I’ve had many of those scenes today, downing handfuls of chocolate chips and combos. Although I’m not the Closer… I’m the Packer. I’ve been packing, boxing, cleaning and lugging for a straight 48 hours now. It’s midnight and the poor husband is still downstairs clearing out the garage. I’m not sure we realized how hard it would be to separate what can go in storage for 3 months and what needs to come with us to our temporary apartment.

BUT I’m happy to report MOST of our long term storage stuff is in the POD. Friday you may remember this shot as the POD was just delivered.

Well here it is today. I took the picture from the same spot mind you. :)

So right now I’m up too late and I have work tomorrow. It’s my only work day for the week and my last of part time. As of now this is what the rest of the week looks like..

• Monday: Work
• Tuesday: Move remaining belongings into the apartment - clean the house for new owner
• Wednesday: CLOSE ON THE HOUSE! (keep fingers crossed everything works out!)
• Thursday: Unpack and RELAX in the apartment.
• Friday: Do something just for me. I’ve decided on a trip to the salon. I have 2 inch roots and my eye brows are out of control! :)

I’m looking forward to starting up a new routine once we get settled. My eating has gotten a bit crazy these last few days and I’m starting to feel bleh. I miss my kitchen, my fresh veggies and my own cooking!! I can’t wait to hit a local farm stand once we are in the apartment!!

On the workout front I’m doing a little better. I did miss my 5 mile run today BUT I got up early yesterday for a weight training session and did a bit of cardio.

Right now I’ve got to run but not without announcing the winners of the book giveaway! Congrats Mrs. Mommy (WW set) and Annette (low carb set.) You guys didn’t leave blog address so just let me know if you have one. I hope to get the books in the mail on Tuesday.

Oh! One more thing! We drove by the new house today to discover this…

SO exciting!!

The husband was REALLY excited. (note: he always gives the thumbs up in pictures, it’s his "thing")

I spend most of the day packing and going through stuff. Ugh! THANKFULLY, this afternoon, a friend came over and helped moved most of our major pieces of furniture in the POD.

Then it was run to the bank… get the toddler at school… go to Goodwill… and, of course, out to dinner! I was actually going to cook but the husband convinced me otherwise. So we went to Outback. It was nice. The child (notice the context) was on his best behavior. We played, we talked, we laughed and of course we ate. I got the salmon with veggies (no butter) and the toddler got the kids grilled chicken and a plain sweet potato. We shared, swapping sweet potato and veggies and it was a great meal! We didn’t have to but we decided to get desert. I’m not sure if you are aware but you can get a sample portion of any desert there for half the price. It was the PERFECT size and the 3 of us split it. :) Although, I still felt a little overstuffed.

Right now the toddler is up and freaking out that there is a fly in his room. The husband is packing up loose ends and I’m taking a break. We have a little more planning to do on getting everything in the POD and I want to tidy up some of the random things I have laying about.

I’ll be back tomorrow night with an update and the winners of the book giveaway. There’s a lot going on but blogging/journaling helps me stay grounded a bit.

Oh! and I did get a 4 mile run in this morning. As of now my marathon training isn’t perfect but I’m doing what I can when I can!

I track using the Nike+

Oh! Oh! here’s a shot of the new house from this afternoon. I’m not sure why it’s so small. My camera phone is acting up. As the frame goes up I’ll get better shots.

OK, gotta run before the husband gets mad at me for procrastinating. :)

Ok, so just a FEW words… these shots were taken this morning before I left for work. The waffles were pulled from the freezer, I made them with homemade Banana Pancake batter a few days ago. The melon is our Santa Clause melon from this weeks video and I threw in a hard boiled egg (made like this) for protein. See… breakfast can be healthy AND fast EVEN though the house is a mess and half of your belongings are boxed up and in the living room. Let’s just hope I can only keep this up! I don’t want to turn to the dark side and hit the Dunkin’ Donuts drive through like the husband. His breakfast of choice… 3 chocolate frosted donuts… ugh! how come he’s not 300 lbs?!? ;~P

You are going to have to cut yourself some slack these next few weeks. The packing, the moving, the adjustments to a new schedule with working full time. You will find your groove. You always do.

Don’t beat yourself up. You aren’t going to forget how to run. Do what you can when you can and remember the goal. You will cross that marathon finish line come October no matter what. Remember that!

Table provided by Roni’s Food Tweet, Eat, Post Generator.

Anyway… *not trying to think about it… not trying to think about* today was a busy day. The little guy and I started out trying some new fruit (twice-long story)! Then he went off to "camp" and I packed ALL day jamming out to some music. The kitchen cupboards are almost bare. My winter clothes are boxed. Every book I own (that I’m keeping) is packed up and my living room is starting to look like a storage locker. I’m trucking along and making some progress although on the surface it doesn’t look like it.

This afternoon, the little guy and I hit our favorite candy store and split some chocolates. Then we came home, watched The Little Mermaid and I made up a new dish, One Pot Chicken with Mango and Couscous.

Tomorrow I have work. I should be in bed but I’m procrastinating for some reason. I don’t know why, nothing good ever comes from it. I already ate my weight in Dorritos. *sigh*

However! My lunch is packed. The kid’s lunch is packed. The kitchen is as clean as it could possible be considering my situation. Our clothes are laid out and I have tilapia defrosting for tomorrows dinner.

It’s all in the planning people. The planning. :)

‘Night!

Table provided by Roni’s Food Tweet, Eat, Post Generator.

Hello Again Roni!

Wow! It’s a good thing I’m typing this, otherwise I would just be speechless. When I wrote my first letter I was hoping that perhaps you would read it and smile, maybe post it on your website and let a few others smile as well. I never expected the overwhelmingly positive response my words actually received from so many readers! By inspiring others I, in turn, have been inspired to not only continue with my own journey of healing and self-discovery, but to write this follow-up message.

I’ve been occupying this new mindset for about five months now and, well, you know the saying “turned over a new leaf”? In my case it might be more appropriate to use the phrase “turned over the whole dang forest.” I’m so happy all the time now, even on what I used to call bad days, and now just refer to as relaxation days. As time progresses, I continue to find new ways of looking at things, as well as new forms of inspiration.

About a year ago, when I was still bouncing around from one weight-loss fad to the next, I heard someone say “The second you look in the mirror and like what you see, you’ve already lost the battle.” When I first heard it I tried to mimic the quote, automatically assuming that just because someone else said it, they must be right. Looking in the mirror and hating what I saw wasn’t that much of a stretch back then, but all that self-dislike simply caused my state of mind to plummet into an even deeper depression, causing me to eat more, ect. You’ve all been there, I’m sure.

Today I read that quote and am nothing but disgusted by it. How can people still promote that type of thinking when, for the large majority of us, it is nothing but destructive? In my own weight loss travels I’ve developed almost the exact opposite mindset. In my first letter I talked about finding your own, personal ‘remedy.’ This is what happened to me, and it tends to develop all by itself! I didn’t consciously settle down into my routine, I just felt my way forward and naturally continued my actions that were most productive. I think the most obvious current example of this is that I haven’t stepped on a scale for over five months!

First off, let me stress once again that this is my personal path; it may not be right for everyone. But I have completely abandoned that final boss (for you video gamers out there), that oh-so-right but oh-so-wrong addiction, that inanimate object which still somehow manages to reign over our happiness and determine our self-esteem from one day to the next. Simply put: the Scale. I know when I’ve had a healthy day. I know when I haven’t. I don’t need some clunky machine to tell me what to feel. I guess what I’m trying to say is this: even if your method is rather unconventional, who cares? If it works for you, then let none stand in your way!

Anyways, I’ve got a huge summer ahead of me, starting off with high school graduation, then moving on to a roadtrip with my friends, and ending with college orientation! I’ve never been in a better place emotionally and physically to handle the enormous amount of excitement (and fair bit of stress) all these activities will bring. I’ll try to be in contact again in August :)

I wish everyone the best of luck on their individual journeys! Remember: the big picture isn’t about the weight-loss, it’s about the freedom to FORGET about the weight and discover the world.

Girl power!
Celeste

Celeste, You did it again. Simply amazing. You should give us an update every month! What do you think guys?

All this packing has me unearthing tons of STUFF. The husband and I are committed to reducing our.. ummm… overhead. Especially considering we are needing to store almost everything for 3 months. We already dropped our first round to Goodwill but I held these few items back thinking some of you may be interested.

I have 2 different diet/cook book giveaways.

The first is a Weight Watchers package that includes…

• Weight Watchers Momentum Cookbook 2009 (200 Easy Recipes to Get-and Keep-You Going)
• Weight Watchers Take-Out Tonight! : 150+ Restaurant Favorites to Make at Home–All 8 POINTS or Less
• New 2009 Weight Watchers Electronic Tracker & Points Calculator
  (never opened)
• Weight Watchers Time Saving Meal Ideas pamphlet

The second is a Low Carb package that includes…

• Atkins Best Recipes: Lose Weight with More Than 175 Low Carb Dishes
• Dr. Atkins Quick & Easy New Diet Cookbook
• Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution $5.99
• A Low Carb Supermarket Cookbook Mag

I realize the dichotomy of these two giveaways and even though I’m not a 100% Low Carb proponent, I learned a lot reading, cooking and trying a low carb diet. Plus the Atkins Best Recipes has some great ideas in it! :)

If you’d like to throw you name in the hat for either one of these giveaways just leave a comment and let me know which one. Before you ask… Yes you can register for both… and yes I will ship anywhere. :) I’ll pick a winner next weekend.

So let’s see.. what else is going on?

• I had a little fun in the kitchen yesterday going back to basics and creatively using what I had on hand. The results? Quinoa Stuffed Zucchini. It was fun! I plan to stock up on some healthy groceries tomorrow so we aren’t so tempted to eat out as much this this coming week.
• My back is feeling MUCH better. I did get a 4 mile run in on Friday but I skipped the gym this morning. Just too much going on plus I knew I’d be lifting boxes all day. :) I’ve been keeping my training calender updated even though I feel like I’m slacking at this point.
• So I guess it’s official.. The Toddler is now The Little Guy. Although I find myself alternating between the The Boy and The Kid as well based on my mood, the context and his behavior. I think this will take some time to get used to. :)
• Finally, here’s my food journal for the day. I’ve stayed true to my commitment to the food journal. In a weird way it’s helping me stay sane during an insane time.

Table provided by Roni’s Food Tweet, Eat, Post Generator.

You’re back is feeling better. Forget about the days you took off and do what you can when you can. The only way you fail is to give up. REMEMBER THAT.

And yea… so you’ve eaten out a few times this week. It’s ok. Get some healthy supplies this weekend and go back to the basics.

Oh! and for Pete’s sake… STOP with nighttime snacking!! M&Ms and Dorritos are NOT relieving any stress. Geesh!

Table provided by Roni’s Food Tweet, Eat, Post Generator.