ROUND 1: FIGHT!

Week 1- Day 1 (February 1, 2010)

Round 1: FIGHT!

In the blue corner, weighing in this morning at 169 lbs of PMS madness, packing a powerful punch without her coffee, the “CRAZY Strawberry Blonde”

Now, in the red corner, with it’s devilish,gooey, sweet good looks, weighing in less than 3 slices of bread, we have the taunting, warm, CINNAMON ROLL!
“BING!” the bell goes off, and they begin to dance, one with a fork and the other steaming away. The blonde jabs with her right and her opponent rolls to the left. All the while looking at her as if saying “you know you can’t win”. A look of terror passes the Blonde’s face and the roll swings with it’s left for a total sugary knockout. The fork falls loose rattling on the mat. A hush falls over the arena
With the final bell and the match over, the blonde slinks off the mat while the referee holding the fork over the cinnamon roll pronouncing it’s victory. A smirk seems to cross the roll’s face daring the Blonde to try again.

Yes ladies and gentleman, this is how my morning started with a simple recipe that I found last night. Using crescent rolls I made mini cinnamon rolls for my husband since we both didn’t have school due to a massive snow storm. As in, ten inches of a crystal white powder on the ground which hasn’t happened for over 15 years in our area; the wonderful Eastern Shore. Now, my original plan was to just make them for him and have some yogurt and maybe an apple since today is day 1 of my bet. But, as you can see the smell was too much to be surpassed. They weren’t the full size rolls that you see in Wal-Mart or Cinnabon, they were McDonald’s mini cinnamon bun size; two bites and you have made mince meat of the pastry. At least this was my thought process when I dug in. And boy was it good!

I have read that when you are trying to change your eating lifestyle to something within the more healthy range that you can’t just go cold turkey and you can’t just not eat something because it’s bad. You are then just setting yourself up for failure. But, how does all that mess make any sense because, you know you’re not supposed to eat it because of calories, blah, blah, blah but yet eating when you are craving something, every once in a awhile can’t hurt. I am sure that is what people tell themselves daily.

Mistake #1: I started this bet with my husband.
Mistake #2: I started this bet with my husband the day before “the monthly friend visits”
Mistake #3: I started this bet with my husband the day before “the monthly friend visits” when a snow storm hits AND I made cinnamon rolls!!! BAD FEMALE, BAD!

What have we learned here: DO NOT DO THE ABOVE... except maybe mistake #1 because that doesn’t sound so bad UNTIL you put the rest with it.

Here is my plan:
I want to lose 20 pounds by June. That means approximately 1 pound a week for the next five months. To do that and make a lifestyle change I must be more aware of the type of foods I eat, how often I eat out, what I eat when I eat out, how often I exercise, make a conscious effort to exercise daily for at least 30 minutes, monitor how much sugar and carbohydrate intake.....

*Beep!* Brain-overload... Loading self-destruct sequence

Oh my GOD! That is way too much! I have a full time job, I am a teacher for Christ Sakes! My work load is easily a 60-70 hour work week, I have to keep house, maintain a relationship with husband, family and friends not to mention HAVE A LIFE! This is not possible. As I have read, when you look at things like you have just seen prior to minor mind melt down you will see that success is not possible. We have to take things in teensy, tiny baby steps.
THis all sounds so funny for someone who was extremely active in high school to have issues “getting back on the horse”, as they say, well it’s not like riding a bike, that’s for damn sure! But, this time I am serious. Well, at least I hope so or I have just wasted the past 30 minutes of my life writing this when I am A: not a writer, B: have lessons to plan, and C: a house to clean. So lets keep our fingers crossed for dinner to go smoothly and the account of this morning to not happen at dessert. Well, the cinnamon rolls have been consumed so I guess they can’t be the issue later at least.

Day 1

So, I am starting this blog since I am newly married and I just made a bet with my husband.
Now, I am not one to bet unless I am sure I can win, as the old adage goes. But, this time, I am not as confident.
Every June, we, along with a group of friends, attend the Philadelphia comic convention because they (my husband, his brother, and two friends) have a company, PLB Comics. I am usually one of the "groupies" that dresses up; yes, I dress up in those weird costumes that people like you stand to the side and make fun of because you "would never be caught dead in that".
Over the past two years I have become more "fluffy", to put it lightly. And, I bet my husband, like an idiot, that I could lose 20 lbs before the convention. If I win, HE takes me on a weekend vacation of my choice. If he wins, I take him on a weekend vacation of his choice. Oh, I'm sure you are saying, "What a horrible husband!", "He should love you for who you are!". Trust me, I would be saying the same thing, but I got myself into this mess. No, I'm not making excuses. I asked him to make a bet with me; hoping for extrinsic motivation mind you, that I hope sticks, because the intrinsic is on holiday without me. He declined on many accounts and regailed me with words likened to "I think you ARE beautiful!" and a whole lot of PDA! But, I persisted, and I don't know why...
So, lets look at the facts. It is the first of February tomorrow and the convention is on June 11. That makes, ummm, about 5 months. So, can I do it?! We will see, today marks the first of my 5 month adventure into HealthLand.