I have two non-scale victories to share with you!

First, today is my fifth day completely and I mean COMPLETELY chocolate free.  Yes, I heard that collective “WTF?!”  ME!  Of course, part of it might have had to do with the fact that I’ve been sick the past two days (though I’m much much better now), but that doesn’t explain the days prior to those days.  And I’m not even craving it.  I think this may be a sign of the apocalypse.

Second, I tried on a pair of pants tonight.  First I tried on a pair in the size that I have been needing in that brand.  Um, can we say swim city?  So I went back and got the next two sizes down figuring what the hell.  At least I’ll get a good laugh, right?  And to ensure that laugh, I decided to try on the pair that was two sizes down first.  One foot.  The other.  Hitched them up.  Buttoned them?!?  And then zipped them?!?!  Huh?!  And it wasn’t just a fluke!  I tried a completely different style on and same thing!

The weird thing about it is that I really don’t feel any thinner at all.  I mean, I know I’ve lost some over the past couple of weeks, and my mom has told me that she thinks I look it, but I just haven’t felt it yet.  Hopefully soon.

It looks like I might be back, guys!!  <fingers crossed>

Post from Uncovering Pamela

Two Non-Scale Victories (NSVs)

Hi guys!  Before I get to today’s “Pop Poll,” I wanted to let you all know that I’m still doing good and am still on plan.  You’d be proud of me!  Last night, I was on a mission to find the new Sherrilyn Kenyon “Dark Hunters” book “Infinity.”  I first stopped at Wal-Mart, and actually planned beforehand that maybe I would allow myself one candy bar.  They unfortunately didn’t have my book, but you know what? I also talked myself out of getting a candy bar!  I told myself that maybe I would stop and get a 3 point ice cream cone from McDonald’s.  Well, I did stop to get one, but they weren’t serving them for some reason.

So then, I thought, “well, there’s another McDonald’s not too far away.  I could try there.”  But then I thought, “hey, maybe the grocery store has my book.  They sometimes have new releases.  But the McDonald’s is on the way to the grocery store and I don’t want to have to gulp it down.”  So then I had to decide whether I wanted the ice cream or the book more, because I wasn’t going to backtrack.  I decided to skip the cone and see if they had my book.  And they did!  Yay!  But not only that, they also had this:

Yes, the great bin o’ temptation!  And you know what?  I forced myself to pass right by it!  Did I mention there were Reese’s in there?!?!?

Now, I did stop and get a cone on my way home from work tonight, but I’ve been home for almost an hour and still haven’t eaten it all.  I actually put it in the freezer to stretch it out a bit, and I’m going to count it.  So right now, I’m pretty proud of me!

Okay, on to today’s “Pop Poll.”  I’ve seen bloggers respond to readers’ comments in a couple of different ways.

One way is to respond directly to the comment on the blog page itself.  I know that some people never check back (especially if they’re commenting on a lot of different blogs) to see if I or anyone else has responded to what they said.  I also know that I have an option you can select to be notified of follow-up comments, but I also know how annoying those emails can get sometimes.

The other way I’ve seen bloggers do it is by responding directly to a reader’s comment by e-mail.

I’ve responded to a couple of comments by e-mail, but for the most part, I’ve been responding to your comments directly on my blog. Especially if I think others would be interested in my response.

I haven’t been responding as often lately, because I didn’t know if anyone actually ever checked back or not.  So here’s your chance to let the world know what you prefer! (That is if you do actually want to hear any crazy response I might have to one of your comments LOL)

So I had a poll here, but it doesn’t appear to be working properly – ah, such is my life. So here are the options:

How do you like bloggers to respond to your comments?

1. Directly on the blog site, because I check back to see if there are responses
2. Directly on the blog site, because I subscribe to follow-up comments (if the option is available)
3. By e-mail only to me, so that I don’t have to check back or subscribe
4. I don’t particularly care to hear a blogger’s response to my comments
5. Other – please explain below

Of course, all other comments are welcome below, too! 

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Pamela’s Pop Poll – “Responding to Comments”

Yes, I mowed the lawn!

Normally, my mom does around the outside of our backyard and then the front (which is smaller than our backyard).  Then I do most of the backyard, which is a fairly large size.  Today, I did both the front and the back!  It took me a little over an hour, but this is a major NSV for me.  Three years ago, I got out of breath just looking at the backyard.

Lucky me, I’m stuck mowing the whole thing for the next six weeks while my mom recuperates from gallbladder surgery.  She had it on Wednesday, and except for some pain, is doing well.  The worst for her is when she needs to cough – and let’s not even talk about the time she sneezed!  Ack! The poor thing.  So that’s what I did on Wednesday – sat in the hospital for 7 hrs!  I’m just glad that she’s doing okay.

Anyway, hope you all are having a great weekend!  I’m going to go baby my poor sore hands (from the mower).  Note to self:  get some padded garden gloves if they have them…

Post from Uncovering Pamela

Meet Mr. Yappy

My mom and I spent the day trying to finish up our Christmas shopping.  I’m proud to say that I’m finally done…all except for one thing – if I can find it.  Ah, the joys of waiting to the last minute, right?

It’s been freezing here all day today though!  It’s six degrees here right now.  Six!!  They’re expecting  the high tomorrow to be about 11 with a low of -4 tomorrow night.  We won’t even talk about the wind chill.  Yikes!  I practically ran from my car to the store and back again and while I was pumping gas tonight, I about wanted to cry.  I couldn’t feel my face.  The entire time I kept thinking about my good friend Riley mentioning that she actually had to turn the heat on the other day.  She lives in California.  My heart breaks for her.  *snicker* You know I adore you, Riley!    I think it would be hard to celebrate Christmas without the cold though.

There is one recent purchase that I’ve made that I consider to be my greatest purchase of 2008.  No joke or exaggeration.  I adore these things:

So tomorrow my toes stay inside and hopefully toasty warm, even if I have to layer them with two pairs of socks and several blankets.

Unfortunately (or my taste buds would say fortunately), I will also be trapping myself inside with and enjoying my mom’s haystacks.  Yummmmmy.

I kind of went overboard on the meal front today.  Kind of.  Okay, WAY overboard.  Not only did we get Baskin Robbins ice cream (yes, we’ve established that I’m actually aware that it’s cold outside), but I also splurged at Applebee’s for dinner.  I’ve been wanting to try their three cheese chicken penne pasta for ages now and I decided I was going to try it tonight.  Big mistake!  Big, big mistake!

I think that if God could reach down and put a tiny bit of heaven in a bowl, then this would be it.  Especially for any cheese lovers like myself out there.  I refuse to consider the amount of calories I consumed in that one meal (I still have 2/3 of it left in the fridge to savor tomorrow), but the mere fact that it has “three cheese” in the title should give me a good indication.  Hey, I’ve never hid the fact that I like to eat.  It’s hard to do that when you once weighed over 300 pounds.

I did, however, have a NSV today!  While we were shopping, I realized that I really needed a new pair of jeans.  Ecstatically, I left the store with a new pair.  A new Misses Size 12 pair!!!!!!  12!  I don’t even ever remember wearing a size 12.  Ever.   I think I skipped right over that size on my way up.

Though I have proven that I can actually slide them over my hips and button and zip them (my mom’s seen the proof), I still have a really, really, really hard time believing that they could possibly fit.  I see the size and think “no way.”  I hold them up and look at them and think “no way.”  And then I put them on have to admit “yes way.”

I’m a goofball.  I admit that, too.  I know that the brand must run rather large, but I’m going to wear them with pride.

Hope you all are staying warmer than I am!

Post from Uncovering Pamela

Brrrr…

To quote Skye-Lynn, “I am so excited!”  She was nice enough to nominate me for another award.  Skye has become such a good friend that I can honestly say how truly honored I am for her to have chosen me as one of her recipients.  She is an amazing woman and if you haven’t checked out her blog, you need to do so!

While I don’t actually know how “fabulous” my blog may or may not be, I want to thank each of you who take the time to post on my crazy ramblings or send me messages.  I appreciate each and every one of them.  Even those of you who never post but merely read – yes, I know you’re out there and I’d love to hear from you! 

Here are the rules for the award:

1.  You have to pass it on to 5 fabulous blogs.

2.  You have to list 5 of your fabulous addictions.

• My family and friends 
• Reading
• Almost anything science fiction/fantasy
• Computer games
• Becoming a better me

(I was going to list food as one of my addictions and then re-read the rule to be 5 of your fabulous addictions.  Although, now that I think about it, when I take a bite of something particularly yummy, it sure does feel fabulous!) 

3.  Make sure you include the person that gave you the award and link it back to them.

And my nominations for the Your Blog Is Fabulous award are (in no particular order) (Men, as Skye said, imagine that’s a man walking his dog!):

• Skye, of course!

• Diana

• Nathan

• Carlos
• Tony P.

• Sandra

• Ella

• Kerrin

• Sherre

• Lyn

• Karyn

• Dawn

• Ron

• MizFit

• YoYoNoMo

I know, I obviously can’t count since that’s more than five, but I apologize if I left anyone with blogs out!  Again, thank you so much, Skye!  And thank you to all of you who spend a few moments of your day with me!

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If My Blog is Fabulous, It’s Because of You

Not so and now I have proof!

I posted a while back about the horror that was my elementary school days and the terror that lied within my gym class.  My teacher did these horrible “Physical Education Reports” about twice a year.  I think once at the beginning of the school year and once at the end of the year.  Well, I did some digging in old papers and found one of these reports.

Oh the terror that seeing that paper brought back. 

Apparently I have a company called Cramer Education Services to thank for making my life a living hell.  Or, more specifically, their “Fit-N-Dex for Physical Education.”  Obviously, for people like me who liked to eat and hated to work out, it was merely a tool to point out our loser-ness.  The only thing these reports ever accomplished was to make me feel that much worse about myself and make me eat more.  After doing a Google search, it appears that there are still schools that use this program.

The report I found was the last one that I was ever tortured with.  It is from the beginning of 1990 (4/1/90 to be exact), almost 19 years ago, and I was in the sixth grade.

So what was my weight, you may ask.  192 pounds!  No joke.  That’s more than I weigh now and I was also almost five inches shorter.  According to this sheet, I gained 21 pounds over the course of my sixth grade year, since I weighed 171 at the beginning of the year.  I also grew 1.25 inches in height that year.

Have I mentioned I hated sixth grade?  I was obviously an extremely unhappy little girl.

It seems I was able to do 17 sit-ups a minute.  My gym teacher obviously wasn’t impressed with the miracle that I could do more than one, since my goal was to do 27 a minute.  Interestingly, at the beginning of that year, I could do 21 sit-ups a minute.  Which is also how much weight I gained.  Hmmm.

The report also comes with this handy note:

Percentiles are scores that compare your child to other children [what did we just discover in my previous blog post on comparisons???]  in his/her age group.  A percentile score of 50 is average and means that he/she has measured better than 50% of the other children in his/her age group. Also, 49% of the children in his/her age group are considered to be in better condition than your child.

I tested in the bottom 10 percent, of course, on everything except the flexed arm hang.  Apparently I wasn’t the only loser who could only hang for one second (instead of the goal of four seconds).

We won’t even go into the scary results from my triceps skinfold test.  I’m telling you that those torture devices should be banned.  The result of which did come along with this lovely note:

SKINFOLDS:  A measure of body fat which indicates susceptibility to degenerative diseases such as hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, psychological disorders, and impaired tolerance to heat.

Okay, number one – skinny people get those diseases, too.  Number two – fat causing psychological disorders?  I won’t say it’s not possible, but I, for one, think that it’s more likely the other way around.  Not to mention the psychological disorders this damn test wreaked.  And number three – impaired tolerance to heat?!?  What the hell??  I’m not saying that’s not true, but does it really rank up there with heart disease??

Anyway, I just thought I would share my little trip through nightmares past.  Instead of being able to say that I’m smarter than a 5th grader, I can say I’m skinnier than a sixth grader! 

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A 19 Year Circle

I have to thank Nathan for nominating me for the Marie Antoinette Award which honors people writing about their real lives.  I can’t express how much it means to me that he selected me as one of the people he wanted to give the award to.

I have gained so much over the past year from writing this blog.  Not only have I discovered a wonderful community of new friends, but I’ve also learned a lot about myself and have learned how to be much more open in all areas of my life.

Here are The Rules:

1. Please put the logo in your blog
2. Place a link from the person, from whom you received the award
3. Nominate at least 7 or more
4. Put the links of those on your blog
5. Leave a message on their blog to let them know

I have “met” so many people through this site that have inspired me and/or kept my head above the water when I was floundering, or even just made me laugh, that it was hard to pick who I would like to give this award to.  Here they are, in no particular order:

• Nathan (even though he’s been nominated and nominated me!)

• Diana

• Carlos

• Skye

• Tony

• Sandra

• Ella

• Kerrin

• Sherre

• Lyn

• Karyn

These people have blogs that I know of, have been there for me for quite a while, and are never hesitant to offer their support.  I thank everyone who visits my blog though, because I learn from or take inspiration from every single one of you!

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Marie Antoinette Award

I decided to look at my progress graph (created from my Excel chart) to see what it looks like now.  I’ve been so far off track and so much of the excitement has disappeared that I haven’t looked at it in quite a while.  Even though I haven’t lost a lot of weight this year and even though the line has gone a bit crazy towards the right side of the graph, I think I have a lot to be proud of – most especially that the ending plot point is not right back up and parallel to the beginning plot point.  I’ve come a long way, baby.

(click to enlarge)

Post from Uncovering Pamela

Progress Graph

Tonight, I decided to give it another whirl.  I did my usual 11 floors (22 flights) up, but there was a difference this time.

Normally, I have to stop for a second (usually literally only a second or two) to catch my breath after four flights.  I think part of my problem is that I seem to be physically incapable of actually walking up or down stairs.  I have to run.  I’ve always been like that, ever since I was little.  It used to terrify my mom when I was little, because she was constantly afraid that I will fall to some great and horrible disaster.  Which did happen on occasion, but it wasn’t ever anything I couldn’t recover from.  Obviously.

There are a few rare instances in which I can actually force myself to walk slowly up or down a staircase:

• I’m with people who are either walking slower or can’t run up/down them;
• I’m with someone or will be meeting people shortly after the staircase, so I don’t want to be totally out of breath;
• I’m in heels or scary unstable shoes.

And that’s it.  Lately, my habit of rushing up and down the stairs has led to more than a few tumbles.  I have several pairs of pajama pants that have wide legs and are about as comfy as you can get.  Unfortunately, when you combine the wide leg openings and my rushing, it makes for a dangerous situation.  Inevitably, as I’m climbing the stairs, one of my big toes will get caught in the hem of my other pants leg and down I’ll go.  I’ve had quite a few bruises and sore wrists to show for my trouble.  But has it made me go any more slowly or carefully on the stairs?  No way.

Have I mentioned that I’m a klutz?

I also obviously have problems with digressing.  The point is that I think my habit of running up the stairs is what has made me poop out by the 4th floor every time.  Today, I made myself take the first flight slowly.  After that, it was all downhill (uphill?) and I went back to my old ways.  I forced myself to keep going though, and made it eight floors without stopping.  I then stopped for only a moment before continuing up the last three.

Even though I was breathing so hard that my throat literally hurt, I was pretty proud of myself.  I did 22 flights of stairs in approximately 3 minutes.

I hope that everyone had a good Friday and has fun plans for the weekend.  I’m going to see Saw V in the morning.  I’m so excited!  I’ve been looking forward to this movie coming out for months.  I’ll probably go try and vote afterwards.  I definitely know that I want to do something this weekend that involves some form of exercise, but the rest of the weekend is pretty much up for grabs at this point.

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Stair Victory

I bought it over the weekend without even trying it on.  I know that I told myself I wouldn’t do that anymore, but I’ve admired the skirt for a long time and decided to break down and just get it.  I was also in a hurry, which explains why I didn’t try it on before I bought it.

I’m in a size 14 pants, but when I went to reach for the size 14 skirt on the rack, I thought, “what the hell,” and grabbed the size 12.  I figured that if it doesn’t fit now, then it will be motivation to keep pushing myself.  I tried it on today when I was getting ready for work and IT FIT!!  A size 12!!  (Note the lack of a W after that number.)  I couldn’t believe it when it slid on and actually zipped up easily.  I honestly can’t remember the last time I fit into a size 12.

Looking at my progress chart tends to depress me a bit when I realize just how little I’ve lost over the past year.  Last month was my birthday, and I’ve only lost 31 pounds since my birthday last year.  I’ve only lost 13 pounds since January 1st of this year.  Ugh.

But if I look at the bright side, then I have to realize that while the numbers might not always be showing on the scale, then I’m definitely at least dropping clothing sizes.  The t-shirts I bought around my birthday a year ago are so big now that I can only use them to sleep in.

It’s just one more reminder that not all success is measured by a scale number.

Post from Uncovering Pamela

My New Skirt