Yes I confess I am trying to to take better care of myself and lose weight

Confession time..

So I really had not bothered to mention too many people that I am trying to lose weight this year. Why? Well my past attempts have failed miserably for one reason or another. Plus this time it isn’t so much about getting thinner as it is about getting healthier, with the side benefit of losing weight. However now that my secret is out here is my update..

I started the year weighing 220 (which is my heaviest weight), I ate fast food 3-4 times a week, drank 2+ diet sodas a day, my only source of working out was walking to and from my car every day and lifting my camera gear, ate way too many sweets and processed sugars, ate too many fried greasy foods, and avoided anything that resembled a vegetable whenever possible (Unless you count French fries as a veggie..…)

I am happy to report that here I am at the end of month 2 and I have not had any fast food in 2009, I drink 1-2 diet sodas a week (And I am drinking a ton of water and using those crystal light packets in its place), I think I have eaten more fruits and veggies in the last 2 months then I did in all of 2008, I don’t think I have had any candy this year, but I might have and don’t remember since I am not really tracking that, I have eaten way less sweets in general (I even bought 4 boxes of girl scout cookies and didn’t eat 1 cookie, I just gave them to others to eat), Avoiding the fried and greasy foods as much as possible, I exercise for at least 30 minutes 4 times a week usually a little longer, and I have lost 18.5 pounds and 12 inches. I have beat my goals for January and February. Plus I am able to wear pants I could not even button at the start of the year.

It took about 6 weeks to kick the majority of my cravings and about 5 weeks before I didn’t feel hungry all the time. Yes I was eating enough my body was just used to me over eating. I guess it took about 4 weeks till I was able to exercise without feeling like I would die after 10 minutes, now I feel that way after about 30 minutes.

So what’s next? Well now that I will soon have class twice a week and I will be graduating in May so my biggest goal till mid May is to keep doing what I am doing. I would really like to lose another 13 pounds by May 16th, but more important is to keep staying away from the fast food,(my goal is no fast food before I graduate in May) watch my portions, limit the diet soda intake, keep eating the fruits and veggies (heck I might actually start enjoying the veggies at some point, then again maybe not) and exercising at least 4 days a week. I am dealign with some signifigant back pain right now so I have had to slow down and limit the exercise.

My weekly accountability check is an email to my sister with my progress, and another friend that is also trying to lose weight and needs the accountability check also and of course my mom is always asking(She has a vested interest since she promised a new wardrobe if I reach a certain goal). I can’t bring myself to blog about it on a regular basis because my life is already pretty boring to read about but I might do a check in every other month or so if I don’t think people are too bored by it..

Who knows when it gets a bit warmer I might even drag my road bike up from the basement and actually ride it? I have had it for 3 years and have never actually ridden it, sad I know. (I blame Cat Hunt) I might not win any biggest loser contests but hopefully I am on my way to feeling better in general.

Yes I still have a job

I have had a few people ask if I was still employed after reading things like the following article about layoffs where I work.

Employee Layoffs

I was not one of the many that were let go on Tuesday, and for now I am still employed and happy about that fact. It has been a rough couple of weeks knowing that the layoffs would be coming and not sure exactly when. It caused me a whole new kind of anxiety, as if I needed anymore. Now that it is over there is still a lot to deal with as we figure out who is gone and how it impacts those of us that remain.

And for those wondering what is up with school for me, well I have 2 classes left to complete and I gradute this coming May. One class I am in now and the other will start up in a few weeks. Yes I am happy that I am almost done.

You know all those tags you get...

Well here is my effort to get a few out of the way all at once. For those that are also part of the facebook crowd you have probably seen these..

New names

1.YOUR REAL NAME
Michelle Marie Leighton

2.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother and fathers middle names)
Elizabeth John

3.NASCAR NAME:(first name of your mother's dad, father's dad)
Francis William. Or Bud Bill since they both went by nick names

4.STAR WARS NAME:(the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name)
LeiMi Yea that’s just wrong It should be my stripper or porn name

5.DETECTIVE NAME:(favorite color, favorite animal)
Red Tiger

6.SOAP OPERA NAME:(middle name, town where you were born)
Marie Wolfeboro

7.SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd fav color, fav drink, add "THE" to the beginning)
The Black Dr.

8.FLY NAME:(first 2 letters of 1st name, last 2 letters of your last name)
Mion


9.ROCK STAR NAME:(current pets name, current street name)
Grover Firethorn

10. PORN NAME: (1st pet, street you grew up on)
Holly Clonmel

11.YOUR GANGSTA NAME:(first 3 letters of real name plus izzle)
Mic-izzle

12.YOUR IRAQI.. NAME:(2nd letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your last name, first two letters of your middle name, last two letters of your first name then last three letters of your last name)
Iimaleton

13.YOUR GOTH NAME:(black, and the name of one of your pets)
Black Joey

14. STRIPPER NAME: (name of your fav perfume/cologne, fav candy)
Don’t really wear perfume - just use my star wars name

25 Things times 2

1. I hate having to come up with random things about myself on the spot.
2. I HATE grocery shopping. I get panic attacks just thinking about it. Guess that is why I prefer to eat out..
3. I’m a Canon girl, and prefer canon brand lenses for my camera over 3rd party brands.
4. When I was a little kid I wanted to grow up to be a race car driver in the worst way.
5. I tend to drive to fast most of the time, see number 4.
6. My dog is pure evil. Sweetest natured dog but 100% naughty.
7. I still miss my cat that died last year, and want to get another one at some point.
8. I finally caved and bought a Nintendo Wii
9. I tend to be pretty sarcastic.
10. You need a road map to follow my family tree, yet I am an only child my parents had together.
11. My favorite color is Red.
12. I collect too many things, and they are really random collections like shot glasses and I don’t drink.…
13. I enjoy driving, except when there is traffic, refer to number 4
14. I am a packrat.. see number 12
15. I only have 2 classes left till I graduate, the next 3 months will be the longest of my life!!
16. I am the only female on my team at work
17. My favorite seasons are spring or fall. I am not a fan of extreme heat or cold.
18. I ran away from home and dropped out of school my sophomore year of HS (I went back about 4 months later)
19. I enjoy reading but don’t have enough time for it lately
20. I used to walk and talk in my sleep, nightly.
21. I concentrate better when I doodle
22. I love tracking down so many old friends on facebook
23. Peanut butter is one of my favorite foods.
24. I am allergic to chocolate but I still eat it…
25. I love sci-fi movies, TV shows, and books…
26. I used to be obsessed with Wonder Woman.. Need proof check out this blog post http://chells-blog.blogspot.com/2009/01/wonder-woman.html
27. I can’t stand hearing people chew, it makes my skin crawl.
28. When I was a kid I got in trouble more than once with the local neighborhood kids for throwing ice balls, and eggs at cars
29. On one of my many trips across country the strangest road kill I saw was a cow on the side of the road, Dona do you remember that?
30. I had Kawasaki Syndrome as a kid ( no it is not an obsession with motorcycles)
35. I love the show myth Busters
36. I deal with bouts of insomnia several times a year.
37. I tried to learn to croquet, it didn’t go so well.
38. I am fat..
39. I am one of those people that did NOT love the twilight books
40. I once helped my roommate die his mohawk pink, well okay the die said electric purple but it looked pink.
41. I love to cook, but rarely do it since cooking for one means way too many left overs
42. I love left overs but not 3 days in a row.
43. I like to bake also but it doesn’t go well with trying to lose weight (see #39)
44. when I was little I thought Vanilla Ice cream was the nastiest tasting stuff n the planet, my parents had to break up adult sized asprin in it to try to keep a high fever in check.(see #30) So that is what I thought it tasted like. I also thought I was sick again anytime anyone offered it to me..
45.I am NOT athletic
46. I like peanut butter and pickle sandwiches
47. I fractured my foot on day 2 of a 4 day back packing trip. I also lost my big toe toenails on that same trip. Oddly I had a great time on that trip and would do it again in a heartbeat
48. I used to be so allergic to poison ivy I would get it just walking by it, man that was the pits.
49. When I was in middle school I was on a first name basis with the principal. Yea that is NOT a good thing.
50.I still like climbing trees


Scattegories...

tag 10 people. Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following questions. They have to be real . . . nothing made up! If the person before you had the same first initial, you must use different answers. You cannot use any word twice and you can't use your name for the boy/girl name question.

Have Fun!!

1. What is your name : Michelle
2. A four Letter Word : Mail
3. A boy's Name : Michael
4. A girl's Name : Missy
5. An occupation : Movie star
6. A color : Maroon
7. Something you wear : Mu-Mu
8. A food : Mashed Potatoes
9. Something found in the bathroom : Mascara or if you don’t clean Mold and Mildew
10. A place : Mall
11. A reason for being late: Moped wouldn’t start
12. Something you shout : MOVE IT
13. A movie title : Mask
14. Something you drink : milk
15. A musical group : Maroon 5

Wonder Woman!!!

Since Chelsea asked to see the Wonder woman pics here you go. When I was little I was just slightly obsessed with Wonder Woman. I was convinced when I grew up I was going to be just like her, invisible jet and all. She was my idol, I mean she was patriotic in her red white and blue complete with stars, And since I was born on Flag day I liked that even more, She knew how to accessorize, Loved her Huge Bracelets, and they were bullet proof to boot, she was a princess and got to wear a tiara, I mean what’s not to love right? I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on that Lasso of Truth either..

I had Wonder Woman Underoos, a wonder Woman Bathing suit, and I dressed up like Wonder Woman for Halloween.

Here are a few pics of the Wonder Woman bathing suit for your viewing pleasure..

Look at that diving form



Look at me Fly



I Loved to play with my cousin Jamie in the pool, yep this is the same cousin that gave me the nick name Zobbie.


My Aunt Lois was like a second mom to me, I even stopped listening to her just like I did to my mom.



and she liked to try to steal from me.. (She used to bite me too but that is another story)


After a tough day of swimming this Wonder Woman didn't have and Invisible jet to fly away in, she preferred a motorcycle ride.

Looking back at some ward members

I recently got some more negatives scanned by scan cafe and when I was looking through then a few shouted out to be shared!!

The Chavous Family, Can you believe Dominique will graduate HS this year...
The Bringhurtsts short a few kiddos..
Dave and Aubry with little Emma...


Margie and Abby...

That fun Fultz family

The Kneelands


That crazy Low family....

The Crazy Cox family, I still miss them..


The Hinchman's before their last daughter joined the family


The Pope's from the first time they were in our ward. Can you believe little Jaclyn is getting married this coming February???

I got a kick out of seeing these pictures again.. (although the ones of me when i was about 5 in my wonder woman bathing suit had a bit higher comedic factor... Maybe I should post a few of those.. thoughts?

Why do I bother??

So I decided to give the online dating thing another try. I actually have profiles on a few sites but let my memberships lapse, it doesn't take long to remember why I let them lapse.

Now I will preface this with the reminder that I am 35, and I would say a young 35.(at least I don't act 35. LOL) Of the 10 or so people that have sent "flirts" or a message online 5 are over 60(seriously people 60???, guess they can't afford to retire so they are looking for a sugar momma) 3 were a little closer in age in the mid 50 range and the others were all Nigerian scammers (yes they flood online dating sites, even the LDS ones). Yes now I remember why I don't like the whole internet dating thing. I am sure there will be more interesting characters before long..

Oh and before anyone says I should make an effort to contact people I have sent at least 25 messages to guys on the site and guess how many have responded..... Zero. Yep and i even paid for this kind of rejection...

So if anyone is wondering if this will be the year my love life picks up I am going to go out on a limb and say probably not, but at least I can say i made the effort... Why do I bother?

The Holiday recap

SO I have been neglecting my blog for a bit and decided to do a holiday update. Yep my sister finally made it to Maine then I headed up a couple days later for Christmas. Luckily she finally got her luggage the night before I got there because she would have begun to stinketh after having been with out fresh clothing for 4 days..


However before heading to Maine and the Day i got back from my unexpected trip to Boston I had Christmas with my mom, grandmother, and little Grover. I took then out to our traditional dunner at cheesecake factory and then it was time for presents..

As you can see Grover was most pleased with his presents.












MomMom was very excited about this 5 ft Santa she got for the holidays. personally he kind of creeps me out...






Then I was off to Maine...
Poor Dad fell asleep just like every man wishes he could with a remote control in hand, but alas we felt the need to take pictures and then take the remote away from him...




Christmas Eve meant lots of family and friends as did Christmas day.. We won't discuss how incredibly bizarre things are on this side of the family. We really do put the fun in dysfunctional... That happens when you have so many sets of exes..











Our special Christmas Eve presents, and yes all 3 girls were coloring that night while watching Christmas movies..





Here are our tiny stockings, no need for overflow bags this year.

Christmas morning fun..

The only picture proving I was there Christmas morning.. Attractive isn't it..




Can you believe there was only 5 of us opening presents..

After the Christmas hoopla was over we headed to DC for my brother's wedding, yep more driving in the car. This is how my sister and I passed the time, when we were not talking about boys, and she wasn't being texted. Yep pictures of each other and self portraits. And yes I hate my sister for how cute she is even when we had to get up at 3 AM to start this drive..





Oh and here is one of dad's car following me... He was driving like a little old lady so I finally passed him and let him follow me for a while..

The wedding was great and since there is already picture overload on this post.... you can see more pictures from it here. Josh's wedding


Then since I was not feeling well I decided to cut my vacation short and head home. nothing special done for New Year's and before I knew it 2008 was over and 2009 had arrived..