Two Shades of C-SPAN...

Heart pumpin' jam: C-SPAN House Floor Coverage & Taylor Swift, Better than Revenge
Mood: Optimistic
Weight: Unclear... read below for new developments. We'll say still 197.

It's Day 2. Usually the last day in my new workout plans. I woke up this morning tired... and my shins felt like someone literally had stabbed me in the middle of the night with a thousand razor blades. But, I felt better after I got up and walked around a little bit. I need new shoes... obviously. I can think if a reason to buy shoes for anything-- a new workout routine should be no exception. Right? Right.

I have to be honest though, I was proud of that 1.5 miles all day today. I know it sounds stupid, but I felt thinner. I did. I also felt hungrier. The guy next to me on the metro this morning had an Egg McMuffin in his bag. I never saw it-- that would have been too cruel. But I could smell it. And for just a moment, I thought... it's not so bad being chubby. It was the canadian bacon fogging up my breain. Luckily he got off at Foggy Bottom before I had the chance to mug him for his breakfast sandwich. I was fine once I shook my McMuffin haze.

Work was nuts today... the first day that was really busy since the election. It felt good. It's hard for me to feel motivated when I'm not busy... and I can only propose so many brilliant improvements to office communications processes before I'm bored. I tried to think about working out all day today... I literally pumped myself up so I couldn't make excuses when I got home. I didn't leave until 6:45... home at 8:10. And I still went-- and I found my sports bra in less than 20 minutes. New record. I also knew how to turn on the treadmill... yesterday, it took me 10 minutes to figure it out. Today? Quick like a bunny.

I also thought my boss was going to be speaking on the floor tonight on a bill he introduced today. So, I ran to the beat of debate on the House floor. I must have just missed him speaking, though. I have to say, it said something about the balance I'm trying to achieve in my life watching the floor debate from the treadmill and not my cubby of a desk in Cannon House Office Building. It felt like I had acheived something. Maybe just that I had somehow escaped tonight, but acheivement nonetheless.

Now, onto the big weight controversy of 2010. According to the scale in my house, I'm 197. According to the scale in the gym, I'm 180. Now, while I would have loved to lose 17 pounds in a day, I'm a little more realistic than that-- but now I have a little nagging voice in my head telling me things maybe aren't as bad as I first thought. Then I remind myself that no, they are actually that bad. So, I'm adding a new benchmark. Pants size. Ugggggghhhhhhhh. Epic ugh. I have admitted to you people the massive number that is my weight. Now I am actually going to admit my pants size. F M L.

I know, I know boo-boo... it could be worse. Chin-hair worse. But that's easy for you to say.

So, here goes.

Pants size: 14.
Treadmill: 1.5 miles
Breakfast: Banana and Venti Skim Pumpkin Spice Latte
Lunch: Grilled chicken breast and broccoli. Okay, it had butter. No excuses.
Dinner: Taco salad (1 cup of lean taco meat, lots of lettuce, tomatoes, a tiny bit of 2% cheese, 2 tbsp. of catalina dressing.

So there it is. Day 2. Day 3? 1 day longer than the last time I tried this. I'm 2 shades of hope tonight, man. Maybe even 3.

Evacuate the Treadmill

Heart pumpin' jam: Evacuate the Dancefloor, Cascada

Mood: Hungry

Weight: 197 pounds

I cannot believe I just typed that number. My worst fear is that someone finds out that number. Epic, epic fail.

So, welcome to my weight loss blog: Evacuate the Treadmill... obviously named after the jam that started this aforementioned journey. This blog is really less about blogging and more about accountability... and my pants, which have been screaming for dear life as of late.

That's right folks. Screaming pants. Accountability. If that's not the formula for success, I'm not sure what is.

I have to be honest... this weight thing has been weighing on my mind a lot lately. No stupid, cliche pun intended. I think about it when I get dressed in the morning and try on 3 skirts, a dress, and 2 pairs of pants before I settle on something. I think about it when I see a thin girl on the metro. I think about it on planes. On trains. In automobiles.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still one of the damn best dressed people I have ever seen, but I mean... I'd be unstoppable if I were more light as a feather and less thick as a board.

So today I woke up thinking, "Sarah... today you will eat less. Today, you will walk more. Today, you will sweat like you've never sweated before... or not for many pieces of cake ago." Yes, I think in pithy litanies. I'm a speechwriter for Pete's sake. Now, I often wake up with thoughts like these... but rarely follow through. But today, I did! Points for me!

So here we go... full disclosure.

Treadmill: 1.5 miles, nothing else. Good start.

Breakfast: 1 Venti Skim Pumpkin Spice Latte

Lunch: Green beans, 1 cup of mashed potatoes, 1/2 a cup of pot roast (epic fail)

Dinner: Garden Salad with 2 Tbsp. light zesty catalina dressing, blueberry yogurt

So today is day 1. Day 1. How do I feel? Hungry. H-U-N-G-R-Y.

Day 2... here we go. If I can walk.