Days 339-365 (countdown to expo)

Yep, I've been MIA for awhile ... I thought I had my food demons beat last go 'round but boy was I wrong (wrong! wrong!). Those suckers reared their ugly little heads (which just so happen to look exactly like french fries and cheesecake, go figure!)the past few weeks and I gave in.

But, with less than two weeks until I have to work a week-long tradeshow in Vegas in a shirt I ordered a size too small (as motivation to get back in gear), I am now in panic mode! (what a doof!)

The office is in super-drive getting everything ready for Expo ... even calling in heaping plates of pasta and breadsticks for everyone to nosh on while they work ... not this chubbo, though. I hightailed it to the gym and snagged a plain baked potato and grilled chicken breast on the way back ... yummo. ;)

I hope daily workouts and mini meals will help me squeeze my way into my shirt. If not, the world will hear my sobs all the way from the Vegas strip. ;)

p.s. While I was on the eliptiKILL today (cusing the machine and myself), something caught my attention. It wasn't the hard-body workout Barbie I idolize or the beefcake boy with the rippling muscles (yes, they were there, but that's another story) ... it was a flash of metal. It was A WALKER! In a GYM! HUH? I angled for a better view and saw a white-haired woman in her late 60s doing working her way through a set of arms. It wasn't until she made her off the machine and to the water fountain that was I became in complete aww of her ... the walker was hers! Not a friend's (my first suspicion), but hers. She pushed her way out the door and I then pushed myself to burn an extra 50 calories. Thanks for the inspiration! ;)

Days 338-339 (my chad crandfords are killin' me)

So, last week it was my Suzanne Summers that were killing me (a la the infamous thigh master era). This week it's my calves, which have been named the Chad Cranfords after a coworker who has great ones (or so CG has informed me).

Previously terrified of the eliptiKILL (because literally I felt I was dying after 2 minutes on that thing), I am happy to report that today I was able to rock out 30 minutes on that bad boy. Who-hoo!

I'm sure my cavemates weren't happy about the wretched gym stench I brought back with me after that monumentous feat, but, well, we're a team, and if I'm suffering, they have to, too. That's how the world works, right? ;)

On another note, I am sooo happy to have a fellow blogger joining me in the be-accountable-to-the-world ranks. Shelly over at Sawatzky Survivors has just launched her weight-loss blog One Pound at a Time and it's awesome. And I'm so stinkin' jealous. Her current weight (she looks amazing) is where I was this summer ... I wanna' be back there. NOW. UGH. Seeing her has made me realize how much I've backtracked and I'm more irritated and more motivated than ever. So for that, I'm totally grateful she's sharing her weight woes with the world. ;) Go gett'em girl! I'm right behind ya'.

Days 328-337 (let's talk turkey)

Last Monday, I embarked on a fitness challenge with coworker Gage (CG). And, knowing that possible humiliation in the workplace and probable humiliation online loomed before me should I not complete my latest weight-loss goal (17 fatties by Christmas, click here for backstory), we opted to up the ante with a financial twist.

So, here’s the deal. CG and I have to hit the gym at lunch four days a week (we get a one-day reprieve). And, if because of laziness/slothness/whateverness either of us skips more than one workout per week (sick babies are an exception) we have to pony up 5 bucks for each missed sweat session. (Um, yeah mama's buying a house in exactly 13 days … mama ain’t got no cash … and therein lies the 1-2 punch. ;) )

Anywhoo, smart as I am, I thought starting this new regime the week of Thanksgiving would be a fantastic idea. I’m a genius, I tell, total genius!

We worked out on Monday (a little sore, but nothing to complain to Mom about). Skipped Tuesday (we had a company lunch thing). And went back on Wednesday (worked the wings … YOWZA!!!).

I was shocked and amazed when, at 9:30 Turkey Day morning, I found all of my wobbly bits wobbling all over the dreadmill while watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (I could so relate to those poor blimps wafting down the street). Yay me!

But, my fitness fire was quickly extinguished as I a gluttonously ate my way through the remainder of the holiday weekend, coming up for air only briefly between bites.

But, like any good chunky monkey with a great financial burden to bare, I climbed back up on that eliptiKILL today (Coop was sick yesterday), worked the legs on weights (targeting my Suzanne Somers … youch!) and am now exhausted and sore.

YES!

Just 23 days left to achieve my goal.