It’s been forever since I posted and honestly I didn’t think I would ever post again. I realized that I couldn’t keep up with a blog like this because I’m just not an exhibitionist like regular bloggers need to be. I was fun for a while and gave me something to do when I first quit my job, but  frankly I don’t get any kind of thrill out of putting my life and thoughts on display like regular bloggers do. It’s just not “me”.

For those curious about what my time has been like and what I’m doing now. Here’s the short version.

The past year has been amazing. I LOVED IT! I LOVED IT! I LOVED IT! But it’s technically over and I’m half heartedly looking to join the work force again. What did I do with my time? Well, let’s see:

• lost 25lbs! (insert riotous trumpet sound)
• read a shit load of books (see new “Books” section at top of page)
• cooked almost every meal from scratch (the only reason I’m posting again)
• reluctantly did a little traveling (I know it’s not popular to say this, but I hate traveling)
• watched too much TV (most of it stinks, some of it rocks)
• learned how to live  on a very tight budget (yes, ME!, on a budget!)
• caught baby fever (sooooooo weird!)

I realize a few of those might need a little further elaboration.

Lost 25lbs -

The first thing people excitedly ask is “How!?!” and then they get bitterly disappointed when I don’t reveal some super secret new diet wonder. The truth is what I did was really simple, but really hard, and took a long time.

The secret to my success – I burned more calories than I ate! (Ta-Da!)

Sorry to let you down, but I didn’t drink or eat anything special. I didn’t cut out carbs, or fat, or take any miracle pills. It was all very boring, slow and uneventful. Although I did use two tools that made a big difference to me.

First, I started tracking how many calories I shove in my face, and to do this I tried all the online websites and by far my favorite is dailyburn.com. I’ve used it for over a year and it’s the fastest, most simple, and has a big database. Now that I’m good at it, it takes me about 5-10 minutes a day to input my food. Sometimes I enter food as I eat it, but a lot of time I just enter all of it after dinner to see if I have enough calories left over for desert. If you try it, my user name is Schmitty; friend me.

Second, I got a bodybugg. A bodybugg is a little device you strap to your upper arm and it measures how many calories you’re burning based on movement, sweat, and temperature (and yes, it totally screws up the line of your outfit!). It’s the other side to the boring but all important equation for losing weight. What’s great about it, especially for incredibly lazy people who despise working out like Me, is that you’d be amazed at how many calories you burn by doing everyday things like cleaning the house or shopping. So if I just could not stand the thought of the gym that day then I would move my body enough if other ways to compensate (FYI, lifting the remote doesn’t burn as many calories as you hope). It kept me sane, because I wouldn’t feel so much guilt over not working out. And then at the end of the day I would make sure that I burned at least 500 more calories than I ate because 500 times 7 is 3500 and there are 3500 calories in a pound. Ergo, I lost about a pound a week. It worked for me because I like measuring and quantifying things and knowing exactly where I stand. Also, I didn’t want to do any more exercise than I absolutely had to!

Now, don’t get me wrong. I worked out. A LOT. I was in the gym about every other day and I was usually there for about an hour and a half (yes, 90 freaking minutes!) or until I burned 500 calories, whichever came first. I did mostly cardio, because that’s what burns the most calories the fastest, but I also did weight training so that I’d have more muscles to burn more calories. And once I got to my goal weight I did pilates because that’s the best at shaping my body and putting whatever curves I had left in the right places.

Once I got to the point where I barely had any pants that wouldn’t fall down, I knew it was time to put on the brakes. I got where I wanted and I didn’t want to buy a whole new wardrobe. Therefor, I lost all motivation to work out! And I’ve kept my weight steady for the last four or five months.

I don’t think I could have lost the weight in such a healthy way if it weren’t for the whole not working thing. An hour and half in the gym! Come on! I can’t do that AND work 8 hours a day. That’s ridiculous. I’d rather be fat.

But hopefully I won’t be faced with that prospect in the future. Fingers crossed!

Also, I have a lot more to say on this subject, this is a very condensed version of how I lost it; if you want to know more, just leave a comment about what you want to know I’ll elaborate by either posting another entry or emailing you.

Wow, this blog entry is turning out to be long. So I’ll save the explanation of the other bullet points for another time.

But I will say this. The reason I’ve resurrected this blog is not to tell you about my hiatus in the way it was originally intended (although I feel obligated to elaborate on some of the highlights). I’ve resurrected it because SO many people ask me for recipes. As noted above, I cook A LOT and I pretty much cook a different recipe every day. I research the recipes ahead of time, only use seasonal ingredients, and usually cook stuff that’s hits the trifecta of Healthy, Easy, and Cheap. So I’ve decided to just post them in my existing blog rather than send emails. Read about it here.

So if you’re interested in having a guinea pig for recipes, check back here or put your email address in the field on the right to get an email whenever I post a new blog entry.