2/20/13

Hi!

Yesterday was a good, productive day. I spent most of the day finishing my application to work as a Communications Director at Equality California. I would have to work on persuading Derek to live with me in CA if I did get it... but I would like that :P I like California the best!

The job will probably not wind up being mine, because it is a director position. What I tried to emphasize in my cover letter were two things: I have a LOT of experience working with EQCA in a lot of different parts of the organization, and I am proven to be innovative and start new things on my own initiative. I described both and made the case that they should hire me instead of someone more experience because I have higher QUALITY experience. We will see if that works. I also wrote, and my mom helped edit, three new writing samples (the EQCA application asked for three), salary requirements, references, etc. It was the longest application I have had to do, and now I'm waiting to see if they respond! Fingers crossed! Trying not to check my email every hour :) Keeping in mind it was always a long shot.

So: the schedule is helping. Pre-schedule, I am afraid I was getting raaaaather laaaazy. And thus I was depressed. Lazy Elizabeth --> Depressed Elizabeth, and then it's a downward spiral because depressed Elizabeth --> lazy Elizabeth. The internet can be such a time sink!

I also (finally!) made my way back to the gym. For a while I was legitimately not supposed to go because I had a nasty cold, and then after that came the part where I had stabbing pains in my tummy again. I probably should have gone the day before yesterday, but I didn't for some reason. Yesterday I did! It felt great to be back and I felt strong and thinner than ever. I did an hour on the elliptical, trying reverse mode for the first time. I took a picture to put in my months chart, although I am still not weighing myself.

If I had to guess, I would guess that between the Valentines Day feasting and the six day long gym hiatus, I have probably put on a few pounds. I think I expected that at the very beginning of the not-weighing-self thing... I have slightly less motivation. At first. But that was part of the point and part of the plan: I need to find the way to have motivation without constant weight loss. Because sometime within the next year, I will get to the weight that is healthy for me (yaaay!!!) and need to stop losing weight. if I don't figure out how to stay motivated to keep up my health habits now, I am afraid I will not know what to do at that point. Back to the gym I go today!

I have been doing well at reintroducing more fruits and veggeis. There is a baby spinach recall in MD right now (perfect, right? that's my healthiest green...) But I have kale, broccoli, pears, apples, celery, bell peppers, onions and carrots in the fridge right now. I choose amongst these each day more than once. I also have various packs of frozen veggies for when I need a serving FAST.

A question: How do you feel about cheese? Through trial and error I discovered that most cheese upsets my IBS, but fresh shredded sharp cheddar cheese, with less fat and preservatives, does not. And - I REALLY like it. I like it on rice&beans, eggs, pasta, everything. I do limit myself to absolutely no more than once per day, but I still think that might be too much cheese. How do you consider cheese? Is it a "junk food" or an acceptable source of calcium and protein?

Thanks everyone for reading!