Royalty that I am, I deserve a TIARA!

I am not sure what the hell is wrong with me. I am sure something is, however, because I am officially, publicly announcing that I, Amy-who-once-weighed-374-lbs, am going to:

RUN A HALF MARATHON!

Um, wait, what?

Crap. It's out there now. You've already read it. Now I have to do it in order to save face.

Just teasing. The gorgeous (and very thin!) Jenny invited everyone to run the Disney Princess Half Marathon in February with her. I must have been a bit woozy from lack of protein or something, as I was on that invite like a fat girl on cake.

Actually, I'm very excited about it! My very-thin, marathon-running BFF is also going to do it with us. And maybe Southern Belle Jen (please, please, please!), and ANYONE ELSE OUT THERE READING THIS!

Who wants to join us? You get to wear a tiara! And run all through Disney property! And meet me! I mean, it's like a dream come true. And Disney is where dreams come true, so it's meant to be.

My three goals for this are:

1. Run the whole thing. In other words, no walking, except for water/bathroom breaks.

2. Finish with an average of an 11 min mile, meaning my time would be 2 hours 24 min. I'll give myself a time of 2.5 hours to allow for water/bathroom breaks.

3. Be in ONEDERLAND by the race. It's 25 weeks from this past Saturday. I currently weigh 261.4, meaning I need to lose 61.6 lbs in 25 weeks. That's an average of 2.464 lbs/week. That's a pretty aggressive goal, but the training will hopefully help me do it!

So, there you have it. Off to shop for my tiara! (Actually, we're having a small family party this afternoon. I cooked lots of goodies - tell you all about them later!)

No concept of my size

Is anyone else struggling with this?

Joey convinced me to try on a pair of jeans last night that I was 100000% positive where way, way, way too small. Like, I wasn't going to be able to get them over a thigh.

Wrong.

Up and zipped AND I was breathing.

Granted, they were a bit tighter than I would wear out in public, but nothing a few weeks of weight loss+gym time won't cure.

Oh, and they were size 20 from Old Navy! Yes, I know their stuff runs big, but we're going to forget we know that little nugget of information and just concentrate on the fact that I can wear size 20 pants!

But back to the original topic, I would have sworn they wouldn't fit. I honestly have no concept of what will fit and what won't when I look at clothing anymore. It's such a surreal feeling.

(And with this, I will spare you any more posts for the day...unless I win the lottery or Brett Favre issues me a personal apology for his disloyalty to the Packers and the Packer Nation and me, his one-time biggest fan. Oh, or if DH comes home and makes dinner or does anything besides lay on the couch. Yeah, those would all be blog-worthy.)

A bandster needs followers...

And we all know what that means! It's time to get a-followin'!

Stephanie is waiting a few more weeks for everything to be ready to submit to insurance, and fingers crossed, that means she'll soon join the banditos!

How about some follower love for the lovely Stephanie?

Thousand Word Thursday

Like Camille, I love my smile! I have great teeth (that my wonderful parents paid for braces for twice!), and I think I really shine when I smile. Since we're bragging and all...

Wedding - May 2006

Not sure there's one title for this doozy.

There's so much to say, I'd do bullets, but it's even too much for bullets, so how about bold headlines?


Working Out with Mick Jagger
Just got back from a great workout at the gym. I really pushed myself, which is ironic, since I really only went this morning to get a break from the kids! I'm having a bit of port pain (I get it every now and again); just feels a bit like a pulled muscle, but I just wasn't in a workout mood.

I did 25 min on the treadmill to start. 10 min warm-up followed by 15 min of alternating 1.5 min run and 1.5 min walk. I decided, while on the treadmill, that since I can't go to BOOBS, I'd do a 5K that day instead while you are all doing the BOOB run/walk.

Then 2 rounds of weight lifting where I upped several of my weights. Ended with a 4.5 min run.

I also got to work out next to this annoying guy (he was on an elliptical) who kept stopping every 30 sec to adjust his shoe. I don't know why but it was driving me fucking. insane. like. no. other.

The woman next to me was working out with a curler in her bangs. Yep, you read that correctly.

And to round out my wacky morning, dude on the weights was Mick Jagger, I swear. Complete with the crazy hair held in place with a white terry cloth headband.


Another goal met & crazy thoughts
I officially weigh less than the lowest point I got to when I last lost weight (early 2007). This means this is the smallest I've probably been since 2003ish? It's the smallest my husband has seen me. It's the smallest my kids have seen me (obviously).

The flip side of this (which I really am happy about being here, I am!) is I am kinda ticked at myself for needing to lose 112 lbs to even get to this point. Sigh. I know there is no changing the past, but damn, 112 lbs gained in 7ish years. And that was with a bunch of dieting in there!

I think what's driven it home is that I am receiving clothes from some very generous bandsters, and I am not saying this to make anyone feel bad for me or tell me how great I am doing (logically, I know I am). But the clothes they are sending me are from when they were their biggest. It didn't bother me much when I was bigger. But now that I've lost 112 lbs and I am STILL bigger than they were to start, I don't know - it's just getting to me. When I was 374 lbs, I would have given anything to weigh just 262 lbs. But now I'm feeling generally dissatisfied here. I guess that's ultimately a good thing, as it'll keep me pushing forward and downward.


Goals
I haven't set any goals recently, other than aiming to stay above 2 lbs/week lost. But in trying to get out of this mini-funk over my "112 lbs lost and still fat" attitude, I thought I'd look forward to some milestones. Assuming I lose at 2.4 lbs/week on average (I'm averaging just over that right now), here's some goals I'm going to aim for:

BIL Wedding (10.2) - 254 lbs/120 lbs lost
Thanksgiving/First Bandiversary (11.25) - 235 lbs/139 lbs lost
Christmas/New Year's - 223 lbs/151 lbs lost
My Birthday (1.28) - 213/161 lbs lost

I know I won't likely hit them all, but I like having goals to reach for. It keeps me honest (kinda like weighing myself daily). The first one, BIL's wedding, is probably the 'biggest' for me, as I'd love to be able to answer "120 lbs" when people inevitably ask how much I've lost.


Random Shit
My band is behaving much better. I ate okay last night. Sticking to soup for lunch, but making meatloaf for dinner. Thinking I am back to a pretty sweet spot. Sweet!

My dad is having hip replacement revision surgery as we speak. He's at the Cleveland Clinic with a world leader in hip revisions, so he's in very good hands, but all positive vibes/thoughts/prayers would be greatly appreciated. His body metabolizes pain meds way too efficiently, and he was in incredible pain last time, so he is really dreading the recovery. I'm keeping my fingers crossed this surgery isn't as tough on him and that this doc will be able to find something that makes the pain tolerable.

That's enough for today! Later, gators...can't wait to see what everyone comes up with for Thousand Word Thursday!

1st Thousand Word Thursday Subject

Glad there is so much interest! Here's how it goes:

I'll post a subject on Wednesday, of which you should post a photo that relates on Thursday. Label your post "Thousand Word Thursday" or something to that effect. The photo can be new, old, or somewhere in between. And of course, you are welcome to use actual words to describe your photo! It's that simple!

Without further adieu, our first Thousand Word Thursday subject is:

Let's celebrate our own beauty and how wonderful we all look with a photo of your favorite feature (on your own body and not X-rated, please, Draz!)

Let's get creative and snap happy...have fun!

Thousand Word Thursdays??

Sandy Lee had a great post about how pics really make a blog. And I agree.

So, I was thinking maybe I could start "Thousand Word Thursday" where I randomly come up with a subject of which you can post a pic (favorite outfit, your bedspread, what you're having for breakfast, really and truly totally random) every Thursday. It'd kinda be like BYOC, except with pics instead.

And of course, we'll do pics of ourselves as well!

Thoughts? Will anyone else play besides me?