs. the elevator. Posts recipes for things like lasagna and scones and swears to eat them all. Just not so much of them, I guess.

So after my gigantic blister blunder on Saturday, I strapped my tennis shoes last Sunday and simply couldn't bear it, even with multiple layers of Band-aids. So Jim and I went for a short 6-mile bike ride instead. I didn't break a sweat, but it was fun.

Monday, I lifted some weights in the morning and putzed around outside, pulling a few weeds. Tuesday I took my dog for a walk, in flip-flops, that couldn't have amounted to much more than a mile. This morning I did a quick arm routine with hand weights again and then tonight I made two trips to the end of the driveway with garbage cans and watered some flowers.

And I've been sleeping in. Sleeping until I wasn't tired anymore.

And I've been eating normally.

And so far, I have not gained any weight. Knock wood, please.

Why am I doing this?

1. To let my blister heal. Duh. I need to evaluate these new shoes before the 30 days are up and I need a to start with a clean slate to know for sure if they're going to work.
2. To see what will happen. I'm curious to know what "normal" living is like and want to see what my new body will do without the calorie burn. How will it react to this?
3. To give my body a "shock" to see if I can eventually get off this plateau. I'm still working on finishing those last 10. And I've been stuck for more than a month. Maybe a break, where I get good sleep and let my body recover, will be just the ticket.

It scares me. A lot. But I keep telling myself that I know my head has changed ... that I know how to eat properly now, that I know how to exercise to take the weight off and that I am determined enough to do it, even if I take a break. I know there's no way I'm going to undo all the good I've done. So if I gain 2 or 3 or 5 pounds, I can get them off again and will.

I just need to learn how my body works. I need to "test" myself and this new brain to make sure the assumptions I made above are really true. And I don't want to live in fear all the time ... fear of missing a workout, fear of eating the wrong thing, fear of not being so strict with myself.

So far, so good. I'll keep you posted.

But if you see that my butt swells up overnight, I'd like you to mention it and suggest that I do something about it.

Have You Ever Forgotten to Eat?

I can honestly, confidently, loudly and emphatically say, "I NEVER have."

I have never gotten so busy or had so much fun or been so miserable that I accidentally looked at my watch and "noticed" that it was way past my mealtime. I even eat when I'm sick.

One of the very first thoughts I have when I wake up, if not THE very first thought, is something like, "Only 60 minutes until I get a bagel with peanut butter! Yippee!" And then I usually have what's for lunch and dinner worked out before I put a foot on the floor.

One of my nieces would simply not eat if someone didn't remind her to do it. My husband would eventually eat without the reminder, but it's not remotely priority number one. I don't get either of these perspectives in any way.

I look forward to the way it feels in my mouth. I am enamored with the sweet and salty and spicy of it. I like the process of chewing and crunching. I find the preparing of it enjoyable. I want others to get pleasure from what I make. And I don't even mind the cleanup, truth be told.

I'm starting to think hard about my relationship with food. Why I let myself eat my way to where I was before and how I need to think and be now that I'm a very different person.

It's going to be an interesting head trip.

Unexpected Benefit of Being Thinner #18

Hot isn't as hot.

I always say, "I hate hot." I hate it when you can't breathe because it feels like you're walking in a blast furnace and I hate that suffocating, sweaty feeling like there's just not enough air.

But guess what? I think dropping a few pounds helps. I've been outside for the past few days ... getting flowers in (finally!), weeding, tending chickens ... and it just doesn't seem as hot.

I don't know if it's because there's more room in my skin. If it's because parts of me aren't rubbing together so much. Or perhaps if it's all in my head.

But I'll take it.

Threesome

Had a threesome with Gary Fisher and my husband this morning. It was AWESOME. Well, actually it was a foursome if you count Jim's Trek, but that just sounds slutty.

The bike was a nice change of pace from the treadmill. It's just good for your head and your muscles to shake it up every now and then.

Potluck Strategy

'Tis the season of graduation parties, cookouts, wedding receptions and the like. That means a whole new season of challenging eating.

(OK, let's be honest. Is there ever an "off season" for challenging eating? It will be Thanksgiving and Christmas in a week or two, right?)

Today I had a graduation party to navigate and there's another one tomorrow. This afternoon's version featured not one, not two, but three Nesco roasters, filled with turkey, sloppy joes and ham for sandwiches. A half dozen of those giant Tupperware bowls with mayonnaise-laden macaroni salads and two banquet tables full of desserts.

Oh, and I forgot the mention the taco dip and chips and meatballs and spinach dip and crackers and cheese and sausage ... and on and on and on ... that were out before we actually ate.

Yum. And ugh.

So here's my approach. My strategy if you will.

I look at it all first. Then I sit down, without taking a plate. Then I think about what's available. And I break the food into two categories: what can I eat any day of the week if I want to and what am I not likely to get at home or as a normal part of my life.

In this case, I decide that I can have the crackers and cheese and taco dip and ham anytime. So I skip those. Not going to waste the calories.

The "good stuff" that I consider to be a real treat ... that's where I spend my time: hot turkey and crab salad and rhubarb bars. Yum!

P.S. Can I tell you how much I love rhubarb? I have a killer recipe from my Aunt Arletta that produces bars with a shortbread crust, rhubarb filling and whip cream top that are So. Freaking. Amazing. But I can't make them ... Jim doesn't like rhubarb and I'd end up eating the whole damn pan. Eating one bar at a graduation party is going to have to be my fix.

Running in a Skirt

I had a cool experience today. A genuinely cool, dare I say "fun," experience. Here's the kicker:

The experience involved paying more than I normally pay for something, talking to someone I don't know (which I normally hate) and exercising in front of a stranger.

Oh, and I ran in a skirt.

After a week-long flirt with yet another set of blisters on the back of my heels, I decided it was time to trade the Shopko Nikes in for a pair of real running shoes. I had heard numerous good things about a store in Janesville called All Season Runner.

It's one of those places where you go in and tell them about your workout, show them how you run and they match a pair of shoes to you.

It was awesome. The owner, Tawnya, was working and she actually measured my feet -- standing up and sitting down. She had me walk around the store for a long time to really feel the shoes. She watched me walk and run on a treadmill and told me how to improve my form. She even complimented my skirt. Seriously, can you remember the last time someone actually helped you try on a pair of shoes and made sure they fit properly? I'm pretty sure it hasn't happened to me since the last time I was in Dale's Bootery in Whitewater, circa 1990.

The icing on the cake? There's a 30-day return policy if I don't like the shoes I chose.

Who knew?

Here's the other funny part. I ran on a treadmill (did I mention I was wearing a skirt?) for a few minutes a couple of times without breaking a sweat and without huffing and puffing. That might have been the coolest part of all.

This is the kind of place I would have been intimidated to walk into as the old me. But it's exactly the kind of place I should have walked into because Tawnya is the kind of person that wouldn't have judged me and would have helped me get started. There are even running classes (get ready for your first 5K/triathlon/marathon), fun runs and all kinds of cool stuff. Like a community. Sort of like what we have here.

Two thumbs up, All Season Runner. I'll be back. Without the skirt.

(And if you need directions or don't want to go alone, let me know. I think I'd like to hang out there.) 

Need a Name

I would like to take this blog off Blogspot and get it on a regular URL. So,  need a name for the site that makes more sense than Carsick Caravan. (You know ... just in case I go viral and someone offers me a book deal. We're building a brand, here! LOL)

So here are some working options. I'd love to know which you like and I'd LOVE to know if you have a better idea. I've been thinking about it for months and I'm stuck.

www.TheDuhDiet.com/ ... as in ... eating less/right and exercising more is kind of "duh." It's catchy. But kind of coarse. But there's a nice merchandising hook.

http://www.thebigsecretdiet.com/ ... as in ... same as above. No big secret.

http://www.eatgroovelose.com/ ... but I don't really groove and eatmovelose.com was taken.

http://www.simplysmaller.com/ ... kinda dull. But OK.

ChangeYourMindDiet.com, ChangeYourBrainFirst.com, BigGirlBrigade.com, BigGirlGone.com, FightingForMe.com, EatLessEatRightExerciseMore.com, BikiniBravado.com

Any ideas?

You Talkin' to Me?

This is the refrain that, for the past week, has been popping into my head while I pound the "pavement" on my treadmill each morning:

"It's the end of the world as we know it. It's the end of the world as we know it. It's the end of the world as we know it ... and I feel fine."

I'm not sure how to take that. Nor who's sending me what message. I don't know a single note of the song beyond that catchy little riff.

But I feel fine. So far.

Knock wood, please.

"You Must Feel Great"

"You must feel great," he says today in his office. He's a dear friend of the kind-hearted, genuine sort. "How much have you lost?"

"About 94 pounds," I say. "Give or take, depending on the day."

"You must feel GREAT. Don'tcha feel GREAT? You look great, but I bet you FEEL so great."

"Really ... what did you do? Do you eat?"

"Oh, I eat. I love to eat and I eat. I just eat better stuff and I walk. I walk a lot," I respond. "And I do feel great."

"Well, you look great." He's smiling.

The truth is, I DO feel great. I feel so good sometimes that it's hard to imagine how I used to feel. It makes all the work (and let's be honest, it's work) worth it. It feels good to feel good. It feels good to look good. It feels really good to know that I did it myself ... and that if I can do this, I can do anything.

Or nearly anything. I'm guessing that freestyle half pipe snowboarding thing is out for any number of reasons.

I want you to feel this great, too.