(week 15.75). why I’m an open book.

For a woman my size, some may find it bizarre that I’m as open as I am about my weight loss journey. So why am I doing it?

For one, I am the kind of person that needs to be held accountable—really accoutable—when it comes to things like this. I am a great self-starter and motivator when it comes to everything EXCEPT food.

When I started weight watchers, I told myself that I needed to be totally honest with myself about eating, portions, exercising... whatever. If I cheated, I was only cheating myself. But really, by getting my friends and family involved, they have served as fellow motivators, keeping me going when I didn’t want to.

Plus, people are naturally curious about life changes. You know it’s true. Look at shows like “Biggest Loser” or “I Used To Be Fat”. So, instead of occasionally posting pictures of a shrinking me, why not keep you all in the loop with WHAT I’m doing?! It’s not that I mind questions from y’all (I love them, and have gotten quite a few of you to commit to losing weight for yourself!), but why not keep it honest?

I think it would be interesting to look back on this experience, and see that it didn’t come easy. I can see my struggles, or my successes. I can see the changes in myself and know WHY I’m doing this. It’s a fascinating thing to have that kind of insight.

And at the end of the day, it’s just my personality to document, document, document. I love writing; it’s my release, my passion and (while not this topic) MY CAREER. I just can’t shut it off, so why fight it?!

let them eat cake.

my wedding anniversary (the big 0-1) is in two weeks.


alex and i aren't doing much to celebrate, since we're both working that weekend.

the one thing we ARE doing, however, is eating cake. yummy, delicious cake.

you see, we had picked out the most scrumptious cake last year — chef's white with cream cheese icing and raspberry mousse filling — and only had a few bites of it. shameful, i know.

despite my overhaul program, i'm determined to allow the cake a repeat performance.


turns out, the place we ordered the cake at offers a COMPLIMENTARY (yes, folks, that means free) 6" round cake for your anniversary, in the flavor of your choice.

and here we were, completely prepared to pay for the scrumptiousness.

i guess the best things in life ARE free.

(don't worry, i'll ride a few extra miles to make up for it.)

the fabulous cake comes from the appropriately-named delicious cakes. check out their website for more information, and tell them jen sent you!

hello again. remember me?

first of all, i'm back! it's been a crazy few weeks, but things have finally settled down enough for me to drop you all a line.

where did we leave off? oh yes — riley.

she has been settling in well. we're all still adjusting to our new schedule, but overall, we're doing great. alex and i are so proud of how far she's come in the past six weeks!

and when i'm not spending my time watching/continuing to train her, i'm working. a lot.

with that said, it's been really difficult to find the time to work out (or blog). i made it to the gym a couple of times (seriously, just two) since signing off.

my logic? well, i walk the dog every day, so that counts, right?

apparently not. i'm back up to 201.

in retrospect, i didn't watch what i ate as well as i thought i did. with alex's birthday and traveling, we ate out more than normal. (and did i mention cake? there was an abundance of cake!) i didn't shy away from pastas (although i'm still avoiding red meat and pork, for the most part) ... i drank caffeine. if there was one "let down," it would be that.

now that i'm back, it's time to get on track with things.

my new goal? work out EVERY morning before work. (fallback plan: if i miss my morning workout, i can make it up when i get off work)

and given my "type A" personality, i've decided to multitask during my 30-minute workout. instead of just listening to music, counting down the seconds until i'm done, i'll be reading all the books i want to read, but don't have time for. HAH, two birds with one stone!

(i did this for "the last lecture" — it really helped to pass the time!)

i am ready to feel better. i am ready to look better. i am ready to lose weight.

i'm not dead.

hi everyone,

sorry for the slight hiatus. it may continue for the next few days.

where have i been? well, we ended up taking a last-minute trip up to kansas to get riley a week early. (alex's work had some scheduling screw-ups)

needless to say, we're thrilled to have her back, but we're taking the next few days to get back on a decent schedule. (rather, getting US on a decent schedule; mom did an excellent job on riley while she was there)

oh, lol, the highlight of my week came when i finally got her to go to the bathroom outside ... i'm so sad. : )

with all of the craziness, i'm still finding time to eat decent, and even though i'm not making it to the gym, i'm more than making up with it on my puppy walks.

so again, i apologize for my absence, but i really need to do this.

(and no worries, i'll be back in a day or two!)

thanks for understanding,
--jen