moving to phase 2...

Well, it seems that I'm not going to loose any more weight on phase 1. I weighed in this morning...137.5lbs, the same as the last 4 days. I think it's a little disappointing that I didn't loose more. But, I have to admit that it's still not too bad for 3 weeks. Even though I haven't found the first phase to be overly limiting, I'm going to start adding some grains and fruit.

For breakfast this morning I had old-fashion oatmeal with some fresh blueberries. I've never really liked oatmeal, but after having eggs for breakfast almost every day for the last three weeks, it was a welcome change. My lunch and snacks for the day are still from phase 1. I am a little worried about dinner. My BF's mom is in town again and we're going to his sister's house tonight. Hopefully whatever she serves is SB-friendly.

3rd week in phase 1...

I'm going to add a third week before I start on Phase 2 of SB. The last 3 days have been really bad and I found myself in situations where I couldn't eat according to the plan.

(1) Beastie Boys show -- I had chili for dinner before the show. When they announced that they were going to be late, the club ordered pizza for everyone. I had one slice of veggie and a beer to keep me entertained.
(2) Saturday we went shopping. I had breakfast and a snack before hitting the road but lunch ran late. We ended up at home-style papusaria and there were no salad/soup/healthy options. So, I ended up with a couple of tacos and a side of cassava...unfortunatley fried.
(3) Father's day -- I made my dad a lemonade cake. And, although the recipes was from cooking light, it still had a ton of sugar in the cake and frosting.

So, this morning I woke up with a headache and my stomach felt a little off. I got on the scale and have gained back a pound. I'm a little disappointed but still feel good that I lost 4lbs in 2 weeks. To make up for the bad choices I made in the last few days, I'm going to extend Phase 1 for this week. I'll start Phase 2 next week, adding in some fruit and perhaps cereal.

beastie brouhaha...

Oh god, I am so tired. Yesterday was really a trial. I actually left work early to get in line to get into the show. I figured that there would be tons of people in line so they could get the best view even though doors didn't open until 6:30. Well, I got to the club at 4:15 and there were hardly 30 people in line. (it could have been the 90+ degree heat that kept people away) My BF met me at the club about 30 minutes later with food. Thankfully we live really close to the 9:30 club. About 30 minutes after that it started raining...actually pouring w/ thunder and lightening. Everyone was nice about the situation. The radio station/promo people were handing out juice and stuff.

They started letting people in at 6pm because another downpour was coming in. We got a really good view from the balcony -- what I like to call the too-old-to-be-young-too-young-to-be-old section. The Beasties were supposed to go on at 8:30 so we knew we had some waiting to do.

At about 8:30 the radio djs came on stage; the crowd was pumped; and they announced that they had some "good news and some bad news." So, the bad news was that the beastie boys couldn't get on their flight because New York airports shut due to weather. The good news was that they were on a train to DC and would be on stage at ~11:30! Well, being older than I like to admit I was kind of pissed. And, my BF had to be up at 4:30 in the morning to go to work. Argh. But, we decided to stick it out...

The Beastie Boys did show up! They went on stage a little after 11pm. They played for about 45-minutes with a good setlist. As usual, they did a solid show...with Mix Master Mike keeping them on their toes.

I was glad I saw their entire set, but I'm really disappointed with the arrangements. I guess I had assumed that they would have been in DC early that afternoon, if not the night before. I know that the shuttle from NYC is really quick but perhaps they were cutting it a little too close. I'd like to know how long the show would have been if it had started on time. Would we have gotten a full 2 hr set?

phase 1, day 11...

I weighed in again this morning. I'm down another 1.5lbs, to 136.5! It feels like the weight is coming off pretty consistently. And, I'm pretty happy being down 5lbs in eleven days. I can tell that my stomach is a little less full/bloated looking. But, I still need to start some kind of exercise regimen to pull everything together, if you would.

I have a couple of bumps in the road ahead that could set me back. First is father's day this Sunday. I think we're going to be eating at my parents' house, probably a bbq. That's a good thing since I'll be able to put veggies on the grill as a side instead of pasta or potato salad. The bad thing is that there will be dessert -- I might even be bringing dessert. So, my goal will be to have just a taste of whatever sweets there are without completely pigging out.

The next bump will be at work next Thursday. My office supervisors are going to bring in lunch for the department and cake to celebrate a co-worker's leaving. So far, they are talking about bringing in barbecue from a local joint. I'm not sure what will really happen...

So, I'm trying to plan for this ahead of time. At this point I still have cravings for things like pasta and bread, but not sweets. I think I'm going to keep myself on Phase 1 for an extra week. Perhaps this will make me better able to deal with these two events.

i've got a golden ticket!

Actually, make that two! I got through and bought tickets. My order number says "nine"...all I know is that I'm going to the show. Thursday at the 9:30 club!

the beasties are coming...

Okay, the last time I had tickets to see the beastie boys the tour was cancelled. Now they have a new album out and are doing a bunch of exclusive shows through local radio stations. Well, I don't have time to sit at home/work and listen to the radio all day and than hope that I'm the right caller. Argh...but I did get an email this morning saying that they would be putting tickets on sale this afternoon for $15. Wish me luck. I hope I can get these tickets!

phase 1, day 8...

So, it's been a week on SB and so far I'm happy. I weighed in today and got a modest 138lbs. So, for the first week, that's a drop of 3.5lbs. It slowed over the weekend, but that's just 'cos I cheated a little.

My BF and I had both had Friday off so we just kind of hung our around the neighborhood. Got coffee in the afternoon; Picked up the ingredients to my new "drink of summer" the sidecar. Over the last month, I have been accumulating the bar tools to make this drink and now it was time to make some at home...which we did Saturday afternoon...tasty! So, I think the couple of drinks that I had on Saturday -- literally 2 -- probably threw a few things off.

But, I'm ready for week two! This week I'm also going to try to fit a 30 minute walk in everyday.

phase 1, day 4...

Well, I got on the scale this morning. To my surprise, I was already down 2.5lbs. So, the day started on a good note. Unfortunately, I didn't remember to defrost my now-usual breakfast fare and didn't eat before leaving the house. Once I got to work, I went down to the cafeteria and made a bad decision. I bought lowfat fruit yogurt. Now, this may seen harmless enough but in the first 2 weeks of SB you aren't supposed to have any fruit and little or no yogurt. So, this will be my slip for the day. (and boy does it taste great). I'm not so worried that the scale will spike back up tomorrow morning. I'll be fine as long as it's a one time thing and I don't get any other barred snacks today.

So far, I'm really enjoying this program. The first day was hard and I felt like I was hungry every second. But, since then I've had no problems. In fact, I can't believe that I've lost any weight with the amount of food that the phase 1 plan has you eat. I have 3 meals and 3 snack every day. I've been living on 2 meals and zero snacks for quite a while, figuring that if I'm not hungry I shouldn't eat. Guess I was wrong!

Reagan holiday...

Dub-ya has declared Friday to be a national day of mourning. That means that I get a day off...and a three day weekend. Now, I am not a fan of Reagan's politics, but I do feel that the pageantry that surrounds his death is just what the country needs right now.

Much of the media coverage has centered on the fact that Reagan focused a lot of his efforts on positive aspects of US culture at a time when there was an emphasis on a negative past. Well, the same seems to be true in death. There are hundreds of thousands of people who are going to be taking time of their lives to honor this man. And, they will be able to distract themselves from the problems of the day, if only for a little while.

Tomorrow night, there will be a procession to bring his body to the Capital rotunda. And, although I am a democrat through and through, I think I will stick around after work to see it.

weighing in...

This morning I stepped on the scale to get my official starting point. The official figure is 141lbs. That's down from my "holiday weight" but still not what I'd like to see. So, I'm going to try to loose 10% (about 14lbs), making the goal weight 127lbs.

On Saturday, I went to the grocery to get everything I needed to get through the first week. I probably went a little overboard in the veggie aisle, but I figured better safe than sorry. And, a lot of the stuff I got will probably keep past this week. Yesterday, I did some cooking so I won't have to spend a lot of time worry about breakfast everyday. I started my adventure this morning with breakfast. And packed my lunch and snacks for the day.

My BF has been really supportive since I told him that I'm going on SB. After the holidays we both put on weight and we've been saying that we should each loose 10lbs. He doesn't want to go on SB too but he says he'll help by cooking dinners that fit in with the recommendations. He doesn't want each of us to have to fend for our own food or cook two different meals.

starting monday...

Back in January, I declared my resolutions for 2004. I even put up some little trackers to show progress. When I changed the template for the blog, all of the links and stuff in the sidebar disappeared. And, unfortunately, I had not backed up the old blog template. So, I've been very slow to put my resolutions back in the sidebar as to not remind myself of my failures. Well, that's going to change!

I will be re-creating the sidebar...And re-doubling my efforts. The most effort will be put to loosing weight. I keep talking about wanting to be a little more fit but never get on a true regimen. Well, this time I've got a plan. I recently got a copy of the South Beach Diet. I know what you're thinking...gimmick! But, it will be my first try at a real diet plan. I have read the book and it makes a good case for why it works. At first read, the eating plan is similar to what I have now. The big differences in the first phase: (1) more dairy, (2) no fruit, and (3) no starches with meals. But, in 2 weeks I'll be able to add some back.

I have a pretty arbitrary goal in mind. I want to loose 10 pounds or 10%, which ever is more reasonable. That will put be back to the weight I was when I graduated college. This weekend, I will be doing a lot of grocery shopping, and Monday morning I will be posting my start and goal weight. Wish me luck!

still standing...

Argh...Work has been such a chore lately. In the last 3 weeks, I have written 6 papers deciding funding issues for next year's budget. On the upside, we had a new analyst start this week. And, there's another newbie starting in 2 weeks! That means that I should have my workload let up a little bit. The person that started this week will be taking some of my assigned units so I'm really happy!

Also, I made it through a visit from my BF's father. He has come to town the last three years in a row. Usually, it's really good to see him...but, he likes to do tourist-y things. This year, like last year, he brought his girlfriend. And, the two them did a lot of thing by themselves. It was really kind of cool. We did meet them for dinner on Saturday. Then, on Sunday, we had them over to our apartment for dinner.

On Saturday, we took them to one of our favorite spots Rhumba Café for tapas. It went over better than expected. They were really cool and tried everything we ordered. Then, we went to Pharmacy...our favorite bar. All in all a good night.

On Sunday, Mr F brought over the stuff that he bought in Michigan and drove down with. It was really mundane stuff...16 rolls of paper towels, 24 rolls of TP, 4 jugs of laundry detergent, 4 gallons of bleach, 6 boxes kleenex, a paper shredder, a vat of cookies, and 5 bags of candy. We have managed find a home for the paper goods. Still need to stash the laundry products. And, a week later we're almost done with the candy...talk about snack attack!