37 and counting

Last week I celebrated my 37^th birthday… according to the CFO, I am officially in my late 30’s.  I argue that I am still in my mid-thirties and will to continue to push that as long as I can.  It is hard to believe that I am getting so close to 40, time to start planning my mid-life crisis.

As usual, we kept things simple.  All I wanted was to go out to eat, open some gifts and enjoy some cake (preferably homemade).  The last item always becomes a point of contention because she would rather just go buy a cake. from a store.  However, I was raised on homemade cakes and there is a definite difference in taste between homemade and store bought.  A homemade cake might not look as nice (depending on who is preparing it), but it always tastes better.  I had recently found a recipe for a cookie cake, so I made it even easier on her by requesting a cookie cake. 

It started snowing about 3pm on my birthday, and by dinner time there was 2-3” inches on the ground and the roads were very slushy.  We decided that it wasn’t bad enough to keep us from going out to eat, so we hopped in the car and headed out.  It is amazing how our attitudes regarding snow have changed since moving here.  If this had happened when we lived in Georgia, we would have battened down the hatches and spent the evening sitting by the fireplace watching the snow fall outside the window.  Now we just adjust our shoe selection to something warm and waterproof and continue on. 

We already had dinner plans at Outback with some friends scheduled for the following night, so I picked a place that we typically don’t go, Buffalo Wild Wings.  I love wings (she doesn’t), so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to go there.  I ordered wings and she ordered a huge nacho plate that had three different types of nachos on it.  I ended up helping her eat the nachos since it was so big.  The wings would reheat well for lunch the following day… nachos, not so much.  The nachos were really good, until we found a long hair in them about 2/3’s of the way through the plate.  Talking about an instant appetite killer.  I’ve worked at restaurants before and I know these things happen, but it is still a bit gross.  They removed the nachos from our bill, packed up my left over wings and we headed home for cookie cake.

One giant cookie!  Maybe she will decorate it with frosting next year (baby steps)

She did very well for her first attempt at making a cookie cake and I received some nice gifts from her and our families.  One of my gifts is a 30” tall pottery vase that I am going to turn into a bubbling fountain for the back yard.  We have been looking for one for a while and finally found one on sale at a local store.  She also gave me a gas powered weed eater, although I still have to go to a store and pick it out.  She hates buying me tools because she doesn’t know enough about them, but she gave in this time.  I think the real reason she decided to give it to me was that she is tired of hearing me complain about having to string together 4 extension cords in order to reach the back section of our yard with our old electric trimmer.  It worked fine in our tiny yard in GA, but not so good here.  I also received some money, which I will be using to fund the rest of the materials for the fountain project.  (expect more updates as that project progresses)

Birthday gifts (the pot is in the photo too, it just blends in with the background)

This is how dedicated I am to getting back into shape:  I got up at my usual 4:40am time and went to the gym on my birthday!.  On Saturday, I got on the scale at the gym again... I have dropped another pound.  That is good news, considering the fact that I still haven’t really altered my diet..  I seem to be doing pretty well with just adding in exercise, but I have decided that I am going to try to scale back my snacking at work, or bring in healthier snacks to eat, and see if that helps. 

A couple people have asked where I started and where I am targeting so I decided to post it here.  Nothing like telling other people the true numbers to help motivate you (or so I hope).  When we went on our November cruise, I was at my all-time high weight of 178 lbs.  For me, seeing that number was the final shove that I needed to get me motivated to join the local gym.  We don't have a scale at home, so I didn't realize that I had gained that much.  Yes, my stomach seemed a bit bigger, but I could still see my feet so I wasn't too concerned.

Here are the numbers so far, I'll try to update this at least monthly: 

Starting weight (Nov 2012):  178 lbs.
Sometime near the end of December 2012 (can't remember the exact day):  176.6 lbs.
Jan 19, 2013: 176.6 lbs.
Feb 9, 2013:  173.4 lbs.
Feb 23, 2013 172.4 lbs.

I have set my personal target as weighing somewhere in the mid-high 150’s.  If I keep losing a pound per 2 weeks, I’ll hit that target 30 weeks from now.  However, I am hoping that adding in yard work, golf, cycling, etc. (once it warms up outside) will help speed up the process.  I might even start eating a few more carrots and less sweets too, I know that would help the most.  Unfortunately, I have an uncontrollable sweet tooth and sitting in front of a computer for 8 hours a day at work doesn’t help... the munchies strike hard and often at work.