Counting...

Points, calories, steps...whatever. Counting can be a monotonous and frustrating task when it comes to weight loss. It's work. You have to weigh, measure, read/track nutritional values, and write down everything, including that nibble of nuts, the splash brown sugar maple creamer in your coffee, or stick of gum. It all adds up to more calories, more points, more weight.

So technically this is week 2 of WW for me. I have yet to attend a meeting. I have yet to track an entire week of eating. I keep eating well past my points. I refuse to buy the prepackaged, frozen meals to make counting easy (unless it's the ice cream)...Why? Because I prefer freshly made meals, even if it's a sandwich.

Granted last week, I decided to toss WW out to the window because I went home for the holidays. That meant dinner at my fav Italian with wine, gnocchi, goat cheese, mushrooms, and we can't forget the warm bread. It also meant dinner with a great friend over a hamburger for me, dessert and coffee. Not the best choices - I admit that. But it was what I wanted and it was what I ate. At least, I own my meal choices.

So this week, I am tracking (sort of)...But trying to get my meals down to 6.5 points per meal is DIFFICULT.  I will keep at it until I get it.

If you've done WW in the past or currently on WW, what are you suggestions for breakfast and dinner?

Weight Watchers

Ok...I've talked about it enough and make mental pacts with myself that never seem to come to fruition.

I know that tracking my food is important, more so than my workouts. I also know that I'm not good at tracking my food via my phone or even on paper. The weekends are my hardest days to stay on track eating well.

So folks, today is the day that I join Weight Watchers. It won't be computer-based. I will HAVE to go to the meetings. I guess others outside my immediate circle will keep me accountable.

Wish me well and I will keep you posted.

You can't get a burger at Plantar Fasciitis

Yes, it does sound similar to Planet Hollywood or something you'd get after eating way too much turkey on Thanksgiving, but plantar fasciitis is inflammation of the tissue at the bottom of the foot and common symptoms could burning sensation on the bottom of the feet, achy arches, sharp pain in the heel felt early in the morning (these are mine).

The Fella and I landed in Fleet Feet - Sacramento Saturday after eating til our heart's content at the SactoMoFo Festival (hot damn, the mini burger truck was da bomb) because I am in need of new sneakers. I've been complaining that my arches hurt and the bottom of my feet burn - obviously my shoes need to be replaced, right? 

How do I know that I have PF....well, cuz the fitter guy at Fleet Feet told me and PubMed just validated my symptoms.  But seriously, I haven't been diagnosed by a MD, however, the symptoms do fit. If you are having any issues with your feet, I suggest that you make an appointment with the podiatrist for a proper diagnosis. Although, the Fleet Feet kid suggested that I stop wearing high heels.  He must have bumped his head or was high from smelling feet all afternoon cuz THAT will never happen. He also suggested doing trigger point therapy.

So as a way to release the tightness in my calves, I decided to do some rolling around on my living room floor on top of a tennis ball trigger point therapy.  If you need instructions on how to best inflict this pain, try this video:



Let the good times roll!

Run to Feed the Hungry, 10K Update

Man...You have to really love running to run in the rain. Or in my case, just coming off a cold medicine high.

I did run the 10K on Thanksgiving Day supporting the Sacramento Food Bank, along with another 27,000 other people.  This has been the 2nd largest (only to DFW) Thanksgiving run in the US.  Hard to believe - but true.  My time wasn't great, but at least I finished before they cleared the route. 1hr 20mins.

It drizzled, rained, and drizzled some more on top of the 40 degree temperature that felt more like 20 degrees.

My running partner and I made a pact that we would cross together.  She was having leg pains so when she walked, I walked.  Secretly, at first I was happy but as the run/walking continued I just wanted to be DONE. 6.2 miles is a long way to run/walk in the cold and rain.

I may consider doing another 10K solo next time to see if my time is better. This race had waaaay too many people and the crowd control was poor. I almost knocked into several people when I was trying to cross the finish line.

But happily I can say that I finished!

Did you run on Thanksgiving?

Goats do Roam

And turkeys will trot.  I, however, would prefer to be drinking some Goats Do Roam and may only half jog-half walk 6 miles on Thanksgiving Day.

I, under huge duress, peer pressure, influence of major amounts alcohol, coming off the high of celebrating a friend crossing the finish line of her first 10K, agreed along with the rest of my running group, Black Girls Run - Sacramento, decided to run the Run to Feed the Hungry on Thanksgiving.  We also agreed to run the 10K over the 5K.  Now mind you, the furthest I've run is a 5 mile fun run on the 4th of July but I figured...eh, I've got 6 weeks, I can train to run 6 miles, right?

WRONG!!!! I got lazy with running; came up with every excuse (mostly that I needed new shoes) to not run. I have been doing my other workouts with vim and vigor, however. I even have a good basic strength training plan down.

I've been sporadically running 3 miles. I attempted 4 miles twice, but got bored part-way through.  I'm not sure how I will make it Thanksgiving Day. I'm not even sure how runners do it, running all those miles.

I guess I will find out Thanksgiving Day.

All I really want is a sandwich

So I got a wild hair up my you-know-where to attempt a juice detox. I had all these grandiose plans to juice for 3 days, meditate, unlock my chakras (whatever the heck that means), and become a healthier person at the end of it.




HAHAHAHAHA.


My master plan kicked off 11/1.  A great way to start off my birthday month, right? I was lucky to procure a Juiceman for $10. Dontcha just love Craigslist? And it even works. So Monday night, I juiced 1 beet, 1 pear, and a handful of spinach for breakfast on Tuesday. I always have a good amount of fruit and veggies on hand, but I did buy some extra items (beets) just for this project.

I HATE beets.  Not really sure why I thought juicing beets would make them any better. They smell and taste like dirt.  Gross.  All I could think of as I drank this beet/pear/spinach concoction yesterday was that it needed some vodka! I was able to get that stuff down (without vodka) and made it through Day 1 with the help of Bolthouse Farms Green Goddess, some tomato soup, a plain protein shake and Whole Paycheck's overpriced butternut squash soup (boy that was good...pricey, but good).

And all I could think of yesterday was how good a grilled cheese sandwich would be with my tomato soup or the taste of warm french bread with the butternut squash soup would be.  Alas, I had juice!

I did attempt to workout last night. 1 mile on the treadmill and 30mins of TurboKick. I have to say that I couldn't concentrate.  I'm not sure if it was the lack of food or that the gym was a distraction. I did, however, manage to burn 1100 calories!

Last night I juiced tomatoes, parsley, bell peppers and spinach for my morning juice.  Um, I'd rather would have eaten a salad for breakfast.  My mid-day juice is celery, carrots, parsley and spinach. We shall see how that works out. Lunch will be soup. I will get in a workout tonight along with some yoga, follow it up with a plain protein shake.

Not sure what the plan for tomorrow will be...I will keep you posted.

I'm in love with a stripper...

That's what I hoped The Fella would be saying following my super sexy moves at pole dancing class last night. Sadly, those words may never cross his lips because I will not be a stripper anytime soon.

I think my expectations were high because of the shinny poles, the fact that I can walk in 5"heels and I look great in a tight tank top.

I am now suffering the pains of twirling, twisting, climbing and attempting to flutter kick my way upside down the pole.

In my quest to add variety to my exercise regime and the constant e-mails from Groupon, Deal Time and Living Social, I thought 4 lessons at a local pole dance studio would be just the spice. Thanks to The Fella for adding to my fun by gifting me an additional 4 classes.

If you haven't had the pleasure of your first pole dance class and you're not a 20-yr old dancer...let me tell you - this is hard. Last night, I learned that I'm a stiff, middle-aged Black woman in running shorts with no rhythm (this part I already knew). But I won't be defeated.

Luckily, the studio also a variety of teachers and other classes like striptease and burlesque. So even though a majority of my disappointment was my lack of sensual fluidity, I also fault the instructor for giving poor direction (not everyone was meant to teach). I will try a different night with a different instructor and even try the burlesque class.  Maybe soon, I can be just like Christina Aguilera and get my shimmy, shimmy, shake on.

I will keep you posted.

LifeClass

Operating on  partial or no trust is difficult in any situation. Working to rebuild that broken trust is even more difficult.  And in the end, the decision you make is your own...so own it.

My decision keeps changing from day to day and it probably will for days, weeks, hopefully not months, to come. The easy solution is to just toss it away, and if it was that easy to toss then really what did I have to start with? I guess that's why there isn't an easy solution and why my decision keeps changing.

This strife lead to me watch the one station I thought was blocked on cable Monday night.  OWN. Yes...I drank the kool-aide and watched Oprah's Lifeclass, Class #1 on false ego. When it kicked off, I thought...WTH?!?!?!  Here she goes again talking about those damn jeans and weight loss. But as the show wound up, it finally made sense about false egos. I don't consider myself to be self-asorbed. I do feel that I take other people's feelings into consideration. But, I know my personality flaw and it will take work to correct.

Does this false ego have anything to do with my current personal strife?  Maybe, maybe not. Some people would equate a false ego with insecurity, I beg to differ when that insecurity is brought on by outside influences, not internally. So what do you do? How can you be reassured and relieved of these insecurities?  Each situation is different and there isn't any clear-cut path, So, this is the current work in progress.

Do I feel as if I've failed?  No!  I know that I have done/am doing the best I can/know how. I know that I offer up great advice and that I am a loving and caring person. I know that I haven't put my ego before this current circumstance. I also know that I deserve the best out of this circumstance. 

I do need to watch the next round of classes, How to Let Go of Anger and Finding Joy. Do I think I will have epiphanies on the road to self-discoveries thanks to all-knowing O?  Probably not. However, as with any advice, there are tools I can take from the "class" to put into practice daily.  And we all know that practice makes perfect (or close to it).

Hanging out on the curb

Wow...it's been over a month since my last post. There's been a little of this and a little of that going on...but mostly depression and aggravation because I'm not happy. But as I said to The Fella, it's time to put up or shut up. Time to put plans in action. So I have a few things brewing. First up: a Girl's brunch next week (menu planning is in full swing), pole dancing classes in November, salsa classes and Sunday yoga will become a staple in my schedule. 

This past month has been about growing, personally and physically. The one good thing that came out of last month was my surgery. I finally had a myomectomy, surgical removal of a fibroid. I've been dealing with the fibroid over 3-4 years and took the general advice of "if it isn't bugging you, don't bug it".   Well, as I've lamented over and over again, I kept gaining and losing the same 3-4 lbs of the 10lb weight gain since moving to Sacto. My pain level wasn't birth-giving cramps or overtly heavy cycles, but it was enough to be an off-on annoyance. I felt that my mood was adversely effected and began taking natural supplements of serotonin and dopamine. But who wants to take tons of pills to regulate your mood?  Not me.

So I took the plunge and had my grapefruit-size fibroid removed. I am now 3 weeks post surgery and I feel tons better. I'm even down to my pre-move weight! I'm still weepy from time to time, but I think that has more to do with personal issues and not hormones being off. I am not working out like the monster I was pre-surgery and my runs are around the level of C25K week 3 (3mins run, 3 min walking recovery), but I will plan to hit back hard in another 2 weeks.

If I may offer my opinion to anyone who wants it...if you're dealing with a fibroid (or more than 1) and you've received that same sage advice, take it with a grain of salt. Get a second opinion. Speak with a Naturopath, but most importantly listen to the signs your body is giving you.

21-Day Challenge

Last week, with the help of a FB friend, I started a 21-day Eat Clean Challenge. I thought...woo hoo, a way to finally get my butt back on track. I know how/what to eat, I just wasn't doing it as evident by my lackluster food tracking for the nutritionist sessions.

So I did it last week. I ate fairly clean for 6 days with, we wont count the cheat meals,...Ok 2 cheat meals. I'm allowed 1. But hey, the boyfriend went to the movies last night and I did not want to cook. And I'm not beating myself up for it either.

I did manage to see some numbers on the scale that I haven't seen in the 5 months since moving to Sacramento - like the 165s! I managed to F* that back up by 2 lbs on this mornings weigh-in (damn, extra cheat meal). But I am torching calories (1100 on Saturday alone) during my workouts so I will hopefully burn that and some this week.

On top of wearing mismatched shoes, I also picked up some great information and new kettlebell moves at the Health/Fitness Fair in Auburn yesterday.

So, I have 2 things I need to do over the next 2 weeks: I am planning to add an additional kickboxing class to my schedule. I also need to start packing/planning my food on the weekends. I keep thinking that I don't and that's when I get into trouble. So my cooler will have to be a permanent fixture by my side.

How/what did you do this weekend? Any fun plans?

You're fired...

Well, maybe not fired but the appointment has been cancelled. After receiving feedback on last week's meal tracking from the nutritionist stating that we need to work on weight loss, I knew it was time to go.

Um, that's why I went to see the woman in the first place.

Granted, I'm not the best when it comes to tracking my food (and I was upfront about it).  Yes, I know I need to pay attention to what I put down my throat. No, I'm not ready to give up wine and cheese.  I might consider backing off the little bread that I do eat.

So I am back to square one and tinkering with the idea, yet again, with WW.  But for the moment, I am using SparkPeople to track my food in addition to my workouts.

So let's see what happens next.

Sliding down the mountain on my ass

Yep...here's another installment of things that don't suck about the state capital of California (good thing we aren't talking about health insurance - cuz that sucks!!!).

My first real-live hike with boots, pack, plenty of water, plenty of snacks, camera fully charged was set for Sunday.  My hiking group, Sacramento TrailMix, headed up to Enchanted Pools in the El Dorado National Forest. Now, ya'll know I'm still a novice at this California thing and driving through the mountains scares the crap out of me. I asked several times if the roads wound up and around, if there were sheer drop-offs without guard rails and if the roads were narrow. I was assure no to all!  OOOOOO, those liars!  So I volunteered to drive 2 other ladies in my Altima Coupe up the side of the mountain.  We made it, even moving at an old lady's pace all the while honking around the curves of the one-lane narrow road. Whew!!!

Parked, sprayed bug spray, put on my hat and we're off.  The hike was beautiful (see pictures below if you don't believe that black folks hike, that's me in the center).

So now it's time to roll on back down the hill.  Holy Firecracker Batman.  I was ok as long as I had mountain on 1 side and tall trees on the other.  I got to this point and froze. It's much scarier in person.

I was in the middle of the road, with the car in park and the parking break on. I couldn't take my foot off the brake because it seemed to lurch forward each time. Finally, the woman on my left turned off the car. I climbed out of the driver's seat, into the backseat and into the fetal position.
Luckily, the woman on my right was able to drive us down the mountain to safety. Once we were down, I was able to get us back to Sacramento safely.

I know it will take some getting used to, but driving these narrow roads aren't what I call fun. Although, playing in these pools were.

Updates and such

It's been 5 months since moving to Sacramento. And it's been 2 weeks of taking a new set of "natural" drugs to lift me out of the doldrums of being homesick, lacking motivation, and declining sexiness. And from the readings of various blogs, I'm not alone in this blah-ish feeling: http://fitbottomedgirls.com/2011/07/fitness-and-depression-the-defining-moments/

Well, these past 2 weeks have been better. I am feeling more like my "old" self. I am looking forward to working out most days and I'm not beating myself up for the weight gain, for looking like a frumpy middle-aged woman, and making more of an effort to getting out to learn and enjoy Sacramento (big fun at the California State Fair) and reignite my girlfriend-side at home. And to add to the new found happiness, I am even down 1 lb. Woo hoo.

I am, however, still envious of women I see at the gym who claim to workout only about 30-45mins a day and change their eating habits from eating less junk to more fruits and veggies.  I have to constantly remind myself that we are all different and at different levels on our journey and to congratulate her on her hard won progress.

The nutritionist tells me that I need to stop talking in collective "yous". I need to start talking about myself/issues using the first pronoun - to own it. This is a hard one for me because I learned somewhere down the line that it's not always about "me" and therefore to not use the first person pronoun, I. Well, that's changing as well.

I am also working on shutting off negativity. Negative friends, negative thinking, negative events. At this point in my life, I may not look at life through rose-colored glasses, but it's not all gloom and doom.


I am thankful that My Fella and I can have rational conversations about the things we miss and need from each other. Our relationship wasn't conventional by any means but I have to say we've had less bumps along the road.

So because you're worth it, I am putting more effort into US and I know that you are too. As the lyrics played last night state, you're the finest I've ever known.

Things that don't suck about Sacramento

ooooh - Wolfman = Scary

Continuing my efforts to find things that don’t suck at about the cow town that is California’s capital as well as not go stir crazy since The Fella was on vacation and keep in line with the advice from the nutritionist to bring joy into my life, I made the effort to fill my weekend with “stuff” that I like to do: theatre, festivals, and food.   

Friday night was sushi (missed the happy hour) and community theatre of “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas”.  Oddly enough, it was performed in an old church and 2 of the Aggies were young (I think was actually 12 years old) and thin, another was older (over 40) and had a mullet. If you know anything about college football, thin isn’t an adjective anyone would ever use.  The star of the show was the sheriff. Wow could that man belt out a song. The only thing that was a true parody that drove me nuts was that the men stuffed their jeans into the boots. Ugh!!!! Unless you’re cleaning out a barn or stable, real Texans don’t do that.

Yummy Local Peaches

Owl education

Saturday found me at the gym busting through a 2 mile run and Body Pump. I’m almost afraid to say this, but I think this round is actually easier that the others. That may be a sign that I need to add more weight (which I did during the triceps track). Can we say skull crushers kill!  But I know I needed to get a workout in before heading up CA-70 to Marysville’s Peach Festival. This was an easy drive (no sheared off mountain cliffs) and only 30-mins from the apartment. Can we say yummy peaches!

mascot for the fair

To top of the weekend, I headed to the California State Fair. Corn dogs, popcorn, cotton candy, jerky, deep fried Twinkies, butter, Oreos, Captn Crunch….oh and how could I forget – FUNNEL CAKES!!!!  Um, I had a corn dog. I think I went into sensory overload and couldn’t commit to eating a ton of crap although I had it planned.  The fair is much smaller than the Dallas State Fair and actually reminds me of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (minus the rodeo, although there is horse racing).

600 lb pig, Six

topping off the day with some motocross

What fun did you get into this weekend?

Things that don't suck about Sacramento

Tower Bridge from bike trail

In taking the advice from the nutritionist, I branched out and actually showed up to a hiking event last night. I'm good for saying I will do something and find every excuse under the sun to not do it. But not doing things continues to feed the beast aptly named: "there's nothing to do here".

Steamboat in Old Town Sac

Pyramid Bldg

Skid Roses

 This "hike" was perfect: Meet at near local Mexican eatery downtown, departs at 6pm, and weaves from the edge of downtown, to the Marina/Miller Park, and across to West Sac to the Riverwalk to hear some live music and then back to our cars. We followed a railway/bike path so it was great avoiding car traffic, but the bike traffic was a little heavy. We did encounter a skunk (stinky) in the park and a "questionable" group of people at the end of the hike.


Couldn't have asked for better weather and a fun group of folks. And the nice thing, there's a fellow Texan in the group!

Oh yeah, that's sexy!!!

I'm your pusher...

That was the song, along with White Horse, playing thru my head as I left the nutritionist office yesterday.  I decided that surely there must be an issue since I've gained 10lbs since moving to Sacramento, and only seem to be loosing the same 3lbs (totally sucks).  Of course, reading Jilian Michael's Master Your Metabolism feed my brain with "I must certainly have a hormone imbalance since I can't seem to evict these nagging pounds".  I made an appointment with a local nutritionist, thinking I would have my hormone levels tested.

Our session went more along the lines of "tell me a little about yourself". And I did...but just a little. I know there is a root cause for this weight gain. I can't continue to blame my fibroid, or hormone imbalance (caused by the fibroid).  It's caused because I am attempting self medicate (along with prescribed happy pills) mild depression.  I can get through my work days ok, but the weekends are difficult. So therefore, I eat.  She took 1 look at my food diary (I kept it for 3 days, 3 of the wrong days) and said I am eating too much - DUH!  But she's right. I am eating the "right" things, but too much of the right things. My portion sizes need work, but not as much as I thought.  It's just too many items on my plates (especially at work). She also suggested that I cut out dairy.  Um, hell no!  I like LOVE cheese. So I am making a small concession. Swapping real milk for soy and almond. Dropping the greek yogurt and cottage cheese. But I will continue to have feta on my salads, swiss on my sandwiches.

But the glaring issue is the depression.  She hit home with the fact that I need to branch out.  As a solitary person, that is the most difficult thing to do in a new city. I can continue to whine about this place not being Houston or I can learn to make the best of it. Hence, the "Things that don't suck" issues. I plan to make a better effort of branching out, using Meetup.com and actually making it to so of the events.

At the end of the session, of course she tried to sell me a $300 6 session package along with supplements of serotonin and dopamine. I bought the supplements, not the additional sessions. Some days I think holistic medicine is just a game to get your money and not provide results. However, I can say, upon reflecting on my meeting yesterday, it felt good to release some issues that have been troubling me. I know it's up to me to work through this and get my ass out of the funk I'm in. It's all about choices and I choose to not be unhappy.

So the journey continues.

Heaven is a wrap dress

It may not be a DVF (yet), especially since she doesn't make them in my current size, but I have 4 go-to wrap dresses for when I'm feeling lazy and don't want to exert too much effort into dressing for work, or for when the temps are hotter than holy H-E-double hockey sticks (like it is now). I still come off looking polished and I keep cool during the summer. Layer one of these with a cardigan, tights and boots and I'm set for the when the temps drop below 60.

Another reason I love my wrap dresses...even though the scale says I've packed on an additional 8 lbs and my skinny jeans (and, at times, my fat jeans) shout: Let the muffin top be free!, I can still slip on one of my wrap dresses and look HAUTE!

Thank goodness for the wrap dress. I've been wearing them all week.

Do you have a go-to item in your closet for those not-so-fresh days?

And they say running is fun

Well fun may be a stretch... 

I made it out to the park by 7:10am yesterday morning to register (sign the waiver) for the Oldest Run in Sacramento. I can't lie...it was difficult to get out of bed this morning. It was even harder to get out of the car after parking. It was lonely out there waiting for the race to start. But running can be social sport, if you want it to be. It is also a form of solace. Once I put my headphones on and started my warm-up walk, the loneliness dropped away. 

Yesterday was my longest run to date. It is interesting to hear people who love to run talk about 5Ks and 5 miles as short races. For those of us just starting out, we think "short?" WTH? Especially, after crossing the finish line 1 hour and 4mins later. That is NOT a short run in my opinion. 

I can say that I did walk a good portion of the run. Which proves you should eat at least 45 mins before working out. I needed a boost of energy and a potty break (like a dummy, I drank 1/2 a bottle of Smart Water before the run -ugh!). 

All in all, I'm glad I did get up, get there and get out of the car. I'm glad that my pace was 12.34 min/mile. I'm glad to say that I completed 5 miles in 1 day! 

That's the way to kick off the 4th of July. 

Fourth of July or Canada Day...

Wishing everyone a happy Independence Day or Canada Day (if I have any Canadian readers).

So for my plan of learning to enjoy Sacramento and finding places, events that don't truly suck...we are keeping it simple for the long weekend.

Transformers 3 is on deck for today! I wont lament to the fact that this city only has 2, yes I said 2,  IMAX theatres! Oh the horror!!! The local IMAX is only showing that kiddie movie and some nature scene, the other is 30mins from my apt. It does happen to be showing T3 on the IMAX screen but in 3D. I don't do 3D movies.

Tomorrow is date night...off to the comedy club to see D.L. Hughley.  Hi-lariously funny.

Sunday will be devoted to housework (ugh, such a chore) and carb-loading!!!

Why the carb-loading you ask...because, foolishly I plan to run the 4th of July Fun Run. I still haven't figured out why people insist on adding "fun" as an adjective when describing running. I wouldn't, well at least not for anything over 3 miles.  Monday's run will be my longest. No Kim, I still haven't been stung by that running bee (I did shoo a moth out of the apt this morning) but this is a freebie, so why not. I may just skip the entire way!

And to end the long holiday weekend on the right foot, fireworks at Cal Expo. 

So this has the potential to be a great weekend and I hope yours does too.

Things that don’t suck about Sacramento

Tree of Life, maybe?

La Belette Rouge did a series of lists relating to things that were “good” about living in LA.  So, I’m stealing borrowing from her and will attempt to highlight the good parts of living in Sacramento (this may be short-lived, but I will try to remain positive).

When The Fella initially said we were moving to Sacramento, I thought…WHY?  Why the heck couldn’t we go to Denver as I so hoped and prayed?  Well, cuz…so you can either do a long distance thang or move with me. He didn’t say that last part, I totally imagined it. Neither of us wanted a long distance relationship.  But really, when you tell people that you are moving to California, everyone oohs and ahhs over how great it is to live in sunny California. Well that’s because everyone thinks that there are only 3 cities here – San Diego, LA and San Francisco. And at times, Napa and Palm Springs are tossed in there…but those are the major 3 cities.  Honestly, I don’t think most people even realize Sacramento is the State Capitol.  Even after visiting, I could see why it’s forgotten…but again – remember – positivity.

So when you tell people you aren’t moving to 1 of the 3 biggies, that it’s actually Sacramento – the reaction is more along the lines of: Where?  Is that near LA? 

And I had to go into my short list of why it’s so great to move to Sacramento: (1) Low cost of living if you choose to live in California. (2) Proximity to San Francisco, Reno, Tahoe, Yellowstone, Mt. Shasta, Napa (notice, no mention of the great proximity of anything IN Sacramento). (3) The weather – no humidity (that’s a plus but I have to use TONS of lotion now that summer is actually here). (4) Outdoor activities such as rafting, biking, hiking.  This really isn’t a short list, it’s the only list.

And as I said in my previous post, I don’t really want to spend my Sundays driving hours away from town to have a good time.  Well, that’s what we did Saturday (at least it wasn’t Sunday).

I talked The Fella into heading to the Amador Flower Farm in the Shenandoah Valley (which also has a slew of vineyards in you’re interested in wine tastings) to see the daylilies in bloom. I know – a total girl trip, but hey – he was game to go!  So with map in hand and a tank full of gas (never go on a road trip, no matter how short, without a full tank of gas) we set off on an hour or so drive Northeast.

Even with buckets of rain this region has had this year, the country side wasn’t green, as I expected. But the drive was beautiful. We did take a wrong turn that sent us a little further east than we were supposed to go and I turned in a little old lady driving super slow up the side of a mountain. I guess I really need to get used to driving in the mountains if I plan to explore.  We did finally make it to the flower farm and had a great lunch under 150-year old oak trees surrounded by fabulous color. All the while, I was watching out for rattlesnakes as the many signs suggested! 

 So, while the list of things that do suck about this area is long, I can add this to the list of things that don’t: Amador Flower Farm.

*All photos taken by The Fella

We made the paper...

We trekked to a galaxy far far away aka Woodland, CA Friday night to the Gibson House to do one of my fav things - watch a freebie movie outside. Star Wars was the feature film. LOVE Star Wars. You can tell by my Wookie-like hairy arms. Wow - never thought about having those waxed but photos generally make you think of things you ordinarily wouldn't. I even had a Chewie Lego key-charm (that's a funny story I may tell you at another time).

Even Princess Leia made an appearance

Weight loss, the quick and the easy…

Let’s face it - that’s what most of want - To take a magic pill at night and wake up being a size 4 the next day.

In the short span of 2 hours, I have received 1 FB message promising that I would lose 15 lbs in just 2 weeks by drinking some all-natural shake and a Living Social e-mail promising a 4-week weight loss program using a prescribed medication, supplements, nutrition plan and exercise regimen for the low cost of $90 (I didn’t inquire on the cost of the shake diet and I highly doubt the 4-week program is supervised by a real physician).

Yes, I am an exercise DVD junkie (just recently bought Zumba from QVC). I’ve purchased the Nike+ for my shoe, a heart rate monitor, 2 kettlebells, and slew of other fitness accessories. I do this as a form of motivation (and it also aides my desire to shop).

But I know that by just having these items will not make my thin overnight. I also know that doing a shake diet and taking diet pills will not provide long-term HEALTHY weight loss.

 And isn’t that the point of all this?  Maintaining the weight loss long term and being healthy?

I can’t say I haven’t considered options like Quick Weight Loss, Jenny Craig, FitFoods. I can’t say that these programs aren’t beneficial to some. They do work – for some.

Call me hardheaded and stubborn, but I want to do this the old fashioned way. Maybe I will be stuck at 170 (yes, that damn 7lbs weight gain is sticking around) for a bit longer that I truly like. But I am working on eating right and working out (I restarted my gym membership) and as long as I don’t see 203 again, I can be happy.