A Little Less Crystal

I am thrilled many of you have looked forward to reading my Biggest Loser Recaps. I will be doing one each week. Let me warn you. I swear. A lot. And am very opinionated. VERY. If you have read my blog in the past, you know that I will not hold back. I may say things you don't like, but it is my opinion.

During Season 7, I said that I would like to blog about The Biggest Loser (known from here on out as TBL). I started watching it during the third episode so I didn't want to start then.

This year, I made a point to start watching at the very beginning. Last season was the first season I had ever watched. AND I LOVED IT. I have blogged a little bit about how much TBL has meant to me. It is such a motivation to me.

Just a note as to how I plan to do these recaps: The set up I have used is basically the way I want to do this. Some important quotes during each show, a short "recap," random thoughts, and ending with who went home. If you have suggestions, please comment and leave them there.

Important Quotes From Episode 1

"Lives that are fragmented..."
"Finding my new normal..."
"They all have a story they tell themselves"

Recap:

Season 8 started out by making it clear to the audience that this was a season of second chances. I really believed that by the end of the show. I was so excited to see Daniel back. And Abby's story broke my heart. I don't know how I could pick up and move on after something like she's been through. I have blogged about how much my world is Michael. I have no idea how I would put one foot in front of the other if something happened to him. So, I admire Abby. So much.

Several important things happened to some contestants during this episode. And I actually would have loved to see everyone's health assessment and wonder why they only showed a couple. One person that they did show really touched me. Sean had no clue that he had Type II Diabetes. My heart broke for him as much as it broke for Abby. My family is rampant with all types of diabetes. My brother has Type II diabetes. He's 23. I know. And it could have been prevented.


Just some random thoughts from the rest of the show:

-Thought it was interesting they had the contestants run the last mile of the run the contestants did last season. It felt like I was starting where I left over. Felt comfortable.

-There was a lot of swearing on this one. From Jillian AND Bob. Now, I'm not the type of person that shies away from swearing. Obviously So, even I was surprised by all the language. But in a good way. Because for me, I would NEED someone to get on my ass.

-On top of a lot of swearing, there was a lot of puking...throwing up...vomiting...whatever. And this, I DO NOT do well with.

-I love how Daniel was a cheerleader throughout the whole thing. I really hope he does well and continues to encourage and does not let the game go to his head. I think he is focused on the game but not to the point to where he forgets about other people.

-Also, I loved Coach Mo. I loved his name, his ambition, how he kept eyeing everyone as they weighed in...everything. I don't have a favorite yet but he might become it.

-I can't stand to see Jillian cry. This is sometimes the hardest part of the show for me. Because she is such a hard ass most of the time, I forget she is human and has feelings. And that is hard for me.

-My last thought about the show is that I loved Jillian's take on the idea of stories. We all have our story about how we got where we were. We let our stories run our lives, define who we are, and by that, we don't change our story. Loved this idea!

Who went home?

Alexandra was the first to go home. I thought she deserved another week. I thought Julio DID NOT try his hardest. I thought he should have been able to lose more weight. And, I thought his ass got lucky. However, this may have been a good thing for her. She has lost 60 pounds. WOW. I thought she looked great.

Just so you know, the following is a preview of The Biggest Loser. Might contain spoilers:

I am so excited. The Biggest Loser starts tomorrow night and I so need to watch this show. I need the motivation, the pep talk, whatever you want to call it. Because I need this so much, I have decided that I will write about the show each week. I am definitely going to try to make this commitment to this blog and to myself. I will be writing about my thoughts and opinions about the show and my feelings towards it. My posts will more than likely come on the day after the show. I don't stay up and watch it. It's DVRed and then I watch it. So, it will be after I watch it. I'm going to aim for before Friday. I look forward to it.

Where were you when the towers went down? I know you know. Kind of like the generation during the Kennedy era knew where they were when JFK was killed.

I was in my living room, in a gliding rocking chair, watching the Today show. They broke in to report a plane had hit one of the towers. It was unbelievable. I don't have to review the rest. Everyone knows what happened and what has happened since.

During this time period, I was a nanny to three precious little girls. I still call them my girls. I called their dad and got permission to get them out of school. I picked them up and took them to McDonalds. I felt this was something so simple but so real for me. I was heartbroken about 9/11 and my girls were my comfort that day. That night I listened as I heard no planes in the sky.

My heart goes out to the families that lost loved ones this day eight years ago. Wow, I can't believe it's been that long. But it has. However, I don't imagine it gets any easier over time.




This picture has always brought me to tears. I can't imagine what it was like there.

Have you ever dealt with the IRS? Did you ever feel like you were dealing with a stubborn two year old? I am in the process of trying to claim the First Time Home Owners Tax Credit and it has been a pain in the ass. I have bent over backwards trying to get the information that they have requested. I am convinced that there is not a "letter by a government entity" I am supposed to get. This is just something the IRS dreamed up to make this difficult. No one knows what type of letter I am supposed to be getting.

Also, Michael and I are in the process of getting some information together to get a marriage license. The wedding has never been as stressful as this IRS and marriage license stuff.

Weight is still the same. I have still be tracking but today has not been good. But, as long as I can maintain until October, I will be happy.

Since I haven't been blogging, what is it that I have been doing with my time? Well, honestly, I've been lazy and haven't done anything constructive. I have discovered Facebook and along with that, Farmtown and several other "games" such as this one. If you want to "friend me," my email is bagwell123 at gmail dot com.

Also, for the first couple of weeks of not blogging I read the Twilight series. A couple of four times. Consecutively. Every day, during breaks and lunch. If I didn't need sleep, I would have read during that time. Also, after reading these, I decided to pick up Anne Rice. So I read the first five Vampire Chronicles books, the first book in the Mayfair Witch Chronicles, and now I am on the second book. So I read a lot.

And, as I said in the previous post, I decided to get married earlier than originally planned. So, for the last two and a half months, I have been planning my wedding with help from my mom and some input from Michael. He's not really into the "planning" part. But, that's fine. I have enjoyed this immensely, because I never thought I would get to do it. I have always maintained I would never get married because I would only marry him. Michael has always been "the only one for me." No kidding.

For the most part, my eating has been okay as I have said in the previous post. I have had times, mostly on the weekends, that I eat out of control. Seriously. Like a bag of chips and dip. But during the week, I am VERY strict on myself. I think this is how I have maintained what I have. Since I have started back blogging, I hope this will help me stay on track on the weekend as well. We'll see.

Thanks to those who have left me comments. I will start making my way around again. I'm going to ease back into this so it doesn't feel like something I HAVE to do. I want it to be something I want to do and something cathartic again for me.

*Peaks around the corner* "Hello?" *Hearing self echo*

It's been 17 weeks since my last blog entry. I think it's time. The good news is I haven't gained weight back. I've pretty much stayed in between 242 and 245. I still track everyday and try to keep on plan. However, there are days when I have went off plan completely and did "my own thing" (translation: Pizza and cheetos and chips and ice cream). But I have maintained which is more than I can say for myself in the past. To be honest, I haven't proactively, seriously, consciously TRIED to lose weight. My main concern has been to not GAIN weight.

In other news, Michael and I decided in July that we are getting married in October. Well, let's be honest. I asked if October was okay, told him why I wanted to be married this year, and he say okay. It wasn't his idea but he's okay with it. We were going to wait until October 2010 but I just could not. So, here we are. I started planning as soon as I knew he was okay with it and have been planning ever since. I'm very excited and very nervous at the same time.

And seeing as I am not busy enough already, I've decided to try to blog again. I need to blog. I have missed it so much. For me, writing is my "happy pill." My way to make it better when everything is so wrong. Here I go.

I need a break. Honestly. The past few weeks for me have been draining. I have watched as the scale has stayed the same with only just the slightest change. Today, I am 243... .8 up from last week. I'm willing to bet it's water. I haven't been able to eat and drink like I'm supposed to. I've been eating a lot of crackers and other easily digestible items. I can't eat raw veggies at the moment because they make me feel like my stomach is going to fall out of my body. I have to be really careful what goes into my mouth. Last night was the first night in about a week I have eaten protein. And, I had to take something so I would not get sick. Water makes me want to gag right now. So, I need a break.

I'm still going to watch what I eat, track my food, and find easy to digest items that are also easy on the calories. I desperately want to lose weight but the fact that my stomach is not cooperating and the scale is not cooperating makes me feel like I just need to take a break. Start over. Refocus. Something.

And read Twilight. Have you heard about these books? I read the first last week and half of the second last night. My plan is to read more today.

But I need to refocus. So, if you don't hear from me in a little bit, don't worry. However, if it's more than a couple of weeks, send out a search party. My email is bagwell123 at gmail dot com. I'll be out trying to forage food to eat, reading Twilight, and getting refocused.