Day Thirty-Eight

Throwing My Weight Around

So, I am taking my sweet time.

I weigh in at WW today. My diet buddy wanted to (re)kick start with a “juice fast” so here I am, on day 2 of 2. I know it’s gimmicky, I know it’s lame, but I went along for the ride. I didn’t bother with that Hollywood crap, I just bought Orange Pineapple Banana juice (concentrate) and supplemented with fiber (Mmm, fiber) and my One-a-Day vitamins.

Considerably cheaper, and somehow, it seems to be working. I am not starving. I did break down and have “sensible” snacks last night when I got home. Sensible, but plentiful- and slightly odd. My hubby was giving me some odd looks, and I don’t blame him. I actually ate pickles, which I usually hate. Granted, they were the little mini-teeny-wuss ones...and then I had low-fat sugar free vanilla ice cream. I didn’t mix them together, it was later on!

I guess he has a right to be concerned. Hell, I’M concerned. That’s just plain weird. I also had some hummus and celery, pretzels, some green olives, a peach, and a little bit of smoked salmon. Man, that just sounds disgusting. Or, now that I think about it, like I loaded up on hors d’oeurvres at a cocktail party. But it was what my body wanted at the time. And none of those things taste too much like orange pineapple banana juice, which might have something to do with the randomness.

I am enjoying my juice today (I know, it’s horrifying), and also drinking green tea and lots of water. Any exercise I get is going to have to be in my considerable travel time back and forth to the bathroom. Sit-ups and workouts also re-start this weekend, once I am back to eating actual food on a full-time basis.

I have a bicycle/picnic thing tentatively planned for this weekend as well, if this beautiful weather continues. Joy! I just have to fill up my bike tires with air, and get hubby to adjust his bike height…I think a good eventual reward for me is to get a bell, basket, and chrome fenders for my Schwinn cruiser. Just so it looks a little more retro- although thinking about it, I might be more inclined to ride it if there was less of a chance for there to be a muddy stripe up my back.

I also made a pact with my dieting buddy, Bobbi. No new shoes, purses, or accessories, unless the weight keeps going down. No new clothes unless they’re a smaller size. We’re also automatically banishing the bread basket at our celebratory post WW dinners. Pretty schmoove, huh?

I got a wonderful compliment from a co-worker who hadn’t seen me in a month or two- She asked if I had lost some weight, and I said, “Just a little bit” and then she said I looked great and she wanted to know what the hell I was doing to my face because my skin looked “beautiful”. Holy Toledo!

The thing with the skin blew me away. I have struggled, and by struggled, I mean fought like hell, with my skin since I was 17 years old. Multiple dermatologists. Tetracycline, sulfur masks, too many topical ointments to list, tea tree oil, and the granddaddy of them all- Accutane. TWICE. Plus dermabrasion and Cool Touch Laser treatments that hurt like a mofo (and didn’t work! They had to refund my money!) to try to reduce the appearance of cystic acne scarring.

I finally decided, towards the end of last year, that come hell or high water, I was going to find something that works for my skin. I am THIRTY, for god’s sake, but my skin thinks it’s 13 years old. It’s super oily, I have big-ass pores, and I am prone to blackheads like nobody’s business. While this is great in the wrinkle department, because I have managed to avoid even the telltale “squinch” marks around my eyes that most women have by age 30, it sucks in the makeup department.

I am half Armenian. Let me tell you- Makeup is just part of the deal. We’re practically born with it on. I went through a “no lipstick” phase for approximately a week in college. When I came home to visit, my mom asked if I was trying to bring back the 60’s. I think my father commented at dinner that I looked “washed out- like I was sick.” That was the end of it. I went running right back to Revlon’s “Cherries in the Snow.”

When your skin is like mine, and you live in Fresno CA- Whoa Nelly! It can get up to 105- 110 degrees here in the summer, and heat just makes oily skin worse. Your makeup slides off unless you sit directly in front of an air conditioner 24-7.

I wore indelible lipstick (the kind that you have to remove with baby oil) and had my eyeliner tattooed on. But foundation and powder- fahgeddaboutit. I was a shiny mess at the end of the day- the worse my skin got, the more makeup I wore. And of course, the more makeup I wore, the worse my skin got.

So, I had the skin epiphany late last year, and I looked in the yellow pages, and found someone who did facials. I called ResurFace simply because the ad specified “acne facials”. Man, that was a lucky choice.

I went to see Jen for a consult, bought the cleansing products she recommended and came back two weeks later from my first facial…and I have never looked back. Her products are great, the treatments are affordable, she’s a joy to talk to, and my skin has never looked better. She’s even honest with me when I want to buy stuff that I don’t need. That’s freakin’ amazing.

God, I sound like a commercial! But she is absolutely wonderful.

OK- WW tonight. I am crossing my fingers now (which makes typing a little difficult, but hey…I need all the help I can get.)

Day 38 Summary:

Breakfast- Juice
Lunch- Yet More Juice
Snacks-Still More Feepin' Juice
Dinner- Blackened Salmon, French Onion soup, baked potato, broccoli

Weigh-in- 242.8 (Down 1.4!)