Dear Mr. Budget Truck

So last night as I was riding home on my bicycle, a budget truck hit me and took off. I am fine...totally fine. Here is the rest of the story for those of you wondering.

I was heading home from work about 7 (I was on a road that is about as busy as 291 hwy going through Lee's Summit for my KC friends). I went through a traffic light that turned red as I was in through the intersection. I could hear a truck speeding up behind me. The truck came through the light and hit my handle bar. I fell into a car and then into the road. Thank goodness that the light had just turned red because had there been cars coming I would have been run over.

I was so irritated and annoyed. I wasn't seriously hurt. I just took a hard landing on my hip, but not too hard. I was fine enough to keep riding so I kept on. I caught up to the driver a few lights up and tried to flag him down. His window was cracked and I was yelling at him to pull over... No such luck though. He took off through the traffic, cutting people off and driving crazily.

I made it home and called the precinct just down the street from where the accident happened. The lady said that I needed to go back to the scene and call 9-1-1. So that is what I did. 

I told the dispatcher I didn't need an ambulance and within 5 minutes there were 3. I told them I was fine but they still insisted on checking me out. They took my vitals and looked at my hip etc. They suggested I go to the hospital, however, it was already after 8:30 and I just wanted to get home and eat and go to bed. 

I answered what felt like a million questions and then they said I could go. We finally got home and ate dinner at about 9:30. My hip is still a little sore but not too bad. I was able to ride to work today without too much pain.

I hope they catch the guy. They asked if I would prosecute and I said possibly, but honestly I don't know. I am not seriously hurt and there was no real damage other than a scratch and a broken light on my bike. Should I press charges? I would hate for someone to go to jail because of this minor incident. I more or less want an apology and for him to replace my broken light. 

Thoughts and opinions would be great!

Well that is my story. See everyone, I am fine! Now you all can stop worrying!!

Christmas Bucket List

So this year being our first year in NYC, there are several things I want to do!! Here is our bucket list for this year's holiday season.


-Cut down our own tree (we are doing this next weekend in Connecticut)
- See the Storefront Christmas lights
-See the light display in Dyker Heights (suppose to be amazing)
-Go ice skating in Central Park
-Go to Rockefeller Center
-Go to Herald Square (Macys that is in Miracle on 34th st.)
-Go to the Union Square and Grand Central Holiday fair (we are doing this this weekend)
-Watch It's a Wonderful Life

and last but not least

Not to gain any weight!!

I am so excited for this holiday season!!! I am ready for it to get the show on the road though!

Weight Loss Competition

So my friend did a weight loss competition that just ended a couple of days ago. I, having gained a lot of weight since Josh and I got married, decided, heck why not. It was 12 weeks long and $50 to join and then the prizes were broken down dependent on how many participants there were. 

1st prize-$700

2nd-$200

3rd-$100

There were a hefty list of rules we had to follow (ie. no medical intervention etc). I was set for the challenge. From the beginning I was determined to win. One girl kicked everyone's trash from the beginning and lost almost 12 pounds the first week... WTH???

I learned a lot of new things about my body. I am super sensitive to sodium. If I have anything super salty one day, then the day after I will weigh at least a pound more due to water retention. My body is also very sensitive to foods that have fat in it... (you are thinking duh) I mean, if I have more than 10 grams of fat a day I'm screwed... Carbs, however, were my best friend. If I ate a lot of carbs one day then the next day I was always down.

This competition was a great experience for me. There were some weeks where it was difficult, but overall it was not as hard as I thought it would be.

My meal plan usually resembled something like this:

Breakfast: Flat Belly Smoothie (Kale, pineapple, frozen blueberries, greek yogurt and coconut water)

Lunch: Chicken Salad (Romaine, Broiled chicken, salad toppings (by McCormick), and fat-free Balsamic Vinaigrette and a Banana.

Dinner: Whole grain pasta with sauce and then either broccoli, corn, or baked potato

Dessert: Yes I had dessert almost every night still. I am a big sweet-a-holic. If I would have cut out dessert I am sure I would have ended up binging and failing at this. I would typically have one scoop of Vanilla (no sugar added type) and then a light Cookies n Cream. There is also this awesome mug cake from the paleo diet that I would have on the nights I was really craving something chocolate.

So as you can see, overall my diet was fairly simple and I still got to eat yummy foods!!! There were obviously nights where I had something other than this for dinner, however, the carbs/fat/sodium counts were generally about the same. Then there were nights where we went out with friends and I ate good food but just had the condiments on the side and ate about 1/3 of the plate. One rule I always followed was to start with the veggies first. Eat the most healthy and then eat the rest that way I was filling up on the good stuff.

It was pretty easy to follow this and I am very proud of myself. I did not win, however I did come in 3rd place! 3rd out of 20 women!!!!! Pretty awesome if you ask me!

Here are my stats:

Start-

Weight-186.2

Waist-41.5

Finish-

Weight-157.0

Waist-33

I lost 29.8 pounds and 8.5 inches! I am so proud of myself. I did very well! I am glad it is over. 12 weeks is about as long as I could go without going crazy. I exercised a lot. Everyday I ride my bike to work and home and then on the weekends I would ride along the shore for about an hour. I think that was also a big factor in my success!

And now the moment you all have been "weighting" for! (did you catch the pun?? I came up with that on my own ;) )

My before and afters!!!

 

My friend is also organizing a turbo challenge to do for the 3 weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is only so we don't gain. It is $20 to enter and as long as you don't gain anything you get your money back. If you are interested let me know and I can hook you up with more details! After the first of the year we are doing another 12 weeker and I will definitely be doing that to keep the motivation to shed the last 17-20 pounds! If you want more info let me know!