January Doldrums . . .

                    Okay, it’s January. . .

The Holidays are officially over

The Christmas Music collection has been tucked away

Christmas books and stories are also a memory

We had a gingerbread decorating party, which was a ton of fun. . .

I would say these kidos did a great job on their houses!

. . . The house that stayed here is all eaten up

(the one on the bottom left)

Christmas was awesome this year, 

in fact, I would list it in the top 5 of favorite Christmases ever.

                                      but let it be known. . .

Thanksgiving is still my favorite Holiday

(I found this cute little guy on a google search)

alas, Christmas has been put in boxes and cold storage for the next 11 months

. . . and here we are back to Boring ol January

                              we have begun a new year. . .

. . . and reality has settled in BIG TIME . . .

Happy New Year!

Instead of Christmas Neighbor Gifts, we delivered New Year Greetings to our neighbors  

This is also when I determined that my jersey’s are making me claustrophobic, and sadly not because they have shrunk, but I fill them out, literally, and they make me look. . . well, okay there is no other way to state it. . .




my figure is a closer resemblance of the Pillsbury Dough Boy . . .

. . . a whole lot closer resemblance than a cyclist!

Except my "pudges" are not cute like this little dude

and it’s high time to get back into shape!

Since being engaged which happened in September 2012 to the beginning of this current year I have embarrassingly packed on 24 pounds. . .

now, that is more depressing than having a birthday in January!

just after Thanksgiving, Superman and I decided to kick it into gear and do something about this growing problem. . .  the plan was working and I was feeling pretty good about my accomplishments, then came Christmas. . .

UGH. . . 

I didn’t fall off the wagon. . .

oh, no. . . I jumped off!

yeah. . . That about sums it up

it was DELISH, until January when the reality bell struck AGAIN,

 and the sad realization that I had lost all ground gained,

or, would it be better to say I gained all ground lost?

 

                           either way it translates to the the same thing. . .

I get to start over

 

                                              . . . Now that IS depressing!

But I have no one to blame but myself, so I will stop whining now

If you notice on the side bar of da blog, there are only 140 days – 

       that’s only 20 weeks until our first event!

So it is high time I decide to get serious with this size reduction thing. . .

I refuse to ride outside with friends,

luckily it’s also FREEZING COLD, which is a much better sounding excuse than, oh, thanks for the invite, but I don’t want you to see me bulging out of my clothing. . . besides, none of my winter attire fits!

Which my friends is the real story

. . . I wonder what the Pillsbury Dough boy would look like in spandex?

My Birthday is in January too

I have bemoaned this fact since about Kindergarten, which is when I realized that you can’t really have a birthday party in January. . .

Honestly, January is a Frozen world of BORING

This is the month that I begin to look forward to spring

The wonderful thing about this birthday that made it different from the rest of them. . . I had Superman here to spoil me all day long!

that was a happy thing, a VERY happy thing.

We went out for an early dinner and got the early-bird special which included Crème Brulee which was divine. . . and I sort of fell off the wagon,

but because it was early in the day, 

AND it WAS my Birthday,

(photo from elements fb page)
Trust me, it WAS as delicious as it looks!

I decided it was okay for just this one meal,

I skipped lunch so I could balance it out and further justify a delicious dinner.

Today?  I’m back on track and feeling good again.

Now for the exciting News:

If I loose 10 lbs during the month of January. . . I get a reward!

                            I LOVE REWARDS. . . 

                                                          Who doesn’t love rewards? 

but my reward is the best

you see, I have this HUGE weakness in life. . . 

. . . it’s called ice-cream

I LOVE ice-cream!

every month Dairy Queen has the Blizzard of the Month, Which is usually a new and different flavor. . .

the deal is:  if I meet the minimum requirements I get to go on a field trip to Layton/Kaysville/Centerville and purchase a small cup of frozen deliciousness. . .

                     

                        No, there is no DQ where I live, we get to travel for this treat, 

              which I have happily, eagerly and willingly done for two years now

. . . Trust me, it’s worth the 60 minute drive!

I’ve been getting the blizzard of the month EVERY MONTH for two years now, It would be tragical to break this tradition now all because of a couple of pounds, so this in essence keeps me motivated.

What I’m doing is relatively easy. . . or so it appears to be quite simple. . .


. . . cut back on how much food I consume


simple enough?

                     yeah, right

the first two weeks are the worst as my brain and body argue at great lengths, coming to a conclusion and agree on what is really enough nutrition to survive on.

In the end, It’s not nearly as much as I was consuming before I began.  

         That fact is obvious or I wouldn’t have gained this tub of weight over the past year


But Superman and I have determined that it is better to “fast-track” and just get it over with, rather than be on a “diet” all summer!

At this point it will be nip & tuck for January’s Blizzard of the month. . . 

but . . .

If I’m GOOD, I can pull it off, so that is my motivation for today, 

. . . as I sit here eating my celery sticks

                        All for a Blizzard. . . 

                                                     . . . and to be closer to fitting in my fav pants once again

and to being able to get myself over the top of the mountain 

in June,

in August,

and again September

in record time

it will be worth it in the end, of that I am certain!  

and that my friend is where the real motivation lies!

but for today, the motivation is my Blizzard 

. . . only 2 1/2 lbs to go, I think I can do it.

Thanks for your support and joining me in my journey to health, fitness, and feeling great. . .

It should be a fabulous 2014!

.

What to say?

I’m not sure what to say today. . .

life is good, in fact it is great!

so what is the problem you ask?

• I have recently discovered that my family doesn’t really read my blog. . . they just look at the pictures. . . it's difficult to say how distressing that realization was, but it definitely has come to my awareness.
• My computer is having issues too
• My favorite ever phone is giving me fits, so we decided to get me an “up-grade”  after 3 days I am back to using my old phone

However despite my current positive mental attitude, or lack of positiveness, 

Life is still wonderful, and I don't want to appear otherwise, or even worse. . . ungrateful!

with that statement,  I’ve decided that even though I’m not sure what to do about my family’s lack of interest in da blog I am forging ahead.


After a great deal of thought I have come to the conclusion that I am going to keep up with posts of the coming and going’s of my life for those who may enjoy my ramblings. 

One change that I am going to try. . . 

 is post shorter posts, even for big events like LOTOJA

I will post several short posts rather than one big long one.  

This should do a couple of things. . . 

First:  the posts won’t take me as long to write, thereby helping to help me to be more consistent in posting.

. . . The adaptation to married life and a young family has also increased my difficulty in finding time to post my thoughts in such great lengths

Second: for you as my readers it won’t take you as long to wade through what I have to say and then perhaps my family will take the time to read what I have to say. . . if not, well, then I am still going to write for my own benefit. 

So in short. . .

Training has picked up to full throttle. . .

We, as in Superman and I are already registered for the Ultimate Challenge which I attempted last year and failed miserably. . .

and the Spudman Triathlon . . .

Which I have already done, but this will be Superman's first tri and I have to say he is pretty stoked about it~

. . . and the Rockwell Relay which we did last year, as it was Superman’s first organized ride and we had a blast! 

We are definitely planning on LOTOJA . . .

however, LOTOJA registration isn’t until April, then with it being a lottery, we won’t find out if we are in until May. 

the plan is to achieve the triple crank award this year.

We had our first Christmas as a married family and it was wonderful, 

I wouldn’t change anything. . .

it was a picture perfect Christmas in every detail!

And this post is getting long enough all ready, and wanting to stay true to my pledge of shorter posts I will add to these thoughts next week. . .

Thanks for stopping in and joining me on my journey through life

 

Have a wonderful day, and I’ll be back in a couple of days . . . so

. . . ta-ta for now

.