I am a bona fide David Cook fan.  He gave me chills with his rendition of Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer" in his initial AI audtions.  I cried when he sang "Always Be My Baby", held my breath as he finished the last lines of "The World I Know" the night of the final vote, and I literally screamed when he was announced as the season 7 winner.  I went to the Idols concert solely to see him perform (and he was AMAZING).   I will buy his entire album on iTunes the day it is released.  I love him.

All of that said... I really like Archuleta's single, despite being 100% Team Cook.  It's just so catchy and enjoyable.  I've been listening to it on repeat, which always annoys my husband :)  

Anyway, an update:  this week has been rough physically.  Just two days of working out- all while really being careful to focus on my core muscles and look out for my back- has had me sore for 5 full days.  Plus, the wedding had a potluck and I did a good job of eating mostly healthy with small portions but somehow I still managed to get food poisoning and I felt junky.  Thus, no working out has happened (more on that in a minute).  

I did make two really bad food decisions.  First, Saturday night I was so incredibly hungry- seriously, you know when you feel weak because you're so hungry?- that I foolishly wrangled my husband into stopping for a burger... and I ate a burger and 2/3 of my curly fries and most of a cookies and cream shake from Jack in the Box.  Bad, I know.  No excuse.  I plan to dedicate an entire post to food and the constant thoughts about it, but yesterday I did something stupid, too.

I took two medium sized red potatoes, washed them, poked holes in them, and microwaved them for ten minutes.  Then I cut them open, lightly mashed them, loaded on tons of butter, salt, and pepper.  I cut up and fried a piece of bacon, put that on, then put on a piece of cheese, melted it in the micro, and then loaded on sour cream and some ranch.  I ate the entire thing. It all seemed so rational and no big deal.  And then suddenly the thoughts of all of the fat and calories swam around my head, colliding, until suddenly I had to throw up.

*sigh*

Today I haven't overeaten at all.  Nor did I Monday, or Sunday.  So, I just have to truck ahead, one day at a time.  I wish I could tell you that I'm perfect and awesome, and I suppose I could say that, only I'd be lying.  

So, that brings me to a revelation I had- suck as it may, I need to rejoin a gym.  I'd like to think I'll wake up tomorrow 2 pounds down, and next week 10 pounds down, and next year 150 pounds down, all with minimal effort. I could think that, only tomorrow's victories will always be a future hope and I'll never be any different today.  

I just got off the phone with LA Fitness.  They have a new $15 million (oy vey, I know, but it's the closest gym with a pool) gym about 20 minutes away, so I'm going to try and join in September.  The start-up costs are a flat $135 ($75 to join, $29.99 a month and you pay first and last month's dues) and I can go to any LAF in the country.  They are building one in Ballard, across the street from our church (with a Trader Joe's underneath!  Woo-HOO!), and where we hope to buy a house someday.  Plus, they have tons of ellipticals and we won't have parking issues there like the 24 Hour in Lynnwood, and the best part is they have a pool.  I think I'll do their aqua fit class M, F & Sat mornings at 9.  It's simply what I have to do or this weight won't come off.

I also have to see an endocrinologist, hopefully in September, because  I am currently slowly gaining weight, despite only eating about 2,000-2,500 calories a day.  I know I'm mostly sedentary, but at my weight my body needs upwards of 3,200 calories a day even if I never got out of bed just to maintain.  There's no way I'm eating enough calories to gain weight, nor has my food been particularly high in sodium and the like.  My lovely monthly visitor, which always brings some bloating and weight gain, should arrive any day now, but still... the scale has been pretty set at 353-355, which is really frustrating.  I'm eating better than when I was on bedrest for 6 weeks and I only gained 5 pounds!  Ugh.

Anyway, that's everything.  Humbling, but honest. 

I'll end with last night's delicious dinner.  Mi chica con carne Rachael has a blog about frugal living, and I sometimes hijack her recipes.  So, last night we stole her recipe for whole wheat pizza dough and altered how they do pizza.  I cut up 4 slices of bacon, rendered out a little of the fat, added 10 oz of lean ground turkey, and sprinkled in about a teaspoon of pepper, cumin, and coriander.  Then I spread bbq sauce on the pizza dough, added the meat mixture, put on some freshly cut red onions and a little bleu cheese (on my side only... the J-Man loves feta and goat cheese but hates the bleu, which I find odd, but such is life) and then about 1 1/2 cups of mozzarella cheese.  After 15 minutes in a 450 degree oven we had a DELICIOUS meal!

Enjoy a few pictures :)