Previews for Next Week

Hi everyone... no I haven't completely given up on blogging. I'm still visiting my mom, still without internet except for thrice weekly trips to Panera, and I've kind of not exercised in about three weeks. Well, okay, Mom and I go for walks every other night, but it's just been too hot and humid to do anything past a three mile walk in the evenings. Anyway... I'll be back in full force come Tuesday. I already know that I've gained about 3-4 pounds since I've been on my five week vacation, but there are just some times where food should not rule your life. Enjoy your weekend and I'll see you all on Tuesday :)

Hey guys!

Hi y'all! I'm still on my summer vacation, minus internet, so I can't update my ticker :( However, it wouldn't be a positive (negative?) move as I've gained some weight while I was in Spain (you would have too!) or while I was at a number of picnics over the holiday weekend. I weighed in this morning three pounds away from my 50 pound goal, which is I think about a half pound from where I was when I weighed in before I went to Spain.

Spain was... wonderful. Fabulous. I can't use these generic terms to describe how beautiful the Basque country was, how wonderful my hosts were, how luscious the food was. If you are anything of a foodie, you'll love this information: the Basque country has the most Michelin stars per capita. I think I literally drooled when I found out this information. We had these lunches (which were the main meals of the day) that went on for seven or eight courses, easily. Lots of ham (some type of serrano ham is the local delicacy) along with fresh seafood and foie gras. I've never had foie gras until I went to Spain, but in being an Anthony Bourdain fan, I figured it was time I tried. Plus, I've always been told to try everything, because if you don't, you offend your hosts. I have to say, my hosts were surprised that I tried and ate pretty much everything. They imagined Americans to be picky about their eating, but when I told them that I was raised in a family of Italian immigrants (I'm first generation) they kind of got why I was okay with food experimentation.

I spent an afternoon wandering around by myself and fell in love with the city, the ambiance, the lay back and have a cafe con leche whenever I wanted attitude. I want to move to Europe. Actually, I want a Fulbright so I can get paid to live in Europe. That's my new work-related goal.

Pictures will come when I get back from my post-Spain vacay. Unfortunately, I didn't load the program necessary to transfer my pictures to my laptop, so they are stuck on my camera right now. I promise that you'll get a whole post dedicated to Spain pictures when I get back to my desktop!

So, I've been back in the States for a week now. When I got back, I was religious about my every other day runs. I even got to the point where I did a 2.5 mile run in 25 minutes. Okay, first, there was this weird looking guy walking down one of the streets that I run and I did kind of kick it up a notch. Second, some woman pulled over to warn me that I was running towards a bad neighborhood and that someone might mug me and take my Ipod Shuffle. Um... that's my neighborhood, the place where my mom still lives. I can't change that, but I'm also not going to be scared of it. And if someone wants a Shuffle full of teeny bopper music, they can have it! So, yes, I booked it. But I've been having some weird knee pain on and off this week. It's not actually knee pain, but more pain behind my knee. Either way, I've laid off the running.

Now back to my vacay! See you guys next week :)

Weekly Weigh In: A Look Back

Hey guys! I'm doing my weigh-in early this week because I'm first travelling to my mom's house, where I will be spending the next month, and then leaving on Saturday for my big trip to Spain. It's getting pretty intense now. I got an email from the regional government's press secretary, asking us to be available for interviews....eek!! I'm so glad I bought that new suit and will be lookin' stylish!

So... drumroll please... I lost 3.2 pounds this week! I can't believe I am 2.4 pounds away from reaching my 50 pound goal!!!!! How awesome is that? I can't believe that it is a real possibility that when I come back from my month away, I could be in the 170s!!! I haven't seen those numbers since maybe sophomore year in college, which was when I really started gaining weight. That's my goal. I'd love to be 175 by the end of August, which is when I will be going to another professional conference, although I'll be seeing all my friends and faculty from grad school, when I was in the 230s. A few people saw me when I was in the 190s back in March, but I can't wait to see my dissertation chair and his reaction when he sees me in the 170s. I haven't seen him since last April, when I was at my heaviest. I can't wait!!!!

Another thing I realized is that I've been blogging for the past six months! I can't believe this is something that not only did I stick with, but it's definitely benefited me positively. I've made some online friends that are so supportive of my weight loss and are going through the same thing as me... that's invaluable. And I'm so glad to involve my IRL friends and family in my weight loss journey. Since January,

1) I've had 9099 visitors to my site (actually this is inaccurate, because I added my counter later, but still!!)
2) I've lost 26 pounds :)
3) My BMI has dropped 5.4 points.
4) This is my 130th post.
5) I've gone from a size 18 to a size 14!
6) I've become an exercise lover and a gym buff.
7) I made it through my first plateau and am still on track.
8) I started the C25K, with dying through a sixty second run.... and am now running for a solid 25 minutes straight!
9) I lost 5.5 inches in my chest, 2.25 inches in my arms, 4.5 inches in my waist, 6 inches in my hips, and 3.5 inches in my thighs... woot!
10) I've actually stuck with this weight loss journey for six months straight. Six months of exercising and watching my diet. This is the first time I've ever done something like this and stuck with it. And I couldn't have done it without y'all. Thanks for being there for me.

Here's to another six months, and another 26 or so pounds :) See you when I get back from Spain!

HYC Tuesday Update: Van Halen Edition

According to the scale, I'm moving downward again. Woot! I'm very excited about this. It's been really hard to stay on track with my eating and exercise since I've been so busy at work.

So, Van Halen... I finished reading Valerie Bertinelli's autobiography "Losing It" last night. What an amazing story. This was a woman who when the scales went over 115 pounds, she thought she was fat. What was really interesting was the reaction to her as she climbed the scales into the 160s and 170s. She is a strong woman (although, in reading the story, I'm amazed she stayed with Eddie Van Halen for 20 years!) and I'm glad that she put her story out there. It was very informational and in the last 20 pages, informative about Jenny Craig. Jenny isn't all that different from how I eat in my every day life... watching my calorie intake instead of eating food that has been planned out for me.

And... all I wanted while reading this book was to listen to some Van Halen. So, I loaded a bunch of Van Halen songs on my Ipod Shuffle and went to the gym last night. Sammy and Diamond Dave helped me punch out a 25 minute run last night. The last seven minutes were so tough, and I listened to two of my favorite VH songs "Panama" (Great tempo for running) and "Hot for Teacher". I'm a professor, so that is one of my feel good songs about myself. I know, how mysogynist, when I claim to be a feminist, but would that song be any less degrading if the Pussycat Dolls sang it? I don't care, I love it. And it got me through my 25 minute run, and I was very happy with that!

A Love Letter To Myself

Dear Kiki,

It's been a tough week for you. I know that all you've really wanted to do was order pizza, Chinese, and Taco Bell (mmm... chalupas) all week while you've been writing that crappy paper, but you didn't. You cooked turkey BLTs or PBJs (do you really cook those?) and stuck to your diet. And even though it wasn't perfect, you lost weight this week. I've enclosed some pictures that I took of you wearing the same dress on different days. The older ones were from February when you hit 200 pounds. I took these new ones earlier today. Even though you are about 15 pounds less, I think you can really tell that all that hard work in the gym is paying off. You look fabulous!

I think that sometimes you just need a hug and a reminder about all the good work you've done. You've come so far. Don't let a little plateau keep you from moving forward! Keep up the good work :)

Love ya,

Kiki

PS. Look at how you need to hold your dress in the back for us to see your shape! Doesn't it feel good when dresses that used to fit just right are now too big??

PPS. Look how much your face has slimmed down!! BTW, sorry I took that picture of you with no makeup on. You look fabulous anyway!!

It's My "official" Day of No Work

So, no blogging. But I did make this chicken marsala recipe, so I suggest you try it. WW readers: there's even nutritional info! Hope you're having a good Saturday!

Weekly Weigh In: Eh

I lost 0.4 pounds this week. Earlier in the week, my weight loss was lower, but I was wondering when that friendly little monthly bloat was going to kick in. Seriously, at this point, whatever. I've been running full throttle since Monday, and even though I've stuck as closely as I could to my plan, diet AND exercise wise, stress makes me do things. Stress makes me eat. I full admit to a late night chomp down around midnight last night. I finished the first draft of my paper for Spain and I don't know if I turned to food as a stress release or as a little congratulatory gesture, but I did, and I shouldn't have. What I should have done was crawl into bed, and because of my eating, I didn't get to bed until 1AM, which is the latest I've gone to bed on a weeknight in a long while.

I call a week like this one of my "lawyer" weeks. I had considered becoming a lawyer ($$) but I couldn't justify working 80 or 90 hour weeks. This week, I've easy worked 10 or 11 hour days. It really does suck, and I know that I made the right decision by going into academics. Seriously, I have about six or seven weeks a semester where it gets this bad, and then the rest of the time, it's a regular 40-50 hour work week. What's nice is that I'm going to a colleague's house for dinner tonight (these are fun people, so it won't be stuffy at all). Plans for tomorrow: Sleep as late as I possibly can :) Then I get to stress over potential revisions when I get my paper back from those that volunteered to read it. Yay. I think I'll at least have one day to myself before the stress returns.