I am ready for it not to be cold any more. I am finding it extremely difficult to make myself go back out to the gym after coming home from work and getting nice and warm.
I went to the Oprah show yesterday to watch a taping of "Extreme Weight Loss stories." I had called in to tell them my story and the producer was interested enough to get all of my information, my pictures and a link to the TV profile that was done in Madison in September.
They also were talking about sending a crew to the marathon to tape me....which I am now very pleased didn't work out! It was fun to watch all of my team members jump up every time my phone rang, though, while we were down there.
I didn't get on the show...and I really think it was for two reasons: One my story was quite similar to two of the women who were already booked on the show--actually, my story is a combination of the two!!-- and many of the people on the show had lost more than I have! (There is one man who lost FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS! In TEN MONTHS!! He had gastric bypass and only eats every other day or something like that.)
But, my sister and I did get to sit in the second row. Right down in front of Oprah (who is much smaller than I thought that she was....both in weight and height). We were sandwiched in between the guests and some of the families, so I am guessing that we will make it onto the show by virtue of the camera angles.
Also, a couple of the stories made me cry. (Hitting a little too close to home, maybe??) And you know how the Oprah directors like to take close-ups of weeping audience members!
We don't know when the show is going to air yet. But I can let you know when I know. Also, they taped an After the Show that is going to be on Oxygen. But we don't know when that airs, either.
It's worth watching just to find out what the guy who lost the five hundred pounds did with all of his extra skin. Really.
I am back, too! (Actually, I've been back since late Monday...but things have been Cuckoo Crazy here...)
I didn't have the bestest, most magical Disney experience, either. But it was still a lot of fun.
I didn't finish the full marathon, as I had planned on doing. But I did finish the half--and I got a Donald Duck medal that rivals anything Mister T has ever come up with! I also learned that I didn't train nearly hard enough...that if they say that there is a time limit, there is really a time limit...and that it's very hard to feel sorry for yourself when you finish the race that you are walking for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society with a 20-something gal with boundless enthusiasm and energy who has been through seven rounds of chemotherapy since August because she just found out that she actually HAS leukemia.
I am still unclear on how the timing or the official pace or the timing chip on my shoe all worked together, but I do know that when I reached Mile 13 our pacer came back to tell me that they had "closed the full course" meaning that I couldn't go on past 13.1. While I was sad that I wouldn't be able to finish, it was also very nice to cross the finish line of the Half Marathon at 3:58 and go sit down. (The way that I understand it, the official course time started when the first runners took off and we were supposed to make up that time to finish the course in the alloted time period. We were corralled at the very back and didn't even cross the START LINE until nearly 35 minutes into the race! So that's why I am all confused. Did Mickey think that I was going to be able to make up a half hour on the guy who finished the whole thing in 2 hours and 9 minutes??)
Frighteningly, we've already started to plan for our next race. The Green Bay marathon in May. Then the brand new Arizona Rock and Roll Marathon next year at this time. What the hell has happened to me? When did I become the kind of person that would look forward to walking until I puke?
Hey, everyone. I wanted to check in with you when I got home from Florida, but came down with a stomach bug .. and now that I seem to be on the road to recovery from that, I'm coming down with a cold. If I wait until I'm completely healthy to post here, you might not see me again until July!
I did.. okay. There's more in my fitness journal about that - I don't want to clutter things up here. I DO want to say that I'm so sorry I couldn't meet up with you, Ericka! Your e-mail didn't arrive in my inbox until after I'd left work - and I got home, only to remember that Thursday was the day that we gave up the cable modem (stupid @T&T). And I bet that you were one of the people to discover, only too late, that my cell phone wasn't working in Orlando. Gaaaaaah.
I'm already looking forward to next year. I'm hoping it's even better than this one was.
I'm exhausted. I just took a 15-minute nap in my car to stave off crankiness. I got enough sleep -- after triathlon training last night, I passed right out. I think I fell asleep by 10:30. I got about 8 hours of sleep, which I've figured out I need, without fail, each and every night. But last night's class just wore the hell out of me. And it's funny because I'm not the "sleep-deprived" tired; I'm the kind of tired where my body would just like me to lay down for a while and not be disturbed!
Anyway, this led me to thinking about sleep -- how much we do or do not need -- in terms of our lifestyles. I remember not too long ago when I could get away with five hours of sleep a night! Now, if I don't get my eight hours, I'm of no use to anyone! Since I've started working out so regularly, the nightly eight hours of sleep is a must. But I'm starting to think that I might need extra with the training.
How about you? What are your sleeping patterns like? How much do you need?
Yoyogurl, thank you so much! I had fun writing it this week. Unfortunately it's also the reason why I've been pretty much MIA here, the other boards I usually visit, and, um, the gym. And WW. And... yeah. I've got to work on that.
This week was a little tougher than usual, though--writing the first recap for a show is never easy, and then on very short notice I had to revise this magazine article I'd turned in last week, so I was up after midnight pretty much every night.
I'm hoping that after resting up and cleaning this weekend I can get back on track so I can hit the gym even on the nights I have to write, and maybe also I'll make my weekends a lot more gym-intensive. But right now my first priority is sleep.
Good luck to the marathoners (who, I know, have left by now). And CONGRATS on making the blog column, Erin and Heather!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woohoo!
Before I get to the blabbering, I wanted tell Wendy that her recap of High School Reunion was ridiculously hilarious. I just finished reading it and I know I burned some calories with the laughing. I especially liked . . . he's Honey Bunches of Dick cereal.
So, yesterday I went to Whole Foods and got myself some sliced fresh fruit, some grilled chicken and a very nice salad from their salad bar. Wonderful salad with all sorts of things I like. Multicolored, if you will. And this dressing! Oh, love the dressing. The fruit was wonderful, too. Fresh and sweet and just gorgeous. (I also got some Honest Tea, which I highly recommend) I am really loving the meal but all I can keep thinking is "this would be so much better with some bread. A nice French roll or something. Breeeeeeeeead. You need breeeeeeeeeeeeeead." I could not stop thinking about the bread. It almost ruined my lovely meal!
When did bread become my crack? Why is bread my crack? I was seriously frightened by the neverending bread craving.
Hey, is anyone else having problem with the comments? I wanted to leave this in the comments for Ericka's post below, but it kept crashing Explorer. Hmmm..
Anyhow - Ericka, trust me, packing for Disney is MUCH more fun than watching Suzanne Somers. And check your e-mail - I sent you my trip info. Hope to see you soon!
OK. I am sitting here, trying to psych myself up to get off my ass and get my house cleaned and my clothes packed and all of the Leaving Town Tasks on my list, and this afternoon's Lifetime movie is called "Devil's Food."
Here's TiVo's description: "When obesity stalls a journalist's career, she sells her soul to the devil to be thin."
Suzanne Somers is the lead and she just had her big "I can't take it anymore" speech. Here's a snippet: "You know what I am supposed to weigh? 116. You know what I weighed this morning? 151."
151 on Suzanne Somers is apparently obese.
She also just said, "I would like you to turn the monitors back towards me in the studio. If I have to look at myself, it's going to be the only way I am ever going to lose weight."
It is a very long article and I am not sure how I feel about it. On the one hand, I am glad that someone is saying being overweight, at least in terms of BMI and other government scales, doesn't not necessarily correlate to being unhealthy. The idea that one can weigh more than what is considered "ideal" for his or her height and weight but not be unhealthy is difficult for some people to grasp and certainly does not fall in line with our country's attitude about round=nastybad.
On the other hand, I would hate to see people, like those women who went on Dr. Phil (which, btw, if you missed, you should go check out the show summary) and said that being 350lbs was just dandy with them and they didn't see any good reason to change, have more ammunition for excuses not to make positive lifestyle changes.
Still, extremly interesting. It is free to register with TNR but you can go to this girl's livejournal to read it. I'll warn you that it isn't formatted or anything so it makes for a more difficult read.
