New Method

So, I may have said in my last post that I'm working out. If I didn't (or did and you forgot), here's a summary: I started getting up early every morning to exercise at the gym. I'm up by 5:45 every morning, rain or shine, work or not, to go work out. Two weeks and one day of it so far and I'd like to start going twice a day if I can muster the energy. I did on Monday, but not yesterday. Not sure how I'll feel today.

Honestly, it all depends on my work schedule. Oh and I just started see a chiropractor for my foot and knee issues. Actually, it seems to be helping. Although, my back and neck are a bit sore now. But that should, hopefully, go away soon. At the moment, my foot is doing SO much better. If this happens again, I'm not wasting time on a podiatrist. Seriously. Doc put it perfectly today. "It's better to treat the whole problem, rather than the symptoms." Absolutely right.

I knew that my knee had eventually caused the foot problem and that it would continue to get worse and cause other problems. It was logical. What I didn't know was how extensive it all was. Oh and apparently Doc can fix my neck so I don't keep getting all those headaches. Some were dehydration because I really don't drink enough water, but I didn't notice that to be a problem until the last year or so. But I'd always had bad headaches. Not migraines, but just terrible headaches. Well, they should be lessening!

Um... I think that's it. Weigh-in tomorrow. I'm rather sore today, both from exercise and Doc doing his thing on my back. But I think that's all I have to say for now. Catch ya lata!

Stay random!
Kate

Weight Watchers... Going well!

All right, so I know I haven't kept up with posting about Weight Watchers and for that I apologize. Really. I'm sorry. But I've been really busy with work and writing. No more school (which is really weird), but work and writing have sort of taken over.

So! UPDATE!
As of today, September 10, 2012, I am 35.1 lbs lighter than I was in February. I am also 18.5 inches smaller (all over, not just one area) and I've gone from a size 18 to a size 12. Working toward a 10 by October 31st because I'm a bridesmaid in a wedding.

Last week I started getting up extra early to work out for an hour before work every day. I can't do it on Saturday because stupid *insert gym name here* isn't open 24/7... They're open 24/5. Oh well, I'll go after work on Saturdays. I'm still waking up extra early. Gotta be on a schedule and they say the better your sleep schedule, the easier it is to lose weight.

All sorts of things like that add up. Eating enough fruits and veggies, drinking enough water (both of which I really struggle with), choosing not to eat when bored (also a struggle), making sure you get 8 hours of sleep!!! That last one is the biggest thing I've been trying to change. I have such a weird work schedule that I could get up at 7 on T/R, but not until 10 on W/F and then sleep even later on my days off. Well, I've changed that. Now I'm up by 5:45, work or not, to go exercise at the gym. Even an hour of fast walking on the treadmill is enough to jumpstart my day.

Also, I have a problem with my right knee and left foot. I can't run without messing them up so I do walk at a fast pace on the treadmill and then try to squeeze in some time with weights and abs. I seriously miss running. I used to be able to run 5 miles. Yeah. I could run 5 miles. Me. I know. SHOCKING! But I miss it now that I can't do that.

Anyway, I really hope I can start running again soon, but I've got to get my foot better (tore a ligament in the arch so it's affecting the heel... I have high arches too) and my knee. I've been working on it and running is in the cards soon, hopefully!

Today, I'm making homemade chicken soup. It's a weight watchers recipe that I tweaked just a little. It still ends up being 6-8 points, though. I haven't made it yet and it's still not done, but I'll let you know how it goes. If I remember. Which I hope I will.

I'd love comments! If anyone has them, please let me know!

Stay random!

The Hunger Games - and Racism?

This is not a movie review (although I thought The Hunger Games was amazing). No. This is a rant. Pure and simple. I truly enjoyed the movie, but some people didn't. Some thought it didn't follow the book well enough (though they did a wonderful job by my standards there), some thought they hadn't cast it correctly for Katniss or Peeta or Gale, and still some... people... didn't like that Rue and/or Cinna and/or Thresh were BLACK. First... did you READ the book?

The following is taken from another blog which quotes the book:

On page 45 of Suzanne Collins's book, Katniss sees Rue for the first time:

…And most hauntingly, a twelve-year-old girl from District 11. She has dark brown skin and eyes, but other than that's she's very like Prim in size and demeanor…

Later, she sees Thresh:

The boy tribute from District 11, Thresh, has the same dark skin as Rue, but the resemblance stops there. He's one of the giants, probably six and half feet tall and built like an ox.

Cinna's skin, as pointed out in this blog (link here), isn't talked about. So that was just whoever they wanted to cast and, personally, I liked Lenny Kravitz as that character. Loved him, in fact. I thought he was great.

I already pictured Thresh as black, but I have to admit I obviously didn't pay much attention to Rue's description, though I saw her with dark hair and eyes. Why was there disappointment, though? Because people are dumb. People are stupid. They think that if someone has a different skin color or a different culture or background, they're inferior.

Think about it. How many times do we see evidence of racism in the news and the media? This is the third highest grossing movie (for its opening weekend) of ALL TIME. THE THIRD! And people are scoffing because there were three black actors? Just because YOU didn't pay attention when you were reading and YOU formed the perfect little white girl or boy as an image in your head, does not mean you are right, first off. Second, I must ask why it matters. I'm caucasian. That's my heritage and I grew up in a mostly white city. My school was the same way. But I am not lying when I say that I never thought about the few black or latino kids who attended my school as drastically different. They lived and were raised in the same community. Had the same upbringing. Why does their skin color matter?

SPOILER

Some people said that, after seeing that Rue was black, her death... her brutal and heart wrenching death... was not as sad. It didn't matter because she was black. One tweet read that it had "ruined the movie". If I didn't care about cursing, this post would be littered with foul language. Seriously, people? Why the hell does it matter that Rue is black? You can't love her because of something so simple?

Did you know that, genetically, one white person is more different from another white person than they are from someone of another skin color or race? Tons of studies have been done to show this. So even though my family hails mostly from the UK and Germany, I'm genetically more similar to Rue than another black girl who resembles her. Or at least, I'm more likely to be more similar. Think about that for a minute.

I'm sorry. That wasn't going anywhere, but I hope you at least got the point. That's it for now. The next post will be happier.

Stay random!

First Week on Weight Watchers

Ok, so while I was researching Weight Watchers and the program it uses, I saw that the expected weight loss is about 1-2 lbs per week. So I only expected one so that I wouldn't be disappointed. Well, that wasn't necessary.

Stepped on the scale this morning and I had lost 4.3lbs! 4.3! I am so excited! I've got a cruise coming up at the beginning of June and my goal was just to be 1/3 of the way there, which would be about 27lbs lost. Well it's still about 27, but I may get further!

Gosh, I'm so excited! As a writer, I sit on my butt during my days off of work. But I work at a bakery so I'm on my feet and not sitting on my butt at work. That's a plus, right? I'm sure it helps with weight loss. But because I'm not active, I didn't expect a lot. I did earn 19 activity points this week just by doing the elliptical every other day.

It's a tip. Even if you do 30 minutes of hardcore work (I set it on one of the highest levels and my goal was 500 calories per session), that's a big deal. Our elliptical shows you what you'd burn in an hour if you kept at your current pace and it changes when you do the Random setting because that gives you more or less resistance every 20 seconds. You have to work harder during the low ones to keep the hourly burn rate up. A tip is to try to keep that number at above 1,000. That'll keep your intensity high, trust me.

30 minutes is a lot, but now my goal is an hour every other day or 30 minutes every day. I'd like to do the former so I can get on a schedule, but at least the hour every day allows me to watch a TV show while I work out. Something to keep me entertained if I need it.

Anyway, I hope that helped. Check back later this week. I'll probably update again!

Things to work on

So, I was researching a little and on Weight Watchers, I had 11 points left at the end of the day, plus 3 activity points that I hadn't used. Well, they said that it's best to use all of the daily points so here I am going "even if I don't eat all of them, I need to try." I got all but one for the day, but I learned to spread things out a little more.

It's difficult when I work because I don't have a lot of time to snack, usually. Today, in fact, I brought an already peeled orange with me and didn't even have time to eat one section! I'd only had four of my points with breakfast. I am just learning to try to spread things out a little more so I don't have 20 points left at the end of the day.

Anyway, that's all for now. I just thought I'd point that out to those of you interested in doing Weight Watchers.

Stay random!

Time For a Change... Or Two...

You may have gotten it from the title, but I'm making some changes. For Lent, I gave up soda and sweets (pretty much sugar, as much as possible). But I'm going a step further to get in shape. I'm overweight and I fully admit it. I have been for a while. But I have a goal and I'm sticking to it because, guess what! My family and I are going on a cruise at the end of May and by golly, I will feel sexy in a bathing suit.

That said, I joined Weight Watchers today. I joined online tonight so I was messing around to figure out, using what I ate today, how many points I had used up and how many I had left. I actually came out with 3 points left for the day! Which is a nice little snack. Oh and fruits and veggies? No points so I can eat s many oranges as I want! I love oranges and they're easy to eat at work.

If y'all are looking to lose weight, I've got some tips for you. Yes, tips. I love giving tips, but here goes:

1. Don't completely deprive yourself. Using Weight Watchers, adding up points, etc. I can still indulge a little. For example, something I learned a few years ago is that a great snack can be made with calorie-free butter spray, cinnamon, splenda, and whole wheat tortillas. Just cut the tortillas into sixths (triangles), spray with a couple squirts of the butter spray, sprinkle cinnamon and splenda to your liking (don't overdo it or they won't taste as good) and bake at 375 degrees for about 7-10 minutes. The first batch may take longer in a convection oven, but after that they will only take the minimum. These are AWESOME! And one full tortilla (six triangles) is only 2 points on Weight Watchers because the other ingredients add up to 0. Nice, right?
2. Exercise a little. Even if it's just a half hour each day. I work on my feet so I'm not crazy about it, but I already know it's helped because, in a month and a half, without monitoring what I eat and without exercising, I've lost about 10 or so lbs. I had a doctor's appointment last month and I remember what the scale said. Even leaving room for some discrepancy between the two scales, I am still doing well. Adding in Weight Watchers and exercise can only help!
3. Keep your goals where you can see them. I have a white board hanging in my room that has my current weight, my weight goal and measurements hanging on it. I update it once a week on the same day each week to stay consistent. I've got other goals, like financial things, up there as well. It does help.

That's just a few things I have already learned before this year, but that I'll be putting into affect right.... NOW! GO!

That's it for now! Stay random!

I'm a Bad Catholic... Sometimes

Yes, I was raised Catholic. I'm a bad Catholic, though, I'll admit. The only reason I'm following Lent? To lose weight. Yeah, I know. It's bad.

On the bright side, I'm giving up soda and sweets. Basically sugar, but I like diet sodas usually. Not because they're diet, but because I like the flavor better. I know. I'm weird. Been told a lot. But I have read many many times that soda, whether diet or regular, is still bad for you. Multiple reasons. I'm giving that up. I'm also going to start Weight Watchers. I'm signing up tomorrow and my dad might even do it as well. We had a silly conversation tonight about it.

Dad said "We'll see how it goes. (whether or not he joins) If it works for you, I'll do it your way, but if starving myself and stressing out and exercising a lot works for me, you do that instead." Now, you may have to know my dad to understand his humor. He's not ever going to have any sort of eating disorder. He's too intelligent for that. I said it was deal. :)

Anyway, I'll try to share my experiences and even recipes if you're interested. I know this blog was sort of supposed to be about my book, but I'm using it for everything in life. I'm an author, working in a bakery, trying to lose weight. Crap, that sounds bad. Working in a bakery and trying to lose weight... Giving up sweets for Lent... Yeah... We'll see how that goes.

On another note, I've gotten it into my head that I can go to Australia in about a year and a half if I save up enough money. I'd like to go on a work and holiday visa, so it would be for a year. Big, big goal in terms of money... BUT... I just put $150 in a new savings account today. It's a start. A small start, but a start all the same.

That's all that's new with me in case you were wondering. It was a bit random, but who cares?! That's the name of this blog!

Until next time...

Stay random!

Oh my good, golly, gosh!

Holy crap, have I been gone a while! It's been, what? Four months or so? I apologize. Really.

What's new with me? Well, I'm back from Orlando and in Overland Park once more. I like it here, but I'd still rather be somewhere else. I see Australia or New Zealand in the future, I'm thinking. But that's a ways off. Still, keep an eye out for another blog like What's Under the Kilt? because I may just have some more epic adventures on the horizon.

In the meantime, I'm working for a local bakery back home and I do love it. I love the people I work with and the bakery is doing really well. I came in at just the right time, too because they're expanding and they need more people! Score!

Anyway, I'm also planning on appearing at some schools/libraries/stores(?) in the next few months and will be happy to keep y'all posted because I'd love to meet any fans/readers. This also would give you the chance to purchase a copy and bring it for me to sign! Yay! I may have a few copies with me that I'll be selling, but the better choice is to purchase one in case I run out.

Would y'all be interested in watching short video blogs about what it's like to be a writer? What I've come up against and all that? I wonder who would be interested because I'd also feature more contests that I've been unable to feature thus far. I'm trying to think of ideas for titles at the moment so we'll see what happens once I do that. Gotta have a great name! Something snappy and clever, you know? Something like "Written in Stone" or "Victorious Vernacular". Cliché, yes but catchy.

You may be seeing/hearing about weight loss, eating healthy, etc. in the next few months as well. Just a warning. I'm starting Weight Watchers in the very near future and will more than likely want to talk about it. If you have questions, post them! Doesn't matter what they're about, I'd love to answer them if at all possible!

That's all for now, folks!