A walk with my pups tonight

So instead of going down to the gym today, I made a conscious decision to give my muscles a day of rest from the strength-training and instead give our pups a nice long walk for my daily exercise.

That's Cali above on the left. She's a cocker spaniel / poodle mix (a cockapoo! ;) and JJ on the right, he's a Yorkie / Terrier mix. Both are 15-20 pound rescue dogs.

The walk we took is one mile round trip over to Sunset Park and back home. It's a great park too because it's the highest point in Brooklyn and is relatively near the water. That means that when you get to the top of the hill you get this awesome view of Manhattan and the East River. You can also see the Statue of Liberty. Love it!

I'm sure JJ and Cali will love it if they get to go on the longer walks more regularly.

Getting on the computer before work is just a bad idea

I get so excited when I lose a few pounds I want to share it with the world, but unfortunately getting on the computer before I go to work in the morning is never a great idea. Like with the fact that I'm also writing this post, I just LOVE to procrastinate and be late! ;)

Woot! I lost 2 pounds.

That's a total of 5 since I got back from the wedding. I guess I did just need to refocus! I'm now 4 pounds away from my next mini goal, and I'm super excited/motivated about it!

BTW I had a total clothes meltdown this morning

I had such a busy day I almost forgot about my little "fit" this morning. I had a really important, high-profile, all-day meeting at work and needed to be looking really sharp.

So I went to my closet, and it just wasn't coming together. My staples don't fit and don't look as sharp as I expected now that I've been putting more energy into what I wear and how I look.

I pulled out a pair of size 18 pants I haven't been able to wear and yay, they fit, but unfortunately, I realized the tapered leg was just no longer working for me. Especially not with my pointy toe boots and a too square shouldered jacket. I was looking very 90s, and Alex was cracking up!

And my standard suit jacket and shell just hung on me, way too loose!

Anyway, three outfits later, I threw on a mostly black outfit with a fancy scarf and totally had to hoof it to get to the actual meeting on time! How ridiculous would it be for me to be so caught up in looking good that I show up late!? That'd make a great impression!

But I wasn't late, I was 5 minutes early, and looked pretty sharp. I just had to sweat my commute a bit. I think now that I have this new higher profile job, I'm going to need to get a few new pieces of work clothing and prevent this going forward! Especially pants! None of my pants fit!

I've added a new short term goal for myself

So I've been keeping a "secret" goal for myself. Okay, not secret but just not included on my list of mini goals here on the blog. It felt silly to have a mini-goal every five pounds, but today, I just decided who cares, why not every 5 pounds for a while if that's what will motivate me.

So I added another goal at 45 pounds lost since that'll put me into a weight category I haven't been in for ages! It's actually really motivating me, so I'm pretty psyched!

UPDATE: Actually changed it to 46 pounds lost since that's what'll get me to where I want to be!

I *actually* went to the gym TWO days in a row!

So I felt really good after going to the gym yesterday and got a lift from it. Sooo...what did I do today after work? I went to the gym again! Yay me. And I felt great after my workout tonight. Tired and hungry but also relaxed and content. I don't always get to that sweet spot after a workout. Often I'm just annoyed and not loving it.

What really surprised me was that I had the energy to go and was motivated. Not super hyped up, but i wanted to do it, wasn't dragging myself. Where's all this energy coming from? Normally after a day full of meetings (literally 10am to 3pm), the last thing I would do would be go to the gym. I barely even had to talk myself into it!

Another motivator, the gym I joined is expensive, so in this case, what I'm paying has been another extra motivation TO GO!

When I lost 100 pounds about 10 years ago (and of course gained back), I had joined Healthworks in Boston. (Shocks me that it's been that long!) I LOVED that chain and was so loyal. It was an all-women gym, was super clean, had great equipment, a juice bar, and a hot tub. The whole changing area was a spa-like environment with fresh flowers all of the time. My favorite though was the elaborate stretching area they had with all these different contraptions including a big spider wall type thing to help you get a really good stretch!

I have a business trip to Boston in March and I should totally get a day pass just to go and have that experience again!

Anyway, my point is that I kept thinking that if I joined a gym I felt pampered by, I'd *want* to go to the gym. Or at least not hate it. So I put down a pretty penny to join the Eastern Athletic gym in Tribeca. I just wish it was all female. I think I saw a former male work colleague there tonight and wasn't loving that. Someone I don't know well enough to say hi to but awkward enough to make me want to avoid him.

Anyway, enough rambling. My goal is to go to the gym 3 to 5 times a week. I'm planning on having your guys hold me accountable for that! ;) (gulp!)

Successful day

So, yay, I did go to the gym and felt great about it. The only thing about going to the gym at lunch is that it takes an hour and a half or just more even.

The last time I went I pulled a muscle in my calf, and that's still been tight even two months later. Needless to say, I spent a fair amount of time stretching it out. Then I did some strength-training and cardio. I felt a bit weak when I left, but it was good. I'm anticipating being sore on top tomorrow since I did the weights and don't have much upper body strength to speak of!

Usually I'm ravenous right after a workout, but that didn't hit me until later in the afternoon. Then I was starving after work despite having a thin broth then fruit and a cookie as a late afternoon snack.

Let's hope this trend continues!

I'm actually going to the gym at lunch today

Don't let me tell you otherwise later in the day! I haven't been going, so it's now or never. The gym ain't cheap!

I'll have an update later in the day...

A Compliment and Feeling Girly!

So I just got a lovely email from a friend (who doesn't know about the surgery). She says, "I'm happy that you're so upbeat these days. I dunno what it is, but you seem a lot more energetic than you have been for ages!"

And it's true. I totally feel that way. Definitely the wedding but also the weight loss does tons for my energy level. Not sure about the job change. I've yet to decide how I feel about it, but I am out of my comfort zone which tends to be good for me. I had been very complacent about work before.

In general, I feel like being really girly lately, and I've been saying yes more often when people ask me to go do things. I've even been thinking about getting semi-permanent eyelashes put on! Doesn't get much girlier than that. I just loved them so much during the wedding.

And since I have a handful of events coming up, including a wedding next weekend, I've been on the hunt for cute cocktail dresses. I don't often wear dresses, so again, girly girly girly! Yay!

I was able to dig one of my old favorites out of my closet for the wedding (I'll post about that later), but I might want to buy a new one for our New York Wedding Party. Something like this Calvin Klein sheath dress shown above??? (That's a model of course, not me!)

Someone tried to convince me I could wear my wedding dress again for our NYC wedding party, but since it's pretty low key and will be at our house, I'm not so sure. Feels a little too diva for me. Or instead just a little white dress might be perfect. But not so easy to find...

New Before and After Pics

Since I recently reached another mini-goal, 40 pounds lost, I decided it was time for another set of before and after pics. These were taken yesterday.

I really didn't feel much of a difference between 30 pounds lost and 40 pounds lost, but looking at the photos side by side helped. Here's me at 30 pounds down.


The next set will come when I reach 50 pounds down. Can't wait for that!

Dinner Pics

So I had fun getting all dolled up last night. It was the first time since the wedding that I've tried wearing my contacts again. I get terrible dry eye which is why I hadn't been wearing them since buying them, but so far so good.

I also wore my new tall boots and had actually squeezed myself into a pair that weren't "wide calf."

Nora made me feel very pretty when we met up at a bar after dinner by raving about how I look and my fun new boots. Thanks Nora! ;) We hadn't seen each other in a little while but she knew all about everything because she follows this blog! She actually went with me when I bought my wedding dress and we were discussing last night under what circumstances I might be able to wear it again since I love it so much!

Here are pics below of the awesome view from the restaurant. It was raining so they're a bit foggy, but it was still romantic.

I was good with my salad entree and a couple of fries until it came to dessert. I didn't want to post too much on that here, but I did put a photo of the fun Brookyn Bridge Mousse we shared on my other blog dabble.

I kept it to 2-1/2 glasses of wine between dinner and my friend's birthday party at a nearby bar which is more than I planned, but not that bad. I'm a light-weight in general, but alcohol does go to my head faster these days.

We're actually going out on a Saturday night!

Alex and I have a habit of just being homebodies and hanging out at home Saturday nights, but not tonight. I've actually convinced him to come to a party with me. And since we'll be going out, I've also convinced him to come to one of my favorite restaurants in South Street Seaport. Awesome views of the Brooklyn Bridge all lit up at night. This was the only photo I could find above, so hopefully tonight, I'll have a better one of the bridge at night to post.

And I'm going to take some bandster advice I heard: order appetizers as your main course! It's a seafood restaurant which doesn't help me since I'm a vegetarian; however, they look to have some pretty incredible salads. Definitely better than my usual seafood restaurant meal of pasta.

Alex is digging the fish n' chips on the menu. We don't find that often here, so a little splurge for him is okay. He was actually really good last night when I was next to him eating the chocolate at the movies.

What do you eat at the movie theater?

So one challenge for me post band is going to the movies. I just LOVE getting a big 'ol soda and popcorn and chocolate. For those of you who are banded, do you do without at the movies? Do you substitute?

I definitely avoid the super-sized portions and I try to avoid the popcorn (though it goes down just fine), but I'm always so tempted that I give in and have something. Last night I shared a small Diet Coke and had some Raisinettes. But it was a complete mental exercise because I was not hungry. I was at the movies and just really wanted to have something.

Perhaps next time, I'll skip dinner or have a smaller dinner and bring in my own tiny bag of candy to *share.* I just love going for dinner after work Fridays and seeing a movie.

Dinner on the otherhand I was happy with. Vietnamese. Steamed veggies and lightly stir-fried tofu and I left a mostly full plate.

Big Travel Plans - We're going to Peru!

I must admit post-wedding that I just feel utterly happy most of the time these days! I feel motivated in general, creative, inspired, and wanting to do more and bigger things.

We've been keeping an eye out for honeymoon packages (since our Honeymoon has been postponed until the Spring), and when looking around, I found a steal of a deal for plane tickets to Peru for only $250/pp INCLUDING international taxes! That's just crazy because it costs more than that to go for a visit home to Texas!

I mentioned it to Alex in passing before the wedding, but when we got back he kept talking about it (his Dad's family is from there) and finally he talked me into it. Shockingly, he talked ME into it. Normally, it'd be the other way around. This is for a trip in addition to our honeymoon.

And we actually bought our tickets! We're going the week of Memorial Day weekend. That price was even good for holiday weekend travel, directly from a reputable South American airline. Crazy crazy crazy...

Plus once we get there things will be super inexpensive and the hotels we're seeing are highly rated but really great deals!

It was rather a spur of the moment decision, but I'm so psyched about it. We went out tonight and bought a travel book. I'm going to have fun planning this. Plus it's a great exercise motivation since Machu Picchu is at such a high altitude, we're going to need to be in great physical shape to handle hiking that high up!

25% too good to be true

So I mentioned in a post yesterday that I was skeptical about my 4 pound loss. Well, this morning I forced myself to get on the scale again and not to just coast on that weight-loss high. And it turns out that big loss was only a little bit too good to be true. The number was back up one pound. But that means I still hit my most recent mini-goal so it's all good!

NSV - I'm crossing my legs

So this is one of those things only big girls will get. I've been shocked at work lately as I find myself crossing my legs in mtgs! And they actually cross. Not as good as they can or will, but I'm doing it!

That's a great confidence booster.

Say what!?! I lost 4 pounds in 2 days?

So after my last few posts, I decided I need to weigh myself this morning in order to stay focused on my weight and weight loss. Needless to say, I was shocked, SHOCKED, that the scale seemed to say I LOST 4 pounds! I actually didn't believe it, so I reweighed, and it said the exact same thing!

What!?!?!

I mean, I guess I'll take it! It means several significant victories. A) This plateau I've been stuck at is done B) I passed my next mini goal C) I'm at the lowest weight I've been at in six years! D) I'm back on track for real! Woot!

Wow, 41 pounds gone! Yay!

Thanks everyone for all your kind words!

This is the number in my weight loss where I always stray

So if I look at my history over the last 6 years, the weight I'm at now is always where I go off plan and gain it all back. And given that I haven't lost any real weight in the last 5 weeks, I'd say that's where I am now. The good part however, is that I seem to not be able to gain it back even though I've essentially been trying (not actually, but who knows, subconsciously). So that to me is another accomplishment. That this plateau won't be my downfall. And that unlike all the other times, I'm not gaining back at this weight. I just hit a wall and am working my way through it...

How many calories do you eat a day?

So I'm curious how many calories each of you eat in a day. Say on a good day vs. either a normal or a bad day?

I aim for 1200, but I'm curious about you guys, especially those with the band.

Oh, and in all honesty, on a bad day, I can still put away 2000-3000 shockingly (despite the band). But that's the asbsolute worst. Can't eat more than that even if I tried.

Thanks in advance!

Revised weight loss goals

So after falling off the wagon a bit with all the stress and wedding planning, I've just revised my weight loss goals as part of my refocusing effort. And I'm trying to stay realistic!

40 pounds lost
by Thanksgiving (11/26/09)
ACCOMPLISHED EARLY!

50 pounds lost
by Christmas (12/25/09)

60 pounds lost
by our New York wedding party (1/23/10)

65 pounds lost
by Valentine's Day 2010

75 pounds lost (ONE-DERLAND!)
by our big work conference (3/23/10)

80 pounds lost
by our Honeymoon (April 2010)

100 pounds lost!!! My most important goal...
by our Summer Sales Meeting July 2010

110 pounds lost (my high school weight!)
by August 2010 (my band birthday)

125 pounds lost
GOAL!
by 10/16/10 (my 36th birthday!)

Refocusing

So I'm back in New York now and had yesterday to recoup. Today, I'm still a bit lounge-y, unpacking, etc. I have the day off, but I have refocused myself in regard to my weight loss goals.

At first I felt I was doing well in this whole lapband process, then I was okay with my weight loss, but just before I left, I was realizing that all the other people who were banded near the same time as me had lost so much more weight and that kind've shocked me and made me realize I really need to get in this if I'm ever going to lose it all! This is my chance, so I can't squander it.

Considering all the stress and eating the last few weeks, I only gained one pound which i finally made myself add to my tracker. I'm okay with that.

I am going to reconfigure my goals however since I've missed a few. Those dates are all just way off now.

And as I posted before, I need to make my decisions in the moment and stay focused on what I can do right now, since I so often tend to just say, oh I'll do it later, and then I never do. Ie: the gym. It's been a while. I'm definitely going back this week! Hold me to that promise because that's where my challenge will be with all the chaos I'm sure I'll return to at work having been gone for a week and a half.

I can't stop looking at our wedding photos!

I'm completely obsessed! Our wedding photographer sent us a sneak peak of them, and I LOVE them! They are exactly what I imagined. She captured how fun it was and all the great details.

I'm a bit chubbier in the photos than I would have preferred, but I can live with it and still want to share the pics with everyone.

I might not have said that 35 pounds ago before the band!

Check out our wedding blog for lots more pics!

For anyone in Houston, the photographer was a steal of a deal. I can't recommend her highly enough. My sister also used her for family photos, and they were just so, so good! Her info is included on the page linked above.

Mr. and Mrs.

So we're officially married!

We had some glitches with the rehearsal dinner, but the wedding was phenomenal. I still can't believe we pulled it off since it was so DIY.

Here's a sneak peak of one of the wedding photos. Our best man is toasting us. I can't wait until we get the photographers photos!

I just keep thinking about how great it was and all the wonderful details. Needless to say I ate lots of cake and was bad, but it was fun!

As of this coming week, I'll be returning to New York and recommitting myself to the band and refocusing in general.

Three days!

Three more days until the wedding!

Today's probably my last day spending any time online, so I'll see you on the other side! Pics to come next week.

Thanks to everyone for all of your support.

NYC Marathon

I've been so busy that I never posted my NYC Marathon pics. Not that *I* ran the marathon, but I did happen upon it Sunday morning when walking the dogs. Turns out the marathon runs down 4th Ave in Brooklyn, just half a block from my apartment.

One of my dogs, JJ, has a thing about people running. It gets him riled up, so imagine the poor guy when all he sees is a sea of people running down the avenue!

Needless to say, I decided it was a bit too stressful for him, so I took him back home and got Alex to come out and watch the race with me.

I've never seen a marathon before but I was overwhelmed and inspired by it! It felt so good to watch it, I can only imagine how it must have felt to be a runner. Everyone cheering you on, lots of high fives and signs. The costumes some of the runners were wearing were pretty great too and all those customized t-shirts.

I really had a buzz after watching that. It also reminded me of why I love living in New York. I go out to walk my dogs and end up wandering into something as great as this.