The first year of my journey was a year of discovery and illumination.  Around every corner I was learning new surprising things.  About exercise, and water.  About Food and non-Food.  Did you know that my favorite (at that time) McDonald’s Double Cheeseburger is 12 ppvs.  That’s 40% of an entire day’s food in one burger!  And one chicken wing is 3 ppvs?  Just one lil ole chicken wing.  I can assure you I was not eating 1.  Sheesh…no wonder I packed on the pounds.   In that first year, I was a point plus value calculating fool.  My calculator was burning wattage, I used it so much.  Then the smart phone app came out, and I was in the grocery store zapping everything I could.   Cookies, Granola bars, bread, cans of soup, ice cream…..yeah….my eating had improved from the McDonald’s days, but my learning hadn’t gone too deep below the surface,  hadn’t sunk into the grey matter yet.  The information I was gathering was still being used to figure out how to cheat the system.  Looking back, my mission was, how to eat the ppv-friendly  version of the foods that made me fat.  It was a step forward, buuuuuut….not quite the progress I needed to make overall, for the long run.  THAT’s the change I am embarking on now.  The next phase of my journey.  The REAL Food change.   Read the rest of this entry →

I was tempted to call this post “My Comeback”!  Because where ever it was that I went last week…..to that deep, dark place — where Oreo cookies are King and the mean voices pipe their worst thoughts straight into my mind….where ever that was that caused my 4.2 weight gain…..I packed my bags and left it and Came Back.  Back to my life, and fighting for it.  Because seriously….what other choice do I have.  All the other options really really suck.  Besides, being a fighter is Bad @ss, so….. Read the rest of this entry →

Well….during my 2-mile run today, my second mile, where I crushed “the hill-that-is not-a-Hill” — was faster than my first flat mile!  I’d say THAT is Incrementally “bad-@ss” Better! Read the rest of this entry →

The morning after my “pep talk” from Marathon Brian, the alarm went off at 5am, as usual, and I got up, got ready, laced up the sneakers and went outside for my 2 mile run.  It was a gorgeous morning, a little cool, still dark, and quiet.  Just the way I like it.  But it didn’t really matter if I liked it.  That was irrelevant today.  I was out here to Do a Job, and That Job Needed to be Done….No Matter What. Read the rest of this entry →