Love and other 4 Letter words

L.I.K.E. = another 4 letter word.  Ya'll have heard me mention that I have had a tough dating year.  I am contentedly single, but get extremely frustrated with the tom-foolery some men subject "us" too.  And I've had my share of tom-foolery within the last few years.  I mentioned in my last post that one of my girlfriends got engaged, and that weekend was a "couples" thing.  I was the only single person among 5 happy couples:  2 married, 1 engaged and 2 dating.  No....don't feel sorry for me - I had a blast!  I can deeply enjoy being around my "involved" friends, genuinely feel happy for them and enjoy their company to the fullest - which I did, awesome awesome weekend.  Again, I am (was) content.

However, the Monday after my friend's new fiance unknowingly intro'd me to his college buddy.  Long story which I really don't feel like explaining, but to make it short, we met and are in DEEP like!  I'm not trying to avoid using the other, better known four letter word - we're just not there yet.  However I must say this man is positively amazing!  Ya'll know every time I meet someone new I always say I'll keep ya posted.   And none of them have re-surfaced!  lol.  This man will be here for a while!  At the very least, I've made a great new friend, and I'm not all into the "where will we be in 5 years" thing with him, rather I am enjoying each and every single step of my new friendship/dateship!!!  Yi-ti-deeeee Phluffy Princess!

AND we're attempting to do Insanity together (he already did month 1 a while ago with tremendous success), but here is the kicker....we're long distance!  Which of course presents its challenges, but with my school schedule and his career demands, its actually A-okay.  So....I found an Insanity system online (well, my brother did) and we are starting together on November 1st.  Ughhhhhh....wish me luck with it!  Since my "lifestyle change" or re-committment, I've prayed for a partner who would work out with me and understand and support my fitness goals.  My last relationship was with a man who was attempting depserately to gain weight and would force feed me cookies late at night, before that was a man who met me at my adult low (fresh from WW) and did not understand my eating goals/plan.  A couple of my male friends work out all the time, but tell me I look fine and are not interested in doing anything together.  This year I said to Jesus - look, it is important for me to have a partner that I can be physically active with, where we are both committed to living a healthy lifestyle.  Make that number 77 on my "list"!!!! Amen. lol.  Well, God (as always) delivered!  He's a water drinking, long-term healthy lifestyle committed, ex-athlete who has to actively WORK to stay in shape person - just like ME!

Can ya tell I'm on cloud NINE?!?!  

Faked it til I made it!!!!

One of my friends got engaged a couple of weeks ago, and her fiance had her 2 closest friends come into town "to visit" so we would be there for her day.  I had an amazing weekend!  I love that couple, they are truly inspirational.  They have kept God first in their relationship with each and every step - even remaining completely celibate the entire 3 years of their courtship!  UH-MAZE-ING, right?!  Anywhoooo, I thought that I was allowing myself to "splurge" all weekend but on Sunday at a soul food restaurant I realized OMG I faked it til I made it!  I am talking about this proverbial "lifestyle change" of which we dieters always speak!  As the waitress rounded the table collecting orders, I realized every single person ordered something fried - catfish, whiting, chicken - except me.  And the funny thing is I never even considered, looked at or was tempted by the fried items!  Splurging for me equated to pot roast as opposed to the baked chicken!!!!  I couldn't believe it!  There was a time that NOT ordering fried chicken at a soul food place would have been the hardest decision of my life because although I virtually never fry foods at home, I do enjoy them!  Also....I ordered 2 veggies as my sides, cabbage and green beans!  No rice, mashed or sweet potatoes or mac & cheese, and again to my complete shock - those things weren't a "struggle" to avoid!  I actually ordered what I wanted to have, yet it was a healthy choice and took no coaxing into!  I sat and reflected on my other food choices: water (no soda), little to no snack food despite being offered every few minutes, and lots of fruit and veggies!  WOW - WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN?!?!  I am not where I want to be, but gosh-dogg-on-it I am pretty freakin' impressed with myself!

Also, some friends noticed I had lost weight and toned up since our last in-person visit and some hadn't seen me since the last 20 lb weight gain (estimation) so they didn't notice a loss per se - but everyone exclaimed WOW PP, YOU LOOK GREAT!  Which made me feel amazing, especially considering my weight loss has virtually stalled since May!  However, a sistah is maintaining and continuing to keep striving!  I wore some size 10 skinny jeans which felt amazingly comfortable and looked HOTT if I do say so myself - check it out:

Now I normally HATE being shot from below - I was standing and the picture taker was sitting on the couch, but even with the universally unflattering angle, I am pretty freakin pleased with how I look!

I also wore a dress that was too small last year but fits super well now - sorry no pics though! :-(  Also....the hair is the sew-in that I mentioned a few posts ago.

Also, the school money stuff has been resolved....God bless and continue to keep my wonderful family.  You know how people say they are my backbone?  Well, mine are my vertebrae, intervertebral ligaments, ribs....heck my entire connective system.....my spinal cord even!  All I provide is the brain (intelligence to actually get thru school) - and THAT is a gift from God!  So the credit is not mine!  That is a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders.

I'm a little under the weather right now, but more on other stuff in a separate post! 

Stress - I guess there is an "up" side?

Hello Friends!
I am going to stop apologizing for not writing posts that a directly weight loss related.  I read your blogs and love the posts about your life and the times that I have written about non-weight loss related "stuff" it was very therapeutic!  So as for me right now, I have been extremely stressed because due to something I overlooked, I have roughly a $20K balance for medical school that I cannot have covered by federal financial aid.  I won't go into all the boring details but needless to say...I'M STRESSED!  That is probably the most extreme understatement I have ever made.  I'm trying to research ways I can come up with extra money - and I had no idea some people make GOOD money blogging!  Ha!  After a little research I realize that is not the answer to my prayers because I don't have the dedication that I would need but it was interesting information nonetheless, and makes me want to support those who do earn supplemental income via blogging.  There is always an honest way to make an extra buck!  God has taught me a lot through this situation and I believe he is going to show favor upon me and help me to work everything out.  Well...yes, I am stressed and for once in my life I have lost my appetite.  I got on the scale this morning after essentially not doing anything for the past 1-2 weeks...and I'm DOWN 2 lbs!  Not the healthy thing, so I am going to work out a bit tonight after all if I continue to do that, I'm losing muscle and fat - definitely not going to give me the figure I'm after!

Anyways, that's what is going on in my life right now.  I am almost to a big landmark at which time I will return to posting weigh-ins.  So that not all is lost in this post....here is a non-scale victory that I accomplished:

25 consecutive, no breaks, MAN style push ups in a row!  

Now that I have been away from working out for a bit, I hope that I can still do that!  :-)