its working...

so, i'm focused, i'm motivated, and i'm proving to myself that this is going to work.

I've been running or rowing every day since last wed. i run a mile or row a mile before my regular workouts. and then last night nick and i went on a 2.5 mile run and i didn't stop once - did it in 25:47...not bad considering i couldn't even make it 1/4 mile when i started.

i'm eating better again. still been pretty stressed, but i'm finding ways to ignore the urges for sweets - that is what did me in before.

i've already lost 2.2 lbs since last wed - and you can tell where i'm losing it from...my butt and thighs. its nice to see that go away!

so, that's where i'm at as of today...it's working!

7/21/10....the new challenge

so, its been a while. i think i've figured out why...i don't have a challenge.

i'm over trying to deal with work - i'm on my way to finding a new job...so, that is a challenge but not the one i'm talking about. i guess technically its not a challenge, its a relief that i've finally gotten to the point of realizing that its time to move on...so, no more talk about work on this blog - i'm done with that.

but, i have realized that the challenge i decided to take on last year has run out. the challenge to lose weight and get going again has been accomplished. i haven't lost all the weight i want to, but i have accomplished the challenge of proving to myself i can actually lose weight and stick to my plan. what made me realize this recently is because i've started to slip - not because i don't care, but because it doesn't feel like a challenge anymore, so i'm losing interest. i know one reason i've been slipping is because i have been really stressed with work, and i've turned to eating to deal with that stress....so again, i realized i have lost interest.

so, after a night of severe overeating (even though it was really good) i have decided its time for my next challenge - time to get to the next level....the Crossfit Games Afiliates Cup. The Crossfit Games is an international "challenge" every year where anyone can compete. They have a winner for men, women, affiliate teams, masters men, and masters women (masters are over like 50 years old or something). well, long story short...my trainer is putting together a team from our box for the affiliate cup. he put a post on facebook about it and he said who all was participating (the best athletes at our box), and he also said they needed at least one more girl. i got soooo excited about that because i would do it in a heartbeat - but i question whether i could really be ready for something like that by next year. it would be taking place exactly a year from now, in california. the top notch people from all affiliates will be competing - could i REALLY be able to do that by next year? i wasn't sure. i know i've made really good progress - i'm stronger, i'm increasing my ability to do basics (i can even get unassisted pullups now), i've improved accross the board - but i've hit a plateau recently so i'm doubting myself. i sent an email to my trainer asking him to help me - help me get to that next level, cause its time. i asked him if he REALLY thought i could be in good enough shape and at a high enough level to compete this time next year. i asked him to help push me and light a fire under my ass to take on this new challenge. his answer? he said to aim for competing in the games and that he absolutely thought i would be more than ready to do it next year. he said i'm an amazing athlete and i've improved so quickly because i'm determined and willing to work - so he had no doubt i could do it. so, there it is, i'm on the team. so the new challenge is to bust my ass and be ready for the games. never thought in a million years that i would be able to say i could be at that level within 2 years of working out again - but i will. i'm determined. i'm going to prove to myself i can do it, and to have a team that can be there with me will make me push even more. so as of yesterday, my challenge has started. back to eating right, starting my new more intense workouts, and a new focus. this is going to be my main focus of my life right now - not work, not making other people happy - but making me happy and fighting to get there. i'm going to do it. and i can't wait!

so, starting today, this blog will be focused on my new challenge. the baby thought is put on hold. as much as i REALLY want one, this has now become my focus and priority. i need to do this. i have to do this. i WILL do this!

i know...well, overdue

wow...its been a while. and in that time i've had some ups and some downs.

obviously, if i go into the type of detail i usually go into, then it would take FOREVER to update you - so i'll spare you that. so here are the main things that have gone on in my life....

- things between me and nick were AWESOME for quite a while. we enjoyed each others company, we hung out together doing random little things like hanging out in the kitchen and cooking food, we worked out together on a regular basis, we laughed, we did stupid things, we did fun things - i can go on and on. it was GREAT! and nick made a good point about it all. he said that he felt like we were in such a good spot because i was finally able to enjoy things again - and that's so true. i was settled with my schedule, i had a good routine going for work/the gym/taking care of things at home/and making sure to get in some random fun time. so because i was settled and balanced, things with us were going really well and we both ended up enjoying everything. so i say that in past tense because of the next point...
- i had worked so hard at the bridge to get the files taken care of and to perfect the system down there....and the project was winding down so i saw a light at the end of the tunnel. i did find out that the client that we were working for wanted to keep me at the bridge during the future contracts coming out because they were really happy with my work. so of course after all that work and finally feeling comfortable - wham - my office decided to throw me for a loop. they had another project they wanted to put me on - which is 30 min PAST my home office - which would be a total of 1.5 hours ONE WAY commute for me! going to the bridge takes me about 30 min each way, going to my main office takes me about 45 min each way, going to this place originally took 1.5 hours each way (as long as there was no traffic) - but ever since they gave me a company car to take home, it now takes 1 hour. regardless, its twice the driving time than it was to the bridge.
- so i went from having one full time job at the bridge, to having another full time job at this new project, still being responsible for the 2 claims going on back at the office AND they gave me a person i had to train and watch over at the bridge while i wasn't there. long story short - it was very overwhelming and made my life more difficult and chaotic.
- so, since this threw me off my regular schedule, i started going down hill in the past couple weeks. the drive is long and tiring - and the route i have to take for it is on some of the busiest roads in the area, the work i have to do at the new job is going to be much more involved than originally thought - and again dealing with a bunch of old men that don't want to do anything new and certainly don't want to be told what to do by a young woman, i still have to train the guy at the bridge and make sure he gets the work done there properly, and i never know where i'm going to be any given day because i have to jump back and forth in between the two to make sure everything is taken care of. i ultimately feel like i'm not giving 100% to either client - and not by my choice.
- so my downhill means - feeling guilty and worried that i'm dissapointing people wherever i may not be; feeling overwhelmed because when i'm one place i'm always thinking about the other; i'm getting frustrated with my office because i don't like how they put me in this position; i'm utterly exhausted which means i'm bitchy and irratable; i feel like i can't even work out to my full potential now because i'm so mentally and physically exhausted; and i just cry because i feel like i can't get everything done.
- that in turn means that after my "breakdown", i had to "breakdown" and make an appointment to see my thereapist (the regular one i just talk to, not johns hopkins) that i haven't seen in over a year. i think the thing i hated most about having to do that was that i felt like it meant i'd lost control - which i guess i had - but i wish i could figure out ways to just get through things or stop worrying.
- i went to her yesterday. it went well. at the beginning it just took a while to catch her up on whats been going on over the past year - because you know its been ALOT. but then we started talking about whats going on now, and i basically came away with her telling me the same thing nick keeps saying to me (there nick, you win). i worry too much, i'm too hard on myself, i need to quit looking at things so negatively and find the positives in whats going on, and she said it seems as though i have some sort of deeper emotional issue that makes me get so scared about letting things go. so i'm going back to her again tomorrow in hopes that we can get to the bottom of things so i can figure out what it is i need to do in order to settle down again.
- and as for me and nick - it hasn't been horrible, just not as happy and fun. i know its really hard for him whenever i'm in the moods i'm in because i always have the "yeah, but..." comment to any advice he has - i did the same thing to my therapist yesterday, so i'm not trying to be a pain specifically to him. i know he gets to a point of feeling helpless and not knowing what else he can do to help - because i never know what i need in order to feel better or get out of my funk. i'm to the point were i feel bad about having to bother him, so that is def adding to my constant worry.

where to go from here? i'm going to work with the therapist to figure things out. i've told my company to put me in one place and leave me alone, otherwise i'm truely going to lose my mind. i've continued to work out to keep that aspect up even though i've felt horrible doing some of it. i've made sure to still have "my time" as opposed to letting work rule my entire schedule. i've found that the new job isn't necessarily as bad of an atmosphere as it is over at the bridge.

i'm trying to look at things more positive...just need some time to adjust. i don't like being tipped off my balance because the slightest shift can cause a huge spiral.

still alive

yes, i'm still alive. been crazy busy with work....

i'll find some time to post eventually. i can't believe its already the 19th of may - wow.

mentally smiling, not so much physically

i'm not smiling today, but i want to. i went to the dentist yesterday, and holy crap the right side of my face and jaw are killing me!

but i wish i could smile cause as of today, i've past the 200 mark and i'm now back in the hundreds! i haven't been in the hundreds in sooooooo long!

so, i'm smiling on the inside, and cringing on the outside.

taking care of me...

i'll just start off by saying that this post can be taken 2 ways: 1) as if i am very selfish and egotistical, or 2) that i finally figured out the trigger to a happier me, which in turn means a happier everything.

i feel like i'm on the right path. i feel somewhat empowered by the steps i've taken to look out for myself.
- i've put my foot down about things that i would have felt guilty about in the past.
- i've had to put aside my worries for other people in order to focus on myself.
- i've become more attentive to what works, and what doesn't.
- i know i've disappointed many from the way i have had to put them aside, but at the same time i feel like they understand and support me for taking charge of my life.
- i've had some disappointing moments, but have been able to work through them.
- i've wanted to quit, but reminded myself i can be strong and get through it.
- i've gone from crying all the time, to smiling all the time.
- i've realized that being selfish to take care of myself has made me a better person in so many more ways.
- i've realized when i feel good everything around me seems ok.
- i've realized when i feel good, my relationships with other people are better and more enjoyable.
- i've realized limiting what i do and what i worry about DOES take a huge weight off my shoulders.
- i've realized that when i look after myself, i am technically also looking out for other people - because they don't have to deal with a depressed, angry, and worrying person anymore.

and the list can go on and on.

i've had a lot of things challenge me lately. things that would typically get under my skin and that i would worry and think about 24/7. but, i feel good, and i focus on other things in order to get through it and put it aside. and if i can't put it aside, i make a decision right then and there about what needs to be done to take care of it.

for instance - work has thrown another wrench into my life. basically, to save you the time of details, this is what has transpired:
i have been told that i'm being put on another job (in addition to the 3 I currently have to take care of). it's another full time job that is further away than my main office. and when i say further away, i mean it would take me AT LEAST an hour and a half to get there from my house. and thats if i get lucky and don't hit traffic. so, with this being an additional job i have to take care of, they are now basically putting me into a managers position (without the pay increase i might add) and making me train someone to help out at the bridge. i'm fine with training someone, but i'm not fine with basically being a manager when i specifically stated to MY manager that i did not want that responsibility right now. and i'm kinda pissed i have to do managerial work without getting paid as a manager. so, anyhow. i put my foot down. i told them i have a schedule that i maintain in order to keep myself focused. and that they can't expect me to lengthen my day from about 10-11 hours to 14-15 hours because they're sending me to the middle of no where. they claim i should be ecstatic because i was "specifically requested" by this client - and don't get me wrong, it makes me feel good - but i'm only one person. so, i told them i would give them the same amount of time, and if it meant they paid me for my travel time, so be it, because i was still going to get paid at least 9 hours, and i wasn't going to lengthen my day. this sounds selfish, i know, but i'm to the point where i HAVE to stand up for myself and not let them run me down. i told them i also wasn't going to double my mileage on my car. so, how did that go? they said they would make my hours flexible, i would get paid 9 hours regardless, i will get a company car, and if i they had to they would pay for another gym membership over near the office that i would have to go to. i also told them that once i figure things out at this new job, then the person i train can go over there because its closer for him to be there and closer for me to be at the bridge. i'm glad i put my foot down! it felt soooo good to know that i stood up for myself! i don't feel bad telling them how things are going to work because i'm basically bringing in business for myself, which in turn means its their business, so i'm an asset. if i up and walked away they would be SOL on a lot of the work we do. i sound cocky, i'm sure. but looking at the big picture, i should have felt strong about myself all along. i'm worth it, and i'm finally realizing how to give myself the credit for which i deserve. and its not that i feel entitled to this stuff, but instead i feel like i've worked hard for it, and am finally drawing a line at how i will handle things.

so what did this do for me? i don't really care about the perks they just told me i could have. i care about the confidence that i just obtained from knowing i'm worth it. they obviously think so, and its about time i realized it. this has made me feel strong. its great to feel strong.

the way things have been going lately has just opened up a new me. nick and i are having a great time being together and being ourselves. i'm not fighting myself anymore - i'm conquering it. i don't feel tied down to being bipolar, i'm pushing through being bipolar. i'm doing things for myself, which in turn make my life more rewarding and fulfilled. i feel good about myself again. i am still very hard on myself about accomplishing certain things, but its more of me being my own competitor - what can i do to top that, make it better, or challenge myself a little more? thats how i feel. its great. i can be me again. i have my priorities figured out - take care of me. that's it, just take care of me. sounds very selfish, but it helps so many other aspects of my life, so i'm not afraid to say that is my priority. it helps me get through work, it helps me stand strong and not be run down, it helps my relationship with nick, it helps me be able to smile at all the stupid things again.

i know there have been some people/issues that i have turned my back to while i've been trying to figure things out for myself. the only thing i can try to do is now take this new me and add them back in one by one, figure things out one by one. i know the whole baby idea is something that will send me for a loop, but i know that i have figured out how to deal with things (i know normal things aren't like taking care of a kid), but i have to take all those steps and pull them together, and i think i will do just fine.

i'm realizing this blog has in a way broken away from the specifics of what i started it for - me changing meds and losing weight because of the want for a baby. so i'm considering starting a new one about my working out and eating better because that has become a big part of my life now. that way, i can keep this one about the steps towards having a kid and getting through it all. and on that note, things are going really between nick and i about what our plans are. and if i didn't know any better, i would think he's really excited about the thought now cause he gets kinda giddy about talking about it. it makes me laugh. love him!

the results....

first of all, last week did not go by nearly as fast at the previous one....but i had a GREAT weekend, so it makes up for it. I LOVE MY HUSBAND! he's the best! things have been going really well, and i feel like we've got a lot of our shit on track...that makes me feel a lot better and less anxious about stuff.

now, for the results.....official weight was 201.6 lbs.
so, great news, i lost just over 12 lbs since March 20th (5 weeks). so that's about 2.4 lbs a week - not too shabby.
but, there's bad news too....i don't think i won the challenge. if it were based on total weight lost, i def think i won. but instead, its based on total fat percentage lost, plus % gained of lean mass. why didn't i win that? well, its because of the approx 12 lbs, about 6 of it was fat mass lost and about 6 of it was lean mass lost. so, ultimately, since i basically lost the same amount of each, my fat mass % stayed about the same, and my lean mass % dropped = not good #s to win the challenge.

am i upset? well, depends what we're talking about. if it's that i didn't win the challenge - no, i'm not upset. if its that i feel like i've busted my ass and done everything i was told to do (to very specific measures, mind you) and ended up not having the % results i expected - then, yes, i am upset. but me being upset about that is not necessarily because of the #s - well, it is in a way, but not really....let me explain.

this whole baby thing. i've been kinda worked up about it lately. maybe i'm getting a little impatient, but part of me thinks i have reason to be. i have done everything that's been asked of me - i've busted my ass to lose weight so that the baby and i can both be healthy during and after pregnancy, i've changed my eating habits in order to maintain and help the weight loss that i've worked so hard for, i've changed my meds to make sure to be on one that has as little effect as possible on a baby, i've continued to push through work in order to maintain my job even though i hate it with a passion more times than not, i've struggled through ups and downs to stabilize my life and prepare for anything that could possibly happen, i've finally figured out a schedule that works for me and helps me maintain a good balance mentally and physically, i've stood up for myself at work in order to keep some sanity (which could be thrown off soon - a whole other story to that), i've just done everything that i can possibly do to prepare for this. so, it gets a little frustrating knowing that there are so many people having babies - whether they should or not - and they seem to be just fine and are able to figure things out regardless what the situation is, and regardless if it was planned or not. i'm tired of all the preparing for it, i just want it to happen now. if all these other people can make it work, then we can too! of course, i understand there are people who really shouldn't have kids because they don't know what they're doing or don't have the finances for it - but they do anyhow and they find a way to make it work (and i'm pretty sure its safe to say that nick and i are plenty capable of having a child if they can do it). so that's how i feel. i'm confident that nick and i are going to be very capable parents, i just get frustrated that we have to prepare for so much. i know its the responsible thing to do, but there's got to be a point where you draw the line and accept that things aren't going to be "perfect".

so, last week nick and i had a discussion about this whole baby thing again. i had gotten a little upset and flustered because of a few things. one being that i found out about another person who is going to have a baby - someone who is a complete asshole and compulsive liar. good for him that he's having one, because it's one of the best things that could happen in your life - but damnit, if he can figure out what to do to handle it, I CAN TOO! the other thing being - *potentially a TMI moment* - i all of a sudden have been having very random issues with my cycle. severe cramps on the last couple i had (which i usually don't have many cramps at all) and alot heavier and longer (they are usually light and short). then, i ended up having a random period 2 weeks into a new set of pills - NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE IN MY LIFE. if i've been on the pill, i always have regular cycles. if i haven't been on the pill, my cycles were always longer than normal - about 1.5 months apart. NEVER have i had numerous periods in less than a month! so i got a little wierded out by that and went to the doctor. basically, long story short on the doc visit and tests - it was most likely because of the pill. blood tests were fine, sonogram was fine. she suggested i see what the next month was like, and if it was still abnormal, then we would switch brands.
so those couple of things lead to "the talk" again. of course, nick didn't really want to talk about it - annoying to me because it's just something that HAS to be talked about. well, the first effort didn't get far at all. then he went camping with some of his friends - which during this trip he was hounded about having a kid by our good friend that recently found out they were expecting. so the day he got back, we had another "talk". this one actually got somewhere. now, i DID NOT bribe our friend to talk to him about it, it's something that he's hounded him about for a while. but i think that maybe something got to nick, because our friends were not really "expecting" this to happen so soon, so they hadn't really done anything to prepare for it - but ultimately its going to be serious reality in less than 9 months, so he's accepted the fact that they just have to adjust and make it work. then there was another friend of ours there that has been in the situation that him and his girlfriend had a kid pretty young and completely not ready for it at all, and now they have 2 kids and are happily married - he chimed in as well. so apparently they talked about alot of this stuff. i think this might have clicked something to really understand that things are never going to be "perfect".
so our talk that day got us to an agreement. nicks biggest concern is the health issue. knowing that we/i have done everything possible to limit any complications to myself or the baby due to health is his main concern. so he said that as long as i continue on this path and get to a healthier weight/fat percentage, then when i achieve that, we can try to have a kid.
so, i had 2 thoughts to that - 1) awesome! i'm doing so well, so i know i can get to that point! 2) wow, no pressure. everything just gets put on my shoulders - so, easier for him to give that offer than to understand what it feels like to have to work your ass off to make it happen.
but, it's something i knew i could get to, and with my bod pod being less than a week away, i knew my results were going to give me hope that i'm getting closer to that goal already.

well, after seeing the results yesterday, and knowing that the .5% fat loss was severely minimal to what was expected, my hopes were crushed that i was getting anywhere. was i losing weight, yes. was i getting to a healthier fat %, no, not really. so it was just very disheartening to see that and feel like i've done so much to get nowhere. so, that's why i was upset. i again felt that the thought of having a kid just keeps getting pushed further and further away, and i HATE the feelings that i work so hard and the goal i'm trying to reach is like a carrot on a stick.

but....there is a but....nick and i talked again. this is why i love him. he always does his best at trying to make me feel better - and it pretty much always works. but this time, it made me feel a lot better. i felt like he finally understood why i was fighting so hard, and why i was so upset that i felt like i wasn't getting anywhere. even though i know he "understood" why i started doing all of this, i think this was the first time that we had talked and i could tell that he REALLY appreciated what i was doing. i say this because he ended up saying that i don't have to be at a perfect weight/fat % for us to start trying for a kid. instead, he said that if i could give it a few more months of doing what i'm doing and making the effort i've been making, then we can start trying regardless what the numbers say. and he said he knew it would be ok because he knew that i wasn't going to just let everything go once i get pregnant. he knew that i was truely determined to live a better life, and so he feels comfortable enough to try without it all being planned and set in stone. THAT MADE ME FEEL SOOOO MUCH BETTER! not because he said we could try to have a kid soon, but because he acknowledged and appreciates the fact that i'm doing everything possible to make things better. and that he knows its not just a game to me. its a life style change that i don't regret, and wouldn't change back for the world. i feel sooo much better lately because of it. him and i get along so much better lately because i feel better. i'm happy because i'm taking care of things for me, which then reflect on other things around me. after all the tears he's seen from me being so hard on myself and setting such high expectations, he sees that i'm really putting forth the effort for us, and trusts that i'm going to continue to take the right steps and keep things better for us. and i am, i always will. i haven't felt this good in YEARS! prob since high school even.

so, after that, i was still a little upset because - as we know - i'm my toughest competitor, so i wish the results would have been better. but, i felt like the weight was lifted off my shoulders about the planning, and preparing, and reaching specific criteria, etc. i feel like now i can just do this just to do this, because its part of my life now. and everything else will just happen when it happens.

so what now? well, after talking to my trainer, i realized i need to tweak my eating a little bit in order to figure out a way to maintain my lean mass. he says that the body does what the body needs to do, so maybe the reason i lost the lean mass was because the body just didn't need it. but i have to start eating more protein and see how my body reacts - yay for protein shakes. AND, nick and i agreed i could come off the pill. that way, by the time my "system" gets back to normal in a few months, we can let life work the way its supposed to.

i'm a lucky girl, with a great husband!

201.6

can't wait for the bod pod! according to my trainer, he's pretty sure i'm gonna win....yeeesssssss!!!!

202....

crossing the fingers i can be down to 200 before the BOD POD...but i'm not so sure. i'll try though!

still here

don't really have a lot to say. not a bad thing, just been stayin busy.

i'm down to 203.

i've realized my entire life is about working out and losing weight now. someone asks what i've been up to and the only thing i can think of is to either talk about my workouts or the way i've changed my eating habits...so usually i just say "not much". i don't think its a bad thing that that is all i do...i actually look forward to it now - well not the food part cause i'm not the best cook and with limited ingredients it sometimes gets boring. i've realized that finally limiting ALL the things i used to do to only what is necessary has been a good balance for me.
i am still able to put my foot down about work when they try to trick me into working on a million things at once - i just get my work done within my regular work day, and that's it, i'm outta here. i finally don't feel guilty about it. i am a little worried cause i just got told last week that one of my other projects is kicking back up BIG TIME, and we have an expert report due by the end of may, so that means i will have to take a break from the bridge to go back to the main office to work. not bad because the atmosphere will be better...just worried that my regular schedule and balance will get thrown off, because i know they will constantly try to get me to work 10/11/12 hour days, but i refuse to let that happen. i already put my foot down and said that i understand they will need me to work some longer hours, but I WILL be leaving at a reasonable time in order to make sure i work out and have some down time...because if i can't maintain myself, then they won't get efficient work from me anyhow. it feels good to stand up for myself.

other than that, things have been good. staying pretty busy cause of my working out, working at my main office here and there, and then having my EMT refresher 2 nights a week.

things have been really good between me and nick. seems like we've been having a lot of fun lately, and i feel like it's partially because i've been better at letting things go and just doing what i do.

besides that, not much to say.

203.6

its working!

it's all down hill from here....well, sort of

i've now passed the half way point of my weight loss goal! there was no party...and actually it really wasn't that exciting, just another day, another weigh in. but it makes me feel good and its only down hill from here....kind of. i know to lose the rest i'm gonna have to try 10 times harder just because it will start to get difficult when i'm not holding as much fat and i'm trying to tone my muscles the best i can...but ultimately its down hill cause i've gotten over that hump.

204.4 this morning. i think my goal of 195-200 by the end of the month may not be so far fetched after all.

wow, didn't realize how much better i feel until this week.

so, this week has been SUPER busy, which equals zero sleep. and it hasn't been until this week that i realized how much better i had been feeling energy wise...up to this point of course.

work has been busy, i started my EMT-B refresher class, i've been working out, and i've been working longer hours each day in order to get off early today to take someone to the airport. and it really doesn't seem like much, but its enough to drain me. so i'm realizing that cutting back all the millions of things i was doing before and just sticking to my "me" schedule has been so helpful for getting good energy and keeping up with things.

so, note to self: self, the minimal and regular schedule is best. stand your ground and don't let anyone screw that up!

good thing the EMT refresher is only through the end of the month.

droppin'

as of this morning i lost the weight i gained over the weekend and i lost a couple more. down to 205.8. hoping for between 195 and 200 by the end of the month, but i know thats pushin it....gotta work my ass off for that one.

true feelings suck, but its reality

so, its been a week i guess since i updated. there are 2 reasons why i have stalled on the update: 1 - i was back home for easter vacation, and 2 - because i have been trying to think of the best way to sum up some of my frustrations.

easter vacation was GREAT! didn't really have any plans while we were there, so we just went with the flow of things...and i realized i need to do that more often because it feels so much better. we got to see my niece play in her last soccer game of the season, we took some of the dogs out to the beach at sunrise, i got to be creative and paint a painting, we had easter dinner (which i thoroughly enjoyed because it was my cheat meal so i got to eat mac n cheese AND squash casserole), and we did a bunch of other random stuff. but it felt good because we kept busy the entire time, but had fun while doing it. i think we watched a total of 5 hours of TV the entire vacation. nick and i even got in a couple of crossfit workouts, so i didn't feel really guilty about not being on top of my "game"...and i still ate really well too (but i did gain a couple pounds, not sure why - oh well). but all in all, we had a great time - with exception of the 12 hour drive home.

so, the next thing...my frustrations. well, there are 2 things that have been "bothering" me. one is that i found out last week that our really good friends found out their having a baby. i am ecstatic for them, so happy for them, they will be GREAT parents, they will be perfect. it was kinda "unexpected", but more of a "we didn't think it would happen this soon". so they have had a rough time with the sudden "wow, this is really happening" aspect. its mostly because she just started a new job, and they've been trying to do major renovations on their house - so they don't know what to really do right now. but, i'm not bothered that they are having a kid...like i said, i am ecstatic for them. i think i'm just a little jealous. its the honest truth. just cause i want one soooo bad, but its just "not the right time yet". EVERYONE i know is or has already had a baby...so i'm just getting antsy. i want to have that "yay!" feeling. but i guess i just have to wait.

the other thing is aggrivation about something that i shouldn't let bother me, but it does. weight loss. not mine, but other people trying to do it. i know i need to be supportive, lord knows i've needed it...but there's a difference in supporting someone who is really and truely making an effort to change things, and someone who goes through the motions and says they want to do it but ALWAYS finds a reason why it just isn't working. i'm not a miracle worker...i'm a hard worker. i have not just all of a sudden dropped the weight just because i said i wanted to...i dropped it because i've worked my ass off. i decided that i wanted to do it, and i did it. i can't give any more advice other than it takes hard work, consistency, a want to change, a will to change, and an understanding that its going to be difficult. have i had my pouty moments - yes. have i cried because i didn't feel like i was getting anywhere - yes. do i have days that i feel like a failure - yes. have i had "cheat"days, and sometimes down right "bad"days - yes. do i typically ache somewhere on my body EVERY day - yes. has nick probably wanted to plug his ears so he didn't have to listen to me cry/whine anymore - yes. do i still cry because i don't feel like i'm getting anywhere - yes. but, have i given up - no. have i made excuses - no. did it happen over night - no. have i drastically changed my perspective and priorities - yes. i don't know what other advice i can give without being down right rude to make people realize that my success hasn't come without feelings of failure, hardwork and tears. so it gets kind of bothersome when someone wants to do what you've done, and have the success, without being willing to do the work. it just takes all the hard work i've put in and throws it in my face as if things "just happened to work out for me". no, i earned it. i know i haven't done everything perfect. i know certain things work better for certain people...but regardless what that "thing" is, it will always take hard work.

yes, i know i sound like a bitch. but i started this blog to get things off my chest and to be honest about my feelings. so there you go. here's what i think. i'm sure some will be offended by it, or some might use it to light a fire under their ass. either way, i feel better.

207 this morning.

and i went on a walk/jog today. 2.5 mile run, 3.75 mile walk. did it in about 1.5 hours. not too shabby i guess.

a little more....

down to 207.4....yes, it really is working!

good article

here's an article one of my trainers posted. it is a good way of explaining the Paleo diet in pretty simple terms.

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_14719513?source=sb-facebook

melissa, meet fruit and veggie.

so, it seems like this is working. i've had a lot more constant energy than i've had before and i got on the scale this morning and i'm down to 208.0 - yesterday i was at 208.6. hey, it's the little things that count, ok....

never thought i'd eat so many fruits and veggies in my life, but we have gone through all of it pretty fast. i guess that's what happens when that's all you eat, huh? no carbs as fillers makes for a big pit to fill with the other stuff.

i'm feeling really good about this. i think it's 2 part. 1- its better for me and it is helping me lose weight, feel better, and have more energy. 2- because its a competition, and i THRIVE on competition. i guess the second one isn't necessarily as good of a reason as the first, but it works, so whatev. hopefully after the official competition is over i will be willing to battle against myself just as stubborn as i am now against everyone else. but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

just curious...

i have wondered how many people actually read this blog...? i'm not really sure i why i wonder that, but i do.

i only have 2 followers, which are 2 of my closest friends, but i know others read it....i just don't know how many. i know my sister reads it. i know one of my other closest friends has read it. i told them about it, but they just aren't followers - i guess cause they don't have blogs set up for themselves, IDK.

but how many of you are really out there?

i guess one reason i wonder is because i just found out my husband reads it. if you go back to one of my earliest blogs i am pretty sure that i might have stated that i only told a few people about it, and those few did not include my husband. no real reason other than the fact that everything i write on here is stuff i'm sure he's already heard me say, or yell, to him. but after randomly talking about blogs the other night, he told me that he knew about mine. and he's been reading for a while. HI NICK!

it doesn't bother me. actually it makes me feel better, because not that i was trying to "hide it" from him, just didn't want to bother him with it i guess. but also after talking about it, it seems like it may help - maybe not a whole lot, but at least a little bit - for him to understand some of my thoughts. things i may not be able to explain or get out in the moment of talking to him could make sense to him after reading some of this. he said it has helped him understand me a little better in the way i think about things.

soooo, now that i know that, it makes me wonder who is out there? are there people out there that read this? does this blog possibly help anyone else? just curious. i hope it can help someone...lord knows its helped me get plenty of stuff off my chest in the midst of my crazy thoughts and nonstop rambling.

it might actually work...

ok, so i did the BOD POD again this past saturday. i have to admit that i got very upset from the results, even though i did make improvements. it wasn't as good as i expected, it actually wasn't even as good as my trainer expected, but it was an improvement, so i guess i have to be happy about that. it just sucks cause i feel like i've worked my ass off for so long, so i expected something drastic, but nope. so i was pissed, a little down, and very aggrivated and mopy. nick of course went into it thinking that he was going to have horrible results and ended up being much better than he expected, so i was proud of him....but i won't lie, i was a little angry too. not with him, just with the process because i have been watching what i eat sooooo much better than him, and he ended up doing better than me....very discouraging. i ended up losing 3.6 lbs of body fat, then gaining 2.5 lbs of lean mass. my trainer said he expected me to lose more around 5 lbs body fat, and gain about 4 lbs lean mass just because of how much my body has toned up and how much better my endurance has gotten. so, he used those 2 things to try and make me feel better. and its true...when i first started there i couldn't even make it 1/4 mile without stopping to catch my breath, but now i can go for a mile + and not have to stop at all. and i def have toned up because i've dropped 4-6 pants sizes. so i know everything i'm doing is ultimately working, i just pay too much attention to #s as opposed to full results.
but now it has motivated me enough to suck it up and push for the next step to try and lose the weight - Paleo Challenge. its a challenge our gym is doing starting this past saturday and it lasts through april 25th, when the BOD POD guy comes back again. everyone that wants to do it has to put $10 into the pot, and whoever wins gets the pot of $ plus a free month at the gym. i told my trainer i'm gonna win it. to determine who wins we all had to do the BOD POD this past weekend, and then we have to do it again on april 25th, and whoever has lost the most % of body fat wins - kinda like the biggest loser. well, i have PLENTY of body fat to lose, so i'm determined to win it.
so what is a Paleo diet? its basically eating like a caveman - anything you can hunt, catch, gather is fair game....anything processed, dairy, or any grains/carbs is out. you can eat carbs as long as its the carbs in any fruit/veggies, but thats it. basically you can eat as much of the veggies/fruit as you want - unlimited, and then you portion the right amount of lean meat, and then you also have to eat some sort of fat (ie, nuts, avocado, oils, etc).
at first i was very worried that there was no way i could go without some sort of grains/carbs, but i'm on day 4 and i've been ok so far. and i'm even surprised at the amount of energy i still have, because they say that if you're not used to this type of diet you typically lose alot of energy at first because your body is adjusting to not having the heavy carbs as energy, so you have to make sure you eat enough fruits/veggies to replenish it. AND i've already started losing weight! they told me that with this diet you drop weight really fast because people don't realize how much fat eating a lot of carbs can cause, but now i believe them. i was 215 on saturday when i was weighed in the bod pod, and this morning i was 208.4 - granted, i know some of that is water weight also, but still, i'm at the lowest i've ever been since i started working out - so obviously its working.
but, there are 2 things that are a downfall:
1- OMG, eating all this healthy stuff is very expensive! you go through so much more food because you have to eat so much of it to get in the right amount of calories and stay energized. but, nick and i have talked about it and decided that its worth it and we'll do whatever we have to do to make it work. so we're shifting money around to make sure we put enough aside for the extra grocery bills, even if it means we don't get to do/get something *extra* for ourselves. health is first, and if this is what it takes to be healthy, then so be it.
2- i suck at cooking - and i mean i SUCK at cooking. i can follow recipes, but typically it either doesn't turn out right or the recipe just ends up not being in our taste pallet. so, when you are limited to the things you can eat, AND all the extras (ketchup, dressings, mayo, cheese, etc) - cooking sucks even more! apparently we can use marinades because its such a small amount that gets absorbed that its ok, and we can use olive oil/vinegar/etc too, but still the food just doesn't seem right. so i'm not gonna lie, there are times that i have to play mind over body just to get something down, but so far i've been ok. i'm trying new things and having to figure out ways to make it more appealing.
now, nick isn't doing the challenge, so it makes it a little harder because we still have all those "extra" things around the kitchen that i can't have....but, he is eating better than he was before, so it makes it a little easier because we have mass amounts of fruits and veggies EVERYWHERE. i told him the other day that i was amazed at how different our fridge was when you opened it now compared to a year ago....sooooo much healthier than before.
so, i'm hoping this is the next big push to get me on my way to losing more weight. its gonna suck, and its gonna be expensive, but thats what i have to do if i really want to reach my goal. i just have to suck it up for a month...and then hope that by the end of the month my eating habits will be accustomed to this so that i don't go back to my old ways.

this is totally random...just throwing it out there...

so, i know a handful of people read this blog. but i'm realizing that there are people i don't even know that are reading it too - and i'm totally ok with that cause hopefully it could either help someone (in some way) or at least give you a good laugh at the mess i am.

but, none-the-less, there are people that read it. so, i'm going to take an opportunity to "market" a little business that my sister and i do for fun, and that is something i enjoy doing to get my mind off of the regular mess that i think about.

DC Baby Love is the name. we make diaper cakes for baby showers/gifts. we have basic options and pricing, but most of what we do ends up being custom (based on a theme/nursery decor/specific colors, etc). if you're interested you can go to dcbabylove.com and check it out. and if you think you know someone that would be interested, then pass the word along. we ship, so even if you live far away we can still work something out.

it's not a business we are doing to make crazy amounts of money, its just something that we enjoy doing. my sister randomly started making them as presents, then people started asking about them, and asking her if she would make them for her, so she decided to make it a small "side job" because there seemed to be some sort of market behind having a creative eye to do something unique like this. i started helping her because i love artsy stuff, and i love letting my mind run with creative thoughts - i think we all know my mind runs constantly in general, so if it can be about something fun and creative i could do it all day long.

so, check it out if you want. i've attached some pics to give you an idea...

2 things that have been bothering me lately...

1- if you you constantly say you're gonna do something, just do it....don't keep coming up with excuses or someone/something else to blame. i'm not saying i'm perfect (obviously i'm not), but if you keep finding ways that things "just don't work for you" or is "too hard", you will never get anywhere and i can't do anything to help you.

2- when you finally start doing something...don't talk all your shit about finally doing it, just to half ass it the entire time. nothing burns me more than knowing that i try to do everything 120% because my mind won't let me do less than that without feeling like i'm letting myself or someone else down. then to sit and watch/listen to someone claim their doing soooooo much when they're just filling themselves with bullshit to make themselves feel better for always coming up with excuses gets really f'n annoying after a while - especially when i've been bustin my ass to figure shit out and work hard to change my life for the better. it makes it seem like you're doing it as a game just because other people are playing...not because you actually want to DO something or get anywhere from it.


and one more thing...back to what i said in an earlier post about people saying "well thats life, and you just have to learn to deal with it"...i call bullshit. there's a difference in being the person willing to sit back and let all the other people saying that determine how things are "supposed to be" for everyone, and then theres people are willing to step up and say they aren't gonna do things "just cause that's how it has always been" or because "thats life" and instead make decisions to live the life THEY want to live.

i've decided i'm going to take the latter approach. it may cause me to butt heads with people and it may be a tough road, but i'm willing to fight those battles in order to say that my life is the way it is because i fought to have it that way...not because "that's just how its supposed to be".


this all probably doesn't make much sense, but i just had to put it out there cause its stuff thats been running through my mind. it makes me sound like a bitch, but too bad. and i'm sure when compared to my situations and decisions, this could sound somewhat hypocritical, but i feel like i can say i fight for what i do and i do whats best for ME and the life I want to live - and honestly i'm at the point of saying "fuck everyone else" for what they expect me to do and the way they expect me to be. i'm sick of how things are just because "that's the way its always been done", or because "it would hurt someone's feelings" if you told them to fucking do something, or listening to "well that would mean i have to go outta my way and actually put in some effort to do something, and i don't wanna do that"...why is anyone surprised at the way things are now...ugh, i can't even think straight right now. i'm just annoyed.

reading over this, it doesn't seem to make much sense at all...but F it, i give up trying to explain.

i'm the only one lucky enough to work with these deuschbags

yeah, the last post - about the pinging.

i walked to the guys door and said, very calmly i might add "hey, i've really been trying to be patient and ignore it, but would you mind either turning the volume down, or off, so i don't have to listen to the pinging all day?". As i expected, i got a blank "i'm the mafia" stare. little does he know he doesn't scare me.

so, the pinging stopped...and the humming began. yep, he has never sat there and hummed to himself before....that is, until i asked him to stop the pinging. about 10 minutes after he started that i was close to just saying out loud "the humming is much better than the pinging, thank you!". but, before i got to that point, he had turned the volume back on...and the pinging began again.

oh, and, here's a good one - after i had asked him to please stop, he got on the phone, called his boss, and did his "i think we need to have lunch" comment. this is what he does every time he gets upset about something/someone down here. so typical, i told you he would want to tattle.

only i am lucky enough to deal with these idiots. but i've decided that if it keeps on going, specifically because i have kindly asked him to stop and there is no reason for him to have the volume on anyhow (let alone that there's no reason for him to be playing games all day), i'm gonna go to our manager. yes, that's tattling, but i don't care cause that fucker thinks he owns the world, but i beg to differ.

i need your opinion, please

i need your opinion on something...

the guy that sits in the office next to me, who usually stares out the window, now sits there all day long and plays some game on his computer that constantly pings. and i mean all day, and constantly pinging, ping, ping, ping, ping.

so, when he used to sit and stare out the window, it bothered the shit outta me, but ultimately it didn't "affect" me. but now, i can't take the pinging. he won't do it if one of our site managers are in the trailer, but the rest of the time its ping, ping, ping, ping, ping etc etc.

what i really want to do is make a comment that kills 2 birds with one stone. the comment i have in mind is "you know, if you turn the volume off, then people won't know that you're sitting there playing a game all day". one of the birds is to get him to turn the volume off so i don't have to listen to it anymore. the second bird is to make my point that i know he sits there and does nothing all day long.

so, any opinion? not that i usually care, but is it too confrontational to say that to him? he hates me already cause he knows i'll call him out on his bullshit, so he doesn't even act like i'm alive. so its not like i'd be severing a friendship or anything. i just know he'll go running to tattle on me - or maybe he won't cause he'll have to tell someone that i was calling him out for playing a game all day long....

i really want to say something, but at the same time i know he's not worth my time, let alone the breaths i would be taking to say something to him. i just don't want to listen to the pinging anymore. i guess i could say something to my manager, but that would just be tattling, and i prefer to be straight forward and go straight to the source to give them the opportunity to change on their own....but i know he won't.

please, opinion?

wow, the littlest things give me an overwhelming feeling again...

so, i've been feeling good, but within the last 2 hours i've suddenly got the overwhelming and heavy chest feeling again. and i feel like it's because i'm doing something important for the job here at the bridge (an estimate, where all the numbers have to be right and you can't mess up, otherwise you have to jump through numerous hoops and headaches to fix it). i feel like a huge weight is on my shoulders and if i mess up the world will end, even though i know i'm being careful and thurough - cause i already caught some mistakes that my manager did. i don't know why i feel like this. i never got anxious over stuff like this until recently cause it's what i do, and i know i do it well...but for some reason i feel like i'm gonna mess it up and get in trouble and cause problems for someone else.

ugh. so, i took some anti anxiety stuff in hopes i don't freak out today. again, so weird and frustrating.

a better week

it's actually turned out to be a better week. i've felt more relaxed about things. i've gotten a lot done here at the bridge. i've even been asked to go back to the office to help on the job that they dropped the ball on, but i feel ok about it just because i feel like i got a lot done here, so one day won't kill me. but, the thing that's different about helping them this time is that i told them i'll get to it when i get to it because there were things i had to finish at the bridge that was a higher priority - and i didn't budge, so i will do it when i feel comfortable with my work here - and i don't feel bad thinking that way.

and nick and i are doing good. i'm trying to be better about things. getting back into my regular workout schedule has helped a lot also. i actually feel really good about working out lately cause the trainer at the gym always tells me how impressed he is with me and that i am by far the most improved and have shown the most results since he has opened his gym last september. that makes me feel good because i feel like i try my hardest. he even said that someone asked him who he thought the best athlete was in the "box" (that's what crossfit calls their gyms, cause literally they are just a box, like an open office space in some random spot), and he said that i immediatly came to his mind because even though i may not be the best at everything, he considers me a great athlete because i work really hard and try to do better than before, i show persistence and determination, and i have great results from it. and it feels good knowing that someone sees that, especially over all of the "meatheads" that throw around hundreds of pounds like its a ragdoll. and i can tell that he enjoys training me because he feels as much accomplishment helping me get to my goals as i do achieving them. he's always very supportive, never demanding, and always reminds me why i'm there. i don't know - i guess it just feels good to toot my own horn cause i know i've been working so hard for this, and to know that someone who does this day in and day out with all different types of people/athletes appreciates my efforts just makes me feel good about it.

i know this post is drastically different than the one from a last week, or a couple weeks ago, whenver it was that i felt like i sucked at life. i wish i could just feel this way all the time and not have to worry about possibly falling into a deep hole. and honestly, when i am in that deep hole, i think about these times that i know i'm doing well and that i know i've gotten somewhere, but for some reason it just doesn't seem to help. it's so weird. it's so frustrating. that a bad and uncontrollable feeling can cause so much havoc in my life, and then in the matter of a week i can feel like i'm doing so well. ugh, i would love to just be normal.

but anyhow. so, like i said, nick and i are doing much better. much more relaxed. having fun, being stupid. we've even set up a "hot date" for the weekend - the Maryland home and garden show and then dinner at Phillips seafood....yeesssss! i know it's not really a "hot date", but it's an "us" date...and "us" dates are always good.

one more thing..

and, to follow my last post....


i am now sitting in my office listening to the guy in the next office snore - not the window watcher, but the office on the other side of me. really loud. like the muffled, can't breath snoring. i just walked by his office and noticed that he even turned the lights off. of course, you can't get your beauty rest with the lights on, duh!

i hate it. so much. and i'm not allowed to say anything about it. i've told my bosses, but they tell me to leave it alone.

UGH!

i don't understand

i just went to subway for lunch. i was sitting there, and i overheard a conversation that a couple of guys were having not too far from me. it went like this:
"hey man, what's up? what have you been up to?"
"aw, nothing. working. or at least trying to look like i'm working so i get paid, but just looking busy and really not doing anything. it's good to get paid to do nothing."

seriously! ugh! i think this is why i hate to love my job. i work hard, i try to do the right thing...and then there are people like this that fly under the radar - doing nothing - yet getting paid for it. and they are perfectly ok with it. i, on the other hand, get the opposite feeling. i feel like if i'm not doing something then i'm not right, or i'm not working hard enough and i stress myself out over it. i know i said i don't want to go above and beyond anymore, and that i want to be a regular employee - but as much as i say that, there's no way i'm gonna back down from doing extra stuff, cause i just feel weird if i'm not busy, and i'm a sucker to do what i can to help everyone else. i love being busy, but i hate that it overwhelms me. i wish i could find a balance.

i'm just amazed that people can be ok with themselves and feel like they are perfectly fine doing nothing. like the guy that sits in the office next to me and stares out the window all day long - AND then comes in for overtime on saturdays to do the same thing. i just don't get it.

i should start my own business that goes to places and sneakily (is that a word?) follow people and monitor them to see if they are actually doing anything. and then getting rid of the slackers so that people who truely want to work and be efficient can have a job and it would help take the stress off of other people who have to pick up the slack.

UGH. makes me sick. i'm glad my parents raised me better.

better

so, yesterday was much better. the meds def helped. i would say that they didn't make me feel more calm, cause i wasn't manic...they just helped me relax cause i was tense about everything.

but nick came home and we talked a little more about everything. we're good. i told him i'm going to try to let things go and do my best to move in the right direction. i asked him what he wanted me to do to make things better, and his response was "keep trying. just keep trying, and if you start doing something that is bothering me, i'll let you know. but just keep trying". so, that's that. i just have to keep pushing through.

today has been better. i've been productive and i haven't felt tense at all.

i screwed up.....

.....apparently. i didn't know i was doing it, but it apparently is my fault. well, technically it is my fault, but it was not done intentionally.

i went to my johns hopkins doctor yesterday to talk to her about everything thats been going on. i knew what the outcome was going to be...more meds. but she tried to make it seem like it wasn't a "step back" because they are temporary meds on an as needed basis. she gave me anti-anxiety stuff. my problem lately hasn't been a manic episode, it's actually been an depressive one - and it's not like most. so that's why i decided to go see her cause i was trying so hard to take care of it myself, but i clearly wasn't getting anywhere. nick asked me to go a few days ago, but i told him i didn't want to cause i knew it would mean more medicine - i just hoped that i could take care of it on my own - but i couldn't.

so, she gave me the prescription, i took it to get filled, but it was going to take too long to wait on it, so i just decided i would pick it up after work. went to work....and kept thinking about EVERYTHING. and this wasn't one of those times that things are racing through my head and i can't even focus on it. it was more of a slow motion pace and i would think about one thing, analyze it, and then move to the next. and i was thinking about EVERYTHING. i just feel like i've been working so hard to make things perfect and get everything taken care of, but i feel like i'm not getting anywhere.
- i try so hard at work, yet there doesn't seem to be a certain "point" that i'm getting to. i haven't gotten a raise in 3 years, yet they've told me i've done an amazing job on the jobs we've had in those 3 years, and i work like a mule with nothing but more expected from me. there's no "i did it" point for me.
- i've been working hard to lose weight and be healthy, but it seems to be at a standstill. i'm doing this so i can be healthy, and hopefully provide a healthy life for my kids whenever it is that i have them, but that just seems to keep getting pushed further and further away. so i don't feel like i'm any closer to that step in my life than i was way before i had even met nick.
- i've been trying so hard to get all my meds worked out and stable, but i keep getting pushed back into a dark pit, and i can't figure out why...or if i feel like i know why, i just don't know how to fix it. so i don't feel like i can get to an "i did it" moment with that either.

i just feel like i'm failing. or that any time i reach a point that i should be able to pat myself on the back and that i finally made it to the halfway mark, i then feel like i'm having to start the marathon all over again because the goal gets pushed even farther.

so, i just kept thinking. and we all know what happens when i just sit and think. so needless to say it went downhill pretty fast. i was thinking about the fact that nick and i are trying to make things perfect so that everything is taken care of. me fixing my meds, me losing weight, him getting off his meds, paying off the credit card, us fixing up the house to be able to sell it and move, us wanting to move and be settled in a more comfortable home before we have a kid, trying to figure out when we should have a kid...etc.etc.etc. so i just started getting upset because i felt like i can't say i'm anywhere close to accomplishing any of that. and then i kept asking myself "why does it all have to be perfect? there are so many people who don't have things "perfect", yet they figure out a way to make it. so why do we have to sit down and plan everything out and have things "just right" in order to take the next step?". i honestly feel like we have gone above and beyond what most people would even consider taking care of in order to make sure things are better for us down the road and for our kids, but i feel like there's no end in sight to that. as if what we try to do now is never enough. there's always gonna be something else, and if we try to make it all perfect that something else will never stop.

so, i got done with work and was heading to work out. i called nick just to try to get some of the stuff off my mind. well, i know things have been hard on him. he doesn't know what to do with me more than half the time. and i know when i've been on a spiral for a couple weeks that it is very straining on him....BUT, he is my shoulder. i don't have another Nick. i don't have another person that is my go to for anything and everything. there's no one else that has to deal with me 24/7 and that i HAVE to make decisions with. so when it comes to talking about stuff that i feel like we need to talk about together, i have to go to him. well, clearly yesterday was not the day to do that. i started telling him everything i was thinking. about how i feel like we're never going to get to a point where we feel like things are "right". and of course, i started crying. well, his response was "you need to chill the fuck out". that was NOT good. then he started getting mad at me for always being upset and thinking about these things. that was NOT good. so i told him that the last thing i need is for him to get upset with me when i need to just get things off my mind and let him know how i'm feeling. well, he didn't stop. and then he said "melissa, when you've been acting the way you've been acting the past couple of weeks...i don't want to have a kid with you". NOT GOOD. the first part of that sentence, i totally understand why he feels that way. but the second part is what i REALLY heard, especially feeling the way i was feeling. so i hung up. there was no way i could continue talking to him after he said something like that. even if he didn't mean it in a harsh way, it came accross as such and i couldn't handle talking to him because it just felt like someone had kicked me in my chest. so he would call me, and i would ignore it. i wasn't going to answer. i wasn't going to entertain that comment. i didn't even want to think about the fact that he made that comment...so i ignored it. he called and called, and i still ignored it. he texted me and said that if i didn't answer that he would leave work and come find me...i didn't believe him, i just thought that was his way of trying to get me to answer. so i still didn't answer. i made it to the gym and was able to text him to tell him that i just couldn't talk to him after hearing that. that our conversation would go no where but down, really fast. well, eventually i answered right before i was going into the gym. he was pissed. he said he had left work because he was worried about me doing something to myself. he thought i wasn't answering because something was wrong. that just pissed me off. yes, last week when i was at work and he called to check up on me, yes...i thought to myself that if i weren't here then i wouldn't have to worry about things. and yes, when i talked to him that night i told him that is what i thought when he called me. that i just feel like it would be easier. but i wouldn't act on it...i don't know why he really thought i would act on that. i thought he kept calling me just because he was being as stubborn as i was. that's why i didn't answer...not to make him think i was going to do something stupid.

well, i got home and we didn't talk. i took an hour long shower just to stay away from him. i gotout, took my meds, and when straight to bed at 7pm. still didn't talk to each other. i slept for about 2 hours. and then i just couldn't take it anymore. i went downstairs and just said "i don't know what else i'm supposed to do". well, he was pissed. more pissed than i've ever seen him. and that didn't help things cause now i felt bad that he took things the way he did. and it was my fault. i had no intentions of things turning out that way, but it was my fault because i am the way i am. i can't let things go. i can't just give him a chance to breath. he thinks i'm not happy with him, but that's not it. i'm very happy with him. i'm above and beyond happy with him. i just still have those things in life that i want, that i have ALWAYS wanted. he asked me if i thought having a kid was going to "fix things". that killed me. i told him i have not once ever made any sort of statement that could make him believe that my intentions of having a kid were to "fix things". i will never be "fixed". i will always have to fight, there's no getting around that. even for normal everyday people a kid is NOT a fix. they don't make you smile all the time, but it's more often than not, and the times they do are worth every second. i told him i've always wanted a kid because i feel like i have something inside of me that says i would be a good mother, a great mother. i have an urge that just tells me that is going to be one thing that i am meant for. i told him that my intentions were not to have a kid so i could play dressup and change daipers for fun. but it's because i've always felt like it's something i'm supposed to do. i have always looked out for everyone else, always been a mom to anyone around me...it's just in me. but, i guess recently i have started to question if i can handle it. can i really be a good mom if i have the issues i do? nick seems to constantly remind me of that. and i know he's scared. i'm scared as hell too. but it's a fight that i'm going to fight. it's something that i feel is 120% worth it. it's something that will make me happy because even when the kid cries all night, fusses all day, or smiles at me the right way, i can say it is a fight worth fighting. the other things that i've been fighting for, i haven't been fighting for it for me. work - i don't do that for me. i do it for the company. i don't LOVE it, it's just something i'm expected to do because that's how society makes it seem. losing weight - i do it for me, my future kids, and to some extent i don't do it for me. i don't do it for me in the sense that it's what your supposed to do because society makes it seem like you will never be good enough. but i do it for me and my future kid, and nick, in order to try and make things easier and better. but right now i feel like i'm failing at that.

i don't know....yesterday was just a mess. we didn't get anything accomplished with our talk last night. he just didn't want to talk. he was mad. i kept telling him i had no intentions of him taking things that way, but he did and i didn't know what to do to make him realize he didn't need to worry. he told me he couldn't forgive me for it...but i had no idea what i wasn't being forgiven for....because i couldn't talk to him anymore because i would just become more of a basket case? i think he was just mad that he thought what he did in the first place, and it scared him...and technically it is my fault because it's all because i am the way i am...even if i didn't mean for anything to happen.

so, i'm not all cheery today to say the least. he didn't really want to say anything to me this morning. that scares me. i texted him to ask if we were ok and to tell him that i was really trying to get things taken care of. he called and said we were fine, but it still scares me. i don't want him to hate me, or be mad at me. i don't mean to do the things i do, and i don't mean for him to worry the way he does. but i do know it's hard on him. i told him i'm gonna try to let things go, and not let them work me up anymore. but it's not an overnight thing. i've been working and fighting for over 7 years now. it's not easy. i will never be cured. i will always have it, and it can cause problems no matter how hard i try to stop it.

so, again, i ask myself "can i really handle being a mom?". i think i've started to question it a lot lately. and i think the thought of not being able to just tears me up. i know i have it in me, but for some reason "me" won't allow me to get to that point.

the never ending post...continued

so i left off at the part where i basically hate life. and i do. i feel like no matter how hard i try, it always ends up with me crying.

so, as of the last part, i had gotten you from 2 weeks ago when the blizzards started, up to last tuesday after my shitty night on snow email watch. so, tuesday at work was no better. i didn't want to be there, i was fuming the entire time. i wanted to yell at everyone here because they were acting just like they always did, so with me being in the mood i was just made it worse. but i just kept to myself and got through 6 hours and went home. it was another night of crying and talking to nick, who again told me - in a very nasty and surrenduring way - to just quit cause he couldn't take it any more. so i cried even harder cause now it's causing problems between the 2 of us. i know he supports me in everything i do, and i know he thinks i'm great at my job - and he tells me that - but me being so miserable rubs on him and i know he feels helpless sometimes too. considering that he is my "go to guy" for everything, it makes me even more upset that now i'm deteriorating the one constant shoulder i have to lean on. and i know people will say "well you have plenty of friends that would be there to listen" etc, but it's not that easy. i know i have friends i can talk to, but i still feel guilty making them deal with me. just like i feel guilty knowing nick has to deal with me.

so the next day i ended up picking up a friend from work to go into the office. she is my work "go to person". i laid everything out for her and she said that i have every right feeling what i'm feeling and that if i sit down and really think about what i want and figure out that i just can not handle the pressure from work, then that's that - i need to do something to change it. so, it was a good talk, but i of course still had stuff running through my mind.

well, i had to go into our main office that day for the rescheduled meeting - that i didn't schedule to begin with, remember? so, the guy showed up and i helped him the best i could with what he needed. i then worked on ANOTHER job that i was asked to help with (i was asked prior to the blizzard to help with this job that they had dropped the ball on). so i was trying to get them caught up with that. then i got the email about the lawyers wanting to come and look at documents on fri...so i had no choice but to say yes, and spend yet again another day away from the bridge where there was plenty of stuff i needed to get caught up on.

so thursday was just another day of catching up on stuff at the bridge. i finally got to work out thursday afternoon - the blizzards and craziness of work kept me from working out, which totally threw off my routine. and then thursday night i cried again over the overwhelming feeling about the lawyers coming.

so i went into fri morning very flustered. did what i had to do to get them settled and showed them where everything was. my boss was there that day. i had to talk to him about some of the stuff the lawyers were asking about, and then he did it....he asked the question....."how are you doing?". my answer to him was "you are going to make me cry". i've stated in previous posts how i can talk to my boss very freely and tell him exactly whats on my mind. and while i had no intention of sitting him down and telling him how i feel, he asked the question and i just started pouring everything out - my thoughts and my tears. i told him i couldn't take it anymore. it was too much pressure and too overwhelming to be expected to be THE person to do this type of stuff. and that i used to live and breath this work, but i don't anymore because i've realized i have to take care of myself, etc, etc, etc. he was actually very open to everything i was saying and seemed to understand every bit of it. and when i said i told him everything on my mind, i did just that. about how i felt about my manager and how ever since i was put under him instead of dealing directly with my boss that i seemed to have more problems than not. i told him how i don't want to be the "fall back person" anymore. i was always the person they could count on if something needed to get done, i would always say yes....but i didn't want to be that person anymore. i told him i wanted to work on the projects i already had on my plate, work my 45 hours a week, and be done with it, because the rest is my time. i HAVE to do that. i have NEVER told them that before - i have NEVER told them no. so i finally told him that and he said "ok". he said he doesn't understand why i get so worked up and worried over everything because he has never heard a single complaint about me or the work i do. he said all he hears is compliments about everything i do, and that there is no reason for me to feel like i'm letting anyone down. but i told him that i felt that if i start saying no to doing all the extra stuff, then i will feel guilty for not helping out. and of course he told me not to worry about it, but come on, lets be real...i'm gonna worry no matter what. i told him i knew that the way i thought about things was what the main problem was, but it doesn't mean i can just change it. and that taking time for me and making sure i take care of myself is my way of trying to get control of feeling ok about everything. he said "ok". so, i walked away feeling much better than i did before, but i was still flustered just cause i hate having to even worry about dealing with this type of stuff. i know i'm very lucky to have a boss like i do though, cause lord knows i would have lost my job anywhere else if i talked to most people like i do him.

so, friday ended decently. i was just worked up in general, but i didn't cry anymore. it's monday and i actually haven't cried since - although i partially wanted to on saturday night. my good friend from home was in town and i went to meet up with her and her guy "friend". i feel totally comfortable talking to her, but it seemed kinda awkward when we were out to dinner. i just feel like things were a little overwhelming, but i chalk it up to having had a rough week and being a little frazzled about everything anyhow. needless to say, i slightly wanted to cry after we left cause i felt like things were just weird, but i didn't cause i just didn't have the energy to think or worry about it.

but i'm realizing that i might not be quite as stable as i thought. or maybe being thrown off my routine for a couple weeks just did me in, but needless to say, it wasn't good. i still feel crappy now, and i am still thinking about a lot of stuff. i'm jealous that nick has a job that he enjoys, i'm jealous that other people don't have to deal with the thought craziness that i have to - cause they don't understand, i'm jealous that people who shouldn't have kids do and mad that people who should can't, i'm angry cause i try to do everything i can to feel better yet i'm always miserable anyhow...i'm just bummed. i need to get to the next step. i need to move, rearrange work, find something else to keep me occupied, i want to have a kid - but clearly right now isn't the best time, and i wonder if there ever will be a good time, i just need a change and i need to look out for myself....but i need this mental crap to go away!

so, that's how i've been the past month...

warning! this is going to be the longest post ever!

so, its been a while. and honestly, i think its cause i just don't like facing the truth. i've been up and down again...mostly down though. i thought i was in the clear after all my meds had balanced out, and i was working out and felt like i was getting somewhere with it. but, just all of a sudden it hit me again, and i felt like everything i was doing was wrong, or not good enough. it has been mostly with work, but that of course just trickles down into everything else, and then the spiral begins.

i feel like every time i finally feel like i'm getting caught up with work, they throw something else at me and i get overwhelmed once again. and listen, i know that "that is life and how the real world works", but i am not lucky enough to be able to deal with "life" like every other normal person does. i'm sorry, but i can try as hard as i want, and i still feel the way i do - i can't just make it stop or change it, cause if i could i would have done it a LONG time ago. so, i just start telling myself that everything i'm doing is not good enough and i might as well quit. i feel like i can't even get one thing done 100% before another thing comes at me. i'm already working on 2 big projects (technically 3 because one of them is 2-part) and i just don't feel like i can do more. No, I DON'T WANT TO DO MORE! there, i said it. for the first time in my life i admit that I WANT TO BE SELFISH. there, that feels better. i am accepting that i need to take care of myself and do what's best for ME, so that means not allowing them to pile more and more on me. but wait, it's not that easy, now is it?! in my mind i hate them for even asking me to work on something else. because i can't say NO to them, and they know it. so then i say yes to taking on more work, and then all of the projects i work on start kicking into high gear at the same time, and i freak out and feel so overwhelmed. then i think about how i knew that was going to happen and kick myself for not saying no when i knew i wanted to.

i don't want to be an overachiever anymore. but now they're used to it, so why wouldn't they look to me to do more. so of course, i see their side and don't blame them....i blame myself for ever setting myself up for that. but then again, i used to thrive on doing EVERYTHING. but, thinking about it now, that was also when i was typically manic, so i thought i could do everything and take on the entire world. now, i'm leveled out. i don't have the energy, or drive that i had when i was manic. so now i don't want to do it anymore, and i've been tearing myself up on how i'm supposed to look at them and tell them no. i feel like if i tell them no that i would be letting them down and i would feel guilty for doing it. so, there it is, the vicious cycle...do you follow it? i want to take care of myself and make sure i have my time and not overdo myself anymore, but i feel guilty if i tell them i won't take on more work because i need to have MY time and just take care of things that are already on my plate, and then i think about what they will think of me and feel like i let them down...etc etc etc.

i can't even explain what i'm thinking right now. i feel like the entire last paragraph didn't even make sense. yet another thing i can't do right now. i honestly feel like i can't even function. i had to prepare for some attorneys to come in last friday and look at documents for one of our jobs, and i didn't know what to do. my boss wasn't in the office, so i couldn't ask him. i couldn't make a decision, i felt like there was something wrong with everything i was trying to figure out. how was i going to work this out? did i need to have breakfast for them? did i need to set up lunch? did they expect me to sit there while they're going through everything? were they going to grill me on everything about the docs? was the conference room going to be set up right? did i need to worry about bringing the couple hundred of binders to them, or do i make them go get the ones they needed on their own? ugh, it just kept on and on and on. i lost it thursday night. i just started crying. this was like the 100th time i had cried in a 2 weeks time. i honestly don't know how i came up with tears, there was no way my body could produce more.i had cried so much the week before cause i felt like i was letting them down. then i cried because i was mad that they put me in the position to feel like i was letting them down.

we had 2 huge blizzards back to back, so basically our entire area was immobile because we are NOT used to 40+ inches of snow falling within a weeks time. so i couldn't get anywhere. after the first one nick and i drove down to DC to take my sisters dog back to her and i had a panic attack from the drive down there. the roads were horrible, the drivers were worse, there was ice everywhere, a car spun out about 5 cars in front of us, people were swerving in and out trying to get past you and all of a sudden their lane stopped because of a pile of snow and they felt like it was ok to just swerve into your lane like you weren't even there. i wasn't even driving and i had a panic attack! i'm surprised i didn't rip the handle off my door cause i was holding onto it so hard. by the time we made it down there, i felt like i was going to throw up. i got into my sisters house and just started balling. uncontrollable crying because i was freaked out so bad. i had to lay down on the way back just so i couldn't see what was going on. i certainly didn't fall asleep cause i was still very nervous, but i at least didn't have to watch everything. so, i felt like an idiot for being that worked up about it, but it made me not even want to go anywhere in a car for the entire week cause we got another 20+ inches after the first 20+ inches. nick was using my car cause he HAD to go to work, being a fire fighter, and i had brought some work home with me the week before when i knew i could very well not be able to get into work that week. so i worked from home, trying to be a good employee. well, tuesday i get a call from someone at my office saying that i had a meeting wed morning with someone at the office...1 - why is someone scheduling me for a meeting without asking me first? 2 - um, we're about to get shit on by another 20+ inches of snow tuesday night and wed morning, so exactly how am i supposed to get in there? so i told her i couldn't get anywhere. she called me back and now told me that it was changed to friday morning...1- why is someone scheduling me for a meeting without asking me? 2 - it's been 4 days since the last snow fall and the roads are so shitty that no one can get around, so why do you think that 2 days after ANOTHER 20+ inches is going to be any better for me to get there? so she told me it was "weather permitting". seriously, weather permitting. i already know it's not going to be bad weather on Fri, the issue is NOT weather, it's that the roads are not going to be ready to drive on, i couldn't even get out of my neighborhood if i wanted to. so i cried and cried wednesday and thursday because i just couldn't get myself pulled together to even think about driving. so now i felt like i was going to let them down. called my manager to tell him i wasn't gonna be able to make it, i felt like he was putting me on a guilt trip, so i cried even more. then i cried friday cause i found out the guy still showed up at the office even though i had left him 3 messages stating that i was not going to be there and we could reschedule. so i cried some more because now this other guy was going to think i was unreliable. ugh, i hate dealing with this shit.

then, because i am so emotional and feel like i can't do anything right, i'm crying all the time to nick and then i start feeling like i'm bothering him. he constantly tries to tell me that i'm worrying over nothing, but i won't accept it. he tells me i'm doing great at my job, but i won't accept it. finally he breaks down and say "just quit" - and i honestly want to, but i won't. i just drown myself in my own misery. and i do it to myself, and i know i do, but i can't make it stop.

so then, because i felt like i let everyone down because of the snow week issue, i tell my manager that i was going to work on presidents day even though it was a holiday, in hopes to make up some points and take the target off my head. i show up at my job at the bridge at 7am, as i was pulling up he asks me if i could work in the snow removal ops center that our company was helping out with. i asked when, he said from noon that day to 6am the next. UGH, ARE YOU SERIOUS?! i have plenty of things i need to take care of at the bridge, and now i'm supposed to do that and go work for 18 hours over night to sit and wait for emails to pop up about roads that haven't been plowed?! god, can things be any more aggrivating right now???!!!! but i said yes, because i can't say no. and hopefully after this the target will be 100% gone and they won't think about me not coming in on fri. so, i spent 2.5 hours at the bridge trying to take care of things that i had missed during the snow week, then i drove back to my house to get stuff for the night, then drove an hour away to go sit in a room with no windows, starring at a computer screen waiting for emails to randomly pop up...oh the joy! now, we were only supposed to work 12 hour shifts, so it was supposed to be from noon till midnight, but he asked me to work till 6am cause he had to find someone to replace me. well things were so slow that the people sent me home at 12:3oam. here goes another round of crying...

on my way home i was freaked out because that night it had snowed again, but only a enough to have a thin layer on the roads - not enough for plowing. so i was driving slow. i called nick to let him know i was on my way home cause if something happened no one would think about it till after 6am cause i wasn't supposed to be on the road till then. well, the phone just rang and rang...so aggrivating! god forbid something happen to me, no one would be able to get ahold of him!. so, i just kept driving, thinking to myself "this is gonna be a long drive home" cause it was normally an hour drive in good weather, but it had snowed so i wasn't gonna push my luck. so i'm driving and all of a sudden a lexus SUV comes FLYING past me - so fast that it shook my car (as if an 18 wheeler had flown by). it freaked me out! i looked at my spedometer and thought he was going AT LEAST 90 mph. i was thinking to myself i should call the cops cause this guy was either gonna hurt someone else or was gonna wreck himself...but just as i was thinking that i see another set of head lights flying up behind me in the next lane over. i was like "sweet, this has got to be a cop and i hope he goes to pull him over cause that's rediculous!". well, yep, it was a cop. he was in the next lane over and was about to pass me when he turned his lights on, so i pulled over into the farther lane to make sure i was outta the way....well he pulled over too! he started flashing his light at me, i tried to pull over but there was no shoulder to pull onto, so i was just rolling along trying to find somewhere out of the roadway to stop, but there was so much snow there wasn't a spot in sight! he pulled next to me and started yelling at me telling me to cross BACK OVER the 4 lane highway to the OTHER shoulder....WHAT?! 1- why are you pulling ME over? 2- why do i have to play frogger and try to dodge the traffic to get to the other shoulder?! so i eventually made my way accross thinking to myself "what just happened? there is no way i was speeding because i'm so scared to drive in this that i could pee myself, so why is this dude pulling me over?!". i stopped, got out my license, he came to my window and advised me he was pulling me over for speeding. i know the look on my face must have been the dumbest look ever. i gave him my license and i was still digging for my registration when he asked if i knew how fast i was going. i said "yes, like 60 mph". he said "mam, you were doing 70 in a 55". WHAT?! YOU'RE CRAZY! and i told him that it must have been the lexus suv that just went flying past me right before then. well, i was having trouble finding my license cause it was dark, i was tired, and somewhat in shock that i was just pulled over. he eventually just asked where i was coming from and where i worked. i told him i was coming from the county snow ops center and that i worked for a construction consultant. i then realized he prob asked me that cause i had on my fire department sweatshirt. so he went back to his car and came back and said i got a warning but i needed to slow down cause it wasn't the lexus speeding cause he had paced me doing the 70 mph. you paced me? really? you pulled up behind me just as fast as the lexus did, and you immediately turned your lights on...how is that pacing?! anyhow, i got back on the road and, yes you guessed it...started crying. not sure why cause i didn't get a ticket. i was tired, i was frustrated, i was in shock, i was upset that nick wouldn't answer the phone, i was upset that i had to work that night anyhow, i was upset that i hated my job, i was upset that i felt like i was letting everyone down....everything, it just made me cry. so i got home, went to bed at 2am. woke up at 6 to let my manager know that they sent me home early and not to worry about sending anyone else over there. well, guess what...remember how he said he would have someone replace me at 6am? HE HADN'T EVEN CALLED ANYONE ELSE YET!!!!!!!!! so if they hadn't sent me home, i would still be there just hanging high and dry! UGH, PISSED ME OFF EVEN MORE! then he "gave me permission" to sleep a couple more hours and head back to the bridge for work. thanks douchebag, i appreciate being "given permission" to get at least 6 hours of sleep before i go back to work. god, i hate EVERYTHING at this point!

so i went back to sleep. woke up 2 hours later. got ready for work. nick was downstairs when i was about to leave....and again, i started crying cause i just didn't understand why it was that everything i did clearly was never enough. i was tired, pulled 5 different ways at all times, and all i wanted to do was take time for me. but nope, i'm up and at it again because "that's life". well, everyone who has ever said that to me can kiss my ass. it's NOT life to be miserable. and yes, i may be the main cause of my misery, but it doesn't change the fact that i'm miserable and that i need to find a way to change that. so i cried, and cried...i finally just picked up my stuff to leave, still crying, headed out the door...and i fell on the steps on the way out! OH MY GOD!! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!!!!! one thing after another! even if it's just small things, it's still one thing after another and i'm am done! i cannot mentally take this anymore! i came back inside and broke down crying harder than i was before. not because i was hurt from falling, but because i was just a mess. a mental mess. i hated work. i hated feeling the way i did. i hated not being able to get the guts to stand up for myself, and i hated feeling guilty when i convinced myself i should be selfish, i hated being such a problem for nick, i hated everything! again, i picked up my stuff and just walked out, got in my car, and sped off - still crying. i made it to work, i hated every minute, every second, every breath i was taking. nick called to check on me. he said "i just wanted to make sure you're still alive". my response was "yeah". my thought though was "i wish i wasn't". yes, i really wished i wasn't i wouldn't have to worry about all this if i just wasn't here. i wouldn't have to make decisions, i wouldn't have to feel guilty, i wouldn't have to be overwhelmed, i wouldn't feel bad for making nick deal with me, i wouldn't have to worry about anything anymore.

ok, this has been the longest post ever, as promised, but sadly it has to be continued cause i just can't think straight right now.

so apparently i'm pretty buff

so, i'm feeling a better. the past week or so i have had some really good workouts, and i've been surpisingly positive when i'm doing them. i've felt a little bothered about not going down in pounds, but i had some reassuring news on sunday.
don't know if you've heard of the BOD POD. i don't know all the technical info on it, but basically it is one of the most accurate ways to measure your lean body mass and your fat body mass, what your resting calorie burning is and what your active calorie burning is. then you can determine what you need to do in order to lower body fat, increase lean mass, and how many calories you should be eating compared to your output. it's kinda of an egg shape thing that you sit in (you have to wear form fitting clothes) and it uses differential air pressure to determine all this info. it takes like 5 minutes, and you get your results printed out for you afterwards. it's similar to the water weight testing, but obviously without the water, and in some ways it's considered more accurate. tons of pro athletes, gyms, fire depts, etc use it to figure out what equation is necessary to reach the optimal balance between lean/fat mass and calorie input/output.
so, i did it, and i found out i'm pretty buff. and that means that a lot of my weight is muscle. i'm still in the high percentage of body fat, but i was told that my lean body mass (bones/organs/muscle) is a lot higher than most women. AND, i found out that i have been eating 1000 calories LESS THAN i should be. so my body has probably been eating away at some of the muscle i have in order to keep up with the calories i burn when i work out (they call it survival mode).
so this means a few things. 1) i'm changing my goal weight to between 160-170lbs instead of 150 because if i kept it at 150, with the lean body weight i currently have, that means i would have to get down to about 10% body fat - and that aint happening. 2) i can eat more. so instead of worrying about not eating so much, i'm now finding it hard to eat enough. based on my body makeup, i can apparently burn about 3400 calories on a normal day at crossfit, but i have only been eating between 1200 and 1600. WAY less than i should because i found out my metabolism is high and i burn 1600 calories just sitting on the couch for an entire day. 3) with my metabolism being this high, it means that things are working really well for me with crossfit. and now that i know i have to change my eating habits, i should start losing the pounds again because i'll be working the right balance of input and output of calories. 4) this is good news cause i've felt like i hit a wall, and now i know why.
so, i'm happy to have some sort of direction now.
As for my mood. i've been pretty decent lately. i still hate work, but i've done good ignoring a lot of it. nick and i have had a pretty good time lately. as of my last LAME post, i am finding myself trying to find ways to be spontaneous again - not worry about things so much. i signed up to do the polar bear plunge this weekend with nick and some other people - it's supposed to be 28 degrees and snowing, and i have no idea what the water temp is supposed to be - so this should be interesting.
i don't know. i just feel like i got some extra fire power for the next steps i guess. we'll see how it goes.