Bicycling. Yeah, I actually exercised.

We all know I hate to exercise unless it's fun.  Fun, meaning goofing around with friends, or sex.  (Come on, everyone knows that sex is the best way to burn calories.)  I also don't mind the calories I burn while hauling heavy photography equipment and photographing a wedding in 90 degree heat.  It's still fun.

What I DON'T enjoy is:  running, swimming, weight lifting, aerobics, etc, etc, etc.

But, I was thinking back to the good ol days when I was ten or twelve or something, and I rode my bike.  I rode it all the freakin' time.  For miles and miles and miles and HOURS.  And I was a skinny thing.  Well, it probably also helped that I was TWELVE, but you get where I'm going with this.  So, I (finally, after wanting one for two or three years,) bought myself a bike.

Annnnnnd, I got myself a helmet that I hate.  I pretty much stood there at Target looking at all the crappy, ugly helmets and just picked a random one after not being able to really CHOOSE one I LIKED.  I'm eventually hoping to get a cute English looking helmet, but those are super expensive.

So, yeah.  I got my Gary Fischer all ready to rock, and headed out around the neighborhood.  Here's as far as I got.  And it included a mini-break for about 1 minute to catch my breath.  (or was it to give my quads a little rest?)

1.74 miles.  And man, was I beat.  The heat didn't help, but I got home and I was sweating, and tired, and I literally laid down on the couch to cool off and catch my breath.

I think I might try riding later in the day next time.  I went out at 2:30pm, around 92 degrees.  Probably not the BEST idea to break myself in to bicycling... right?

In other news, I've been doing a bit of shopping for new clothes.  Not because I'm any skinnier, but because it's FREAKING HOT outside, and I am saying, screw it.  I'm wearing skirts more, dammit.  And in doing so, I've discovered that indeed, the 80's are back.  I can't express how much I wanted to buy this dress:

I didn't get it though... because it's just too tight and short... and I couldn't bring myself to do it. :)

A few other ones I tried on but didn't buy:

(cute, but I don't dig this neck line with my arms/armpit fat)

(totally cute skirt, last one, too big. :(  )

I liked the style of this dress, but the way it wrapped/crossed in front made me uncomfortable.  Like a breeze would come along and I'd be showing the world my underwear, or something.

Adorable, but I felt it was so short.  Why can't they make dresses a little longer these days?

And I just didn't like the fit of this one at all.  :/

AND, so here we have:  three pieces I did buy - a skirt and two dresses:

I also thought I'd share a new photo of me by my friend and fellow local photographer Jadon Good.  He's doing a personal project called "The Abandoned Couch" project.  You can visit his facebook here for all the other portraits as they come around! :)

For now, I can't lose weight.

That's because I had my dress fitting today, and I'm getting married next month!

I'm averaging around 169 each day I weigh in.  I'm eating tons of salad, and I've re-introduced fruit into my diet.  I mean, it's summer.  I'm not going to go without watermelon, sorry.  :)

So, that's what it is and as long as I can maintain, things should be good.

And now for a spoiler... the dress.  And, the shoes. ;)  It will be strapless and needs to be taken in another inch or two so it fits my body nice and snug.  The bottom (obviously) is not finished, needs to be hemmed, and there will be a petticoat underneath.  But other than that, this is basically it!

So... I think I'm back.

Yo dudes.

So, a real update for once.  Woo-hoo.  I actually think I'm sort of back.  Back to the weight loss thing.  I'm getting married in 5.5 weeks, and even that hadn't been enough to keep me on top of my game to get into a teeny tiny dress, for some reason.

I joined a local photographer's weight loss competition called "Photographers who Lose it."  (clever name, eh?)  My official weigh-in from July 15th is:

The competition involves weighing in on the 15th of every month (on the board / sheet thing), and it goes through February.  For me, I'm just trying to use it for motivation to drop these last extra pounds before the wedding.  5.5 weeks = 10 pounds?  (hopeful, wishful thinking.)

On that note, I'm looking to buy a bike this week so I can start exercising.

So!  I'm sort of on a low carb diet but with fruit included.  That's pretty similar to, what... South Beach?  All I know is I'm doing salads with tons of veggies, tuna fish, that kind of thing.  :)

I've been perusing some positive affirmation tumblr sites recently.  There are a ton of self-love / body-love websites out there, and I just LOVE it.  I have spent a few days just clicking through pages and saving the things I like the most (when I have time or am eating or something.)

Here are a few of my favorites right now:

They also have images of women / bodies to encourage / show how beautiful everyone is.  I saved a few of the bodies that just made me go, "WOW."  I'm kind of in love with this woman:

And... then it happened.  I clicked through some more pages, and came upon... my own body.  Myself.  My body self from 2009, from the Exposed Movement.

It has 178 hearts below it.  That's comments and re-blogs.  I found it re-blogged all through Tumblr, with positive things to say, and even more re-blogging.  Wow, just wow.  What an amazing feeling that this image with my body and my thoughts could help promote positive body image.  It's just wonderful.  So, I should start with my own self, eh?

In other news, I did a tiny bit of shopping today.  I've been really working on my self image, and wearing skirts / dresses / feeling cute more often.  Ironically, I'm getting compliments and getting hit on more, which always is a boost for my self esteem.

I got this skirt today on clearance from Anthropologie (size 10).  Friggin' HAD to have it.  The detail is ridiculously cute!

 And I got this cute dress.  I think these two pieces will be nice for our 2nd engagement session coming up  on August 1st.  They are both just the slightest bit tight (the dress around my rib cage,) and the skirt slightly around my bootie, but it's not the worst.  I may even lose another pound or two by the time 8/1 rolls around.

Same old crap.

Yep.  Same old crap.

Working non-stop.
Storm chasing.  (you can see my adventures at the blog here:  http://faceofastorm.blogspot.com/)
Wedding planning.
Weight around 170-173.

I have gone back to low carb, but I think I'm eating too many nuts.  And, the last two nights in a row I have eaten way too much.  Even though it was healthy (sauce free veggie stir-fry with grilled chicken and low sodium soy sauce) - I ate a whole bag of the veggies, probably intended to serve a family.  I'm definitely over eating.  Definitely have a problem with portion control, and I definitely am eating out of boredom or oral fixation, or something.  I'll say to myself "not really hungry" and eat.  And eat a MEAL.

I'll never drop this last 10 before the wedding if I keep going like this.


~J