Megacon 2013 Report (minus the drool)

Ok, maybe a little drool. 

Dave is now required to dress as Capt Jack everyday, from now on. Unnf.

Anyhotness, on to a proper recap of our Megacon 2013 experience. Holden, Dave and I arrived in our Doctor Who Cosplay-finest and were a bit surprised that despite getting the advanced tickets, we still had to wait a good 45 minutes to get our wrist bands. In fact at the time, the walk-ins were getting their wrist bands quicker than us. Not a huge deal, but the line was FOREVER and a bit anti-climatic for us. But we were in line with our friends Sarah and Daniel and their boys, so we had a good time just chatting and checking out the cosplay.

Holden was a Rock Star for the day once again. There were tons of Doctors of various regenerations running around, but he was definitely the cutest. I may be a bit biased.

Thank you to the sister of this adorable teen Doctor for sending me this and the following picture. You guys are the best!

If I had a dollar for every picture of Dave with his eyes closed I could build my own Tardis.

Since Friday is Holden's only day at Megacon he gets to choose the path and what we see/do. Which drives me a little batty as my inclination is to methodically walk up and down every row. While with Holden the path is more that of a deranged bumblebee. But he was happy and enjoying the attention. Naturally we spent a fair amount of time around the Lego booths, and the  501st and other Builder's Booths where:

We questioned the intentions of our fellow Con-goers.

Holden was attacked by a Rancor.

And we fought a Dalek. While 2-R2 units stood idly by, apparently. 

And took some proper family photos.

We heard several shouts of "Parenting, you're doing it right!" I know that's a bit of an Internet cliche' at this point, but it was still a very nice compliment. Who's to say how long Holden will want to do the family cosplay with us. I'm hoping to get a few more years out of it, but I'm a realist. I'm sure he's going to go through the 'my parents are awesome-my parents are lame- my parents are awesome' phases we all go through, and I'm as prepared for that as I can be, I think.

                                  In the meantime, we'll have as much fun with him as we can. 

Always with the running. The questions is, if you see Capt Jack and the Doctor running, do you run with them or in the opposite direction?

Speaking of running, after the Ken Spivey Band concert (Doctor Who themed-music) Saturday night, we literally ran in our Jack and Rose costumes all the way through the convention hall and back to the hotel because we were tight on time. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't really enjoy doing that and imagining we were running to/from something dangerous. Yes, I am 8 years old.

Any-immaturity, Friday evening the Daves took the boys home, while us wives hung out and pre-gamed. Ok, I pre-gamed. The other two were well-behaved.

"Gimmee a beer, let's play dress-up!" is not an uncommon thing to hear at our Shop parties.

When they got back, the Daves, Lindsay and I went to the bar/club in the Rosen Hotel where the Villian's Party was to happen the following night. Dave was still in his Capt Jack get-up but I wanted to try out my Cyberpunk. Unfortunately all the other Megacon folks must have been elsewhere, cause we were the only ones there in costume. And of course, as Jack, Dave can blend in a crowd. But staying true to our philosophy of "zero fucks to give" we danced liked idiots and had a great time regardless.

On Saturday we put on our Steampunk and hit the convention floor again. It was so wonderful to wear comfortable, flat boots. My Rose boots were surprisingly uncomfortable and have you seen the Cyberpunk boots? Oh right, hold on we're almost there. We had run into Jen from Cake Wrecks and Epbot the day before, but she was in plain clothes. On Saturday, Dave was buying our tickets for the Villian's party and I hear, "Patti!" and I turn around and there she is in her Lady Vadore finery!

This picture does it no justice. Go here to see it properly. 

And for the record, lest it sound like Jen and I are great friends (though I would love it if we were, I think she and her husband John are awesome)....we found them on Friday and reintroduced ourselves. We had met briefly last year at Megacon. But she or John did recognize me and remember my name on Saturday...so I don't think for a second I wasn't bragging about that all day.

Oh and what did Dave wear for Steampunk Saturday?

Fashionable Day Wear for the Casual, but Adventurous Steampunk.

The convention floor was crazy crowded on Saturday and made me feel a lot less bad for making Holden go home Friday night. If we had let him stay he would have just been looking at asses all day. We had to take several breaks, not because we were tired, but just because it was so packed we were getting mental.

Eventually we could take no more and we went back to the hotel to grab some dinner and a nap before we went back in our Doctor Who cosplay for the Ken Spivey Concert. I've already given you the main highlight of that in the previous post, but suffice it to say that it was a really fun time. I wasn't sure what to expect but the folks there were quite friendly and fun. Jack-I'm-Married-To and Rose (me) waltzed and then we were joined by Jack-I'm-Not-Married-To and the Tenth Doctor. Squeee.

You didn't think I wasn't going to include another picture of him did you?

After that it was a mad scramble back to the hotel to get in our Cyberpunk gear for the Villian's Party. 

Looking like extras from a 70s sci-fi movie.

But with LED lights. Fun for blinding other club-goers with.

The Villians' party was cool. Dave and Lindsay hadn't bought their tickets ahead of time and I guess they weren't letting anyone else in at the door so they couldn't join us which was a major bummer. But Sarah did. Which was awesome as apparently I popped her Club cherry. Seriously, the poor gal had NEVER been to a club before, but let me tell you girlfriend was rocking her Harley Quinn cosplay and turning the boys down left and right. AND held her liquor, which I so appreciate. We danced like idiots some more, Dave and I were asked to send in pics to be extras in some upcoming SyFy channel show, and I got white chocolate stuffed french toast at Denny's at 2:00 am. What more could a girl ask for? Except maybe for a hot husband who will dress up in crazy outfits and even wear eyeliner just cause you ask him too?

Oh wait, got that too.

Sunday we slept in a bit and then headed to the convention floor to do our shopping. After five costume changes in two days I was cosplayed-out. We both wore normal clothes and were glad for it. For breakfast I had a Nutella and Banana Crepe. Amazeballs. But it also helps explain why I felt like crap on Monday. Waaaaaay too much alcohol and non-paleo food. But still mostly worth it.

My Megacon 2013 loot.

The posters are the Exploding Tardis/Starry Night which is now hanging in our hallway because my house is too small for it to fit anywhere else, and the Walking Dead for my brother. After shopping we headed on home, to prepare to reenter polite society. Which is tough. I don't think Dave has as hard a time with it as I do, but you creative types out there probably know what I mean. You spend the whole weekend playing as someone else (or multiple someones) and it's kind of a let-down and/or odd to go back to being just you. Don't get me wrong, "just me" is still pretty freakin' awesome. But regular me does not have a hand cannon, nor gets to travel by Tardis.

But I think the fun of cosplaying is that, if you pick the right characters anyway, you take a little bit of them away with you each time you do it. Like in the case of Jack/Rose and the Cyberpunks, we walk away feeling a little more confident, a little sexier, and a little more bad-ass. Which is always a good thing. 

**maybe don't do this if you cosplay as a serial killer.

Megacon 2013 - Highlights

I had a great time with Holden doing our family cosplay on Friday, and an equally fun but in a grown-up-sort-of-way with Dave and friends the rest of the weekend. But let's just cut to the case.

This totally happened.

In the immortal words of Capt Jack Harkness,

 "I can't even tell you what I'm thinking right now."

No, that's not John Barrowman of course. Just another Capt Jack cosplayer that looked so much like him, and just freakin' exuded the Jack aura. I'm not kidding you people, he was sitting very close to me during the Ben Spivey concert and  it was like I couldn't concentrate. I just wanted to stare at him....and stuff.

When we took the pic (everyone wanted a pic with him) the girl taking it was fiddling with the camera and said something like, "hold on, give me a minute" and then the Jack-I'm-not-married-to pulled me even closer and said something like, "Take all the time you need, we're just fine." Or something...I can't be sure. I think all of the blood in my brain was rushing to my...something else and everything went foggy for a bit. (kinda like the damn pic)

Yeah.

Anyswoon, he told us that he actually met Barrowman last year and if I get his drift, he was implying  that Barrowman flirted with him. Are you following that? John Barrowman, who plays Capt Jack Harkness the sexiest "opportunist" in the past, present or future of television was flirting with his own cosplayer. That might literally be the hottest thing I have ever heard. And if you think I'm weird for thinking that, I don't care. 

Mind blown.

During the concert they had an informal costume contest. Jack-I'm-Not-Married-To told Jack-I-Am-Married-To to grab his coat and go up there with them. There was one other Jack, another young guy, who I certainly  would not kick out the Tardis,  but couldn't hold a candle to the other two. They had a bit of a Jack-Off (nope, not even gonna) and Jack-I'm-Married-To actually won their round! The coat was definitely worth the investment. Several people, not including me, ok maybe me too, were yelling "Now kiss!" but none of them did. They should have a bar at this event next time.

It bears repeating.

Ya know, I think we'll let this post stand on it's own and not mix it up with the family cosplay pics. Momma needs to keep these images/thoughts separate. 

Here I Go Again On My Own

And you're welcome for that ear worm.

The Paleo Challenge is over!!!! Yay! Without further adieu here are my takeaways from living very strict Paleo for the past two months:

1. It has completely changed my palate. I am satisfied by simpler things, like a banana with unsweetened coconut and almond butter or two squares of 86% chocolate. These things would not have cut it if the sweets were calling two months ago. That said, if I do decide to indulge, saaaay a crepe with bananas and nutella at Megacon Sunday morning (drool) it is absolutely heavenly and I appreciate it so much more. 

2. Regarding reintroducing foods: I've realized that I can have one non-paleo meal, (be it bread or dairy)  and I'll be fine. But while at Megacon this weekend we took some points on Friday and Saturday (before the Challenge ended) and then went a little nuts on Sunday (first day post-challenge) and now I feel like death. I am crazy bloated, I'm exhausted, my breathing will even get rapid out of nowhere. In other words, if I eat crap now, I feel like crap. Not an actual gastrointestinal pain like some get, but just an all over run down feeling. 

Incidentally, we saw Billy West signing autographs this weekend. Voice actor IDOL!

Which is great, because once the foray into SAD eating is done, I am inspired to get back to it all the more. Which is a very good thing. In the past, I'd fall of the wagon and it would be so hard to find the motivation to get back on, aside from aesthetics and/or guilt. Not anymore.Now the mentality is, "That tasted great, it was fun, but let's get back to what's going to make me feel better in the long run."

3. Alcohol. We only drink once a week if that anyways, but being on the Challenge did make us think about our alcohol consumption a LOT. There were a few conclusions regarding how we drink that we were coming to on our own anyways, but doing the Whole 30, and then letting loose a little this weekend really made us realize how we want to imbibe as we go into the future. Good stuff, for both our bodies and our relationship. 

Seriously, if you drink a lot of Miller Lite you will not look like that. Trust me.

3. I need to track my food. I know I've already mentioned it but it bears repeating. For folks with disordered eating like myself, the mind plays games when on challenges like this. My brain sees the eat/don't eat list and tries to convince me that as long as I'm eating from the the Do Eat list it's ok to eat however much you want, portions be damned. I suppose the hope would be to eventually get control of one's appetite and hunger cues, but I tried and I just can't do it. Yet. Maybe someday...but for now I know that I am at my best self if I eat Primal Blueprint or Paleo while also tracking my calories/carbs. End of story.

4. I still need to weigh myself, not every day as I was in the past, but once a week. The scale is not the be all and end all, but it is still a tool. Also, when I do weigh myself it needs to be at the end of the work week. If I do it after a weekend wherein there might have been some transgressions, it'll depress me. I'll start the week in guilt-mode. To illustrate; I know the scale is not going to look good this morning after the fun and games this weekend. But that's ok, I'm back on plan and will remain so for the foreseeable future. I'm entering the week thinking, "I'm going to make the right choices for myself, because it is the right and healthy thing to do. Go me! Raaar!" However, if I had weighed myself this morning the thought would have been "I need to make the right choices for myself, because I am big fat nasty cow and I suck."

And I am also stupid.

5. And did I mention I'm off Diet Coke? Yeah, I know did, but it;'s a BIG FREAKING DEAL!!! Yay!

Artist Natalie Dee understands the addiction.

As far as tangible results, I'm not 100% certain yet. I know I gained a pound on the scale, but that did not surprise me. Remember what I said about portion control? Yeah. We did two Hero WODs for the Challenge and repeated one of them last week. I ended up improving my Rankel time quite a bit. Grace is this evening we'll see how I do. Inches-wise, I don't know. We did my measurements last Thursday, but Coach had misplaced our original measurements so I'm not sure if I lost anything. I have a feeling I may have lost a tiny bit in some areas and gained in others. Which is ok, once I realized that the not-tracking things wasn't going to work out for me, I really focused the Challenge on improving my health and really breaking the chemical/sugar addictions, which it did fabulously. So, a win in my book.

So where do we go from here? 

We'll be bringing the overall framework of our diet back in line more with the Primal Blueprint, than strict Paleo. A little bit of high quality dairy here and there is not something I'm concerned with. However, I am going to keep drinking my coffee black and I'm not going to reintroduce the babybell cheese back into my lunch. I can certainly live without them and they're just not worth it from a taste or nutritional perspective in the grand scheme of things. But if I want to make a recipe that has a bit of good quality cheese in it, I'll include it. 

The only other big differences between what we'll be doing from now on and what we've been, is worrying about the oils when we are out to eat it. Don't get me wrong, nothing but olive/coconut oil related products enters Casa de Fuchs, but if we're out to eat and they are cooking an otherwise Paleo-friendly meal in vegetable oil, we're not going to worry about it. It's not that I don't agree that they are bad, but all of life decisions are based on risk vs. reward and the occasional meal out cooked in a non-paleo oil is worth the reward to us.

In summary, we are both glad that we participated in the Challenges of the past two months. We learned a lot about Paleo eating and we learned even more about ourselves. We were already on the right path, but now we've gotten even more tools and a better understanding of how and why we have chosen this lifestyle. We know what works for us and what doesn't and are really happy to be back on our own again.

Boar Adventure Race

* If you're looking for detail-oriented, fact-based, race reports that include pics of the maps and details about particular checkpoints (like their numbers and locations) you might want to check out the reports by  the Canyoneros or Dr. Eaglin. My reports are more in the touchy-feely, these are the-moments-I-wanted-to-kiss/choke/hug-or-murder-Dave-and/or-the-other-participants.

** All photo credits to my boyfriend Kevin Newell.

*** He's not really my boyfriend, but I made the mistake of telling Dave (and mentioning on this blog) that I think he is adorable and that is how we refer to him now.

Speaking of adorable...

The Boar took place on March 2nd at the beautiful Orlando Wetlands Park in Christmas, FL. It's a really gorgeous park, awesome for hiking or biking. For my motorcycle friends, ya know that one nice curve just past Ft Christmas Park? If you're anything like me you never noticed that there is a small side road on the right of that left hander because you're too busy trying to figure out how fast you can take it without killing yourself...or ya know just paying attention to the road. But as it turns out, that little side-road takes you back into a beautiful public recreation area. Who knew?

It was one of those Florida Winter days where when the wind laid down and the sun came out, it was warm  and lovely. But when the clouds went in front of the sun and the wind picked up, it was COLD! Being the idiot that I am I wasn't really dressed for it and was mise-ra-ble hanging out prior to the race. Yes, I am a precious, precious snowflake. Though not actually a snowflake, because a snowflake would like the cold. More like a precious, precious reptile. You see, reptiles thermoregulate, they aren't endothermic, so if it gets too cold they just start to shut down...like me. (and if you think I knew the difference between thermoregulation and endothermy before I started writing this you are very, very wrong)

Anyramble, we drew canoe first, which did not make either of us happy. But that's the way the multi-colored pebbles fall, so away we went. The Boar required taking the bikes to both the Canoe and Foot portions of the race. Off we went, and seeing how bad the wind was we made the executive decision to just go for a couple of the CPs on the water. Normally, we go for broke on the first leg at least, because (dur?!) if you don't, you've already given up on clearing the course. And that's always the primary goal. Sure it gets to a point where you have to cut your loses, but we hate to do that on the first leg. But the deck was stacked against us, and everyone else (we hoped.) The wind sucked and the weeds didn't help.

Not us, but other unfortunate souls.

Seriously the combo was so bad, that when we were returning from getting two of the CPs we got out and waded through the hip-deep water and weeds and dragged/pushed the canoe through this section. In the cold. You can't say we're not dedicated. You can say we are morons.

The bike portion, when the wind wasn't right at you, was fun. (so...not a lot of it was what a normal person would call fun) But there were so many pretty birds out there and lots of gators too. Two in particular were sunning themselves about 5 feet off the trail...which I did not notice till I was whizzing past them. The need for new underwear was a possibility. It took us a couple of extra minutes to find the Elite CP that Greg had included on this leg, but it wasn't too bad. Finding it involved triangulation or some sort of navigational sorcery of which I know nothing. In fact, Dave totally had us in the right spot for it, and it was right along the trail, but for some reason we blew right past it the first time. What I find intriguing is that judging by the FB pics several of the teams went to some little hill to do their triangulation, which we did not. Dave just used the map. Did we just get lucky? Or was that really not necessary? Weird.

And now you know why I don't race without Dave. #can'tnavigateforcrap

By the foot portion I was really over riding the bike on that road in and out of camp. But whatevs. Once we dumped the bikes we were on the Florida Trail, which I love. By this point the wet socks/shoes had my feet pretty numb and jogging on the single track through the forest is just so much more mentally pleasing to me, than when we are out in the open. That said, I  was definitely in Adventure Race Shuffle Mode. That's what we call the light jog we do on the foot portions when we are tired...which is pretty much whenever  we haven't drawn Foot first. But Mr. Fuchs on the other hand was still in runner mode. Geesh, dude starts getting stricter with his Paleo and doing his Crossfit regularly and suddenly I'm getting left in the dust! Which is fine really, I prefer to be the weak link. I'd rather get mad at myself for holding us back than him. Just works out better for everyone that way. 

We found the Elite CP on the foot portion, though it did make us a minute and a half over time. Bummer, but what are you going to do? With the time we had left when we started looking for it, we couldn't not go for it. Especially being that it was supposed to be a little more difficult to find. (Pride goeth before the fall, and whatnot)  Once it was all said and done, we had no idea how we had finished compared to everyone else, as per our usual. But it had been a pretty challenging and tiring race for us and we were really proud of our efforts. I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I'm really proud of how "in the moment" we both get during the races, willing to wade through the weeds or ford a canal instead of going a different, longer route around it. (Yeah, that happened on the Foot portion) I really dig that Dave assumes I'm along for the ride and I also dig being around so many other cool folks (Pangea AR and Crossfit peeps) who are the same way. 'Cause let's face it, we're not like the other Soccer Moms and Dads. 

Anybrag, we were crazy stoked to hear we came in 4th! The smug levels rose to even higher levels when we realized we finally beat "You're Dead to Me," our Adventure Racing besties. Beth and Brian are both super-awesome people, despite that fact that they always beat us. Partly due to said awesomeness, partly because Brian has more experience doing adventure races (he's done some 12 hour races up north, GAH!) AND they are also both professional trainers. So naturally, we don't feel really bad when they beat us, because, you know...awesomeness? On the other hand, to finally place just a smidgen above them on the Leader board was pretty cool. And something I'll hold onto as they proceed to kick our asses in all future races I'm sure. 

Afterwards, we took part in the post-race Weenie Bike tossing.

 This pic kinda reminds me of the old Calvin-getting-attacked-by-his-bike storyline from Calvin & Hobbes.

I feel like Dave has a very natural weenie-bike-tossing form. He's a man of many talents.

So that in a nutshell, was my impressions of the Boar. Another great race by the Pangea Family. Greg and his troops do such an amazing job putting on these events. I really love how organized and well-run they are, while still having such a friendly, no-worries vibe to them. Up next the Treasure Coast AR on March 23rd. Due to schedule conflicts, we probably won't be able to play with them again until Holden joins us for the SCAR on Father's Day.

Till then, stay dirty Adventure Racers!

Ninjas and Pirates and Lasers and Shit

Dave the Slave got his new rig. 

It only took 24 years, but he finally got a brand new suit and rig that he designed himself and was fitted specifically for him. I may have mentioned in a previous post, that in his high school days and very early twenties, skydiving was huge part of his life and his passion. (alongside flying) But adulthood, responsibilities, a lack of money, and then a lack of time resulted in him not being a part of that world for the past 18 years.

Not anymore.

He's been jumping again for the past 6 months or so, but Holden and I had to go see him jump again on Friday. Note to skydivers: if you have your loved ones come out to see you, please make sure that you can accurately describe your canopy. Dave did not. It was a near sunset jump, so we were actually able to see them in freefall. And then the chutes started to open...and none of them accurately fit his description. Of course the rational part of my brain knew he must have just described it wrong. But the asshole part of my brain was wondering if I just watched my husband jump out of a plane with a chute that didn't open. Yeah. Dave was very helpful in reminding me later that the he has a doo-hickey in his rig that will open the chute below a certain altitude, and though he may still crash and burn, I would have seen something open, even if it didn't open all the way and he still plunged to his death. 

Thanks, honey.

All kidding aside, I really don't worry about him when he is jumping. But at the same time I realize that I don't particularly care to watch. Call it out of sight out of mind, but it's how I cope with worry-brain. 

Anyways, so much awesomeness coming up you guys! Megacon is in four days!!! I love, love, love that it gets to be such an awesome combo of family geek time (Friday Doctor Who Family Cosplay FTW) and getting our freak on (Cyber-punk Time...once the kid goes to grandma's for the rest of the weekend. Woot!) THEN another Adventure Race the following weekend (crap, I still haven't done a race report from the last one. Suck, I do.) In April, I've got a Horseback Poker Ride to put on at the State Park, the Festivus Crossfit Games, Dave and I are taking a motorcycle trip to North GA, AND my bestie Kelly is coming for a visit. Holy shitsnacks my life rocks!

Regarding the upcoming bike trip, I have not been riding enough. So Dave gave me a pass to disappear yesterday and put on some miles. Which I did. All around awesome person, Liza, joined me for a Hooligan-ish ride around the state yesterday. 

We know why dogs hang their heads out of car windows.

It was a long day, but a great one. Here's a link to the route to our destination, Peck's Restaurant at the end of Ozello Trail. Some folks refer to that road as The Tail of the Grouper. If you've heard of the Tail of the Dragon, you'll get it. We may have gotten a little ambitious in our goals for the day. Here's out route home.  So that's 430 miles for a pastry (Yeah, you read that right. 5 points for me!) at the Yalaha Bakery and shrimp and scallops on the west coast. Totally worth it. 

It never occured to me till just now, but our bikes parked next to each other look an awful lot like when we stand next to each other. Even my bike is an Amazon.

Oh and one more thing!!! The Paleo Challenge is FINISHED on the 16th! YAY! I'm glad we participated in it, and the Whole30. I love that I have broken my addiction to Diet Coke and really gotten a handle on my sweets cravings too. But I am really, really ready to take what I have learned and personalize it a bit. But I've gone on enough for one day so we'll save the introspection and plans for another post.

Let's play dress-up

Despite an Adventure Race on Saturday, (story/post when I get pics) we actually got a bunch of cosplay work done this weekend. As of this moment I think i have let Dave convince me to do the Cyberpunk just at the parties Friday and Saturday night. Partly because I think he wants to get as much mileage out of Capt Jack as possible, but also that he feels a little less confident in his Cyberpunk costume. But c'mon, doesn't he look good?

Our son asked if he was wearing a chest plate underneath the Underarmour Shirt. Yay Crossfit!

Regarding our Doctor Who cosplay, here is a pic of the "looks" we're all going for, for reference. This is from the Stolen Earth episodes.

I'm Rose (purple jacket), Holden is the Doctor (brown suit, center) and Dave is Capt Jack (on his knees...where we like him)

He has some buttons to sew for Capt Jack, but it's essentially completed. He hasn't decided whether or not he's going to bother with the Vortex manipulator or gun, since they'll be out of view, unless he chooses to pose with them. 

The big deal is that he shaved off his goatee yesterday!!!!!! I know, right? I'm pretty sure Holden has never actually seen him without some form of facial hair. I'm not gonna lie, I prefer him with some...but I dig it. And I fully support the commitment to the character. Though my first impression post-shave was that I felt like I was kissing a girl. 

I'm not sure who that says more about.

Without further adieu, Capt Jack:

What you just heard was the sound of Fan Girl panties dropping all across the interwebs.

I can't say I'm real excited about cosplaying Rose. I kinda feel like I am Holden and Dave's accessory. But I suppose it can't always be about me. That said, I'm pretty happy with it. Obviously we are not the kind of cosplayers that get hung up on perfection. (No, really?) But aside from the neckline and carving the gun out of block, (instead of painting a nerf gun and adding the silver bits as we did) I don't see how it could be much better.

Don't let it be said I haven't made hair sacrifices either.

 I can't wait to dye and cut my hair post-Megacon.

I've also figured out our Steampunk Sunday cosplay. No more Steampunk Bride and Groom as my wedding dress is too big now. #fitpeopleproblems

As it turns out, there are pitifully few #fitpeopleproblems memes. What do you suppose that says about the internet? Uh...yeah. Moving on....

I am using the the petticoat from my wedding dress as the base for this year's steampunk cosplay. I really dig that I made a whole new creation this year only using stuff already in my closet and jewelery collection. Dave's is pretty much the same as one he's done before. I like to call it Colonial Steampunk 

This is from 2011. I'll not comment further, other than to say, how cute was Holden? What you can't see is his Rockeeter-type Jet Pack on his back.

Anyfatties...we're all getting excited. Our cosplay is no where near impressive as lots of others out there. However, the past two years we have always felt incredibly welcomed and our efforts appreciated. And with all the picture taking, etc it is awful fun to play rock star for the day.

Who shrunk my pants?

Seriously, only I could gain weight doing the Whole 30/Paleo Challenge. I haven't even weighed myself, I'm too scared to step on the scale. But I can tell. The Skinny Jeans that were starting to fit nicely even fresh from the dryer a few weeks ago are now too tight...and they are NOT fresh from the dryer.

This is what I feel like today.

So much for the Whole 30/Paleo Challenge leaning me out. Instead what it did was allow my brain to say, "Oh we're not going to track exactly what we eat? And as long as I eat the foods on this list only, I'm within the rules? Well, alrighty then. Bring on the sun butter/coconut butter/almond binges, bitches!" And since the Whole 30 has been done, it's been "Bring on the Dark Chocolate and Mug Cakes!"

Yeah.

I started half-heartedtly Myfitnesspal-ing last week, but have gotten lazy with it. Then yesterday I caught myself having the "ah, I'll just restart on Monday" (regarding portion control) conversation with myself and realized that I have steered myself right onto the exit for Fattie Land.

This is exactly how it happened before. Get where I want to be, or close to it for awhile, and then slowly start loosening the grip. And before I know it BAM! I'm 250lbs again. I will NOT let it happen again. At least now, thank God, I'm seeing the warning signs, while in the past I was totally oblivious until it was too late.

So what do I do? Back to to strict tracking of calories/carbs and I'm going to shoot for 1400-1500 a day for the next couple weeks in preparation for Megacon. Once I get past there, I'll probably loosen up the total calories, but I must continue to track. I know the Paleo gurus don't like it, but it has been made abundantly clear to me that if I don't, I over eat.

End of story.