“You’ve Lost Some Weight” And Snowwwwww

I heard those magic words from a friend of mine tonight… “Hey, you’ve lost some weight!”

This compliment came from my friend B, who also has a crush on me. But he has never lied to me about my weight. (In fact, he told me several months ago that I was “pudgy”). So I believe him.

Funnily enough, about 2 days ago, I suspected that I had lost some more weight. All of a sudden my lower stomach and waist area seem a lot smaller. When I put my hands on my hips, I feel a definite difference. But I wasn’t sure… until now.

I may get on the scale tomorrow morning, although I’m trying to avoid it for another month.

Moving on… I must say, my natural food plan is going very well. I am having no problems sticking to it and actually feel great! This is my third full day on the plan and I seriously feel as though I can do this infinitely.

So…… onto my snow rant. Sit back, as this will be long!

Today, the weather man was so wrong that it wasn’t even remotely funny. He predicted something along the lines of an inch of snow which would turn to rain tonight.

WRONG!

Anyway, I had an important errand to run this evening before going to play pool: I had to go to my mail center and pick up a crapload of packages. I still get free books sent to me for one of my other sites - Chicklitbooks.com, and I get a LOT OF THEM. Somehow I ended up on the mailing list for almost every publisher. I have a mailbox down at a local UPS store (formerly Mailboxes Etc) which I use as my mailing address for web-related stuff. I probably get around 100 books per month, give or take. I had not been down there to get any of the packages/books since September of ‘07.

Anyway, I knew it was snowing out, but I didn’t realize that there were already a couple of inches on the ground, not to mention the fact that it was near whiteout conditions. So anyway, I go outside to my car at about 6pm and instantly realized that this was not going to be fun. Granted, I am no longer nervous about driving in the snow (despite my bad accident in 2004), but I discovered that the roads were very slick, unplowed (because of the incorrect weather forecast), and my brakes were basically useless!! I live in an area that would be considered backroads of downtown Nashua, so they don’t get plowed or salted/sanded as often anyway.

I realized about 2 minutes into my drive that my brakes weren’t working. I almost turned around and went home (not that it would have been possible, given the road situation) but the UPS store said I HAD to get down there, they were running out of room. So I drove very carefully and slowly. I had a couple of near misses when I had to use my brakes but thankfully everything worked out OK.

So I made it down to my mail center, which is in a strip mall, and pulled into a spot which had a slight downward incline since the others were all taken. I went into the store and realized that I had literally 12+ trash bags full of packages I needed to figure out how to fit into my car. I called my friend B, who happened (by luck) to be nearby and he came to help me load up my car. (I promised him a ride downtown, where he was heading on the bus anyway, plus free drinks at the pool hall later).

We loaded 5 bags into my trunk and I promised the store owner that I would be back tomorrow to get the rest. Then because of the downward incline, I couldn’t back out of my spot. I don’t know if it’s my tires or what, but my car just slides all over the place and my tires spin if there is even a tiny bit of ice or snow. Thank GOD that B was there. He had to push me out of the spot. Then I drove home with B yapping in the passenger seat about how to drive. (He is a bad “back seat driver”. I always tell him that I have driven back and forth across the country multiple times and if I didn’t know how to drive by now, I’d be in serious trouble. He also always tells me how to get to his apartment as though I didn’t live in the complex next door to him for 2 years!)

The truth of the matter is, you can drive in almost any snow/ice conditions if you go slow enough. So I did, as I had no choice. There were a couple more close calls on the way home… some people were driving like complete morons.

I’m taking my car in tomorrow (where the super cute mechanic works) to see if something is wrong with my brakes or tires. I’ve never had such problems in simple snow with any other vehicle. Perhaps it’s time for some new tires?

I am just rambling on and on… I should go to bed, as it’s 1am!

Ah yes, and lastly… exercise. I worked out for 15 minutes on each machine today - spinning, treadmill then elliptical. I am definitely building and maintaining muscle because every time I go to the gym now, I can up the machines to the next level or two. I got up to level 8 on the spinning machine today! (2 1/2 weeks ago, level 1 and 2 winded me). Also, I have to work harder to get my heart rate up, which is EXCELLENT news.

I also got about 15 minutes of brisk snow-walking in when B and I walked down to the pool hall from my apartment.

I’m not going to lie… I had 3 shots of alcohol tonight. That is the only area in which I messed up in my diet/exercise plan. But I also had a full glass of water in between each shot along with a delicious grilled chicken and veggie meal. Plus I was on my feet for 3 hours playing pool.

A pretty active day, I’d say!

OK, bed time… I’m exhausted.