Something New (Two. Two Things New.)

Back at the end of September, I planned out NaBloPoMo on a calendar and scheduled Saturdays to be "new" things. Last week was a new habit (which I told you about and did not actually implement yet, sooooo...success?). This week was supposed to be a new place. I meant that in very broad terms, like "try a new restaurant" or "go to a museum" or something else that would force to to go explore Dallas more than I have in the last nine months. And while I DID accomplish some of that while my parents were here (we went to the zoo, the aquarium, the arboretum, two outlet malls, and a dozen new restaurants), I actually have a much more literal answer for this post.

I put a deposit on an apartment. New place, indeed! There's no reason my application should be denied, so it should be mine within the week. If all goes as planned, I move in January 1st. That's just in time for me to fly home to Far North at Christmas and pack all my belongings (yay, purple couch!) into a moving van headed for Texas. I'm really excited and also worried I've made a giant mistake. Which is how I feel about all decisions, large or small. Seriously, how important is which Chapstick brand I choose? Pivotal, apparently. 

Anyway. Except for three months during relocation in Far North, I've never lived alone. I've never set up an apartment for myself. This is exciting and thrilling and very adultish. Also, it feels a little crazy that I'm doing this in TEXAS. If you asked me a few years ago, I never would have said this is where I'd be. And I am so glad this is where I've ended up. No regrets. 

It also feels a little bit like moving away for a second time. In March, I got on a plane to move here. For all intents and purposes, I HAVE moved here. But getting an apartment (even more than getting a job) makes is really real. If that makes any sense, which it probably doesn't. Oh well. 

I had planned for next Saturday to be about a new experience. I'll admit right here that I was stretching a bit when I wrote that. I had no idea what that was going to look like. It just sounded good on my calendar. And since none of you were going to see it, it didn't matter if I didn't do it. 

Well, I have a new experience to report: I got pulled over by a cop last night. First time ever. Apparently, I had failed to use my turn signal. In a dedicated turn lane. It would have been illegal for me to do anything other than turn. And I used my signal to GET INTO the lane. But apparently, it turned itself off. Or I accidentally turned it off. Who knows? I did not end up with a ticket, probably partly due to the fact that I USED MY TURN SIGNAL to pull over for the cop. Because I'm a CHRONIC SIGNALER. Seriously, I signal EVERYWHERE. Into the driveway. In parking lots. EVERY. WHERE. I did not expect those words to come out go the cop's mouth (I had no idea what she was going to say, since I didn't think I was breaking any laws).

Now, I speed more often that I should (which is, ever. I should not speed ever. I know.). I sometimes don't come to a COMPLETE stop at four way stops when no one else is around or when I'm turning right on a red and the other lane is clear for miles. I break traffic laws from time to time and I shouldn't. And I have renewed conviction to fix these issues, thank you, Officer. But signaling HAS NEVER been a thing I break the law with. 

I really don't know where I think this indignation is taking me. I did not get a ticket. It was a less-than-five-minute interaction. The officer was very nice--she even wished me a good evening. Nothing bad happened. And yet, I am indignant. Fruitlessly and ridiculously indignant. And at least it's a new experience. I wonder what I'll write about next Saturday?

Weigh In: Week Who The Hell Knows Anymore?

Can we pretend that I posted this yesterday, so that I haven't ALREADY failed NaBloPoMo? Failing before you start is one of the saddest things I think you can do. So let's all have some selective amenisia and pretend that I am a responsible and non-forgetful blogger. Thanks, you guys are the best!

I haven't posted in a while about my weigh ins. Some of that is because I am incredibly forgetful, but mostly it's because I've been struggling and I haven't had a lot of good news to share. I'm still doing the program, but the program has stopped being as effective as it once was and I cannot figure out why. My leader is kind of...the worst. Okay, not really.  She's a very nice lady and the meetings are NOT mind-numbingly boring like they were in Far North. She's just got these weird hang-ups about certain points/calories not being as equal as others and I think it's ridiculous and CONTRARY to the program. I understand they're different from the stand-point of fullness and satisfaction, but in terms of weight gain, they should all be the same or the program DOESN'T WORK.

Anyway, I've been struggling with only losing teensy-tiny bits while trying really hard and then gaining for no discernible reason. I joined a gym. I WENT to the gym. I ate my extra weekly points. I DIDN'T eat my extra points. I ate my activity points. I DIDN'T eat my activity points. The same or similar, ad nauseum. Nothing seems to correlate. 

But now, I have finally reached 30lbs lost. I am way behind my self-imposed schedule and there is no way I'm catching up in time to be at my goal weight by September 2014, but I'm sticking with it because the alternative sucks more.  I was going to post each week's weigh in, all in a row, like I have been doing, but that seems like effort, so I'll just post the most recent one (I'm posting on my iPad, so the formatting will look nothing like the other posts. Which matters to exactly no one but whatever).

11/01/13

Original Weight: 312.0 lbs

This week's weight: 282.0 lbs

This weeks change: -1.4 lbs

Total loss: 30.0 lbs

My 10% goal is right around the corner (I was going to say probably next week, but with the way things have been going, it may be forever and a day before I see it and I'd rather not put the pressure on myself) at 31.2 lbs lost. Hopefully, that's sooner rather than later. 

For now, I'm trying to focus on the non-scale victories, especially sizing victories.  I'm still in that awful in-between stage in pants where my 22s are loose and not entirely flattering, but 20s are way too tight and uncomfortable. But I can get them zipped! So that's something. On top, I'm slimming out much faster, so many of the shirts I brought with me to Texas are too big now, but the rest are still too small.  That sucked for a while, until my mom came to town and MADE me go shopping and now I have all sorts of really fun tops that will hopefully only look better as I shrink (because that's a lot of money spent on them if they only last a few months). We tried to pick things that looked good now, but would look even better THEN. We'll see. 

While my parents have been here, we've been eating out for at least two meals a day, which is what you do in vacation, but man is it hard to make good choices. Apparently, that didn't matter much, though, since this is the most I've lost in weeks.  We've also been moving a whole lot more that I'm used to--we've done the aquarium (which I stupidly did in brand new heels, ouch!), the arboretum, the zoo, and tons of shopping. So I think that helped a ton. Maybe this week will help jump start whatever stalled out back in August. I'm skeptical, but I'm trying to remain hopeful. 

How are the rest of you doing? I know many of you doing WW have quit or taken a break, but I'd love to hear about your progress, not matter what program (or non-program) you're doing.