Something really cool happened today. I found out that I can fit into my jeans! About 6 months ago, while I was living in Alabama, I bought this really cool pair of jeans from Ann Taylor. They're really soft-feeling and have a relaxed kind of fit, plus they're that really good cornflower-blue shade of denim, somewhere in between dark and light. They're also a more "mature" style of jeans...I thought since I was a career woman and all, I could use something other than those teenybopper low-rise flares by CK that I had.
So anyway, I spent like $50 on them, and wore them a few times, and they felt great. But after a few washes, they got tighter. I know it wasn't me gaining weight - 100 percent cotton does shrink after a few turns in the dryer, I can guarantee you. They were size 10 but I guess I should have gotten a 12 or something. I haven't worn them since like March. But I decided to be brave and try them on today and guess what? They fit! I could zip them before, but I couldn't breathe...now they're actually comfortable! Go me!
You're pretty knowledgeable about music in general. You like indie music, sure, but that's only part of it.
You'll listen to any old shit as long as it sounds good to you. You're not snobby about music at all, you
just like what you like. How boring. Curiously, this makes you popular with the opposite sex.
I'm excited! I just enrolled for one of those cooking classes at Central Market today. There were TONS to choose from but I wanted to do the 'hands-on' classes where you cook the food yourself. Here's my class description:
It's one thing to enjoy a leisurely meal at a sidewalk café in Paris, and it's quite another to prepare one yourself. You'll help Chef Roger put together a rustic French meal and add to your kitchen repertoire traditional bistro flavors. Menu includes Rue Ste Dominique "Caviar"; Frisée Salad with Bacon & Roquefort; Pan Seared "Hanger" Steak with Fleur de Sel & Lemon; and Penne Pasta with Dijon, Madrange Ham & Chives. $45
Mmm...I have no idea what half that stuff is, but it sure sounds good. And yes, I paid $45. Sue me. I've had NO social life since moving here and I'm hoping that by getting out I can perhaps get to know people.
I went to the journalists' meeting last night. I get the feeling they've been meeting for a while without me. I was led to believe last night would be the first-ever meeting in a while...but oh well. When I got there, they asked me if I was from UT :-) Nice to know I still look young enough to be in college...
Okay, quick blog session before I get back to the hell on earth that is work. I have to listen to a friggin' four-hour-long audio transcript of this boring government meeting ...I've gotten one hour out of the way but there are three left and that's a lot of crap on my part. Not to mention four stories that need to be done before the 15th. This job can be pretty easy for most of the month but the rest of the time it's stress stress stress...
Today I went to a Vietnamese restaurant with a colleague. I'd never eaten at a Vietnamese restaurant before (does having dinner at a Vietnamese friend's house count?), so I was clueless as to what to order. I got something called "Chicken Crispy Noodle" which the guy told me was stir-fried noodles with chicken and veggies. Fine, I thought, I can handle that.
Well, when they said "crispy," they weren't kidding around. They brought me this HUGE plate with a big block of crispy noodles (kinda like a block of uncooked ramen noodles, but MUCH bigger), on which laid pieces of chicken, mushrooms, snow peas and onions. A mysterious soy-type brown salty sauce lurked underneath. I ate about 1/2 of it, but I stopped way before I got that sick feeling. I didn't even ask for a takeout box for the rest.
I stopped at Starbucks on the way back and got a tall COTD (Coffee Of The Day). I figured I better lay off the lattes since they're made with whole milk (the skinny ones suck) and have as much fat as a cheeseburger.
Abs class last night KILLED. This very nice Asian woman usually teaches the class that I go to. She lays down and does the moves with us and it's all very nice. But last night there was this other woman there. Her teaching method reminded me of a drill sergeant. She stood on the little platform and watched us as we crunched our hearts out. "Eyes on the ceiling!" she'd bark, if someone dared to peek over at the person next to them or at her. And she had us do this isometric, Pilates-type stuff that almost made me vomit. Think you're fit? Try this:
Assume the boy-type pushup position, but instead of using your hands to hold you up, use your forearms. Your arms should be bent at the elbows and the entire first part of your arm should be flush with the floor. No pressure on your hands. Your toes should be holding the bottom half of your body up. Okay, once you're in this position, make sure your back is flat (no butts in the air) and hold for 60 seconds. It's way tougher than it sounds. I did it for almost the whole 60 seconds the first time, but by the third time she told us to do that move, I could only muster about 10. My back hurts now. I hope she's satisfied.
In other news, my eye doctor cancelled on me yesterday. That's TWO doctor appointments gone to pot in the same week. I called and rescheduled, but my appointment is delayed till Tuesday, and it's not even with the original doctor. Plus, I've got a neurologist appointment the same day. I envision staying late at work to make up for the time I'm out that day...
I hate finding physicians in a new town. You never know who's good and even the ones that are recommended to you aren't always great. I've got to find an ob-gyn soon to get a refill on my BCP, and a dentist b/c I'm overdue for a cleaning. Not to mention finding a GP for assorted ailments, an oral surgeon and orthodontist to get that TMJ surgery done, a dermatologist so I can get a glycolic peel...
Tonight's the first official meeting of the reformed Austin chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. I invited all sorts of journalists to show up, but I'll bet a million dollars that only 5 people come to the meeting. There's a lot of bad blood circulating where this organization is concerned and it's going to take an act of God to clear the air...but it can be done...
Well, despite the yogurt, I was starving when noon rolled around. Actually, I was starving by 10:30. So I was glad when Mark - bless his heart - told me he was going home for lunch and asked me to come with him. So he picked me up and we drove home together. He knew I was pissed about the meals-out thing and wanted to make up for it. God, I love that man.
I'm going straight to the gym today so I can catch the 5:30 abs class.
Wow, my journal entries have really been lacking lately. I used to post 4-5 times a day; now just TWICE? It's partly because of work, I think; I'm very busy right now and there's just no time. I don't like to spend hours on the computer at home, either, since I spend eight hours on one already. I promise it'll get better after the month's over.
I think I've actually hurt myself working out. Last night I started to do my sprints on the treadmill, and after about 2 minutes of running I found that my calves were hurting. The left one was just sore, but the right one hurt like hell. It didn't stop after I slowed down to a walk, so I got off the treadmill after 30 minutes and did the last 10 on a recumbent bike, which puts less pressure on the muscle. It still hurts today, not to mention my knees and ankles. I think this running stuff is really getting to me. How do professional runners and track stars do it? I feel like it's wearing away my joints and the bones are scraping against each other.
So, with that in mind, I've decided to focus on weight and strength training for the rest of the week and let the muscles heal. I haven't been doing much weight training lately anyway, so this will be good. I'll still do aerobics, but it will only be about 25 minutes a day, light pedaling or walking only. No heavy duty stuff for a while.
Mark made me SO mad this morning, before I even got out of bed. He "didn't have time" to make lunch, AGAIN, so this will be the third day in a row he's eaten out for lunch. I'm getting sick of this. Next to rent, our biggest expense is RESTAURANT MEALS, and that's got to stop. It's bad for our waistlines and our wallets. I, incidentally, haven't eaten out once this week (unless a grande caramel macchiato at Starbucks counts). I pretty much have to eat in, to make up for the $30 or so he spends every week on lunch. Dammit, that's why we buy lunch meat.
Another interesting note - I was pedaling last night at the gym and read an old Fitness magazine article that had a little weight-loss plan laid out. It said that dieters with an average level of fitness activity should eat 1,800-2,000 calories a day, but that "very active" people (those who work out 45 minutes four times a week, and do weight training twice a week) might need to eat more.
Could this be true? Could I actually be eating TOO LITTLE? Is that the reason my weight won't budge? Is my body hanging on to every calorie for dear life? Do I really need to be eating 2,200 calories, not 1,400?
With this bit of information, I've decided to try a more relaxed eating plan, at least until Sunday. My first step this morning was to have a fat-free yogurt cup (100 cals) in addition to my usual NutriGrain yogurt bar (140 cals). More calcium, and plus I'm not starving when noon rolls around. We'll see what happens.
GRR. So I waited more than a month to see this doctor (moving sucks, because you have to find new physicians) and today I'm notified that he's on jury duty, and won't be able to see me. I tried explaining to the secretary that this was serious business and that I needed to see him to get my prescriptions (i'm down to the last on my medicine that I take for epilepsy; it's nothing serious, but it's enough of a problem that I have to take stuff). She didn't seem to care. So today I had to make an appointment with this woman that I found in the phone book (no one I know seems to know of any good neurologists). At least I didn't have to wait forever to see her. I can't wait for the other guy's secretary to call me for rescheduling, just so I can tell her that they've lost my business by being unsympathetic. They could have worked me in this week, ya know.
Last night I did 30 minutes on the treadmill w/sprints and 20 minutes on the bike (with hills). I haven't done weight training in a while, mostly because whenever I go the machines are so crowded that you have to wait in line. It's especially bad on Mondays. So I plan on doing some tonight, maybe after my flexibility class (I'm hooked on this class).
Eats:
1 NutriGrain yogurt bar, 140 cals; diet coke, no calories
Was checking my stats on BlogHop and found that 2 people have voted on my blog. One hates it, one loves it. It's literally opposite ends of the spectrum. That's cool; I like it when people take a stand instead of waffling around in the middle.
If you have a feeling, strong or otherwise, about this blog, feel free to scroll down to the colorful little buttons located under "Filler and Junk" in the right-hand column and cast your vote.
Boring Monday. I'm just sitting here on my lunch break eating a cup of yogurt. My coworkers went to Veggie Heaven for lunch, but I had to stay here and start polishing off this enormous container of lasagna that we cooked last night. I went to my aunt's for dinner, but Mark got home before I did and wanted something to eat. So he put this frozen lasagna in the oven and ate a teeny square of it after eating some steak I brought home for him...now there's like 4 servings of lasagna left and no one to eat it. It's really not that good, anyway.
Well, it's been another couple of weeks and no weight loss yet. I'm holding steady at 134.5. I guess some of it has to do with my poor eating habits during the weekend. Weekdays I'm very disciplined, but on the weekends I just can't seem to say no to fattier foods. I'm just in such a good mood on Fridays and Saturdays that I feel like I have to "celebrate" and enjoy the weekend somehow. I need to learn other ways of celebrating besides eating.
Home sweet home. I was supposed to come home today at about 1:30, but instead I flew home yesterday. I was in my hotel room after my last workshop and just realized that I missed Mark and that I didn't want to be there anymore. So, all in the space of about 15 minutes, I packed my bags, changed my plane ticket, got a cab, checked out of the hotel and was on my way to Love Field. I'm lucky I got there with plenty of time to spare. I decided to go about 4 and my plane left at 6.
It was worth the extra $60. I was SO glad to be home. Mark and I went to Chili's (I got the Guiltless Grill chicken sandwich w/grilled veggies because I was starving for something healthy after all the junk I ate this weekend), and we came home and fell asleep. I just got up.
Name: Jen Location: DFW, TX Occupation: Journalist WHY this stupid blog?: To lose the 20 pounds I've packed on since high school and to entertain you with stories about my fabulous life. Current Weight: 138 My Goal Weight: 115 Pounds to Go: 23
