I've Moved

New blog, new attitude... come visit me over at http://hardcorekiki.wordpress.com/

Let's Start at the Very Beginning

I decided that this summer is the time for me to get back on track with my weight loss and fitness. Last summer, I had a lot of personal stress on myself, and luckily, this summer, it's all gone. Instead, this is going to be the summer of me. My job is to be my most fabulous self. That's what everyone's goal should be, since everything else just falls into place from there.

Anyway, like one of my favorite songs from the Sound of Music, I decided to start from the very beginning, because it's a very good place to start! I figured I would get myself out on the rail trail and run a mile. After I ran the mile, I decided to tack another half mile onto it, and I have to admit that at the end of the 1.5 miles, I was tired. It's been a while since I've run that far. But I did it... 1.5 miles! I rock! I came home and did some weight work, and I feel pretty darn good.

What have YOU done today to make you feel proud?

Stepping outside of my box

After not doing much of anything over the past week (I hit a spinning class on Monday and then took the rest of the week off because of my work load), I decided to tag along with a group of friends who were going rock climbing on Sunday morning. I've never been rock climbing, and maybe I should have been grading... but instead, I decided to go for my very first rock climb. My first time up, I think I got about three feet off the ground before I was begging Dave(our belayer) to let me back down. After some time, and with a little encouragement, I decided to try it again. I got about half way up the rock, which was a lot further than I thought I would every get, and I got stuck in this really difficult part that everyone got stuck at. My hands are a lot more raw than I ever expected them to be, and I have a really nice bruise on my knee (which is huge... in the pictures, it just looks like some scratches. No way... it's about the size of a half dollar and nice and red). But I'm hooked. I think I'm buying a pair of climbing shoes this week in prep for our climb on Friday morning... it is summer for us in the academic world... try not to be jealous :)

Check out how red my hands are in this picture. This is pain and love:

Where Have I Been?

Hi guys. Sorry that I haven't been updating the blog lately. My life has been crazy busy lately. First off, work is insane. Research wise, I have a ton of balls up in the air, and I'm trying not to drop any of them. I've done that before, and wasted a good year of research work. My classes are almost over, so while the grading has kind of calmed down at this point in the week, I'll be spending all weekend grading final exams. Secondly, I've been really busy personally. Lots of six mile walks with friends outdoors, giving myself some well deserved Kiki time now that spring has sprung. I'd like to get back to blogging regularly, but I don't know when. You'll just have to keep checking for updates.

My biggest issue right now is stress eating. Between my research and my grading, I've been nibbling on candy here and there. Luckily for me, I'm still losing, not gaining, but obviously, I'm not losing as fast as I probably could if I was not eating candy throughout the day. Also, at this time of the year, I have no motivation to cook, so I've been eating lots of Subway (seriously, Jared, how did you do this for extended periods of time?), sandwiches and frozen meals (yes, I know, sodium, but it's going to have to do for now).

So, really, I am here, putting in the time at the gym, but at the same time... I'm so busy that I can't really update my blog regularly. Thanks for wondering where I've been, all the same :)