Nursing School + Bad Back = FAT

I just completed my 2nd semester of Nursing School, so I'm 1/2 way done- WOOHOO!!! It was a much harder semester compared to our first (which was just Fundamentals.) We had MedSurg the first 8 weeks and OB the second 8 weeks which I enjoyed quite a bit, particularly my rotation in the NICU... love me some babies, and those teeny tiny miracles just tug at my heart strings even more. Gradewise I wasn't sure if I would manage to keep my 4.0 during the MedSurg half, but I did really well in OB and that did the trick! Phew! Most of the class is barely passing and I'm freaking out over keeping my A... Yeah, I know, I'm such a nerd.

Despite my success, Nursing School has been doing a number on my health/fitness. Ha! To say that I was "fit" when I began is a gross overstatement, but at least I wasn't technically overweight. However, the combination of a hectic schedule, bad eating habits (made worse by my hectic schedule), and no exercise because of my back problems has resulted in a significant weight gain this past year... particularly this past semester. So when my back specialist told me I needed to lose some weight, it was a big wake up call.

I grew up being the tall skinny girl, and was always underweight no matter what I ate or how hard I tried to gain weight! Even when Ben and I got married, I was about 10-15 lbs underweight. So to actually be OVERweight (and by 20 lbs!) is just ridiculous to me... completely bewildering, because I never thought that could actually happen. 4 years of fertility treatments and hormones definitely contributed, but it wasn't until this past year that my eating habits went completely haywires and my activity level dropped dramatically. So yeah, now I feel like this:

Say hello to my little friend called Adipose. Learn more about him here.

So what now? Torture, that's what! Being a tall string bean most of my life, I've never had to "watch what/how much I eat." Dieting was never part of my vocabulary. Of course I was a lot more active back then, not because I exercised on purpose, but because I grew up in NYC without a car, walking everywhere and taking public transportation (buses/subway) instead of driving all the time. One thing I absolutely LOATHE about not living in a more urban area is the lack of sidewalks and the fact that every store is miles and miles away. I hate having to walk on people's front lawns because I don't want to get run over by traffic. I hate walking on curbs trying not to fall off because I don't want to walk on people's front lawns. So yeah, I just haven't ever walked much here. That's changing... it has to because I HAVE to move more and walking is what my doc said I can safely do without aggravating my back. So I have been walking with Ben and the pups and hating every minute of it, but whatever... I'm doing it. 

I've also begun the South Beach diet again with Ben. He had great results with this last year before falling off the bandwagon, so I've decided to really give it a go this year. Like really truly try and not give up after 2 weeks. I loooooove my breads and pastas and sugar, so this is the real "torture" part of it. We've also joined myfitnesspal.com which is great for tracking calories, water intake (another weakness of mine- I hate water), and daily exercise. I'm hoping this will help keep me more accountable!!!

So yeah, that's my plan... eat smarter and get my butt in motion. I fear that my back will eventually get in the way and i will have to focus more on losing weight through dieting, but I've made a goal to at least walk every single day. I recently got Zumba Fitness 2 on the Wii and have been cautiously working out with that every other day, being careful to modify all the moves that stress my back. On the days my back is bothering me more I will just walk... but for someone who never walks, that's a small victory in itself.

My goal? Well, my doc wants me to lose 20-25 lbs but I would ideally like to return to pre-fertility treatment weight. Not quite as skinny as I was when we got married 8 years ago, but a healthy thin. That's about 46 lbs, yikes! Once school starts again in a week I know this will get soooo much harder (especially finding time to exercise and prepare meals to take with me!) but I am resolved to do this. So much so that I'm blogging about it so that I have more of a sense of urgency and accountability. See my little ticker up there? Yup, nice little reminder for me.

So as cliche as New Years Resolutions are... I'm going for the age-old "losing weight!" I can still hardly believe I've let myself get to this point, the younger version of me would be flabbergasted... oh well, it is what it is... now its time to change it up! How about YOU? What are you doing to be a better/healthier/happier you this year? =)

Goodbye... hello!

Welps, I survived my last week of training! Tomorrow I'll start some more training, only this time I'll be on the receiving end. I've got all my forms filled out, my clothes all ready and I'm trying to prepare my brain for the onslaught of insurance jargon.

After work on Friday, my co-workers and one of the doctors took me out to lunch at Olive Garden. It was fun spending a little more time together before leaving, and they were all sooooo nice and gave me all these wonderful gifts! Although I was only there for about 2 years, I have to say Bethany Eyecare has been my absolute favorite place I've ever worked. I'm going to miss everyone very very much! :(

So... Hartford, here I come! This week should be interesting. New job as well as 2 new classes I'm enrolled in. It feels good to be back in the academic swing of things though, I'm excited!

Joining the ranks of Larry The Stag!

This is my new friend, Larry. He is a stag. His job is to look pretty on the signs of The Hartford Insurance Co. nationwide. I will soon be seeing him every day as I walk in and out of... my NEW JOB!:)

That's right folks, I'm saying goodbye to eyeballs (and all the insurance that handles the care thereof) and saying hello to P&C lines of insurance, meaning auto/home/commercial, etc. As I mentioned in a previous post, I've decided to go back to school and unfortunately my current employment was not a good fit for the class schedule I'm going to have. Ben came up with the brilliant idea (really he's been trying to talk me into it for years) of having me apply to work with him at The Hartford, since he completed his BA and MBA while working there and they have been very flexible and helpful in that respect.

Yesterday I received my official offer from them, and of course, accepted. My 14 week long training starts January 26th, so I have just a little over a month left at my current job to get things wrapped up and train my replacement. I'm really sad to be leaving Bethany Eyecare, it has been an absolute wonderful place to work and I will miss everyone greatly. I'm very grateful though, for the doors that have been opened to us as I make this transition. I'll be working the same hours as Ben (after my training is complete) which is great! A significant increase in income will help tons towards tuition/books/supplies and paying off our debt. Dave Ramsey would be proud! :) So yeah, I'm pretty stoked!

Anyway, so that's Larry, and that's my new job. Hooray!

Fall Colors

I know its technically not fall yet, but we've had some cooler temperatures lately and all the stores have their fall/halloween/thanksgiving day decorations up, so I'm in the mood. I've been somewhat unhappy with the look of my blog as of late (I just never really liked the template to begin with) so tonight I scrapped the old one in favor of this. I probably won't keep this one forever either, but for now it's in keeping with the season, so it will do. :)