Two Point Twenty-One Percent

Lose 2 Percent - Success!

They sent out the weigh-in results email today. Not only did I finally lose 2 percent, I lost 2.2 percent! I was down 1.8 lbs., as of Wednesday morning, and I was down .8 lbs. from that this morning. So, I already have a bit of a headstart for next week, if that holds.

Morning Work Out - Success

I didn't get time to blog yesterday, but I did get out and walk the dog yesterday morning, so that counts. I didn't stay long, because it was ridiculously cold and I got flashed by some old guy in the park, so I did one lap of the walking trail and said, "Fuck this."

And I didn't work out this morning, because I had to get up early and head to the big dedication of our new building at work. I didn't even have breakfast, really. I just made a cup of tea and headed out the door, then had a Slim Fast and a banana on the way to take Molly to the dog park.

Which is a shame, really, because I've really started to love my little breakfast routine.

 So, it was a bit of a slapdash morning, but I was really proud of myself today. They had food trucks outside of the building after the dedication, and I had some of the best food in the city being offered up to me free, and I didn't partake. I couldn't have made a good choice, and it was taking really long and I wanted to hit the dog park, so, again, I said to myself, "Fuck this."

Take Down The Christmas Tree - Umm... Nope.

Last year, this took me until March, so I wouldn't hold my breath on this happening any time soon. It's just one of those things.

This weekend, I'm going to my parents' house. My mom knows I'm watching the calories, so hopefully she'll have provisions ready.

But tomorrow is Friday, and Friday is my day to finally get shit done, so...

Morning Work Out

Impressed?

Morning Work Out - Nope

To be honest, I forgot I had set this goal.

Do Laundry - Success

And you should be impressed by this, because I totally did it in the rain, and all. We've had a continuous drought for months, but the day I try to get some laundry done, it starts raining the second I step out of my apartment with my laundry bag.

I can't tell you how much I hate not having a washer and dryer in my apartment.

You know what other productive thing I did, though? I filed my tax return. It's not even February and I totally already filed by tax return. Now, that is impressive.

Also, I consumed less than 1,100 calories yesterday. And I was not hungry or tempted to eat anything else or anything. I mean, this is working out surprisingly well.

Now if only I could get off my ass and exercise.

Morning Work Out

But I've noticed something hilarious. You know how I talked before about all the fast food bags that used to populate the floor of my car? Right now, I have about half a dozen Slim Fast shake bottles in my car.

Is it a metaphor for the change in my lifestyle or is it proof-positive that people never change?

Take Down The Christmas Tree

It's almost February. It's time to take that thing down.

That Lonely Weekend

Well, I make it alright, from Monday morning to Friday night.

Oh, those lonely weekends.

Rather, oh, those fatty weekends.

Be Good At Breakfast - FAIL.

First of all, I picked a bad restaurant. I picked the place with cheap mimosas and a limited brunch menu. My healthiest choices were juevos rancheros and french toast. I went with juevos rancheros. And, really, it would have been fine if not for the mimosa adding empty calories.

My friend got the french toast and it came with fruit and the toast was actually pretty small. I would have been better off with that, I think. Still, it wasn't so bad. I didn't fail to hard, at that point.

Then my BFF texted and said, "Let's go to the casino tonight!"

Casino means two things: 1) I'm going to lose money and 2) I'm going to be drinking.

And then it devolved from there. Long story short, we ended up at Outback Steakhouse and I ended up way over budget in every sense of the phrase.

Buy Groceries -Success!

But to my credit, I got right back on track on Sunday. And I did go grocery shopping Saturday, so I'm well-equipped to deal with the week ahead. I just have to make it stretch through next week, too, or buy groceries on my credit card next time, because I am about out of money, already.

Weekend Work Out - Yeah, no.

I scarcely moved on Sunday. I did do dishes, so I'm at least succeeding in cleaning up after myself, but the working out thing, I'm going to have to really effort to make happen.

On the plus side, I sneaked and weighed myself this morning, because I didn't want to set myself up for too big of a letdown on Wednesday, and it seems I may have lost two pounds since the last weigh-in.

How, I have no idea.

As for the rest of this blog, it'll have to wait. I have to go write a story about a shooting.

Okay, I'm back.

I'll have you know, according to my little pie chart on the MyFitnessPal app, today was 56 percent carbs (goal 55), 24 percent fat (goal 30), and 20 percent protein (goal 15). The protein bit went right up, which was the goal. So, that's good.

What else?

Morning Work Out

Do Laundry

I would set a goal to take the dog out, but it's supposed to be storming tomorrow, so I know that won't happen.

Losing Steam

I went to bed late, I slept in, and I didn't work out this morning.

And I forgot to set goals last night, so that's actually totally fine.

I was also pretty lax about my food planning today. I didn't track my calories until well into the afternoon, when I was at work. And since I didn't have anything readily available to take to work for dinner, I decided to go to Wendy's.

Which is fine. My goal was to not spend any extra on meals until I got paid again, and I got paid today. Plus, I've been very good and I felt like I was owed some french fries.

Of course, I got a small fry and a grilled chicken sandwich and a small diet coke, and I'm still way under my calorie budget, so I shouldn't even feel bad about it.

But I do. And here's why: While I was not the last on the list of percentage of body weight lost this week, I was near the bottom of the list. I was not even in the middle. The biggest loser has lost 4.28 percent.

That's ridiculous. And what do you want to bet that bitch is already half my size, so of course she's losing a bigger percentage.

On the one hand, I have more to lose and can probably lose it faster, because I'm probably eating way less to compensate, but still. I don't think I'll ever catch up. And, as for the guys, the biggest loser amongst them has lost 7.56 percent! What the fuck?!

My co-worker tells me the last time they did that, some guys were just not eating, just to win the money. That ain't right. That's not why I'm doing this. Sure, I'd like to Win The Money, but I'm not going to starve to do it.

I feel like I have worked my ass off today. I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend. And I'm looking forward to breakfast with my friends tomorrow.

Be Good At Breakfast

Weekend Work Out

Buy Groceries 

Work It

Note: This was written on 1/24/2013 and I forgot to come back and publish it.

Work Out For 30 Minutes - Success



You're reading that right, my imaginary friend.

I totally worked out this morning. I hopped on the elliptical whilst watching The Colbert Report. And I learned that the Virginia state congress are a bunch of assholes and that I am fucking out of shape. I had to pause several times. It didn't help that the sneakers I had on were killing my feet. But I also didn't stretch.

First, of course, I had to knock the several inches of dust off of it.

So, it was pretty tough.

Up With Protein, Down With Carbs - Success

This is somewhat a success. Here's the thing: this app is confusing. I'm not entirely sure that percentage on the pie chart thing is the recommended number or what. It doesn't jibe with the goal grams of carbs or protein or fat that are on the daily tracker part. But is that a recommended number or just the maximum?

I don't get it, and I don't even know how to explain it in a way that makes sense.

All I know is, I've had snacks, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and I still have 995 calories left in the day's budget. Sure, 315 of that is calories I burned on the elliptical, but that's still a lot. I never thought I would be troubled with not eating enough. This is completely alien to me.


And so, what do I do with this information? I totally exploit it and go to the vending machine to indulge in a bag of little vanilla sandwich cookies. And I still come in under my budget.

Two-Point-Four

Lose 2 Percent - Fail.

But, I did lose 2.4 pounds! That's something, right? That's a total of 1.4 percent lost. Another pound and I'd have hit the mark.

When I emailed my weigh-in to HR, she responded, "Good job!" That's always nice. A little bit of approval is always a boost. And the accountability of this contest helps, even if I don't win.


Work Out For 30 Minutes - Fail.

I have no excuse for this, other than that laziness we've talked about. I'll try again tonight or tomorrow morning. Probably tomorrow morning, since I realized that my elliptical is quite loud and it would be around midnight if I did it after work.

Up With Protein, Down With Carbs - Smashing Success!

Today, my carbs were at 57 percent, which is just slightly over the recommended, but my protein was at 16 percent, which is 1 higher than the recommended 15. Huzzah!

A pie chart for National Pie Day.

I'm still over 300 calories under my budget today, which is probably too low, but I just had an apple and I'm feeling quite satisfied. I may have a cup of tea when I get home, but I don't really want to eat anything, just because I don't want to mess up my distribution, there.

For tomorrow:

Work Out For 30 Minutes

Up With Protein, Down With Carbs

Little Wins

Get In Bed Before 1 - Success

Walk The Dog - Success

I mentioned before how I'm lazy right?


Well, let me tell you the extent to which I can be really lazy.

I have, on more than one occasion, been a total slob, as well as lazy. One of my worst traits is that I don't pick up after myself. I have been known to wait until there is trash and dirty dishes on every flat surface of my apartment before I'll clean up and do the dishes. I'll wait until I don't have a single clean dish before I'll do the dishes.


I'll do laundry and leave the clean clothes in the basket until it's magically filled with dirty clothes again. They never make it to the closet. If shirts need to be ironed, I'll just wear other shirts.


That's how lazy I am.


So, I'm trying to fix that, along with everything else. For the past two weeks or so, I must say I've done an excellent job of picking up after myself. I've been rinsing my dishes and putting them away right after I use them. I've been taking trash straight to the trash can. When I did laundry this weekend, I put it straight up in the closet before I did anything else.


Granted, that basket with clean and wrinkly clothes that was there before is still there, but baby steps.


And today I actually broke down and ironed some shirts. I didn't have a whole lot of time, because I wanted to get to the park with the beast before work, but I did, at least, iron some shirts.


And I did, at least, take the dog to the park. And I did, at least, remember to call my sister and wish her a happy birthday, and I also managed to clean up all my breakfast dishes and put them in the dishwasher.


I mean, I know it doesn't sound like much, but this is progress, trust me. I'm probably even underselling a bit the extent to which I am a total slob.

And a lazy sod.

As far as food goes, I'm still doing okay. I had, more or less, the exact same thing as yesterday. I'm all tracked and under my goal by 400 calories. I'll probably have some sort of snack when I get home, but I'm confident I'll still be way under the goal.

Here's the thing: I'm not losing weight very quickly. I weigh in at work tomorrow and, according to the scale this morning, I've only lost one pound this week.

I wanted to lose at least 4 lbs. In fact, it was one of those goal things, wasn't it?

Ah, yeah.

Lose 2 Percent.

That was a bit unrealistic, now wasn't it? At least, it was unrealistic considering I haven't been doing any exercise of any kind.

So, you know what that means. I automatically need to try to lose 2 percent next week, since I didn't succeed this week.

That means working exercise into my new routine.

I've already decided to start tonight. I happen to own an elliptical machine. I used to work at an apartment complex and someone moved out and left it behind, and I claimed it. I've had it for over a year, and I've not used it once in earnest.

So...

Work Out For 30 Minutes


I'm going to set a goal for at least 30 minutes of activity every day this week, whether it's walking the dog or 30 minutes of playing a dance game on the Wii or 30 minutes on the elliptical. We'll see if that gives me a bit of a boost this week.

Also, I've noticed I'm consistently short on protein and high on carbs.

Yesterday, protein consisted of 12 percent of my diet. Fat was 25 percent. Carbohydrates were 63 percent.

According to my app, I'm supposed to get 55 percent carbs and 15 percent protein. I'm still lower on fat than it's allowing for, but I'm not about to increase my fat intake, no matter what that thing says.

Up With Protein, Down With Carbs

Tomorrow, I want to hit the goal. Eventually, it would be prudent to probably bring that carb percentage below 55 percent, but - again - baby steps. 

I can't do much about it, since I only have so much food in my house until I go shopping Friday or Saturday, but I think I have enough to be able to hit the goal, at least.

And I'm Feeling Good

This is the first blog post from my new workplace!

My chair is comfortable, I'm not too hot or too cold, my computer is working fabulously, nothing smells bad, it's quiet enough I can hear myself think, and I don't have to share this space with anyone, so I'm feeling pretty great.

Let's do this.

Get In Bed Before 1 - Success 

Walk The Dog - Fail
 
Don't Spend Money - Success, So Far

I really need to take Molly to the park tomorrow. Although, while I didn't get the chance to walk with her, which was my plan, I have walked a whole bunch through this massive building.

Anyway, last night, I logged all my meals for today in MyFitnessPal, and I totally stuck with it.

I didn't plan the snacks. And yet I haven't really had any snacks. Okay, I had a banana from the fruit basket we got from Living Arts. But fruit doesn't count as an indulgence, so I've pretty much been perfect.

Of course, that'll all change when I get home tonight.

I had leftover tuna casserole for dinner, which I warmed up in our awesome break room.

I know I keep bringing it back to the new building, but, come on, it's a pretty big deal.

They gave us little welcome boxes with tumblers with straws and thermoses, both with the company logo. I am sort of obsessed with them.

Okay, time to get back to work.

For tomorrow:

Get In Bed Before 1

Walk The Dog

Refusing Temptation

Stay On Budget - Success!

I have been so good. 

While I didn't stick to the one drink thing, I did stay under my calorie budget, and I resisted some really big temptation.

We went to the expensive wine bar. They charge more for one glass what you would pay for a whole bottle of the same stuff, so I decided to get a whiskey and soda, which I feel was a wise choice. Less sugar, fewer calories, and I like whiskey better than wine, anyway.

The real test came when we migrated from the expensive wine bar to my favorite restaurant/bar in Tulsa, Cosmo Cafe.

I got a hot spiced bourbon milk and honey, but it was after midnight, so I counted that toward Sunday.  I could have also gotten a dessert or some delicious food. My friends did. But I stuck with my drink, and instead of getting a second when everybody else ordered another round, I ordered a cup of Earl Grey. I felt ridiculous ordering tea at a bar, but they had it and I wanted it, so whatever.

Then, riding home with my BFF, he was on a cheat day from his diet and had planned to "go to bed with Taco Bell on my face." So, we stopped at Taco Bell. I thought very seriously about getting something, even though I was not the least bit hungry. I really argued with myself and, in the end, decided against it. 

Then I went home and ate a little bag of cheetos and a little bag of fudge stripe cookies. It still felt like an indulgence, but I was still under my calorie budget, so it worked out pretty well.

Also, I took the beast to the dog park both yesterday and today. It's been glorious outside, so I'd really have been a fool not to go out and enjoy the weather. She is currently all tuckered out and behaving herself on the couch, rather than being in my face or begging at the door, which is great.

I'm cooking tuna casserole tonight. According to MyFitnessPal, it's a lot more low cal than I thought. Also, garlic chicken Voila is pretty low in calories, which was a pleasant surprise. Options just keep opening up!

As you can tell, I'm feeling very optimistic today. Here's the goal for this week:

Don't Spend Any More On Food This Week

While I was on budget calorie-wise, I was not on budget money-wise, this weekend. I have groceries in my house for a change. So, I need to commit to not buying anything else this week. I'll eat what I have in my house for the next week, and not go to any restaurant of any kind.

You know what else?

Get In Bed Before 1

For obvious reasons.

Walk The Dog

Tomorrow, I want to take her to the walking trail and get some exercise for myself. It's supposed to be cold tomorrow, but I'm going to try to force myself to do it, regardless.

It'll All Be Better In The New Building

Get My Ass In Bed - Accomplished

I started out today really optimistic and feeling great and ended it really stressed and annoyed.

At 9 a.m., my alarm went off and I snoozed for 45 min. before I finally got up. I had a leisurely breakfast and did some laundry. All good.

I went to work today with a Healthy Choice frozen meal, an apple, and a 100 calorie pack of cookies. That would have been fine, but I had oatmeal and a banana for breakfast, and forgot all about lunch. So, I got far too hungry for a little microwave pasta meal, come 7 p.m.

I broke down and went to Wendy's instead, leaving the frozen thing in the freezer. But it was totally okay, because I got a grilled chicken sandwich and some chili and a diet coke, which was all pretty low cal, and I ate it at my desk.

I meant to get a small chili, but they gave me a large one, which I ate, even though I was full to bursting halfway through.

Then my night devolved into silliness. Everybody showed up to the studio and started hugging and taking pictures, and I felt a little out of place, because I've only been there for six months and I haven't really formed an attachment to the building or the people. So, that bummed me out and then after a beautiful moment, watching the anchors sign off from that studio for the last time after 64 years, I went about finishing my job.

Welp. They shut off the servers and started packing everything up. They didn't tell me they shut down the servers, so I sat at my desk, hitting refresh, trying to transfer video files to the server, while everybody else was having champagne. Then the video files wouldn't upload to my email, so I couldn't even email them to myself and upload them from the new building. They were literally packing up my equipment out from under me.

That doesn't make you feel good. That doesn't make you feel like an integral part of the organization.

So, I went home and ate my feelings. Okay, it was a 100-calorie thing of frozen Greek yogurt, but it still felt pretty good.

Even with the stress eating and the large chili, MyFitnessPal tells me I only consumed 1,294 calories.

Apparently, if every day is like today, I can lose 12 lbs. in 5 weeks. God forbid.

Tomorrow is my day off. Historically, it can be hard to stick to a plan when you don't have a schedule like on a work day. I'm supposed to go out with some co-workers to break in a new anchor. We're going to a very expensive wine bar. Also, Sunday, I have every intention of taking myself to see The Hobbit.

Which brings me to my weekend goal:

Stay On Budget

I'm referring to my calorie budget, but doing that should also keep me from spending a bunch of money on drinks and movie treats.

Once More, With Feeling

So, what have we learned these past few days?

We've learned I'm a lazy sod.

I'll give you a short recap. I've done not much of anything, except go to work.

The weekend was a lost cause. Freezing rain and my friends asking me out to lunch at Red Lobster ruined my plans on Saturday. Then on Sunday, I stayed in all day and did nothing, and I ate Long John Silver's.

I got it together somewhat as the work week began. Quiznos for lunch in the newsroom. A salad from Wendy's on Tuesday. Subway on Wednesday. I only went home to take Molly out on Tuesday, but I haven't managed to take her to the park before work yet.

Today, I did finally go to the grocery store. So, here in a little bit, I'll have sushi for dinner. I had a sausage sandwich from Starbucks for breakfast, though, so today wasn't totally successful.

I bought a shit ton of fresh fruit. I bought some Slim Fast shakes, because I think I can really pull of a meal replacement sort of plan, with my schedule. And I got some stuff to make a tuna casserole this weekend. That's not very healthy, but it is tasty comfort food. I figure I'll allow myself to have whatever I want, as long as it isn't greasy fast food, and, you know, in moderation.

I got a lot of decaf tea and some hot cocoa and some 100 calorie cookie packs, to satisfy cravings. And I got some microwave healthy choice meals.

I didn't mean to get decaf tea, but it will probably come in handy, and let me tell you why:

My challenge is that I work evenings and I stay up all night. It hampers me in a number of ways. For one, you can't take the dog to the park or go jogging or whatever after 11 p.m. Well, you can, but not in my neighborhood. Not if you value your life.


You can't vacuum or do laundry between the hours of 11 p.m. and 3 a.m., when you live in an apartment with no washer and dryer.

And when you stay up until 3 or 4 a.m., you don't wake up until after 10 a.m. If you do, you're not getting the kind of sleep you really need to be healthy and functional.

But when you wake up after 10 a.m., that only leaves you an hour or two before you have to get ready for work.

I know all of this, and yet I still do it. I'm wound up when I get off work at 11 p.m., and I want to catch up on TV shows or play a game or read to chill out. If I could whittle my time spent doing that down to, like, an hour, I'd be good to go but that's easier said than done.

And coming home and immediately putting the kettle on for tea was not helping. So, that's where the decaf comes in.

But with that schedule, you can see how I could easily stick to a plan of oatmeal or cereal and a piece of fruit for breakfast, a Slim Fast shake for lunch, maybe a little snack for tea, and then a nice dinner.

That seems totally doable, as long as I keep food in the house. Again, if you wake up two hours before you need to go to work and you don't get off until 11 p.m., grocery shopping becomes an inconvenience.

So, the key to any of this working is to sort out my schedule. I see that now. Challenge for tomorrow:

Get My Ass In Bed Before 1

One other thing: I did lose 1 lb. this week, somehow. And I was feeling pretty good about it, until I saw the email from HR with the results of everybody else's weigh-in. I came in last. Everybody else lost at least 1 percent. I didn't even crack half a percentage point. 

If I lose 4-5 lbs., that would be 2 percent.

Lose 2 Percent.

The Last Supper

How do I have 46 page views? Blogger tells me I already have 46 page views. I know those weren't all me.

In the grand scheme of the blogosphere, that's not much, but considering what this blog is, so far, I regret that those 40-some people have viewed it. I feel like it's not ready for primetime, but okay, fine.

I guess I have to be interesting now.

Today, I went to the orientation meeting at our new building. You may remember, I talked in my last post about the news station I work for moving to a shiny new building and how that's inspired me to live a shiny new lifestyle.

The meeting was great. And I got a chance to check out how my new work space is coming along. I have my own cubicle and my own computer and my own phone. My phone is even already programmed with my name on the little screen. Right now, I share my desk space with the guy who has the day shift, so this is very exciting.

I'll also possibly be visible in the background of the evening news every night, which is part of why I want to look my best.

But the coolest thing about the new building is the new neighborhood.

I sat twice at the red light outside of our current building today and watched two different guys walk into the discreetly marked door of the downtown Adult Superstore. Both of them were wearing sweatpants, unsurprisingly.

That's what's across from what we affectionately call, "The Dump." 

Across from the new building, we have a brand new park, called Guthrie Green. We have some of the best restaurants in Tulsa within walking distance. We have a balcony attached to our break room, which has a stunning view of the downtown skyline.

Up until today, my routine was to drive the 20 minutes home to let my dog, Molly, out during my dinner break. I work in the evenings, so I generally will have a small breakfast, a little snack at work, and then I'll pig out on fast food on my way home to let Molly out. 

I have a nifty collection of fast food bags in the floor of my car, at any given time. There's a limited selection of places that are on the way, so I keep them on regular rotation, in order to avoid that knowing look from the person in the window. "Welcome back," they say through the speaker, before I've even fully rolled my window down. They know me too well. I have to switch it up.

Anyway, this brings me to a couple of goals I want to set for the next 12 weeks.

Avoid Fast Food

Stay Downtown

Walk The Dog

These are the three biggies and they may end up being the only goals I strive to stick to for the whole 12 weeks. 

Molly can totally wait the whole day without peeing. I only come home, because I feel guilty for not taking her out for exercise. So, for the next 12 weeks, on work days, I will take her either to the nearby park for a walk around the trail or to the dog park downtown so she can run to her heart's content. Hopefully, this will also make her less clingy and less excitable/aggressive.

Staying downtown for dinner will save money and energy and it will give me a chance to sit and focus on what I'm eating, instead of shoving it down my throat, while behind the wheel. I'll prepare food ahead of time and bring it with me, like a normal, sensible person.

And avoiding fast food is absolutely essential. It will force me to think about my meals before five minutes before I eat. It will save me money, and it almost has to help me lose weight, even if I do eat junk at home. I just at a Sonic blast, as a sort of last meal, and I feel so sick, I think I might puke if I ever see another greasy paper bag or styrofoam cup.

So, that's that. I'll be going grocery shopping tomorrow, in preparation for my first week of work with these new guidelines. More on that tomorrow.

Also today, I did register for our Biggest Loser competition. And while I was talking to my mom about it, I realized how badly the odds are stacked against me. The objective is to lose the highest percentage of one's body weight.

So, say somebody who weighs 130 lbs. wants to lose 10 or 15 lbs. and they enter. If they lose just 10 lbs., that's a 7.69 percent loss. If someone weighs 230 lbs. and they lose 10 lbs., that's a 4.35 percent loss.

No fair. 

For the record, I happen to be closer to the latter example weight. So, I have to lose over 20 lbs. before I can even say I lost 10 percent. That means I have to work harder to get half the results. 

I have a long history with dieting. I was on Weight Watchers once. Twice. Three times. When I was not trying particularly hard at that, I was losing at least a pound a week. They said it was ideal to lose two pounds a week. But I want to lose more than 24 lbs. It just may not happen in 12 weeks.

I want to be realistic about this. Win The Money may not happen, but if I lose 24 lbs. at the end of the challenge, then I'll call that a goal reached.

I weigh again on January 16. I'll share the percentage lost then. No lbs. figures, though--a lady has to retain a certain amount of mystique.

Hey, Hi, Hello

I've done this before with varied results, but now feels like the right time to try again.

This is, technically, one of those trite self-improvement blogs. But before your eyes roll right out of your head, just hear me out.

Sure, part of it is going to focus on the usual: fitter, happier, more productive.

If I'm honest, for me, it's more like: thinner, smarter, more social.

But I'm hoping to do more with this blog. I don't just want to ramble on about what I've eaten today and how much I hate working out and how much I hate being fat. I want to talk about whatever I want to talk about and work toward some goals at the same time, and hopefully that will be interesting to somebody other than me.

I'm going to set goals every day--little attainable goals. Some will be a day or a week out. Some will be a month out. When I reach one goal, I'll set another. When I fail to reach a goal - which I will - I'll try it again until I do reach it.

The first goal is 12 weeks out. It's this: Win The Money.

I work at a local TV news station, and they're very proactive about helping employees lead healthy lifestyles. For the next 12 weeks, we're doing a Biggest Loser thing. Everybody who wants to participate chips in $10, and we all weigh in once a week. If you don't weigh in one week, you get disqualified. At the end, whoever loses the biggest percentage of body weight wins the money. Well, one man and one woman will win and each will split the money, but still, depending on how many people participate, that's a lot of money.

I'm weighing in tomorrow, after my orientation meeting at our new building.

That's part of my inspiration for this, too. A week or so from now, I'm going to be working in a new place, surrounded by all new everything, and I want to fit in in that environment. I need a new body and new clothes that fit on that new body. I want a whole new routine.

I started this job six months ago, and I totally blew my chance to change up my lifestyle then, so I'm not wasting this one.