Summer Blog Party - Super Healthy Kids and Challenges!!

Its Friday and time for the SUMMER BLOG PARTY!!!

~*~ WELCOME TO THE PARTY! ~*~

This Week’s featured party is going on at SUPER HEALTH KIDS! She is giving away two Healthy Habits Plates to two lucky winners, to be chosen at random AND its open to anyone in the United States or Canada. The plates have been designed to teach your kids how to eat a balanced meal. They can look at the adorable images and know that they need more fruits and vegetables.

Isn’t it just adorable! If you have kids, grandkids, nieces or nephews you’re going to want to head over now to enter and read her fabulous food and snack ideas for healthy kids.

To enter, just leave a comment about something UNhealthy you buy for your kids because it provides you with some sort of sanity. You have till June 6th!

Thank you Super Healthy Kids for this wonderful giveaway!

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JUNE 1^st THROUGH July14th

LOVEBUG's America on the Move Walking Challenge - SIGN UP NOW! Get out there and WALK! The reward is not only great health but one lucky winner will win New Balance Walking Shoes. She has a picture of these shoes on her blog so head on over there and sign up. What a perfect combo for those of you who want to up your exercise and are already participating in the Biggest Loser Challenge or The Walk or Bike Your Errands Challenges! YES, you CAN enter more than one challenge or contest, its summer and it’s the blog party and it’s all about FUN!

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Sizzling All Summer Long!!

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Thinking Thin Too – Biggest Loser Challenge! SIGN UP BETWEEN MAY 26 AND JUNE 16TH!..thats NOW!!! Head over to Thinking Thin Too’s blog and get signed up for a Biggest Loser Challenge that is going on all summer long. For those of you wanting to PUSH IT, this is a great way to get support and stay accountable!

The Grumpy Chair Why Drive When You Can Walk Or Ride Your Bike Challenge: Instead of driving on your errands, walk or ride your bike and keep track of it. Not only will you save money on gas, you’ll do your body a favor too! Going On June 1st and running until Friday, August 15^th See The Grumpy Chair for details!

DaDivaStreet’s New York Frame of Mind Party: All summer long DaDiva will be giving out facts about her hometown New York City! Pay attention because she going to be giving out gift cards and NYC souvenirs on August 16 and August 30^th!

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WOW!! Thats a LOT of party!! You can read more about the Summer Blog Party HERE!

Please take advantage of these wonderful challenges that Thinking Thin Too, Love Bug and Grumpy Chair have worked SO HARD to put together for you! YES you can join ALL of them and I do encourage you do so because they all tie together for our one common goal...HEALTH!!!

Just a friendly PSA

Dear women of the northern hemisphere,

Its summer time once again and I’d just like to give you a friendly reminder....GET A PEDICURE. Clean up your feet before you go out in open toed shoes or sandals. Pedeggs work wonders on that dead skin and that chipped polish from last summer…come on, clean it up already! I’m not saying you need to spend $50 on a spa pedicure, I’m just saying take 20 minutes tonight and pay attention to your feet.

• Remove that old nail polish
• Give your feet a soak for 10 minutes
  
• Clip and file your toe nails
• Get rid of that dead skin and moisturize!
• Give those tootsies a coat of fresh and bright polish!

See, wasn’t that easy! Have a nice summer,

Love,

Scale Junkie

No Reward At All...

Its been a crazy day! I woke up late, rushed out the door to my appointment and got there on time but had to wait an hour (insert annoyed look here)

After my appointment I was feeling stressed and wanted a bit of therapy. I thought about FOOD, what I could eat and how much I could eat but instead of turning to food, I turned to shopping. I found two new tops that were on sale and I headed into Staples, an office supply store, to pick up a few things I needed from there.

After making my selections I proceeded to the checkout and the older gentleman working asked me if I had one of their reward cards. Don't you hate that these stores expect us to carry around little cards just to get a discount? Just give me my discount already and lets get on with it.

He said "I can look it up by phone number" so I blurted out my phone number while still digging through the card section of my wallet.

"I'm sorry, I can't find that number in our system" he said

"Thats ok, I've found my card" I said as I handed him my card

"Oh, we're going to have to get you a new card" he said.

"I haven't used it in a while, I didn't realize you'd changed them"

"Oh its not that" he said, "its just that this is Office Depot, and your reward card is for Staples"

"Oh so it is" I said, looking around and feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Would you like to fill out a form for one of our reward cards?" he said

"No thanks, I really have a lot to do and my day just got busier, clearly I need to stop at the store and find the appropriate shade of 'dumb blonde' to dye my hair because stuff like this only happens in 'dumb blonde' jokes"

No more plastic bottles

Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope that everyone in the States had a safe holiday weekend and avoided the tornadoes that hit so many parts of the country during the past week. Scary stuff!

That being said, hurricane season nearly here and we’ve started to make our preparations just in case. Preparations include, buying less frozen foods in bulk because if the power goes off, everything in the refrigerator goes to waste. Stock up on ready to eat canned goods and bottled water.

I really struggled with buying the cases of water. If there is a hurricane coming and you wait too long the stores are crazy busy and most of the time sold out of bottled water. On the other hand, if we have no hurricanes I’ve just bought more plastic bottles. I’ve really been making an effort to lessen my footprint on the earth and that includes my use of bottled water. I bought an Ez-Freeze 32 ounce bottle that has a removable freezer stick, I’ve been taking this with me when I need water to go and between the freezer stick and the ice I add, it stays cold a lot longer than bottled water anyhow and it’s reusable. The company lists locations worldwide, I bought this one at CVS. I just love it.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this year so far. I feel like I haven’t made as much weight loss progress as I’d like. My level of dedication has been less than stellar for a few weeks now due to medical reasons however I feel I’m capable of more; I feel I’m capable of doing better. Now more than ever I need your continued support. I’m hoping all the challenges I’ve set forth for myself this summer keep the fires of motivation burning strong and away from the edge of burnout. It really is a delicate balance but I have a feeling it’s going to be a great summer!

Summer Blog Party Begins TODAY!

Welcome to the official start of the Summer Blog Party!!

A few weeks ago I found a few items that I ended up with doubles on, one was a workout DVD and the others were just cute little items. Ken suggested that I give them away on my blog. I thought it would be a good idea and from that little conversation we came up with the whole concept of having a Blog Party.

My house is only so big and staying in Florida the whole time could get boring so why not spread the party out all over the world? I asked if anyone had room on their blog to host a party and WOW did I get some fabulous responses!

We have several events that are going on throughout the summer and during certain weeks, there are challenges that you are going to want to sign up for because they are not only going to challenge you to pick up your game and push yourself a bit, save gas money and they are also giving out some pretty fabulous rewards!

We have a few people who just want to meet you and invite you over for a party and give away a few prizes. It’s all good and its going to be a LOT of fun!

On Fridays stop by the Scale Junkie blog to see who is hosting the party of the week. Also stop by to see progress reports and reminders for ongoing challenges. On Mondays I’ll also post a reminder about the events for the week. Tuesday through Thursday will be business as usual here at Scale Junkie!

Many of the hosts have agreed to give away prizes that can be shipped world wide so everyone can play along, just read the details on the Host’s blog.

Are you ready to meet your hosts? The schedule and lineup is tentative because life happens so use this as a guideline, I’ll keep updating it as I find out more information:

The Party Schedule!

Thinking Thin Too – Biggest Loser Challenge! SIGN UP BETWEEN MAY 26 AND JUNE 16TH! head over to Thinking Thin Too’s blog and get signed up for a Biggest Loser Challenge that is going on all summer long. For those of you wanting to PUSH IT, this is a great way to get support and stay accountable!

DaDivaStreet’s New York Frame of Mind Party: All summer long DaDiva will be giving out facts about her hometown New York City! Pay attention because she going to be giving out gift cards and NYC souvenirs on August 16 and August 30^th!

The Grumpy Chair Why Drive When You Can Walk Or Ride Your Bike Challenge: JUNE 1st through AUGUST 15th!! Instead of driving on your errands, walk or ride your bike and keep track of it. Not only will you save money on gas, you’ll do your body a favor too!

May 26 through June 6^th GOING ON NOW!!!

Amy over at Super Health Kids is giving away two plates that are just adorable and teach kids proper portion sizes and about nutrition. Those of you with kids or grandkids are going to want to stop by often because she gives out great tips too!

June 1^st through July 13^th SIGN UP GOING ON NOW!!!

Lovebug is hosting an America on the Move walking challenge. She has found she has a true passion for walking and loves her New Balance Walking shoes so much; she wants to give one of you a pair too! Head over to her site for details!

June 6^th through June 13^th:

Love2BFit is giving away a Workout DVD

June 13^th through June 27^th

Girl Stuck In A Rut is hosting the Rub-A-Dub-Dub Only Homemade Grub challenge….that means NO DINING OUT for TWO WEEKS, up for the challenge? Your body is! She is going to share healthy recipes to make at home and she Is giving away a Healthy Cook Book.

JULY:

The Big Girls Big Step Challenge – Keep track of your steps by using a pedometer during the month of July and win gift cards.

July 4^th through July 11^th

Rupa is hosting the summer blog party all the way from INDIA! She is a very lovely and talented woman. She is making a hand crafted table covering to give away!

July 11^th to July 18^th:

Marriedsinglemomof3 is your host and will give away a Leslie Sansone Video

July 18^th to July 25^th:

SAUCHAGIRL’s is giving away a hand crafted Scrabble Tile Necklace. WOW we have some talented blogging friends don’t we?

July 25 to August 1^st:

Loser Irene is our host and she wants us to get out and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine while flying a kite!

AUGUST:

August 1^st to August 21th
JustooFat is having a Building A Healthy Habit: 5 a day Challenge to eat at least 5 servings of fruits and/or veggies each day for 21 days with a gift card prize.

August 1^st to August 8th
Ready Maid is your host but she is keeping the details of her party hush hush for now so you are just going to have to wait to hear about this one!

August 15 to August 22^nd: MizFit and Losing It and Loving It are your hosts

MizFit is our host and she is keeping her party details top secret like only MizFit can!

Losing It and Loving It is doing a 7 day, 4 mile a day workout challenge! WOW! That’s a lot of miles and steps! She has a box of workout goodies to offer.

August 22 to August 29^nd:
Less of Me Lora is our host. Lora has become a runner using the Couch to 5K program and she wants to give away a stopwatch so someone else can benefit from the C25K program the way she has.

I’m not done yet…didn’t I mention that I would be giving away some stuff too? I’m going to have a few giveaways and Scavenger Hunt later in the summer, dates to be announced. There are a few others who haven’t had time to tell me about their party but that’s ok, we can have more than one party per week can’t we? Its summer and it’s all about getting healthy and having fun!

Keep in mind the schedule is subject to change. These were your hosts initial ideas and they do reserve the right to change the menu! Just check back to this post for all the latest details. Its going to be a NONSTOP action packed summer party, are you ready?

Below is some bling for your blog to share the news and get everyone in on the party!

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Going on All Summer Long!

The 5k Challenge! Pick a day, pick a route in your neighborhood and walk a 5k!

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The Legal Stuff: Prize fulfillment is the responsibility of the blog hosting the Summer Blog Party. Any dispute over the prizes should be settled with the blog offering the prize. By entering any of these contests and accepting delivery of your prize you do so at your own risk. You agree that neither Scalejunkie.com’s owners nor the Summer Blog Party host awarding the prize is liable for any injuries, damages or accidents that may result from the receipt or use of any prizes awarded.

This guy just keeps dropping by unannounced

He comes to the front door and it sets Max and Sadie off on a CODE RED ALERT Bark-a-thon!! Today he came walking up the front walk and up towards the front door. They went crazy barking at the front window and then came to warn and protect me and they chased him off.

They were very concerned and wanted outside where they quickly ran to the side yard and alerted our two neighbors who were standing there talking BARK BARK BARK BARK which roughly translates to BEWARE OF THE INTRUDER. I assured the neighbors they weren't the source of the barking, I told them they were oblivious to the danger they faced and Sadie and Max were simply trying to warn them.

I decided that something had to be done about this intruder so I went to the front door armed with my weapon of choice, my camera, and collected the evidence that he had been there, in fact, he was STILL THERE!!!

He is a Great Egret and my neighbor has named him Fred!

99 Days to PUSH IT

A great big THANK YOU to all of the wonderful people who sent an email and asked to be a host for the Summer Blog Party. On Monday we officially kick off the Summer Blog Party and for those of you who aren’t interested, I promise to only mention it briefly each Monday and again on Friday. Tuesday to Thursday will still be normal Scale Junkie posts.

There are going to be some pretty fabulous challenges and prizes so even if you can’t host you’re still going to want to join in on the fun!

Its a three day weekend here in the States with Monday being our Memorial Day, the unofficial kick off to summer. From Memorial Day to Labor Day is 99 days. Several people have read and been inspired by FB's post about PUSHING YOURSELF just a little bit harder so I'm having a 99 day PUSH!

99 days of pushing myself harder, clean eating and complete dedication to my health. No excuses, just 99 days commitment to ME! I'm going for it!

Wanna push it with me?

I already know

I had to go to the grocery store to pick up a few things to make a meal that Ken requested…ravioli. I’m not crazy enough to make them from scratch, I did enough of that as a child helping my Mom. Making the pasta dough and rolling out the sheets of pasta by cranking the handle on the old pasta machine. Then she would carefully cut the squares and my sisters and I would spoon the mixture into the square and use a fork to seal the edges. It was quite a process. As tasty as they were, I’m not prepared to make that kind of time or emotional investment in a meal. The emotional investment could easily lead to overeating and that is something none of us need.

I headed to Publix with my list in hand. The only exceptions would be any canned goods or fresh fruits and veggies on sale. No junk food, no processed foods apart from the ravioli.

Those of you from the Southeastern United States are probably familiar with Publix grocery store and their gargantuan scale at the front of every store where you can just hop right up and check your weight. This thing is massive and it has a HUGE dial spins around loud and proud for the world to see. As I walked past the scale to get a sale paper, I paused to let some people pass and an older man just jumped down from the scale and asked me if I was waiting for the scale. I politely told him no thanks because quite frankly I’d rather rip my fingernails off with rusty pliers than jump up on that with everyone watching.

Most of my shopping was done and I’m just cruising along thought the store and mindlessly humming along with the overhead music…if you want my body ANNND you think I’m sexy …and then there she was….thrusting brownies at me….woahhhhh.

She was a young girl in her late teens or early 20’s giving out samples of fresh baked brownies. I would guess she was right around 300 pounds. I could tell she had been sampling the brownies herself by the hint of chocolate fudge frosting in the corner of her mouth. So many things rushed through my head. I’m not perfect, I slip and fall but I’m awake now and not eating mindlessly anymore. I wanted to scream at her and tell her she is wasting her life away over a brownie, I wanted to tell her that she would miss out on so many things because of brownies and she would cry so many times in her life over brownies. But I'm standing there as big as or bigger than her and I said nothing. I know that if someone would have said that to me when I was her age, I wouldn’t have listened, especially if they were morbidly obese themselves.

I smiled politely and said no thank you but she was a natural food pusher and her response was “our brownies are really good, just try a little one” and then she whispered I could eat them all day. I suppose she felt a certain sense of camaraderie in whispering this to a fellow fat girl. I sort of felt my heart sink just a little bit for her and I starred for a second at the fudgy gooeyness and I honestly felt sick at the thought of the overwhelming sweetness.

It was right about then that snapped back to reality and I borrowed a page out of Ken’s book. When we go to Costco or Sam’s he will only try samples of things that he has never tried before. When I asked him why he didn’t want to try a certain thing his response was a simple I already know what that tastes like. He is so right and I didn’t need to eat that brownie sample because lets face it I’ve had hundreds if not thousands of brownies in my life and I do know what they taste like.

It really makes you stop and think about why you put foods in your mouth. They say that you only taste the first few bites and I’ve experimented with things and found that the first bite tastes the best, the second bite is good and the rest are just filler. I’m learning to stop when I’m full and learning to recognize signs of full before they happen so I don’t overeat or mindlessly eat.

With that in mind I smiled politely at the brownie girl and said, I already know what brownies taste like.

The Sky Is Falling

The warming temperatures in May causes an act of nature known around my house as “the sky is falling”

Sadie and Max take guarding the house very seriously. Max knows that he isn’t supposed to bark at cats that walk through the yard or at dogs and humans walking down the block, he even knows that the random leaf blowing through the yard is not a threat, yes there was a time when all of these required excessive warning barks; he still can't resist acknowledging them but for the sake of being "a good boy" a low barely audible growl is all he permits himself now. Max was smacked in the nose by an evil cat at the tender age of 5 weeks old and clearly he still holds a grudge. Cats are not welcome here and strangers most certainly aren’t welcomed. This is why when they hear a noise in their yard, they must investigate. They are guard dogs and are very good at their job.

This morning I was sitting on the patio drinking coffee after Ken left for work and I heard the noise and so did they. Our back yard is quite small but with the shrubs and bushes, there are plenty of places for an intruder such as a cat or squirrel to hide. I knew the noise wasn’t that of an intruder. I knew exactly what had caused that loud THUD.

INTRUDER! Max’s little claws tore into the cement of the patio as he sprung from his spot and charged forward to investigate growling and barking along the way with complete disregard for his own safety. Sadie put on her “big dog bark” and let out little huffs and puffs of air, while scanning the yard for any signs of an intruder. And then came another loud THUD.

They both barked like crazy at the noise but were confused and mystified as to its origin. They jumped and spun around, looking for the intruder, all the while keeping a close and watchful eye over her who must be protected…yeah that would be me. Despite my reassurances they felt the need to protect me from this unseen threat.

Just then it happened again, they saw movement in the bushes and pounced on the predator. They looked shocked and disillusioned when despite their immediate response, the intruder was gone.

By the end of the week they will have learned there is no threat but by next year they will forget and we will repeat the process all over again. How does one reassure loyal companions and protectors that there is no threat and the THUD is nothing more than grapefruit falling from the tree?

My big bargain and a Summer Blog Party Update

It’s been a weird week for me. I was flying high last week after walking 5k and then the weather turned hot and muggy and I’m struggling to walk a mile. When it’s really hot and muggy I tend to get really bad headaches if I spend too much time outside in the heat and I’ve even had migraines but I’m not sure if they are caused by allergies to mold or whatever happens to be blooming at the moment. This is the time of year when everyone in the north is headed outside to be active, this is the time of year that I run from my air conditioned house to my air conditioned car to the air conditioned store. So what’s a girl who likes to walk to do about exercise?

We’ve started walking a shorter route half mile route around the neighborhood but I’m taking them in the morning and we’re walking together with them in the evenings. Max and Sadie LOVE their walk time and they get so upset if they don’t get to go. They cry like little children, they stare at us and they wait patiently but the heat takes a toll on them too. Being all black with fur about an inch and half long they overheat quickly. This works out better for them. I’ve missed about 12 days of walking in the past 9 months and that was due to extreme weather or injury. When it turns cooler again in the fall I plan on starting the C25K program because my goal is to run a 5k next year.

So what about my big bargain? What about my exercise? Ken and I went to a yard sale and we saw an elliptical sitting there. The people said they were moving and couldn’t take it with them, I asked them how much they were asking for it and he said $25 and I thought he was joking. I guess my shock made him think I wasn’t interested because then he said “I’ll give it to you for $20” It works perfectly. He had the paperwork for it and we found that it sold new for over $500 and its about a year and half old. It tells you your heart rate and it has a nifty little spot for a book and a water bottle….for $20!! That was my great find of the year. I had wanted one for a while now and even though we really don’t have the room for it, I made a spot for it in the garage. I used it today and with the fan going full blast overhead it wasn’t so bad. We really need a bigger place with a room just for workouts. Maybe next year, but for now I have the elliptical, an exercise bike, many workout CD's and a good plan to make them all work for me.

SUMMER BLOG PARTY UPDATES!

I’ve been contacted by lots of wonderful people who want to host the summer blog party. You can read more details about it HERE. I’m so excited, this is going to be a great way for everyone to have fun this summer and get to know each other a little bit better. Many of these generous people want to include everyone and are willing to ship their prizes worldwide. I’m so happy that everyone will get a chance to participate. So far we have a weight loss challenge, a six week walking challenge that runs in June and part of July and another walking challenge that runs the whole month of July. These Summer Blog Party hosts have come up with some pretty fabulous prizes too so you’re going to want to stop back on Monday to read all about it! A big thanks to everyone who is hosting the party!

Its not too late to be a Summer Blog Party host. Email me with your idea by Friday and I’ll get you on the schedule for July or August. Scalejunkie at gmail dot com

The kind of party that fills you with anxiety and dread

We went to a party on Sunday and the same couples I told you about in Dinner and a Workout and Sunday Brunch were there. I don’t want to use their real names out of respect for their privacy so I’ll identify them by their geographical locations.

Mr & Mrs. East hosted Sunday Brunch back in April.

The party on Sunday was hosted by Mr. & Mrs. North and WOW what a day. Temperature was somewhere in the 80’s but it was really humid and overcast. It made for a muggy day. They have a lovely house on a few acres of land, a huge back yard and did I mention the party was a pool party?

No party has had the power to strike fear and dread in my heart like the words POOL PARTY. Was a freak snow storm too much to ask for in Florida in May? Yes I do own a swimsuit but it hasn’t been on my body since we moved out of the condo in 2004. I tried it on but it was so big and saggy, I couldn't wear it. Ken wanted to stop on the way to the party and buy a swimsuit but seriously does he know how stressful swimsuit shopping is? Did he just happen have a case of anti anxiety medication with him? NO HE DID NOT, so why on earth would he suggest such a thing?

That kind of irrational thought was pretty much an indicator of my mood and anxiety level on Sunday morning and during the hour drive to their home. I wore black Bermuda shorts that came down to my knees and a light weight gauze type shirt that is perfect for the summer heat and humidity. I smelled like a combo of bug spray and sun screen...how lovely. In anticipation of a bad hair day, I pulled my hair back into a clip and put on dark sunglasses. I could feel the anxiety, dread and fear welling up inside of me. Everyone would be in the pool playing and I’d say “oh I forgot my suit” or “I just don't like the water” or one of those other long list of excuses I’ve used over the years to avoid pool parties while living in Florida. I even brought a change of clothes in case someone decided to throw me in the pool with my clothes on. Something I sort of secretly hoped for because then I could enjoy the water without stressing about the swimsuit.

I’d stay in the kitchen as much as possible and help Mrs. North with all of the food and party details and let everyone else have fun playing. My plan was to go to the party, make an appearance for an hour or so and then get the heck out of there. Of course things didn’t quite work out like that.

We got there and the first words out of Mrs North’s mouth were “I hope you have on a swimsuit under there, we’re going to play games in the pool” and my reply of helping her in the kitchen was met with an organized and perfectionist ring of “everything is done, we just have to light the grill later and the guys will do that” just as the big wheel of random excuses was spinning in my head about to make a selection up walks Mrs South with news that made me want to throw up. Not just a little bit but a LOT.

You remember Mrs South? She is the one I gave the little pep talk to when she couldn't keep up with us that night we walked at our house, she is the same one who went on to lose 48 pounds between our party and Mr & Mrs. East's Sunday Brunch. Well that darn Mrs South had summer clothes to give me with the tags still on that she bought on sale last year and don't fit her now blah blah blah and...AND there is even a swimsuit in there too…..that evil….she is running my plan…what on earth was she thinking…..how dare she give me a swimsuit! “Come on, I’ll get it for you and you can try it on”

Did I mention that Mrs South probably weighed in at 250 at her highest and I’m sitting at 355 at last count? She was probably a size 24 at her largest and through my protests of “it won’t fit me” she just kept saying “try it on, try it on” I know exactly what size I wear, I spent all day Thursday shopping with my sister. Tops are 4X and bottoms are 26/28. I felt lightheaded, nauseous and I wanted to run, I wanted to just run out the door and leave and never see these people ever again.

I walked into the bathroom off the pool area and took the stupid stupid swimsuit in to try it on and she said she would wait for me in the adjoining bedroom. Now of course everyone was going to want to see me in the “new suit” everyone was going to be looking at me. I was shaking and I felt sick. I didn’t even look at the suit or the size tag, I just put it on thinking it would never fit. I was already envisioning the patented Diana Wiggle, Shimmy and Squeeze I’d have to perform to get this thing up over my hips. Much to my amazement it slipped on quite nicely. It could have been longer through the torso. I looked in the mirror and I could only see myself from the waist up. My huge flabby arms just screamed look at us and I dreaded to know what I looked like from the waist down. I'd have to sneak around the house and see if I could find a full length mirror. As I walked out I was greeted by four HUGE and MIRRORED closet doors. I was HORRIFIED at seeing myself in that much mirrors. Absolutely horrified. What kind of sadists lived here? Who needs that much mirror in one room? I felt so vulnerable and exposed.

“I have this too” she said as she dangled a black sarong type wrap that she tied around my waist. I forced myself to look in the mirrors and see my pasty white skin with a slight tinge of nausea green. My legs don’t really look too bad from mid thigh down, its above that mark that weird lumps and bumps happen, the sarong covered that. I knew I’d have to suck it up and just get out there and start enjoying the party. “it looks great on you, let’s go enjoy the party” she said.

In my head I thought everyone would be looking at me. In reality they were looking for me and looking at us because they were waiting for us. What I was wearing wasn’t important. Yes my arms are flabby and my thighs lumpy but they didn’t matter. No one was looking. No one cared what I looked like.

We all jumped in the pool and played pool volleyball, had raft races and just generally had fun. After a while I forgot my anxieties and my fears slipped away. I had put myself through so much stress and anxiety for nothing. So my body isn’t perfect, so my body is big and lumpy and bumpy. People still like me for me and they enjoy my company. I automatically lumped them in with people who would judge me? What does that say about me? Yes people do judge me for being morbidly obese but I’m judging everyone before they even get a chance to judge me as a self defense mechanism. This is something I’m going to have to work on and learn to let go of because I don’t like that part of my personality.

I loved how freely my body moved in the pool and how good the water felt against my skin. They have a misting system that puts off a mist of water to help stay cool and the screen around the pool kept most of the bugs away. Yes it was hot but it wasn’t as painful as I imagined. Every time Ken caught me having fun he’d say to me “seeeeeee its not so bad is it”

Mrs South told me she had lost another 10 pounds bringing her total to 58 pounds lost, she really looks fabulous and said she feels years younger. YAY congrats to her and her great success. I told her about walking a 5k the other day and she agreed to join me on one once the weather got cooler again, we’re guessing that would be some time in November.

Had it been a different group of people it might have been more difficult but since was around a small group of friends, I was able to relax and enjoy our afternoon…and then the rain came!

We were all forced into the house to enjoy our picnic food and conversation and thankfully I was able to get back to reality and back into the comfort zone of my shorts and t-shirt.

Food Dreams

Do you ever dream about food?

The other night I dreamt we were still living in the UK. I was upset about something and we came out a party to find Ken’s old BMW blocked in with just a few inches to spare in the front and the back. I remember thinking how odd it was that Ken was walking over to a car that looked like his old car, 4 door burgundy BMW, I was looking around for our current vehicle but then I realized that we were in the UK, not in Florida and the BMW was his car. Instead of questioning it, I just went along with it. In the car I remember music playing and the announcers talking about after Christmas sales in full swing so it must have been January. Then he put on a CD and it was that one he played NON STOP for the first 6 months we lived in the UK, Urban Renewal. If you aren’t familiar with this CD, its R&B artists singing their versions of Phil Collins songs, at one point I threatened to throw the CD out the window but never fear, he liked it so much he had TWO copies of it, he even made sure to put a copy in the CD changer of my car, I was extremely upset when my car was broken into and the CD player and changer stolen but I wasn’t upset that Urban Renewal was among the stolen CD’s. There were a few good songs on that CD but I didn’t want to hear it or any CD all the time, but there it was playing in the background of my dream when I hadn’t heard it in YEARS. But back to the freaky dream.

It was cold and there were little piles of snow in places but it was starting to spit rain. I knew the chances of anyone moving their cars before morning wasn’t very good so Ken did what any man would do, he managed to get the car out of the spot by smashing into the front and back of the cars in front of us…just a little…and freed the BMW from its confines. The bumper of the red car in front of us had tinges of burgundy paint from our car. Ken said not to worry, he would get it fixed tomorrow. It was such a vivid dream and even writing this now I can recall everything so clearly from the smell inside of the car, stale cigarettes, to the slight crack in the windscreen.

As we were driving in the cold rain I wanted to question why we were back in the UK and why we were driving his old car when Ken said he knew I was feeling homesick so we were going someplace American. The promise of food distracted me from questioning our surroundings. I started thinking about all of the American restaurants in the UK; TGI Friday, Macaroni Grill, Chilis even Pizza Hut was sounding good. Imagine my surprise when he pulled up in front of Starbucks. All I could think was “I can’t get REAL FOOD in here”

He dropped me off in front of Starbucks and parked the car. There was a little boy pulling his chair outside to sit and I said to him “it’s too cold to sit out here” and he pointed to his friends sitting around the table inside by the window and he pulled his chair next to their table on the outside and said “there’s no room in there for me, I can sit with them this way”

I felt so sad for the little boy but just about then Ken came walking up from parking the car and we went inside. Like many shops in the UK, they just work the new shop into the old historic existing structure. This Starbucks was no exception. We had to duck to miss the wooden beam in the ceiling; I remember the old wooden floors creaking and the buzz of the conversation around us and the smell of coffee.

Beyond the vivid dream of stale cigarette smoke in the car, the music, the historic building, the little boy and the vivid imagery and smells inside of Starbucks was the fact I was obsessing over food. Thinking about where we might go and what I might order.

Thinking back on this dream, I’ve always used food to fill a void. Even now, if I feel myself getting anxious my first thoughts go to food. Despite the fact that I’ve been on a plan and following it for months now, I’m still dreaming about overeating. Honestly, I don’t think I could overeat without feeling sick. I had a big salad the other night, I ate too much of it and it left my stomach upset. I know the same would be true with any food. I can’t eat greasy foods anymore. I had a few French fries last week and my stomach pain was so bad I had to take a pepcid.

I suppose the little boy could be like me, someone who is always on the outside looking in. As for the rest of it, it was so real and so vivid.

I feel like I’ve changed so much so why am I still dreaming about food? Why was I so disappointed about going to Starbucks, it’s not so bad. Why did I dream about that damn demon car and that CD that I hated so much? Where did all of this come from when its been out of my thoughts for years now.

When I quit smoking back in 1992, for several years after I’d have dreams where I was smoking or searching for a cigarette. I think this is somewhere along those same lines. I haven’t smoked in years and I’m not even tempted to smoke anymore. I suppose there will come a time when I’m not even tempted to over eat anymore. Thinking about it this way gives me hope that maybe, just maybe I might be able to look at food like a normal person; I might be able to view it as a source of fuel and not as something to fill a void. Some day.

Lipton Free Your Y Bike Winner Announcement.

I had said the winner would be announced on Friday because I wanted to allow time for the winner to actually respond. Fortunately the winner responded quickly so I’m just going to put everyone else out of their misery and tell them…sorry, you didn’t win but WOW did I agonize over this giveaway. I wish I had a bike to give to everyone and yes that includes those of you in Canada (Manuela) and New Zealand (Andrew) who left comments at the injustice of it all.

I closed the drawing for the bike at 4pm on Wednesday. I randomized the list of entries and had the random number generator ready to push the enter button. My finger sat hovered over that button waiting to press it. As I waited I talked to Ken about who might win, would it be someone who really needed it, and would it be someone who would actually use it. He had read through the comments people left and he agreed that there were a LOT of deserving people out there who not only wanted the bike but needed a bike, and who would use a bike.

For 11 minutes my finger hovered over that button. My stomach was actually starting to churn with butterflies and my name wasn’t even in the mix! I didn't think this would be a difficult thing to do and I’m so glad I used a random number instead of picking from the stories entered because quite frankly, I’d still be reading them and trying to pick the best entry.

Ken was sitting here with me and he said "I can tell this is hard for you but you only have ONE bike to give away, I know you want to give everyone on that list a bike but you can't, you only have one bike."

"This really is hard, everyone deserves this bike, I really do wish I could give all of them a bike but I know I can't"

"just push the BUTTON already"

So I pushed the button and the number 67 came up. I said "I can't even look at it, you look at the list and read me the name"

So he did....

Our winner whose name was next to number 67…. Running Nan

Congratulations Running Nan, I hope you’ll make great use of this bike and give it a loving home.

Now for those of you who didn't win, hang in there, the Summer Blog Party is kicking off on Memorial Day and there will be lots of great prizes, challenges and contests and chances to win all summer long! Hope to see you there! Remember if you want to be a Summer Blog Party Host, Email me by May 23rd at scalejunkie at gmail dot com.

Through the snores

Its difficult to concentrate on writing a post while listening to snoring. No the snoring isn't coming from Ken, its coming from Sadie who takes up residence under my computer desk so she can use my foot for a pillow. She snores...not just little snores but big LOUD snores.
I'm certain she has a deviated septum most likely caused by a collision at the dog park or with Max, being Alpha dog is a job she takes seriously and sometimes you have to get slapped in the face, a slap she is willing to take. If you haven't seen that photo of them, its pretty funny.

I’m still flying high from the 5k walk, yesterday my legs were a bit achy but nothing that kept me from spending the morning walking all over the mall and 15 other shops with my sister who was in pursuit of the perfect outfit. As luck would have it, I found a new outfit too and slipped it in with her purchases; she’s a good sister and treated me to a new outfit as a “reward” for walking 5k and for promising to never ask her to join me on a 5k walk.

I was reading Fat Bridesmaid’s post asking everyone to give her some upbeat songs for her new iPod mix and I thought it sounded like a good idea.

This is when I really miss living in the UK, one of our neighbors was a DJ and he would always give us great mixes of the newest music.

One of the things that I really needed during my 5k walk was music. I sang along in my head and made up lyrics but you know that’s just not the same as good heart pumping, high energized music. I had an iPod around here somewhere but I couldn’t find it. So I asked Ken.

Me: have you seen my iPod
Ken: not since I sold it on ebay

So apparently I don’t have an iPod anymore but I remembered that I have an old cell phone from our last phone carrier had built in MP3 player before we switched to the cell phone service that is also like having free therapy, but like so many other things around here, I have no idea where it is. Hopefully when he gets home he’ll know where it is and I can load some songs for a good power walk or even riding the exercise bike.

In the mean time, if you have any favorite high energy songs you’d like to share you can leave them in comment for me or Fat Bridesmaid so I can think about adding them to my mix.

5k in May - I DID IT

Quite frankly I had a rough day on Monday. I was tired all day, I got bit by a bug and I had an allergy attack and sneezed most of the day. I forced myself to do a workout from the Biggest Loser DVD but if I’m to be honest, I dreaded every minute of it. It’s been quite hot and humid here and it’s left me feeling drained.

I had made a goal to walk/jog a 5k route during the month of May. Last night when the humidity dropped and it wasn’t steamy hot, I thought it would be good night to walk a warm up for it, not the 5k but maybe 3.5k.

I had planned to jog part of the route but as I said I wasn’t feeling 100%. By the time Ken, Sadie, Max and I hit the 1 mile mark of our normal 1.5 mile route, I was feeling pretty good. I asked Ken to walk a bit further with me but the puppers were panting pretty hard and he was tired so I walked back to the house with them and just kept walking. I walked the same route we had just walked, knowing it would put me at or close to the 5k mark. When I rounded the last corner and headed towards the house I saw Ken and the puppers standing out front waiting for me. They gave me congratulations at the “finish line” and a much needed bottle of water.

I'm sure I’ve walked 5k before but not on purpose and not all at once, it’s been at festivals and amusement parks where I had to and I complained about it..a LOT. We currently walk 2 miles at least once a week but today, today I did that whole 5k by myself and couldn’t wait to put it into MAP MY RUN and check my distance. I was so afraid I it was going to come in just under 5k and I’d have to get back out there and walk some more but it didn’t.

I’m proud to say that I walked 5.17k in 52 minutes! Here is my little map! Now don’t get any ideas about stalking me or leaving gifts on my doorstep, I have two viscous dogs and an excellent security system that includes cameras you can see and cameras you can’t see. (but none in the bathroom) So yeah, I'll get a video of you and post in on the web for the world to see. I told you my hubby was geeky like that.

Now my challenge for all of you is to join me and plan a route in a local park or your neighborhood and walk 5k. Make it a family event, ask your friends to join you. If I can do this YOU can do this! I’ll even give you a badge metal for doing it! Yes I was so PROUD of my accomplishment, I made myself a little medal.

Here is the code if you walk or run your 5k in May

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A 5k walk/run is going to be part of the festivities for the Summer Blog Party so I'll be doing this all over again. Don't expect a faster time unless we catch a break and get a cooler day during the summer which isn't very likely. Summer here is hot and humid 24/7. Don’t forget to email me if you want to host the Summer Blog Party. I’ll need to know what you plan on giving away and when if you have a specific week you want to host the party. See details yesterdays post.

For everyone who asked how I like the Pedegg, I love it! If you have rough or dry feet, it works beautifully. It doesn't hurt at all

More Details About The Summer Blog Party

I’m putting together the details of the Summer Blog Party scheduled to start on Memorial Day, May 26^th.

So far I have a few things planned including:

Virtual 5k walk & run: map out a 5k route in your neighborhood and walk or run it and claim the 5k badge. I’m considering adding a 10k walk & run for those of you who like more of a challenge.

Scavenger Hunt: I’ll send you looking for things that can be found in the blogs of people participating in the giveaways (see below) and on health and fitness sites. First person to email me the correct answers will win a prize.

I have several other ideas and a few things that I'm just giving away so stay tuned!

I’d also like to invite all of you to participate not only in the winning but the giving by hosting a Summer Blog Party event on your site.

How would it work? If you want to give away something on your blog as part of the Summer Blog Party, I’ll promote it on my blog. We can work out the rest of the details together.

What can you give away? Anything from a gift card to a service. Maybe you’re good at designing blogs and would like to offer a blog makeover or maybe you have a talent or skill at making handcrafted items and would like to give away one of your creations. Anything is fine, just think healthy and summer theme! You will be responsible for picking a winner and shipping their prize so giving away a 10 ton rock sculpture might not be the best idea.

Why would you want to participate? Besides sharing in the fun and festivities, its a great way to increase your traffic and let more people see just how fabulous you are so they'll want to come back to your site again and again.

The Summer Blog Party is going on all summer long so I want to find out how many people are willing to participate so I can schedule out the festivities.

Ready to participate? Several people have already contacted me to let me know they want to host the Summer Blog Party on their site but I need everyone to contact me at scalejunkie at gmail dot com with their ideas for their contest or giveaway by May 23, 2008 so I can put together the schedule and make sure we don't have duplicate challenge contests. Be sure and let me know if you have a time frame in mind for your prize especially if you need time to put together your hand crafted item so I can schedule you for later in the summer. If you aren't sure if you can participate let me know what you're thinking and we'll work something out together. I'm making buttons for each person participating in the giveaway based on the badges I've made for everyone. If you have your own logo that you'd rather use for the promo, thats fine too.

Can’t Host The Summer Blog Party? No worries! The Summer Blog Party is all about enjoying a healthy and fun summer with your friends in blogland, everyone is invited to the party.

Sound like fun? I've made a few badges for your side bar so everyone can join in and share the fun.

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I'm ready to make this summer all about health and fitness. Are you ready for some fun?

Random bits of nothingness all pulled together into this thing called life

I was walking through Target yesterday, bombarded by visual reminders that not only am I reproductively challenged, I’m also an orphan. Really, I’m not upset about not being a Mom, despite a quote by a sales rep in Cleveland in a recent Newsweek article, I know there is more to look forward to later in life than wrinkles. A childfree life can be quite fulfilling and you get to spend that college tuition money on a cute little sports car. I do have my two fur children Sadie and Max and they got a preapproved Visa card offer in the mail the other day so maybe they’ll surprise me with a new chew toy from Petsmart.

One thing I’m very grateful for today is that, my Mother-in-law lives an ocean away in England. However, they don’t celebrate Mother’s Day in May like we do and yes I found that out the hard way when I neglected to wish her a happy “Mothering Sunday” in March that first year we were married. Oh sure Ken brought flowers to her house that day but I thought he was just being nice but of course he didn’t bother to clue me into the reason. He just assumed I knew and I just assumed that all of those card shops were really excited about Mothers Day and wanted to get those cards out super duper early.

One of the first things Ken learned about men in America when we moved here was that its their duty to barbecue. Oh sure they BBQ in the UK but only on the two Saturday’s of the summer when the country isn’t soaked in rain, here in Florida, the land of sunshine, a BBQ could happen any time and he’d need to be prepared, he quickly realized he lacked BBQ experience. He consulted with a friend of ours who taught him that real men don’t just walk into the kitchen to cook; they go outdoors and use charcoal and flames, the more flames and smoke the better. The danger of smoke and fire puts the MAN back in the caveman. They Barbecue!

Ken takes his role as husband quite seriously and wanted to be the best husband in the world to me and when he heard that the green card applicants in Florida had a special interview section on BBQing he knew it was something he had to master because there was no way in hell he was giving up living in the land of sunshine and going back to that cold rain soaked city called London.

On Saturday he flexed his caveman BBQ skills and smoked a piece of beef that was simply cooked to perfection, grilled corn on the cob and I made fruit salad for dessert. My sister joined us for dinner and I got a little Mother’s Day gift from Sadie and Max that my sister helped them pick out, a ped egg. It was a nice evening.

Sunday we have a trip to the park planned so the guppers can play and later he’ll fill up the foot spa so I can pamper my cavewoman feet and try out the new ped egg. I’m a little scared of it, it sort of looks like a cheese grater for feet. I know several people who have them and they have all raved about it, none of them have complained of cheese grated feet so I’ll be brave and try it. Hopefully it won’t be like the Epilady I bought in the late 80’s; the infomercial that made hair removal look so easy and painless. It hurt so bad I had to drink half a bottle of wine just to use the damn thing, my eyes still water and I feel slightly hung-over just thinking about it.

Aside from the commercialism of the holiday, I really believe that Mom’s are very special and should have more than one special day in the year. So for all of you mothers out there, be it of two legged children or four legged children, Happy Mother’s Day!

And for all of you in the UK who celebrated Mothering Sunday in March….sorry I missed it again, but can you do me a favour? (not a favor but a favour) Can you go leave some flowers on my mother-in-laws front gate? Just sign the card: Happy Mother’s day from your son and the Yankee bitch. Thanks so much!

and me too .... YAY

I’m thrilled to share with you that Scale Junkie has been added to Alltop.

Those of you who are familiar with Alltop know why I'm so excited but for those of you who aren't familiar with Alltop let me introduce you to this fabulous site!

Alltop is sort of like a “digital magazine rack” of the internet broken down into nine collections; Work, Living, Culture, Interests, Geekery, People, Good, News and Geos.

Scale Junkie has been added to the People collection under the Women category. This is such an honor for me because there are some pretty fabulous sites listed over there, some might be familiar faces to you like MizFit or Back In Skinny Jeans, some might be new but you’ll never lack a good read browsing on Alltop.

Lessons from spilled milk

I was cleaning up a mess in the kitchen last night and wiping down all the surfaces. Who says you can’t cry over spilled milk? This was a MESS and I felt like crying since I had just cleaned the kitchen but accidents happen.

As I was wiping down the cookie jar I starting having little cookie fantasies and on a whim I opend the lid thinking I could inhale the sweet intoxication of cookie memories. I opened the lid…THERE ARE COOKIES IN HERE!!

I know what you’re thinking, nothing so unusual or earth shattering about cookies in a cookie jar. I put the cookies in that jar around Christmas. How is it that I didn’t devour these yummy chocolate chunk and macadamia nut delicacies? I forgot they were in there!

All of those times when I really wanted something sweet, if only I had just reached my hands into the cookie jar I would have been rewarded.

When I opened the lid I noticed something about the smell. The sweet smell overwhelmed me, I felt my eyes flutter and my nose crinkle to push away the smell as I physically stepped back for a second. When I stepped forward I plucked the jar from the counter and emptied the contents into the trash. Who would have thought that I could ever feel sick from the smell of sweet cookies?

The more I thought about this the more I know that the old saying is true, out of sight, out of mind. With that thought I plan on spending time this weekend arranging my cupboards and refrigerator strategically. As if smelly neighbors didn’t do my head in, I see pancake mix every time I open the pantry door. With a bit of creative arranging, I can put the foods that I need to eat and should eat in the front and the foods I need to visit less frequently in the back.

So what about the fruits and veggies tucked away in the drawers? I already started putting single portions up on the top shelves in plain sight so they are the first thing I see when I open the door. The healthy stuff needs to be highly visible. A few months ago I saw some realistic fruit magnets, I might see if I can find those again and put them on my refrigerator.

All of these little changes we make add up and make a difference long term. Just another piece of the puzzle!