I love my Ipod Touch.  Believe it or not, I won that thing in an office weight loss challenge last November.  Sadly, I’ve gained 16 pounds since then.  Yes, I said 16, sixteen, 1-6, 10 plus 6…you get the picture.  I’ve made some changes recently, hopefully to lose those 16 pounds and another 10.  I’ve joined a gym,  cleaned out my snack drawer at the office,  and I’ve tossed out the ‘bad’ food in my cabinets.  I’ve even started drinking water, which is a huge surprise, considering my love affair with Diet Mountain Dew.  I’m going to succeed this time.  I need to make at least one more change…

MY PLAYLIST!

I’m getting tired of my current playlist.  It’s getting boring.  I’m repeating the same songs over and over again.  I need a playlist makeover.  Here’s my current playlist (don’t laugh)…

• Hot and Cold by Katy Perry
• Now That We Found Love by Heavy D and the Boyz
• Whoop! (there it is) by Tag Team
• Baby Got Back by Sir Mix a-lot
• Don’t Cha by The Pussy Cat Dolls
• You’ve Got the Right Stuff by New Kids on the Block
• Single Ladies by Beyonce
• LaLa by Ashley Simpson
• Crazy in Love by Beyonce
• Boom Boom Pow by Black Eyed Peas
• Crazy Bitch by Buckcherry
• SexyBack by Justin Tinberlake
• Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus
• Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice

Any suggestions?

I wished I could say that I have developed an addiction for exercise, but I can’t.  Not yet anyway.  In fact, I’m still forcing myself to exercise.  I have not had the chance to ride my bike in over a week due to the rain.  I’ve been stuck inside.  Wii fit and I have become good friends.

I have a confession.  I’m addicted to my scales.

Normally I hate them.  I try to stay as far away from them as possible.  In the past two week I have grown very fond of them!  In fact, I sometimes weigh several times a day.  Why do I do this?  I weigh in the morning.  I weigh when I get to work (yes, I have scales at work too!).  I will go to the bathroom and weigh again.  I weigh before I go to bed.

I’ve lost 6.5 pounds (based on my last weigh in 5 minutes ago).  Great.  However, I have gain something else.  Some weird scale fetish addiction.

Does anyone else do this?  I’m sure it’s not health.  In fact, it is a distraction.  I just can’t help myself.

I’m hoping to love exercise as much as I have learned to love the scale.  I’m guessing I’m going to need a few more “dates” before I declare my true feelings for exercise.  I may never get there, though…

For now, I have a “date” with my scales.  It’s been at least 5 minutes.

Yes.  That’s right.  Diets suck.

But…I’ve lost 4.5 pounds.  Oh, yeah!

I hate being on a diet.  I went to the doctor today and after a huge lecture, she put me on blood pressure medication.  Ugghh….35 years old and on blood pressure medication.  This is what being overweight does to people.

I’m still riding my bike, and luckily, no more wrecks.  Honestly, I still have to force myself to exercise.  It seems like such a hassle to load up my bike, drive to the trail, and ride for 5 miles.  I’m literally driving 25 miles just to ride for 5.  That sucks too.  It just seems like it would be easier to have a treadmill so I could do the work at home.  I bet lots of folks try to convince themselves of this, only to end up using it for a clothes rack…but honestly, if I didn’t have to drive so far to exercise, maybe I would do it more often.  I have my heart set on a Bowflex TC5000.

The local gym is offering Zumba classes.  Zumba is an aerobic exercise routine inspired by Latin dance.  It sounds fun enough.  I think I’m going to give it a try.  I’m waiting for an evening class.  Hopefully it won’t be too long.  I have a history of losing interest…quick! 

So, there it is…I hate diets but I have lost weight.  I guess eating right and exercise really does work.  Who knew?  Only 20 more to go.

Peanut Butter.

Peanut Butter Pie. Peanut Butter Candies.  Peanut Butter Cups, Peanut Butter Cookies.  Peanut Butter and Jelly.  I’m in love with another peanut butter.

I have a love/hate relationship with peanut butter.  Peanut Butter was my best friend when I weighed 300 lbs.  Now that I look back, peanut butter was probably one of the reasons I was obese.  Typical peanut butter is loaded with fat and calories.  I hate that!  Once I lost 150, I wanted to keep it off.

I gave up Peanut Butter.

Recently I stumbled across something called Better ‘N Peanut Butter.  I thought, “better than peanut butter.  Yeah, right!”  I missed regular peanut butter so I thought I would give it a try.

I’m so glad I did.

This stuff is amazing! No, really.  I fell in love with this stuff.  I’m now…in love with another peanut butter.

Better ‘N Peanut Butter is 85% (yes, you heard me) less fat than real peanut butter AND 40% (that’s right) less calories. 

Better ‘N Peanut Butter is an all natural, delicious peanut butter spread from Wonder Natural Foods. The texture is slightly different, but not in a bad way.

This stuff has 2 grams of fat, 100 calories (per 2 Tbsp.) 13 grams of carbs, no saturated fat, No trans fat, it’s gluten free, dairy free, has no cholesterol and no preservatives!

It is a MUST buy.

Cost:  $4-$5 per 16 oz jar.  This get’s kinda expensive when you have a 2 jar a week habit!!  However, it is worth every penny!  I mean it!

Product has to be refrigerated after opening.  So far, this is my only negative.  I would love to carry this stuff with me everywhere I go.

You think I’m kidding.

There are 3 versions available.  Regular, Low Sodium and Chocolate.  The regular and low sodium are my 2 favorites!  YUMMY.

Go out and buy this stuff.  You’ll love it.

Today is the last day of my Gratitude list. While I will not be listing out what I am grateful for on a regular basis, it does not mean I am no longer grateful. I have learned so much from my gratitude list. More than I will probably ever come to realize. I’ve made new friends. I’ve committed to something for more than 1 week (which is hard for me). I have come to appreciate the small things in life. I realized I have an obsession with peanut butter! I have learned it is okay to express gratitude, but only if you really mean it. I am more aware of my surroundings. I pay more attention to others and what they should be grateful for. And lastly, that I have a lot to be grateful for.

I’m ending my gratitude with the hardest of all letters. “Z”. And no, I could not think of 10.

Zoo. We have a wonderful zoo here in North Carolina.  Beautiful.  We visit at least once per year.  It is cheap,  they have tons of activities for the kids and it is good, quality time with the fam.

Zippers. Yes, I’m grateful for zippers.  I surely don’t want to wear pants with elastic waistbands (unless they are my workout pants!).

Zombie Movies. I’m a horror movie junkie!  And zombie movies are one of my faves.

Zilch. Zilch is a sugar free margarita mixer that contains zero carbs, zero calories and zero sodium, making it perfect for my low calorie, low carb diet!! I recently tried this at a conference in Texas and it was yummy.  Check it out!

Zero Calorie gum. I think gum keeps me from eating as much as I would normally.  I love sugar free, zero calorie gum and candies!

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah. Does anyone else know this song?  Zip-a dee-doo-dah, Zip-a-dee-ay, my, oh, my what a wonderful day…Plenty of sunshine headin’ my way, Zip-a dee-doo-dah, Zip-a-dee-ay…

My gratitude will continue…I hope yours will too.