5K, Mexican Night & a Birthday Party

Back in 2004 (yes - SIX years ago) I did the MS Walk with a few friends - we walked 8 miles in St. Paul.  That was a lot of years, and a LOT of pounds ago.  In 2004 I was at my lowest weight....that I can remember.  It was the year my sister Wendy got married - and I had been doing Weight Watchers and had a personal trainer with my friend Stephanie.  Sarge really whipped the 2 of us into shape (or as close to "in shape" that I can remember being since high school - when I was in sports).  It is staggering, shocking and really sad when I actually allowed myself to think about the amount of weight I have gained since then.  In 6 years, I gained about 140 pounds.  That is disgusting, and a really difficult piece of information to digest.  I sat on my couch for 6 years.  I didn't exercise my way to 140 additional pounds.  I made bad food choices, which resulted in a huge weight gain!  Yikes.  It is amazing what you can ignore when your brain is trying to protect you.  Seriously - I registered that I wasn't in good shape, and that I wore larger clothes - but never put the actual number on it until Saturday.  Wow.  I need to do whatever I can to insure that never happens, again.

That being said, I did the Girl Scout Walk & Wheel 5K in Northfield.  (I had another realization - I have VERY few shirts that don't mention booze in some way!  I wore my new FC t-shirt)  Shout out to the Huntington sisters for allowing me to set the pace (which I am sure was much slower than they would have walked without me), walking on the grass so I could stay on the sidewalk (easier!) and keeping me company on my longest walk in 6 years!!  It went better than I thought it would!  I was extremely sweaty, and developed a pretty nice blister - but otherwise left feeling great!  Much better than my last outdoor walking experience!  There was one participant who showed up late  - and there was no T-shirt for her.  I offered to donate mine, in an attempt to keep her from losing it (she had the look of someone who might "snap" easily - - you've seen someone like that, right?).  I kind of wanted to kick her down when she said she would wear my shirt "as a dress" because she wanted an XL, and mine was a 2XL - but part of my life overhaul is to be a kinder/gentler person - so I abstained.  Molly was kind enough to give me a size Large t-shirt, so I have something to aspire to.  I was going to get a pic of me in it now, an put it on here for all to see - but I don't have a photographer available, so you'll just have to wait!  (I know - the excitement is really building, I am sure!)

From there I ran a couple of errands and then headed to my parent's house to attempt to assist with the "Mexican Night" hysteria.  (Mexican Night is an annual party, thrown at my parent's house.  It is always an entertaining/drunken mess)  Everyone brings delicious snacks - so I didn't really set my self up for non-snacking success by not eating dinner (no time - too many "tests") but still did a pretty good job of avoiding over-indulging on cream cheese, cheese, sour cream, etc -based snacks.  I opted for staying sober - and thoroughly enjoyed watching this amazing event unfold from the sober throne.  I got to give a couple of rides home, and watched some really good dance performances. (my dad and my uncle Andy combined their efforts to "trick" out the garage with laptops, speakers and a projector - so they could play music videos on the wall.  Can you say DANCE PARTY!?!?!)  I think the highlight of the evening for me was when my brother-in-law was dancing with my sister to some Slaughter monster ballad and told her "go dance with Natalie - I have to pick the next video".  Thank you, Ken.  I was hoping I could slow dance with my sister to monster ballads.  Mexican night is complete. 

Today was my cousin Chase's 17th birthday party.  One more chance for me to try and not eat like a sow.  There was delicious pasta, a really good salad with strawberry dressing (made with cream) and of course dessert.  I ate enough to no longer feel hungry, but didn't go hog-wild.  I tried to hold it together.  On Easter I mentioned to Chase that when I get to my goal weight, I want to go sky-diving.  He said he is planning to go sky-diving on his 18th birthday.  I figure there is no better way to motivate myself than that, right?  April 14, 2011 - I am going sky-diving with Chase.  I can wear my large girl scout t-shirt, and celebrate the fact that I will be twice his age!  I better keep my rear moving!!

Tonight I met my friend Stephanie to do some body measurements.  We are going to re-measure ourselves every 2-3 weeks until the end of June.  In an effort to make sure we measure the same spot each time, I took some notes on where we measured.  There were terms such as "FUPA" (Fat Upper Pubic Area.  aka: gunt), "2 inches from the Gheen" and "1 inch from said FUPA".  Luckily, my sister Mackenzie was around to hear this take place, and I think we gave her some pretty good entertainment.  It is a challenge to insure you are doing everything you can to monitor your accomplishments!

Hope you all had a great weekend, and will have an even better week!