the 1st day of my 12-week challenge...
so i've almost comleted my first 24 hours of eating well and i went to a spinning class tonight. 1 day down, 11 weeks and 6 days to go. our gym is having this 12 week challenge where they take before/after measurements and then give 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes for losing the most (most % body fat, weight, inches...all compared to your before, not the 500 lb guy who's in the contest also). 1st prize = $1,000 plus a bunch of other stuff. i want to win. not only because i would like the money (second and third have cash prizes as well), but because i want to get in shape. according to their chart, i'm borderline overweight and my body fat percentage is high. boo. i know i eat like crap sometimes. and i probably will have a challenge when pooh and i go to seattle for a week--vacation's a killer! but i want to be in better health. the health dept. gave me a fibrocystic breast diet after my scare and it's basically low fat, high fiber, low sugar, no caffeine. this should be motivation. so should wanting to fit into my clothes. i'm down to 2 pairs of pants and 4 shirts for work...not good. i want to be ready for a healthy pregnancy. i want to have healthy organs. i want to live a long time!!! all these positive, healthy reasons...vanity maybe only taking up 2% of my desire, which is different from in the past when i've wanted to (and accomplished) losing weight. i cried last night when i was talking to conrad about it because i hate the feeling of starting another "program" and giving up on it. i don't want it to be like that. he prayed the sweetest prayer over me, i love that man!!! so, for all of you out there that i enjoy eating with, and you all know who you are:)... don't let me eat crappy food when i'm with you. force carrots down my throat if you have to! i'm kidding, kind of. my sister and i are really bad for each other, and she's going to eat better with me and start exercising more too. God help us both!

pumpkin seeds and spinning... an overshare*
just a few deep thoughts while i try and decide if i'm going to brave winco before heading back home tonight. i just ate some barbequed pork tenderloin with my daddio. yummy! he's good at grillin'!! but back to my title...
pumpkin seeds are yummy and they are a snack with some nutritional benefits. imagine that, me liking something with nutritional benefits. anyway... today i forgot to get a protein bar out of my stash at work before leaving and so all i had to eat before spinning was 2 apple slices and some pumpkin seeds. sounds yummy, right? yeah, yummy going down. but we all know pumpkin seeds don't exactly go down smoothly due to the shell part. this becomes a problem when you're working your butt off on the bike and start getting a little nauseous (ummm...i can't spell tonight...) and they start working themselves back up your throat for the next hour. i know this may be an overshare, but please take it as more of a warning. do NOT eat pumpkin seeds before a hard workout!!
spinning is not normal. i've been trying to do it because it makes me work hard and i'm not getting any smaller. everytime i go, i leave soaked in sweat, mouth feeling like the sahara, and spend the next few days with a sore undercarriage, if you will. others have told me the latter of the side effects will decrease the more i do it. um, nope. and the fact that spinning makes me work so hard...good for my heart, but every other system in my body hates me! i try and act natural, like it's no biggie keeping up with the instructor who's 35 weeks pregnant. but inside i'm thinking how did i get myself into this? but then i'm there again. maybe there is some sort of addictive behavior involved (though people who've told me spinning was addicting i used to classify as 'mentally ill'). who knows? anyway, here are my deep thoughts of the day. and about the overshare...i warned you:) and, it could've been worse:)