Look at Them Scivvies!

Yesterday I finally reached the 25lbs lost mark.   In celebration, I decided to reward myself with a gift (any excuse for a gift!) — I was thinking shoes or a purse, as I love them both so.     As I was roaming around the stores, I walked past a cute little black and white sundress in the juniors department (marked down from $50 to $29.99 I might add).   I had no idea how their sizes compare to misses but I figured why the hell not.  In the dressing room, I got down to my scivvies and took a long, hard look at myself in the mirror.  It suddenly dawned on me that my body has changed quite a bit since January.    For one, I have no fat on my back anymore, no rolls or lumpy things.    I’m not sure when I lost them, but I’m glad they are gone.   I also saw my collar bones peeking out from under my neck.  Hello, and welcome back ladies!   And my neck, by the way, is no longer covered by chins.   Someone at work pointed that out to me on Wednesday too, ”hey, you lost your chins” — lovely, no?    Also, I noticed my torso from my chest used to be rounded now it’s a straight drop.   I guess I’ve been so caught up in losing the weight (and work, and life) I never stopped to really look at the changes in my body.       I mean, to some extent, I realized I was buying new clothes, but I think I’ve spent the past few years not really looking at myself, and I’m just used to avoiding mirrors, especially whilst nekid.    25lbs lost equates to a lot of changes in my body.  

July 9 will be the 6 month mark, and I think it’s safe to say I have another 25lbs to go, minimum.   At that point, I may try to maintain that weight, or perhaps lose some more.   I don’t think I’ll know till I get there.  I cannot even imagine what my body will look like after I drop another 25lbs, but I hope I lose the bulk of it from my buddha belly.    Oh, and the dress, it fit — so I bought it, and it rang up at $19.99.   I justified the difference and grabbed a pair of ballet flats too.   Then I ran right to the lingerie department, because damn, that look in the mirror demonstrated something else:  I really need to replace all my scivves, stat.

Speaking of shopping, I found curtains for my livingroom.   I figured Tim would hate them and I’d have to return them or we’d have to compromise on something else but he responded with “I can live with those.”   I knew I wanted  platinum blue duponi silk with embroidery and yesterday I turned a corner and there they were.  It was meant to be.  I felt obligated to purchase them on the spot as they were marked down from $50 to $34.99 too.  July 4th sales maybe? 

Cha Cha Cha

My first salsa class was tonight and we really enjoyed it.  We practiced the basic steps, the old Cuban being my favorite, and a few confusing turns.   The teacher changed the standard 8 counts and it was different from what I am used to:  I keep hearing him in my head.  1, 2, THREEEEEEEEEEEE, 4, FIVVVVVVVVVE, 6, SEVENNNNNNNNN, 8.     He also suggested the “ladies” wear a skirt, as we need more sass in our dancing.   I also need a different pair of shoes.    Turning in sneakers, it’s squeaky fall over fun kids.   I didn’t know what other shoes to wear, as I am still babying my knee — and in fact it ached during the entire class.    Right now I have “character shoes” with and without taps – but I also need jazz shoes.    Next week we plan to drop in on the Tuesday night tap class, as it’s on our schedule for the fall, well as long as we like the instructor.   I don’t remember much about tap dancing in my youth, but I remember shuffle ball change, shuffle ball change …

So sadly, tomorrow I am definately skipping morning hip hop to give the knee a rest.   The question is will I forgo PM hiphop for the arc trainer.    The cybex is certainly less impact on my knee  but  I just don’t enjoy it as much.  However, my first priority is to get my knee to heal so there may be no choice.    The only other option is to take PM hip hop but modify a lot of the moves.   

I keep meaning to update that my walk across America is almost finished.    My sister-in-law and I are just starting to plan our trip to DC, too.   I think we’re heading there in October.  

Deep Fried Bacon

I’m still babying my left knee, so Saturday I had to endure the Arc Trainer instead of enjoying hip hop aerobics.   I also had to cutback to just 4 workouts last week, however there is little to no discomfort from my knee now, so I think it was a good move.   I have been elevating and icing both my knee and ankle since Thursday too.   Oddly my weight dipped down 2lbs this week – that rarely if ever happens.

I actually saw Paula Deen make a recipe that interested me, and oddly it didn’t contain 4 sticks of butter deep fried and wrapped in bacon.   On Sunday, we ventured to an Asian Supermarket to pick up the ingredients and were shocked by the amazing seafood department.   Everything was so fresh.   Honestly though, the best part was they gave us a bowl and tongs and we handpicked a huge grouper and watched them filet it in front of us.  I cannot believe how cheap it was too :  the 2lb grouper rang in at $5.64 and 1lb of scallops totaled $4.99.   I don’t think I’ll buy seafood at my regular grocery store ever again.    

I received an e-mail from someone asking me what I eat so I thought I’d respond here.    My goal this week is to make all my lunches and 6 dinners (god help me).    I’m counting tonight as 1 down.   We had scallops and whole wheat/whole grain pasta salad with cucumbers, red onions, tomatoes, cilantro, feta cheese, olive oil, and balsamic vinager.   Tomorrow we are having oven baked, foil wrapped grouper and sauteed shanghai choy.   I just googled the choy  and apparently it’s the all green version of bok choy – obviously a product of todays asian grocery shop.  Tuesday we are having friends over and I am making crock pot stuffed cabbage (using turkey meat and brown rice).  Tim is making guacamole as an appetizer.   There will probably be tortilla chips and a few cocktails involved.   Wednesday night we are having a quick fix whole wheat pocketless pita pizza with turkey pepperoni and salad.    No choice, as I have my first salsa class at 7:30.   Thursday I am making the Paula Deen soup (minus the coconut milk), however I’m adding some bok choy and shirataki noodles.   Friday we are having a turkey tenderloin and grilled brussel sprouts.  Saturday night we are eating out.    Sunday I hope I have enough calories left to have 5oz of  filet mignon for dinner.  We have 7lbs of it in the freezer right now.    Breakfasts are either oatmeal with banana, yogurt with bran buds and raspberries, or egg beaters on a whole wheat english muffin.   Lunches are either tuna or turkey/low-fat swiss on whole wheat pitas.      I’m not much of snacker, but I bought some bananas and nectarines – I’m supposed to eat 3 fruits a day. 

I added a flickr link to this site after I scammed a friend’s camera.  Not only do I have new furniture shots, but I took the photos prior to cutting off the tags too.    Classy.

Old Hurts, New Furniture

It’s like a new furniture extravaganza here right now.   We have 2 chairs, 2 ottomons, a china cabinet, a bar mirror, bar stools and a couch being delivered this week.  The best part is we only paid for 2 barstools!    The couch was a belated birthday gift from my parents and the rest was bartered in return for web and print work for a local furniture store.   

What we had prior was basically our old college furniture, mostly crap from IKEA that was ruined during a flood at our last abode.  In fact, I cannot wait to lose what we refer to as Tim’s “bachelor couch.”  5  years ago he did a flying leap onto the old sofa and broke the frame, and of course between now and then the cats have shred the arms too.    I honestly cannot believe we kept this stuff around as long as we have.  Now that I think back,  I’m embarassed our living room for the past 10 years only had a couch and no other seating options.    To be fair,  I would say for the past 18 months we’ve been to every furniture store within a 50 mile radius and have continually come up empty handed.   I think it’s a combination of crappy merchandise and difficulty compromising.    Or maybe there is furniture switch that flips once you hit your mid 30’s?  Who knows.   I will say this, the first new piece came in and I realized how shabby our old stuff was.    I now want a new rug, tv stand, lamps, coffee tables,  and the list goes on and on.   We aren’t buying anything till Tim finds a new job though.   

Anyway,   I wanted to take pictures and post them here, screaming “look we have adult furniture now!” but my camera is stuck in Pennyslvania (the result of a drunken evening at a wedding, so hey, maybe I’m not so mature?)    The photographs are a poor representation of the actual colors, but note everything is brown and matches.   Despite Tim’s opinion to accent with a bright burgundy I have decide to go with a rich baby blue.  I told him today this was a battle where I was taking a stand.  I mean everyone puts burgundy with brown.    Also note that I’ve been trying to find a smaller sized coffee table and every single one I’ve e-mailed to Tim he’s responded with “that doesn’t match the look we are trying to develop.”  Uh.. ok?

So this is the bar we got on ebay last summer:

 

We later found out the bar was from Ashley furniture but we didn’t dig the matching bar stools, so we purchased these from Pier1.   My mother-in-law described them as “that looks like your taste.”  I wonder what she means?  Tim didn’t take offense, so I won’t.

And this is the new mirror behind the bar, it’s called a “prison mirror” but I’ve deciced to ignore that.  We hung colored lantern lights around the mirror, because why the hell not?

Edited to add:  I managed to get an ok shot of the bar items grouped together via my cell phone:  

So the china cabinet is now full (pictured in black but we got it in brown) and now that my china is displayed all I can think is shit I should have finished buying out my pattern 7+ years ago when it got discontinued:

This is what is replacing the bachelor couch.   Honestly it took us months to decide we wanted leather, and then months to find something we both liked.  Then every sofa we did like had detached pillows – and they simply don’t work for us as the the couch ends up looking like an unmade bed all the time.  This is actually our second choice, the first one was prettier and matched the chair and 1/2 (not pictured in this post) but was simply not comfortable. 

There is a leather chair and ottomon that matches the couch above, and the aforementioned chair and 1/2 and ottomon looks like this, but is 50% the size.  We didn’t get this couch because of the whole unmade bed thing.    Funny too, it’s from the “Taylor” collection:

So there it is!   Is it silly to be excited about it?    We even invited my parents over for dinner so they can see it all!  Tim’s parents are dropping by tomorrow, my cousin is coming next week, and other friends are stopping by Friday.  God we are lame! 

Anyway, I am sitting here alternating an ice pack between my left ankle and left knee.  The knee has been bothering me since last week – it started right after Tuesday evening hip hop.  The ankle has been weak since I sprained it in my teens, then resprained it multiple times in my 20s.  I will say one thing, these aches have helped me from becoming a crazy gym rat.      And the new ottomon is good for elevating your leg!  :)

That Time Again?

We learned last week that Tim’s entire group (215 people) will be laid off between October and February.   Pfizer is outsourcing to Costa Rica.  It’s a wonderful thing when American companies give up American jobs, no?   We started networking and sending out resumes instantly and I hope he can find a new position before he loses his current position.  It’s a shame because he really likes his job, his employer, and his co-workers.    That and I don’t manage financial stress well, if at all.     I’ve been rebudgeting, canceling NYC dinner reservations and trips to Florida (niece’s christening, cousin’s wedding, and christmas).   All of those things hurt, but right now I am mourning the loss of New Years.   Next year will be our 15th year together and in honor of that we had tentative reservations to go back to the island were we enjoyed our honeymoon.    

Well 5 months have passed, so it’s time to visit my doctor and have my blood tested.   I am curious to see where my numbers are.    I certainly feel better.    I have more energy.    And although shaky at times, my confidence has improved.    Moreover, I lost 2.4lbs in May bringing my total lost since January 9 to 21.5lbs.    In hindsight, I think I could have done more, lost more, ate in more, drank a few less cocktails, etc, but I also need to live my life and be happy doing it.   I am working on finding a balance.    

Although my exercise and eating are going strong, I am still struggling to drink enough water every day.  I certainly drink more than I did, but I rarely get in 8 cups.   Also, is it weird that I am completely enamored (read: addicted) to my hip hop aerobics class?   I cannot get enough of it.  I look forward to it.   I miss it when I am not there.   I resent all my other forms of exercise (well, not swimming, but I have grown to hate those damn cardio machines).     We’ve even switched our Tuesday night tap class to a Wednesday night salsa class because I WILL NOT MISS Tuesday night hip hop.   It helps that dance routine is never stale.   We learn a routine, master it, and then start a new routine, and master that.  Rinse, repeat. Not to mention, my heart rate monitor tells me I burn more calories white girl dancing for an hour than I do during any other form of exercise.   Seriously, depending on the routine, I burn between 600-850 calories and hour and I am actually enjoying myself.   

200?

I home, but it itches.   We spent 4 days of the trip on this tiny island off the west coast of Florida (yeah, it’s tough to be me) and the experience resulted in approximately 200+ bug bites, 24 of which are on my butt.  Yup.  Tim asked me how I knew that, and I incredulously responded, “because I counted in the mirror?”  Duh.   Apparently I have a tasty arse.    I bet that googles well.  Speaking of my ass, I had been feeling more confident about my newly toned body lately, until I saw this photo of my fat ass:

And since I’m on a roll, I thought I had started to tone my arms as well, and to be fair, they certainly have lost some inches, but come on, how big were they before then?  On and note the big poofy stomach thing is due to the wind and my new swimsuit, which although cute, made my coverup all poofy.  Lucky me.

And since I cannot stop posting images, meet George, at least he isn’t also attached to my body:

After the trip, I was worried yet curious to see what the scale would say.    Obessesive, maybe – but I spent the 3 hour flight home reading magazines like Shape and more than 1 article mentioned weighing yourself after a trip so you can get a handle on the damage and jump back on track.    I was under no delision that I had lost weight, but I was wondering if I gained or if I maintained.   Tuesday morning I was up .4 of a lb so I’ll take it as a wash.   I actually maintained.  This was a revelation as I’ve been worrying about how I will maintain once I reach my goal weight.  I now have more confidence that maybe I can.  But my confidence is still shaky.  See arms and ass above.

Health wise, the trip went well.   The deal I made with myself is that I would exercise and journal the first 2/3rds of the time.   That meant behaving (in terms of food) at a family reunion, at my grandmothers 94th birthday party, at a family bbq, and and for 3 days in Captiva with my mother.     I kept my calories low at breakfast and lunch and then navigated dinner so I was within maintenance range.   There were a few indulgences I wouldn’t normally eat at home, like chocolate chip cookies, cheese, key lime pie (1 slice), rum punch and bagels, but I never once felt full, nor did I feel deprived. I also used my girly weights 7 times (easy to do on the beach) and did cardio for 60 minutes, ever other day, up until Friday — as that is when Tim and our friends Jill and Jay arrived for the weekend bug extravaganza.   With no cell service, no internet, and no gym in site – I took a 4 day break from some of my more obsessive hobbbies/habits.   The only exercise I got were buggy walks on the beach.  I suppose it wasn’t all bugs, we saw dolphins and manatees in their native habitats.  We fished.  We sat in the sun.   We found buckets and buckets of shells too.   Speaking of dolphins, they came right up behind our boat and jumped in the wake!  I could not get over how close they were! I thought dolphins were only found at Sea World:

Doesn’t the dolphin look like it’s smiling?  I think that was one happy freaking dolphin.  Anyway… 

Prior to this vacation, I was worried.  I wouldn’t be lying if I said I had nightmares of blowing my entire healthy plan and/or losing  track of the momentum I’ve kept up since January.  A vacation has sent me there before.   But this time I created a plan and stuck to it!  The first day back I went grocery shopping and we’ve been making healthy meals since.  I was worried we’d get home and there’d be an  extended honeymoon period, that we’d eat crazy foods and drink booze nonstop for the next few weeks.  What can I say,  I’m a worrier.   Right now I’m eating tuna on whole wheat pita accompanied by sliced cucumbers and strawberries.   That’s the best thing about the summer, there’s lots of fruit and it’s cheap!  Tonight I am roasting a turkey breast and serving it with baked potatoes, broccoli and sauteed cippolini onions.  Mmm.

In terms of exercise, this morning I navigated hip hop cardio whilst wearing my new heart rate monitor.  What an eye opener.  I had estimated my calories burned for Sparkpeople and I was about 235calories low!   After that I jumped on the Cybex Arc Trainer just to see if it calculated the calories burned correctly and it was close enough.    The plan this summer is to focus on exercises I enjoy, like walking at the park,  swimming laps, tap dancing (my cousin and I are taking a class), hiking with the hubby, and hip hop aerobics (did I mention I burn 700+ calories in 1 freaking hour).   I’m going to avoid the cardio machines unless absolutely necessary.     Exercise doesn’t have to be boring!