Brain-dead and incredibly tired

This is me at 9:28pm on Friday night, fairly brain-dead and incredibly tired (since when did I get so freakin' old that I'm ready for bed at 9pm??) in a last-ditch attempt to magically produce 8,600 words in the last two and a half hours of Digiwrimo. (Notice that I did not say "2.5 hours" but rather opted for the wordier version. That's what I'm talkin' 'bout.) So to any of you who are unlucky enough to stumble upon this blog post, I apologize in advance for the verbal spew you are about to witness. Although I do not intend to attempt an 8,600-word blog post (that would just be silly), I do intend to vomit some poorly-constructed sentences and paragraphs all over this virtual page...possibly up to 1,000 words. I'll worry about the rest after that.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Digiwrimo, you can learn yourself more here, here, and here.

Now, where was I? Oh, yes. I was going to tell you a bunch of random stuff.

Update on Nov. weight loss goal

I was doing really well, and then Thanksgiving happened.

I spent two days eating everything in sight and getting zero exercise. I'm pretty much back to where I started at the beginning of the month.

But I walked three miles today with my friend Carly. And I still have six more days to lose 8-10 lbs.

Guess who's a naughty monkey

Sigh. Well, so, okay, I guess the bright side is that I haven't bought any cigarettes, which is good, since one of the main reasons I wanted to give up smoking was to cut back on expenses. But the bad news is that I've found, now that Octsoberfest is over and I'm drinking again, that it only takes one drink to lure me back to cigarettes.

The other main reason I wanted to quit smoking is because I didn't want to be addicted anymore, and I can't yet say I'm not addicted. All I can say is that my body has become accustomed to doing without nicotine during the day. But I only have one cigarette left in the stale pack that someone left on the arm of one of the courtyard chairs a couple months ago, and I am committed to not buying any more cigarettes. Gonna do this.

On the plus side, I totally broke through the word count barrier for Digiwrimo! This happened yesterday, when I ended the day at 23,630 words so far for the month, which was 292 words above where I wanted to be. Yay!

November weight loss goal

Between Dec. 2011 and March 2012, I lost 20 lbs, going from 180 to my goal range of 155-160 (but mostly 160). There have been a few moments since then when I actually got down to 155, and I was amazed at the difference between 155 and 160. In my head it doesn't seem like that much, but it feels and looks very different to me. So I decided I wanted to get down to 150-155, thinking maybe then I could get into a pair of Size 8 jeans again without fat spilling out over the waistband. It really ruins the silhouette.

Unfortunately, one of side-effects of my smoking cessation efforts last month was a propensity to Eat All the Things, which meant that I gained some weight. Only a few pounds, but I'd already planned to try to lose a few more pounds this year, which makes it just that much harder. But okay. Here we go: November goal of losing 8-10 lbs.

Things were looking good for my weight-loss goal when I woke up on Nov. 1st with food poisoning. (As I said earlier this year and my friend Joe likes to repeat often, "I'm only one illness away from my goal weight.") Unfortunately, the diarrhea and vomiting only lasted for a couple hours and couldn't have given me more than a 1-2 lb. head start. But I'll take a small advantage over no advantage.

Since then my weight loss plan this months seems to consist mainly of eating pizza, cheese-laden burritos, and pasta in cream sauce. But I believe you can eat whatever you want and still lose weight, so long as you eat in moderation. For example, I did not consume half a pizza in one sitting; I only had two pieces. And that cheese-laden burrito with refried beans on the side? I made sure to order the burrito with shredded lettuce (counts as my vegetable for the week), and I only ate half of it at a time and so got two meals out of it.

Probably the most effective part of my strategy is the walking. I am walking two miles a day now, which is an improvement, and I've already seen results in the form of dropping a couple pounds and feeling more energetic. Depending on what time of day I weigh myself, how much clothing I'm wearing, what stage of my menstrual cycle I'm at, and how many potato chips I ate the night before, I'm back down to 160. Next week I'll start walking 3 miles a day and/or incorporate some steep hills into my walks.

I figure if I can get down to 154-ish this month, I can continue the good work in December and lose those last few pounds. Then I will feel sleek and energetic and will finally be at my goal weight just in time to spend my Christmas cash on Size 8 pants and a glittery blouse for New Year's. Oh boy.