Today was the start of of my 45x30 and it went splendidly. I start out by walking north on Pine Grove to Irving Park. I head east on Irving to the lake front paths and then I take the walkers path that veers around the playground south to Addison. It took exactly 45 minutes. I don't know if I'd feel comfortable doing it by myself really early in the morning though, because it goes right along the empty golf course (the golf course seems so eerie to me when it is deserted). 

This month also marks the start of weight training three times a week. For now I'm planning that I'll do it on Tuesdays, Thursdays and then either on Saturday or Sunday. 

There are a lot of mile marks coming up for me this month and next. The workshops begin for Into the Pool begin on September 14th. I begin teaching October 6th, but the professional development seminars begin in two weeks. Dan and I are going to Disney World on October 9th. I'd like to lose another 10 pounds before Disney World. It's exactly five weeks away, which would mean I'd have to lose an average of 2 pounds per week. I'll be fine either way if I don't meet the goal, but it's fun to think about. Dan has said that we can make sure to work out each day that we're in Disney, even if it's just swimming laps in the pool or walking the whole park each day before we start going on rides.

I feel good about this week. I made the HG peanut butter fudge tonight, which is an excellent treat to have throughout the week. Dan is feeling under the weather, I think I gave him my cold from last week. :(

Dan and I wanted to watch some of the RNC tonight, but Gustav has interrupted coverage on all our news stations. They are predicting that up to other 5 hurricanes may hit New Orleans this week, which is pretty damn scary. We expected to turn the channel and be horrified by Republicans, not tropical storms! Just kidding, all you Republicans that I know and love.

Seriously, though. I truly hope that there can be a sense of unity in our country again instead of all the Republican versus Democrat crap that we are constantly wading through. At the end of the day, we're all just people with a lot of different opinions. There are even very few Democrats that I've found who believe the same things I do. One of the best things that Obama has said to date is that, "there is a difference between the way the world is and the way it could be. Most people are afraid to look at the areas in between." Well, he said it more eloquently than that, but I really agree. In fact, if you were to look at Blackbird's mission statement, I believe you would find very similar words. :) But I do think, with this election at least, that we do really need to consider the big picture (what absolutely needs to change). 

Rhetoric, go!

Exercise Schmexercise

I didn't exercise on Thursday, so I did an hour's worth on Friday.

I didn't exercise on Saturday, so I did an hour's worth today. 

I sense a pattern forming...

Regardless, 30x30 was quite the challenge. And I am proud to say that I have succeeded!

Tomorrow begins 45x30 and the beginning of my weight training too. Dan and I are also planning to play football at the park, just for fun. We don't have any particular plans for lunch or dinner, but we are doing our grocery shopping for the week tomorrow. So we'll probably pick something out of the HG cookbook before we go shopping. Wow. This is truly an exciting post. 

I haven't done nearly as much snacking this weekend as I did last weekend, which is good. I did use some of my points for candy on both Friday and Sunday, though. I did get five servings of fruit on Friday, though and  I got five servings of vegetables on Sunday. So I'm feeling mostly okay with where I am this week. 

I've been finding that if I work really hard Monday through Thursday that it's easier for me to be comfortable having a treat on the weekends. I've had the control to not go over my points with my treats and in nine weeks I've only had one gain. I think I'm finding a good balance between restricting myself during the week and letting myself have a little fun on the weekends. I don't let myself have anything that people bring in to work anymore. In fact, I haven't had one treat at work since I started weight watchers, and there have been brownies, five cakes, three batches of cookies, chocolate covered fruit, deep fried cajun food, a week's worth of bagels, and an M&M dispenser. Which is an enormous amount of food for one office, in my opinion. I've never felt deprived though, because I am very good about having snacks at home that satisfy cravings and I am able to count. At any time in the house I have ice cream, chocolate covered pretzels, brownies, chocolate chips, graham crackers, and popcorn. I can have one of these things a day without "breaking the bank," and so far I've been able to just leave the other stuff alone without even thinking about it. In fact, the ice cream in my freezer has been in there for almost three weeks and the container is 3/4 full. 

So I know that was a really long rant about food, but I am really starting to feel like I have officially kicked a bad habit. It's been almost 60 days and I have kicked the majority of my bad eating habits and I've added exercise back into my daily routine. It's pretty cool.