Hello, hello!

hey everyone, it's erin. i'm so happy to announce that we have a new blogger! please tune in every wednesday when scarlett will be writing for us. i don't know about you, but i'm always up for a new point of view-- especially when it has to do with healthy living! scarlett can also be found on her personal blog, over at confessions of a shieldmaiden.

welcome, scarlett!

Hi, everyone! It’s me, the new kid on the block (“Whoa-oh-oh-OH-oh! Hanging tough!!”…) Whew. ::straightens up:: Sorry. Had a little flashback to my childhood there. Now, where was I? Oh, yes. Introductions. ::waves:: Hi!

If you’ve hung around me long enough, you probably know my real name. But, my workplace has this finicky thing about social media and identifiable employees, so for the purposes of blogging and many internet activities, I go by Scarlett. I’m 30, live in Seattle (Yes, it rains here, yes, I’m addicted to coffee…), and I’m single with no kids. Well, I have a dog. He weighs more than most kids, (130lbs) so he kind of counts, right? I have half a Master’s degree (working on the other half!), a full-time job doing customer service and human resources for a large outdoor retailer, and a schedule filled with so many things that I barely have time to sleep some days.

I guess you could say that proper fitness has always been an issue for me. My weight’s gone up and down for most of my life. I can lose it when I have to (at various points in my life, I’ve been a competitive swimmer, dancer, and professional actress – all activities which require slim a tone body), but here’s the thing, it’s not in healthy ways. I’ll alternate between being super-obsessed about my weight, and just not caring and living my life. I’ve been in the ‘too busy to care’ phase for quite awhile…and I had a little bit of a wake up call when I went to the doctor for a broken rib and had to step on the scale…213 pounds.

Holy heck.

213!??!?!?!?!?!?!!

When did this happen, and where the heck was I that I didn’t notice? I mean, yeah sure, my clothes have been a bit tight these days, and my shirts have been a little more boob-y than usual but…did I really put on 23 pounds in the past year? I wanted to cry, and not just from the pain ripping through the side of my ribcage.

I know EXACTLY why I’ve gained the weight. I eat like crap, and I eat late at night. I’m just going to be honest, I’m lazy as heck when it comes to cooking at home. I can’t exactly afford the good stuff (too much fun with credit cards in my youth has left me with some serious bill payments), so I buy what I can afford on my grocery trips. I write a weekly food blog, so I buy the good stuff for my recipe, and then buy the average food for the house. I never eat breakfast, unless you count my cup of coffee, my lunches are scarfed down at the greasy-café at my work (we’re too far in the suburbs to make it anywhere else in my 30 minute lunch), and when I get home from work at 11 at night, I just don’t have the desire or energy to cook a meal. I’ll drive-thru it, or grab whatever freeze dried concoction has the least amount of freezer burn.

I exercise, but it’s obviously not enough to make up for my meal damage. I go to Zumba twice a week (well, I did before my rib incident. Starting again in November), and I’m a total Zumba addict. Like, I’m the Zumba-girl with the cool Zumba pants, toning sticks, and the gypsy-bell skirt. I love it, and I get a total workout. I’ve also started tracking my daily activity with DS Personal Trainer: Walking, which has a cool little monitor that you wear everday. I’ve also been working on the Shieldmaiden Challenge, just to monitor the amount of activity I do daily. No, I’m not going running everyday, but I’m not just sitting around.

But, I also know the math; if you’re not burning more calories than you’re taking in, you’re not losing weight. When I’m taking in 3,000 calories of junk daily, I’m sort of setting myself up for failure from the start, right?

Okay, so I’ve rambled on about my challenges and made my obligatory excuses. Here are my goals: I would really, really like to fit into an 8/10. I like my curves, I have no ambition nor desire to become a skinny bag of bones. (Okay, maybe I’ve fantasized about having Keira Knightley’s body once or twice. I’m currently a 14/16. Knowing my body, I think that means I have about 35 pounds to lose. But, I want to lose them the right way this time. I know all the sneaky little tricks the entertainment industry uses – I’ve been there and I know they work – but they don’t work forever, and all you wind up with is a messed up metabolism and a breaking-down body. I’m going to focus on food, and figure out ways to make better choices with my meals, even when they’re on the run (which is most of the time). I’m also thinking about going back on South Beach, which I love, actually. The food is pretty good and I have a couple of the cookbooks. (Hey, anyone interested in doing it with me? Teamwork, FTW?) I’m also going to start eating breakfast, which has always been sort of a four letter word for me. I’m just not hungry in the mornings, to be honest, but I’m told it helps kick-start your metabolism for the day so….we’ll see.

Sorry for the super-long-rambly post. If you’re still here and reading, THANK YOU! I’m so happy to get to be a part of  Twitter to Get Fitter, and can’t wait to catch up with all of you lovely ladies on your fitness journeys!