ST PATTY'S DAY - Shake Your Shamrock!!

So, unfortunately, my girlfriend JB had to cancel and could not make it to Edmonton for St.Patty's Day!! Although I was disappointed that she wouldn't be there, I decided that I was going to celebrate anyway, I WAS GOING TO SHAKE MY SHAMROCK!!! I LOVE St. Patty's Day, so why not?

This journey is important to me and I am committed to it and reaching my goals but I also do not want life to pass me by this year because of it!! So, I decided to enjoy my St. Patty's Day....I wasn't "bad" the entire day - just that evening!! I have ABSOLUTELY NO REGRETS!! I did promise to be honest with you guys throughout this journey so here it is!! :)

I woke up that morning, worked out, had a healthy breakfast and went off to work for the day. I made sure that I had a healthy lunch as well (shrimp and veggies). After work, I went back to the hotel, threw on my Irish green shirt and green underwear and went to a pub (Sherlock Holmes) with my colleagues. This pub was awesome...they provided all the "green accessories" (Hats, t-shirts, stickers, shot glasses, beer bong, beads, etc., etc.) It was wonderful. I ordered a green beer and got started on the evening!! My friend JB and I celebrated together via text messages, so we kind of felt like we did not break tradition - we did in a sense, celebrate together!!

Let the festivities begin.....

Green Hat....CHECK!!

Green Beer Bong......CHECK!! (It never left my side :)

Green Beer......CHECK times 2!!

Green Beads....CHECK!!!

A few beers (green and other) later, this is me loving St. Patty's Day...

I must admit, it didn't take much to get me to the point of "feeling good"... stop drinking for 3 months and you too can turn into a cheap drunk!!
Please note that Green Stickers were added (hey, what's St. Patty's Day without green shamrock stickers?)...

I really did have a fabulous time. I held up WAY better than I thought I would, all things considered.



MORE HONESTY....

My food and drinks for that evening consisted of the following:

• lots and lots of green beer (my bong held about two bottles/glasses when filled to the brim)
• lots of non-coloured beer
• shooters
• chicken wings
• sweet potato fries
• and water

The next morning, about 6:15 am, I opened my eyes, rubbed them a bit, slowly and carefully sat up in bed and waited......waited somemore......NOTHING!! The room wasn't spinning, my head wasn't fuzzy, my stomach (and contents) were fine....I could not believe how great I felt...NO HANGOVER!!! This is the first post St.Patty's Day morning in years that I haven't been hungover. Could not believe it. The only thing I did differently was this journey and no McDonalds after drinking....so my conclusion is, and this is big news here, "Being Fit/Healthy Prevents Hangovers!!" :)

I got out of bed, threw on my workout gear and went to the gym...I did my workout for a little more than an hour, took a long, fabulous shower and went down to breakfast!!! It was incredible!! I felt awesome and it lasted throughout the day!! Just awesome.

So that's it... I had a great time, and continued on with my journey...I still managed to lose 1 pound this week. I'm sure I could have lost a few more but no worries at all!! I am totally pleased and just feel awesome.

So this is a new week and I plan to kick it up a few notches. Rob (trainer) is building a new, crazy and killer workout for me, I will also be spinning twice a week in addition to my cardio - so I'm excited. This is it, I'm sticking to this hardcore..

Until next time...

Joania (2KMINE!!!)

ST. PATTY'S & MY GIRLFRIEND JB....

This individual has been my friend for 20+ years and together, we've done a lot of fun and crazy things which will bring us to tears as we laugh about it, to this day!! It doesn't take much to get us going! I cannot imagine my life without her...anyway, this is not intended to be a sappy post. I can just see her face as she reads this laughing to herself and probably saying, "I can't believe she's writing about me and our craziness in her blog!!" or something to that effect!

Anyway, JB and I absolutely LOVE St. Patrick's Day!!! Well, maybe it's more the festivities that we like because if any one of us were quizzed on the history or origin of St. Patty's - we'd fail miserably!! I'm certain all of our responses would include either "leprechaun" or "green beer"!! It has been our longstanding tradition of just getting together and "doing it up right" on St. Patty's Day. For us, the festivities usually starts very early in the afternoon and goes strong until the wee hours of the morning!!

In the past, this involved the consumption of "a few" beverages, followed by a few more and so on and so on until very early the following morning where we'd ALWAYS end up asking the taxi driver to take us to the 24-hour drive thru McDonalds, where we ordered a massive amount of greasy, fatty food. I'm talking, double Big Macs, Supersize Fries, Coke and Apple Pies!!! I swear, it's the only thing we wanted to eat after a day on the "liquid diet" and it was just AMAZING! Can anyone relate to this, or are we just nuts?? Anyway, that's how we would normally spend St. Patty's Day, in the past!

This Year...

I will be in Edmonton on business on St. Patty's Day!! This year, on St. Patty's Day, I will have just completed my third straight month on this wonderful journey following a highly effective, customized diet and exercise plan which does not include my traditional "St. Patty's Day Food and Beverage Choices"!!!! THIS YEAR, on St. Patty's Day, although I will be in Edmonton, SO WILL MY GIRLFRIEND JB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't know if was fate or if it was planned (I WILL never tell!!) but we will BOTH be in Edmonton on St Patty's Day and I think it was meant to be...

Oh, what to do????

First off, my girlfriend in no way wants to sabbotage my journey and has been extremely supportive from the very beginning and even before!! So "what I do" will be totally my decision...we could have a good time either way..Honestly, there is no pressure from her at all!! I just don't want anyone thinking that she's sabbotaging me in anyway!!!

So here are some facts:

1. I have been just amazing on this diet and exercise plan, and for the most part (except those 4 choc eggs recently), I've stayed true.
   
2. I didn't have cake or alcohol on my 35th birthday!!
   
3. I didn't have any chocolate on Valentine's Day!!
   
4. So far this year I've done very well and 3 months is a very long time.
   
5. I have all intentions of remaining on this journey and reaching my goals by Dec 2009!

I've always said that I don't want this new lifestyle to consume me and I also don't want to miss out on my life and things I enjoy doing because of it even though I realize and accept that I do have to make a lot of sacrifices and give up certain things....so I'm in yet another position where I have to make a huge decision regarding either food, chocolate, alcohol or all of the above!!! I also don't want to always have to be in these types of positions. I want to be able to just live and enjoy my life while respecting the boundaries of my program. It's all about finding that balance and learning how to live within it....I think that's a bigger struggle than losing the weight, itself - for me anyway!

So that's it for now....as always, I will be honest in whatever I do; with whatever decision I make regarding St. Patty's Day!! You will be informed...either way!!

Until next time...

Joania (2KMINE!!!)