Friday, January 27, 2012

29 for 29

So as you probably noticed from my previous posts that I didn't quite finish my 28 for 28, but I got pretty darn close.  The best thing that it did for me was to concentrate on making some more things for me to wear and use. I've really enjoyed wearing my creations and have gotten some great comments on the things I've made. So in sort of the same vein I've decided to do a 29 for 29 for this year.  I know I'm starting kind of late, but this is a bit different than last years so I think I'll be ok.  The main theme this year is no theme, these are just 29 things that I would like to do before I turn 29, so without further delay, here's the list:

1. Get my office organized
2. Lose 100lbs (I'm already 11 lbs down since I started tracking on Dec 29, but 21 lbs total since I started my weight loss journey right around my 28th b-day)
3. Make zombie quilt
4. Finish decorating the wall above the piano
5. Finish restoring the piano (and get it tuned)
6. Make a rug for the dining room
7. Learn to do a full bust adjustment on sewing patterns
8. Finish knee socks
9. Make Steve's Marine Corps Quilt
10. Run a 5k
11. Read 12 books
12. Make a clock for the clock wall
13. Submit a piece of art to an art show
14. Get my next tattoo
15. Get a new mattress
16. Visit my parents in Kansas
17. Make a bra
18. Wear shorts with pride
19. Refinish the bathroom bench
20. Decorate my office at work
21. Buy a pair of TOMS
22. Repaint my desk at home
23. Recover or Slip Cover a chair
24. Buy/build a new comp
25. Finish spinning yarn from 2011
26. Weave something from start to finish
27. Sew a shirt
28. Re-decorate Chris' room with him
29. Make matching travel accessories

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Resolutions of a Sort

Hello Everyone!  Hope you had a great and wonderful holiday season.  I know mine was super hectic, what with birthday parties and Christmas and then Steve got sick over New Year's, but we're all healthy and doing well now.  The end of the year always gets me thinking about new beginnings and trying to better myself.  This year, a week or so before my 28th birthday I had a break down of sorts.  If you know me in person you know that I've struggled with my weight for the majority of my life and have had some weird body dis-morphia in thinking that I'm way bigger than I am, which causes me to get depressed and eat more, making me bigger than I was.  Well on this particular occasion we were getting ready to go out and I put my jeans on and realized that I had not only worn through the inner thighs, but I had worn through the patches I had made on the inner thighs.  I then tried on my smaller (size 18) pair of jeans and there was no way that I was going to be able to wear them.  I broke down and cried about how I'd completely let myself go and then had to pull myself together to re-patch my (only pair of size 20) jeans.  It made me realize that I really needed to change something.  I thought about doing a full detox but then Steve brought to my attention that every time I try to do something super drastic I don't follow through.  So I thought about it for a couple weeks, meanwhile starting to think about the foods and the portion sizes that I was putting in my body.  I finally decided that I needed to start running again and tracking my calories.  So I found an app (MyFitnessPal) to track my calories, started drinking a gallon of water a day again and started on the Couch to 5k program, which was going great until I misplaced my headphones, but I'm rectifying that today.  I have been walking and doing calisthenics 3 times a week and since that day in December I'm now down a total of 17.2 lbs from my starting weight of 254.8.  My clothes are fitting better and best of all I feel amazing.  I've been eating mostly fresh foods, and cooking at home almost exclusively, though we did go out last weekend, but I managed to stay within my calorie range every day.  I haven't really missed anything as I've made the decision that if I'm going to use calories for it, it better be the best, ie instead of a bigger bowl of diet ice cream I'll have a small bowl of gelato.  I also made the decision that since I have so many clothes down to a size 10 that I'm taking the Seamless Pledge, and I am not going to buy any new clothes until I reach my goal weight of 150.  I'm super excited about this, I can thrift for stuff and I'm not including under garments or shoes in this, I can't make those (yet).  So I'm hoping you'll be hearing more from me this year as I shrink.