Mmmmm, cheese

So yeah, it’s been a long time.  But I actually have excuses that are 100% legit.

1)  My car was broken into on the 4th, while I was in the gym working out.  Boy did that suck.  They took my purse and my laptop bag.   Fortunately enough, there was no laptop, I’ve just been using it as a generic backpack.  But it does mean they took my 70-290 exam study materials.  My purse is much much more devastating.  To start, it was a new Coach bag I’d just gotten with a Coach credit (my old bag sent in for repairs was deemed unrepairable yay shopping).  Small coach wallet included (thank god I hadn’t spent my state tax return on an actual wallet).  My camera was also included (from the rollerskating birthday fiasco) with pictures from our recent friends’ wedding.  Amongst other things like lipstick, a nail file, stamps, sunglasses, was the adapter for my mp3 player (not an ipod) so I can’t charge it.  Worked out really awesome on item #2 below.  I also lost about $200 in gift cards.  Which I totally think is reasonable to have, but I got yelled at for having them in there anyway.  And they broke my window, which was another $400 bucks.  My advice to all is to go through your wallet and only carry cash, 1 or 2 credit cards (mine is now my Amex and one for when they don’t take Amex).  I had a less than savory sibling who would steal from me and my parents repeatedly (he pawned my mom’s engagement ring), so I always carried stuff on me.  Now that I live with my fiance, there’s no need, but old habits die hard.  Or would have if this hadn’t happened.  But my SSN card and my checkbook were in there as well.  Interesting point about your SSN, if your identity does get taken, you never get a new SSN.  It’s yours, good or bad, for life.  I’m hoping the insurance check comes soon, I sent in the paperwork about a week ago.  I just want him to call me and at least tell me what I’m getting back so I can go get a new bag.  I’ve been using this crappy old one I had that has seen better days.  But clean out your wallet!  Also, I canceled my membership to that gym.  I don’t want a repeat.  But now I’m in some 90 cancellation window which is horrible.  Especially since the company already broke the contract by telling me my dues wouldn’t increase and they did.  But for 8% annually on less than $30 a month, I didn’t care.  Now I sure due.  The whole reason my purse was even still in my car was because there are people who break locks at the gym.  Grrrrrrrr.

2)  I was on vacation in Puerto Rico from th 8th to the 15th.  Which also made above much more annoying.  Thank god my passport was still in our safety deposit box.  Two days later, and that would have been gone too and I would have had no way of getting anything in time to leave.  The vacation was warm and sunny and much deserved after the hellish week I had. 

3)  Work simply sucked last week. 

It’s been a struggle on the food front too.  I had no money, and no way to get any money, so I was more or less scavaging through the house for food that week.  And I was just cranky so I was just like screw it all.   Plus I wasn’t hitting the gym at all.  I never wanted to go back to it after that incident.  And who diets when they’re on vacation, I mean really, one week, not going to kill me.  And I had some really awesome food.  One thing I did  notice is that I didn’t need to snack while there.  But that could have been the fact that I had to walk up from the beach to the beach front apartment, and that was way too much work after sitting in the sun all day.  Or maybe the Pina Coladas.  Who can say for sure?

As soon as we got back, I went over to the New York Sports Club that is about 4 mintues from my house.   They are clean, have more showers with shampoo, conditioner, and body wash, and hairdryers.  Although I doubt I’ll use them since I am so close to home.  Compared to Work Out World, it’s the greatest gym ever.  And they’re not going to screw me with the contract.  About 50% of the cardio machines have their own TVs too!  It’s so awesome.  It will take some getting used to the layout and what equipment they have, but I’m sooooo much happier now.  Could be that I shower and home and the length of time away from home is less, about 10.5 hours.  What is somewhat exciting is the free personal trainer appointment they give you when you sign up.  I’m looking to see if they have any insights into how it can improve my training regiment.  Something to make me look awesome in my wedding dress.

I should get some work done now. 

So a friend of mine decided for her birthday, she wanted to have a Strawberry Shortcake roller skating party.  No Strawberry Shortcake was to be foun, but roller skating wsas definitely there.  It was a lot of fun, for the first few minutes until the inevitable happened.  None of us have roller skated/bladed since probably before we could all drive, 10+ years ago.  So it was fairly comedic i’m sure watching all of us trying to balance ourselves.  And I’m sure you can guess what happened next.  The husband of the birthday girl fell.  No, he didn’t take any one with him, no, there was no child that had wiped out in front of him.  He just fell.  And it hurt, but he thought he was okay.  Until his wrist doubled in size.  About an hour after we got there, we all left to take him to the hospital (well he went to the quick care place, we went to the grocery store to buy ingredients for rice crispy treats and some booze).  Turns out he has a hairline fracture somewhere in this forearm/wrist.  He doesn’t know really where, and the doctor almost missed it.  So it’s not evident on the xrays.   We were all concerened when it happened, but now that we’ve realized he’s okay, the mockery can begin.  And did it ever.  We’re nice people, but this was too good to pass up.  He didn’t even make it 1 lap around the rink.  Luckily it was his left hand.  And I can’t wait to go rollerskating again.  Since I’m not as fit, or energetic, as I was when I was about 14, 5 minutes in and I was a little sweaty (which explained the rather stale air in the rink).  But it was a lot of fun, and the more I skated, the more comfortable I got.  It was a cardio workout without feeling like it.  I really really really want to find a place close to home to go again.  I think there’s one aobut 20 minutes away, but we’re not sure if it’s still open.  There is an ice rink nearby that I totally want to try.  Although the only time I ice skated I got take out by an 8 year old and had a bruise on my hip the size of my head.   Like that one I think Betty Spaghetti had in a League of Their Own.

On the food front…bad weekend.  We went to the Border Cafe, which is like Jose Tejas in Woodbridge if you’ve ever been.  Same chain, different name.  Good food.  I had Chili Rellanos (i know that’s not spelled right) which is a poblano pepper stuffed with cheese and deep fried.  Awesome, totally.  I do not regret the things I’ve eaten.  It was absolutely worth it.  And today I’m back on the wagon, trying to make it through my last week before my Puerto Rican vacation on Friday. 

The scale said 144 this morning.  If it could do more than .5 for decimals, i think i would have been around 143.75, just because it wanted to say 143.5, but couldn’t hold it.  But regardless, yay!

147 again this morning.  That ham at the future in-laws last night did not make things better.

Yeah, it’s been a while.  I only worked 3 days last week and I blog at work.  (Monday = holiday, Friday = snow and working from home).  Weight’s been up, but I had a bad week last week.  I also think it’s mostly water retension since I ate a lot of bad foods.  (mmmmm greasy Thai).  The scale reading this morning was a disappointing 147, but I think it’s going to go back down to 143 by tomorrow.  I’m thinking it’s water weight.  I also punked out on the gym Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, so I really have no one else to blame but myself.  Life gets in the way sometimes.  The next two weeks are all about powering through and making it to vacation.  Although I almost consider this past week to be like a mini vaca.  President’s weekend we did nothing which was so super fantastic.  We went to Enzo’s in Lawrenceville (I know it’s bad food but its so good you need to treat yourself once in a while) on Saturday.  But of course, Saturday my fiance woke up at 4am with the annual stomach virus that I swear his company releases into the air.  So the next two days were spent nursing him back to health.  Mostly just getting gallons of gatorade for him.  But even though he was sick, I will not deny that it was nice staying home and doing nothing for the holiday on Monday.  Tuesday was Foo Fighters in New York, which was a great show.  Wednesday was normal, sleepy, but normal.  Thursday I had a horrible ear ache that woke me up at about 3am, so that prevented me hitting the gym in the am.  And Friday we had enough snow to keep me home all day (well, till about 5:30 when I went to yoga).  So two three day weekends in a row.  I feel refreshed.  We did some stuff, but i could get used to this 4 day work week, 3 day weekend.  Or at least working from home one day a week.  It would be nice.

I noticed that when I eat spicy foods I end up drinking a lot of water to allow me to eat it, and I find that I’m fuller on a smaller amount.  And it’s been keeping me satiated for the rest of the day, well at least until dinner anyway.

….to loose a few pounds.  I was fighting something all last week.  And I fought.  I was in a friends’ wedding (both me and my fiance were, which was pretty cool) on Saturday, and I had the fear all week that I was going to wake up Saturday morning with the plague.  Luckily, I woke up on Saturday no different from Friday and the wedding went off without a hitch.  If you consider all of the groomsmen/fathers having their tux vests messed up and the only reason everyone matched was because the tux place gave the father of the bride a bunch of vests in the right color not a hitch.  And all of the bridesmaids dresses not having the right alterations done (FYI, do NOT go to Villa’s Bridal in Manville, NJ. Absolutely horrible experience for everyone in the bridal party, including the Bride).  But in the grand scheme, it was a wonderful wedding.  Everyone had fun.  It’s so nice to see friends dressed up.  I can’t wait for mine next year.  My fiance even met up with someone from his high school that he didn’t even know he was a friend of a friend of.  Everyone went back to the hotel, had a great time, said our goodbyes to the bride and groom, and settled in for a good sleep in a king size bed.  At like 3am, I woke up with death.  I couldn’t breathe, my throat hurt, and the slight buzz that made getting to sleep easier did not work out well for me.  It was horrible, and for the next two days I was dead.  One of those where you just want to sleep and drink lots of watery apple juice (at least that’s what I want).  And I know I’m going to gain back the few pounds I lost back, but I’m sure it helped shed the temporary pounds gained with the wedding/pre-wedding food events of the previous nights (Thursday rehersal dinner, Friday night bridesmaid nails & diner, Saturday wedding food).  So hoping on the scale this morning and reading 142.5 was freakin’ awesome.  I know its not real, but it still feels good.  I’m going to use this to my advantage and just keep eating healthy for the rest of the week, hopefully getting my body to realize its new resting weight.  I still haven’t really gained back my appetite, I was having one of those bottomless pit weeks, so I’m going to try and use the whole thing as a mindset change too.  I have no plans this weekend, so food can be homemade and totally under control.  I think that’s part of what’s been throwing me out of whack, being gone all weekend and having no down time.  It’s probably why I got seriously ill for the first time in over 3 years.  This weekend will be cleaning (it so desperately needs to be done, and I don’t mind so much), making healthy stuff for the week, and playing around with my fiance in the kitchen with dinner plans.  I love weekends with no plans! 

Speaking of food, you so need to try out the hungry girl recipe for chili cheese fries, its so awesome and so totally filling.  I do recommend attempting to buy the squash pre-cut instead of whole, my first go at it was a bit crispier than my second go, and that was the difference.

OMG, this weekend was insane.  Friday started out rough.  I have to start by mentioning that my fiance plays Dungeons and Dragons.  Of course when I tell people this, I can see they’re holding in laughter.  And they ask if people make fun of him.  He’s almost 6′4 and is not a small guy.  He’s not fat (although technically he is overweight), there’s some extra around the middle, but really he’s just a big guy.  He goes to the gym and works out.  So needless to say, no one messes with him and/or gives him crap.  He’ll squish them if they do.  But since everyone seems to rotate hosting, once in a while it comes to our house.  And there’s usually some good food/beer that shows up.  Some of the guys are younger, so there’s usually a lot of beer.  Friday’s menu included baked ziti, homemade guacamole, various chips, and the crowning item, Sam Adams Utopia.  For those of you who are not beer fans, this is one of the best beers out there.  It’s about $160 for a bottle, everyone chipped in a got a glass.  It’s really more like barley wine than beer, but its phenominal.  And like 4 times the amount of alcohol than that of a normal bottle.  So there was a bit of drinking to be had that night.  Which helps, because at 10:30 when I’m pooped from being up since 5am, it helps me sleep until they go to bed somewhere around 2am.  So bad food started off the weekend.  But I got up Saturday and went to my spin class and had a healthy breakfast, so I actually felt good.  But then there was a dinner to go to, and so much good food i was uncomfortably full when we left to go home.  Sunday was slightly better,  a more reasonable portion size, but meatloaf that I’m sure was not WW friendly, and a cheesecake that I know definitely was not.  I’m up 4lbs from last week.  I’m hoping its all water so I’m drinking my water and watching my intake.   Monday’s are great for me too since I do free weights in the am b/f work and cardio in the evening afterwards (I know, twice right, but i don’t want to get up at 4:30am nor do I not want to fight the evening creepy construction guys at the gym and then get home at 8).  Hopefully things get back down to normal tomorrow.

What was also really really awesome is that at the dinner on Saturday night, two people asked if I’d lost weight.  Yippy!

So isn’t it an awesome feeling when you want to indulge in the craving but then the world stops you?  I go to the same Dunkin Donuts every morning.  It’s drive through, and I get my medium french vanilla with milk.  I add 2 sugar packets when I get to the office because I have doubts about their ability to put only 2 sugars in, and I’m sure you’ll all agreed that I’m only being a little crazy for it.  Now since I go every work day, they know my car when they see it on the drive through camera, so most days I just get “Good morning, you can pull up.” which is totally awesome.  So today, I was hungry when I got to the gym at 6.  So by the time I’m rolling through the drive through at 7:45, I’m ravenous.  I was totally going to order a bagel.  But there was no line, and they said pull up so fast, I didn’t really even have to stop my car.  And I didn’t want to not go with the flow so I did not order the bagel.  They got it right, who am I to throw a loop at them.  So no bagel for me, which is good in the long run.  Although I’m still pretty hungry.  But I just finished my breakfast and I’m ready to have my coffee, so hopefully that will fill me up (it usually does but we all know about the bottomless pit days.  Thank goodness it’s Tuesday and I hit the gym and go to the yoga studio on Tuesdays).

And just as a side note, I was in and out of the D&D parking lot in under a minute.  I was the one who slowed things down because I didn’t have my money ready.  I love it when that happens!  I get to work early on those days.

So I totally forgot to weigh myself this morning…i know it’s going to be bad from the football food I ate yesterday.  But I had a pretty good weekend so the splurge wasn’t so bad.  I’m going to give my body a day to adjust back to normallity.  But last week I was down to 142 on Wednesday, which is a new low for me (not all time, but definitely since I started paying attention).  Wednesday’s seem to be my golden day, I do 45 minutes of weights and 1 hour & 15 minutes of yoga on Tuesday.  Most days, it’s also preceeded by 45 minutes of weights and 30 minutes of a various cardio activity on Mondays.   I have to say, by far the most flattering thing since my last post wasy trying on wedding dresses for the first time.  The first place I went to was in Red Bank.  If Hobokin is little New York, then Red Bank is little Hoboken.  The selection at the shop I went to was poor, which was suprising for the area.  I wasn’t looking for David’s Bridal volume, but more than 20 dresses would have been good.  Also, instead of the shop ordering the samples in  a 12-18 size, so everyone could try it on, most seemed to be around 10-12.  I was happy that I was able to zip most of them up, although on a few occasions the “girls” got in the way.  But I knew once I tried a the strapless A-line that this would be my style (alas, it was not “the” dress).  And was was even more awesome on top of it all was standing there with my hands on my hips, checking out my arms and the muscle definition I never had until now.  I was also there with a few family members, and they were complimenting me on how good I looked.  It really was the satisfaction and fulfillment that I think needed (but didn’t know I needed) after all these months of getting up at 5:10 in the morning and hitting the gym.  Go ahead, hate me for being “skinny”, but I work hard to be here.  I’m not one of those skinny minis.  I realized that I have to work at it, and now that I do, I can’t give it up. And don’t forget…  Check out Roni’s new contest! I can win a Nutrition Smart Scale from Eat Smart and so can you! Click here for details!