Weight journey update and a new goal

Hello--I'm back again! Today has been a busy day, what with church, making cookies, cleaning the house, etc... Fortunately, I have a bit of free time to quickly catch you up on my weight journey--after all, isn't that what this blog is about?! Of course.

First, I'll start with a new weekly goal:

Put my alarm clock far enough away that I have to get up to turn it off.

I have a tendency to plug my iPhone in on my nightstand and then turn off the alarm and not wake up for some time (occasionally I don't even know I turn it off). I do have a digital clock that I set up on my dresser (across the room) with the numbers facing away from me (I read in an article that the bright digital light from a digital clock can keep you up). *sigh* If I must get up, I must get up. I hate getting up early.

I will also be maintaining the goal from the previous week:

Lay out the clothes I plan to work out in before and set my socks and shoes at the foot of my bed.

I REALLY like this habit I'm starting to form. This makes my pre-workout morning minutes SO EASY and stress-free. When I wake up, BAM. There are my clothes, ready to go. Cell phone charged to listen to music. The only problem is that I love leaving all my shoes downstairs, so many mornings I forget my sneakers downstairs in the kitchen. Surprisingly, I like my shoes upstairs better because I then know where my entire work-out outfit is.


Now for the update on my weight loss journey:

At the end of November (the 25th to be exact), I officially reached my highest weight yet. I don't feel comfortable disclosing it yet, but needless to say, I was extremely disheartened. On top of that, I could constantly feel my blood pressure rising, as day after day, I would be stressed, exhausted, and worn down. I kept going through my head of reasons that my bp and weight were up so high: Thanksgiving, chocolate, pop, PIZZA, mac and cheese, burgers (we just got a new 5 Guys in town--love it), not working out as much, dealing with a new lifestyle pace I was not used to...but all that really kept popping up was: what a LETDOWN. I won't lie--I cried on the way home from the gym. It felt like an impossible task, and in some ways I still believe parts of it might be. A week ago today, that changed.

On the 26th of November, I made a daring effort: I would work out 5 days IN A ROW. That had never happened before--my workouts were sporadic at best. 1 a week here, nothing for a month, 2 a week there at the most. Not thinking about the past, I just took the bull by the horns and ALMOST did it. I went 3 days in a row (more than I had ever gone in a week since joining). I worked my BUTT off each day using the Anytime Health workout planner that came with my membership. I was EXHAUSTED and sore after day 3. I quit for about 3 days, then went back and started up an every other day routine.

This past Saturday, I noticed what looked like red spots forming on my neck and throat. I went to the Urgent Care facility and found out it was "contact dermatitis". This is when red, sore, itchy spots break out on your skin because of something I came in contact with. It is not contagious or life-threatening. It's just annoying. SO, I just finished taking Me.tt//.refn rwhjlGFNLUI something like that and am still using Caladryl lotion on it...unfortunately, it hasn't gone away yet, which means another doctor appt. tomorrow...uck.

ANYWAYS. THE IMPORTANT PART. Of course they make you take your height, weight, and blood pressure. The nurse took my height: 5'4" (YES I GREW 1/4"; I AM NOW TALLER THAN MOM). Then, I stepped on the scale. For once, I was not nervous because I knew it was bad. The nurse said ok and I looked up. Tears formed in my eyes. I had dropped 7 LBS. 7 LBS!!!!!!! I couldn't contain my excitement. I squealed and told the nurse what I had done (she looked at me like I was nuts at first). After congratulating me, I bounced into the room and she took my blood pressure. After taking it twice (the cuff popped off of my arm) she said, "ok". What was it? I asked with intrepidation. The last time I had it taken, it was high...like 140 over 96-ish, I admitted. She looked at me and says (oh so nonchalantly), "You're normal. 128 over 76." WOAH. WHAT. 3 DAYS OF WORKING HARD AND I DROP 7 LBS AND 20 POINTS OFF OF MY BLOOD PRESSURE. I almost started crying right there. This poor nurse had no idea what was going on with this teary-eyed patient. I was just so......proud of myself. I did this...all by myself. Just me. You have no idea how good life can be until YOU take ahold of your life and make it go YOUR way. Now I just want to go run in the streets, but since it's raining, I'll keep it bottled inside for now. Until I hit 10 lbs down. Then, I'll probably publicly sob.

Until tomorrow.

Hey...remember me?

Wow. What a looong hiatus I just took. Life has been INSANELY busy and I am slowly but surely adjusting to my new work-schedule craziness. While I can snatch some free time, I thought I would update readers on my life and WHY it is so busy. Here goes; see if you can keep up with me now.

1.) Throughout June, July, and August, I searched intensely for jobs, first in Cincinnati, then anywhere in OH. While some interviews came up, nothing went further than an interview.

2.) During the summer, I had quite a few substitute jobs as an organist around town (@ my home church and at a neighboring church). Aside from that, no job bites.

3.) In the middle of August, a close friend of mine suggested I audition for her church as a full-time organist. I thought about it and put it on my back burner.

4.) Near the end of August, I got a phone call from a local school choir director looking for an accompanist for the 2012-13 school year, and BAM...first job.

5.) Soon after, I received a call from the pastor of my close friend's church, saying that my friend and her mother had recommended me for the organ job. I went in for an audition a few days later, and found out the night of the audition that I was the new organist!

6.) Immediately after getting my 2nd job, I got calls from 3 different churches, asking me to substitute or be a full-time organist, and I had to turn them all down. :(

7.) I put out flyers around town offering piano lessons and got a call from a mother looking for a teacher for her son! That is job #3!

8.) By the middle of September, I had begun subbing at my old school district. Job #4!

9.) This past weekend, I played for my old high school chamber choir for a performance at the church I play at! That was a part-time job (one practice a week, 2-3x total). Job(ish) #5!

PHEW. My workload is heavy, but it is all worth it. Every job involves something I love doing: teaching, or making music. What a crazy, beautiful life.


PS: I will try to post more, especially about my weight loss journey. BIG NEWS ABOUT MY HEALTH COMING SOON. VERY EXCITING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!