Dub Dub Weigh In

{Week Eleven}

- 3 lbs

Change since week one: - 8.2 lbs

Change since 2006 38.2 lbs

How in the world did I lose THREE POUNDS in one week?!? I can't believe it, but I am STOKED. 

I worked hard this week, but I definitely didn't expect to lose 3 pounds. 

This week is going to be really challenging because it's my birthday week...

Yesterday Dave and I had an all day outing that included gelato, a cupcake and a carb filled dinner.

This Tuesday is my actual birthday so I will be celebrating with a Red Velvet Cupcake from Bake 'n' Broil... but I'm pretty sure I used up all of my extra 49 points for the week, so I'm expecting this week to be a challenge not to exceed my daily points target.

Wish me luck everyone, I don't wanna gain back any of those three pounds!

Dub Dub Weigh In

{Week Eight}

+ 1 lb

Change since week one: - 5.2 lbs

Change since 2006: - 35.2 lbs

So I gained one pound this week... and I'm totally okay with it.

I had a stressful week and I didn't really track much, so I expected a gain. I think sometimes we need to just allow ourselves a break when things get crazy, but the important thing to do is get right back on track, and that's exactly what I'm doing this week.

My goal for this week is really simple: track every BLT (bite lick taste).

This is my "eh, whatevs" face.

Wish me luck with my tracking this week!

Dub Dub Weigh In

{Week Seven}

- 1.6 lbs

Change since week one: - 6.2 lbs

Change since 2006: - 36.2 lbs

This is crazy people. I lost during the Christmas holiday.

Actually, I kinda cheated. I ate like crazy on Christmas Eve, Christmas morning and Christmas evening... but by the time we got home the flu I hadn't realized I caught sometime while I was stuffing my face reared it's extremely ugly head.

I won't gross you out with the details, but it was literally the worst flu of my life. I don't think I've ever been so violently sick... EVER. It was so bad that at 3am on Dec. 26th, I was dry heaving because I had completely emptied my body of every little thing I ate the previous 24 hours. 

We got home after our Christmas festivities and bundled up to watch a movie even though my stomach wasn't feeling all that great and within an hour of being home I was spending every 20 minutes in the bathroom. I knew when I was gonna be sick because I'd start to sweat bullets and get extremely dizzy and more nauseated than a person should ever be. I'd run to the bathroom and within a minute of walking out of the bathroom I would get the chills for 10-15 minutes, wrap myself in blankets like an Eskimo, and then it would start all over again. It was awful.

Five members of my family, including myself, got the flu. We all just passed it around. I don't know how some people managed to dodge it, including Dave. He never gets sick, he just watches me moan and sweat and get the chills. I'm the one with the poor immune system who catches everything and yet refuses to get any vaccinations (makes total sense, right?).

Thankfully it was only a 24 hour bug and I felt much better by the 27th, even though I still don't have a full appetite and every time I eat dinner (which is usually my largest meal), I start to feel a little sick again. Oh well, I'm still alive and that's all that matters!

So that's why I lost during the Christmas holiday, it had nothing to do with any willpower of my own, though I wish it had.

This week my goals are to start exercising again (I stopped for a few weeks) and I think I'll start with Pilates and/or Yoga... wish me luck this week! :)

Thumbs down for being sick. Thumbs up for losing weight during Christmas

crazy christmas

I can't believe it's almost Christmas. I'M NOT READY!
I haven't had the time to Christmas shop. I'm supposed to go over to Lauren's house to wrap presents with her tomorrow, but I have no presents to wrap yet.

I've just been so busy that I haven't had the time to shop AND I'm avoiding crowds like the plague. I hate crowds. I feel like that big guy in that Christmas commercial who's shopping with his mom at a crowded store and someone bumps into him when his mom says, "Let it go!" and he yells, "But everyone's bumping into me!!!" - that guy is totally me. I tried looking up that commercial on youtube but apparently it's not there. I laugh every time it's on tv.

This past weekend I basically moved all of my Christmas decorations over to our church to decorate for the Christmas party. It was an 8 hour day (thanks to Chanell, Lauren and Noel for all your help!) and then after the party was done we took it all down. On Sunday I redecorated my house. Oh and did I mention that I baked apple pie (which won the bake off in it's category!), jam crumb bars and chocolate cupcakes with buttercream frosting for the party? Yup.

Oh and I also memorized a monologue from Twelfth Night...
and worked on the dialect for my second monologue. If you don't get the famous deep southern drawl right for a Tennessee Williams play (in this case Summer and Smoke), then it's useless to even do the monologue at all. I've spent hours on both monologues. By the end of today I'll have spent close to 5 hours since this morning on them both. I have no idea how many hours I put into it this weekend. Tomorrow I'm going over to Sue's house so she can coach me on the monologues and I have to say I'm pretty nervous. I've worked with Sue many times, but the thought of anyone coaching me on audition pieces scares the crap out of me. I hate auditions (let's face it, who doesn't?). I really don't know how I've gotten any roles because I'm so bad at them... oh wait, I know why. Because most of the plays I've been cast in were only because the director knew he/she would cast me anyway, so it didn't matter if my monologue sucked or if I even delivered one. In fact, for my audition piece that was to get the part of my favorite character to date, I completely blanked half way into it. I just stared into space, then said, "I'm sorry, I can't remember a thing." and then the director said, "I'll see you at callbacks." I only got that part because of my appearance at the time and because the director (Sue) knew what I was capable of and that I could play that part. Thank God or I would have been so sad to not get that role.

But I digress.

I know the Twelfth Night monologue. I have it word perfect, but I'll bet you a dollar to a donut that tomorrow when Sue starts working with me on it I'm going to totally blank. I don't know what happens to me, I just freeze up. Auditioning is this weird thing that (I personally feel) does, in no way, show a director or casting agent what I'm capable of. Get me into the rehearsal process, give me direction and a little time to do my research and I'm good to go, but throw me in a room with a panel of people staring at me and I crumble.

This is the sole reason why I chickened out last year and didn't do any of my grad school applications and auditions. I told myself I wasn't ready, but really it was because I was terrified of that imaginary panel of people. This year, I'm forcing myself to take it step by step until I get to that day when I have to stand in front of all those judgmental orbs and pour my heart out... or stand there staring blankly into space.

And I've been one of those judgmental orbs! I've cast or helped cast shows before and I know that it's nothing personal. Everyone's just looking for the right type... but still it terrifies me.

Wow, that was quite a tangent. I wasn't planning on this post going in that direction, but whatever.

~~~

Anyway, what I meant to write about was how I've been too busy to shop and too busy to blog lately. So since I skipped Monday's WW post, I shall publish it here on this post.

{Week Five}

- 1.4 lbs

Change since week one: - 4.6 lbs

Change since 2006: - 34.6 lbs

I lost this week! I'm so happy that my low carb/low sugar intake is really working. Granted, I did pig out on desserts this past weekend at the party and the next day (hello carb and sugar heaven), so I won't be surprised if this week isn't so successful. This week and next I'm weighing in on Saturdays instead of Sundays because all of the holidays and parties are falling on Saturday and Sunday. It'll just give me a bit of an edge. By the first of the year I'll be back to weighing in on Sundays.

I'm really finding that lowering my carb and sugar intake is really a lot easier than I imagined it would be. If I ever have a hankering or want to cheat, I just remember that on my weigh in days I can indulge and that seems to help me feel less deprived. There are definitely weeks when I want that cupcake or even something as silly as a marshmallow and I go for it, but that's okay. Just as long as I stay in moderation I'll be good.

Even if next week's weigh in isn't so good, I'm not giving up. I'll get right back on the horse, and if it is okay, then all the merrier.

Dub Dub Weigh In

{Week Two}

+ 0.4 lbs

Change since week one: - 1.8 lbs

Change since 2006: 31.8 lbs

So I gained a little bit this week, but honestly I'm not worried about it. It was Thanksgiving week. Gaining less than a pound during Thanksgiving is a success to me because I have definitely had years when Thanksgiving set me back a few el bees. The best I can do is get back on track and keep losing. I won't let the holidays weigh me down. No sir.

Thank you to everyone who is so supportive of my efforts to lose weight and get healthy. It really means a lot <3

Wish me luck for this week, friends!

Dub Dub Weigh In

{Week One}

- 3.8 lbs

Change since 2006: 32.2 lbs

I'm starting over!!

Okay so I know it's not really week one, but I've started all over again in my mind with this, so I think my documented journey needs to start over as well. When I started this whole public WW journey, I lost 10 lbs pretty easily and it was awesome. THEN I went to Europe and ruined it all. If you've been reading my journey you already know that my biggest weakness is travel. I'm a foodie so I love to try all the deliciousness that other states and countries have to offer. Unfortunately, my waistline seriously suffers.

It's been four stupid months since I got back from Europe and I still haven't dropped the weight I gained there, or the other 20 I wanna lose. I know below it says my goal weight is 140, but it really is 130. The reason my goal at WW is 140 is because once you reach your goal and stay there for 6 weeks, you become a Lifetime member and you don't have to pay to be a part of WW EVER AGAIN! I'm so done with paying for my weigh ins.

I got incredibly fed up last week and just decided to do something that seemed, to me, absolutely insane: I cut out unneeded carbs and sugar. I live for carbs like pasta, bread, grains, beans, etc. No more. I mean, obviously I'll let myself have some pasta every once in a while (like once every week or two), but I need to get this weight off of me and get back on track to feeling healthy and confident, so bye bye carbs & sugar! Obviously I'll be enjoying myself on Thanksgiving, but I'm not gonna go crazy and I'm not going to eat more than one meal if we end up going to multiple dinners.

So after a week of no carbs/no sugar I lost 3.8 lbs!!

I have to be honest, I am eating carbs/sugar that come from fruits & vegetables and I'm allowing myself cheese (now THAT I cannot live without again), & some salad dressings. Basically, I've been eating a lot of eggs, fruit/veggies, cheese, chicken/fish/turkey/pork, & nuts. That's about it. I feel totally satisfied and have even lost some of my appetite. I'm not nearly as hungry all the time as I used to be.

I hope I stick with this because even though it sometimes gets hard to not let myself get off track, I am obviously seeing the fruits of my labor. I mean, I honestly don't think I've lost more than 3.5 lbs in one week doing WW, even when I was a lot heavier and it was easier to lose. I'm stoked and pumped and motivated.

Like I said before, I am not gonna go crazy at Thanksgiving, even though I'm baking two pies, sweet potato gratin, and my "famous" jam crumb bars. BUT I won't let myself get pissed off if I have a bit of a gain or stay the same next week when I weigh in. As long as I limit my Thanksgiving feasting to ONLY Thursday, I should be fine. I've lost weight during the holidays before and I know I can do it again.

{To read all about why I began this public WW journey click here}

This is my "are you kidding?!?" face.

Dub Dub Weigh In

{Week Twenty Four}

-0.2 lbs

Change since week one: +1 lb

Change since 2006: -29 lbs

So I'm still back where I started at week one of this public journey, but I'm making my way (slowly) back down.

Last week I didn't weigh in because the schedule at the women's retreat kept me from going in Murrieta. I was okay with that because all weekend we were being served tons of food and I had no clue about points. I scaled my portion sizes down, but it really didn't matter. I'm just really happy that I lost something this week, even though it was only 0.2 lbs. It's better than nothing! Every little bit counts!

Wish me luck this week. I'm really tired of still being back where I started 6 months ago. I want to lose these 10 lbs I've been yo-yoing for the last year and then some! I'll just keep using exclamation points to get myself excited and motivated to keep going!!!

This is my "not too shabby" face.

To read more about why I chose to document my weight loss journey (and make my weight public, eek!) click here.

Dub Dub Weigh In

{Week Twenty Two}

+2.2 lbs

Change since week one: +1.2 lbs

Change since 2006: -28.8 lbs

WW changed their website to automatically update your weight when you weigh in, which I'm not too happy about because I like seeing the pop up that tells you how much you lost or gained and says "You've lost this week!" or "You gained a bit this week". So this means that the tracking on here will change visually :(

Well I finally went back to Weight Watchers after a month long hiatus.

The first week I skipped, if you remember, because I just needed a break from the scale and the pressure and the stress that I was putting on myself to perform and lose. The next week I was at Lawrence Welk. The third week I was exhausted and I had to get ready for Blog Sugar so I skipped because I didn't want to drive all the way out there (Long Beach) only to drive back home to get ready, then drive in the same direction again to attend Blog Sugar.

For being gone for three weigh ins, going out of town twice in those three weeks (and if you've been reading my WW journey you'll know how difficult going out of town is for me when it comes to tracking and staying on program and I always gain a stupid amount of weight no matter how great I think I did), and for not really tracking much at all in those three weeks I'd say I didn't do too bad. I could have gone crazy and gained 5-10 lbs. It has happened before, unfortunately. But I didn't, which is awesome. 

I went to weigh in last Sunday really dreading it, convinced that I had gained at least five pounds and feeling so anxious to just get it over with and try to get back on track so I can lose this weight I keep gaining. I stepped on the scale and the lady gave me a look of pity (I really hate when they do that, or when they seem judgement, which they're not supposed to and they usually don't), and that's when I knew it. I knew I was right. I knew that I had gained a stupid amount of weight and not only do I have to start all over again, I have to take a bunch of steps backwards...

But then she said, "You're up 2.2 lbs" and I nearly cheered. Instead I just said, "Wow, that's better than I thought!"

I don't think I've ever been so okay with gaining 2.2 lbs. EVER. I mean, I was gone for three weeks, didn't track my points, didn't really exercise much, ate out more than usual and I only gained 2 pounds. I realize that in those three weeks I could have lost up to 6 pounds, but I'm not going to stress out about it because that will only keep me where I am right now and won't help me lose the weight.

I'm still really disappointed in myself that it's been over a year and I keep yo-yoing these 10 pounds, but I can't let myself get discouraged or I'll just give up.

I have some pretty big weight loss goals and it's just about time that I get them accomplished. I started a combination of Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred and Banish Fat Boost Metabolism. I'm not going to go crazy and do it every single day like I did the Shred in August/September, but I'm going to do it at least 4 times a week, I'm getting back on tracking and I'm just ready to finally lose this weight. I realize that the holidays are swiftly approaching and this coming season is my favorite of all in terms of weather, food, holidays, clothes, etc., but I've lost weight during the holidays before and I think I can do it again... or at least maintain, which is always better than gaining. 

I'll be on a women's retreat with my church this weekend, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to weigh in. I'd like to find a WW location where we will be so that no matter what I eat while we're at the retreat (we're not allowed to bring our own food so I have no idea what I'm going to be dealing with... awesome, right? I hate not being in control, food wise... or other wise, haha) I'll still be able to be accountable. We'll see how it works out.

So wish me luck for this week which might be a struggle and for this journey that it can get back on track for good. Thanks to all of you for your support and encouragement. It really means a lot to me and helps me feel like I can do it and I'm not alone <3

i did it.

Today was my last day of Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred.

I skipped the last two Sundays because both of those days were just way too busy to even think about SHREDDING, so instead I added an extra two days to the 30 days just to make sure I completed it.

I was a little disappointed in myself that I didn't do it straight through, but the feeling of accomplishment in finishing this grueling workout regiment far outweighs that little disappointment.

I've never felt stronger. 

I can do things now I never imagined I could.

My legs have never been stronger, my abs have never felt like this before, my arms can carry my weight, I can now do "full on Rocky-style sit ups", lunges are now ridiculously easy, my calves have never been so defined in my life, my shoulders are taking shape.

And I never thought that I'd be more proud of the fact that I'm stronger, with weight loss being just a bonus rather than the main goal.

I mean, I'm not gonna lie, weight loss has always been the focus, but now that I see what I'm made of and what I'm capable of, it has shifted my point of view a little.

I may not have lost anything according to Dub Dub, but I know that I have because my clothes either fit me now or are getting too big for me.

I'm going to keep exercising. I'm starting Jillian Michaels' Banish Fat Boost Metabolism this week, so I'm not quitting, but I'm just so proud of the fact that I stuck with this thing and saw it through.

I did it.

Dub Dub Weigh In

{Week Eighteen}

-0.6 lb

Change since week one: - 1 lb

Change since 2006: - 31 lbs

Yes!

After weeks of gaining and failure, it's my second straight week of loss.

After that summer vacation to Europe that caused my 5 pound weight gain, and then that other vacation to the East Coast, combined with my weight training (Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred), which led to another 5 pound weight gain, I am finally back on track to losing the weight that I had lost in the Springtime but quickly gained back over the Summer.

You can see here how over the last 11 weeks or so I had successfully made my way down to 150.8, then immediately went on vacation and those pounds creeped back on. It's annoying to look at, but at least I didn't give up and now I'm on my way to losing it again.

I just want to get these pounds off so I can focus again on losing the next ten pounds...

and then hopefully another ten pounds.

I honestly thought that I would either have a gain or a maintain this week. Not necessarily because I had a bad week, because I didn't, but because the night before my weigh in I went a little over board with the BBQ chips, haha. But I still lost! It must've been a better week than I thought.

So wish me luck this week!

Dub Dub Weigh In

{Week Seventeen}

Halle-freaking-lujah

I mean really, FINALLY.

What's so funny is that when I walked into the meeting I didn't even care. I had a horrible weekend for various reasons and I think deep down I just forced myself not to care and to expect a gain this week because it would have just sent me over the edge if I cared and gained. 

I definitely expected a gain or to stay the same, just because it really seemed like no matter how hard I tried, my weight did not want to budge.

This week I ate more and exercised a whole lot less. I only did Jillian's SHRED and skipped Zumba all together. I ate ALL of my extra weekly points allowance (I've never done that intentionally) and I even ate some of my earned activity points.

My body must have just thought it was in starvation mode, therefore storing up calories causing me to gain the last few weeks, but not this week... HA!

I want to thank everyone for all of the support that I received, whether it be through comments or emails or face to face. It really meant a lot to me that I was being supported and cheered on by friends. This recent 10 lb weight gain has been frustrating to say the least and it's so disheartening to me that I lost it only a few short months ago just to gain it immediately back. Thanks a ton, travels!

But I need to get over it.

I need to start over.

I need to keep moving forward.

And as always, learn from my mistakes.

Thanks everyone and wish me luck this week!

xoxo

Dub Dub Weigh In

Welp, let's get this one over with, too.

I stepped on the scale, hopeful and anxious. When the lady at the counter read my results, my heart sank.

{Week Sixteen}

+ 0.4 lbs

Change since week one: + 1.8 lbs

Change since 2006: -28.2 lbs

It'd be one thing if I had been expecting it, but I certainly was not.

I worked so hard this week. I earned a minimum of 56 activity points. When I say minimum I mean that when I track my activity points, I skimp. If I did Zumba for an hour I'd key in that I did 45 minutes. I never skimp on my SHREDDING activity points, but those are hard earned so I give myself the credit.

The lady behind the counter saw the 2 ton weight of discouragement break my back and asked me if I did anything different. When I told her how much activity points I earned, she asked if I ate the points I earned. When I told her that I ate all of my extra weekly allowance points, but not my activity points, she said I might not be eating enough. 

Seriously?

I've been through this before, but I still can't wrap my mind around the fact that when I stay within my points for the week and exercise, but don't eat the activity points I earn, that I typically fail at the scale.

It just doesn't make sense to me.

How is it that I am quite literally kicking myself in the ass thanks to Jillian, working my butt off, sweating bullets all while tracking that I am GAINING?

I just keep on back tracking and it's driving me insane.

I want to rip my hair out.

Dub Dub Weigh In

Let's just get this post over with. I've been avoiding it all day long but I can't any longer.

For an explanation of sorts of what you shall see when you scroll down, go to the previous post, Square One, here.

It's time to start all over again, get over it and move on.

{Week Fifteen}

+ 5.4 lbs

Change since week one: +1.4 lbs

Change since 2006: -28.6 lbs

square one

Prepare yourselves, I'm not happy.

This isn't an "official" WW post, because those are reserved for Mondays, but I just need to rant.

So remember how I wrote that right before we started Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred that I weighed myself at home? Well, according to my scale (which if it's ever off or wrong, it's only off by a pound or so) I was 156.5, which means that I only gained 0.5 on my trip to the east coast. I was stoked because I really worked out A LOT, while we were gone. I used the treadmill, the bike and the elliptical every day except for two travel days. I was surprised that I didn't gain more at first, but the more I thought about it I realized that that seemed about right. I watched what I ate as much as possible. I never cleaned my plate or ate more than half of what I was served (except for one meal), so it made sense to me that I pretty much maintained while traveling.

So when we started Jillian's DVD I thought to myself that it might backfire on me, and here's why:

Every time I start a new workout regiment that includes any kind of weight/strength training, I gain weight.

And I'm not talking about 0.5 - 1 lb, I'm talking about 3, 4, 5 or even 6 lbs. 

BUT

In addition to SHREDDING, I did a ton of Zumba (cardio) this week as well. I'm on day 6 of Jillian's 30 Day Hell and this whole week I did an extra 4-5 hours of Zumba as well as staying well within my points for the week. I didn't even use half of my weekly points allowance. In the recent past I've used almost all of my weekly points allowance and still lost weight, so I thought, "Maybe I'll be okay. Maybe with all of this Zumba and great tracking, I'll have avoided the dreaded weight gain of starting a strength training regiment."

Guess again, Andrea.

No, it wasn't the pie, or the ice cream, or the birthday dinner for Dave. I ate like a bird at Dave's BBQ. I pretty much just ate two pineapple slices, 5 tiny little shrimps, a few steamed broccoli florets and 1/3 cup of mashed potatoes. I ate half my slice of pie and had two bites of ice cream. I was DISCIPLINED this week.

So according to WW this morning I had a 5 lbs weight gain since Monday.

Really? REALLY??

Am I REALLY back to square one of this whole documenting-my-weight-loss-journey-through-my-blog crap?

Yup, I sure am.

Thanks Jillian.

I mean, I do know that you cannot gain 5 lbs just from strength training for 5 days. I know that there has to be something else going on here. Water retention? Sure, why not?

I looked this up on Livestrong.com: 

Overview

You feel great! You cleaned up your diet, renewed your gym membership and knocked out your first couple of killer workouts. Never mind that you're so sore you can hardly climb on the scale. It's worth it just to see the numbers go...up?! Before you throw up your hands in despair and break out a pint of Ben and Jerry's, take a deep breath and relax. It's just a little water retention caused by DOMS.

DOMS

DOMS, or delayed onset muscle soreness, is a common phenomenon marked by muscle pain ranging from mild to debilitating and manifesting 24 to 48 hours after your workout. Besides muscle soreness, other symptoms of DOMS include loss of strength, decreased range of motion, decreased neuromuscular function, mild inflammation and an increase of two to three pounds or more in body weight. DOMS is common in individuals who are new to resistance training or as a response to a change in exercise routines, such as adding challenging, new exercises or increasing weight loads.

Yeah, it also goes on to say that it only lasts a few days, and this is day 5 and I'm not nearly as sore as I was a couple of days ago, but still 5 lbs in 5 days? I don't think so.

There's another possible contributing factor I've yet to mention, simply because of it's personal nature:

According to all of the forums I've read in the last hour or so, women tend to gain anywhere from 2-10 lbs before and/or during their cycle. I knew a few lbs was normal for me, but 10? I don't envy those girls.

Also, if I gained 5 lbs, why are my clothes looser?

But you know what? I'm gonna stick to it. I'm gonna keep SHREDDING. With my luck I'll stay the same until this 30 Days is over and then lose 10 lbs so fast. That's usually how it goes for me. I work out with a trainer, strength/weight train, gain weight, keep doing it, keep staying the same or gaining and then as soon as I stop the training I lose weight so fast I almost don't even realize it (well, I totally notice, but you know what I mean).

I am so not looking forward to tomorrow's Dub Dub post.

Whatever, I'm gonna do it because I made a commitment to documenting my journey. 

Thanks for reading my ranting. I'm just hormonal and irritable.

Has anyone else experienced this?

i'm baaaaaaaaaaack

and this time for good...

well at least for the rest of summer.

no more extended trips, no more airplanes, no more eating out every day for every meal (thank the lord!), no more living out of my suitcase.

it is SO GOOD to be home.

as some of you may already know, we were in Europe for a little while, then came home for about a week or so, then flew off to New York, Long Island and Connecticut for about two weeks. we flew back to LA on Thursday, but then David and I drove up to Lake Arrowhead for the weekend on Friday.

so that makes today our first day of being back home for good and I am so happy about it. 

don't get me wrong, I am so thankful for all of the opportunities we have to travel and see different parts of the country and the world, but after a while it gets to become too much and your own bed starts to feel like a luxury (which it really is, but we all take it for granted, of course).

I am so glad to be back to my routine of diet and exercise.

although, I did get in a lot of cardio on our most recent trip. I used the gyms at every hotel we stayed in every day except for two travel days that didn't allot me the time to do so. even when we went to Lake Arrowhead, I took my Zumba DVDs and danced up a sweat. I knew that with all of the food we'd be eating that if I didn't get some exercise in this trip, I'd gain another 5 lbs and that would have probably sent me over the edge.

as far as food went, I did a lot better on the east coast than I did in Europe. the only time I ate more than half of the portion I was given was at Shake Shack in Time's Square, and I already planned that. I knew ahead of time that I wouldn't have been able to resist devouring that entire mushroom burger and crinkle fries. I mean, could you?

I also ate my own breakfasts (yogurt and fruit or cereal) except for two mornings and I think that made quite a difference. at least I hope it did. 

Side note: by the time we got to Long Island and Connecticut and Dave and my mom were doing business a lot, I spent all of my time in the hotel room reading (I read two and half books and started another!) I ended up finishing The Maze Runner on the flight to NYC, then started The Scorch Trials, finished it in Long Island, read The War of Art (no, not The Art of War) and finished that, then I started on The Help which I'm about two thirds through now. All fabulous books, except I was a bit disappointed in The Maze Runner, but the sequel (The Scorch Trials) more than made up for it.

I haven't gone to WW since we got back, but I'll be facing the music on Sunday to see what the damage was. I did weigh myself at home today and according to my crappy, unreliable scale I only gained 0.5 lbs. I am PRAYING that that is the case. I honestly doubt that I was able to maintain, just because my history with traveling and dieting has never been good (except for last Christmas when we went to NY and I lost a lb, but we were trekking through SO MUCH snow that I think it made up for my indulgences), but who knows? I'll have to just wait and see. I want to hope for the best but expect the worst so that I don't end up getting so pissed off and discouraged this time around.

today David and I started Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred and it was KILLER INTENSE. I've done some pretty hard work outs in my days what with the various trainers I've had over the years and the intense Tae-Bo videos I did in high school that helped me lose 70 lbs, but this 20 minute workout was brutal. Dave and I were drenched in sweat, there were times when we both had to stop for a tiny 5 second break here and there and by the end we were both walking funny, but we did it and we're gonna do it tomorrow and the next day and the next until it's done... and then we might do it again.

I also did an hour of Zumba this morning before my chores and I plan to combine the Shred with the Zumba as much as possible so I can finally get back to my goal weight. I predict Dave and I will be extremely sore tomorrow. I already am.

sometime soon I'm going to sit down and edit all of our photos from our travels and share what we saw, but for now I need to just get back in the swing of things.

I hope you all don't think I dropped blogging or that I'm not going to start reading my favorite blogs again. it's just that being away from it makes it hard to get back into it. I hope you all still follow! thanks for being followers <3

here are some iPhone shots from the trip:

mojito at the Bryant Park Back Porch bar

meyer lemon meringue tart I shared with my mom at Sarabeth's

sitting in Central Park, reading

Shake Shack mushroom burger. yes, that mushroom is oozing out delicious cheese.

6th Avenue street fair

hanging out with Derek Jeter at the Yankee game. NBD.

Connecticut

returning to the city to catch our flight home

driving up to Lake Arrowhead

and Bogart crying in the back seat

my mom's sense of decor humor

taking a walk

Queen cover band called Queen Nation at the Lake Arrowhead center.

by the second set, our fist pumping was out of control.

our family condo <3

so many memories